By Steve Eubanks
FOXSportsSouth.com
December 31, 2010
Maybe Uga knew something we didn't.
The well-fed English bulldog missed the trip to the Memphis for the Liberty Bowl with an upset stomach. After watching Georgia's performance against the University of Central Florida, the rest of the Bulldog nation felt a little queasy as well.
Georgia capped off their worst season since Ray Goff rode into the sunset by losing 10-6 to the UCF Knights. For Dawg fans it was embarrassing, depressing, frustrating, sad, and not at all unexpected. The Bulldogs played like their head coach looked: meek and disinterested.
UCF set the tone early when they appeared to return the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. But a suspect holding call gave Georgia an early second wind. Mark Richt's squad failed to do much with it. On fourth and inches with 2:02 left in the first quarter, Richt showed how much confidence he had in his highly-touted offensive line by kicking a field goal. It would be Georgia's only points until five and a half minutes into the third quarter when Blair Walsh would boot another field goal to make it a 6-3 game.
That was when faithful followers of the Bulldogs knew it was over. Georgia seemed destined to lose. With 9:03 left in the game, that prediction proved accurate. UCF took the lead when Latavius Murray ran through the porous Georgia defense and found the end zone standing up. It was the only touchdown of the game.
Georgia finished the season with seven losses for the first time since 1990. Even the Dawgs' six wins were suspect. In their final regular season game, Georgia mailed in a win over Georgia Tech, and the other victories were against teams that finished a combined 18-41.
In Memphis, the Bulldogs underwhelmed at every turn. They were held to 81 yards on the ground, and even though Aaron Murray passed for 198, he was 3-for-14 on third down and threw two interceptions.
