But at least they only lost by 4.

I have been absent from my computer (and indeed, much of the rest of the world) with an unpleasant illness the past couple of days. I like to blame the Georgia Bulldogs.

Some thoughts:

1. Some piss-poor playcalling. 3rd and 2 late... 2 talented feature backs, a horse of a QB... I know, let's run to the outside with the slowest guy on the team. Sounds retarded, no? But Bobo called it in, Sutherland on a sweep. And what is even more amazing than the fact that he made such a moronic call was that it would have worked if not for...

2. Piss-poor execution. Someone needs to explain to Mo-Mass that a block requires physical contact with the man in front of him. I saw more physical blocks in intramural flag football. And of course, when talking about poor execution in Georgia games, one always comes back to...

3. Dropped pass after dropped pass after dropped pass. I will be the first to admit that my boy Stafford did not play well. But his skill players (defined loosely, to include Tripp Chandler) need to help the big guy out from time to time. And by "from time to time" I mean most specifically when you are holding the game-tying touchdown in your hands, there, Tony Wilson.

4. But most perplexing, perhaps, was Richt's decision to kick the field goal when Georgia had it 4th and 15 from the 20.

This is not second guessing. Anyone watching the game with me knows that I was loudly and crudely calling for the offense to go back out there on 4th down.

The reasons are simple. There were 4 minutes left in the game. Georgia had not consistently stopped the run all night. To give the ball back to South Carolina to let them eat up the clock did not seem like a good idea to me.

But what's more, even when the kick was good, the Dawgs still needed a touchdown. If they had been down by six, I would understand kicking, to pull within a field goal. But they were down seven. They still needed to march the full length of the field when (or, indeed, if) they got it back.

And if they had failed on the 4th down, the Dawgs were giving South Carolina the ball back in the same spot where they would have taken over after a kickoff. Field-position wise, the Dawgs were no worse by missing it on 4th down than by taking the 3 and kicking back off.

Predictably, Georgia kicked the field goal, let South Carolina eat up tons of yards and clock, and then could not get the job done when they were left throwing desperation heaves downfield.

I love Richt. I think he is a good coach. But occasionally, he needs an associate head coach of clock management. And sometimes, I am afraid he needs an associate head coach of common sense. Unless he feels that a 4 point loss is somehow nobler than a 7 point loss.