Dawgs as consensus favorites: ‘A lot of pressure on us’
Vegas thinks Mark Richt will be striking this pose after every regular season game in 2012. (Jason Getz / AJC)
We’ve already established that Vegas oddsmakers like the 2012 Dawgs, but it turns out they’re so high on Mark Richt’s upcoming team that the folks who come up with point spreads have installed UGA as the early favorite in every game on the schedule.
At the Golden Nugget, Georgia is a 3-point favorite over Missouri, a 13.5-point favorite over Tennessee, a 2.5-point favorite over South Carolina, a 4.5-point favorite over Florida and a 6-point favorite over Auburn. And Pregame.com rates Georgia as the favorite in every game on its schedule.
Of course, as has been discussed here, Richt teams have had a disturbing tendency in the past to falter under high expectations, and playing as the favorite every week is going to be as big a challenge this season as rebuilding that offensive line and getting the special teams to quit rolling gutter balls.
The Athens Banner-Herald talked with a couple of the team leaders about Georgia playing as the favorite at the Pigskin Preview in Macon.
“It’s great that people say that, but I think it does put a lot of pressure on us to go out and just win games,” safety Shawn Williams said.
And quarterback Aaron Murray noted that, with a key difference, the Dawgs face a similar problem to last year, when they had to ignore all the media noise about their coach being on the “hot seat.”
“Our motto last year was, ‘We’re on the bus and we’re not listening to any outside noise,’” Murray said. “There was a lot of negative noise, and we wanted to ignore that. The hard thing now is to ignore all the positives and people wanting to pat you on the back and tell you that you’re great and this and that. We have to ignore that, too, and just do what we did last year.”
Or better.
After last year’s 0-2 start, the Dogs reeled off 10 straight wins and took the SEC East, only to end the season with a couple of disappointing losses. But as a team loaded with returning talent and playing the favorite’s role every week this fall, just notching 10 regular season wins again probably won’t be viewed as an entirely satisfactory outcome by many in the Bulldog Nation.
Loading ...But what would constitute a disappointing season in your eyes? Less than 10 wins? Or perhaps anything less than the SEC championship? Feel free to weigh in with a comment, vote in the poll or both.
Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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340 comments Add your comment
Ringleader
June 13th, 2012
4:35 pm
Mobile Dawg……………I clearly remember the two quarterback system…..and it cost us the game in Jacksonville and a chance to win a national championship. How stupid and incompetent it looks now, put Shockley in and immediately a pick six.
george
June 13th, 2012
4:38 pm
ha ha ha ha ha this is great. I will take the mizz, usc, au , and florida games right now!!!!!!!!!! Any takers???? good lord I have never seen such an average team so hyped up and I LOVE It. Cant wait for Sep to come around and to start hearing all the whining and crying all over again.
LogicalUS
June 13th, 2012
4:40 pm
So all that intense pressure is why the entire secondary was puffing the jawja every available minute? Geez who knew?
Well good to see that the UGA players are giving the coming “Dream” season the same standard of focus and attention to which the UGA nation has come to expect of them. How many suspension are we up to now??
Good to know that UGA has once again claimed another preseason MNC to add to it long line of inflated, overblown expectations. What is this for UGA…5 ot 6 to add to the trophy case…YEAH!!!!
Double Zero Eight
June 13th, 2012
4:40 pm
The success of this team will fall
mainly on the shoulders of Richt
and Murray. Richt needs to “coach
this team up” and refuse to accept
mediocrity. Murray needs to cut down
on his turnovers at critical times.
If they do that, the team can win the
SEC championship.
Dogs Smell
June 13th, 2012
4:49 pm
Why shouldn’t they be favored? They don’t play a top ranked anyone ! When they do they lose !
The Truth Detector
June 13th, 2012
4:55 pm
Everyone Knows that the state of Georgia is Overflowing with High School talent.
Everyone Knows that Mark Richt and UGA get some great talent across the south.
Everyone knows that with the last years schedule and this years schedule UGA should be the favorite in every game with all that talent.
However.
Not Everyone understands that UGA is rebuilding an Offensive Line that will not be as good as last years OL which was not very good, anyone who thinks they are please throw out the games UGA won and look at the games they lost and count the hurries, the sacks the negative yard rushes and how they folded against athletes who probably not as highly recruited as they were.
Secondly, with the suspensions at the beginning of the year UGA will see some blown coverages from just the fact of not playing those first two games and maybe players trying to make big plays that are just not there.
Harold is right, other dominant coaches around the league would have won a BCS title with all that first and second round talent that has walked through the tunnel in Athens.
Bo
June 13th, 2012
4:56 pm
richt ALWAYS LOSES MORE GAMES AFTER HE FINISHES 1ST IN THE SEC EAST. 0-4 AT GETTING BETTER SO FAR.
RICHT DOESN’T HANDLE EXPECTATIONS.
Doggie in NC
June 13th, 2012
4:59 pm
Georgie Porgie – you are so full of it – not even you could really be so stupid as to believe we will loose to all 4 of those teams (mizz, usc, au , and florida). I say 50/50 on the usc/fla games and 70/30 on the other two. And the usc game could change to 70/30 if their running back has not healed completely. GO DOGGIES!
Glory between the Hedges
June 13th, 2012
5:02 pm
If you are going to come in here and say this is 2008 all over again then you are a complete moron. Willie Martinez is not coaching the defense anymore. It’s just as simple as that. I believe 2 losses is a failure unless its against a really good national championship opponent.
The Truth Detector
June 13th, 2012
5:07 pm
Question for UGA fans….the ones who really know UGA not just Kool Aid Drinkers like every school has.
Looking forward, after this upcoming season and the schedule changes for 2013 are in place, what areas will UGA be looking for help in? Including early departures, graduation..and such.
Ghost
June 13th, 2012
5:14 pm
2011 was the 4th time Georgia has won the east, so how can he have not improved 4 times? Which team in the SEC has improved after winning the division the following year?Only 2008-2009 bama and florida have repeated as division champs so Georgia joins a group of every other team thats won a division title except those 2 teams in those 2 seasons since Richt arrived.
DaltonDawg
June 13th, 2012
5:16 pm
Git’er done.
Go Dawgs!
Kmac
June 13th, 2012
5:23 pm
@ The Honest Truth
I hate to bring bad news but UGA will lose to Missouri, SC, and Fla this year. It is going to happen honest truth. mark has his new contract so he is good man!
Kmac
June 13th, 2012
5:27 pm
@ Guswalter Dawg JR
The dogs are not going to have a good year by any means. SC will beat them, Missouri will beat them, Fla (with no QB) will beat them. Tenn is going to rise to step up and beat them. Its just a part of life son!
wolfman
June 13th, 2012
5:30 pm
The Dogs have an easy schedule – they can’t help but do well.
Kmac
June 13th, 2012
5:30 pm
@ Daltondawg
I do not share the same conviction that you do about the dogs. The defense should be pretty good but that wont stop losses to Missouri (close game), SC, Fla, and Tenn is ready to shock Dog nation. Its a loss for UGA. Rocky Top will be the song of choice Daltondawg
Kmac
June 13th, 2012
5:33 pm
@ wolfman
You are right about the schedule but wrong about them doing well. See previous posts about the teams they will most surely lose to. GO Dawgs!
Desert Fox
June 13th, 2012
5:41 pm
There are still too many “ifs” and “issues” left from last seasons performance to make a jump or claim for a NC this early for the dawgs. many of us would love to see it come true but there are too many ghosts from the past that haunt us and heard all this before only to be deflated w/dissappointing losses that blew chances for titles right out the door. They have to prove it on the field and in the coaches box and on the sidelines. They do have talented players but when stacked up against an LSU or AL they don’t compare at least not yet. Their offense is dated and in order to work requires a dominating Oline which has been missing for years. AL doesn’t do anything on offense out of the ordinary but their players and especially their coaching staff can overwhelm their opponents w/just good tough playing which was visibly absent in all of GA’s losses last season. Those losses speak volumes to the weakness of this GA team. We all know what they are and to expect these to be corrected in an off season (one after another season I might add) makes it difficult to accept anything different and only an apparent miracle will change the outcome. I don’t care what their schedule is history proves the dawgs will have a hic cup or two that will douse the dreams of a NC again and again. Blame will be flying all over the place again that only the folks in Muddville know too well how it feels to have high expectations replaced by embarrassment and anger. Hope I’m wrong but will believe it when I see the NC banner hanging from Sandford Stadium and GA’s best players stay home and not go to AL.
JB
June 13th, 2012
5:41 pm
Tenn, Fla, AU………….all usually ranked tough teams……..It’s all our ( UGA) fault they are sputtering? Add Mizzou,SC and yes Tech to that list, you would have a tough schedule.
Gary
June 13th, 2012
5:42 pm
Kamc, we will loose one of those three. Probably Florida. They will have a nasty defense this year. SC should not have beat us last year, doubt they will repeat. Not sure Missouri has a great game. They lost to ASU, K State, OSU, Baylor, and OU. Some of those are good team. You could be honest and admit like Georgia fans you are just guessing. Dawgs could run the table to the dome with their tallent or fall flat and loose 4 or five games. No way to know until they are walking off the field and each game is over. I do know the folks comparing us to 2008 and reminding us how bad that went seem to forget the number of starters who were injured that year before we even played our first game. That team at full strength would have been nasty. Lets put it this way, right now I would rather be us than any other SEC east team. Florida may improve a lot but I don’t expect anyone else we are playing to be better than last year.
Football Bat
June 13th, 2012
5:43 pm
If there was a stat for leaving time and timeouts on the clock, Richt would own it. As long as he lacks the killer instinct, he will find a way to lose the big games.
IMO Mizzou is going to come ready to fight and we won’t have to worry about the “pressure.” Hope I’m wrong about that, but I’m right about Richt and as nice as he is, that is also his downfall.
Flo-Ri-Duh
June 13th, 2012
5:52 pm
All that tells me is UGA will play a lot of close games. They should have only lost ONE game last year. Cut down on the stupid mistakes.
Orange12
June 13th, 2012
5:59 pm
Hard to win titles when your QB single handedly gives away an average of two games a year.
Flo-Ri-Duh
June 13th, 2012
6:00 pm
Gary _ It won’t be Florida. They don’t have a QB and the offensive line won’t match up with UGA. South Carolina will be the toughest game in the regular season but UGA won’t make as many dumb mistakes as they did last year and their new guy won’t miss14 field goals like Walsh did last year. UGA by 10 over Florida and by 7 over the Game Crocks. Mizzou doesn’t have the “D” to stay with UGA’s receivers. Their starting QB is recovering from surgery. It’s the year of the DAWG.
Bill King
June 13th, 2012
6:05 pm
JUST WIN BABY !!!!!!!!!!!!
Buzz2011
June 13th, 2012
6:07 pm
Favored to win every game in the SEC? How do you figure Dawgs can stay on the field with the likes of Alabama, LSU or Arkansas? Wait, they do play these really strong teams don’t they? Maybe they can handle South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky ? . No, they will lose to these teams, but still get at least six wins for the year..
Georgia too scared to play Bama and LSU
June 13th, 2012
6:15 pm
Buffalo ? Florida Atlantic? BAHHH Another cupcake schdule for the over rated mutts.
RTR22
June 13th, 2012
6:19 pm
We ALL know how the mutts handle expectations lol…..Bama has been the favorite in almost every game the last 4 yrs and donepretty well. 48/4 SEC record. Come on Jawja deliver your once in a lifetime national championship. YEA RIGHT
TDM 10852
June 13th, 2012
6:21 pm
It doesn’t matter who they play nor how much talent returns, as long as Mike Bobo is the OC it will be the same results ! Realy SAD !!!
LakeDawg
June 13th, 2012
6:32 pm
Talk about your kool-aid drinkers, where’s TampaGator?
@buzz2011
June 13th, 2012
6:34 pm
Seriously , A tech fan coming on a Georgia blog talking trash? I have to admit Kentucky is better competition than Tech.
sports
June 13th, 2012
6:35 pm
I read that the kid Henry decommitted…what is that bunch in Alabama paying these kids? That program is dirty and getting away with it.
Gary
June 13th, 2012
6:38 pm
Georgia too scared to play LSU and BAMA? Our only goal this year is to play the better of the two. Why do I keep reading these posts.
george
June 13th, 2012
6:48 pm
doggie fan- brilliant guy I was talking about with the lines. But fact is the dawgs will be lucky to go 2-2 vs mizz,usc,fl, and au. 70-30 on mizz and au HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.
Gulf Shores Dawg
June 13th, 2012
6:59 pm
I believe in my DAWGS! I expect the best and every fan should! As was stated. In 2008, we did not have CTG or it would have been a much different story in Athens when we almost came back on Bama…CTG defense would never have let the game get out of hand in the first half, never! We are stronger on D than we have been in many years! So, the O just has to take care of the ball and take it’s opertunities! Dawgs will be at the DOME! And the real fans will not listen to the haters!
RHall55
June 13th, 2012
7:02 pm
The Not-So-Underlying Factors: !) Bobo as the OC!! Some too conservative play calling!! 2) Garner as RC!! Miss out on some major recruits who could have helped on depth and special teams!! 3) Friend as OL Coach!! Already showing that he has an issue recruiting in the SEC; will have depth issues!! C’mon guys, see the writing on the wall!!!
Steve
June 13th, 2012
7:03 pm
Where in the Hell are you people coming from? The year hasn’t even started and already you are talking about getting rid of one of the best coaches in the country. For God’s sake pull for the dawgs to go all the way and if something happens, then we should still pull for them. I live in ACC country and you can’t believe the lack of support for their teams if they lose a game. I’m proud to say that I support the dawgs regardless.
Fair n Balanced
June 13th, 2012
7:11 pm
This season has possibilities, but we have had possibilities before. We still have the summer to go and already have suspensions for some and others yet to be decided upon. Ga always under performs when expectations are high. I’m still concerned about the OLine. It has never been properly recruited for or so it seems.
Ga goes 10-2 but fails to make it to Dome. SC beats us and one other SEC team. We technically tie for East but losing head to head with SC gives them the title and we watch on TV.
Wes
June 13th, 2012
7:12 pm
Coming off two consecutive embarrassing losses to end the season, this says more about the schedule than the team. LSU and Boise St. throttled UGA last year. The only reason for this optimism is because neither one is on the schedule in 2012. What do the oddsmakers say about UGA vs. LSU or Bama in Atlanta? UGA vs. Southern Cal. in January? That’s what I thought………
mcdavidastro
June 13th, 2012
7:25 pm
The talent is there but not the coaching.
Dawg1out
June 13th, 2012
7:33 pm
richt and company need to make a statement, a sec apperance isnt what folks wanna see. bulldawg faithful wanna see a title in the classic city again!
CHDawg
June 13th, 2012
7:35 pm
I wouldn’t get upset with the oddsmakers. They change their opinions with the wind. This season is still to be determined. All this attention just shows that the Dawgs appear to have their strongest team in many years. We had a lot of offensive talent in 07/08, but this year’s D could be one of our best ever. The O is yet to be determined. The position players look to be as strong as I can remember. But, without a good line, they can be neutralized. If the line matures into a solid SEC unit, the Dawgs will be very, very hard to beat imho.
Dawg1out
June 13th, 2012
7:35 pm
2loss season isnt gonna sit well with bulldawg nation or mcgarity, considering how this schedule is setup.
CHDawg
June 13th, 2012
7:35 pm
Upset….talking sarcastically to the haters.
@rhall55
June 13th, 2012
7:36 pm
Do you actually think the oline coach only recruits olinemen? You are very mis guided, Friend has only been around for 1 recruiting class you don’t even know who what his recruiting responsibilities are.
Beast from the East
June 13th, 2012
7:41 pm
Dawgs should be pretty good this year. I would guess 10-2 or 9-3 would be their record after the regular season. I think Phil Steele has them picked about 8th to begin the year. Of course, he also has my Gators picked #10. That is a serious stretch in my opinion.
CHDawg
June 13th, 2012
8:27 pm
Gators should have a great D, too, Beast. Half of the D was 5-star talent when they were recruited, and they have some experience now. The big unknown is the offense. If they mature into a great O under their superb new OC, they will be very, very hard to beat, too. The East is likely to be a much tougher neighborhood this year. SC is hard to beat by anybody when Lattimore is healthy.
The Truth Detector
June 13th, 2012
9:03 pm
Here is how I see UGA season going.
Buffalo- UGA Wins in a blowout and UGA fans hoop and holler how good their defense is even without 4 starters.
Missour- Close Win or Close Loss and the UGA nation will say once we get our starters back we will be even better.
Florida Atlantic- Blow out Win and the Dawg Fans Barking while Murray throws for 300 plus and RB’s get over 200
Vanderbilt- Closer game than UGA fans like and UGA wins late…The Offense does not look as good and fans start calling out BoBo.
Tennessee- Closer game as Dooley needs to win this game but comes up short…higher scoring game than UGA fans expected.
South Carolina- USC fans are rowdy and UGA comes out flat while USC puts up points with ground game and in the air. USC hangs on and wins. UGA fans blame Bobo and Richt and the fans at home are not happy and now hope the tougher USC schedule gives them a chance in the East.
Kentucky- after week off to recover from USC..UGA comes out on fire and blows out a weak offensive Wildcat team.
Florida- in Jacksonville- Muschamp has focuse attention on this game and UGA’s running game is non existent. Murray makes a couple of errors and this is a close game down to wire. Either team winning…too close to call. Fans complain about BoBo and his play calling and Richt says he will take more of a role in play calling to soothe the fans feelings.
Ole Miss- Blowout win and Richt is the hero for his involvement in play calling. The Bulldawg Nation is semi happy while watching USC play tough opponents.
Auburn- closer game than most fans imagined, the Auburn Tigers make it close, and this is a toss up game. UGA fans grow angry.
Ga. Southern and the option play havoc on UGA and but sets them up for Tech the next week. UGA wins.
Ga Tech- GT regresses all season and Al’s defense at GT is not very good. UGA blows out Tech.
UGA fans are happy and “own their rivals one more year” while the core fans are not happy with all the close games and losses in a season they should have gone 12-0.
Beast from the East
June 13th, 2012
9:03 pm
CHDawg,
My opinion is the Gators are another year away from playing for the SEC. I guess it could happen this year, but we’d have to have some major improvement from the QB’s, WR’s, RB’s and OL. While I think we’ll be much improved in several positions, I also think it’s silly to expect all of them to suddenly be great. We’ll find out one way or the other in a few months.
cynicaldawg
June 13th, 2012
9:15 pm
I quit drinking the kool aid after the Liberty Bowl, when we got beat by UFC. Oh hey, still sick after Boise fans took us to school with all their 2 and 3 star players. We were out coached period. That’s not Bobo’s fault. CMR is a nice guy but is an above average coach with very good talent. I would love for him to prove me wrong.