Dogs and Pokes: Underrated vs. overrated?
In rating five teams that preseason estimations may have overrated and five that might prove to have been underrated, Rivals.com senior college football writer Olin Buchanan has put an interesting spin on the Sept. 5 season opener in Stillwater. Georgia is one of the teams he pegs as “possibly underrated” and Oklahoma State makes his list of “possibly overrated” programs.
His advice on the Bulldogs: “Don’t take them too lightly. Georgia has posted at least 10 wins in six of the past seven seasons and should have another strong year.” He thinks the offensive line “could be among the nation’s best with Trinton Sturdivant back in the lineup” and says wide receiver A.J. Green “could gain superstar status this season.”
Defensively, “tackle Jeff Owens is back from injury, and he, Geno Atkins and Kade Weston provide an outstanding rotation.” The linebackers are solid and while “the secondary needs to get better,” he says, “at least there are good athletes to work with in the defensive backfield.” The Dogs have a demanding early schedule, but “if the Bulldogs get through that, the Top 10 beckons — maybe even the top five.”
His capper goes into territory that even the most optimistic Dogs fan is probably hesitant to enter: “Three times in the BCS era, teams won national championships the season following an NFL draft in which their previous quarterback was the first player selected overall (Tennessee, LSU and USC). Could Georgia make it four?”
As for Okie State, Buchanan says, “No doubt, there are reasons to expect a big season in Stillwater. Dez Bryant is the best receiver in the country. Kendall Hunter is an explosive running back. Zac Robinson is a third-year starter at quarterback. Russell Okung could be the first offensive lineman taken in next year’s NFL draft.”
The problem, he says, is that all those players are on offense. “The defense could bring the Cowboys down like an anchor. Don’t forget that six opponents scored at least 28 points against the Cowboys last season, and that they were among the nation’s worst in pass rush and pass defense. Six starters return on the defense, but only one in the secondary.”
There are some questions about the offense, too, Buchanan says. “Remember, the Cowboys bogged down when Bryant was hurt in the fourth quarter of last year’s 42-31 Holiday Bowl loss to Oregon.”
Of course, Georgia allowed an opponent to score more than 35 points five times last season. And the bulk of the Dogs’ offensive production came from players no longer on the team.
And there’s no doubt Buchanan is swimming against the media stream here, as the Cowboys have been annointed as a preseason juggernaut by most national analysts.
But then the Dogs know how that can turn out.
Talking to UGA fans about the upcoming match, I haven’t been able to get a consensus yet. Quite a few are marking down the opener as one of the Dogs’ likely losses, feeling that Georgia just won’t be able to stop the Cowboys’ offense while our own rebuilding offense might not be ready to keep up that early in the season. Other Dogs fans are resistant to the hype surrounding the Pokes and smell another Boise State or Hawaii. Overrated, in other words.
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212 comments Add your comment
AC
July 16th, 2009
12:50 pm
UGA will be dominant against the running game. Paul Johnson will have nightmares about JEFF OWENS and RENNIE CURRAN before all is said and done.
Drew-G-A
July 16th, 2009
12:57 pm
It will be close, but we will win!
The Truth
July 16th, 2009
12:57 pm
Its not even worth trying to reason with Trade School Junkie…its clear he knows nothing about college football and is just talking down towards Georgia becouse he likes to see his name come up on the blog. Its very apparent that he has a major inferiority complext towards Georgia.I’ll bet he even guaranteed Tech’s 3 point win aganist Gardner Webb last year and their blowout loss to LSU in the bowl game. He sounds like a high school kid with nothing better to do…although I’m probably being kind….more like a 8-10 year old.
AC
July 16th, 2009
1:03 pm
Hey Trade School. Tennessee lost a QB by the name of Peyton Manning and were able to replace him and win the National Title. Although I am a fan, Stafford is not Peyton. Not by a long shot. I think he need another year to develop. In truth, I am actually glad he is gone. Our offense, while at times was explosive, could never put 4 quarters of football together with Stafford at the helm. This will change this year.
Dawgs09
July 16th, 2009
1:03 pm
Ogletree was the first name that came to mind when I was thinking about this since he was the last DB I remembered reading up on (yes, I should have looked it up since I wasn’t EXACTLY sure…). Branden Smith is the man whom I was thinking about. Amazing how dumb that makes one feel and look.
Open mouth, insert foot.
Sorry fellas…
AltamahaDawg
July 16th, 2009
1:06 pm
Huh? all over it and I agree with.
And yea that was funny, I was hoping that they wouldn’t catch on to how often UGA lines it up in the I-formation all day long. Darn that was such a great plan too.
The question posed, depends. Are we talking for THAT game. Then yes. Definetly a perception correction on the way.
Overall? UGA is not under-rated. They are top 15 coming in, fairly so, and will lose 2-3 and finish there, maybe press the top 10 in the final polls depending. OSU will lose 2-3 as well, and no way finish at thier preseason status, if that is what over-rated means.
Although both terms are pretty worthless.
TheATL
July 16th, 2009
1:08 pm
Boys 47, Bitches 10.
Pokes lay the beatdown, Bitches’ fans go back to the racist, homophobe Klan ways.
AC
July 16th, 2009
1:14 pm
TheATL – basically what you are saying is that ALL people in the south are racist and all people in the south are homophobe and all people in the south are part of the KLAN. Isn’t that a form of prejudice?
82dawg
July 16th, 2009
1:16 pm
Could be ugly. Soft Willie’s defense lets juggernaughts like Kentucky and Tech run up the scoreboard, you can only imagine what a truly powerful offensive team could do. Could get REAL ugly……
Voice of Reason
July 16th, 2009
1:19 pm
dawg09- forgiven, don’t let it happen again.
AltamahaDawg
July 16th, 2009
1:19 pm
Houston out, But Battle is back with both wheels hopefully. I think the main thing at DE is not so much who, but just having some numbers back so they can roll them.
DesertDawg
July 16th, 2009
1:30 pm
Trade School Junkie – you are an idiot, why do you keep looking to the past. You can’t look at what happened a year ago and say the same thing will happen this year. You do realize that teams change from year to year right?
dawgfanatic24-7
July 16th, 2009
1:42 pm
TheATL is clearly on here to show his ignorance. He’d best get back to his summer job of mowing grass befoe daddy whoops that a$$.
TheATL
July 16th, 2009
1:43 pm
I don’t mow grass; I smoke grass.
AltamahaDawg
July 16th, 2009
1:57 pm
“you lost 400 yards on offence from last year”…. I guess you assume they are just going to try it with 8 men on the field?
Really?
July 16th, 2009
1:58 pm
TheATL- you must be 12 years old, there is no way a grown man would post such an immature post. How is your summer vacation been so far?
Too Easy
July 16th, 2009
1:58 pm
Desert: Teams do change, but idiots don’t.
Long Dawg
July 16th, 2009
2:04 pm
Trade School Flunkie, Ok States best running back had 37 yards on Oregon.Obviously their running game can be stopped. They have three good skill position folks; quatrerback, receiver and running back. That alone does not make a great offense. Their offensive line is mediocre at best. I don’t know who the new DC is but it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have the talent. Their defensive line and linebackers are pretty good but their defensive backfield is medicore. On paper they look pretty good but the games are not played on paper. You are hoping and praying for a Georgia beatdown just like you hope and pray for a winning season at Tech.
OUFan
July 16th, 2009
2:08 pm
the “junkie” may sound over the top, but the keys remain the same:
Pokes 2008 offense is back in full, and they will have a new D.
Ga wont have same offense w/out staffard and mareno.
Pokes will score a lot more on Ga than Ga will score on the pokes.
Pokes will win this one with confidence.
Doyouknowshon
July 16th, 2009
2:10 pm
I love how these blogs always turn into insults back and forth. Is it that hard to stay on topic?
I don’t know a lot about OSU but they seem to have a pretty high powered offense with big time talent at the skill positions. I don’t think they are the OSU of two years ago, plus they will be looking for payback after the Dawgs embarrassed them in Athens a few years ago.
This will be a tough one for the Dawgs to pull out. All I know is that come September 5th, I will be grilling out with friends, drinking a lot of cold beer and cheering my heart out for the Dawgs to spring the upset.
Go Dawgs!
PBR=America in a can
July 16th, 2009
2:17 pm
HLYBW? The only reason why Tech fans are on our blog is they really cant do a comparison like this. Is Jacksonville State underrated or is Tech overrated doesn’t exactly create a good topic at all. Plus their mothers are working so its blogging and animated porn all afternoon for the nerds.
Huh?
July 16th, 2009
2:19 pm
“Ok States best running back had 37 yards on Oregon.”
But didn’t year hear OUFan? That entire running game is back this year. I mean IN FULL. We are doomed!!!
Good grief.
southgadawg88
July 16th, 2009
2:24 pm
..I guess I must be the only person on this blog who thinks we can we 10 games with either of the top 3 QB’s starting.We would win some games in a different manner but still win regardless.Not that Stafford wasn’t a great talent or we wont miss Knowshown’s exuberance…it’s that we have two All American caliber players on both lines… DT’s in Owens and Atkins as well as two OL in Boiling and Sturdivant.I’m old school and I believe if you control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball you will win the majority of your games.
AltamahaDawg
July 16th, 2009
2:30 pm
So, if we were to look up the term “new” in the college football handbook would that be somewhere between “couldn’t be any worse” and “wanna bet”?
jessica
July 16th, 2009
2:39 pm
dawgs win in stillwater!!!! uga35 osu 7
BIGBOY
July 16th, 2009
2:40 pm
….I don’t know “88″ Owens and Sturdivant are coming off of ACL surgeries.The general rule of thumb is it takes two full years to come back from that.I see where you’re going though but a lot rides on how quickly those guys get back up to speed.
southgadawg88
July 16th, 2009
3:03 pm
The two year recovery seemed to be the norm about 8-9 years ago…but it looks like over the last 4-5 guys are coming back better than ever after a year.If we get out of camp with those guys 100 percent we are going to be tough to beat by anybody.
OUFan
July 16th, 2009
3:05 pm
Pokies had 460+ yds offense vs. the Ducks in 42-31 loss.
Pokies offense will be same/better. D will be better.
Ga offense wont be better in 2009. D may be batter.
Ga wont win a shoot-out with Pokies.
DawginLex
July 16th, 2009
3:18 pm
It won’t be a shootout. Dawgs 23-17
They don’t like speed on defense and that is what UGA has. All you haters think the cupboard is bare and it is not.
You think Richt and Martinez don’t believe they have something to prove this year?
Trade school junkie, to be so smart with all that Tech education, you sure type stupid stuff.
N.GA.DAWG
July 16th, 2009
3:21 pm
i think it will be a dawg fight. i like our chances as long as the players stay relitivily healthy. im just glad i will never see tripp drop another ball in a big game.
Let the OSU-Georgia trash talk begin | OSU Cowboys
July 16th, 2009
3:22 pm
[...] more interestingly, here’s what a Georgia blogger with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says about the situation. Cowboy fans looking for extra [...]
Fort Worth Dawg
July 16th, 2009
3:29 pm
Best possible scenario: Boise-type opponent is the sexy upset pick. Worst possible scenario: UGA pre-season number 1 with a blackout.
I think the jury is still out on Martinez but this year seals his demise if things go badly.
RxDawg
July 16th, 2009
3:43 pm
Bill, if you find some good OSU blogs please link them. I’d love to get into some good debates to work up to the game =D
Nashville4UGA
July 16th, 2009
3:45 pm
I don’t think this will be a cakewalk for either team, especially in the first game of the season. But I like the Dawgs chances.
I said this last year when Owens went down…”there goes the pass rush” and it was true. Jeff Owens is one of those players that command a double team. Without a player like that in the middle it allows the O-line to man up causing the defense to have to blitz more which in turn opens holes in the secondary. With Owens and Atkins in the middle you have two DT’s that are hard to handle for one guy leaving one on ones for the DE’s. I believe our defense will be much better from that fact alone.
do you people remember that this team won 10 games last year despite having 18 players who were starters or serious contributors on the sideline? With them back we have no reason to FEAR anyone, RESPECT, yes, FEAR NO!
I also look at things like special teams, turnover margin, redzone Defense, penalties. It’s the little things that win games and championships. These were the problems for us last year, if these are even remotely fixed we will be fine.
Trade School Junkie
July 16th, 2009
3:45 pm
dawginlex = dawg in la-la land
dagws are gonna hold OKST to 17?
Thats delusional.
Wes Stansbury
July 16th, 2009
3:46 pm
I think that OSU is probably over-rated. I know the Dawgs are Under-rated!
gadawg77
July 16th, 2009
3:46 pm
The Dawgs are right where they need to be. I’ve never seen a national championship won before the season starts. It’s all about how we finish. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OrangeCowboy
July 16th, 2009
3:48 pm
““Ok States best running back had 37 yards on Oregon.”
But didn’t year hear OUFan? That entire running game is back this year. I mean IN FULL. We are doomed!!!
Good grief.”
Not here to talk trash, just clarify that a bit. Kendall Hunter had knee surgery between the regular season and the Holiday Bowl, so the 37 yards is not legit. For the season, he had 1,555 yards and 6.5 ypc. He also did it against the good teams. At Texas, who was ranked No. 1 at the time, he had over 140 yards rushing. The No. 2 RB, Keith Toston had 686 yards and a 6.7 ypc average. Not saying they are going to run all over UGA because I don’t think they will. But, they are very capable of running the ball.
One other common misperception: OSU is not just purely a spread, passing attack offense. For 2008, OSU had 3,149 yards passing and 3,191 running. In 2007, they had exactly 3,161 yards passing and 3,161 running.
OrangeCowboy
July 16th, 2009
3:55 pm
“Bill, if you find some good OSU blogs please link them. I’d love to get into some good debates to work up to the game =D.”
RxDog-Go to GoPokes.com. There are have been several ongoing “debates” going there with some of the UGA fans for a few months now.
Michael
July 16th, 2009
3:57 pm
Another thing that we all have to factor in here is that just the other day the starting tight end and a highly recruited running back got busted with pot in their apartment. That’s gotta warrant some sort of a suspension right, so now they’re down to cuz of the 5 pointed leaf and so are we. Even though both teams lost two players to start that game, that’s gotta have an affect on the outcome.
DawginLex
July 16th, 2009
3:57 pm
Delusional is a Tech fan thinking that UGA is not going to win a lot of games.
Delusional is a Tech fan thinking they are going to play in a BCS bowl this year.
Delusional is a Tech fan thinking that the UGA program will ever be second fiddle in this state to the nerd herd.
Huh?
July 16th, 2009
3:59 pm
OrangeCowboy, I am definitely here to talk trash and I think you bring up a very interesting point. It sounds to me like Okie State has no depth at running back. You’re playing a guy that just came off knee surgery after the end of the regular season? Geez man. The guy backing him up must be total stiff.
Okie State has no depth. That’s why you lost 4 of your last 6 games. Georgia has depth and will wear you down. If we don’t come out on fire and go for the jugular early like we tend to do in these kind of games, we’ll still pull away in the 4th quarter because we’ll have more fresh bodies. I’m sorry but I just don’t like the overrated Pokes in this matchup. It really has nothing to do with Georgia. Match up the overrated Pokes with any talented, deep, and well coached team and you’ll have the same result, if not worse. Do you really think the Pokes could stay on the field with Florida for instance? Well if you’re the top 10 team everyone says you are you should, but I think that would be a monumental beatdown. I’m just not buying the hype. Its all smoke a mirrors…
Erk
July 16th, 2009
3:59 pm
Okie St is the trendy pick that Corso, Hirbstreit & Co. will make because of talented offensive skill players but Georgia will win this one on the lines of scrimmage. Our defense will stop their run and make them one-dimensional while our O line will allow us to keep them guessing with play action. OSU is overhyped, brand new stadium, etc. This sets up nicely for the Dawgs given their out of conference & road record. The tougher game will be S. Carolina the following week. Sorry Big 12, still not convinced beyond OU & Texas. Ole Miss proved my point against Texas Tech last year.
Voice of Reason
July 16th, 2009
4:00 pm
i guess we’ll see on gameday. We can’t play the game on this blog by comparing numbers against other teams. When the Dawgs and the Pokes line up on the field, the stats will be out the window. I personally hope to be able to watch a great game.
Michael
July 16th, 2009
4:01 pm
Orange Cowboy, how many of those defeneses that Kendall Hunter ran all over were ranked in the top 10? And before you make something up, I know the answer. Which is none! The best defense in the conference last year was ranked 52nd. Now conversely, every week, in the sec, our defenses are ranked in the top 10. Any anylyst will tell you, that’s what separates the sec from everybody else. The speed on defense is unmatched in any other conference.
OrangeCowboy
July 16th, 2009
4:04 pm
On another note, any of you Dawg fans headed this way for the game? Happy to help with any gameday info if needed. Looking forward to what should be a great game. All us OSU fans have been looking forward to this one for at least two years now.
b
July 16th, 2009
4:04 pm
What’s OSU’s home record in big games?curious
FL DAWG
July 16th, 2009
4:06 pm
OSU is the real deal. That Bryant kid should be in the pros by now, even Champ, in his best days would have a hard time covering him. Robinson is a smart and athletic QB with deceptive speed and quickness, I just don’t think we can get to him often enough. OSU O line is just unbelievable, we are really going to be outmanned on the defensive front. OSU defense flies to the ball and arrives at the ball with nasty intentions. The entire D is overlooked, they are a very athletic group. Our inexperience at QB and WR is going to hurt us a lot on the offense. Our O-line will have to play far above their ability to score a field goal. This is simply a great OSU team that has a legitimate shot at the Championship…I hope we can keep them under 50.
I hope Vince is reading today.
Spike
July 16th, 2009
4:09 pm
Remeber two points. First, the Dogs are tough as nails on the road, (except Jax, but that is another story, and Stillwater is not Jax.) Second, remeber all the BS hype about Okie State prior to the game two years ago about what an offensive power they were blah, blah, blah. Recall what happened in that game?
Trade School Junkie
July 16th, 2009
4:18 pm
huh? said to Orange Cowboy:
“Do you really think the Pokes could stay on the field with Florida for instance?”
GA cant stya on the field with FL.
Guess you forgot about the 49-10 azz-whoopin.
BTW, OKSt put up 41 on OK; FL put up 24 on OK.
UGA was the pre-season #1 “trendy” pick in 2008…until Bama took’em to a “funeral.” LOL