Georgia vs. Florida: It's Now or Never for Mark Richt

In back-to-back years, now, Florida is fielding teams that are so bad that they can’t even field a punt.  Last year, Georgia was equally as bad, and lost a heartbreaker in overtime.

This year’s Georgia team has managed to find a pulse and is on a five-game winning streak. 

With an improved run game thanks to freshman phenom Isaiah Crowell and a replacement for A.J. Green in Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia is putting up solid numbers on offense.  In the second year under Todd Grantham, Georgia’s defense is showing great improvement as well.

The question is this: Can Mark Richt get over his fear of winning in Jacksonville and put one on this depleted Florida team?

With two weeks to prepare and most of the team expected to be healthy, Georgia will be in good position to play a great game.  Florida, who also has a bye week, is likely to get some key players back, including Jeff Demps and John Brantley.

If Brantley is mostly healthy and his unusually porous offensive line can keep him upright, then Florida should do better than their last three showings.

If he’s not 100 percent and Georgia can make it uncomfortable for him in the pocket, this game could quickly go the other way.  Without Brantley, Florida will be depending on a mixed bag of QBs, and this doesn’t bode well for their chances.

This game is importance to Richt for two big reasons.

First, he’s still on somewhat of a hot seat, and winning against the Gators will all but stop the noise coming from the ‘Fire Mark Richt’ club.  It will eliminate Florida as a contender for the SEC East and will leave only South Carolina, who is now without their all-world tailback Marcus Lattimore and senior quarterback Stephen Garcia. 

I said before that South Carolina would be good for two or three losses this year, and without Garcia and Lattimore it is almost guaranteed.  They won’t get past Arkansas and they should also lose to Florida.   In that case, Georgia goes to the SEC Championship game and that will buy Richt at least another year, and maybe a contract extension. 

If he gets that extension, look for several key recruits to commit to Georgia.

There may even be a few late surprises as some players who committed to other schools switch over to Georgia.  Georgia will make even more inroads into talent-rich Florida, considering that all three of the Florida schools are down.  Getting 'Dream Team No. 2' can only improve Georgia’s long term success.

The second reason that this game is of utmost importance to Richt is because next year, Florida doesn’t have the bye week and Georgia does.

This should be a huge advantage for Georgia.  If Georgia manages two wins back-to-back against Florida, it not only breaks the 20-year cycle of losing, but also puts tremendous pressure on their new head coach, Will Muschamp.   That will further affect recruiting and could even put Florida into another down trend, like in the Ron Zook years. 

It is now or never for Mark Richt.  If he can’t get it done against this Florida team, he’s not going to.