Hope dies a cruel death on the banks of the Tennessee River

If last weekend was a topsy-turvy tsunami of college football upsets, I don't even know how to characterize this weekend. This weekend, Notre Dame won. The king of the road, UGA's Mark Richt, got blown out in Knoxville. USC lost at home to the Fighting Harbaughs of Stanford. (Stanford!) No. 5 Wisconsin got whipped by a team coached by Ron Zook. (Yes, you read that right. Ron Zook).

Now UGA sits at 4 - 2, with all hopes of any SEC achievement pretty much sunk along with all the Jack Daniels bottles thrown overboard by the waterbound tailgaters of the Volunteer Navy. First and foremost, congrats to those wearing the color that looks like the diaper of a baby forcibly fed strained carrots for a month. Phat Phil, Chavis and Cutcliffe cooked up a good game plan and executed it (and us, with no ciggie or blindfold) exceptionally. We were outcoached, outhustled, outmanned and obviously, outscored. Here are the UGA highlights:

• Mimbs can kick.
• The much maligned Tripp Chandler had a good game, and manned up after weeks of harsh criticism.
• Goodman made a nice catch.
• We still have better uniforms that UT.

Did I miss anything?

Here's what we can be concerned about:

• Our D, which historically has kept things close, is now susceptible to embarrassing blowouts.
• Our O and D lines, a cause of concern because of depth and inexperience coming into the season, are severely overmatched.
• Our receivers can't get separation and often can't catch.
• Our QB, with all the talent in the world, still makes throws off his back foot and goes through periods of wild inaccuracy.
• The cries for Willie Martinez's job will only grow louder.
• In the past couple of years, we've had games where we looked thoroughly unprepared. For both opponents "big" and "small."
  
• Our gameplans on both sides of the ball are questionable, poorly executed, or both.
  
• We have a horrible tendency to shit the bed on a national stage. Don't think this doesn't stick with writers, analysts and voters.
• We seem to have a dearth of leadership.
• A traditional model of consistency would suggest that you win the ones you should, and at least split the ones you shouldn't. Now, with the exception of the Trade School, who knows?

That was an ugly one, Dawg fans. And there are a lot more questions on the horizon than there are answers, I'm afraid.