Georgia Football: Ghosts of 2007 Have Returned to Haunt Fans Once More

At the conclusion of the 2007 college football season, I found myself wondering, "What if Georgia had not lost at home to South Carolina?"

Four years later, I find myself once again considering the same question.

In 2007, the Dawgs lost 16-12 to South Carolina during the second week of the season.  They finished the regular season with a 10-2 (6-2) record and qualified for a Sugar Bowl showdown with Colt Brennan and undefeated Hawaii.  After thrashing the Rainbow Warriors 41-10, the Bulldogs earned the No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press' 2008 Preseason Poll.

Most fans blame the 2008 team for squandering Georgia's best opportunity to win a national championship since Herschel Walker left the university, but what if Georgia had not lost at home to South Carolina during the 2007 season?

In all likelihood, Georgia would have won the 2008 BCS Championship Game. 

Had the Georgia receivers (specifically Tony Wilson and Tripp Chandler) not dropped several important passes, the Dawgs would have surely mustered the additional touchdown which would have lifted them past the pesky Gamecocks.

With that additional win, Georgia would have improved their conference record to 7-1 and would have qualified for an SEC Championship match against eventual national champions LSU.  While the Tigers had begun the season as favorites to hoist the crystal trophy, their BCS Championship Game ambitions were deflated by two triple overtime losses to Kentucky and Arkansas.

The Bayou Bengals were so exhausted by the time they reached the SEC Championship Game, they needed two fourth quarter interceptions to slip past a very mediocre Tennessee team which had previously lost to Florida by 39 points.

Had the ascendant Dawgs clinched the SEC East, I'm quite confident Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown would have ravaged the fatigued LSU front.  With a win in this contest, one-loss Georgia would have rose to No. 1 in the BCS rankings and would have been the designated SEC team chosen to thrash Ohio State in the BCS Championship Game.

Fast forward four years, and we encounter the identical frustration.  Having begun the season with a one-sided defeat to non-AQ powerhouse Boise State before accruing a third week two loss to South Carolina in four seasons, most fans are pretty darn happy to have finished the regular season with a 10-2 (7-1) record and as SEC East Champions.

Nevertheless, the 45-42 loss to South Carolina seems to once again have cost Georgia a clear shot at the national championship.

Had South Carolina been LSU, Alabama, or even Arkansas, fans could understand.  Surely a Georgia team loaded with first-year starters was not ready to compete with elite competition in only the second week of the season.

However, the opponent was South Carolina, and Georgia looked the better team through all four quarters.  Yet, the Bulldogs inexplicably surrendered three non-offensive touchdowns which gave the Gamecocks the slight advantage needed to escape town with a victory.

If Georgia had defeated their annoying nemesis, the Dawgs could have finished with an 11-1 record and head coach Mark Richt could have amassed a perfect 8-0 conference record for the first time in his 11-year tenure at UGA.  Likely to be ranked fourth in the current BCS rankings, Georgia would have played LSU in the SEC Championship for both conference bragging rights and a berth into the BCS Championship Game.

Nevertheless, Georgia has a glorious chance to restore the swagger that was stolen from them in the now infamous 2008 blowout loss to Alabama.

Win or lose next weekend, I hope Richt has learned from his previous mistakes and leads his Junkyard Dawgs to an even more prosperous 2012 season.