What a wasted season

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What a waste of a season. The Georgia Bulldogs entered the 2010 with tempered enthusiasm nationally (a No. 23 preseason ranking) but locally, many thought this team was ready to SOAR under the radar, perhaps all the way to an SEC championship game appearance. The defense was getting a facelift to the 3-4, but come on, the athletes that Georgia had? Some growing pains were expected maybe but not what we've seen aka the squad couldn't get off of the field against Mississippi State, couldn't stop Florida when it needed to, couldn't contain Ryan Mallet and Arkansas with under one minute to play, and couldn't even stop Cam Newton of Auburn when it KNEW he was going to run.

The offense was returning 10 of 11 starters and the running game was going to RUN THIS STATE (and hopefully the conference). Not so much. AJ Green missed the first four games and while I am not certain he would have made a difference against Arkansas, he certainly would have helped against Miss State and South Carolina.

The offensive line....well they pass blocked well...at times.

The redshirt freshman played well 90% of the season once the coaching staff took the shackles off, save for the first half of the Florida game. And even in that game against the Gators, Aaron Murray came back with a fantastic second half. He showed some poise and play-making ability.

So what held the season up? Other than Green's suspension, I would have to say not letting Aaron Murray be Aaron Murray for the first few weeks of the season. What were offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and head coach Mark Richt waiting for? This guy is BETTER than Joe Cox ever could have dreamed of being. They didn't need to protect Murray like they did against South Carolina. The Gamecocks couldn't stop the pass; why not let Murray rip a few? Against Arkansas, you saw the boy could chuck it, but the staff only let him start when down by a handful of touchdowns.

I hate laying the fault at the coaches' feet, especially when the gameplan was fine against Florida, because at some point the players must take some responsibility for their actions, but if Murray had been allowed to go full-bore at the start of the season, perhaps the South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State games result in wins, the Colorado game is a laugher for Georgia and suddenly the rest of the season looks a bit different. College football is all about momentum and the college kids cannot let losses go as quickly as pro players can. One loss can turn into three straight in a hurry unless the players can have their memories whitewashed, which is tough to do. Florida couldn't do it, and Georgia didn't do it this year either.

Such a shame because had Georgia won that South Carolina game, the Dawgs likely don't drop the next three and perhaps are playing in the SEC title game. Oh, if ONLY Green hadn't put $1000 in front of his teammates and Murray had been allowed to be Murray...