Something has got to change. A season after having one of the nation’s most formidable defenses, the 2008 edition of Georgia’s defense has been anything but fearsome. More like laughable.

Three times this season, Georgia’s defense allowed 41 points or more, something that only happened one other time since 2002, when Tennessee dropped 51 in Athens on Oct. 7, 2006.

And Saturday’s performance against Georgia Tech was inexcusable.

The Dogs had two full weeks to prepare for the Yellow Jackets’ “perfect option” and looked completely inept in trying to stop it. Especially after being burned by Kentucky’s option on Nov. 8 and struggling against hapless Auburn’s option on Nov. 15.

The Yellow Jackets’ 45 points was a season-high and is only the second time the team has scored 40 in a game this season.

And they play in a conference, the Atlantic Coast Conference, where they are the highest ranked team at No. 15 in the country, but won’t play in the conference championship game.

By this point, Tech head coach Paul Johnson’s strategy should be no secret.

Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt only completed one pass Saturday in six attempts, and that was on Tech’s first offensive play from scrimmage.

Other than that, the Ramblin’ Wreck rumbled wherever and whenever they wanted, with little opposition.

Despite holding Tech to just 12 points in the first half, Georgia’s defense allowed 123 yards rushing on 22 attempts, good for an average of 5.6 yards per attempt.

After halftime, the Jackets carved through the Georgia defense like it was a turkey, accumulating 286 yards on the ground, included rushes of 62, 60, 46 and 23 yards, three ending in touchdowns.

Many of the rushes could have ended far earlier, if Georgia simply had wrapped up. In all, Georgia allowed 428 yards, and 409 on the ground.

“They didn’t do anything different that we didn’t know,” sophomore linebacker Rennie Curran said after the game. “We just didn’t get in there and execute and wrap up and make that tackle.”

More often than not, it seemed Georgia was looking to make a big hit or force a fumble rather than simply make a clean tackle, which only reinforced Georgia’s lack of discipline, on and off the field.

Off the field, 12 football players have been arrested for various illicit activities, and on the field, Georgia is the second most penalized team in the country behind TCU.

That lack of discipline is the result of poor coaching and the lack of a legitimate senior leader in the locker room.

In an option-oriented offense, tackling is critical because a missed tackle can result in long runs, something that happened far too often to Georgia on Saturday.

Georgia had seven penalties and kicked two kickoffs out of bounds, something that falls directly on the coaching staff. Senior defensive end Jeff Owens could have fulfilled that leadership role had he remained healthy, and receiver Mohamed Massaquoi is too soft spoken.

The team needs to hold itself accountable for its mistakes and play for a full 60 minutes, and it doesn’t seem willing to do that.

“In the second half, we lost our edge,” defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said after the game. “I don’t know where it went. I guess we thought we had the game wrapped up in our pocket.”

Are you kidding me? I can’t understand how you can lose your edge against your in-state rival in your own house.

It is revolting to think that a mere 16 point advantage could give way to sitting back, rather than continuing to attack.

So I must ask, where is this team’s pride in itself, because it sure wasn’t in Sanford Stadium on Saturday. Just as it was absent against Alabama and Florida.

So until someone – a coach or a player – stands up and demands complete accountability, this team will continue to be the bridesmaid in the SEC East, forget the conference as a whole.

This team has shown it wasn’t worthy of its preseason No. 1 ranking and until something changes, be it on the coaching staff or not, it will be lucky to not get shown up on New Year’s Day.

- Michael Fitzpatrick is the sports editor
of The Red & Black.