Georgia faces fork in the road
After last week’s disaster against Alabama -- and it was a disaster -- the opinions on Georgia have changed for a lot of fans and media members alike.
How those opinions are shaped the rest of the season could hinge on the Bulldogs’ game Saturday at Tennessee.
The rest of Georgia’s season really could go one of two ways, and that starts with Saturday’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Bulldogs could rebound, beat the Volunteers and get their season back on track. The SEC East is easily winnable, and a victory Saturday could get Georgia right back on the path to winning the division.
Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt aren’t very good. Kentucky and Missouri are good, but they aren’t great.
And then there is Florida. The Gators are undefeated and made a big jump in the polls after blowing out Mississippi last week. The Gators look much improved, especially on offense, in head coach Jim McElwain’s first season. But are they for real? Can they be trusted to be real contenders for the division title? We’ll find out the next few weeks.
So it’s reasonable to believe that Georgia can get itself straightened out after putting up no fight last week -- at least after the game started -- and still win the division and get to the SEC championship game. Can it beat Alabama, LSU or Texas A&M in Atlanta? Well, that’s a totally different question, and Bulldogs fans probably won’t like the honest answer.
On the other hand, it’s reasonable to think Georgia’s season could go off the rails Saturday. Think the Georgia fans were upset after last week’s game? Imagine how bad things are going to get if the Bulldogs back up that game with a terrible performance against the Volunteers. That could lead to a disaster of a second half of the season and to some serious questions about the direction the program is headed.
And which direction it is headed this season depends on the team’s quarterback play.
Quarterback was the real question mark about this team going into the season, and the concerns about Greyson Lambert and Brice Ramsey were silenced through the first four weeks with Lambert’s mostly strong play. But all of those doubts came rushing back after Lambert’s terrible game (and Ramsey’s even worse play) against the Crimson Tide. If that continues, Georgia’s struggles are going to continue, and it’s going to be a really troublesome second half of the season.
If the Bulldogs, however, focus on their strengths -- their offensive line, running game and opportunistic defense and winning despite their quarterbacks -- they have a chance to bounce back.
Whichever path they take starts Saturday against the Volunteers.
Contact Daniel Shirley at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com
This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Georgia faces fork in the road ."