Is swing from pessimism to optimism justified for 2011 Dogs?
Will Aaron Murray make great strides in his second season as starter? (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
Maybe it’s the Dream Team, maybe it’s just the natural swinging of the pendulum, but some of the national media pessimism about Mark Richt’s program is starting to lift, just a little.
Take College Football News’ Brian Harbach, who earlier picked Georgia to finish ninth in the SEC in the coming season.
Now Harbach is taking another look and writes: “The more I pay attention to what Mark Richt has done this offseason, the more intrigued I become with their chances to jump up from a year of disappointment to an SEC East title.”
Harbach acknowledges that Georgia’s decline from preseason No. 1 over the past three seasons has been “clouding the perception of the program,” but putting that aside, he says, “there are more than a few reasons to be excited about UGA’s opportunity this fall and it is only fair to look at the other side of the coin to see the full picture of this Georgia team.”
One big factor in thinking the Dogs might bounce back, Harbach says, is the schedule. While a lot of folks think opening with what likely will be two Top 10 teams in Boise State and South Carolina looks pretty daunting, Harbach says “the SEC isn’t a mediocre ACC team and this isn’t some meaningless bowl game” so “you won’t see me picking Boise to beat Georgia in Georgia.”
He goes on to note that the Dogs play the Gamecocks at home and get “what most feel are the three worst teams in the SEC West (Auburn, MSU and Ole Miss).” Plus Florida has changed coaches “and Kentucky/Vanderbilt are still in the East. That looks like a pretty manageable SEC slate of games.”
Beyond the schedule, Harbach notes Aaron Murray will be back at quarterback “and while the term Sophomore Slump does exist, most players make the most improvement in their second year. Having Aaron Murray as the returning starter and in his third season at UGA is a huge plus for the Dawgs.”
Harbach takes a remarkably positive view of the Dogs on the other side of the ball, saying “the Georgia defense was actually pretty good last year … with a brand new scheme UGA had the fourth rated total defense and the fifth rated scoring defense in the SEC.” He thinks the “secondary should be very strong” and overall feels “one huge advantage Richt has going into this season is that he doesn’t need to worry about the defense.”
The offense needs attention, Harbach says, “but for some reason I am more confident about the offensive line than in past seasons” thanks to the departure of Stacy Searels, who “just wasn’t getting the job done.”
Harbach isn’t yet ready to revise his preseason estimation of where the Dogs will finish, but says, “The SEC East is wide open, any of four teams can win the division and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if any of the four do win it. When you actually break down the Georgia team it isn’t out of the question to see them having a big year.”
Overall, a pretty fair assessment of Richt’s team, though I’m not sure I’m quite as sold on the Dogs’ secondary as Harbach is.
So what do you think? Was Harbach closer to the mark picking the Dogs ninth in the conference, or is this newfound optimism justified?
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
576 comments Add your comment
Dumb Dawgs
February 16th, 2011
6:05 pm
“Check the series douchbag.’
Dawg fans, you should be absolutely ashamed that piece of dung is a dawg fan.
UGAG is gitting the ncaa death penalty, he he ha ha
February 16th, 2011
6:07 pm
If they catch you ugag tree killers, do ya think the ncaa will give ya the death penalty this time? Auburn will vote to convict and execute the tree killers….
UGAG is gitting the ncaa death penalty, he he ha ha
February 16th, 2011
6:09 pm
Lets see, ugag has opportunity (a little over a hundred miles separates the two schools), motive (a through butt beating on the football field), and you have access to the chemicals at the Ag school. Ah vote to convict.
Trey
February 16th, 2011
6:11 pm
things still seem to get worse, not matter what Richt tries ince 2007, gets worse wins every year. From 10 to 9 wins, from 9 wins to 8 wins, from 8 wins to 6 wins.
Richt, fo course, has no idea what the porblem is, or even worse, how to change the direction, so far, all his ideas have not worked out. None of them have stopped the downward slide.
@trey
February 16th, 2011
6:34 pm
need to get your numbers straight 2007 11 wins # 2 in AP , 2008 10 wins #10 final ranking, 2009 8 wins
then the disaster that was 2010, every program has an off year. You underestimate a coach that has finished in top 10, 6 out of 10 years.
TGDAWG
February 16th, 2011
7:26 pm
WHERE DID ALL THOSE TRACTOR DRIVING REDNECKS COME FROM ? AUBURN MUST NOT HAVE IT OWN BLOG . DOES ANYONE ON THIS BLOG KNOW AN AUBURN BLOG SITE, SO I CAN BRAG ABOUT MARK RICHT OWNING AUBURN, 6- 4, AFTER THIS SEASON IT WILL BE. 7 – 4
kyle
February 16th, 2011
7:29 pm
There is no reason Georgia should lose to Boise, if they do, I have a bad feeling about the season. Boise barely beat an average VT squad last year.
Richt has all offseason to get ready for that game. Boise is a good team, but Georgia is faster and stronger at almost every position…NO EXUSE for losing that game. As for SC, as long as Georgia plays a good game and keeps it competative throughout, then I think its a good sign (SC has a really good team). Dawgs could definantly knock them off though
Trey
February 16th, 2011
7:45 pm
You missed the point, as usual. The point is, Georgia keeps on havings seasons where they lose more games than the year before, year, after year under Richt. Happened 3 times in a row now, and Richt can’t figure out what’s the cause, and how to stop the rapid descent into 6-7.
Trey
February 16th, 2011
7:51 pm
In 2010, Richt diagnosed the porblem as turnovers and lenalties. He improved both a lot, and went from 8 wins in 2009 to 6 wins in 2010. Richt doesn’t know why he keeps losing more games than they year before, so he can’t stop the slide. Richt’s got it wrong the last 3 years in a row.
5150 UOAD
February 16th, 2011
8:16 pm
The UGA QB hasn’t won a GAME against a team with a winning record. FAT MATT STAGFORD did better than that and so did RED HEAD COX. Murray ain’t crap and he or Hutson will leave because The Black GOD that is LeMAY will lead the mutts to the DOME. HAHAHA RIGHT. BOBO is still calling plays right and RICHT is still headed DOWN HILL the last 4 years of the 10 years he has been a HEAD coach. Water Girl PRAY for me and clean my FORD TRUCK full of CARPET. I am a UGA GOD.
ChainConsq
February 16th, 2011
8:55 pm
Not sure why anyone is optimistic about UGA football…or basketball for that matter…another choke tonight…UGA is good at getting our stupid fan base excited and then disappointing…next year brings more of the same…already starting with Ealey thugness continued and BS suspension…here’s an idea…kick him off the team…he’s a loser
Josh
February 16th, 2011
10:40 pm
ALRIGHT BILL, YOU’RE MAKING STRIDES, BUT NOT QUITE THERE YET. “is this newfound optimism justified?” ARE YOU KIDDING? WHEN IS OPTIMISM NOT JUSTIFIED? DAMN YOU’RE DEPRESSING!
Buster
February 16th, 2011
10:59 pm
I keep telling you UGA did not have a losing season! The loss to auburn does not exist by way of the NCAA investigation going on. Its just a matter of time before as punishment auburn has to vacate all wins for 2010.So UGA only lost 6 games instead of seven! Their record is going to be 6-6 not 6-7! Therefore, no losing season!!
Coach Grohbo
February 17th, 2011
12:12 am
Bill,
You can’t throw to the tight end on every play. You have no one left who can play wideout or slot at this level.
You have no one in the backfield disciplined enough to block defenders who bull rush your leaky offensive line.
You have Crowell, but you have no one to block for him and no one who knows how to use him creatively.
You are replacing your two best defenders with a fumbling former tailback and a guy who couldn’t cut it at Southern Cal.
You are returning the same players under the same coach in a defensive backfield that was among the worst in college football.
You lost your best special teams coach and did not replace him with anyone with special teams experience.
It looks like tomorrow you will be hiring a DE/OLB coach from the worst defense in the NFC.
You are pinning your hopes that one JUCO player will negate the fact you have the smallest DL in the SEC.
You are optimistic.
You are also delusional.
Camden Mark
February 17th, 2011
12:20 am
The problems with UGA have not been about talent.The most talented team in the world would be mediocre at best without good coaching.Until we have a coaching staff that knows how to coach up our players to win,we will lose irregardless of signing classes and talented players.This I don’t think,this I know from years of being not just a fan but a student of the game I love.
The coaching at UGA the last few years has been just plain bad.
Carlton
February 17th, 2011
12:40 am
Man-I hope Coach Grohbo isn’t a reference to Tech..
Let me address each point:
“You can’t throw to the tight end on every play. You have no one left who can play wideout or slot at this level.”–Maybe not, but I would take Orson Charles, Aaron White, Tavarres King, Marlon Brown, Rantavious Wooten, Jay Rome collectively over AJ Green any day..
“You have no one in the backfield disciplined enough to block defenders who bull rush your leaky offensive line.” –You’re right, we don’t have anyone disciplined enough. That’s why most UGA fans are hoping Ealey/King are an after thought and we can rely on Malcolme/Crowell/Thomas this year. And leaky offensive line? Pretty sure we have a new O-line coach and 4 of 5 returning starters who are seniors..
“You have Crowell, but you have no one to block for him and no one who knows how to use him creatively.”–see above
“You are replacing your two best defenders with a fumbling former tailback and a guy who couldn’t cut it at Southern Cal.”–who’s that? Houston and who? I think our defense actually improved from 70 something in the nation in 2009 to 30 something in the nation this past year in the first year of the 3-4 defense..with no actual Nose tackle this year. I’m sure Jarvis Jones, Richard Samuel, 3rd year man Abry Jones, or freshman Ray Drew will take over Houston’s spot just fine.
“You are returning the same players under the same coach in a defensive backfield that was among the worst in college football.”–Sorry, our backfield wasn’t one of the worst in college football. Wrong again. That would be Auburn (it’s starting to sound more and more like you’re an AU fan)
“You lost your best special teams coach and did not replace him with anyone with special teams experience.”–Special teams coach? As far as I know, we lost our O-line coach for a better replacement and our strength/conditioning coordinator for a better replacement this offseason. As well, our exterior linebacker coach (yet to be replaced) Can you please give me a name or an example of this “special teams coach” we lost? And I’d say Brandon Boykin is a good returner personally..
“It looks like tomorrow you will be hiring a DE/OLB coach from the worst defense in the NFC.”–Who’s that? I’ m sure we got a pretty good defensive coordinator in Grantham who turned our defense around last year-soo..maybe the NFC’s not so bad for defensive minds?
“You are pinning your hopes that one JUCO player will negate the fact you have the smallest DL in the SEC.”–Yes, we are pinning our hopes on a 350 pound nose tackle to run the 3-4 defense. That’s the name of the game (isn’t that what Nick Fairley was to Auburn’s defense last year?) Not to mention the depth we have at DE-Kiante Tripp, Demarcus Dobbs, TJ Strippling, and our newest addition-Ray Drew!
Should be great son!
Carlton
February 17th, 2011
12:46 am
By the way-saying Jarvis Jones couldn’t cut it at Southern Cal is a mistake-he actually got hurt and wanted to transfer..try again..
kyle
February 17th, 2011
1:00 am
Southern Cal wouldn’t allowed him to play because of his injury. He played in 8 games as a freshman, sounds pretty solid to me
AltamahaDawg
February 17th, 2011
7:14 am
Graduated from Auburn in 1999? Hm, I pictured you way younger than that. Fooled me.
Larry
February 17th, 2011
9:35 am
Keep in mind every team is undefeated in the spring, and if a program has to depend on the freshman class to be successful then there are serious problems. Georgia is not an SEC power, let alone a national one. (2 SEC titles since Herschel left which is almost 30 years). I’m a Georgia fan but just stating the facts. If their running game, defensive line, and linebacker play improves they have a chance to have a decent season which may not be enough to keep Richt.
Suwaneesid
February 17th, 2011
10:02 am
I too, am worried about the secondary. I keep having nightmares of those pass plays where our opponents were wide open for a huge gainer that zapped the energy from our dawgs.
Auburn Fan
February 17th, 2011
10:13 am
“Hm, I pictured you way younger than that. Fooled me.”
Yeah, I’m sure you do picture young boys.
Trey
February 17th, 2011
10:13 am
Should be worried about the defensive line, linebackers, and secondary.
3 year slide, you go from 10 wins, to 9, to 8 to 6 wins in 2010.
Everything Richt has tried didn’t work.
jaydawg
February 17th, 2011
10:22 am
It just depends on how much you like setting yourseelf up for more disappointment-especially around Halloween.
david
February 19th, 2011
6:57 pm
We will destrpy Boise and SC and run the table and beat Oregon in national title game.
Ron Smith
February 21st, 2011
3:23 pm
When UGA loses to Boise State and South Carolina optimism will disappear. They will lose to Auburn,Florida and Mississippi State. Possible losses also to Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Kentucky. Murray looks really good while playing Vanderbilt. God knows what, if any, defense they will have. And of course, the usual crowd will be in jail. No bowl game and possible 4-8 record. The once proud Dawgs will continue to fade this season and become a SEC bottom feeder. Richt will be fired. McGarity will go as well. Very sad.