College football 2010: Georgia wins nine, Tech loses four
Washaun Ealey's Bulldogs will again run this state. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
It’s time — actually, it’s a week past due — for our annual Memorial Day college football predictions, and I begin with a word in my defense: I actually got a few things right the last time around. I said Georgia Tech would go 10-2 and win the ACC, which it did. I said Georgia would lose four games, inducing many among you to cast aspersions; the Bulldogs actually lost five games. Against that cheery backdrop, we begin:
• Georgia will go 9-3 but will finish third in the SEC East. Todd Grantham represents an upgrade. Given time, Aaron Murray will represent an upgrade. Thing is, the Bulldogs’ second game is in Columbia, and that seems a bridge too far. (More precisely, a bridge too soon.) The guess is that Georgia will be rolling come November, but that Sept. 11 loss — and one the next week against Arkansas in Athens — will keep the Bulldogs from a true breakthrough.
• Georgia’s true breakthrough? That comes in 2011.
• South Carolina will likewise lose three SEC games. It will shade Georgia in the East standings on the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Gamecocks will lose to Auburn, Alabama and Florida.
• Florida will go 11-1 because of a remarkably kind schedule. The Gators play four road games: Two against teams (Tennessee and Florida State) with new coaches and one against Vanderbilt. The Gators will lose in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 2, but they’ll see Alabama again.
• Florida will beat Alabama for the SEC title. Just one of my dumb hunches. Like the one that told me Texas would beat the Tide for the BCS crown. And the Longhorns would have except for Mack Brown’s SHOVEL PASS! (Don’t get me started.) (Alas, too late.)
• Don’t get me wrong: Alabama will be outstanding. But I recall the 2008 BCS titlist going undefeated in the regular season and losing beneath the Georgia Dome. I don’t believe the Tide in 2010 will be any better than the Gators were in 2009. And I do believe it’s tough to go through the SEC unbeaten twice in succession.
• Florida will beat a Big Ten representative for the BCS title. I’m tempted to pick the Big Ten rep, but I’ve seen that game before. I know how it ends.
• The Big Ten rep will not be Ohio State. It will be Iowa. Ask Paul Johnson about the Hawkeyes.
• Tim Tebow will win the Heisman Trophy. Whoops. Force of habit. Case Keenum — Houston QB — will win the Heisman Trophy.
• Boise State will go 11-1 but will be remembered for the “1,” not the “11.” The Broncos play Virginia Tech in Washington D.C. on Sept. 6. That’s a Labor Day “L.”
• The ACC Coastal will be the nation’s toughest division. There’s not a great team therein, but there are four good ones. Miami will be the disappointment. North Carolina will be the surprise. Virginia Tech will win the division. And Georgia Tech …
• … will finish third. I yield to no one in my esteem for Joshua Nesbitt, who had a busy offseason. (He had surgery and added two vowels to his first name.) But I cannot believe a team that bid adieu to four NFL draftees early will be quite as good. (Didn’t Georgia suffer a bit without Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno?) The Jackets will lose three road conference games: At North Carolina, at Clemson, at Virginia Tech.
• Florida State will win the ACC Atlantic. By default.
• Under Derek Dooley, Tennessee will win its final four games. The Vols will, however, lose six of their first eight.
• Southern Cal will finish fifth in the Pac-10. Lane Kiffin: Money for nothing and quips for free.
• Georgia will beat Georgia Tech. A.J. Green will catch the winning touchdown pass from Murray with 41 seconds remaining. The score will be 27-24. Paul Johnson will suppress the urge to punch somebody in the face.
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668 comments Add your comment
Zoolander
June 4th, 2010
2:43 pm
Dogs go undefeated or lose 1, depending on Florida game, and SEC Championship game against Alabama. Great year ahead.
N. Saban
June 4th, 2010
2:44 pm
I’m sure Kirby will be there…….He’s been on Vacation with his wife and he’s all talked out after being on Mute the previous 11 month’s. I hate Shreveport. You know that Dooley kid kicked my ass over there my first year back…….Louisiana Tech I believe…..I swore I’d never play them again……..Whew.
That’s when I knew Shula had put Bammer off the map. Been fun since……..
Hi I go to GT
June 4th, 2010
2:46 pm
I make this video in my dorm room. No girls allowed! Check my graphing calculator YO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzk6wJ43o5U
UGA suck!
kevin
June 4th, 2010
2:51 pm
Arkansas had the worst defense in the SEC last year. No way they win in Athens.
dawgfan
June 4th, 2010
2:57 pm
JoeMac, I’ve had the chance to pitch a fit of hysterical laughter over the look on those nerdherd faces after 30-24. Simply priceless. Oh, and by the way, how did that once in a lifetime appearance in the Orange Bowl turn out for your vastly overhyped team? I seem to remember yet another egg getting laid in a bowl game by the Joke by Coke.
Willis, I don’t keep count of how many players get arrested. We seem to have enough to beat that little piss ant program down on North Avenue though. I mean if we’re getting all these players arrested and you’re recruiting rocket scientists with 1500 SATs wouldn’t that level the playing field a little bit? You’d think you’d be able to beat us more than once every 9 years given that, according to the nerdherd, most of our players are in jail. Gosh, imagine how we’d clown your little piss ant program if we had a full roster, eh?
Georgia Tech is a joke.
uga chugga
June 4th, 2010
3:00 pm
Yaahooo, CMR CTG CMB go on a run, win the big dance, do the dirty bird, makarana, and tomahawk chop all da way. Dancin’ in da streets ya’ll.
Yaaahoooo.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 4th, 2010
3:12 pm
Where did Arkansas get a defense from?
N. Saban
June 4th, 2010
3:13 pm
Tech backed out on us….Just because I wanted to play both games in Bammer…………
I loved Bobby Todd………………………………..Err, what Darline…………….Dodd……..what are you talking about Darline…………We’ll, I know the Bear liked going up there, but I ain’t putting no helmet on this hair…..
lry252
June 4th, 2010
3:18 pm
Mark, Sorry Dude The Run for the Gaytors is over. Stop drinking the Gaytorade
They lose at 3 maybe 4 this year.
JoeMac
June 4th, 2010
3:18 pm
You still did not answer my question. It was still better to toss oranges even if it led to a loss than beat a team that did not deserve a bowl game. The mutts have been drawing the easiest bowl opponents lately. A&M last year. And when they went to the Sugar Bowl by default (SEC champ LSU playing in NC game), they drew Hawaii, the only undeserving BCS team. My high school team could have knocked off Hawaii.
N. Saban
June 4th, 2010
3:20 pm
Alabama Football……. Where Championships are won …and the rules are just for fun……..
Ya’ll have a nice weekend………Heading out to get these nails done…..Roll Tide……………………………………………………………
JB
June 4th, 2010
3:25 pm
Joe Mac, I don’t think Georgia has to much to say about who they play in a bowl. Some games are contractual and some are bowl organizations or committee’s picks the team…..As do TV folks have a big say. Georgia would have played So. Cal. in a heart beat in 2007.
JoeMac
June 4th, 2010
3:28 pm
I hope the mutts think like you do,dawg. If they think GT is a joke, they will get their season ruined, because win or lose, as long as CPJ is coach, they will line up and knock the mutts jocks in the dirt. The mutts might be able to squeak by on some occasions like they did last year (when they appeared to dominate the game but had to hold on with all their strength to win), but the Jackets WILL end up with the W at least as many times as the mutts do, and maybe more.
Rogeriter
June 4th, 2010
3:31 pm
Mark Richt on the hotseat? If Georgia had another year like last year, he still wouldn’t be on the hotseat. Maybe if he went under 500.
And these people that think that football games are won and lost anywhere except on the football field. The Techers think that criticizing Ga. and it’s fans…and vice verrsa with Ga. fans…will somehow help their team win. Thats bush league stuff! Grow up!
Why do I…or any other sane person even bother to read this high school Harry garbage?
AMG
June 4th, 2010
3:32 pm
Mark decides to write a makeup article to the Georgia faithful or he is totally confused. UGA will lose 5 games this year, mark it down, they have no QB to speak of and the have little to boast about other than a wide receiver. Tech will Win the Coastal again and for the third straight year Mark will eat crow when it comes to Tech.
JoeMac
June 4th, 2010
3:32 pm
JB, if they had played USC in ‘07, you would have thought you were Hawaii. You still got to that point by default. Tennessee should have been there. After all they beat the mutts by what 3 or 4 TD. And they really were only mediocre.
JoeMac
June 4th, 2010
3:39 pm
and I never said that they had any say so about who they played. I said they had drawn some of the easiest opponents they could have drawn. 2 of their past 3 bowl games could have been won by Vandy.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
3:43 pm
Did someone really say UGA had 2 NC runs recently? When was that? I don’t remember them being in the BCS title game. I do remember a Sugar Bowl blowuout over an overrated Hawaii team (much like UF over Cincy last year). Are we now going to just start making things up?
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
3:45 pm
Mark,
Love you pick of the Gators to win in all but I don’t think that’s realistic. They’ve got some holes to fill and some growing up to do. I do think they will take the East again and meet Bama for the second time.
Gonna be fun!
flagboy?
June 4th, 2010
3:45 pm
People keep asking about the UF schedule comment.
MC clearly states that florida has most of those opponents at home.
Foster Keats
June 4th, 2010
3:46 pm
Mark, how would Texas have beaten Alabama b/c of a shovel pass???
And the last time I checked, Colt McCoy didn’t play defense, which allowed 250 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns…
Get that ‘elephant-sized” chip off your shoulder, UGA homer…
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:06 pm
Mark, how would Texas have beaten Alabama b/c of a shovel pass???\
They would have. Texas dominated the second half of that game and cam close to winning anyway with a backup QB. If they dont give away points right before the half they win the game.
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:08 pm
Did someone really say UGA had 2 NC runs recently? When was that? I don’t remember them being in the BCS title game. I do remember a Sugar Bowl blowuout over an overrated Hawaii team (much like UF over Cincy last year). Are we now going to just start making things up?
2002 and 2007. Both years UGA was probably the best team in the Nation. In 2002 they stomped FLa St in the sugar bowl. Could have easily been NC either year or both.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
4:10 pm
Folks saying Texas “would have won if this or that happened” must all be fortune tellers. No one knows what would of happened. Bottom line is Bama beat Texas. One play in the first half of a game certainly didn’t decide the whole game. Even if it did…..Bama made the play and Texas did not. That is how you win football games. Make the plays!
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:12 pm
Bama made the play and Texas did not. That is how you win football games. Make the plays!
True but the point is the play should have never been run. If Texas doesnt give up that cookie they probably win. This is all pretty easy stuff here.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
4:14 pm
Shane,
That’s like saying UF went on a NC run last year. Didn’t happen. They got beat by Bama in the SECCG. Therefore, they were not selected to play in the NC game. You have to be in the game to have a shot. All of these hypothetical “what if’s” are just that….hypothetical.
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:16 pm
All of these hypothetical “what if’s” are just that….hypothetical.
Just like every NC is really mythical and doesnt really exist. At least without a playoff they dont.
UGA only lost one game in 2002. Unfortunalty Ohio St and Miami were both undefeated. Alot of champs the past few years have had one or two (LSU) losses.
Yes you have to be in the game to have a shot but sometimes getting in the game is a little part luck.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
4:17 pm
Shane,
I understand what you’re trying to say. My point is you can lose by making the wrong play/call just like you can win. Does that mean Bama was undeserving? They outplayed Texas. On top of that, do you really think Bama would have had the same game plan in the second half if their lead wasn’t that big? I don’t.
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:19 pm
Bottom line is NC are great and all but without a playoff they arent real
UGA has more wins over the last 9 years than just a few teams. I think only Florida and Texas have more over that period.
Ill take that everyday and twice on Sundays.
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:22 pm
On top of that, do you really think Bama would have had the same game plan in the second half if their lead wasn’t that big? I don’t.
Who knows. Probably not. Does that mean they would have scored more points. Could have thrown a pick 6 too. Hey Alabama won. Great for them. Thats what their 47th National Title ( at least using Alabama math ) The point is Texas really helped Bama out with that play. Take that play out and Texas outplayed Bama the rest of the game. Congrats Bama.
bruce mac
June 4th, 2010
4:23 pm
JoeMac, try winning a bowl (any bowl) before you start worrying about our opponents in Bowl games. And maybe even try being competitive in the GT/UGA series as well. When you are a loser, at least act like it.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
4:25 pm
I disagree. I’ll take the trophies. We all remember those forever. Don’t get me wrong….I don’t want go to 3-9 in the years they don’t win, but I’ll take a few subpar years in exchange for a few more crystal footballs!
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:25 pm
When is the last time Tech won a bowl game? I cant remember and im not joking.
E.C. 101
June 4th, 2010
4:27 pm
This may have already been answered. If so, ignore this post. Someone on a previous page asked about S Carolina’s WRs. I know they’ve got a couple of really good ones in sophomores Alshon Jeffery 763 yds, 6 td, 16.6 average per catch and Tori Gurley 440 yds, 2 td, 14.2 average per catch.
Throw TE Weslye Saunders (353 yds, 3 td, 11 ypc) into the mix and Garcia has a very nice trio of playmakers to throw to.
My question about SCAR is how will they fare on the defensive side of the ball? The Gamecocks were 2nd in the SEC vs the pass, but UGA still torched ‘em for 41 points. Although SCAR loses Eric Norwood to graduation and NFL, I don’t expect to see them take a step back. If #5 isn’t “the dumbest QB” Spurrier’s ever coached, the Dawgs could be in trouble when they travel to Columbia. Hope I’m wrong.
Shane
June 4th, 2010
4:28 pm
I disagree. I’ll take the trophies.
Without a playoff they dont really mean anything.
But hey nothing has ever stopped Bama from claiming National Titles. If someone wrote the number 1 and the word Alabama on the back of a cereal box in 1915 Bama will claim it as a title. Its what alot of people from Alabama hang their hat on. Go Bama
Tim Tebow's Tears
June 4th, 2010
4:31 pm
hahahahahhahaha Bark Madley
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
4:34 pm
Have to disagree again. They DO mean something. If they didn’t then why the heck is EVERY team in the country fighting for it?
Sour grapes, my friend. Sour grapes.
heartofdarkness
June 4th, 2010
4:38 pm
A lot of optimism from the fan bases before fall practice even begins. Now if I could just find a counterparty to some credit [win] default swaps…
Wtf
June 4th, 2010
4:39 pm
Dont you just love how the editors of the AJC ignore the obvious when it comes to hate crimes and chaos not done by whites? First the mistake of having a hip hop party in Kennesaw (us older partiers saw what they did to Buckhead in the late 90’s) and now this…………
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/police-reviewing-security-at-541577.html?imw=Y
Hmmm… why dosent the ACLU / NAACP go after ALL hate crimes? Perhaps THEY are the racist ones!
E.C. 101
June 4th, 2010
4:45 pm
Georgia better score some points in Columbia, because the Bulldog Defense will have its hands full, trying to cover Alshon Jeffrey, Tori Gurley, and Weslye Saunders. This trio combined for over 1600 yds receiving and 12 tds. With a more experienced Steven Garcia throwing the ball, S Carolina’s offense (4th in SEC in passing ypg) could be even better. But, they’ve gotta crank up a more effective rushing attack (last in SEC with 121.2 ypg), if the Gamecocks are gonna contend in the East. Is Marcus Lattimore the real deal? If so, the Dawgs better hunker down in Columbia for one tough fight. It’s Georgia vs South Carolina. Should we expect any less?
(Sorry if this double posts. CPU is trippin.)
Vegas Jackette
June 4th, 2010
4:55 pm
love it! so glad you think GT will finish 3rd. I think they are going to surprise some people and do some serious roadkill which makes it all the better. Guess Mark, Anthony Allen will answer your predictions with a video. This has to only fire up Ant and Nesbitt. GO JACKETS
UGADAWGZ
June 4th, 2010
5:04 pm
It doesn’t matter if the game is in columbia Mark Richt has never lost there and he won’t this year and if you think Arkansas will beat us then stop drinking the ryan mallet kool-aid it’s making you delusional they have no defense at all and the game is in Athens. Also Mark Richt has never lost to Arkansas and he won’t this year. We will be 7-0 when we head to Jacksonville and possibly 8-0 when we leave depending on how well Florida plays this year with their players gone.
Reynolds
June 4th, 2010
5:04 pm
The 2 National Championship runs were in 2002 & 2007, Georgia was in the mix.
2010 WILL BE THE 3RD RUN AT IT, NO ONE WILL CHALLENGE, WILL CRUSH fLORIDA WITH THE BIGGEST DEFEAT IN mEYER’S COACHIGN CAREER.
All Cupcakes Conference
June 4th, 2010
5:05 pm
“The ACC Coastal will be the nation’s toughest division.”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
hold on… breathe…
HAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Reynolds
June 4th, 2010
5:07 pm
Meyer’s O Coordinator is as bad as Willie was for Richt. Addazio is lost 7 points a year of offense at a clip, should be down to 10 point margin this year, he’s just AWFUL. Offense giving up almost 30 sacks, and running game in shambles./
Reynolds
June 4th, 2010
5:07 pm
UGA BACK TO OLD 14 POINT SCORING MARGIN AFTER THIS YEAR, FLORIDA BACK TO OLD PRE-TEBOW, PRE-CHARLIE STRONG SELF.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
5:10 pm
Keep on dreaming, Reynolds. Those were not NC runs. 2002 lost to a mediocre UF team and there were several undefeated teams. Not in the NC picture. 2007 lost to SC and got THROTTLED by UT. Didn’t even win their own division. Again, not in the NC picture. Both years finished highly ranked (earned), but neither was going to go to the BCSCG.
As for “Meyer’s biggest defeat”…….I’d say that is wishful thinking. We’ll see come 10-30-10. I suspect the usual outcome.
NativeAtlantan
June 4th, 2010
5:11 pm
Mark I hope you’re wrong about the Tech/UGA game…I’d rather lose by 3 TDs than lose in the last 30 seconds.
Beast from the East
June 4th, 2010
5:13 pm
Reynolds,
UF doesn’t need Tebow to bet UGA. He was only there 4 years. Only started 3. Only won 2 of the 3 he started. UGA has a 3-17 record against UF the past 20 years. How was that Tebow or Strong?
Keep on living the dream!
Reynolds
June 4th, 2010
5:14 pm
BEST–YOU DON’T KNOW FOOTBALL. GA WAS #3, WHEN 31 & #2 LOST, SHOULD HAVE SLID UP TO #1, PLAYING FOR CHAMP. JUST LIKE OKLAHOMA DID BACK A FEW YEARS AGO WITHOUT WINNING THEIR CONFERENCE. LEARN YOUR HISTORY