Oh the Horror!

There is perhaps no evil greater than that of the Big Organge Empire to the north. While in recent years the dogs have seemed to have an uncanny ability to upset and all together fluster the the Great Pumpkin and his legions of Orange clad followers. And through the first two quarters of Saturday nights game much to my surprise it seemed that the forces of evil were again going to be foiled. For an entire half of football the Big Orange Nation was in shock as the Dawgs pounded them in every way imaginable. Its hard to believe that anything could've gone more in our favor during that first half, with the exception of stopping that final drive that allowed UT to cut our lead to 17. However with a 17 point lead and the way our D had been playing lights out for the first part of the season victory was almost assurred, but for one wicked prophecy from the Great Orange evil who must not be named. Going into his locker room to regroup and replinsh his powers with a fresh bucket of KFC the Great Pumpkin made a comment not of despair, but of fortold evil to come by proclaiming that it was not a matter of stopping UGA, but rather would the forces of good ever be ever to slow down the offense of the Great Orange Juggernaut. Of course we all laughed. It was like the threat of condemned man shouting curses to the multitudes gathered to watch his execution, and then to our horror it came true.

I'm not entirely sure where the blame or the praise for what happens belongs. Was it a complete inability of the Georgia team to do anything right on O or D, or was it purely superior execution by the other team. My biased opinion is that our own mistakes and inability to react to what was being thrown at us was our undoing, but that is probably due to not being able to acknowledge a job well done by anyone wearing the Orange and White. The truth is probably somewhere in between. A little bit of exploitation of our bend and never firm up defense versus our supposed experienced QB making mistakes you expect from one of the more talented Freshmen. At least the freshmen have the talent to awe you, where as the less gifted Senior if he is not consistent and safe gives you nothing to work with. Our heretofore, stellar Defense was as pourous as swiss cheese. Our soft cover 2 defense designed to keep everything in front of the safeties was a virtual playground for the UT QB and receivers who ran freely anywhere they wanted until they found space to make catches for no great amount, but just enough to move the chains. So in theory our defensive scheme was a success. UT had no big plays like they've used to score versus other teams instead they were content to widdle away the yardage, and let our defenders make tackles after a pitch and catch of 8-12 yards.

The most gut wrenching part of the entire things is not that we lost (I for one expected that), but rather that we allowed hope to rise to euphoric levels only to have it all crushed just as quickly as it came to be. Our own mistakes and inablility to make the required adjustments were our undoing, and unfortunately it is not a problem that is new to anyone who has followed UGA football. Willie Martinez may be a very capable defensive coordinator, but he is far from a superb DC. He is able to create a defensive scheme that can stop less talented teams and hold them in check, but against an offensive play caller with equal or greater talent Martinez is out matched. His bland play calling and conservative to the point of ineffective formations will continue to be our undoing. I for one have long been a critic of Mr. Martinez, and have felt that our drop in defensive production is directly proportional to loss of coaching talent that occurred, with the loss of Brian Van Gorder. I do not believe that Richt would ever make a coaching change unless he forced into it, and think Martinez will always do enough to keep his job, but that loyalty may also be the very thing that will always hold UGA back from being a truly top tier program.