Why Georgia is nicely positioned to make real hay in 2012
Orson Charles won't have any part in the next UGA-LSU game. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
It now appears that Orson Charles could be the only Georgia player who’ll leave early for the NFL. If that is indeed the case, the Bulldogs will be positioned nicely for 2012.
They could have lost Jarvis Jones, who’s their best player, and also Bacarri Rambo, who’s one of their five best, but both have said they’ll return to school. And coordinator Todd Grantham, whose name has already surfaced as an Atlanta Falcons’ possibility, e-mailed esteemed colleague Chip Towers and confessed a desire “to be at UGA for a very long time.”
(For the record, I’m not sure Grantham is a fit in Flowery Branch for a rather basic reason: He runs the 3-4, and the Falcons, as Mike Smith noted Monday, have spent four seasons drafting for the 4-3.)
We say again: If Georgia enters the 2012 season with 15 starters returning — including nine on defense — the Bulldogs should and will be a Top 10 team.
Others say so, too. Esteemed former colleague Mark Schlabach ranks Georgia No. 6 in his ESPN lookahead. Andy Staples of SI.com slots the Bulldogs at No. 9. And Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports has the Bulldogs ranked third, behind only LSU and Southern Cal.
I’m on record as picking the Bulldogs to go 11-1 in the 2012 regular season and to win the SEC — and not just the SEC East. The Outback Bowl loss, bad as it was, didn’t change that belief. I should, however, note that a post-Outback post to that effect met with scorn from many of you who claim to be Georgia fans. My point, then as now, was: Nine months from now, who’s going to care about what happened in Tampa on Jan. 2?
And why, since you asked, would I pick Georgia to win the SEC championship game when it just lost the SEC championship game by 32 points? Because seasons change, and so do results. Did not Alabama lose to Florida in the Georgia Dome in 2008, Tim Tebow’s junior season? Did not the Tide beat Tebow and his Gators under the same roof the very next year? (And if Georgia should happen to play LSU again, we’ve just been handed evidence that the Tigers are not invincible.)
Seasons change, I say again. Georgia was lousy in 2010 and got good again in 2011. It will be even better in 2012. Carp over the Bulldogs’ schedule all you want, but things don’t appear much different for 2012. If they won 10 games this time, they should win more next season. So say I.
By Mark Bradley
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631 comments Add your comment
Spank that Doggie and Call PETA
January 12th, 2012
4:58 pm
True Dawg Fan…is now making excuses for going 3-14 against ranked teams in recent years.
Hey Dawg Fan, stop, guys like Flat Tire and others have bitten the bullet, they have supported their team, made great arguments, made correct assessments and know more football than you will have ever even thought of knowing.
I will be glad to read his and Dawg in Lex, Tampa Dawg, Delbert and others who make sense.
Your post are just blithering idiot rants taken from others comments.
Get real
January 12th, 2012
4:59 pm
No doubt that UGA can reach the SEC title game again, but they don’t belong on the same field as Alabama and LSU. I know they were ahead of LSU for a half, but games are 60 minutes. They are in two different worlds. Can you imagine the score if Alabama played UGA? Maybe 56 -0?
Dennis
January 12th, 2012
4:59 pm
Mark, I see you have landed back in Homerville. Just another back handed way of saying “National Championship here we come” as you all say every year. Take some meds and level out. There are four other SEC teams that should have either the same or better outlook as UGA. The trouble is UGA will have to win in Atlanta against quality and this year is not next year. I say they lose to Missouri, USC, and Vandy. The bridges will be five deep with you idiots waiting to jump.
GTBob
January 12th, 2012
5:00 pm
Flat Tire, it’s not me saying that. I have an imitator.
Spank that Doggie and Call PETA
January 12th, 2012
5:01 pm
True Dawg Fan
January 12th, 2012
4:56 pm
Spank that Doggie and Call PETA
January 12th, 2012
4:54 pm
Actually im at work you clown but thanks for your concern
Cut and paste is to let the person im addressing know so. Have always done it you retard.
Maybe you should learn something before you come back next time. Hope you are here tomorrow I would love to own you and embarrass you so more!
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Please feel free to go back and read the previous ten pages, the only one embarrassed and proven wrong again and again is you.
If you are at work your job must not mean much to your company? And do not dare say you are a boss or an owner because no boss or owner would spend 9 hours in a day typing on a blog if they were worth anything.
Once again 10 pages of your rants and arguing is just pathetic.
1eyedJack
January 12th, 2012
5:03 pm
Well, you can berate True Dawg Fan if you want, but at least he’s got a great job. How else could he be on a blog ALL DAY arguing with you fellers?
Spank that Doggie and Call PETA
January 12th, 2012
5:05 pm
1eyedJack…my point exactly..it took me 30 minutes to read his garbage and I had to go back an look at the time to see how much time he devoted to his blogging today…
Jaw Jaw Homer
January 12th, 2012
5:07 pm
Get Real…. BINGO, you hit the nail on the head out of the park to the moon. I think Bama 35, Dwags 3. Totally different class of programs.
JB
January 12th, 2012
5:10 pm
There is no program in the class of Alabama this yr.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 12th, 2012
5:14 pm
GTBob
I figured but I had to know since you have been sprayed with True Dawg Fan kool-aid, you can easily loose cognitive thinking skills being exposed to that highly toxic stuff
Buzz 2011
January 12th, 2012
5:17 pm
Schedule again seems a little too easy as they play no strong teams other than GT , SC and Arkansas..With their weak defense, quarterback problems, etc they could still win 6 games…
IL Jacket
January 12th, 2012
5:18 pm
Mark, how do you and Schultz get to decide whose day it is to be good cop and who has to be bad cop?
IL Jacket
January 12th, 2012
5:20 pm
Mark Bradley’s Word of the Day-”esteemed.” New Year’s resolution?
bamaguy
January 12th, 2012
5:25 pm
Mark is just selling newspapers by telling the Georgia faithful what they want to hear. This is a business, after all.
short memories
January 12th, 2012
5:26 pm
Once again we have unrealistic hope of “this could be the year” because of the talent and weak schedule. But we still have Richt and Bobo and their scared playcalling as well as an undisciplined and noncreative team. Not to mention the special teams will cost us at least a couple of games. Bradley, the eternal optimist.
reality check
January 12th, 2012
5:29 pm
From a BAMA insider….. Saban to be interviewed for coaching job with Raiders
You heard it hear first….
JDawg1785
January 12th, 2012
5:29 pm
Interesting take, Mark! If the Dawgs can get things going in the running game, this will be a very good team next season. Just out of curiosity, which game do you see Georgia dropping in 2012?
Jaw Jaw Homer
January 12th, 2012
5:39 pm
A little cut and paste, by the way, Saben will never leave Bama, he’s a God there.
Best coaching move: Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, coaching in his last game before taking on the Colorado State head-coaching gig, had the Crimson Tide come out throwing, particularly on first down, and that opened up the entire offense and sort of put LSU’s defense on its heels early.
Worst coaching move: Georgia coach Mark Richt gets big props for guiding the Bulldogs to 10 straight wins after the two losses to open the season. But his decision to play for a field goal in the first overtime, especially when Blair Walsh had been so inconsistent all season, was hard to figure. A 42-yarder isn’t a chip shot for anybody, and Walsh missed it right. That was the opening Michigan State needed to win the game in three overtimes.
GTBob
January 12th, 2012
5:42 pm
Anyone else noticing how Mark is even more of a UGA homer then usual lately? UGA just finished the season by getting crushed in the SEC Championship and giving a bowl game away and these are the headlines:
Why Georgia is nicely positioned to make real hay in 2012
UGA’s Murray: ‘We could have pulled out a couple more wins’
It was an awful loss, but it wasn’t the end of UGA’s ascent
Live from the Outback: UGA should win this bloomin’ bowl
Richt says Georgia will be ‘knocking on the door’ of greatness
2011 college Heat Check: Georgia got hot
It’s official: UGA’s Mark Richt is the World’s Greatest Boss
The Richt contract extension: What’s the magic number?
Even after another Dome drubbing, UGA’s progress is clear
Enough sugar in there for everyone? At least try to remain somewhat objective Mark.
DP
January 12th, 2012
5:46 pm
“Worst coaching move: Georgia coach Mark Richt gets big props for guiding the Bulldogs to 10 straight wins after the two losses to open the season. But his decision to play for a field goal in the first overtime, especially when Blair Walsh had been so inconsistent all season, was hard to figure. A 42-yarder isn’t a chip shot for anybody, and Walsh missed it right. That was the opening Michigan State needed to win the game in three overtimes.”
But as Mark Bradley points out, the game didn’t really matter and no Dawg fan will care about it by next season. The seniors who lost in their final game probably won’t remember it either. And since the game didn’t matter, Mark Bradley didn’t feel any need to hold Richt accountable for it.
Dixie Dawg
January 12th, 2012
5:51 pm
I think we’re looking at yet another pre-season Top Ten!
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 12th, 2012
5:54 pm
GTBob
Wow bud we are actually agreeing on some stuff today
Yea my favorite Bradley article
“Richt says Georgia will be ‘knocking on the door’ of greatness”
GT
January 12th, 2012
5:55 pm
Until Georgia can be competitive I don’t understand this great expectation. Good athletics on paper does not equal good results for them. Did you notice South Carolina was ranked in this top 10 this year at the end of the year? Georgia who won the division was 20th. That might have been because South Carolina beat Georgia in Athens and finished strong. They play them in Columbia early next year. All this talk will help Spurrier who will have all winter to plot and plan. I don’t understand the high expectations they have not been earned on a football field.
Rooty Tooty
January 12th, 2012
5:58 pm
Come on UGA, Ft Valley St and Albany State are waiting on the call.
Richt and Grantham are laughing all the way to the bank!
January 12th, 2012
6:05 pm
I seem to recall only a few seasons ago when Georgia was ranked #1 in all the preseason polls. How’d that work out for you?
That investment in Kool-Aid stock is looking better every day. Dwagtards are such a weakminded gullible bunch.
GT
January 12th, 2012
6:11 pm
One other thing, LSU losing to Alabama the way they did leaves some suspension about Georgia’s getting routed by the Tigers. LSU was a beatable team not the team Georgia made them look like. None of this seems to play in the vision, and may not have to ,with a cream puff schedule which puts huge pressure on Georgia to beat South Carolina in Columbia. Exactly where Spurrier wants them.
Dixie Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:20 pm
UGA had LSWho beat the first half.
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:21 pm
Looks like Mark’s already into the Koolaid Beaujolais 2012… Listen, Mark, there are a couple of things returning that will sink the Dawgs in 2012. That would be er uh—Richt and Bobo. This deadly 1-2 punch will suck the energy and any raw talent based potential right out of the team next year. I see several teams that could easily whup up on the Dawgs next year. That would be Missouri, Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, and Georgia Tech just to name a few… The Dawgs under Richt always underachieve and lose a couple to teams that they are supposed to win. Heck, Vandy has a 50/50 chance of beating UGA next year. Yes, fans, that is how low the franchise has sunk with Richt–and bouyed by such diehard zombies as Dawg in Lex and Altamaha… Put all this together and it spells some pretty bad juju for the Dawgs next year now that Preacha Man is comfy again in his formerly hot seat and a contract extension. He can now hire a few more surrogates to run interference for him on these AJC blogs, too…
SSIgator
January 12th, 2012
6:21 pm
“Why Georgia is nicely positioned to make real hay in 2012″
They sure are. The UGA football team has borrowed a tractor agriculture department to do just that. Only problem is that when it is ready to be harvested, the Doobie Brothers backfield will be trying to smoke it.
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:22 pm
Oh yeah, add South Carolina to the teams above…
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:25 pm
That’s funny, SSIgator! Watch out, though… Dawg in Lex will ask if you have ever played in the backfield and if you haven’t then you just don’t get it so find another team. Dawg in Lex, why don’t you just go find another team? Duke seems to lose on a regular basis, so that would be a good match for you…
LakeDawg
January 12th, 2012
6:26 pm
To win the SEC, UGA will have to have a physical OL and a commitment to run the ball. Since when has that happened under Richt. 2002….maybe? What makes anyone think that will happen next year, when it hasn’t happened in 9 years? UGA isn’t in the same hemisphere as LSU and Bama. Why will 2012 be any different? Yeah, UGA improved from a 6-7 team, but the next step is even bigger. A step Richt hasn’t taken in 6 years. Not even close.
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:27 pm
DixieDawg, what do you think happended to UGA in the locker room at halftime at the SEC championship with LSU?
Troup Co. Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:27 pm
This article seems to me to be a set-up….if the Dawgs drop a game or two they’ll be calling for Richt’s head, put him back on the hot seat, I look for Grantham to take his spot in the next few years…hire in the OC from outside and this team will kick TOTAL @SS in the coming years. We are so tired of watching our neighbors getting all the glory while we sit here on our hands and talk about a great effort !!! Go coach at a practice squad school like GT or GS ! Fed up Dawg Fan !!!
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:29 pm
Lake Dawg, it looks like you are starting to catch on here… If you remember, we were supposed to have “the best OL in the country” this past year with everyone returning. What happened? Which zombie thinks that things will improve next year? Based on what? It will be worse because the coaching has not changed.
Saban Never Sleeps
January 12th, 2012
6:30 pm
Kind of early to open the Koolaid stand!!!!
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:31 pm
UGA is the second most profitable football program in the NCAA. Why can’t we afford Nick Saban?
SSIgator
January 12th, 2012
6:32 pm
Well, I see everyone was graced with the presence of True Dawg Fan today. I guess since he had the early shift at Tire Kingdom he is gone for the day. Probably on his way to his Basic English Comprehension class at night school.
Saban Never Sleeps
January 12th, 2012
6:36 pm
The thing that all Bama fans know…the more you beat a dawg..the more they love you. Stop humping my leg I tell you. Seriously, you are setting expections to high for a team that have no proven track record. UF just brings in a BIG OC while you guys are stuck with Bobo. Spurrier is still in the league and spanks you yearly. UF is out recruiting you and so is USC. Sooner or later you get Bama, LSU etc. Joke of an article.
LakeDawg
January 12th, 2012
6:38 pm
Snoop Dawg
January 12th, 2012
6:29 pm
Lake Dawg, it looks like you are starting to catch on here
————————————————————————————————————————————-
I think you have me confused with Lakedawg with a lower case d. He’s part of the “Loser Brigade”-aka “koolaide drinkers.” I’ve always known the what the deal was; however, that doesn’t keep me from hoping for the best every year.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
January 12th, 2012
6:40 pm
Snoop Dawg
I know what happened at halftime
Another chapter was read from the New York Times Best Seller “Energy Vampires”
Then the slip and slide was pulled out for a few minutes of fun
POOPDAWG
January 12th, 2012
6:42 pm
SSigator, got any remedies for migraine headaches. The fog around gainesville is not fog.
Saban Never Sleeps
January 12th, 2012
6:49 pm
All BAMA fans know that the more you beat you dawg the more they love you…stop humping my leg I tell you!!!!
A few points that Mark conveniently omits
1. UF just hired a Big BOY OC, you guys still have bobo
2. Spurrier is still in the league and in your division
3. the barn will show up next year
4. Bama and LSU are both loaded and reloaded and after your beating…well…you will just love us more. Maybe you can even show your lack of pride and lose to MSU again.
Stinger2
January 12th, 2012
6:54 pm
Snoop Dawg: Do you believe the majority of true UGA fans want Saban? Would you want your son to sign with Alabama
and then run the risk of being thrown out because Saban oversigned so many players?
Dixie Dawg
January 12th, 2012
7:02 pm
Actually, the Missouri coach is pretty good. However, UGA will run a table.
Vampire Bill
January 12th, 2012
7:11 pm
Strength and conditioning is vital to UGA’s success. Saban made the comment the other day that the most important coach at Bama was the S&C coach…..
Beast from the East
January 12th, 2012
7:23 pm
Once again, with a very favorable schedule, UGA could have another 10-2 regular season. Much will depend on the o-line. Should be solid everywhere else.
phil
January 12th, 2012
7:37 pm
well, Mark, you just jinxed us for sure! now there aint no way we win the SECE or the SECCG. if you’d just kept your big trap shut it might have happened. no way now.
BiggdawgK
January 12th, 2012
7:56 pm
Mark you were spot-on with your comment about your 2012 UGA predicition being met with scorn from many who claim to be Georgia fans. Many who claim to beGeorgia fans are sad little techies who are only dreaming.
thomas
January 12th, 2012
7:58 pm
your crazy but they do have a very easy schedule but very poor coaches they have no idea how to coach the kids up to play prime example this year was crowell