Florida/Georgia game holds added significance for Bulldogs coach Mark Richt
By John Hollis
Published:
It’s one of 12 regular season games on the schedule, but the annual trek to Jacksonville to meet rival Florida means a lot more than that to Georgia coach Mark Richt.
Rivalries are what make college football great, and the Bulldogs’ annual tussle with their neighbors to the south is one steeped in rich history and lofty talk of games gone by.
But like the others from Richt’s 15-year tenure in Athens, Saturday’s nationally televised game with the 11th-ranked Gators at EverBank Field will hold considerably more significance because it has always been the singular game by which he has always been perceived by his own rabid fan base.
Fair or unfair, the contest has become the standard by which Richt is judged.
Some see his 5-9 career record against the Gators as further proof that he can’t win big games, while supporters note that Richt’s impressive resume includes two outright SEC championships, five division titles and 14 consecutive bowl appearances.
Definitely nothing to sneeze at, but Georgia fans envious of seeing national championship banners being raised at fellow SEC schools in Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Florida have pushed the bar of expectations ridiculously high. Nothing short of a championship will ever pacify that bunch. To them, Richt will always be an unproven outsider until he does and never reach the beloved status of, say, Vince Dooley.
But this year’s game in Jacksonville against the Gators figures to have added intrigue, given that a coaching vacancy just opened up at Richt’s alma mater at the University of Miami with the firing of Al Golden.
It’s certainly not the first time the job has come open since Richt took over in Athens, but a loss on Saturday will likely prompt more calls from disgruntled Georgia fans for him to seriously consider making such a jump this time. That’s because a loss to Florida would dash any chances of reaching the SEC title game and resign the Dawgs to another meaningless bowl game.
Both the fan base and their coach would then be equally frustrated beyond measure as a season that began with so much promise came crashing down to earth with a thud.
Who’s to say what happens then? Richt may take a hard look at South Beach after all.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
