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?
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576 comments Add your comment
SouthSide Dawg
February 15th, 2011
12:32 pm
Really it will come down to how many starters have to sit out the first two games for offseason troubles. A full slate of Dawgs could likely beat both BS and SC…. if we have starters sitting out, I’m thinking that we will start 0-2. Yuck.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:35 pm
“Is swing from pessimism to optimism justified for 2011 Dogs?”
Sure, but you still have to win the games.
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
12:36 pm
Tom,
Scroll up the thread and read other posts. George posted a response to which others in the thread are responding. Sometimes in a thread, we respond to each other and have conversations. Welcome to the thread, and enjoy the communication while it lasts. Pretty soon it will be taken over by obnoxious fans from other schools and turn into a cluster of insults and bad grammar.
hal combo
February 15th, 2011
12:37 pm
Enter your comments here
Chris
February 15th, 2011
12:38 pm
I would like to be optimisitc, but in reallity NOTHING has happened to make me optimistic. Yes, we had a great recruiting class, but that has never been a problem at Georgia. The problem is coaching, and Richt didn’t make any moves to address the coaching problem we have on offense. Bobo should have been fired or demoted. At the very least, Richt should have learned from his inability to pull the trigger on Martinez. He obviously didn’t learn anything. Bobo has no business calling plays at this level.
As for the defense, the jury is still out. I for one was not pleased with the constant blown coverages game in and game out, but we did not have many quality players on defense either. Maybe we will start to see improvement in the defense this year with some bigger bodies, and guys with a year of experience in Granthams defense.
Overall, I have yet to see anything to be overly optimisitc about. However, that could all change in the first game if we play well against Boise State, play Crowell, and he actually shows us something to look forward too.
Cuz
February 15th, 2011
12:40 pm
Murray going 0-6 against winning teams. Hmmmmmm…………
I was unaware he played both sides of the ball at every position last year. Amazing we won the games we did. He should be tired.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:40 pm
Enter your comments here
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:41 pm
Since when did Auburn become one of the worst teams in the West? They just signed a better class than UGA, UF, LSU etc and yet we are one of the worst?
UGA logic is puzzling.
hal combo
February 15th, 2011
12:43 pm
Let me get this right: Defending national champs, Auburn, with two top 5 recruiting classes in a row, is supposed to be an easy game on UGA’s schedule–the same Auburn that treated UGA as red-headed step children this past season…If you really think Auburn is going to slip that far this year, you are delusional. You Dawgs need to get a grip on reality; this past season wasn’t a fluke; you had a bad team and so one good recruiting class and the DAWGS are national contenders? Beat somebody with a pulse first!
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
12:45 pm
WDE,
Twas not a UGA fan’s logic. It was Harbach. Worst in the West means that he thinks Arky, Bama, and LSu are better than AU, MSU, and Ole Miss. It has nothing to do with a comparison with any team in the East. I agree with you that AU is still in contention to win the West.
AU reading comprehension is puzzling.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:45 pm
hal combo
EXACTLY! Auburn finished with the number 3 class overall. They just signed the number 2 rated QB in the country and the best offensive line. If what’s his face had signed with Auburn, they’d be one or two.
Sure, Auburn lost Newton and Fairly but they have something UGA does not have. Great coaching.
It’s no fluke that schools have tried to hire away Auburn coaches.
No one is trying to steal Bobo, CMR etc away from UGA.
Murphy
February 15th, 2011
12:47 pm
I will wait to excited about 2011 untill after the second game.We will know exactly were we stand after first 2 games.We must get off to a fast start.Richt and this team will not overcome starting 0-2.Anxious to see what our Defense can do against Boise.
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
12:47 pm
Hal,
I know that they teach you to read better than that at Auburn. I know some guys that have graduated from there.
woebegong
February 15th, 2011
12:47 pm
UGA last year basically had a new defense without the experience or conditioning to move offenses to change their game plan. We have a year of experience, and vinally, I believe a NG to plug up the middle, and we will be better conditioned.
Our offense, will be seasoned with a year of experience, with the greatest need to show, being the running game as far as skilled positions go. Now I know how A J Greene was the best receiver in the SEC and maybe the NCAA, but sometimes a team gets better by subtraction, when more than one player has to step up. It appeared to me that the game plan greatly leaned on getting the ball to one player, and not developing or using the other weapons fully. That made the game plan predictable and boring. Possibly this year, we can have a balanced attack and will do much better.
I still believe though, that the biggtest cure for UGA will be if the Beef guys are better conditioned, stronger and in the defenses case, bigger.
NOW,LET THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS BEGIN.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DAWGSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
DIT
February 15th, 2011
12:47 pm
Too many holes to fill for this team to make a run this year. Out of this past recruiting class, MAYBE 2 of them can contribute… maybe. It will be a tough year. The defense will have to win games this year. Not sure if they are up for the challenge.
The only game that this team should be concentrating on is Boiste State right now.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:48 pm
“Worst in the West means that he thinks Arky, Bama, and LSu are better than AU, MSU, and Ole Miss.”
Every single school in the west is rebuilding at offense/defense. Not sure how he rates those other teams ahead of Auburn.
“Twas not a UGA fan’s logic. It was Harbach.”
Yeah, and I was referring to a couple of UGA fan comments on page one.
“AU reading comprehension is puzzling.”
Check out page one. Get back to me with an apology.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:48 pm
“I know that they teach you to read better than that at Auburn. ‘
Are you retarded?
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:49 pm
“I know that they teach you to read better than that at Auburn. I know some guys that have graduated from there.”
Yeah, those guys are your bosses.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:50 pm
“Too many holes to fill ‘
That’s exactly what I said when I visited a couple of sororities in Athens.
Buckeye
February 15th, 2011
12:50 pm
Optimistic? I was optimistic Obama would govern from the center based on the way he campaigned.
Sorry, boys…..I mean “dawgs”. Until you prove otherwise, you are what your record says you are. 6-7, unranked and the LBL ( Liberty Bowl Loser).
True colors shine through. Sorry, Cindy.
Classes, February rankings mean bupkis. There are more meaninless words on this blog than si.comn swimsuit 2011 bikinis!
Buckeye
February 15th, 2011
12:51 pm
WDE,
Didn’t you mean “ho’s” not “holes”?
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:51 pm
“I was optimistic Obama would govern from the center based on the way he campaigned.”
LOL!!!!! You must not have paid attention to his voting record.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
12:52 pm
“Didn’t you mean “ho’s” not “holes”?’
No, I meant holes. You are a guy, right?
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
12:56 pm
WDE,
I read page one. I read the article. I am clearly right, and you are wrong. You and Hal were shooting your mouths off, taking something out of context. No apology is owed.
Speaking of rebuilding offenses, a QB is tough to replace. Believe me, we have struggled with it for a while. Cam is going to be doubly hard to replace. AU will be solid and tough. They definitely got there balls back. The West is up for grabs in my opinion, just like the East. The West, though, right now, is far superior overall.
Dawg 39
February 15th, 2011
12:58 pm
I was too optimistic last year primarily because of the OL & the RBs. The expected running game.
This year I am less optimistic because of the OL & the RBs. The expected running game.
I like the schedule, the second year under Grantham, & the QB situation. IF the running game comes around It could be a very good year for the Dawgs.I continue to be optimistic & a fan of the Dawgs & the entire coaching staff.
Alabama Jack
February 15th, 2011
1:00 pm
Thank God for Vanderbilt, only other contender for least of the east. Coach ‘em down, boys, coach ‘em down.
NC Dawg
February 15th, 2011
1:01 pm
Nothing’s for sure until cleats are on the gametime turf.
DawginLex
February 15th, 2011
1:04 pm
Wisconsin owns the Buckeyes in football and basketball.
How ’bout them Badgers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maurice Clarett believes akademiks in the Big eleven +1 have improved with the addition of Nebraska. “They is a smart school. That “N” on they helmets stands for knowledge”
DawginLex
February 15th, 2011
1:06 pm
DawginLex
February 15th, 2011
11:23 am
I’m not sold that Murray is going to be the starter. Most likely, he will but I would venture a guess that Lemay is going to get more than the obligatory 1 series per game. If he can come in a grasp things quickly, I could see him and Murray going 40/60.
Richt can not take a chance on Murray getting injured and having no answer to come in and play.
Sorry but Mason isn’t going to be the answer.
********************************************************************
kerryb,
Where did I say that Murray won’t start?
Read son. Sorry it took so long to respond, I had to get my head out of my rear.
DawginLex
February 15th, 2011
1:08 pm
Should we clue George in and tell him what Mettenberger did to get KICKED OFF THE TEAM?
He didn’t transfer.
Ceasar
February 15th, 2011
1:08 pm
No more excuses, SEC crown or else!!!!!!!!!!
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:09 pm
“I read page one. I read the article. I am clearly right, and you are wrong. ”
Oh really?
“Big rivals like Auburn and Florida will not be as tough, and Tennessee although better, still does not have the talent of their glory days.”
“You and Hal were shooting your mouths off, taking something out of context. ‘
What did I take out of context?
“Speaking of rebuilding offenses, a QB is tough to replace. ‘
Well no kidding, you don’t say….
“The West, though, right now, is far superior overall.’
Yeah, but every team is rebuilding on offense/defense. Bama and Auburn both have great running backs. Auburn is fine at WR, RB etc. They just signed the best offensive line in the country and they have the best offensive line coach in the country. I’m not going to say Auburn will not lose games but it won’t be as bad as people predict.
Even in Chizik’s first season, he had to rebuild and went 8-5. The offense was great and scored a lot of points but it was the defense that gave them problems. Auburn lost to 3 teams by 6 or less points and all three of those losses came in last minute scoring by opposing teams. Had Auburn held on, they would have only lost 2 games in the regular season.
People can call Chizik all the names in the world but it won’t make do a damn thing in the regular season.
chiefdawg
February 15th, 2011
1:10 pm
Unfortunately the Dawgs will lose at least 5.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:10 pm
“The West is up for grabs in my opinion, just like the East.’
UGA could easily win the East but then again, they should have won it last year.
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
1:11 pm
What does WDE stand for anyway, Weapon of Dumb Expression. You are too obstinate to know when you are being complemented and too arrogant to admit when you are wrong.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:14 pm
“What does WDE stand for anyway, Weapon of Dumb Expression. ‘
Insult fail, troglodyte.
“You are too obstinate to know when you are being complemented and too arrogant to admit when you are wrong.”
Oh, so I guess when I was elaborating on what you were saying that constitutes as me being obstinate?
Arrogant, no not really.
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
1:14 pm
How about Wankers with Delusions of Eminence.
saban
February 15th, 2011
1:16 pm
I have no doubt the dawgs can go 7-6 next year with a resounding victory over Central Florida in the Booger Eaters Classic in Anniston, Alabama.
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
1:17 pm
Wimpy Disco Enthusiasts?
OldFan
February 15th, 2011
1:18 pm
Optimism doesn’t require a rationale. We all should be optimistic. We’re undefeated, and until we lose, why should I believe we will? Otherwise, let’s just vote on wins and losses now, find the consensus, and skip the season. Opens up more weekends for golf. The only real question is will UGA start to crawl out of it’s turn in the regression to the mean. Every program, major or not, has its run from hero to goat. We’re likely going to win a game we shouldn’t, lose a game we shouldn’t, and pretty much play to standard for the rest. But what will the standard be? And if that standard’s not high enough, who gets to decide not only that, but also the way to raise it? Remember, UGA’s football revenues are among the highest in the land, we can still recruit, and CMR is loved by the football non-combatant community. Since there can be only one NC, there are just degrees of discontentment for all fans. Here’s to hoping that UGA’s standard of play just makes us mildly unhappy.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:18 pm
“How about Wankers with Delusions of Eminence.”
How about, quit while you’re behind.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:20 pm
chazzo as defined by Urban Dictionary.
chazzo: A lovely patch of grass, situated just south of the village, next to the park. I used to walk my dog through there, until he died..
chazzo
February 15th, 2011
1:21 pm
No. You are obstinate and arrogant because you show up on another teams thread and go on and on about how great your team is going to be. At least you aren’t as bad as the Bama jerks. They don’t even have a dawg in the fight. I will still pull for the tigers in the Arn Bowl.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
1:26 pm
“You are obstinate and arrogant because you show up on another teams thread and go on and on about how great your team is going to be.’
No, I showed up because Auburn was mentioned in the column. And no, I didn’t say how great my team was going to be.
“At least you aren’t as bad as the Bama jerks.”
No one can be that bad.
“I will still pull for the tigers in the Arn Bowl.”
And I’ll always pull for the dawgs in the Bee Bowl or whatever it’s called. What is the UGA/GT game called?
George
February 15th, 2011
1:30 pm
I’ll ask it again:
Georgia has a disturbing trend going on, of getting worse evrty year in winning.
From 10 wins, down to 9 wins, down to 8 wins, down to 6 wins.
If Richt COULD reverse the trend, why hasn’t he?
Jared Jones
February 15th, 2011
1:31 pm
The secondary is going to be the biggest strength of our defense! Alec Ogletree is going to be sick, Bacarri Rambo will be…sufficient, and then Commings and Boykin and Branden Smith as our cornerbacks! Not to mention some of the freshmen we have coming in.
Biggest weakness is Rambo, but our entire secondary will be very experienced
Lagdawg
February 15th, 2011
1:34 pm
It will all come down to if Bobo has learned how to call an offensive game. The time for excuses is over and we will get a good indication on the season from the first two games. If the offense flutters out the gate, then Richt has no choice but to take of the offensive side of the ball and terminate Bobo. There are still a lot of questions to be answered on the offensive side of the ball. There is no margin for error. Which WRs will step up and will the OL start to dominate like they are supposed to do. If all that happens, then the rest will fall on Bobo. The talent is there to be optimistic, but is the coaching adequate enough to get the job done.Bobo has not shown me anything for the past four years and it’s always some stupid excuse. So, I guess wie’ll have to wait and see.
hugedawgfan
February 15th, 2011
1:34 pm
damain swann get ru done
1eyedJack
February 15th, 2011
1:37 pm
Bill, a good front seven will make your secondary a hell of a lot better. Jenkins is the key.
Vixzilla
February 15th, 2011
1:41 pm
So – I spent some time commenting and submitted the comment and NOTHING is posted. I wasted my time! No more Mr Bill(I’m running out of crap to write about) King. I am officially done with your column – Get Bent! I guess I just wasted another 30 seconds!