They seem to have thrown down the gauntlet. There's a spending arms race going on throughout college football, and UGA has long viewed itself as a premiere program that "deserves" a national championship. There's a lot of embarrassment within UGA circles that they haven't won since '80 -- not just in Athens, but all over the state where you have prominent UGA alumni. They've pulled out all the stops to get it done.
With the close calls Georgia has had in recent years, I feel that if they don't get it done this year, they may never have a shot at a title for a long time. Kirby Smart was brought in to do one thing, to win a title and not just to have 10 or 11-win seasons. They were already doing that with Coach Richt. I'd always felt if they hadn't run CMR out of town, they eventually would have had their national championship... and he would have retired a legend there. Coach Smart is one of the best recruiters in college football right now, but Coach Richt and his staff were nearly every bit as good. Both coaches have/had difficulty coaching up the talent on their rosters. Historically, a lot of talent gets wasted at UGA. But in one significant area, Coach Richt was much better than Kirby Smart: evaluating and coaching QBs.
Right now, the news is about the success Justin Fields is having up at Ohio State. This fact isn't lost on the UGA fan base at all. Some are actually angry, not just at UGA for letting Fields go, but the fact that UGA couldn't develop his potential the way OSU could. What's not being talked about much is the quiet success Jacon Eason is having out in Washington. The Huskies are only 6-5, but Eason is putting together some decent performances. Coach Richt had a knack for mentoring QBs. He developed Stafford into a QB who'd eventually become a longtime NFL starter. Then he mentored Aaron Murray, who probably outperformed his natural gifts. I think Jacob Eason would have been his prize pupil, but he never got to coach him for one down. Eason likely would have started four years at Georgia, barring serious injury. With their running game, coupled with a pure passing threat, they would have been unstoppable. I'm glad Tech never had to face a Richt-coached Eason!
It feels a lot like '81 right now, a time when Tech was inconsequential and UGA seemed unstoppable. But then '84 happened. Georgia was heavily favored coming into that game and ended up getting blown out. Georgia will be beatable again in a few years. If Tech can keep them under 30 points this Saturday and score a touchdown or two, that would be almost as good as a victory.
