Nobody Knows Anything: Another Mark Richt letdown
But he's a really good guy. (Image courtesy: TheBigLead.com)
This week's games that made no sense to anyone:
Georgia Tech 30, Georgia 24
Nothing is ever simple with Mark Richt’s Georgia teams. There always seems to be a suspension, a dumbfounding loss and high expectations going into the next season. Now, for the first time in a long time, there’s a loss to Georgia Tech, too.
Georgia finished the year 9-3. The Bulldogs were far and away the most talented team in the SEC East, beating division champion Missouri by a score of 34-0 in October. Yet, the Bulldogs also dropped games against middling South Carolina and Florida teams to keep them out of the SEC title game. Those can’t be explained away by injuries and the mean, old NCAA. They are just terrible disappointments.
As for Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets get a chance to knock off their third straight quality opponent Saturday against Florida State. Not bad for a coach I thought was on the hot seat in August.
Pittsburgh 35, Miami 23
The Hurricanes gave everything they had a few weeks ago against Florida State, but their follow-up performances against Virginia and Pittsburgh left a lot to be desired.
The Panthers’ best player, running back James Conner, gained 75 yards and scored 2 touchdowns despite being limited by injury. 'Canes freshman quarterback Brad Kaaya was inefficient against Pittsburgh’s beleaguered secondary, completing fewer than half of his passes.
Miami finished 6-6, just like Pittsburgh. If Paul Chryst and Al Golden go 6-6 next season, they’ll probably be fired. Two more rebuilding projects is not what the ACC Coastal needs.
Stanford 31, UCLA 10
Well, Stanford righted the ship rather quickly. Going into the California game two weeks ago, it was not out of the question that Stanford would miss a bowl game. Two weeks later, the Cardinal are 7-5 with a rout of one of the best teams in the Pac-12 South to their name.
UCLA finishes its disappointing season on an appropriate note. The preseason playoff dark horse saw quarterback Brett Hundley struggle again before getting injured, again. UCLA lost just one game in the Pac-12 South, but drawing Oregon and Stanford out of the North was always going to be an issue.
After having his name thrown about for the Texas job last offseason, Jim Mora Jr. will probably be a candidate somewhere in the upcoming weeks. He does not have any obvious ties anywhere other than Washington, and he has been good but not great in Los Angeles. If nothing else, Mora will probably get a raise.