I have a turnover hangover. Three second-half picks and a fumble gift-wrapped the game on Saturday as Florida capitalized and pulverized our Bulldogs 49-10.

The classless Urban Meyer won this round. There will be more rounds to play, though. How much you wanna bet that Mark Richt is "big enough" to not strike back at Meyer for the two time-outs that Meyer called in the final minute of Saturday's debacle? Meyer's first T.O. was petty and befitting the guy who called it. The second was laughable - kinda like hearing some redneck use a racial epithet again and again in today's day and age. You wanna look at the guy and say, "Hey, you really are that small, that bitter, that ignorant, aren't you?"

Anyway, our (Ray Goff and yours truly) Sunday morning talk show "The Applebee's Bulldog Brunch" was flooded with unhappy Bulldogs dialing in to be heard. Can't blame a single one. We stunk up the joint on Saturday.

What surprised us though is the misplaced fault that many fans placed squarely at the feet of Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez and his players. It's quizzical. On Saturday our offense:

•  missed two "gimme" field goals
•  missed a wide open receiver in the end zone
•  mis-played a potential TD pass in the end zone
•  turned the ball over four times in one half
•  set up Florida with short field position - inside our 42-yard line four times, our 25 yard line thrice

Yet our fans are/were carping about the Georgia defense!

I'll tell ya, the people who don't understand the utter basics of turnovers and field position really shouldn't be allowed to buy tickets. Or procreate.

Seriously - Georgia's defense looked like Elmer Fudd boxing against the Kangaroo. Wham, wham, wham!!! Never had a chance and were knocked silly just trying.

The Bulldogs offense kept setting up the Gators -one of the most potent attacks in America - and some proffer that our defense was supposed to hold back the onslaught from our own 1, 10 and 25 yard-lines? Not to mention from our own 41 after the bungled on-side kick attempt?

Yup. The naysayers wanna blame the defense. One caller droned on that we didn't have these problems when Brian Van Gorder was coaching David Pollack, Thomas Davis and Odell Thurman back in 2004. Yessir, I believe that is absolutely correct.

Brian Van Gorder is not only a terrific defensive coach but a friend of mine. And my guess is that he'd be the first to tell you that there aren't any Thomas Davis's or David Pollacks in the 2008 lineup. In case it escaped you, BOTH OF THOSE GUYS WERE FIRST ROUND NFL DRAFT CHOICES!

I beg of anyone to show me the two Georgia defensive players who will be picked in the first round this April.

There are 119 Division 1-A teams plus plenty of smaller schools that send players to the NFL every year. Each team will have about 20 guys exhaust his respective eligibility PLUS a few talented underclassmen who will decide to skip their final year(s). So, out of approximately 2,500 "eligible" college football players only 32 can become first round draft choices each year.

Pollack and Davis were both first-rounders off of the 2004 squad, and Odell Thurman was the overall 48th pick, going midway through the second round. So the answer is, "You hit the nail on the head, sir. Coach Martinez does not have Pollack, Davis and Thurman doing the yeoman's work."

Pollack, Davis, Thurman…that's a whole lotta talent coming off of one side of the ball into the NFL. Other major contributors to Coach Mark Richt's first four defenses (under Brian Van Gorder) include Johnathon Sullivan (1), Tony Gilbert (6), Robert Geathers (4), Sean Jones (2), Boss Bailey (2) and Greg Blue (5). Draft rounds in parentheses.

Let's look at the 2004 game against the Gators. I pulled up the drive chart from Georgia's 31-24 victory (the only time that Pollack, Davis and Thurman beat Florida in their years in red and black) and here's what I found:

•  In 2004 the Gators offense NEVER started a drive in UGA territory.
•  Meanwhile in 2008 Florida initiated four drives inside Georgia's 42.
•  In 2004 Florida's average starting field position was the Gators' 23 yard line.
•  In 2008 the Gators average starting field position was the Georgia 47 yard line.
•  That's a 30 yard difference just starting out. On every drive!

Blaming the defense for Saturday's gaffe-strewn performance is like blaming a robbery victim for carrying a wallet.

I'm not casting aspersions, but if you want to compare the 2004 team to the 2008 team talent-wise, you should take a look at the three Georgia players who have the talent to be first rounders when they come out: Stafford, Moreno, A.J. Green. That's the logical comparison to the 2004 squad. Not defense to defense or offense to offense, but talent level to talent level, and the superstar talent level is on the offensive side of the ball with this Georgia team.

So, is the offensive coordinator to blame? Not when the players miss two short field goals, drop a TD pass, miss an open receiver in the end zone and kick a toss sweep. Those five plays made the difference in a 20 point swing. That doesn't even take into account the interceptions and accompanying long returns. Those are player mistakes, not coaching.

Good news is that all three of those guys posted lovely numbers on Saturday. Bad news is that they didn't take care of the football.

So…time to move forward.

I was delighted to see that Tulsa lost to Arkansas on Saturday. The 8-0 Golden Hurricanes were dreaming of a B.C.S. berth until they ran into a 3-5 Razorbacks team. Imagine. These small conference schools post their gaudy records and lay claim to being disrespected and demand their pieces of the B.C.S. pie. Then one of their best can't even beat an S.E.C. team that's defeated only one B.C.S. conference school itself this year (Arkansas three wins came against Auburn, Western Illinois and Louisiana Monroe by a combined eight points).

The Tulsa loss removes one undeserving team from Georgia's path to finishing 11-2 and ranked in the top ten in the nation.

That's the goal now, friends. As disappointing as that destination may seem today -- based on the pre-season zenith at which we were supposed to finish -- it would still be one heckuva fine accomplishment.

Did you really think that Georgia would finish 14-0 against our vicious schedule, an S.E.C. West champion in the title game and a B.C.S. title game opponent? Even after all of the injuries?

All of us in the Bulldog Nation were saddened by the mistake-laden showing against Florida. I, quite literally, felt sick to my stomach at half-time when I realized the opportunities that we had squandered in not leading Florida but instead trailing them 14-3. Our play Saturday reminded me too much of our play in the 1990's against the Gators. The score reflected that thinking.

This morning though, I am looking at a squad that still has a chance to finish 11-2 against one of the toughest schedules in America. I see a team that has won 16 of its last 18 outings including a 6-2 record against ranked opponents. I'm gazing in admiration at a program that has posted a 71-17 record over the past six-plus seasons, has won two S.E.C. titles, played in three B.C.S. bowl games and can finish in the top ten in the nation for the sixth time in seven years. To compare our program today to the state of Bulldog football in the 1990's is a preposterous supposition.

The loss to Florida was disheartening and painful. But there's a 24-hour rule in football, so get over it and get ready for Kentucky.

After all, if you can't put the loss in the rear view mirror how can you possibly expect anything different from the players and coaches?

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