Entering the playoff era, it's win now for Georgia

No catchy phrase. No mantra. No brand.

That’s what the Bulldogs’ seniors decided when they met together this offeseason. 2013 was touted “One Dream.” That dream fell short of even a SEC East championship. This season — nothing.

“All of that stuff doesn’t matter. Just got out and win and take care of your business,” senior center David Andrews told the Athens Banner-Herald.

Though Georgia went 8-5 last year, it felt like a disappointment. An epic amount of injuries left the Bulldogs depleted heading into the back part of the schedule, a stretch of the season in which the ‘Dawgs struggled mightily.

Mark Richt’s tenure in Athens has made him one of the winningest coaches in program history, but has yet to reach THE game.

They have come close, however. Georgia finished third in the polls in 2002 and fifth in 2007. Then there was 2012, when the Bulldogs fell just yards shy of defeating eventual national champion Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

Had the playoff system existed, Georgia certainly would’ve been in the conversation.

“Yeah, we might have gotten in it a couple of times through the years, maybe two or three years,” Richt said.

Georgia has hopes of adding a third SEC championship to the trophy case, but the desired destination are the national semifinal games in New Orleans, La. and Pasadena, Calif. on January 1. The winners will advance to the national championship game on January 12 in Arlington, Texas.

Just get in, right? Well, yes. But it’s the top four teams. Out of 65 total teams in the Power Five conferences, plus any hoping to crash the party. Still, every game counts and still, you have to be really good.

“I think you can probably not even make it to the SEC game and be in the top four as well,” Richt said.

Many commentators believe that with this being the inaugural year of the playoff, the committee will not want to put two teams from the same conference into the four-team playoff. But winning the SEC all but secures your place.

Richt holds the fourth-best winning percentage among active coaches that have coached at least 100 games. His career record is 126-45. He coaches in a conference that won seven straight BCS titles, and appeared in eight straight championship games.

So when will it happen for Georgia? When will they cross the threshold under Richt?

“Well, how about this year?” Richt responded in an interview at SEC Media Days last month.

Fans around the league, and perhaps even in Athens, believe another coach could be as successful as Richt has been and get the Bulldogs to their goal.

They’re crazy.

Mark Richt has won at least 10 games eight times. That feat had been accomplished just twice prior to his arrival in 2001.

The injuries Georgia was dealt last season would have decimated even the most talented team. Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall, Malcolm Mitchell, Justin Scott-Wesley, Michael Bennett and Aaron Murray all missed parts or all of last season.

Making it through the college football season, especially in the SEC, is all about how kind the injury bug is to you and if the ball bounces your way. See Auburn in 2013. The Tigers’ run to the national championship game was enabled by their ability to stay healthy and to have a few breaks fall their way.

That’s the way the game works.

The Bulldogs open the season Saturday at No. 12 in the preseason AP poll. This team has the skill position talent and veteran leadership to make a run, however. The ‘Dawgs are deep, also. There is talent on the two-deep and three-deep at some positions.

Hutson Mason will have to do things to not lose games for the Bulldogs, and the defense will need to be much improved, which is expected under first-year coordinator and three-time national champion Jeremy Pruitt.

It all starts on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. EST.

Could it be that all Mark Richt and the Georgia Bulldogs needed was a playoff?

You just have to get in.