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July 20, 2009

Bad, But Not Alone

 
"We can't beat them either."
3-16.  How many times we will hear this in October?  3-16 is UGA's record against UF since 1990, the year of Spurrier's arrival.  It's embarrasing that the Gators have so dominated the past 19 years.  To put that record in context, though, I decided to look at everyone else's record against UF during that span too.  Well, actually, I'd rather look at 1992 to the present because that's when the SEC conference schedule as we now know it became standardized.
So, since 1992, UGA is 3-14 against the Gators.  In that same period, both UT and LSU are 5-12.  Those teams are playing the Gators in their stadiums every other year, both of which are pretty nasty places to play.  You'd think the home field might significantly alter the series, but it hasn't.  In the pregame hype before a Cocktail Party, no analyst's can resist the 3-16 jab at Georgia. So, why don't LSU and UT get similar treatment from the pundits?  My guess is that since both those teams have won MNCs recently, they get a pass.  Both these programs have been at or above UGA's level during that period, yet they couldn't muster many more wins than we did.
The LSU comparison is actually pretty interesting.  LSU went through some dark days in the 90's.  Georgia had their struggles that decade, too (although not quite as bad as LSU).   Both teams fortunes improved when Spurrier left and they got solid coaching.  The Tigers beat UF in 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2007.  UGA beat the Gators in 1997, 2004, and 2007.  Notice that UGA hasn't beaten UF unless LSU did it earlier in the same year.  The years that LSU won and we didn't were 2002 and 2005.  I don't need to remind you about those two games. 
We've been bad against the Gators, but we aren't alone.  The most prominent SEC teams aren't performing much better against the Gators.  I wouldn't expect ESPN to mention 5-12 next year in Baton Rouge, but I will be rooting pretty hard for the Tigers.

Quinton

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for the comparisons to LSU and UT. I knew the Gators were dominant, but not as dominant as they actually were.

Very good analysis, to the point, and yet another argument for KEEPING THE GAME IN JAX!!!

KingDawg said...

The UF game/travel has not been as bad as people think in the Richt era.

For the most part, the best team has won. Our biggest problem has been placekicking and drops.
2001 - UF was better.
2002 - We were better - missed some makeable FGS and the "drop".
2003 - We were better - missed more FGs and had more, but less notable drops.
2004 - We were better and we won.
2005 - UF was better than we were with JT3 at QB. We also missed some FGs and had some drops.
2006 - UF was better. (Still had some drops.)
2007 - We were better and we won.
2008 - UF was better - missed FGs again. (Although our offense may have been better, its hard to argue their defense did not make them better than us. Still, 49-10 does not often happen when 10 has more yards.)

That said, we've lost only 2 games in Jacksonville under Richt when we clearly had the better team. Those were his second and third years at UGA.

If we just catch the ball and make the FGs we normally make, Jacksonville won't be much of a problem.

The best argument there may be to leave Jax is that the wind affects our kickers too much. I'm sure Rex would have an answer for that.

mitch said...

I am completely against moving the cocktail party and this article backs that up. I had no clue UT and LSU struggled this bad against Florida too. Bottom line is florida brings in the best talent.

MikeInValdosta said...

Amen, KingDawg!

Anonymous said...

Well lets not accept our inadequacies against Florida b/c other teams have sucked just as bad. Its past time to start kicking Florida's ass.

Anonymous said...

So when some UGA fans claim that UGA/GT isn't a rivalry because GT is 1-7 in the past 8 years, does that mean that UGA/UF is also not a rivalry?

Unknown said...

I definitely had this same argument earlier this evening. So that I can just send this to those with whom I earlier argued, would you mind correcting the spelling of "prominent"?
Also, regarding the last two comments, first I highly doubt Quinton is in any way attempting justification on losses. Also, I don't see how this post infers UGA - UF is not a rivalry; the fact that UF is the only SEC East team LSU faces annually obviously makes that a rivalry (although that fact alone does not merit a higher or lower level of "rivalry"). To put it in context, Auburn's 6 in a row did nothing to devalue the hatred between it and the "Bama program.

Kenny said...

I think you are wrong if you think that Tennessee fans do not harp on their relative inadequecy against UF just as much as Georgia fans. It is a constant pain for them, and was a constant question for Fulmer during his tenure as head coach.

Also, I believe LSU is something like 4-5 since Saban turned the program around, nothing to brag about, but what you would expect from two SEC powers.

To hell with UF said...

KingDawg,
Good assessment, but the wind affects FL's kicker too, as well as their passes.

As with the location, the wind is no excuse.

We need to line up and brow beat those sonofabitches.

todd said...

You are asking a question that I have for years. Why is it only UGA's losing record that is pointed out? Especially when Tennessee and Auburn were better than we were in the 90's and *should* have gotten more wins than we did anyway.

If you go back to 1990, Auburn got the wins in 1993 and 1994, but they also received the most brutal beatdowns. It may have been hard to notice that while we were receiving our own.

And it's always the biggest joke to me when people try to put Tennessee in Florida's class in the 90's. Not if you look at 1993-2000. They won the same # of games vs. Florida as we did, and at least we never gave up 62 points.

LSU was even worse off than we were. But it was UGA that you always heard about.

I suspect that part of it is what comes out of Gainesville itself. Given our history and our rivalry, the Gators took more delight in running up a record vs. us than they did vs. Auburn, Tennessee, or LSU.

Quinton McDawg said...

Sorry, Brad. My spelling error is corrected.

Billy Donovan said...

I know what you guys are talking about. Pete Hermann owns me, and there's nothing I can do about it.

D.N. Nation said...

Is there really any question that we would have run all over Florida if DJ was able to take the snaps? That Florida team to that point had played some lousy, lousy ball.

Between DJ not playing and Richt obviously playing rope-a-dope for the SEC East crown (hey, Urban...maybe you shoulda focused on your other games, too), that game was a gigantic mulligan if there ever was one.

All I remember was whipping LSU in the Dome a month later and Florida, um, playing frisbee or whatever.

Paul said...

The bottom line on why Tennessee and LSU (especially) aren't dragged through the mud regarding UF is UT's 1998 MNC and LSU's two MNCs in very recent memory.

The other reason Georgia's record is highlighted is that it's painfully obvious (as it was for UT prior to 1998) to everyone that our performance versus Florida the last 20 years has cost us opportunities at the national championship. Once we win it back-to-back, those voices will quiet down.

And, FWIW, anon 1:24: Georgia:Flordia::Georgia Tech:Georgia. I'm sure with the stellar SATs which Tech students bring to the table that they will understand.

The very sparse wins for Tech over the last 15-20 years doesn't make the rivalry, it's the outlandish claims of dominance coming from North Avenue anytime Tech pulls itself together to win one that does. Honestly, I thought it was dead when Tech lost to UGA in '06. That was the best Tech team in a long time and they got absolutely punked by UGA. With Johnson on The Flats, I think it will become a competitive game year in and year out. I certainly am not looking forward to it this year since we're sans the off-week prior to Tech.

 
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