Before this football season, second-year coach Mark Richt gathered his team for an exploratory discussion on the recent history of Georgia football.

"We talked at length about it being 20 years since the last SEC championship, and why it had been that long," Richt recalled. "Was it lack of talent? I think if you look at the players that have been here, that's a resounding no.

"Was it work ethic? Was it team unity? Was it just the fact that Tennessee and Florida are in the league?

"Whatever the reason, it seemed like there was a lid on the program, keeping us out. We talked about lifting that lid. I said it was going to take a special group of guys who can really rise to the occasion and knock that lid off."

Samuel Building Winner

If Tyrone Willingham has perhaps primed college football for finally giving African-American coaches more opportunities at better programs, then Tony Samuel might be one of the beneficiaries. Samuel has the Aggies on the inside track for the Sun Belt Conference championship and their first bowl bid in 42 years. And if you can do it in Las Cruces, you might just be able to do it anywhere. This is the program Sports Illlustrated once pronounced the worst in America, with the shabby power ratings and won-lost records to prove it. It's the kind of down-on-their-luck place black coaches often have been hired (see: Fitz Hill, currently doing a creditable job at San Jose State) and sometimes a place where they get fired (see: Ron Dickerson at Temple a few years back). Samuel will argue that New Mexico State is a fine place to coach and play football. That's his recruiting story and he's sticking to it. "I try not to look too far forward or too far back," Samuel said. "There's a lot of potential here." The fact that the Aggies are starting to realize some of it speaks well for the sixth-year coach and former Tom Osborne assistant (he shares Osborne's penchant for stolid understatement). Samuel won six games in 1999, five last year and five already this year (with only three losses), stirring some long-dormant enthusiasm. With an athletic budget that demands the football program play a number of big-money away games every year, New Mexico State is fighting uphill nationally. But it at least is in with some kindred spirits in the Sun Belt. At present the Aggies (3-0 in league play) appear to be heading toward a showdown game at defending champion North Texas (2-0) Nov. 16. But that's the kind of talk Samuel hates, with Middle Tennessee and Utah State still to come before that. Just last week New Mexico State won its first road game of the year, at Arkansas State. Despite injuries at tailback (Eric Higgins) and quarterback (Buck Pierce), the Aggies' option offense has continued to produce behind redshirt freshman QB Paul Dombrowski. The defense and special teams have risen to the occasion at key times as well. If New Mexico State can maintain its spot atop the league after playing four of its final five games on the road, it will have its long-awaited bowl bid. And Tony Samuel might have the credentials necessary to move up to a bigger job. -- Pat Forde

And a special coach as well. Mark Richt might be that man.

He has taken his team to the brink, positioned them for the lid-lifter this Saturday: Georgia vs. nemesis and longtime lid-locker Florida.

This could be the game they've been anticipating since Herschel was a pup. The game that can at last put the Bulldogs over the top.

The Cocktail Party could become a coronation.

With a victory, Georgia (8-0 overall, 5-0 in the league) clinches a spot in the SEC championship game. Win the game, and the only team with a mathematical chance to tie the Bulldogs would be South Carolina, which the Dogs beat head-to-head in September.

Thus, this is it. Win this game, and Richt will be forced to drop the line he's been using in recent weeks, as Georgia's unbeaten season has rolled on:

"In reality, all we've done is get people excited."

You want excited? The idea of winning an SEC title is one thing. Doing it against Florida would be off the charts.

Georgia hasn't beaten the Gators since 1997 and has lost 11 of the last 12 -- all against the reviled Steve Spurrier. The low point: the Dogs' 47-7 loss to Florida in 1996 stands as the program's worst defeat of the last 50 years.

(Among the many amazing things Vince Dooley did as coach of the Dogs from 1964-88 was this: Only once, in 288 games, did his team surrender 40 or more points -- a 45-6 loss to Nebraska in the 1969 Sun Bowl. Spurrier alone hung 40 or more on post-Dooley Georgia four times.)

Georgia fans believe they have their best coach Between the Hedges since Dooley right now in Richt. So far, the very religious 42-year-old former Bobby Bowden assistant has been a suitable heir to that legacy -- more so than predecessors Ray Goff and Jim Donnan.

At 16-4, Richt has the best 20-game record of any Georgia coach since H.J. Stegeman, who went 16-2-2 from 1920-22. (The losses were to Harvard and Dartmouth, pretty solid indicators that that was a different era. Stegeman's reward for meritorious service was having the basketball gym named after him.)

Not Dooley. Not Wally Butts. You have to dial it back 80 years.

But more impressive than the raw record is Richt's road record. He's now 7-0 on opponents' home fields, 6-0 in SEC play. That's pretty much unheard of.

Richt said he thought of starting Georgia's own sod cemetery, a Bowden thing at Florida State where the Seminoles dig up some turf when they win a big road game, then plant it with a marker back home in Tallahassee. Then he nixed the idea.

"Certain traditions belong in certain places," he said.

Richt said he doesn't mind the constant media referrals to his Florida State days, "but I like talking about Georgia football now." That might be his polite way of saying he's moved far enough out from under Bowden's wing to merit discussion of his own way of doing things.

It has taken Richt no time at all to establish a pattern of bold decision-making.

In a season-opening 31-28 win over Clemson, Richt went for a fourth-and-inches in his own territory in the final minute, to the disbelief of almost everyone. Conventional wisdom screamed to punt and play defense, but Richt wasn't listening. Had tailback Musa Smith been stacked up short, the Tigers would have been just a few yards away from the potential tying field goal. Smith got the first down, making his coach look good.

Then there have been his calls with quarterbacks. Last year, Richt opted to go with redshirt freshman David Greene over fourth-year junior Cory Phillips. Greene went on to throw for 3,000 yards and be named the SEC Freshman of the Year. Richt was right on that one, too.

This year, Richt surprised a lot of people by taking some snaps away from Greene every game and giving them to supremely talented redshirt freshman D.J. Shockley. Greene at first struggled with the arrangement, but has since regained his 2001 confidence. Together the two threw for a school-record six touchdowns last week in a 52-24 rout of Kentucky.

"This thing, I don't see it as being risky," Richt said. "I knew what Shockley can do and what Greene can do. They both have great ability, and it's a great advantage to have two quarterbacks with their talent.

"The first time we lose a game or so-and-so plays bad, they're going to say it's stupid. And that's all right. I know people are waiting for that to happen."

At this rate, fans waiting to second-guess Mark Richt might never get their chance. Beat Florida to win the SEC East and bust open that 20-year-old lid, and a suitable successor to Dooley might officially have been found.

Around the SEC

Alabama
Center Alonzo Ephraim, one of the key cogs in the Crimson Tide's deluxe offensive line, is a senior this year. That perturbs coach Dennis Franchione, who wishes Ephraim's redshirt year hadn't been burned by former coach Mike DuBose so Ephraim could participate in just 29 plays and two games as a true freshman. "That's really unfortunate," Franchione told the Birmingham News. "I'm not trying to aim my comments at anybody in particular. But I don't understand that. I sure would like the feeling of having him back next year."

Arkansas
The hardest team in the league to figure did it again last week. The Razorbacks, coming off an ugly home loss to Kentucky and the arrest and dismissal from the team of senior defensive lineman Jermaine Brooks on felony drug and weapons charges, rebounded to rip Mississippi by 20 points. The only pattern the Hogs have followed in five SEC games (two wins, three losses) is in predictable unpredictability. Figure they're ripe for a letdown and they rise up. Expect the best and they deliver their worst. ... Some of the Hogs wore wrist bands with Brooks' number (48) and initials on them. Not sure martyring an alleged drug dealer is the ideal message coach Houston Nutt wants to send.

Auburn
"Last week was the best four quarters we have played on both sides of the ball and special teams," coach Tommy Tuberville said of the Tigers' shocking 31-7 pasting of West front-runner LSU. So far, losing star running back Cadillac Williams has brought out the best in Auburn, from replacement backs Ronnie Brown and Tre Smith to new starting quarterback Jason Campbell to a resurgent defense. ... Tuberville said he'll stay with freshman Philip Yost as his place-kicker, despite a 1-for-3 performance kicking field goals last week. Yost, a high school All-American, takes over for 2001 all-SEC kicker Damon Duval, who has struggled this year and requested scaling back to solely punting duties. Duval had a low kick blocked at Florida two weeks ago that could have won that game.

Florida
Beware the big mouth before playing the Bulldogs. Pat Dye spoon-fed Georgia some motivation a few weeks ago by saying the Dogs weren't man enough to beat Alabama, and now Gators offensive lineman Shannon Snell has sounded off in ill-advised fashion. This week Snell not only predicted a Florida victory this week, but said Georgia will bungle its near-hammerlock on the East by losing another SEC game and opening the door for the Gators. "They've got Auburn after us," Snell said. "They've got Ole Miss. They can put that up as bulletin board material. I don't care. One of those teams is going to knock them off."

Georgia
After flourishing offensively last week without top rusher Musa Smith, top deep threat Fred Gibson and top blocker John Stinchcomb, Georgia gets a little healthier this week as Smith is "full go right now," according to coach Mark Richt and Gibson and Stinchcomb both expected to play as well against Florida. ... With the exception of a home-and-home deal in 1994 and '95, the Cocktail Party game has been played in Jacksonville since 1932. (The series has only been played eight times on somebody's home field in 90 meetings. There have been games played in Macon, Tampa and Savannah, but a grand total of just five in Athens and two in Gainesville.)

Kentucky
Debate has surged in the bluegrass about whether Jared Lorenzen's tonnage might be the cause of his subpar second-half performances this year (Kentucky has been shut out offensively in the second half of SEC losses to South Carolina and Georgia). The theory is that dragging around all that weight becomes a detriment in the late going, when conditioning kicks in. Lorenzen vigorously disputes that, saying "I'm in great shape." Regardless who's right, the scrutiny is misplaced. Better to eyeball a defense that has surrendered 500 yards in three of its four SEC games, backsliding a bit to last year after significant early progress.

LSU
The Tigers appeared to be rolling toward a second consecutive West Division title until their costly comeuppance on The Plains. After a solid starting debut in place of injured Matt Mauck the previous week, Marcus Randall threw four interceptions. And return specialist Domanick Davis, a big catalyst with his work on punt and kickoff returns, was held to season-low return yardage by Auburn. At least now the Tigers get a week off to try and fix what went wrong in that game.

Mississippi
Eli Manning faces another exceptional secondary this week in Auburn's. The Tigers lead the SEC in interceptions (15) and in fewest touchdown passes allowed (four). Just a junior, Manning has thrown a school-record 45 TD passes in his career. ... The Rebels will need to generate a running game to take some heat off Manning, but that hasn't been easy this year. Ole Miss is last in the league in rushing and 104th nationally at 105 yards per game.

Mississippi State
The Bulldogs are riding their first two-game winning streak in two years and face a Kentucky team they have beaten three straight years. The last two Dogs-Cats games at Scott Field have been decided by a total of four points. Both were Mississippi State wins. ... Befitting the melodrama of this season, freshman running back Nick Turner was suspended last week after being hit with a felony charge of passing counterfeit money. Turner was arrested after he passed four phony $100 bills at a Starkville nightclub.

South Carolina
Multipurpose back/receiver/return man Ryan Brewer did not practice Tuesday, a sprained ankle encased in a boot. It's unclear whether Brewer will be able to go when Tennessee visits Saturday. ... Since Lou Holtz righted the ship in Columbia, the Volunteers have been fortunate to win. The last two meetings between the teams have been tense defensive battles, with Tennessee winning one by a touchdown and one by a field goal.

Tennessee
With the season dissolving in Knoxville, mouthy receiver Kelley Washington has become a lightning rod for criticism. The sophomore who dubbed himself "The Future" did not play last week against Alabama in a surprise announcement, when doctors benched him because of a concussion suffered Oct. 12 against Georgia. Speculation that Washington was benched for other reasons was rampant, but coach Phil Fulmer stridently disputed that this week. "There's nothing else, absolutely nothing else, that I'm aware of at all," Fulmer told the Nashville Tennessean. A Washington-bashing message was spray-painted on a rock in front of the school's athletic building this week reading, "If Kelley Washington is the future, then I want to live in the past." The message was painted over shortly thereafter.

Vanderbilt
Coming off a 28-24 win over Connecticut, Commodores coach Bobby Johnson has declared his team's final four games winnable. That's pretty much what he has to say, but history argues otherwise. Vandy has lost 17 straight to Saturday opponent Alabama, 11 straight to Nov. 9 opponent Florida, five of the last six to No. 16 opponent Kentucky and 19 straight to Nov. 23 opponent Tennessee.

Around the Sun Belt Conference
Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts laments that his team is "two plays away from being 4-0 in the conference," after losing two games by a total of nine points to league leaders North Texas and New Mexico State. Running back Danny Smith was finally shut down last week by the Mean Green defense, but the Indians threw the ball well to stay in the game. ... Idaho coach Tom Cable scored a huge home victory over Middle Tennessee, holding the Blue Raiders to just 18 points - the fewest the Vandals have given up in a game since late in the 2000 season. "We finally played some defense," Cabel said. ... Louisiana-Lafayette hasn't had much to get excited about in a 1-7 season, but the sight of Idaho in its road uniforms might help. The Vandals have lost 11 straight road games. ... True freshman QB Steven Jyles continues to be the revelation of the league after leading Louisiana-Monroe to a 51-point explosion and a win over Utah State. Jyles threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns to win offensive Player of the Week honors. "What did he throw for, 6,000 yards," asked North Texas coach Darrell Dickey, whose rugged defense gets to take on Jyles and UL-M's recently installed spread attack next. ... Middle Tennessee State lurched from bad to worse last week, forced to try four players at quarterback because of injuries. True freshman Josh Harris started in place of injured starter Andrico Hines, but broke his collarbone on the fifth offensive play. Hines eventually tried to go with a pulled groin but was very limited. No telling who the Blue Raiders will turn to this weekend to call signals, as they try to warm up to the spoiler's role. "It's time we ruined something for somebody," coach Andy McCollum said of the Aggies. ... At New Mexico State, Dombrowski has now taken over as the man at quarterback. He's the team's leading rusher. ... North Texas might be reprising last year's stretch run to the title. The Mean Green now has won two straight road games, and has three straight at home as it rallies after another difficult start against brutal competition.

Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.