November 4, 2006: The Stafford Era–Nadir
As the 2006 season approached the Dawgs and their fans had bittersweet feelings, with an SEC championship season in 2005, and only a 1-point loss on a miracle play by Auburn from a legitimate shot at the national title, tempered by a disturbing defensive meltdown in the Sugar Bowl against West Virginia (helped by 3 first half turnovers by the offense, mind you). Much like the 2008 Tech loss, a razor-thin defeat was characterized as a blowout loss by Georgia that would ostensibly effect a permanent change of the football landscape. Unfortunately, it turned out they were right, for the most part, about that Sugar Bowl.
In 2006 Georgia was ranked its typical #15 in preseason and looking for answers at quarterback. After disposing of its first 3 opponents in 2006 by a combined 100-12 with two shutouts, cracks began to appear. 4-touchdown favorite Georgia was plagued by poor execution and crucial penalties against Colorado, Stafford was benched, Joe Cox saved the day, and a trend that we couldn’t quite see or expect yet was born. Cox, landing the starting job thanks to his heroics, fared no better than Stafford as the starter as 18-point favorite Georgia struggled to a 14-9 victory in Oxford (I recall watching this game face down on the sofa with a pillow over my head, much like last year’s Auburn fiasco).
The ship seemed to right by halftime against #13 Tennessee, but suddenly it was West Virginia all over again, and when the dust cleared the Vowels had hung 51 on the Dawgs at home. Tack on to the second half of UT a 2 point loss, again at home, to 14-point underdog Vandy, and a 3 point win on the road against 17 point underdog Mississippi State, and you have the worst 10 quarters of the Richt Era. But that was not even the bottom, which occurred in Lexington the week following a spirited, yet ultimately unsuccessful, effort in Jacksonville. Georgia left Kentucky a 24-20 loser, its fourth straight to an SEC East foe, and the program was officially in crisis.
I was really not looking forward to the Auburn game, not only because Georgia was in a flat spin death spiral, but the game was also on my birthday, and the last thing I wanted to do on my birthday was watch my favorite team get pasted by #5-ranked Auburn on the Plains. In the bleak days of early November 2006, with the hated Gators heading toward the national championship, I decided the game would be barely worth watching, much less attending, so I figured I’d sit down and watch the first drive or two then head outside for some exercise.
I never did get off the couch. It was a good birthday, after all. As one would never expect anywhere but in the most confounding of all sports ever devised, Georgia won 18 of its next 20 games after the loss in Lexington.
January 1, 2008: The Stafford Era–Zenith
Summaries and analysis of 2008 are legion, but the upshot is that the football program was not ready to handle being the preseason #1 team. It seemed like something wasn’t quite right in Columbia, but when Alabama handed Georgia the most humiliating defeat I’ve witnessed in my lifetime (and I’ve witnessed some humiliating defeats, by God), it became clear that what wasn’t quite right was that nothing had really changed since the Sugar Bowl against West Virginia.
By the 2nd half of 08 the team was out of gas, out of personnel, and out of motivation. In Georgia’s last 5 games of 2008, the defense gave up an average of 31.4 points per game, and the team’s turnover margin was (-6). Absent the greatest catch of A.J. Green’s young career in Lexington and a well-defensed last play of the day on the Plains, the Dawgs could very well have ended 7-5 and in Shreveport.
In conclusion: what characterized the Stafford Era, particularly from Auburn 2006 through the Michigan State victory, was flashes of brilliance followed by reversion to a mean, the mean being what we’ve talked about all summer: discipline problems on and off the field, dropped passes (and interceptions), drive-killing penalties (and drive-sustaining penalties), questionable special teams, and lack of leadership on defense (often due to injuries).
The brilliant victories (Auburn 06, Oklahoma St., Florida, Auburn & Hawaii in 07, Arizona State & LSU in 08) were interspersed with staggeringly bitter defeats (Chickens & Tennessee 07, Bama, Florida, & Tech in 08) and head scratching, why-do-I-bother games such as Vanderbilt 07 and most of the victories last year.
So, now that I’ve beaten the Stafford Era to a bloody pulp, will this year be any different?
Almost Certainly.
Comment at twitter.com/ThinkingBulldog
