Another preseason pick likes Dawgs in SEC East
Blair Walsh topped one of ESPN's many SEC lists. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
ESPN.com’s SEC coverage team, Chris Low and Edward Aschoff, so far have spent the summer making lists. Lots of lists. They’ve compiled conference rankings looking at each position on the basis of team strength and individual players (Georgia’s Blair Walsh topped all SEC place-kickers, for example).
And after all that was done, they crunched the numbers all together and have come up with an overall ranking. As Aschoff explains it, “For our overall team rankings, we took all eight position rankings and found the mean for each team. Obviously, the lower score, the better — just like golf.”
Alabama came out on top, as you’d expect, and the SEC West dominated the top of the chart, with Arkansas second, followed by LSU. But Georgia pulled an upset by nudging out South Carolina for fourth place.
And, says Aschoff: “That gives Georgia the SEC East in our book. The Bulldogs also had 13 players ranked in our position rankings, with seven making it in the top five. Even with those offensive questions, Georgia has some pieces in place to make a real run in the East. The Bulldogs would feel right at home in Atlanta for the SEC championship game against Alabama (if our rankings hold true).”
So we can add that to the growing list of preseason picks that like Georgia in the East.
KEEPING DAWG FANS OUT
Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich has made an appeal for Jackets season ticket holders to purchase additional tickets to the game against UGA at Grant Field this season so as to keep tickets out of the hands of Dogs fans.
“Two years ago,” he writes, “you all responded en masse and our entire remaining allotment wound up in the hands of our season ticket group. The result was an overwhelming display of Gold and White support at that critical state rivalry game.”
Which Georgia still won, by the way.
He continues that with the last day for season ticket holders to exclusively purchase single-game tickets and request additional tickets to the Georgia game coming up on June 30, “we still have a long way to go to get all of these tickets claimed by our Georgia Tech faithful. Please take the time to purchase your additional Georgia tickets now and help us maintain that great home field advantage when we face the Dawgs.”
Yeah, I know. Pathetic, isn’t it?
Anyway, if the Tech faithful don’t buy all those tickets, they undoubtedly will be snapped up by Georgia fans. Of course, some Red and Blackers go so far as to buy Tech season tickets to assure a seat at Grant Field when the two schools meet. If you want to go that route, it’ll cost you $350 for the game you want and the six that you don’t care anything about. An additional TECH Fund per-seat contribution is required in some designated sections throughout the stadium, but not all of them. You can buy Tech season tickets here.
BEAT NOTRE DAME!
Kevin McCann writes: “Bill, UGA has fallen behind ND. Can’t let those guys win this thing. Re-post if you can and try to drive some traffic to vote. Thanks for what you do.”
Kevin is referring to the EA Sports NCAA College Football Traditions battle, where our mascot Uga is now up against Notre Dame’s “Play like a champion” sign. As of this morning, the Notre Dame sign was leading with 51 percent of nearly 43,000 votes cast. If you haven’t voted already, support Uga here!
PLAYING IT OLD SCHOOL
As the brother of a Redcoat Band alum, I get a kick out of a vintage version of “Hail to Georgia” done by the Redcoats and the UGA Men’s Glee Club back in 1955 that UGA has posted online. Check it out and read about the history of the Redcoats.
Go Dogs!
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263 comments Add your comment
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
11:37 am
MSU and BSU are both overrated.MSU has gone 1-4 in their Division two years in a row.The only SEC road games they have won in 2 years are against Vandy,Kent,Ole Miss and Fla.BSU has beaten 3 national teams of note.OKL,VT and Ore.OKL and VT were overtime games.
THE DUDE
June 26th, 2011
11:39 am
ONCE AGAIN LET ME REPEAT, I HAVE YET TO HAVE ONE tech STUDENT TELL ME WHERE yellow jackets CAME FROM. IT HASNT GOT ANY THING TO DO WITH bees, and no knowledge about their academic skills, but all they can yell about is how smart they are. BEATS ME.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
11:44 am
Mitchell doesn’t have a clue.Richt has 1 losing season in 20 years of coaching.One.Maybe HE should have looked up UGA’s record from 84-2001.
Deja Vu Delusional Dawgs
June 26th, 2011
11:51 am
@SouthDawg – It is 2011. Still living in the past I see. Why don’t you look up his record from 2008-2010.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
11:52 am
The SEC West has made a rise over the last couple of years..It shouldn’t be that big of a shock..the West seems to have a different set of “values”.I wouldn’t be surprised to see 3 or 4 teams from over there on some sort of probation by 2013.
Delbert D.
June 26th, 2011
11:57 am
Murray shouldn’t have to be *the* key. John Parker Wilson, case in point.
old time dog
June 26th, 2011
12:01 pm
Yellow fuzz, Got any bites? Yellow buzz, catching any? Wolfyman, how many rods are ya’ll using? BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Paul and Al have got the grease hot so c’mon boys and put some fish on the bank. GT fans might not have a team worthy of mention but surely they can catch a flathead or blue can’t they? Of course, we’ve read about how they are going to beat UGA and so on and so on. eYe don’t think so. Stay by those rods boys cause the cats been biting at Uncle Bill’s!!! Use those degrees while all us UGA sit in our air conditioned trailers.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:01 pm
What was so wrong with 2008 anyway?09 AND 10 had the same issues…inexperienced QB and a shaky defense.A combination fit for losing IMO.This season those issues have been addressed so let’s see what happens.What’s more illogical…..ignoring a previous history of success or making the last two years more important?You guys would have some sort of point IF the 09 and 10 teams were at the very least comparable in talent to the previous squads.They weren’t.
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:02 pm
Time for a change in head football coach in June?
MJ
June 26th, 2011
12:05 pm
Jarvis Jones might be ineligible, accused of taking money while playing basketball.
Deja Vu Delusional Dawgs
June 26th, 2011
12:06 pm
@SouthDawg – what is is illogical is basing 2011 success on 1980-2001. You still have players and coaches from 2008-2010. Tell me what positions GA is going to be better at in 2011 than 2010? WR? OF? QB? DL? DB? RB? Tackling? Coaching?
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:08 pm
Maybe we should just start oversigning and cutting people or better yet step up and start shelling out 180k to recruits.That would probably make some of you happy.
Columbus Dawg
June 26th, 2011
12:08 pm
News does not sound good for Jarvis Jones eligibility, AAU Blazers Basketball credit card paid for trips to California for Jones twice. Sounds to me like the basketball recruit may have recieved even more compensation than Jones. This is sure to get plenty of exposure this comming week.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:15 pm
Offense scoring against winning teams is down from 35+ with Stafford in 07′, to 20 with Cox in 09′, and just 16 with Murray in 10′. UGA didn’t score a TD on UCF, South Carolina, and only scored 1 td against Miss St, a meaningless td at the end of the game. The offense has fallen apart and is down 20+ points a game against winning teams from 07′. SEC Champs are all up around 40 points a game against winning teams.
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:15 pm
SGD88, those of us with reading comprehension skills, know you never remotely based the 2011 success on 1980-2001.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:17 pm
Under Richt a QB’s second year starting has produced a 23-4 record.I definitely see Jenkins and Geathers and Drew as upgrades over Tripp,Wood and Dobbs.Who said we had to have all world WR’s?We did pretty damn good before AJ Green came here.Crowell has more ability than Ealey..we wont know how much more effective he will be until they start playing.The OL will be the same they have always been under Richt…OK.
Overall this is a much more talented team than more recent squads.If you disagree fine…show me where it’s not the case.
Deja Vu Delusional Dawgs
June 26th, 2011
12:17 pm
@SouthDawg – just admit this GA team has holes and inexperience. If you go 9-4 that would be great. 8-5 good, 7-6 probable. You will finish 3rd in East thanks to your schedule.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:18 pm
in 2010, defense against winning teams ranked 6th in SEC, offense ranked 10th in scoring.
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:19 pm
ETC, are you speculation that scoring less points would lead to losing more games?
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:19 pm
This is Murray’s 3rd year, and in murray’s 2nd year, he wnet 6-7.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:19 pm
I know AltamahaDawg…but brother I get a kick out of the haters though!It helps pass the time..lol
Deja Vu Delusional Dawgs
June 26th, 2011
12:20 pm
I’ll be back here after 4 games.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:21 pm
ETC Murray started as a RS Freshman.How could he have started as a Freshman?
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:24 pm
Probable to lose 6 games? possible, obviously. Nothing rational or factual says its “probable” Probable is actually the complete opposite of any UGA team losing 6 games.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:24 pm
When South Carolina finishes #2 in offen scoring, even playing teams like Alabama, and UGA finishes 10th in offen scoring against winning teams, with a light schedule, and 2 future NFL guys playng WR in Green & Durham, you are in critical trouble.
The def scoring against winning teams was 12th in 09, but improved to 6th in 10′. Grantham had an easy schedule in 2010, but still has the def scoring heading in the right direction.
The offen scoring against winning teams dropped from 2nd in 07, to 10th in 2010. Bobo & Richt simply have no clue how to score on winning teams. Can’t run the ball, 10th there too. Can’t score td’s in the red zone.
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:26 pm
Oh I’m pretty sure you will be here every week from now till 4 games. You’ve trolled here all year, what’s going to change?
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:27 pm
So they need to improve in those situations, ETC, and win more games?
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:30 pm
SC ran Lattimore 40 times.That’s not good Defense.MSU controlled the ball almost the entire 2nd half..that is not good Defense.The Ark game was tied with 40 sec on the clock and Ark on their 20…they scored a td…that’s not good Defense.Colorado scored 29 pts on us…that’s not good Defense.
We gave up 40plus to Aub..not good Defense.Hell we didn’t play good Defense against GT either but we did win the game.Giving up 31 to Fla wasn’t exactly a stellar Defensive performance either IMO
Deja Vu Delusional Dawgs
June 26th, 2011
12:32 pm
@Altamahahaha Dawg – I THOUGHT you said you had reading skills. I said I will be BACK after 4 games. I barely post on this board except when you guys get delusional rankings (maybe, that is quite a bit) and go crazy (i.e. last year #5 in the nation, 2008 #1 etc.)
I don’t troll with trolls, if you want to get some real conversation stop with the incestuous posting in this blog and come over to ESPN and see what the rest of the country thinks about you.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:33 pm
UGA’s def scor against winning teams, was only 4 points worse than Natl Champ Auburn’s.
But offen scoring was 17 points worse than Natl Champ Auburn, with AJ & Durham & Ealey (all gone now).
Offen wins Championships now in the SEC. Scoring against winning teams needs to be up around 35 a game to win the SEC, 17 a game gets you 6-7.
With AJ & Durham & Ealey gone, top 3 scorers, you have no proven scorers at WR or RB. Murray will need to improve by leaps to even get to 8 wins.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:35 pm
South Carolina game? Grantham held Spurrier to season low 17 points, Spurrier put up 35 on Bama & Fla. But offense couldn’t score 3 td’s.
Taylor
June 26th, 2011
12:35 pm
Every year there are idiots who drink the uga kool aid. The time to pick them is when, if ever, no one picks them. When you lose 80% of your receiving offense and half of your running, you dont just replace that in a year in amateur football.
Boise wins by 8
SC wins by 4
5 losses this year
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:36 pm
It’s also a bit silly to ride the AJ theme.AJ missed the 1st 4 games…kinda funny that 3 of our lowest scoring games…SC,MSU and ARK were during that time span.I know they SHOULD have found a way to get the ball to AJ anyway right?
Ed (The Original)
June 26th, 2011
12:37 pm
“What was so wrong with 2008 anyway?”
SouthGaDawg88, the blowout losses to Alabama and Florida, and Tech’s comeback win from a 16-point deficit, in Athens. I don’t care what the final W-L record was, no season that featured two humiliating beatdowns from the only two really good teams we played, plus a loss to an in-state rival (where it appeared the defense quit in the 2nd half) could EVER be considered a success. Especially with a backfield that featured two NFL first-rounders.
That was the first clue that Richt didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe the Endzone Stomp the year before and the sudden fascination with fashion was actually the first clue that he was losing his grip.
Take away Green, Pollack, and Van Gorder, and Richt gets exposed. If you give him credit for the early years, then you have to give him the blame for the later years. No Georgia fan should be proud of the product that’s been put out since the end of the ‘05 season.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:41 pm
What happened in the UCF game? No td’s? AJ Green healthy? Why couldn’t the offense score a td? Defense held UCF to 10. I’d say it was Murray’s 3 turnovers.
AltamahaDawg
June 26th, 2011
12:43 pm
For the 4 yr period prior to last the Bobo & Richt’s teams ranked between #2 and #5 in the conference in scoring against winning team, only UF being more consistant in that span, and that equates to “have no clue how to score”? Clearly they do.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
12:47 pm
After the 1st 4 games UGA scored 27 pts or better in every game.It is ludicrous to expect to lose a game after scoring 31 pts.When you take off the hater shades it’s not hard to see that Murray is no scrub.
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:50 pm
Offense socring against winning teams dropped from 32 points a game in 08 to 26 in 09 to 18 in 10. They do not know what’s going on.
SatchelBuzz
June 26th, 2011
12:55 pm
BK,….you are a pathetic old man,….and your time is coming.
THWG!!!!
ETC.
June 26th, 2011
12:58 pm
The Pro Style offense is built on balance. So if your WR or RB is out, you’re done (UGA went 1-3 without AJ Green). Or if you get behind, you will lose the game (Richt lost all 7 games where the other team scored 1st). It’s a short passing offense game, accuracy is key, yet Murray is among the least accurate against winning teams (Murray is ranked 55% accuracy against winning teams, 10th in SEC). You also have to be able to stretch the field with long passes, Murray had 1/2 as many long passes as Mallet, and a lot less than Garcia, Murray’s accuracy drops significantly outside of 5 yard passes. Guys like Kellen Moore are 60%+ accurate on 15+ throws.
coop
June 26th, 2011
1:03 pm
S ga dawg
Fresh qb takes time to get use to college ball. Most early games are low scoring for all teams. Green when in the game stratches a defense and he makes 1-2 catches a game that 90% of other receivers don’t make. Murray will miss him especially on 3rd and long which you will have a lot this season relying on a running game.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:03 pm
ED u don’t make any sense.Without the Tebow’s,Harvin’s McClain’s and Cody’s where would the other guys be?Do you even KNOW how many starters UGA played without in that Bama game?
THE Bill King
June 26th, 2011
1:04 pm
My name is Bill King. I bought this goofy looking UGA shirt at Wal Mart. It wasn’t even on sale!
I went to valdosta state. Yep, typical pathetic UGA bandwagon fan right here. I also kiss my sister.
Yours,
Bill
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:06 pm
What are you saying Coop?Murray is no longer a freshman.FWIW we won SEC titles with WR’s who couldn’t catch a ball to save their lives.Now all of a sudden all is lost without AJ?BS
coop
June 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
you played one hard team, auburn after week 4. that’s why you scored a bunch. and you still lost 4 times.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:12 pm
Did you miss something Coop?They scored 30 8 straight games.What are you talking about?You said Murray was struggling..yeah in the first 2 SEC games he played.That’s about it
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:14 pm
Sorry ED I guess Bill and his moderators don’t like me naming all the starters UGA were without in that Bama game.You could look it up for your self though
coop
June 26th, 2011
1:15 pm
yeah no s*it. He was a fresh last year, hence the slow start. But….Now it’s no kris D along with aj. 75% of your receiving offense. You may think you just replace that, but you’re insane. How do you think the falcons would have done last year with no Roddy White? Remember the great catch againt Colo? But ya still lost? Woulda been worse with no AJ. You’ll see the offense sputter this year. Murray sputters against a decent defense and there’s a lot of that in the sec. Sure you will do well against the cupcakes like vandy and kty, cc, new mex st. I predict right now, against boise you will struggle mightily on offense. I can see it just like Ok st 2 years ago. But keep drinking that richt kool aid. Every year all I hear about is how great you will be when the past and logic says it’s gonna be the same ol same ol.
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:16 pm
The Sec has produced 5 straight NC yet now all of a sudden the League was weak back in 06,07 and 08
SOUTHGADAWG88
June 26th, 2011
1:17 pm
Coop do I need to remind you that UGA WON SEC TITLES WITHOUT AJ GREEN?