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[su_spacer size=”40″] It was the two losses to Ron Zook, and the one last year. Those are the ones that really stung. Mark Richt is in his 15th season as Georgia’s head football coach, and Saturday afternoon he will face his fifth different counterpart on the Florida sidelines. Starting Jim McElwain off with a loss in his first cocktail party would be a big coup for the program and mark a fourth win over the Gators in five years. A loss puts that three-game winning streak during the Will Muschamp era at Florida a bit further in the rear view mirror.
[su_spacer size=”40″] In the 21st century, Jacksonville has often been the Bulldogs Waterloo.
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Steve Spurrier, one of the greatest coaches in Southeastern Conference history, led the Gators past the Bulldogs 24-10 in 2001, his final year at Florida and Richt’s first season at the helm.
[su_spacer size=”40″] It was the next two years that Georgia’s path to college football’s grandest prize was sidetracked.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Richt had a slew of talent and the Bulldogs ascending upward, while Florida made an unpopular hire in Ron Zook.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Heavily favored, undefeated Georgia fell to thrice-beaten Florida 20-13 in 2002, as the Bulldogs missed out on a slew of golden opportunities. Twice in the red zone, the Dogs didn’t punch in touchdowns and compounded those squandered chances with missed field goals, one following a bizarre body splash penalty. Georgia was running for a long defensive touchdown and three Bulldogs trailing All-American David Pollack, instead of turning to block the lone Gator in pursuit, clamored for the football, the Dogs handed off ahead, the touchdown was negated and the Dogs didn’t score. Finally, down 20-13, a dropped pass cost Georgia the tying touchdown. That Bulldogs team would rebound and rally to beat Ole Miss, edge Auburn in an instant classic, rout Tech and then Arkansas to win the SEC Championship Game and cap one of the great years in Bulldog annals with a Sugar Bowl triumph over Florida State to finish 13-1 and No. 3 in the land.
[su_spacer size=”40″] But that loss to the Gators, it cost the Bulldogs a shot at the Bowl Championship Series Title Game featuring Ohio State and Miami. An undefeated Georgia would have almost certainly bumped one out of the spot, or at least had a crack at a split poll national title.
[su_spacer size=”40″] That would happen the following year, but it was LSU who claimed the crown, sharing the national championship with Southern Cal. The Bayou Bengals beat Oklahoma in New Orleans, while Southern Cal won the Rose Bowl.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia lost a heart-breaker in Baton Rouge 17-10, a game eerily similar to the previous season’s heartbreak in Jacksonville. But the Bulldogs were squarely in the mix, once-beaten and ranked fourth in the land. But Georgia fell to a Florida team that had again been saddled with three losses 16-13, as missed opportunities again haunted Georgia, including a first-and-goal inside the Florida 10-yard line with the Bulldogs trailing 13-10. Kregg Lumpkin was chewing up yardage, but on the ensuing three downs, Georgia didn’t lean on him, went to the air, and settled for three. Florida then kicked the game-winner, and the Bulldogs were beaten, down-trodden and the red and black faithful were left in despair. Georgia would rebound and go 10-2, earning a berth in Atlanta, where the Dogs would fall to LSU. Those two regular season losses were gut-wrenchers.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Spurrier, and Zook’s successor Urban Meyer are all-time great coaches with national championships. But those two losses in 2002 and 2003, those two brutal setbacks when Georgia clearly had the better team and the better coach, that cost the Bulldogs the opportunity two straight seasons of heading to Atlanta with a shot at the national title on the line, and equally important, the chance to swing the series back the way of the Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Then there was last season.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Florida was floundering, coming off a 42-13 drubbing at the hands of Missouri in Gainesville, it was the Gators third loss of the year.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia was once-beaten and heavily favored.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Special teams turned the flow of the game and Florida came back from a 7-0 deficit to roll to a 38-20 win. The Bulldogs championship dreams were dashed.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Richt’s record vs. Florida is 5-9, including that aforementioned three-game winning streak from 2011-13. The two to Zook’s Gators and the one last year, those are the two that could have and would have completely altered the course of Georgia’s national championship drought and shifted 21st century control of the series to Athens. That would be 8-6, another trip to Atlanta, and who knows, maybe a big ring.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs head into this season’s match-up at 5-2.
[su_spacer size=”40″] From 1997-2005, Georgia went to Jacksonville either undefeated or only once-beaten nine straight years. But since 2006, the Bulldogs have now had two or more losses prior to the Cocktail party in seven of 10 campaigns.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The path to greatness for Georgia runs through Jacksonville. Just think of some of the greatest wins for the Bulldogs over the Gators, they coincide with tremendous seasons for Georgia — the first ten SEC titles in program history, plus 1945, 1971, 1975, 1983, 1997, 2007 and 2012. In fact, the only two Georgia teams that won the SEC title and lost to Florida were the champions of2002 and 2005, that 14-10 loss leading to the what if D.J. Shockley had been able to play question?
[su_spacer size=”40″] To hoist championship trophies, Georgia must arrive in Jacksonville in contention. And win, especially the games the Bulldogs are supposed to win.
[su_spacer size=”40″] History has shown us how this series can swing dramatically. Georgia was 15-4 against the Gators from 1971-1989. Florida then won 18 of the next 21.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The series is again at a fork. Florida is in the hunt for a berth in Atlanta and a possible dream season. Georgia could derail that and be the team in that spot heading to Jacksonville in 365 days. It would sure be nice to be in that spot, and to be hunting a championship with the confidence of having won four of the last five meetings against a coach, although it would be just one meeting, with a losing record in the series.
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[su_spacer size=”40″] Make sure to check out Bulldawg Illustrated’s latest print edition: Trick or Treat, digital issue available for free online. CLICK HERE.
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