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
WDE
February 15th, 2011
2:43 pm
“if you don’t believe Auburn will struggle next season compared to LSU and Bama then you are a real dellusional Auburn fan.”
UGA fans who predict a great season without one game being played are delusional.
“You can’t lose that many top players on your team and not struggle.”
Sure you can. It’s called great coaching.
“If you are counting on these freshmen coming in then you will be greatly disappointed.’
Not as disappointed as losing to UCF in Memphis.
UGA BULLFROGS
February 15th, 2011
2:45 pm
COME ON FROGS, LETS HUNKER DOWN!!!!!! RIBBIT RIBBIT!!!!!!!!!!!!
N.GA.DAWG
February 15th, 2011
2:49 pm
WDE, Murray had pretty good stats against tha au secondary but so did alot of folks. I would take Murray over any backup at Arkansas and Auburn for that fact. You must be village idiot!
WDE
February 15th, 2011
2:51 pm
“Murray had pretty good stats against tha au secondary ‘
Yeah, for about 10 mins. After that he met the field over and over again.
“I would take Murray over any backup at Arkansas and Auburn for that fact.’
Fine by me. You can have the Liberty Bowl.
“You must be village idiot!’
Wow, stellar insult there. You must be big in your trailer park.
ugaclassof2004
February 15th, 2011
2:57 pm
Realistically,
I see this as being another 6-6 year. For any team to be successful there has to be a nucleus of talent and leadership in place: where older guys buy into the system, and then you combine that with younger talent , and you have a winner. Look at 2002: you had strong senior leadership AMONG THE PLAYERS, guys like Boss Bailey, Tony Gilbert, Jon Stincomb etc.Then you combine that with the young talent of David Greene and David Pollack and you have a strong nuclues of guys who are talented and can gut out the close wins. Same can be said for 2005 when we had guys like DJ Shockley, Russ Tanner, Max Jean Giles, who were the leaders combined with the younger guys like Kregg Lumpkin, Thomas Brown etc…and you had a team that surprised people.
But the problem now is that ever since guys like Stafford and Moreno came in, the vocal point has become more about the individual player and their talents and less about the player “buying in” to UGA. Stafford and Moreno to me represented a generational shift, where the focus of the average player is getting to the NFL not in being a Dawg. And the downside to that is you don’t get the players buying into the program like you used t have. Now when you see UGA play there is NO LEADERSHIP from the players. When things go bad or when the team gets hit in the mouth, there is nobody to rally around. Just a few of X-factor guys like AJ Greene making amazing plays, yet the team still loses. Collectively, there is no drive or incentive to be better. And THAT falls on the coaches, players, and administration.
And finally, the UGA athletic department and fanbase have always been painstakingly slow in regards to change. We kept Wally Butts around even when he was getting his brains beat out by Tech in the 1950’s. Dooley leveled off his last 5 years as UGA’s head coach when he probably should have retired after Herschel Walker left. We kept Ray Goff around WAY too long because he was a “Georgia Guy” even though he was a complete joke as a head coach. And now we’ll keep Richt around longer than we should. At the very core of who we are, we don’t demand greatness! Period. Having higher expectations is a start. Proactively seeking change is where our athletic department needs to be. The UGA athletic department is showing me that, as of right now; they’re more interested in putting a political spin on everything than they are about making moves to substantially improve our football program. So until I see more concentrated risks on McGarity’s part; the kind that Auburn and Tennessee have made to try and get their programs out of the ditch, then substandard results is what I will expect.
DIT
February 15th, 2011
2:58 pm
Had to go over and jump on the ESPN site while some of you play “who’s who” on this blog. I just found it fitting that the ACC beat writer for espn is a woman. Kind of fitting – they don’t call it the A She She for nothing.
Skitty Fritty
February 15th, 2011
2:59 pm
South Carolina should be the favorite to win the East and Florida should be ranked #2 because UGA can’t beat UF in a normal year. I think UGA can contend with USC for the East but on paper USC is better. If UGA did not have the mental issue with UF then I would predict USC, UGA, UF, UT, UK and Vandy.
LSU should be the favorite in the West. Don’t understand the hype about Bama. Losing your QB, RB, WR, and other pieces doesn’t add up to being better in 2011 than 2010 to me. I would predict LSU, Miss State, Bama, Auburn, Ark., Ole Miss
Remember who was favored to win last year, it wasn’t Auburn and how did things turn out.
Richie
February 15th, 2011
2:59 pm
Georgia fans have lost hope. 3 seasons in a row, in a downward spiral, that sees the team get worse every year, it looks as if you have a coach who simply doesn’t know what’s causing the downward sprial, and doesn’t know how to stop it. We have no sense of hope Richt has suddenly figured it out again. Look at 2007-2008, got worse. 2008-2009, less wins. 2009-2010, even less wins. Richt has no clue what’s causing this downward spiral and is even less clear what to do to reverse it. Everything Richt has tried over the last 3 years had flopped. Nothing he has tried reversed the downward spiral.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:00 pm
“Remember who was favored to win last year, it wasn’t Auburn and how did things turn out.”
Things turned out great!
The Ghost of Wally Butts
February 15th, 2011
3:00 pm
Shouldn’t we wait and see if these so-called “Dream Team” players can manage to stay out of the Clarke County Jail before we start guzzling the communal kool-aid?
Skitty Fritty
February 15th, 2011
3:01 pm
WDE:
Be careful because the “Fat” lady hasn’t sung yet on the cheating allegations with Auburn. Could end up as a “Tainted” title.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:07 pm
Skitty Fritty
“There was no evidence that money had changed hands and there was no evidence that Auburn University had anything to do with it. We would up making a decision that felt to many people morally objectionable, but that fit the facts and the circumstances.”
- NCAA president Mark Emmert
Trust me, this thing is over with.
John
February 15th, 2011
3:08 pm
You gotoo for the good man coach. It’s sometimme hard to go from a good guy to a bad coach. The man knows how to teach because he has done it before. Roll Tide.
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
February 15th, 2011
3:11 pm
go dawgs 8 or 9 wins will be a good season 10 is a stretch at this point
Jonas
February 15th, 2011
3:15 pm
Last 3 season, ina row, Richt has averaged 1-2 wins LESS than the previous year, so you’re looking, realistically, at either 5-7, or 4-8.
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:16 pm
Wimpy Delusional Eggsucker
Get your head out of you butt. You know a load of crap is about to fall. Its only a matter of when.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:17 pm
“Get your head out of you butt. You know a load of crap is about to fall. Its only a matter of when.’
Gotta love stupid people like you. The only thing falling is Obama’s poll numbers and UGA football games.
WIN WITH RICHT = oxymoron.
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:20 pm
Jonas
Richt has one losing season and 6 top ten seasons in his ten years at Georgia. So, Richt’s DAWGS are six times more likely to finish in the top ten than have a losing record in 2011.
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:23 pm
Wimpy Delusional Eggsucker
Ethical Auburn Football Program = oxymoron
Its probation time agin yall!!!
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:23 pm
“Richt has one losing season and 6 top ten seasons in his ten years at Georgia. ”
And still doesn’t have a national championship.
“Richt’s DAWGS are six times more likely to finish in the top ten than have a losing record in 2011.
LOL!!!!!!!! Great stats there, oxymoron!
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:24 pm
“Ethical Auburn Football Program = oxymoron’
You’re not smart are you.
“Its probation time agin yall!!!”
Nope. Just because you say it will doesn’t mean it will.
Have fun in Memphis, 6-7er.
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:27 pm
Wimpy Delusional Eggsucker
What is Richt’s record against Awbarn?
4 out of 5
February 15th, 2011
3:27 pm
The games CMR has beaten Awbarn in the last 5 years. Two schools going in the opposite direction. Awbarn will hold the record for the largest collapse after winning the NC. UGA WILL beat Awbarn this coming year. Bank On IT!
Rutger
February 15th, 2011
3:28 pm
It’s kind of sad to see all the Dawg fans getting so excited this year (just like the year before, the year before that, etc.). How long is it going to take for UGA fans to realize that UGA is simply no longer relevant in the SEC? In the national picture, UGA isn’t even a blip on the radar, and hasn’t been since the preseason #1 ranking two years ago.
Sit back and be grateful for the six or seven wins you’ll get every year. Coaching genius Mark Richt may take you to 8-4 or even 9-3 occasionally, but Florida will still win the SEC, meaning no BCS bowls and no top 10 final ranking. Most years, UGA will be very lucky to finish in the top 25, and only after a big bowl win over a nobody opponent.
It’s a different world now, and Dawg fans need to adjust their expectations downward to reflect reality.
Unfortunately nothing is going to change until UGA changes its mediocre coaching. That’s where the difference is, and that’s why everyone outside Dawgtard Nation just laughs at Dawg fans getting so excited year after year about what a great recruiting class UGA gets. It doesn’t matter how many blue chip high school players go to UGA, they simply don’t get the coaching they would get at Florida or Alabama, to name two schools whose programs are far ahead of UGA. And that’s not going to change as long as Mark Richt is in Athens.
Get your heads out of the sand and face reality. And mediocrity and irrelevance.
UGA, winner of the Fulmer/Richt Cup and known worldwide as The Cesspool of the South.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:28 pm
“What is Richt’s record against Awbarn?’
What’s Auburn’s all-time record against UGA?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
“Awbarn will hold the record for the largest collapse after winning the NC. ‘
LOL, another delusional 6-7er.
“UGA WILL beat Awbarn this coming year. Bank On IT!”
Oh ok, just like I will “bank” on UGA winning the SEC. LOL
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:29 pm
Wimpy Delusional Eggsucker
Teams on probation don’t go to any bowl game do they? Yall can sit around the trailer park and the DAWGS on tv next bowl season.
No Thugs Milady
February 15th, 2011
3:31 pm
The biggest change that CMR needs to make is to stop recruiting the low-class illiterates and thugs who he seems to think will win for him and keep his oversized paychecks coming in. Jerkoffs like Marcus Dowtin, A.J. Green, Washaun Ealey, Caleb King, and others too numerous to mention are not team players, they’re thug wannabes who are much closer to a gang than a team.
It’s sickening to see felons and goons like these representing the state’s flagship university.
WDE-head smacker
February 15th, 2011
3:31 pm
WDE- What a loser! Get out of your mom’s basement and maybe go find a job, a girl, or for you
a guy that that you can dominate like you try to do this blog. I bet you have NEVER played one down
of football in your life. Now get out of the basement and go find you a girle man.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:31 pm
“Teams on probation don’t go to any bowl game do they? ”
Ask Alabama. They are currently on probation until 2012.
“Yall can sit around the trailer park and the DAWGS on tv next bowl season.”
Georgia has more trailer parks per county than any state in the union. Sure, we’ll gladly watch UGA in Memphis next season.
Hey, do you think CMR will go for another field goal?
Chief Pitchanono
February 15th, 2011
3:33 pm
More like hopefull instead. Even after the great recruiting class, its still a fork in the road season for Ga and Richt. Hopefully they will take to path to a division title or close to it, but if not – sadly all confidence will be lost in Richt. Hopeing for a good season. Go Dawgs!
Vance Duuley
February 15th, 2011
3:33 pm
A few salient comments:
1. Four different SEC teams have won the last five BCS championships.
2. UGA was not one of those teams.
3. During that period, UGA did not win the SEC championship.
4. During that period, UGA did not even win its SEC division.
5. Red panties.
In other words, UGA has sunk into total irrelevancy both regionally and nationally.
So why is UGA paying Mark Richt millions of dollars a year?
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:33 pm
“What a loser! Get out of your mom’s basement and maybe go find a job, a girl, or for you
a guy that that you can dominate like you try to do this blog. I bet you have NEVER played one down
of football in your life. Now get out of the basement and go find you a girle man.’
Wow, what a stellar rebuttal. I mean seriously, the way you used those big words like “basement” and “trailer park.” You must have really been head of your special ed class!
4 out of 5
February 15th, 2011
3:33 pm
4 out of the past 5 and getting ready to be 5 out of 6! You know it as well. Awbarn will not even be in the top 20 at years end this season. They will replace UGA at the Liberty Bowl.
“What’s Auburn’s all-time record against UGA?” – That’s like UGA fans saying we still have a winning record against UF….. Fact is the past several years CMR has a winning record, convincingly so, against Awbarn! Enjoy this past year because you are getting ready to go on another losing skid against UGA. UGA will catch the alltime record like UF is catching UGA. COUNT ON IT!
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:34 pm
Rutger
Richt’s UGA teams have finished in the top ten six out of the ten seasons that he has coached here.
4 out of 5
February 15th, 2011
3:36 pm
@WIN WITH RICHT
With a name like Rutger – I would not even waste my breath on him.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:36 pm
“You know it as well.”
The only thing I know is that we just won the national title.
“Awbarn will not even be in the top 20 at years end this season. ‘
Uh huh.
“They will replace UGA at the Liberty Bowl. ”
LOL, ok.
“Fact is the past several years CMR has a winning record, convincingly so, against Awbarn!”
So what’s CMR record in the national championship game?
“CMR has a winning record”
6-7 isn’t a winning record.
“Enjoy this past year because you are getting ready to go on another losing skid against UGA.’
Uh huh, and UGA will win the 2008 championship because they were pre-season number one.
“COUNT ON IT!”
The only thing I can count on is UGA fan stupidity. THAT is a fact.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:37 pm
“Richt’s UGA teams have finished in the top ten six out of the ten seasons that he has coached here.
So where are the national championships?
Jonas
February 15th, 2011
3:38 pm
Richt finished ranked #68 in 2010. rICHT’S TEAM HAVE NOT FINISHED IN THE TOP 10 IN 2008, 2009, or 2010.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:38 pm
“With a name like Rutger – I would not even waste my breath on him.”
You just did.
4 out of 5
February 15th, 2011
3:39 pm
WDE – your sucjh a tool box. I’m talking about UGA aginst Awbarn. You have to bring up other areas because you know I speak in facts. Enjoy it this year because it won’t happen again for some time.
Correction – the only thing that you can count on is thinking that you had a hair until you peed out of it.
4 out of 5 UGA fans live in trailer parks
February 15th, 2011
3:39 pm
UGA fans are delusional if they think UGA will win anything other than the Fulmer Cup.
AltamahaDawg
February 15th, 2011
3:40 pm
The SEC writers and coaches will be sold on Murray. He will be a preseason All-SEC pick.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:41 pm
“your sucjh a tool box.”
Wow, what a stellar insult. A tool box. Why not a garden tool or maybe a lawn mower?
“You have to bring up other areas because you know I speak in facts.’
No, you speak in delusions.
“Enjoy it this year because it won’t happen again for some time. ”
Keep on telling yourself that.
“the only thing that you can count on is thinking that you had a hair until you peed out of it.”
Insult fail, troglodyte.
4 out of 5
February 15th, 2011
3:41 pm
WDE – you have a comment for everything don’t you. Go back to your sister/wife in YOUR own trailer.
4 out of 5 UGA fans ride the short bus
February 15th, 2011
3:42 pm
Hey 4 out of 5,
Do you think that UGA will beat other schools out with most players arrested?
AltamahaDawg
February 15th, 2011
3:42 pm
classof2004, which 6 games do you see UGA losing/winning?
Winston Wolfe
February 15th, 2011
3:43 pm
WDE…..gotta hand it to ya……you’re pretty sharp. You must be a lawyer…..these rebuttal’s come waaay too easy. Wish you were a Georgia fan.
WIN WITH RICHT
February 15th, 2011
3:43 pm
Vance Duuley
In the 10 years that Richt has been at UGA,the Dawgs have won 2 SEC titles, 3 SEC East titles, and finished in the top ten 6 times. Richt has one bad season and some fairweather fans go off the deep end. Uga is more relevant now than under Dooley or any other UGA coach ever.Have you forgotten the 17 years between Herschel and Richt. No SEC title and 1 top five finish in 17 years. Richt will turn it around in 2011.
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:43 pm
“you have a comment for everything don’t you.”
When it comes to you, yes. You’re about as easy as a UGA sorority house.
“Go back to your sister/wife in YOUR own trailer.”
Now why would I want to go to your place?
WDE
February 15th, 2011
3:44 pm
Winston Wolfe
Nope, not a lawyer. I just love irritating dawg fans who act like their team is God’s gift to football.