Where Could A UGA Letdown Occur This Fall?

It’s just part of the UGA culture I guess.  No matter how talented Dawg Nation believes its team is each fall, there almost always is a game that the team isn’t all there mentally and it costs UGA its championship aspirations.  You never know when it’s coming but it always finds a way to occur during the 12-game regular season.  Since arriving on campus as a freshman in Fall 2008, I can look to a single game each season and comfortably say, ‘Georgia should have won that game.’  I’ll disregard the sub-.500 season of 2010 because that team wasn’t a title contender with RS Freshman Aaron Murray under center.  2008: Georgia Tech, 2009: Either Tennessee or Kentucky, 2011: South Carolina, 2012: South Carolina, 2013: Either Missouri or Vanderbilt, and in 2014: Florida.  Where could it occur this fall?

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No all losses are the same.  Sometimes Georgia is simply outmatched and they lose to the better team.  2008: Alabama and Florida, 2009: Florida, 2011 SEC Championship Game vs. LSU.  Other times it’s just tough winning in a hostile road environment.  South Carolina and Auburn immediately come to mind.  So I wouldn’t consider losing to a superior opponent or an evenly matched rival on the road a letdown loss.  I’m talking about games you almost automatically assume as wins in the summer leading up to the College Football Season.

UGA’s schedule isn’t easy, but it’s navigable in 2015.  It will be difficult to do better than 6-2 in SEC play as Georgia draws both Alabama and Auburn out of the Western Division this fall.  Missouri is the two-time reigning Eastern Champion, Tennessee looks like they are on the rise, and both Florida and South Carolina almost always give Georgia trouble.  Even Georgia has to win in Atlanta to avoid starting its first losing streak against Georgia Tech in the Mark Richt Era.

I don’t see Alabama, Auburn or Georgia Tech being defined as letdown games for the Dawgs in 2015 as all three teams definitely have legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations this fall.  Auburn and Tech are both on the road and ‘Bama is still a Goliath in the SEC under HC Nick Saban.  So UGA losses to any of these three schools this season won’t completely surprise me.  The complete shock of it all defines a letdown game for me.

Oct 19, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores cornerback André Hal (23) recovers a Georgia Bulldogs fumble during the second half at Vanderbilt Stadium. The Commodores beat the Bulldogs 31-27. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

There are a few games that are in the back of my mind that if Georgia were to end up losing this fall, Dawg Nation will feel crushed.  Losing to either South Carolina or Kentucky at home would definitely prove costly to the Dawgs as neither team will likely be ranked by the time Georgia plays either school.  Falling to the Vols in Knoxville could be brutal if Tennessee wins a tight one because UGA isn’t mentally prepared to play in a rocking Neyland Stadium.  Giving up SEC East control to Mizzou for the third season in a row is a troubling thought, especially if the Tigers beat the Dawgs at Sanford Stadium during Homecoming.  And of course, not beating Florida when they have a new HC in Jim McElwain might make all of our heads collectively explode.  A losing streak to Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer is one thing, but stringing two consecutive loses to Florida when their head coaches were Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain just sounds awful.

So I’ve pointed out the five games where I think a letdown loss could occur (South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, @ Tennessee, GA-FLA).  Of course this can all change depending on how our Conference opponents’ seasons play out.  The SEC is so immensely deep that we never know who will rise to the top.  Did anyone expect Auburn to play for a National Title going into 2013?  Did anyone think Mississippi State was going earn a #1 overall ranking at any point in the 2014 season?  That’s why we play the games.  You just have to go into each game ready to win, something Georgia fails to do at least once a season, hence the annual letdown game.  One day it won’t happen, I keep telling myself.  Expect the best, prepare for the absolute worst, The Georgia Way.