Georgia Bulldogs: Embarrassing Loss Doesn’t Kill Season
By W. M. Lawson
The soon to be former #1 Georgia Bulldogs (9-1) took a whipping at Auburn Saturday. The loss was embarrassing, but it wasn’t a season killer.
The head-scratching and empty stares continued this morning for much of Dawg Nation. Auburn hung 40 on the Dawgs Saturday, and it was ugly. With absolute awful execution, and generally getting pushed around all day, the Bulldogs played their worst game of the season. It was bad. But the Georgia Bulldogs have all of their season goals very close and within reach. All is not lost.
This isn’t a white-washing of how bad yesterday was. It was truly indefensible. From Jim Chaney’s obdurate insistence on running up the middle on 2nd down, to 4 personal fouls, to a missed FG, to a fumbled punt, 2016 UGA reared its head. Which was inopportune, because Auburn is a good football team.
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It is embarrassing to lose that bad to a rival. Especially, Auburn. But yesterday’s debacle spoke to something wider and deeper than that. Most fans, after the Florida game, started thinking that Kirby Smart and company had “changed the culture”.
What was meant by that was, in part, the belief that “lay-down” games and national beat downs weren’t possible. Georgia may lose, but they wouldn’t take one to a glass chin and get blasted. That hope has now been obliterated.
That said, this Georgia Bulldog team could still do something remarkable. At the very baseline expectation, UGA handles Kentucky and Georgia Tech, goes 11-1, wins the SEC East, and goes to Atlanta.
If you had presented that scenario to most Georgia fans back in August, church attendance would’ve increased by about 10 percent around the state.
And that’s just in Kirby Smart’s 2nd year. What’s crazy, though, is that the possibility for something greater is still there. A magical something. Georgia will play in the SEC Championship game, and technically, has a chance to win. You can’t be Rocky Balboa, if you can’t get in the fight.
So, yes. Everything about Saturday in Auburn was embarrassing and baffling. It struck at a hope that the ship had turned far enough for smooth sailing. Or competitive sailing, anyway. We were reminded that the Dawgs can still lay an egg. And that sucks.
But, the season still has three games left. Three very important games. 11-1 with a chance to win the SEC Championship? I’d take it every year. You should, too.
There is a lot of very important football left to be played this season. Games that will affect enormously the future and direction of the Georgia Bulldog Football program for years to come.
Next: Atlanta Braves: Lane Adams 2018 Outlook and Interview
That starts this coming Saturday back in Athens.