Orange and Blue Hue » Delusions of Grandeur

Delusions of Grandeur

This is the year that Georgia will play for it all. The 27 year old drought will finally come to an end for the Bulldogs as they collect their 2nd National Championship. This is the best Georgia team in 3 decades.

Or at least that’s what some pundits and Georgia fans will have you believe! Unfortunately for the pups, this is NOT the year that Georgia will win or even play for a National Title. I do concur on the third point however, it may be the best squad the Dawgs have put together in a very long time. It’s not Coach Richt’s fault of course, it’s not that Georgia is going to slip up because of uninspired play or looking ahead (not in my opinion anyways). It’s quite simply because they are playing a brutal schedule that will cost them at least two games this season and thereby deny them the chance for a title.

Georgia does not have to go undefeated to play for a National Title, far from it. Florida won theirs in 2006 with one loss while LSU won theirs in 2007 with TWO losses. But playing for a BCS Championship with two losses is a feat still only accomplished once . . . last year! Georgia would definitely have to win the SEC East and SEC Championship to do that. I could see a one loss team getting to the BCS Championship game should the cards fall right but it’s hard to envision a scenario where Georgia could accomplish that scenario. In the loaded SEC East even a single loss could cost the Bulldogs a trip to the SEC Championship Game. It would preferably be an early season loss to be safe (aka not Florida in November) which would likely mean either South Carolina or Tennessee. And although it COULD be done quite easily in theory I’m not going to get drowned in the details because I am warning you. . . it won’t happen.

I’m sure a number of people out there will accuse me of being a Georgia basher because of the Florida-Georgia rivalry. Let me assure you that I am not a “Bulldog Hater“. I didn’t arrive to Gainesville (from out of state) until 1990 which was Steve Spurrier’s first year. Although there was a lot of hatred of Georgia on the campus, my personal experience with the Dawgs was somewhat one-sided (15-3). Thus I don’t bear as much animosity towards Georgia that the typical Gator fan might. In fact this year might be the first where the Georgia game transcends being just another big SEC game for Florida. And even then a Florida win, while personally fulfilling, would once again relegate the series to a discussion of “what used to be” between the programs. A Georgia win would be better for the series and much better for the Bulldogs National Title aspirations.

No matter how talented this Bulldog team is, one cannot ignore their season schedule. Fate has handed Georgia an impossible path to take to a National Title. Outside of their season opener with Georgia Southern, there are no easy games. Their next easiest game of the season could be their week two matchup with Central Michigan. Now think about it, their SECOND easiest game could be against the returning MAC Champion and likely bowl team Central Michigan (who also returns a quarterback that might be the best running/passing signal caller in the country outside of Gainesville).

08/30/08 Georgia Southern Eagles
09/06/08 Central Michigan Chippewas
09/13/08 at South Carolina Gamecocks
09/20/08 at Arizona State Sun Devils
09/27/08 Alabama Crimson Tide
10/04/08 Open Date
10/11/08 Tennessee Volunteers
10/18/08 Vanderbilt Commodores
10/25/08 at LSU Tigers
11/01/08 Florida Gators (Jacksonville, FL)
11/08/08 at Kentucky Wildcats
11/15/08 at Auburn Tigers
11/22/08 Open Date
11/29/08 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
12/06/08 SEC Championship (Atlanta, GA)

After the Chippewas are subdued, Georgia has to travel to South Carolina to play a team it lost to in 2007 and then travel across the country to play 16th ranked Arizona State. Following those road trips Georgia is rewarded by playing a rebounding Alabama program at home who will already be battle tested against a good early season opponent (Clemson). Also an Alabama team that went right down to the wire with Georgia last year and has one of the few experienced returning quarterbacks in the conference (an experienced quarterback is the best way to negate the inherent disadvantages of playing on the road). Georgia then gets a bye week to lick any wounds and get healthy before starting a four game stretch that includes a revenge game against Tennessee (who blew out the Bulldogs a year ago in a game which ended up deciding the SEC East winner), a game against Vandy (almost always a win for the Dogs but hardly a pushover game), travelling to Baton Rouge to play against the defending national champions before the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville - a game where Georgia has seen much more disappointment than euphoria in recent times.

After the Gators, Georgia will get to play Kentucky who should be an easier matchup than last year without top quarterback Andre Woodson. Kentucky will be a well coached squad with an improved defense and any letdown from the Florida game could make this more difficult than it looks on paper. Finally Georgia will have their SEC finale against Auburn who (like Florida) will be looking to avenge an embarrassing loss from the previous season. The Bulldogs do get a week off before playing in-state rival Georgia Tech and will likely need that time to prepare for a unique option offense that will not resemble any of the teams already previously played. Should Georgia win the SEC they would then play in the SECCG against the winner from the West. Since Georgia plays the top 3 teams in the West this year (LSU, Auburn, Alabama) it would probably be a rematch game. All this would preclude playing another top ranked national opponent in the BCS Championship Game.

Are you kidding me? Is there anyone not under the influence of alcohol who seriously believes that Georgia can run this gamut unscathed? And by unscathed I mean with JUST ONE LOSS (which for an SEC team IS unscathed)!!! Georgia will be lucky to finish 2008 with no more than three losses. And a National Championship??? Fuhgeddaboutit!!!

Let’s consider the last time Georgia won a national championship (1980). In that year Georgia not only had a quality team but they had an INCREDIBLY EASY schedule. The combined record of their opponents that year was 46-76-1. Because of the scheduling quirks, Georgia had only to play 1 of the top 4 teams in the SEC that year. They did not face Alabama (10-2), MSU (9-3) or LSU (8-4) and the one upper echelon SEC team they did play, Florida, was won on a miracle play in the last few minutes of the game. If Georgia DID reach the BCSCG I have no doubt they would fare well against whomever they faced from around the nation but getting there in 2008 is going to be next to impossible. In 1980 the Bulldogs were able to pad their record against 8 teams with losing records and 3 with winning records. In 2008 Georgia will be lucky if that number is just reversed (8 teams with winning records and 3 with losing records).

In 1980 Georgia parlayed a very good team with a ridiculously easy schedule into a National Title. In 2008, Georgia could have a far superior team to their lone championship squad and not come close to sniffing the BCS title game. The Bulldogs have to play with the cards they are dealt, even if the deck is stacked against them. If Stafford stays another year, 2009 might be an easier road to the promised land because the 2008 road has too many turns, washouts, obstacles and landmines to ever be navigated in one piece.   It often takes a series of fortunate circumstances to win a title: aka, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

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I have many mixed emotions about Georgia.

On one hand, yes, the schedule is brutal. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Bulldogs will lose at least one game, and there is a high probability that they’ll lose two or more.

When I wear my SEC hat at FanHouse, I look at Georgia and see the conference champion. They are complete, and deep, at every position. Does Florida have a more potent offense? Absolutely, and I also believe Tebow is a significantly better QB than Stafford. But on paper, I like Georgia’s chances to win the conference because all three units are very solid, and I can’t say that about UF right now.

The probem: as a Gator, I just can’t help but identify these guys as — sorry, UGA fans — born losers. Richt is a Tuberville type in that he consistently fields very good teams but rarely wins anything. And there’s something about the ‘08 Dawgs that just screams fraud to me on an emotional level.

I set that bias aside when writing about the Dawgs for AOL, but it’s hard to ignore and I have this nagging feeling that the Dawgs are way too overhyped this year. It’s easy to look at their strong finish in ‘07 and forget everything else, but let’s not forget just how fragile that 2-loss season was for Georgia — it could easily have been 4. (Then again, our 4-loss season could easily have been 2, as well.)

Rationally, I have to predict another 2-loss season for the Dawgs and an SEC championship. They’re not going to play for the title with those two losses because it takes extraordinary circumstances for that to happen and it’s very unlikely to occur in consecutive years.

I’ll eat the egg right off my face with a big grin if I am wrong, however. Because my heart tells me Florida’s going to win the conference.

If Georgia can make it through that schedule and into the MNC game then there will be no Gator fan cheering louder for them then I. I just don’t see it happening though. I’m not saying that Florida is going to either, much as my heart yells for it, but something about Georgia feels…wrong… somehow.

*shrug*

“upper echelon SEC team they did play, Florida, was one on a miracle play”

one=won

I seem to remember a Gator team in 2006 with an “impossible” schedule.

UGA actually COULD do it this year, but they will need as much luck as they will skill.

I’m personally in the camp that thinks that UGA used up all of their good fortune in last year’s run.

My prediction is 2 regular season losses for UGA this year.

I’m not at all sure whether to buy the UGA hype or not. On paper, they look very good on both sides of the ball. However, this is largely the same team that in 06 lost to Vandy and Kentucky and in 07 lost to Carolina, got blasted by an average UT team, almost lost to Vandy again, and needed OT to beat rebuilding Bama. The UGA media train remembers them beating the Gators and blasting Auburn and Hawai’i, but forgets that this was a very inconsistent team. People also seem to ignore the fact that the Gators and Auburn were banged up and that Hawai’i sucked to begin with.

I guess you could argue that the real UGA finally materialized at the end of the year. And that might be true of their offense. I remember thinking that the UGA coaching staff was gun-shy when Carolina beat them. And with good reason, considering that we got great penetration into their backfield all afternoon and that their receivers couldn’t catch the ball. Later in the season, though, they let Stafford, Moreno, and company loose because they were getting much better play out of their line and receivers. So maybe UGA has came of age, and we’ll see them play well all year.

I’ll have to admit that I’m still a little skeptical, though. I wonder if the late-season UGA is what we’ll get all year, or if we’ll see some more underwhelming performances from them at key points in the year. And there will be many key points, considering the schedule they play. Can they really play perfectly every game?

Nice post. I think your assessment of Georgia’s schedule is fairly accurate…it is too tough of a schedule to expect a BCS or SEC title, even if UGA has a championship level team on paper. There are two inaccuracies here however in the comments section from GatorPilot that seem to be common sentiments among our rival fan bases that I just don’t understand.

The first of these is the dismissive attitude about UGA’s 2007 accomplishments because of some close wins (Vandy) and bad losses (USC). This is cherry-picking negative highlights of the season to falsely illustrate the point that somehow UGA wasn’t really that good last year, while at the same time not applying the same standards to the evaluation of any other team. It’s true that UGA lost to a 6-6 USC team and barely beat Vandy, but this skepticism could be applied to all other top teams as well…”Yeah USC finished well last year but let’s not forget a 3 point nail-biter early in the season with a bad Washington team and that terrible loss to Stanford, at home no less!!”…”Despite the national title, LSU’s championship season was fragile at best, including a bad home loss to Arkansas to end the regular season, a close home win over Florida thanks to some timely 4th down conversions, and a near-loss at Auburn salvaged by a last second touchdown pass!”…”Let’s not forget that despite Tebow’s stats last year, this is a Gator team that almost lost to lowly Ole Miss on the road and was beaten by the same Michigan team that lost to App. State!!!”…or even from UF’s title year, “It was a one-loss season that easily could have easily turned into four were it not for a narrow victory at UT, a blocked field goal at home against USCe, and a close win over Vandy aided by a controversial celebration penalty on Earl Bennet!!”

I think you get the point. It’s foolish to somehow knock UGA last season by calling into question a bad loss and some close wins; you could perform the same exercise on every team in the country and skew their season to look not as good as it was. It’s wildly inconsistent to knock the fragility of UGA’s season while not recognizing the obvious point that their season was no more fragile than the season of any other team with which they might compare.

The second point which I don’t understand is the characterization of Richt as a guy who consistently fields good teams but never wins anything. I believe this perception comes from the fact that UGA has not won a national title yet under Richt, and while a MNC will be important for Richt’s long term legacy, the current lack of one is hardly a reason to suggest that he hasn’t won anything in his relatively young career. You seem to be dismissing two SEC titles in seven years awfully easily. Since 2001, Richt’s first year in Athens, UGA has won more games and more SEC titles than all other SEC teams except LSU. I would say that means he wins games, and conferences titles, about as well as anyone else does. Again, I’m not dismissing the fact that his lack of a MNC doesn’t hurt his reputation as a coach, I’m simply saying that based on factual evidence, the characterization of Richt as a guy that “rarely wins anything” is entirely inaccurate.

I think the analysis in this post is solid; UGA very well may not win the MNC or the SEC this year. Reasons could range from the tough schedule to the fact that Florida or LSU turn out to be better football teams, but if they fail to capture the title it won’t be because the 2007 version of UGA was anything less than they were made out to be or because Richt can’t coach at a Championship level.

I really didn’t want to say this until the roundtable, but now’s as good a time as any…

One of the biggest problems that I see with Georgia is the lack of a playmaker at wide receiver. Last year, their top two targets, Sean Bailey and Mohammed Massaquoi, caught a combined 61 passes for 1106 yards. Bailey’s 651 yards was good enough only for 16th place in the SEC, while Massaquoi’s 491 put him in at 24th.

To top it off, Bailey is not on the team this year, so Massaquoi will shoulder most of the burden of being the top option. His prior seasons (38 for 505 as a freshman and 30 for 366 the next year) do not bade well.

Without a good receiver, secondaries can man up on the UGA receivers more, while the guys in the box can focus on pressuring Stafford and Moreno. Even if he isn’t involved on every drive, a gamebreaker can still draw double coverage, which leaves other guys open downfield.

And since Matt Stafford is a pro-style QB, he will suffer without a top wideout.

Georgia already has 2 national championships….so Florida finally caught up season before last! Took y’all long enough! I mean jeeeeez!

In all seriousness….it was really hard to take the writing as seriously when that simple mistake was made in the first paragraph….

I’m a long time Bulldog who, ahem, agrees with pretty much everything you dished out. That out of the way, I’ll elaborate on a few points. We most certainly are fielding the best combination of talent that we’ve seen in Athens in a very long time. But any real Bulldog fan that has the sense to ignore all of the hype surrounding this team needs to be able to swallow a very, very bitter pill - coming to terms with at least a two loss season. However, I see a silver lining…

Before I get to that, though, I’ll give you my thoughts on where I think we stumble. Being from the better-lucky-than-good school, in my gut, I feel that we’ll be hearing Larry Munson mention needing “old lady luck” at least a couple of times. As a disclaimer, I’m not a huge x’s and o’s type, so most of my predictions are based on gut instinct, emotional inertia, and a heavy reliance on needing luck on your side. I’m a fan, not a coach.

Keeping in mind that Larry won’t be calling road games, I see the first probable pit fall with Bama coming to Athens. We should survive USC and ASU with tough, but fairly well played road victories before coming home to play a SEC team that I think will also be undefeated and on a Roll. Living in South Carolina, I just don’t see Bowden ever fielding a dominant team and I predict a surprise in the Dome. (SEC, baby!). Teaming that with the karma of our overtime win in Bama last year makes me nervous.

Should we escape Alabama with a quality win we’ll all feel great in Bulldog Nation, sitting at five for five with an off week before Tennessee. The problem is that UT will spend that week licking their wounds after losing to either UF or Auburn (both?) by kicking the crap out of Northern Illinois with a chance for redemption the following week. I worry that the Dogs may let their guard down by believing too much in fate and relying on the emotion of the revenge factor after our butt kicking last year. Again, it may take a Hobnailed Boot type of fate for us to survive.

Those games scare me enough for me to seem like a pessimist traitor in my circles but, come on, we survive that and then we get LSU in their house the week before we face you guys? Ouch. And then after we show our vulnerability by possibly losing a couple we get Auburn, smelling blood and still stewing after what we did to them in the Blackout? Please. I hope we only lose two in the regular season.

Now, finally the aforementioned silver lining. Do you really see our leaders taking off next year after losing a couple of heartbreakers? Possibly three? Possibly not even winning the SEC after all of the hoopla? Embarassing. Of course, all of this could be unnecessary hand wringing. These dogs may actually be this year’s Team of Destiny that finally lets 1980 turn into a warm fuzzy memory. Either way, I already can’t wait for next year.

Go Dawgs!

I am a DAWG Fan but, I can fully understand the feelings of this article and the comments above. My opinion is that it is PRE-SEASON and way to early to tell who is going to do what. I think we all can agree, alot of teams throughout the nation have sustained discipline problems leading to suspensions, injuries some critical season ending ones and others that have potiential starters out until possible mid-season. including the dawgs and gators both. This can have a huge effect on the team coming togther. I too, see the schedule being difficult. I do think that whoever wins the cocktail party this year, will win the SEC and the National championship. Whether it’s the Gators or UGA. I just want to see the Nat’l Championship come back to the SEC again this year…Good luck this year to the gator fans, and GO DAWGS!!!

You should title this column “Orange and Bloo-Hooey” after reading some comments.

Yep! The Dawgs went and voted themselves #1 by coercing the nation’s Coaches and now the AP media sports writers. How delusional can you get? Someone is putting funny stuff in your iced tea.

Vince- Don’t give poor or false info to people because they won’t pay attention to what you write no matter how you slant it. That was Massaquoi that blew by you for a TD last year, wasn’t it? (the word is “bode” not “bade”) We have some more receivers that you missed in that game and during the season. I know your D-backfield didn’t see them, but I at least thought you saw the game stats before you posted the empty blog. And we have some new ones that you can continue to ignore. AJ Green may be a name you can tuck away.

We are aware of your new speedster, Rainey, but you might not know about ours. A kid named Caleb King will probably join Knowshon in the backfield this year and you can see double. If that doesn’t phase you, then we have two more who are quite capable of running through your ratty-ass defense while the other two rest.

UFgator- We WILL need some luck to get through this schedule, just like you did in 2006, but hopefully won’t need as big a horseshoe as it took you. The Gamecock blogger will know what I’m talking about.

Gator Pilot- You were ok until you kept writing beyond “and I can’t say that about UF right now”. You then parked your “objectivity” and name called. I don’t believe you write anything for AOL. You have these “nagging feelings” and you think you are unbiased? You might try a sabbatical to the UGA School of Journalism which is nationally acclaimed and gives out the top awards nationally to journalists each year. It could be helpful and you could write back to your friends and tell them how deluded they are. Keep it to this column because many other FU bloggers are respected for their facts.

Keltic Gator- YOU would know about better to be lucky than good than anyone with your NC year. You seem to be the only one with that experience. I’m so glad that I cheered like hell for you in that game such that my UGA loyalty was questioned. Until I told everyone that my reason for cheering was that we would get to beat the reigning NC in 2007 and we did! What makes it sweeter is your coach, Urban Crier, says he won’t ever forget. My Bulldog soul is warmed every time I think that he remembers us each day.

Your QB is the only man among you. He admits that he was beaten and is the only media-visible man that handles himself like a man to be feared, not like a kid going off to suck his thumb. We have great respect for Tebow as a player and a man. Perhaps if you followed his example, you could objectively follow the reasoning concerning THE expert opinion of the AP media and the College coaches polls. We feel we will beat you this year with more weapons than you are upping this “arms” race with. Just stay ignorant. I hope you don’t read and find out about our Defense as well. Those who don’t know their history from last year are doomed to repeat it.

The only “Delusions of Grandeur” seem to be coming from gators that talk trash instead of fact. We will try our best to live up to expert opinion this year in EVERY GAME we play. The game in Jacksonville though won’t be one of our priorities. That belongs to more worthy teams.

Rusi,

Using the following criteria of the NCAA:

Following is the list of every OFFICIAL college football champion in Division 1-A since 1883. The NCAA recognizes the official declaration from the following sources:
1883-1935: Helms Athletic Foundation (H)
1924-1940: The Dickinson System (D)
1936-Present: Associated Press (AP)
1958-1990: United Press International (UPI)
1991-1996: CNN/USA Today (Coaches)
1997-2004: ESPN/USA Today (Coaches)
2005-Present: USA Today (Coaches)
2005-Present: Harris Interactive
1998-Present: Champion listed was also BCS champ unless otherwise noted in parenthesis.

Based on that criteria Georgia has just ONE National Championship in football. If you want to go by any poll available then they have five. 1927 by Boand and Poling; 1942 by Berryman, DeVold, Houlgate, Litenhous, Poling and Williamson; 1946 by Williamson; 1968 by Litkenhous; 1980 by AP, Berryman, FACT, FB News, FW, Helms, National Championship Foundation, NFF, Poling, Sporting News, and UPI.

You can go around telling your friends about all the “National Titles” your bulldogs have won when players wore leather helmets but that sounds more like a Notre Dame fan to me. At first I thought you were confusing Georgia Tech but then I saw that by the NCAA criteria they have 3. I fail to see my enormous blunder but if you say so. ;-)

Henry Jones,

I would know about being Lucky with Florida’s TWO national championships (both in the last two decades. In the first Florida lost it’s final regular season game only to get a rematch in the Sugar Bowl and due to an extraordinary turn of events it turned out to be for the National Title. In the second game Florida won a number of close games and won the public opinion poll which gave the Gators the shot against Ohio State.

So thanks for proving my point although your post makes you seem like a very angry and bitter man. I’m glad you won’t be sweating the Florida game this year. I guess the past 17 years have also turned you into a cold and emotionless person who accepts defeat BEFORE a game so that if you do win it will seem all the sweeter.

P.S. Please seek professional help for your collegiate paranoia.

Henry,

Good point on my grammar. I’ll spot you that much.

However, regardless of how biased I am, it will always be on record that Massaquoi has 32 catches for 491 yards and 4 touchdowns (Including the Florida game.)

As for your strong running game, what the heck happened to Sturdivant? Moreno and King needed an all-SEC guy to open holes for them on the left side.

And I didn’t “miss” any receivers on the football team. Those WERE the two most productive wideouts that the Dawgs had all last year. And one of them will not wear the red and black this year.

And even in those sets where Moreno lines up in the slot formation, it still gives corner room to man up on Moreno while the guys in the box blitz outside on King.

If Massaquoi routinely puts up 2nd and 3rd string numbers for a #1 option, it’s a death sentence for the UGA offense. It gives the opposing defense room to line up eight or nine guys in the box to stop the running game.

Vince,

I think your analysis about UGA’s wide receivers is correct, but your extrapolation about what it might mean for the Georgia offense is pretty far off base. “If Massaquoi routinely puts up 2nd and 3rd string numbers for a #1 option, it’s a death sentence for the UGA offense.” I think you’re contradicting yourself here, because as you already pointed out, last year UGA didn’t have anything even close to a number one receiver, even if you combine Massaquoi and Bailey’s stats. Since we can all agree on that, what evidence leads you to the conclusion that a lack of a #1 receiver will be a death sentence for the UGA offense? The only evidence we have to evaluate such a claim, the 2007 season, doesn’t remotely support your position. UGA’s offense was fine last year without a true number one option, especially after Moreno became our feature back, so why would you suggest that the same formula, with essentially the same personnel, be some type of death sentence? It only makes sense if you’re of the belief that Sean Bailey was a #1 type play maker at wr last year, and as both you and I have already established, he wasn’t. Your analysis is akin to me saying that unless UF finds a true #1 at running back, their offense will fail. Uhh…no it won’t. UF’s offense was just fine last year without a good running back and I have all the confidence in the world that we can expect more of the same from them this year. Much as I expect UGA’s offense to be good enough to get the job done this year, just like it was last year.

I’ll go ahead and save you the rebuttal of pointing out that the lack of a WR did probably hurt us in the USC game last year, and I would obviously agree with you on that point. But I would also point out that the USC game was PM (Pre-Moreno), and our air attack improved significantly after his emergence, mainly due to the phenomenon you pointed out earlier…teams crept into the box to stop the ground game, thus opening things up in our passing game. Empirical evidence then suggests the exact opposite of what your saying; UGA’s offense and running game will not grind to a halt because of a lack of elite receivers, rather, a strong running game will open up things on the outside, allowing our passing game and the offense as a whole to become more effective in spite of our pedestrian wideouts.

Which brings me to the other point I would like to address, your stance that King and Moreno need “and all-SEC guy to open holes for them on the left side.” I’m going to politely disagree, pointing out that Moreno ran for over 1300 yards and 14 TD’s last year WITHOUT and all-SEC lineman on either the left or the right side of the line. I’ll also point out that Sturdivant wasn’t pre-season all SEC this year. He didn’t even get an honorable mention. So I guess we were in trouble with or without Trinton . Not saying it doesn’t hurt us, but people are acting like we didn’t have a backup LT, or that somehow we have to play with 10 men on offense now. I think the ground game will be just fine. The difference is that my opinion is based on historical facts and reasonable judgments about the future. Your analysis spits in the face of quantifiable results and is rooted, at best, in wishful thinking.

UGA doesn’t rely on it’s receivers to win games, so the fact that we don’t have one that can win games for us is far from a “death sentence”. You want to try and knock the dawg’s 2008 chances, looking at offense and defense is not the place to do it. Try looking at the kicking game, an area where UGA has excelled in and won many games in the past, and also an area where we have lost a big cog from last years team without a proven replacement. That, along with the schedule, is where my concerns lie.

I mean this in a completely complimentary fashion and not as a back-handed compliment in the least: I very much appreciate the rational debate and sober analysis from Dawg fans who have come over here for the article. Well, Henry Jones, excepted anyway (Get O&B guys- he could be a UGA version of Kentucky’s “David” right?).

Since people are using some past years as a means to analyze this season, I’d like to point out a couple things from Florida’s run in 2006 that may have some relevance to Georgia’s season this year. First, at least one imposing game on that schedule won’t be as bad as it looks now. In 2006 I remember thinking that Florida’s month of October, what with Alabama, LSU Auburn and finally Georgia was a killer. Well, as it turns out Alabama was extremely overrated that year (honk if you’ve sacked Brodie Croyle, anyone?) and LSU made a bunch of boner plays and probably lost the game more than Florida won it.

Secondly, looking at past seasons as a guide it’s completely possible for the Dawgs to make it to the BCS bowl, they’ll just need a LOT of luck to navigate their schedule. I’m talking about a “Stafford to Henderson in 2007″ a “Jarvis Moss kick block in 2006″ or a “Matt Flynn hail mary against Auburn” level miracle. If the Dawgs get a large dose of luck and some of the teams looking strong on paper falter it’s more than possible.

In any event, I wish the Dawgs a lot of luck- that is, except for a particular engagement in Jacksonville.

Great debate guys. I think we are in for one hell of a football season. I can’t remember a year in recent memory when so many SEC teams looked so strong, at least on paper.

Henry can blabber all he wants, but he is only kidding himself if he claims UF isn’t the most important game on the Dawg’s schedule. Either that, or his viewpoint differs from every other UGA alum I know (I live in Atlanta…there is no shortage of UGA fans here). I saw Massaquoi’s long TD score last year as he toasted a true freshman corner. It was a nice play - but one he has made far too few times in his career.

As for my analysis - I think UGA still has majot issues at WR. AJ Green has a ton of raw talent, Mark Richt even commented that he looked better than Randy Moss when we briefly played at FSU. But Green has been gimpy all summer with a nagging hip injury and has been forced to sit out too many practices. Preseason practice is vital for freshmen WRs to develop a connection with their QB. I also am still not sold on Stafford. He has all the raw tools, but really needs to step up his game in his 3rd season as starter to move into the upper realm of SEC quarterbacks.

Moreno is the real deal. He is the best UGA RB since Herschel. Period. I know there have been a ton of good ones since, but he is a speacial back. Richt forcing him to share carries with Caleb King would be foolish. I think UGA would have won the national championship last season had Moreno started from day one and not had to share carried with Thomas Brown. It was only when Brown was hurt that Moreno took over and the Dawgs became one of the best teams in the nation. King may be a great back, but Knowshawn is the type of back that needs to carry the load and wear down defenses. He is a warrior that gets stronger as the game wears on.

My prediction is 10-2 for the Dawgs. As someone astutely mentioned above, UGA’s biggest loss from last season was their kicker, Catu. He was clutch. A freshman kicker (I believe the first scholarship kicker at UGA in forever) is a sure way to lose at least one tough, hard fought game.

p.s. I think RJSPLOW was referring to Daniel from UK. Is he still banned?

yeah skigator, i meant daniel. thanks for the correction.

Still, if you look at recent championship teams, there’s a sound wide receiver or pass-catching tight end behind the scenes.

2007 LSU: Early Doucet
2006 UF: Dallas Baker
2005 UT: David Thomas
2004 USC: Dwayne Jarrett
2003 LSU: Dwayne Bowe
2002 OSU: Michael Jenkins
2001 UM: Jeremy Shockey

Personally, I don’t find this easy to ignore. Okay, so Shockey was 45 for 601 that season, but he also had Andre Johnson.

And outside of the SEC, Ohio State has Brian Robiskie, USC Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton, Oklahoma Juaquin Iglesias, and Missouri Jeremy Maclin.

It may or may not kill UGA’s SEC hopes, but the Dawgs would have a lot to gain if Massaquoi stepped up.

Vince- I shouldn’t have mentioned the bode/bade thing because mistakes occur all the time on blogs..some intentional.It was not meant in the pedantic tone it took with the rest of my blog. One blogger wrote “phase” when the intent was “faze”. That would be me. Your response was measured and is good for continued discussion.

The intent was for you to look for information concerning the present receivers, not what you have extrapolated to the UGA/UF game.Look at the remainder of our games last year as well as the Spring Game for some of that ink on receivers available this year. The reason the yardage you quoted is not a valid stat on individuals like “Massimo” and Sean is due to the ball being spread around last year. If you wish to make the same comment about the receivers, that would be applicable to yr. before last when no one could hold on to Staff’s burners. That also affected his stats. After the team gelled last year, it was a different team altogether. One important thing to digest about this team this year is that many players got playing time last year at meaningful times during games when they spelled the starters. They didn’t go in for a few plays, but rather got plenty of game time experience such that we are 3-4 deep with players with time in stadiums that were plenty noisy. They were not put in for game time after the game was won, but during the time that the game was on the line. The national writers have noted that and it was one of the reasons UGA was ranked. That applies to the wideouts as well. Sorry about Ingram as I’m sure he is as important to your team as Sturdivant is to ours, but I’m also sure there is a replacement for him just as there is for Sturdivant. I’m sure that neither team will tank, unlike the wishful(bitter?) blogs implying that we are.
We would be thrilled to see 8-9 players in the box. That would be the time you might look for those “lost” receivers I’ve been discussing.

Keltic Kid- Your title for the article was so out it deserved that reply. You implied that UGA elected themselves #1 and were delusional for considering they were capable of representing themselves as such. The FU ego is riding so high that another team can’t possibly be ranked even though your butt was kicked soundly by that team.

Both of our teams have taken hits in practice,UF more so than UGA. Over 20 UGA players wore the green practice jersey Sat., but most of them will heel for gametime.
Moreno hasn’t scimmaged all week along with Green. Their injuries are mild compared to all the ligament damage to your players. We get no pleasure from it and sincerely hope that most will get back on the field this year. That won’t happen for Trinton or Cornelious, but baring further injury ,we should see them next year. Hopefully at that time you will have the added incentive of trying to beat the reigning National Champion.

Vince,

I’ll definitely agree with you that it would be a huge plus if Massaquoi developed into a solid number 1 most UGA fans believe he can be, but I just don’t think it’s a prerequisite for a great season. I think your listing of receivers on past national title teams almost proves my point however. Last year LSU had some good receivers, especially talent wise, but their leading receiver was LaFell with 650 yards. Texas in ‘05 was even more deficient with Davis Thomas playing tight end and totaling 600 yards. No matter how many balls he caught, Thomas at TE was hardly the game breaking threat on the outside you worry about UGA not having.

Again, I agree that it would be a bonus and greatly improve UGA’s chances to have that #1 guy, but it ain’t a deal breaker by any stretch. There are ingredients to a title run that have consistently proven to be far more important to championships teams that go to wideouts. Take playing good defense for example. I would say that if we’re talking about championship ingredients, or a lack there of for SEC teams, UF’s questions on the defensive side of the ball should produce far more concern amongst pre-season pundits than the dawgs lack of productive wr’s. Then again, another common thread to a championship run is not having to play top 10 opponents on the road, which I think speaks back to the original point of this article…the schedule doesn’t bode well for the dawgs.

I will also second the pleasure other readers have taken with the overall intelligent discourse on this blog. It’s definitely a refreshing change of pace in from the message boards where taunts, insults, and flame wars reign supreme. Enjoy the blog and keep up the good work!

Jones, what is wrong with you my man??? You seem like a fairly intelligent guy but I look at your comments and I’m just befuddled. I think you are seeing black helicopters here (or maybe orange and blue helicopters). Here’s a good tip, read a post before you comment with the preconceived notions you get from it’s title. And apparently there is something wrong with my title??? Delusion of Grandeur simply means a vision or image of great success or acheivement. How is that incorrect? You are either at the height of arrogance or ingnorance regarding what grandeur is. I mean seriously, do you as a Georgia fan actually feel that your program has acheived it’s highest level by just being voted a preseason number one??? Because most other fanbases feel that the national championship is the pinnacle of the sport, not a preseason number one ranking. “Hey Martha, we did it! We are preseason number one! It won’t get any better than this so enjoy it while you can!”

If you actually READ the article you would see that my actual point was that a majority of Georgia fans feel that their top talent and high prognostication means the season will end with a National Title. My point was that a National Championship is not simply the result of great talent but also luck and circumstance. That their path so difficult as to ensure that their dreams would not come to fruition. Delusion of Grandeur is the “dream of a national title”. Apparently your dreams are considerably lower so you took the present situation and figured I was referring to that (can’t get any better right Henry?).

What is just as amusing is your main complaint seems to be that “Georgia didn’t vote itself number one”. WHere, just where Henry do you even see a SINGLE MENTION of Georgia’s national ranking??? Seriously, WTF??? What do you want to complain about next? Margaret Thatcher? I mean I my article has no mention of her OR Georgia’s national ranking in it so I guess that’s fair game.

Again . . . HJ. All this can be avoided if you stop seeing what you expect to see behind all that Gator hate and actually pay attention to what is in front of you.

P.S. Don’t worry about injuries. Florida has finally acheived top 10 program depth. We lost one starter and a possible starter to knee injuries. The Gators won’t miss a beat (as neither will USC, Georgia or any other team that recruits at a high level). Outside of a quarterback injury, Florida and Georgia will be just fine. We promise not to use that as a crutch if you don’t.

As a disinterested (note, not “uninterested”) sports writer, not a Gator blogger, consider another benefit to a Massaquoi breakthrough:

Ironically, making him better could result in Stafford needing to throw to him less. If corners can’t man up on Mo, he can draw sufficient coverage to free up other options, or maybe even draw guys out of the box.

Thus, last year, Percy Harvin (59-858) helped out Andre Caldwell (56-761), Louis Murphy (37-548), and Cornelius Ingram (34-508) Putting on my Gator hat, as much as I hate to say it, this would be a terrifically effective idea.

You don’t always have to pull the trigger to do damage.

I think we’re all forgetting that Massaquoi, the alleged #1 receiver on Georgia’s squad, has what we down here in the Swamp like to call “alligator arms”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3o2ULj5IsQ

Talk about over-analysis. All of you Dawg and Gator fans wasted far too much time coming up with such detailed responses. It is 12 days from kickoff (10 for the Cock fan on here) and all anyone should care about at this point is preparing to get hammered, grilling up some red meat and cheering their Dawgs, Gators, Cocks, etc. to victory. I love Fall Saturdays in the South! Good luck to all SEC teams this fall (except when you are playing my Dawgs)

I nominate Gatorskeptic for post of the year! In fairness though, we have to do something to occupy our time for the next 12 days until it is time to fire up the grill!

My 10th anniversary will land me in Boston for opening day, but I have already touched base with the Boston Gator Club and look forward to joining them at McFadden’s for the Hawaii game!

A Labor Day wedding seemed like a good idea at the time…

So does all this mean you guys don’t think UK is going to win the eastern division this year?

Wait for the next roundtable, and you’ll divine the answer.

They will most definitely NOT get out of Baton Rouge alive. Next, they will most definitely not beat the Gators two years in a row (think of the odds people). Finally, they will lose at Auburn. I almost want to throw another loss in for good measure (due to injury, malaise, arrests, or whatever)

Georgia is a 3 or 4 loss team. Florida will win the SEC east, the SEC championship in a revenge game against Auburn.

And my gut feeling says we will then lose to Ohio State in the NC (another revenge game).

2008 - the year of revenge.

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