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    Back in the 'Doghouse

    Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 01:40 PM EST [Mark Richt]

    To say that Georgia football coach Mark Richt has had an offseason of highs and lows wouldn't justify what he's gone through in the past seven months.

    In January, he saw his team dismantle WAC champ Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, finish the 2007 season at 11-2 and earn a No. 2 ranking in the final AP poll behind SEC rival and national champ LSU (yes, the SEC reigns college football if you didn't know).

    Then last week, Richt received even more promising news with the Bulldogs being awarded the No. 1 ranking in this year's preseason coaches poll.

    The rest of this offseason for Richt, however, has been an absolute nightmare.

    And now he's trying to do anything to stop his team before it hits rock bottom.

    On Monday, Richt made it known that he's suspending backup linebacker Darius Dewberry for the first two games of the season.

    But what's more important is that Dewberry comes as the sixth Georgia player this offseason to be either suspended or dismissed from the team.

    At this point, we're almost starting to lose count.

    After all, less than 48 hours earlier, Richt was announcing more suspensions     - indefinite ones - for snapper Jeff Henson and safety Donavon Baldwin.

    Henson had just received his second alcohol-related arrest last Saturday night and Baldwin was sitting in St. Mary's Hospital earlier in the day, needing stitches to repair whatever damage his body took in a fight in downtown Athens.

    If Richt thought things were bad at this point, he obviously didn't know what his players were capable of when he recruited them.

    So with Baldwin injured and in need of care, Dewberry decided to check on his teammate, and in the process, decided to break a barrier on the control arm at the hospital parking lot (huh?) and four pot plants (wha?).

    No, not with this car.

    That's right, with his hands (um ... seriously?).

    I'll admit, I've never met Dewberry and have never spoken to him. But this kid obviously lacks some serious common sense.

    Maybe someone should send him to the mental institute or at least have him seek counseling. Look, I don't know about you, but I've never met someone who randomly decides to start vandalizing private property on their way to visit a friend in the hospital.

    Mr. Dewberry, it's not the hospital's fault that your friend got beat up. It's not the hospital's fault that you're a little emotionally damaged.

    While Richt said Dewberry "was very distraught about a teammate getting badly hurt," that doesn't waive him from the mental instability that he's clearly capable of exhibiting.

    If I were Richt, I wouldn't be confident that Dewberry graduates from Georgia, let alone gets through his junior season without another offense.

    Dewberry, at least, has agreed to pay for the damages and the hospital is not pressing charges against the 6-foot-3, 236-pound native of Fort Valley, Ga, who has been ordered to perform 20 hours of community service, undergo counseling (thank God) and work a part-time job as part of his recompense.

    Still, the damage has been done, and Richt knows that his team's image has taken another nose dive in the last week.

    "The reputation of this team has been damaged, no question," he said. "I don't think it's beyond repair and I don't think the reputation has been ruined, but it certainly has taken some hits."

    And in what is arguably the program's most anticipated season, Richt couldn't have asked for much worse.

    So much so, that it's even making him sick at times.

    "You feel sad and sick that one of the guys you're an authority figure over and you care about got himself in trouble," Richt said. "You also hate the fact those guys do represent this program and this program represents this university and this university represents this state. It represents anybody who claims to be a Bulldog. I feel sick about that."

    Meanwhile, Dewberry wasn't the only one getting himself in trouble during his hospital visit.

    Former Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon, who was dismissed from the team last month after being arrested for misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery, was also charged d    uring his trip to see Baldwin for underage drinking.

    It's been a non-stop distraction for Richt, but at this point, what can he do?

    "I've already read them the riot act," he said.

    But Richt doesn't want to kick players off the team to satisfy those who are disappointed and tired of seeing Georgia players hitting the Athens-Clarke County police blotter.

    And while talking some sense into them is all he can hope for, there's no guarantee that Richt will move through the 2008 season without his team enduring more player problems.

    "We will look into other ways of making sure we do a better job," Richt asserted.

    He better look quick and he better look fast.

    Because before he knows it, he'll be having to host mid-season walk-on tryouts just to fill his roster before game day.

    In other college football news...

    After standing as the favorite to replace Andre' Woodson this season, Kentucky quarterback     Curtis Pulley has been dismissed from the Wildcats for violating team rules.

    Kentucky coach Rich Brooks had said last week that Pulley would miss playing for his recent run-ins with the law but would still be able to compete and win the starting job for the Wildcats.

    That, however, is obviously not happening now, and the job looks to be sophomore Mike Hartline's for the taking with Will Fidler moving up to second on the depth chart.

    Last month, Pulley was arrested on traffic charges in Hardin County, and in June, he was cited for marijuana possession in Louisville.

    Furthermore, Pulley missed the 2007 campaign because of academic reasons, yet coming into the picture is Fidler, who has had his own issues after being arrested last month on a disorderly conduct charge outside a Lexington restaurant.

    In the meantime, Brooks lost another starter Monday with cornerback Paul Warford being ruled ineligible for the upcoming 2008 season.

    And that's not all.

    Brooks could also lose offensive guard Christian Johnson this season over an eligibility issue and preseason practice opens today.

    If I were living in Lexington, I wouldn't be counting on any SEC titles this season.

    But hey, at least Mark Richt doesn't have to feel alone these days.
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