Georgia Football: SEC Champions? Don't Get Ahead of Yourself, Bulldog Fans!

After routing the Vanderbilt Commodores 43-0 on Saturday, and Tennessee the previous weekend, Georgia fans are in joy over something they have yet to experience in this young decade—a winning streak.

Three weeks ago, after losing four straight games, the season seemed lost in the minds of many people in the Peach State, and the job status of Mark Richt became a hot topic in the media. Winning the last two games will eliminate some the calls to fire Mark Richt, but the two-game streak has not assured him of job security beyond this year.

Many Georgia fans feel that Mark Richt is too nice of a guy to lead the team anymore, and that he has lost control of the program. Georgia has already had 11 players arrested during 2010. That’s enough to for a starting lineup on either side of the ball.

Winning the SEC, let alone the SEC East, would assure Mark Richt of his job going in to 2011. However, either achievement seems far-fetched at the moment. Florida’s three-game losing streak has put Georgia back in contention in the SEC East race, but Bulldog fans are getting ahead of themselves right now with SEC Championship speculation.

At 3-4, the Bulldogs' victories have come against unimpressive teams in home games. Louisiana-Lafayette is a 2-4 team in the Sun Belt Conference, and Vanderbilt and Tennessee are two of the three worst teams in the SEC (along with Ole Miss).

Georgia still has three tough SEC games left on its schedule, and none of them will be at Sanford Stadium. Also, let’s not forget about the annual matchup with Georgia Tech.

While Georgia has historically dominated their matchup with Kentucky, this game has become a trap game in recent years for Mark Richt and the Bulldogs. The Wildcats beat the Bulldogs in Lexington in 2006, and lost by only four points in 2008.

Kentucky beat Georgia in Athens last year 34-27 by making a fourth-quarter comeback. The Wildcats are coming off an upset win against South Carolina, and nearly beat Auburn two weeks ago. Under first-year head coach Joker Phillips, the Wildcats are averaging 35.3 point per game in an offense led by quarterback Mike Hartline.

The Bulldogs' new 3-4 defense has had trouble stopping explosive players all season, such as Marcus Lattimore and Joe Adams. Stopping Derrick Locke and a triple-threat like Randall Cobb is going to be a lot tougher for Georgia than stopping Tennessee and Vanderbilt’s subpar offenses the previous two Saturdays.

Aaron Murray and his wide receivers can put up a lot of yards, but can the running game find more consistency? Caleb King is suspended for this game, and Washaun Ealey’s only 100+ yard rushing game came last week against Vanderbilt.

Florida, the 2008 and 2009 SEC East champions, started the season 4-0, but has now lost three consecutive conference games to SEC West opponents. Their last two losses were close games  (31-29 to LSU, and 10-7 to Mississippi State) that came by a total five points.

The Gators have shown inconsistency on offense all year. John Brantley is nowhere near the caliber of quarterback that Tim Tebow was, and has thrown six touchdown passes to five interceptions. Jeffrey Demps has been the only consistent running back for the Gators, but he has yet to score a touchdown in a conference game.

Florida's losing streak gives them a 2-3 SEC record, tying them for second place in the SEC East with the Bulldogs and a half game behind South Carolina for the division lead. The Gators' losing streak gives Georgia an opportunity to win the SEC East, but no team has made it to Atlanta after starting out 0-3 in SEC games, as the Bulldogs have.

Also, in the event of a tiebreaker between South Carolina and Georgia, the Gamecocks have the edge because of their 17-6 win in September.  Florida put up 90 points against Georgia in their previous two meetings. While Tim Tebow is no longer Urban Meyer’s quarterback, the Gators have won 17 of the last 20 games against the Bulldogs and will likely be the favorites this year once again.

The November 6^th game against Idaho State should be an easy win for the Bulldogs, but it will be the complete opposite the following week against Cam Newton and Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Right now Cam Newton is a heavy Heisman favorite and the Tigers are assured of going to the BCS National Title Game if they win out.

Georgia has beaten Auburn the last four years, but the streak will be jeopardy if Cam Newton keeps playing like an SEC version of Vince Young.

Mark Richt is 8-1 all-time against Georgia Tech, but Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets will be ready to take on their in-state rivals after beating them in 2008 and losing a close game last year in the fourth quarter. Will the Bulldogs defense be prepared to stop the rushing attack of Josh Nesbitt and Anthony Allen? Its not too far-fetched to say the Bulldogs could be 4-7 or 5-6 heading in to this game.

Going to Atlanta (for an SEC Championship Game or the Chik-Fil-A Bowl) is still a possibility for the Georgia Bulldogs, but a small possibility. A losing streak from Florida pushed Georgia back in to contention in the SEC East. However, another losing streak by Georgia will end the Bulldog’s contention for an SEC title, and possibly the Mark Richt Era all together.