Returning defensive starters put UGA in strong position
Shawn Williams says all the juniors on Georgia's defense will be back next season. (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)
If defense wins championships, as the saying goes, then the latest reports out of Athens mean Georgia should be looking good this coming season.
First, Bacarri Rambo announced that he would be returning for his senior season at UGA rather than enter the NFL draft and now fellow safety Shawn Williams is saying he’ll be staying at Georgia and that he believes “everybody will be back” on defense.
That would mean nine of the regular starters will return from a group that finished the year ranked fifth in the country in total defense, with only departing seniors Brandon Boykin and DeAngelo Tyson missing.
The good news was topped off with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham shooting down return-to-the-NFL rumors by issuing a statement Wednesday that he wants to be at UGA “a long time.” Grantham said he was speaking up “because of the terrific recruiting class we are assembling and the juniors that have communicated to me their desire to come back to Georgia.”
Sure, there’s always the chance someone could change their mind before Sunday’s NFL deadline, but Williams’ statement has to be considered a pretty good indication of what the players are saying to each other, so it looks like Mark Richt’s program has so far weathered the postseason draft period pretty well.
Yeah, it would have been great to have tight end Orson Charles back, but of the two players considered most likely to leave for the pros — Charles and Rambo — losing the defender would have been a bigger blow to the team’s prospects for 2012.
Of course, the defense certainly can’t do it all. The UGA coaching staff still has a lot of issues to address on offense and special teams before we can say the Bulldogs are ready to compete with the likes of Alabama and LSU.
But, as we saw during the Matt Stafford-Knowshon Moreno era, you can have an all-star offense and still not win a championship if your defense isn’t getting it done.
Aren’t you glad those days appear to be past us?
Got something on your mind concerning UGA athletics or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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162 comments Add your comment
monty
January 12th, 2012
1:22 pm
Murray is short, I believe about Drew Brees’ height. But Brees has something Murray hasn’t had the luxury that Brees has, 2 all-pro guards opening up some passing lanes and running lanes. Be nice if Murray had something similar. Murray’s problem in the Outback game were 1. an out pass was tipped and deflected to the CB and returned for 6, then 2. on a scramble to his right Murray thought the receiver was going to do one thing, come back towards Murray, and the receiver turned to go deep, interception. My guess is that the receiver made the wrong move, something they probably practice in scrimmage, if this happens then come back to me. I would say that Murrays problems come from 1. defensive pressure(lack of a good pocket and a couple of seconds to make a good read), 2. too many deep routes that take too long to develop(BoBo) 3. sometimes trying to do too much instead of throwing the ball away. Sometimes all these are inter-related. But I like him more than I ever did Stafford.
gbal
January 12th, 2012
1:31 pm
The predictable play calling contributes a lot to making our OL look bad. Teams know whats comming and load up.
Murray holding on to the ball at times – slow to read progressions and not willing to throw it away, contributes to making the line look worse at times.
Some say our heavy line is not mobile enough to get outside and block???
Murray doesnt protect the ball well at times- in big games with the 3 TO’s, but also Vs lesser teams – (Miss St.) as well.
At a minimum the QB competition needs to be opend up. no starter named until the first game.
Someone else might stand out. The OL might rally around another QB, OR it might make AM better and he makes the necessary improvement.
Id rather not have the big STATS and win the tough games than end the season saying we have the leading SEC QB.
Just a hunch that another might have better toughness.
UGA Alumnus
January 12th, 2012
1:34 pm
@WillyWonkaDawg
January 12th, 2012
11:59 am
“If not for Murray, Dawgs go 12-2 in 2011.”
Murray also threw for 35 touchdowns. So you could say “If not for Murray we wouldn’t have won any games.”
Jeff Paulk
January 12th, 2012
1:40 pm
And whatever became of Ulysses Norris?
CHDawg
January 12th, 2012
1:42 pm
Good points, all. UGA ranked 97 of 120 on sacks and 112 of 120 in TFLs. Our line was close to the worst in D1 in both categories. Total offense, otoh, was 39 of 120. That tells me our position players made up for a lack of blocking. Sacks would likely have been at the bottom without Murray. Monty, one thing I would like to see UGA do differently next year is utilizing Murray’s scrambling gift. The pat answer is always come back to the QB when he is scrambling, but had King broken upfield on that play, the DB would have had to honor it. Blocking the guy was about the worst thing he could have done. Hindsight is 20/20, but Murray is a good scrambler, and we ought to spend a lot of time thinking about how best to use that–especially in light of the youth in our line.
RedPantsDawg
January 12th, 2012
1:51 pm
Give Murray an OL that can block for him and a running game to run the clock and I don’t think anyone will have a bad word to say about Murray. It is hard to play QB in the SEC when the offensive line breaks down and you have to pass every down because you don’t have dependable running game.
TossSweep
January 12th, 2012
2:04 pm
Can we get a new OC and have Bobo coach the QB’s, please! Hopefully Greg Mac can force this change for CMR to follow! I hear the Boise State OC will be available.
JB
January 12th, 2012
2:17 pm
If Richt/Bobo would call our games like two years ago when we were behind 2-4 TD’s all the time, they would be shocked at the results. ALA Chip Kelly…..turn’em loose.
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
2:17 pm
You might as well randomly select plays if you are going to be trotting out walk-on diminutive Running Backs. You can also randomly select any OC out there, and not improve more than a few drives, perhaps steal a game here and there, until that gets fixed.
JB
January 12th, 2012
2:18 pm
TossSweep……………..The OC from Boise just got hired by Florida…….
KB
January 12th, 2012
2:20 pm
Right Gbal, Murray 2nd team all SEC , no coach in their right mind wouldn’t name him as the starter.Let Lemay show what he can do and give him a couple of series per game like he did with DJ.
JB
January 12th, 2012
2:20 pm
Without a running game, we go10-2 next year….with one, we’d go 11-1…..maybe 12-0…….. But we will be dissed like Auburn was a few years back. Our weak schedule won’t allow us to move up in the polls past 4th-5th at best.
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
2:27 pm
I hope we are more predictable in our play calling next year. The better team are. You just have to be able to do it. It’s really that simple.
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
2:37 pm
That’s not really such a clear cut comparison. AU started out in 2004 very low ranked based on a very disapointing year before, and took half a year to climb into the top 10. There were just undefeated teams that started and stayed ranked higher.
If Georgia goes 12-0 they will be ranked as high as anyone, (depending on who else is)
SOS has very little bearing on the human vote IF they are playing well, and the computer polls are not that big of a factor.
OldFan
January 12th, 2012
2:38 pm
I’ll buy the great defense, and I’ll even take it that Murray is an SEC top tier QB (even though that means he’s better than he plays), but without some dramatic improvement in the O-line and a complete reworking of special teams, we’re still losing to ranked teams next year.
bruce mac
January 12th, 2012
2:41 pm
Would all of you idiots quit presuming the strength of schedule for 2012. You have no idea how good Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, GT, etc. will be. If all you had to do was look in the rear view mirror to predict future results I would all be a millionaires living in Vegas. It doesn’t work that way, lets wait and see how it plays out.
Jerry Blooger
January 12th, 2012
3:05 pm
On ANY board trolls SUCK
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
3:12 pm
Plus if they go 12-1 losing the SECCG, rankings will be…..just rankings. Go 13-0 and I doubt anyone has them #5. Unless there are 4) other 13-0 conference champs out there that looked fantastic all year long, and that ain’t happening.
KB
January 12th, 2012
3:14 pm
Bruce mac, I agree everyone says we have an easy schedule but Auburn and Florida have the players to be good, I am not sure about Mizzou, Tenn. with bray, and the wide receivers returning will be able to score points , but I think tech will be pretty much on par with the previous 2 years , little talent and overrated coaching.
KB
January 12th, 2012
3:20 pm
I hope we have a kicker next year that can make field goals, All the complaining about the Murray and the oline etc., but no one mentions our Field goal kickers left 52 points on the field. if dawgs would’ve had a decent Fg kicker the close games wouldn’t have been close and we may have won 2 others.Nothing more deflating to a team to work and get into position to score and not come away with points. Walsh had issues this year that no one could’ve seen coming.
old dog
January 12th, 2012
3:25 pm
As previously stated…..our o-line needs help! We look pretty good in the 1st half of the SEC championship game, then when folks figure out (what took ‘em so long) that we don’t have ANY KIND of running game they can concentrate solely on stopping the pass game. This limits Bobo’s play calling (or anyone elses.) Of course we need a consistent tailback who is bigger than Mrs. Richt, or has an IQ above the average active rock, but we still cannot run block on better teams. Until that happens, we will beat the bad teams and lose to the good ones. You gotta run it in the SEC. Football (still) is blocking and tackling!! Thank goodness for our defense! They will make errors as will all human beings, but not as many as our o-line!
JB
January 12th, 2012
3:25 pm
Bama closing in on 31st commit today…..4 to go
JB
January 12th, 2012
3:26 pm
dead on old dog. We laugh at Tech for not being able to pass…..We literally have NO running game.
robodawg
January 12th, 2012
3:35 pm
That much returning talent means the defense should only get better. And a great D will keep you in a lot of games.
441North
January 12th, 2012
3:36 pm
I love CTG’s statement. Most of our rising seniors on defense will be playing in the NFL someday. We are LOOOOOOAAAADED on that side of the ball. Now if CMB can take his head out of his rear end, we might make a run next year. G A T A
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
3:39 pm
Is that what Saban’s presser was for? To announce what players have been selected to have medical ailments?
TossSweep
January 12th, 2012
3:39 pm
DAMN! Looks like it’ll be another sub 10-win season.
KB
January 12th, 2012
3:48 pm
Depth on the Oline and consistency at RB will do wonders for Georgia running game.I think dawgs will be ok in the backfield. Will Beard be able to contribute immediately?Will Ward and Long be healthy? will Houston be eligible? Will De Bell and Dantzler step up? Is Theus ready for SEC play? Lots of ???? for the line.
Lakedawg
January 12th, 2012
3:55 pm
Playing at Missouri, Carolina, Florida, Auburn, will all be tough tossup games, Dawgs will have to have great games to win those four. Rest of schedule should be winnable, but on a given day/
Lot of bodies for Oline, coach Fried got to get best 5 ready and backups, which we did not have this year. Burnette, Gates, Lee, Long, Houston, Dantzler, Ward, Andrews, Theus, Brown, Pyke, and hopefully Young.
Lakedawg
January 12th, 2012
3:56 pm
Forgot Debell, and Beard, that makes 14-15.
Bean Counter
January 12th, 2012
3:58 pm
I believe that Bobo’s nonuse of Orson Charles was a big contributor in Charles’ decision to leave. Bobo never got the tight end involved in the offense. Bobo would continually put us in situations where we were third and long. As a result he would call a long developing pass play and would have to keep Charles in to protect the quarterback. We quit throwing screen passes, when used correctly they slow down a rush.
The biggest improvement we could make on offense is to put someone other than Bobo in the OC position.
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
4:15 pm
Not counting those 45 beans.
Coastal Dawg
January 12th, 2012
4:15 pm
Coach Grantham is the first coach that brings the results and passion attributed to Erk. Give him a check and let him do his thing.
Please open up the QB competition and let some of the others play. It was a shame this past year when Mason sat on the sidelines with a big lead in the 2nd half, just because one time at…..band camp (one time in the history of NCAA football, a team came back and beat someone with a 28 point lead…..It was probably us when we started playing not to lose and got too conservative with about 35 minutes left to go in the game.)
Coastal Dawg
January 12th, 2012
4:22 pm
When you must make a first down to seal the game, I agree it is not best to run a 150 lb. back into a talented and athletic D1 defensive front. At least find a way to get him outside.
KB
January 12th, 2012
4:25 pm
Bean counter, It may seem like Orson wasn’t utilized but he set a school record for yardage at TE and tied the career record for TDs. Not bad for someone that was under utilized.
KB
January 12th, 2012
4:31 pm
Only 6 TE in the country had more yards than Charles and only 5 had more receptions.
AltamahaDawg
January 12th, 2012
4:41 pm
We only had 3 games in which we had big 2nd half leads. Mason played in 2 of them. The last one was Auburn.
Dennis
January 12th, 2012
4:48 pm
Is offense dead in the SEC? It would appear.
ANYTUI
January 12th, 2012
4:48 pm
Enter your comments here
Dennis
January 12th, 2012
4:51 pm
I thought Saban’s presser was to announce that He will not be hiring an offensive coodinator. He will concentrate all his efforts on defense. Run three plays, punt and let his defense rule.
ANYTIME, you have...
January 12th, 2012
4:51 pm
…a coach, at any leve,l deny interest in another job or that he is “staying put” is as good as gone – book it! Remember Nick “I am the coach of the Miami Dolphins” Saban and his “comments” (or, really, no comments); and how about whenever an owner gives the old “vote of confidence” – yep, Grantham, is as good as gone – it is just a matter of where he lands…
Joey
January 12th, 2012
5:11 pm
JB (2:17), we saw some of that vs SC this year. 42 points, all by the offense, vs a 11-win, Top 10 game.
He only turns the O loose when we get two scores down.
I’m worried about the special teams. If he couldn’t correct things from Sept to Jan, with players at practice, how’s he gonn fix them before Sept?
Joey
January 12th, 2012
5:14 pm
top 10 team
Orange11
January 12th, 2012
5:15 pm
Solution to stop Murray’s turnovers. Give him a jeep to drive up and down the field. That is the only way to stop it.
Orange11
January 12th, 2012
5:16 pm
Okay, maybe a Ford truck.
JDawg1785
January 12th, 2012
5:25 pm
Georgia is a decent offensive line and kicking game away from being a very solid team next season.
DAWGS forever
January 12th, 2012
5:38 pm
BREAKING NEWs…. Saban to the Raiders
Will
January 12th, 2012
5:46 pm
Hey you bunch of dumb masses. Murray will be 1st Team All-SEC after next season. You naysayers just don’t know anything about football.
Bill
January 12th, 2012
6:05 pm
Survey
Who is the dumbest? (No particular order)
A. Bill King
B. Matt Chernoff
C. Jeff Schultz
D. Chuck Oliver
E. Sports Blog Readers/Writers
F. Mark Bradley
G. Too close to call
GulfShoresDawg
January 12th, 2012
6:08 pm
Living in GS, AL…I am looking for the days like 2008 when we beat Auburn, Troy and Bama…we own the state of Alabama!!!