Are Dawg fans’ BCS title hopes for 2011 realistic?
When will Mark Richt get to hoist one of these crystal babies like Nick Saban? Or will he? (Associated Press)
It’s that time of year between signing day and the beginning of spring practice when college football fans look ahead with optimism. That certainly applies in the Bulldog Nation, where many, if not most, fans appear to have concluded that the 2010 season will see an improvement in the Dogs’ on-field performance. A frequent refrain I’m hearing is that 10 wins, at least counting the bowl if not in the regular season, doesn’t seem out of reach, even with all the questions surrounding this team.
And if you then look ahead to 2011, with a year of experience at QB and the new defensive scheme established and battle-tested and a fairly advantageous schedule, well, the sky seems to be the limit in many fans’ estimation.
Yes, just three months after the debacle that was the game against Kentucky, some Dogs fans are daring to think BCS national championship in 2011. We’re nothing if not resilient. (Or deluded, I’m sure Bama and Florida fans will say.)
One of those true believer Dawg fans recently raised the issue with Olin Buchanan, Rivals.com college football senior writer, asking him when he saw Georgia winning another national championship. “I’m hoping 2011 is our year,” the fan added.
After retracing Georgia’s history winning national titles and having some years where a catch or two might have provided the opportunity for another, Buchanan didn’t exactly give the fan the answer he was hoping for.
“Most championship teams have strong defenses and reliable, experienced quarterbacks,” he noted. “This past season, Georgia had neither. Junior Logan Gray and redshirt freshmen Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger will compete to be this fall’s starting quarterback. We’ll have to see if one emerges as a reliable passer. Meanwhile, coordinator Todd Grantham was brought in to bolster a defensive unit that was the third-most generous in the SEC last season. Can he rebuild that unit back to usual SEC standards? Again, we’ll see.”
Loading ...So how do you feel about Georgia’s prospects? Is a 10-win season this year the minimum you would find acceptable? Do you really think the Dogs, probably minus A.J. Green, can surpass Florida and Alabama out of the SEC and become a BCS championship contender in 2011? If not then, when? On the latter point, feel free to vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
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613 comments Add your comment
flagboy?
February 21st, 2010
9:54 am
Are you kidding me? I’m as big a Dawg fan as anyone else. . . but 2011?
man. .
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
9:56 am
I maybe dreaming but at least my 5 year old can spell the name of our President
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
9:56 am
My side is hurtin from laughing so hard.
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
9:58 am
Joshua, I would’t brag about that son. He’s worse than Jimmie Cawta.
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
9:58 am
Ric Flair…………………..So I guess, Ole Miss is the man……..since they beat Florida right?
01HAWK
February 21st, 2010
9:59 am
One BIG difference JOSHUA…………………….SABAN has 2 NC and CMR has NONE.
What do you get when you breed a groundhog and the GEORGIA BULLDOG ?
A: Six more weeks of bad football.
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
10:00 am
Hey…………….I’m not bragging like I support him, what I mean was….at least my 5 year old can properly spell “Barrack Obama Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Lane Kiffin
February 21st, 2010
10:00 am
I’ve got a better chance at becoming a NCAA compliance officer.
I don't think that you understand.
February 21st, 2010
10:01 am
The AJC writers sit there and laugh their ass off, everytime they write something stupid like this article. Their real fun is when they read YOUR posts.
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:02 am
I will speak for Mr. Flair; Bama is the man right now because they beat Florida in the game that counts. Lets see, Kentucky, LSU, Florida, Tenn and OK state are the man to UGA.
Jimmy Carter
February 21st, 2010
10:03 am
What does Bama and Obama have in common?
01HAWK
February 21st, 2010
10:04 am
I have a better chance of posing for PLAYGIRL than UGA winning a NC.
Sarah Palin
February 21st, 2010
10:05 am
I’ve got a better chance of being a Palm Reader.
Sarah Palin
February 21st, 2010
10:06 am
Hey Dawg fans… Hows that hope and change workin out for ya ???? Obama is a clown and you are too if ya think UGa is gonna win a NC with CMR at the helm….
Hillary Clinton
February 21st, 2010
10:06 am
I have got a better chance being in Playboy.
Porty
February 21st, 2010
10:08 am
Why do you continually set yourself up for this? You guys are beyond delusional.
hightide for years to come
February 21st, 2010
10:09 am
hey romebuzz bama will replace mt.cody with mt.kerry murphy not quit as big 6-4 355 but just as or more athletic
Since Vince
February 21st, 2010
10:09 am
Whats a MNC? Its been so long I think….
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
10:09 am
01HAWK
Bobby Bowden has won 2 NC….it took him 34 years to win his first
Joe Paterno has won 2 NC……it took him 18 years to win his first
Nick Saban has won 2 NC…………it took him 13 years to win his first
Mark Richt is entering his 10th season…………….so match up to the bar of some of the games best NCAA coaches, I believe his is doing just fine.
Some of you morons forget that Georgia has just as many SEC Championships since 2000 than LSU, Florida, and Alabama(oh my bad they have 1)….it takes a tremendous amount of luck to get into the National Championship game.
Joker Phillip
February 21st, 2010
10:09 am
I can’t wait to beat you again this year and next.
Since Vince
February 21st, 2010
10:10 am
Hey Hilliary I luv your cankles!
Kennesaw Dawg
February 21st, 2010
10:10 am
Silly Bama fans, you are the ones that are delusional. Have you not tracked Satan’s past patterns? If you think he is your savior for years to come you do have your heads up your crimson tides. He will be gone on to whatever feeds his ego soon as an opportunity presents itself.
Old Coach
February 21st, 2010
10:12 am
BuLLdawg***
As soon as I saw the title of the blog my first thoughts were about you, this ignorant fool and his lengty same old same old. YOU WIN!!! Ga. can not win a SINGLE game with this staff and personnel. We should all just wait by the computer until YOU solve all of the problems that occur with a SEC football team!!
hightide for years to come
February 21st, 2010
10:12 am
murphy at 355 can do a back flip. also reverse slam a basketball 5* out of HOOOOVA
Call It Like It Is
February 21st, 2010
10:12 am
KEEP DREAMING, LIKE YOU HAVE SINCE 1980 AS IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN!
NICE JOKE THOUGH.
Enough Said!
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:13 am
Joshua, unless Richt wins the SEC East this year or 2011 he wont be around 34 years like his daddy. 2 SEC Championships since 2000=2 wins against the Gators. What do you think you gotta do first?
Richt's Butt Cut
February 21st, 2010
10:13 am
Heck yeah! Preseason National Champs again!!
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
10:13 am
Ponce DeLeon
and what is TECH to Georgia the past 8 of 9 years……………their lil Bit$H
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:15 am
Who cares about Tech Kentucky, LSU, Florida, Tenn and OK state B!tch.
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:16 am
This is making me tired. Doggies you see why everyone laughs at you?
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
10:17 am
Im not going to say that Georgia will win the 2010, 2011, or 2030 National Championship
but I will say that UGA will most definitely win 5 BCS titles before Tech even sniffs a title game.
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:17 am
Joshua finally we agree. Gotta go.
dbc
February 21st, 2010
10:18 am
This is an absolutely pointless article. Funny how it’s kept alive by a handful of Bama, Tech and Fla. fans who have no better place to go to talk about their own teams. You bash UGA football and boast of the superiority of your “teams” as if you had anything personally to do with their success. Pathetic. Go watch the Olympics and see what real athletes are all about. Maybe you’ll learn a shred of humility.
Joshua
February 21st, 2010
10:18 am
who is your team anyways Ponce DeLeon…………….the Georgia State Panthers
hightide for years to come
February 21st, 2010
10:18 am
HEY KENNESAW DOG saban will do what his wife terry tells him to do…. sad for you she LOVES BAMA
Ponce DeLeon
February 21st, 2010
10:20 am
The mighty Gators.
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2010
10:21 am
Give him a break Old Coach. He is just still sore that the Admin didn’t rename the stadium:
The University of Tennessee Coach’s Dad Stadium
01HAWK
February 21st, 2010
10:22 am
Dennis Felton has a better chance of winning a NC in basketball than UGA in FOOTBALL.
uh oh
February 21st, 2010
10:23 am
Choice 4: Not ever. Quit being such a homer and start being real. If you couldn’t do it with Stafford AJ and Moreno, when can you do it? Think about it…
Kennesaw Dawg
February 21st, 2010
10:27 am
Hey hightide, dream on. Nothing will get in the way of Satan’s ego. NOTHING. Mark it down.
UGAalum2004
February 21st, 2010
10:27 am
South ga boy in ATL…
I agree with everything you say and more. And I’ll add that Richt needs to learn to run his program more like a business. As far as X’s and O’s go: Richt, himself, is as good as anyone out there. For instance, if Richt is your OC and he’s going against a Saban coached defense, Richt’s teams will win their fair share of those matchups. But where the great college head coaches excel is in their ability to build structures within their program and hire great talent. And Richt has been unable to demonstrate this to me.
Richt is stuck in that old Bobby Bowden model of running a program where you promote a longtime assistant from within. And that is fine if the assistant has talent, like Mark Richt or Brad Scott did. But when you promote a Jeff Bowden to OC, a coach who looked good because of the talent around him, then the program is bound to tank. Jeff Bowden becoming OC at FSU was the beginning of the end for the Seminole dynasty, where it seemed like that program just snowballed with one bad decision after another.
Willie Martinez is Richt’s Jeff Bowden. He should have let Willie go after the 2008 season, but Richt made a personal decision to keep him as opposed to making a business one that would positively impact his program. A college head football coach basically functions like a college president; 75% of what they do is fundraising and recruiting. Quality assistants are the ones that teach players fundamentals and essentially run the day to day operations of the team. And if you don’t have enough of those guys in place you’ll see the results. With that being said: I will withhold future judgment on my Dawgs until I see how this season pans out. Hiring from the outside is such a foreign concept to Richt that I got to see how he and the team responds to it. And if neither Murray or Mettenburger pan out, then Richt is in trouble.
Ed
February 21st, 2010
10:37 am
Let’s win the real championship – the SEC – first, then we can worry about the popularity contest called the BCS. I prefer real championships to mythical championships.
rob
February 21st, 2010
10:40 am
Well, it’s official. The writer of this article has no shame or credibility.
What an absolute idiot!!
Unbelievable.
Without-a-clue
February 21st, 2010
10:44 am
Let’s concentrate on beating UGA’s “big four”, Fla, Tech, Tenn, and Auburn and the rest will take care of itself. But those accomplishments, in themselves, are a BIG order!
salsaman
February 21st, 2010
10:44 am
Has Mark Bradley changed his name to King which is what he thinks he is.
AltamahaDawg
February 21st, 2010
10:48 am
So far in replacing DC right has promoted 1 from within, and hired 1 from outside. Thats roughly half the time, give or take, in his relatively short career as a HC. The majority of the offensive staff has been retooled with outside influence in the past few years. Are you positive that you really know for certain what he thinks conceptually?
bamaguy
February 21st, 2010
10:48 am
It’s hard for any SEC team to get to the NC. This year Alabama had to get a couple of breaks (TN) and the previous year Florida got in the game after a loss to Ole Miss only because other teams lost. I just can’t see that happening for UGA in 2011.
But hey, dream big. If you had told me two years ago we would be National Champs I wouldn’t have believed you.
And Saban may leave Alabama one day to return to the pros but Bama is the last college team he will coach. And he will not leave Bama until he feels he has adequately trained Kirby Smart to replace him
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
February 21st, 2010
10:51 am
Why no reporting on the Diamond Dawgs? Is it because its not relevant since the dawgs got blown away by Duke yesterday. Oh well there goes that big 22′nd ranking. What else is new in UGA town? Arrests? No Drivers License? Scooter accidents? Trash? Huge Salary increases? Millions of dollars to be spent on a antiquated heap gym?
Adding a wrinkle...
February 21st, 2010
10:58 am
Richt is a simple coach, it seems that he/his staff approaches each game with workman like preparation…maybe it was the lack of ability of QB last year, but how do you not take advantage/exploit the other team weaknesses (especially during the game), or be able to shift gears, add a new wrinkle, make something happen, instead of handing off the ball on 3rd and long, crossing the ol’ fingers, and getting the punting team ready…CMR/Bobo go into a game with a plan and appear to be pretty predictable, come h3ll or high water…if not, how do teams always seem to play the DAWGS so close, what with the superior athletes that show up in Athens…why does every game have to be a nail biter, pulling one out at the end, or holding on for dear life, seems to be the norm…where are the blow outs, the domination of teams, scoring at will, so that this team believes that they are capable of scoring at any time/any where/any how…this is a mind-set that I have never seen from this team…it seems the DAWGS play down, or up (sometimes) to the talent across the line…does CMR key so much on UT or UF that a lose to either shoots down the entire season…I think by now it’s obvious that what you see is what you get w/ CMR, he’s a good coach, but he’ll never be a great coach…so take his average of 10 wins seasons, and his 98% winning % when the DAWGS rush for 100 yds or more, and hopefully head to Tampa at the very least, occasionally to SEC Championship, and maybe get to one of the BCS bowls, but his coaching style just doesn’t lend to getting to the Big Dance…of course being in the top ten most years is something to shoot for, but sometimes you have to pull the trigger, look at what happened at Auburn, look at UT, schools who had NC winning coaches…these schools felt that the programs were either not going in the right direction, or they didn’t like what they saw with the present coaches, and felt this was the time to move in another direction…take your lumps and move on and hopefully up…
Albert Einstein stated it best…UGA football = Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. (well, he really didn’t say that concerning UGA Football just in case some of fans want to take this literally)
GoVols
February 21st, 2010
11:07 am
A little early in the day to be hammered, isn’t it??? I’m not a Dawg basher by any means, but this is the silliest assessment I’ve seen in some time.