Georgia/Florida: Is This the Ugly Win That Georgia Needed?

For 11 years under Steve Spurrier, Florida clearly outmatched Georgia and the record showed it.  After that, Georgia was as good as or better than the Florida team that it faced many times, but the trend had been set.

Florida had the momentum and Georgia ended up playing not only Florida, but the Florida Curse.

When Georgia did win, it won big and Florida would just take that win and use it as motivation to practice harder and take back the series the next year. Think about 2007 when Meyer said of the celebration that it was a big deal and that he would take care of it. He did to the tune of a 49-10 whipping of Georgia.

This year, it won ugly and I mean UGLY. If you didn’t watch the game and I told you that Georgia had two missed field goals, let Florida run a kick back for a TD and that QB Aaron Murray had a 44 percent completion rate, your reaction would be, “Well, Georgia lost another one to Florida.”

But it didn’t lose. It fought back again and again and again. 

I was reminded of the scene in Captain America where a then-puny Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, was getting pelted by a bully. The bully kept knocking him down and Rogers would get back up for more.  Finally the bully said “Stay down.” Steve’s response was, “I can do this all day”. 

That was exactly what Georgia said Saturday. Missed field goal, get back up. Kick return for a TD, get back up. Bad punting, get back up.  And on it went until, finally, the tide turned and Georgia won the game.

I think that this win was exactly what Georgia needed to finally put a death nail in the coffin of the Florida Curse. It didn’t fold when it had every reason to do so. It won the game. Even better, it didn’t give Florida any extra motivation like 2007. It had a chance to score a final TD as time ran out, but chose to walk off of the field. 

Do you think Coach Spurrier would do that? How about Coach Meyer? Both coaches would have gone for six and the two-point conversion.

Mark Richt took the high road and walked away the winner. 

Richt should take this win and use it not only as motivation for the rest of the season, but next year as well. While I am no fan of the fake juice, I think Richt needs to circle his players, have them write down their biggest mistake from the Georgia/Florida games, put it in a box and bury it and the Florida Curse. 

This is the first time in 20-plus years that Georgia has a win over a first-time Florida coach. That to me is a good omen. We also have the off week next year while Florida doesn’t. Not only that, but Georgia has a lot of very young talented players who are stepping up.

Florida, on the other hand, is a train wreck and is at least another year away from putting together the players that it will need to run a pro-style offense. 

Assuming that Richt wins enough games to come back next year, and frankly even losses to Auburn and Tech would likely see him coming back, then he will be in the best position of his career to turn the tide. 

I’m thinking that he finally does it.