Will the 2013 Dawgs pick up where they left off?
The return of Aaron Murray is a big factor in the lofty projections for the 2013 Bulldogs. (Associated Press)
Georgia will open the 2013 football season amid a major rebuilding of its defensive unit while also facing a much more difficult schedule front-loaded with ranked opponents.
And yet that hasn’t dissuaded most of the college football observers previewing the 2013 Top 25 from seeing the Dogs picking up pretty much where they left off this season — a Top 10 or even a Top 5 team.
I think you can safely say that Aaron Murray’s decision to return for his senior season leading a prolific, veteran offense that boasts Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall at tailback has a lot to do with that.
Our own Mark Bradley pegged Georgia as No. 5 in his early Top 25. But, as he noted, with the Dogs opening at Clemson and then playing South Carolina and LSU in two of their next three games, they could either play themselves out of the To 25 by the end of September or mark themselves as the biggest threat to Alabama’s intended threepeat.
Bradley’s certainly not alone in pegging Mark Richt’s Bulldogs as a preseason Top 10 team. The highest ranking I’ve seen so far is at Nationalchamps.net, which has the Dogs a lofty No. 4.
Athlon Sports has Georgia at No. 5, behind Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas A&M (Johnny Football Fever!). Rounding out their Top 10: Stanford, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Clemson and Louisville, with the Gators at No. 11 and LSU at No. 12.
Athlon credits Murray’s decision to return, which they think means the Bulldogs will “narrowly edge Florida and South Carolina for the top spot in the SEC East.” While Athlon notes that “the defense is losing nearly everyone,” they believe “Murray will be one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC, and running back Todd Gurley should contend for All-America honors as a sophomore next year. Helping Murray’s cause is a receiving corps that returns Malcolm Mitchell, and an offensive line that brings back all five starters from 2012.”
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach pegs Georgia at No. 6, behind Alabama, Oregon, Stanford, Ohio State and Texas A&M.
Todd Gurley will be part of one of the nation's most explosive offenses. (Associated Press)
Schlabach notes that “UGA will have to rebuild much of its defense” and that “Georgia’s schedule is much more difficult in 2013″ but the key is that “The Bulldogs might have one of the most explosive offenses in the country in 2013, now that quarterback Aaron Murray has announced he’s returning for his senior season. UGA scored a school-record 529 points while going 11-2 in 2012, and receiver Tavarres King will be the only departed starter on offense. Murray completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,893 yards with 36 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this past season. Freshman running backs Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley combined to run for 2,144 yards with 25 touchdowns, and the Bulldogs will get back injured receiver Michael Bennett, who missed much of 2012 with torn knee ligaments.”
The Orlando Sentinel puts Georgia at No. 5, behind Alabama, Ohio State, Oregon and LSU. Says the Sentinel: “Georgia was five yards away from playing in the BCS national championship instead of Alabama and that memory will fuel the Bulldogs in 2013. Quarterback Aaron Murray’s decision to return for his senior season makes Georgia a favorite to repeat in the SEC East.”
USA Today isn’t quite as high on Georgia, though the Dogs still make the paper’s Top 10 at No. 7, behind Alabama, Ohio State, Stanford, Oregon, Florida and Florida State. They sum up the situation pretty well: “With Aaron Murray and the two young backs returning, Georgia’s offense should be the best in the SEC. However, with Jarvis Jones and others gone, Georgia has questions to address on defense.”
Are these projections pretty much on the mark or overly optimistic? It depends on whether Murray — and what should be a formidable offense — will be enough to carry the team over those early-season hurdles while Todd Grantham searches for answers on the defense.
What do you think?
Got something you want to discuss about the Georgia Bulldogs, or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Email me at junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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133 comments Add your comment
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
12:27 pm
Altamaha
Bottom line is this until RIcht decides he wants to win big and do what it takes to win big this program will continue to lose 2 or more ballgames a year and have an occassional big time win every 7 yrs or so
Its starts with bringing assts in who know how to coach instead of having friends hang around as coaches
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
12:31 pm
Altamaha
Prime example post from My Dawg at 12:25
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
12:34 pm
GREAT, Go after MY Dawg. (I assume becasue he said he hopes we can
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
12:36 pm
mature and be a NC caliber team. Oh how dare him
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
12:41 pm
But stop using him as an excuse. Why do YOU ever care if MYDawg is being overly optimistic.We will just assume that you can’t tell the diffeernce in just good natured rah rah, and ACTUAL delusion. Why do you care if he does believer that? Him saying that somehow make YOU less of a stud?
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
12:42 pm
because he said he “hopes” we can
I missed that but he did say this
“With a couple of more headliners this class could turn from great to epic! Throw in Kamara, Tunsil, Crowder, Foster, Adams, and Bellamy… call it done son and watch the rest of the SEC stand in amazement with gaping mouths and bulging eyes as these pups mature into National Championship Dawgs! Go Dawgs!”
I think thats a little more than hope so; looks more to me like the typical I know so or wait til next year garbage
SavannahDawg
January 11th, 2013
12:44 pm
The definition of insanitity is repeating the same act, with out changing anything, and expecting a different result. Not bashing anyone. Flat Tire is a little to down in the dumps for me (but he isn’t wrong)
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
12:54 pm
SavannahDawg
Then I guess the UGA program is insane cause we repeat the same ol same ol every year with the same results in the off season of wait til next year national title talk
Fankly I want more if thats insane then so be it
On a positive note Altamaha we did beat FL 2 yrs in a row
SavannahDawg
January 11th, 2013
12:56 pm
I agree with Flat tire, I was just trying to diplomatic about it, Yo uare right on the money in my book!
5 yard short
January 11th, 2013
1:02 pm
UGA will return to reality in death valley Clemson on August 31. Clemson has circled this game for a long time and Chad Morris’s offense is gonna make clueless Todd Grantham even more clueless. UGA has no consistency when it comes to playing the real big boys. Yeah the dogs will pick up from where they left off as usual. Losing to Clemson(Boise 2 years ago) losing to South Carolina for the 4th straight time and to LSU. Run Defense is a complete joke.
MY Dawg
January 11th, 2013
1:03 pm
Obviously no one knows whether UGA or any other team will become National Champions. It is all speculation and fun. Is the talent there? Yes they have the talent to get there. Will they get there? Hell, who knows?! I would prefer the watch and see approach. You can bet on a few things, if we are not at the game there is a huge gathering red and black clad fans screaming at the HD TV, and win or lose we always come back!
Go Dawgs!
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
1:04 pm
Savannah Dawg
As Ive said for years I wish this coaching staff would prove me wrong; hopefully they will cause I like Richt as a person i just think he loves people too much and that unfortunately doesnt work when you are trying run a business and yes UGA football is a business
SavannahDawg
January 11th, 2013
1:09 pm
Flat Tire,
Believe me, I know exactly what your saying and agree 100%. I jsut don’t want to have to debate it with fans that feel the coaching staff needs as much love as Richt gives the players! Because that has worked out so good for Richt/us!!!!
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
1:17 pm
What I am saying is stop using other people as your excuse.
Whenever people point out how miserable you seem in here (and plenty of folks have) you always answer by pointing out these other fans who talk too big. When in reality they have zero to do with what you say in here. That’s thier deal. Don’t sit here and pretend you think your are obligated to “offset” them.
You need to just own up to how negative you are all the time. It’s fine to be a negative person in general.. Just be honest, don’t blame everybody else.
DIT
January 11th, 2013
2:18 pm
Does anyone else get so tired of these early polls before the season even starts? SO much can happen between now and beginning of the season.
Polls should be banned until the 8th week of the season!
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
3:26 pm
The problem is that voters would still be keeping an early poll on a piece of paper in thier desk anyway. They would always be influenced by early expectations, even if they don’t declare it publically. They would still have a starting point. I don’t know if they would be willing to try to judge an entire month of games at one sitting.
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
3:26 pm
2 months.
NCDawg
January 11th, 2013
3:52 pm
Not surprised to see Flat Tire spewing his “Richt is everything that is bad about the Bulldogs” crap again. Oh well…
The key to how good the Dawgs will be is what happens in the first month of the season. The offense will have to carry the load while the young pups get their feet wet. I expect the Clemson game to be a very heavy barometer of what the season will be like. If the D is at least representative (there will be some mistakes for sure) then we may see a special season. No matter how you slice it we will have to win a shootout against Clemson. If the Offense is even 75% of what it can be then I think the season could be special. Having said that… our recruiting class plays a big part in all of this. We need bodies on the D line and if we can recruit a couple of guys that step up quickly (not immediately) then the defense could end up being better than anyone could expect.
All any of us can do is wait and see.
BMOC
January 11th, 2013
4:09 pm
I believe that while UGA’s offense will have plenty of firepower, it will fall off slightly in 2013. Credit opposing defenses with watching plenty of game film of Murray & Company along with a tougher schedule. UGA’s defense will be the big surprise as I believe Todd Grantham will use this off-season to concentrate on how to adjust to stop the run better, and the LB’s & safeties will fill in surprisingly nicely. Kind like BAMA’s defense did this year when they had a lot of ‘name-brands’ leave but re-grouped to be maybe even a better unit as a whole. Isn’t it always a little different than expected??
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
4:46 pm
Altmaha
What am I being miserable about.
Blaming who
Own up to being negative you say; I didnt realize living in the world of reality is being negative all the time wow
Give me a break; being miserable is saying something like I dont like the field I dont like press box I dont like the color socks the team is wearing I dont like how our QB releases the ball
All I ever say is to people like NCdawg who think this coaching staff is taking us to elite status is its not going to happen
You and the rest of the delusional people on here want to get all upset cause someone has countered your rah rah kool-aid party
So as you would say grow some thicker skin
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
5:02 pm
NCDawg, haven’t you heard. That’s not really him. That’s ALL those stupid fans forcing him to.
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
5:06 pm
…and there is it…….the worn out cliche’s
Who would have predicted that.
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
5:11 pm
I said we would probably lose a couple of games, but I felt like we could finish in the top 10 again next year. You know , which is pretty much what all followers of college football seem to agree with.
real rah rah party there.
and you countered it with worthless banilities.
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
5:15 pm
And don’t flatter yourself to think you ever “upset” me. I think you realize you don’t and that makes you a bit testy at times. Honestly I don’t even take this little characature roleplay of yours seriously in here.
AltamahaDawg
January 11th, 2013
5:19 pm
Please tell me you don’t sit and talk to real people and actually use terms like “taking us to elite status”.
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
6:21 pm
No I dont use terms like taking us to elite status
If you read some you would see I was refering to the people you love to defend who make those statements
I leave the catch phrases up to Richt and Mcgarity they usually come up with one every season right
Knocking on the Door to Greatness
Energy Vampires
Dream Team
Dream Team II
Finish the Drill
Kryptonite Kool-aid
Cutting Edge Football
and
Society of the Miserable
As for flattering myself wow I must strike a nerve since you responded to me today just like you have in the past but I could care less
As for worn out cliches yea just like your Yoda like responses to those who dont live in your style of thinking
NCDawg
January 11th, 2013
6:25 pm
Tide just got some bad news with Lacy, Milliner, and Fluker going Pro. Sure Bama will be good despite that but the depth that really makes the difference will be sorely weakened by these defections. Yeldon is a good back but Lacy is a beast… Milliner is Bama best corner, and Fluker is yet another O-lineman lost… those are serious losses. Now the guys behind Milliner and Fluker will be good but not as good as those guys… not for another season maybe 2.
The real question is whether or not A&M can stand the losses on their O-line. If they can block decently then A&M will give Bama a serious run for their money. LSU, IF they can get their offense out of the ditch, might make some noise as well.
The “the SEC will be down next year” crowd will start crowing now. If Bama isn’t up to standard those folks believe the SEC will not repeat. We shall see. There will be somebody that is better than expected. This year Florida and Texas A&M really rocked the boat. Florida needs to get an offense before they can improve any further. Who knows what we will get out of LSU. They have crap loads of talent but that offense just doesn’t get it done. The picture will be a little clearer after National Signing Day but not much.
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
6:25 pm
but hey Altamaha chill I want to win just like you I just see things differently
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 11th, 2013
6:27 pm
If the SEC is down then who is up because it isnt the Big Joke 10 as Buckeye would like everyone on here to think
A. Nonymous
January 12th, 2013
10:18 am
It’s a shame that the AJC has committed blogicide by requiring posters to be registered. Apparently the idiot who made the decision failed to do their homework, or they would have known that other newspapers that have gone this route have suffered a 70%-90% loss in page hits, postings, and ultimately advertising revenue. Most posters value their right to be anonymous, and without that right, they’re out of here in a heartbeat.
Adios, we bid you a fond farewell. Last one out, please turn off the lights.
Fan talk: What can the Dawgs do with all those quarterbacks? | UGA: The Junkyard Blawg
January 12th, 2013
11:04 am
[...] Will the 2013 Dawgs pick up where they left off? [...]
Flat Tire doesnt live in Delusionalville Ga.
January 12th, 2013
11:46 am
Enter your comments here
7576DAWG
January 15th, 2013
2:08 pm
A. Nonymous
The biggest loss will be the true insiders who give very accurate updates on team activities and recruits. The assistants managers or graduate students or the family members of a player will not want to register.
We can’t have it both ways because of the haters and bloggers using half a dozen names or the idiots that pretend to be another blogger by using there blog name. These children and Georgia haters make it not worth monitoring the web site or making a comment about the topic a lot of the times when you can see that one of the psychotics has stayed of the site all day and is making every other entry or just talking to themselves. They ruin it for the serious bloggers especially concerning recruiting.