What Happened to Georgia?

This one's for you, Free Man.
The embattled Georgia Bulldogs, heir apparent to the championship flag that has been hoisted in Gainesville and then Baton Rouge successively, has turned in another typical season under coach Mark Richt.
Richt is a good coach, turning the Bulldogs into must-see TV and flaunting with greatness along the way. This season the Bulldogs played everybody straight up and honest, and found themselves 3 weeks in the season as far back as No. 3 and No. 4. Richt has never politicized the BCS, never selfishly promoted his team like some coaches. Took his losses like a man.
But that latest loss, the one to Georgia Tech?
That's bad football, many in Athens say.
But what many in the nation say is how could a preseason No. 1 that dismantled some good SEC teams get run over by a middle-of-the-road ACC team?
Let's recap:
Georgia led 28 - 12 at halftime.
But Georgia had to score a TD just to pull within three points on Matthew Stafford’s last touchdown throw to A.J. Green with 4:04 to play. Tech melted the clock with the most basic, and apparently devastating plays ever crafted in football: the option.
To say UGA had no answer to Tech's option is like saying Mark Richt is a little younger than Bobby Bowden.
Tech churned out 400 yards on the ground and turned in a 26-point third quarter that went as fast as Jackets quarterback Josh Nesbitt could toss his two-yard laterals to his halfbacks.
To make matters worse Bulldogs senior split end Mohamed Massaquoi (11 catches for 180 yards) had the field to himself. It was like Tech made a concerted effort to give Stafford (407 yards passing) the game ball. It still wasnt' enough for the Dawgs.
To be sure, the Bulldogs will play in a decent bowl game on New Year's Day. But it will be another year of what-ifs and what-might-have-beens.
Which, under Richt, is a typical UGA season.