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
Falcaints
January 12th, 2012
8:12 pm
Love Georgia fans, delusional. They won’t even win the East. The Champion will come from Columbia, SC that is.
kerryb
January 12th, 2012
8:19 pm
11-1? Who on that schedule is going to beat us next year. I don’t see anyone we cannot beat.
kerryb
January 12th, 2012
8:21 pm
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
____________________________________________________________________
What the heck are you talking about??? Crowell had 847 yards in 9 games. That’s pretty good.
BobDawg
January 12th, 2012
8:29 pm
I just read an MB article from last winter on what the Dawgs had to do to “turn things around in Athens”. Cool to read now: 1) Have a dream team recruiting year 2) Revamp S & C and attitudes. 3) stop the arrest patterns 4) Grantham needs to turn the heat up on D 5) Beat Florida
MB, what is our new list this year as we are lightyears ahead of last year!!!!
Bob LaBah
January 12th, 2012
8:29 pm
This is the same old song every single January. We gone be good! We be the dream team! What a load. Then it will be back to “wait til next year.”
Dawg Whisperer
January 12th, 2012
8:33 pm
What’s all the debate about? If Mark Bradley sez the dawgs will win the SEC next season, then so be it. Mark, your column convinced me and we know you’re not a “homer” since UGA ain’t your home.
the tooth ferry
January 12th, 2012
8:37 pm
Bradley is starting to remind me of Beano Cook.
VA Dawg
January 12th, 2012
8:40 pm
First of all, next seasons’ schedule isnt quite as easy as everyone thinks. SC and AU will both be competitive. AU had a very young team but has a lot of talent. SC wont be much different from this year. Win both of those games and run the table on the rest would be considered a great year. in addition to talent and coaching there is a thing called team chemistry. AL had it in the MNC, LSU had it in the rest of their games. It supercedes everything else. It is also what makes college football so much fun….you never really know who has it. So things might look good on paper for UGA but if we dont have chemistry forget any championships at any level. BTW – I am not as worried about the OL next year due to not being impressed with this years group…..and we still won 10.
Owner of a lonely fart
January 12th, 2012
8:47 pm
Bob LaBah
January 12th, 2012
8:29 pm
This is the same old song every single January. We gone be good! We be the dream team! What a load. Then it will be back to “wait til next year.”
You can say that again.
But I admire Georgia fans, most of them on here are pretty skeptical of Bradley’s prediction. I like that honesty. Nothing worse than the predictable “we’re gonna be #1 this year” bluster from any college team’s fans.
Seeing them win the east is easy, but anything beyond that is cloudy at best. I think LSU and Arky would handle the Dawgs without too much trouble.
Jock IS Smelley, I
January 12th, 2012
8:52 pm
Wait a minute…………a typical Summer will find that 4-5 UGA Thugs are arrested……CMR will pardon 3-4 of them….what a joke!
ugakev
January 12th, 2012
9:05 pm
jock…how many got arrested last offseason?? Coach Mark Richt of all the coaches you could name pardons players!?? LMAO …just stop posting because I feel embarressed for you reading your idiotic statements.
Jock IS Smelley, I
January 12th, 2012
9:13 pm
One will be Bacardi Rambo….ehhhhh Bacari Rambo!
FL DAWG
January 12th, 2012
9:19 pm
I guess our schedule is vs another band of losers until we hit the SECC then another LSU – type beatdown courtesy of Richt and Bobo.
and the beat goes on, and on, and on, and…………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..on.
sportzfan
January 12th, 2012
9:32 pm
Just heard today on am sports radio here in Atlanta that UGA has 2nd easiest schedule in country for 2012….only Oregon has one better….just saying. So, who is the one loss gonna be to?
san diego steve
January 12th, 2012
9:35 pm
I’m not concerned right now about UGA football. We can all start daydreaming when spring practice begins. The important news of the day is the total lack of news coming from the Braves. One would think the AJC would start asking some serious questions. Pitchers & catchers report in 4 weeks. 4 weeks and the Braves have only subtracted with no additions.
007
January 12th, 2012
9:39 pm
Well that should throw a monkey wrench into our season, MB says that we will go 11-1. Is that the same MB that predicted UGA to beat Mich St & the same MB that predicted the Falcons to beat NY.
Fussball Fan
January 12th, 2012
9:41 pm
Articles like this are why Atlanta fans get their hearts broken year in, year out. Instead of saying “we have a top 10 ten team, let’s see how that plays out”, no, that does not make sense. Instead, we are not just going to win the SEC East, but the entire SEC. Be humble, heck, at least wait for signing day or the Spring game, before writing this article. Bradley’s article reminds me of the season when the Bulldogs were rated #1 going into the season. Then came the infamous “black out game”. The writers at the AJC are the reason that the fans in Atlanta get their hopes built up, only to have them crash sometime during the season. Ask Falcons fans, they are playing in Green Bay this week, right?
Dawgs in 2012!
January 12th, 2012
9:46 pm
Ga’s loaded on both sides of the ball. Lsu and alabama are losing a ton of talent and will be way down. The Dawgs will dominate the SEC east again and this time—win the SEC!!!! This will be the year of the Dawg!!!!
excessive celebration
January 12th, 2012
9:56 pm
Georgia will loose early and often, Gators, Vols, and Cocks will re-assume their dominance. End of the year there will be a complete house cleaning only to retain CTG. you heard it here first folks. Go bama my 31 year drought is over because i switched to a winner. Ga has NEVER fielded a team as loaded as ALABAMA….or as well coached. also the Gators are cleaning up in recruiting and those my friends will be in the sec championship game.
daddo
January 12th, 2012
9:58 pm
Alabama and LSU will be way down? Are u on crack? And Georgia will not win the SEC because you won’t have a running game or the ability to protect the QB. Why? Your offensive line will suck. LSU brings back 16 starters and Alabama’s offense will be unstoppable. Those r just facts.
FL DAWG
January 12th, 2012
9:59 pm
The same tripe every year.
Good Night Nurse.
Sun Devil Dave
January 12th, 2012
10:04 pm
OMG here we go again, let’s just keep going, Georgia will play in the BCS, beat USC by 55 and crown UGA15 as emporer. LOL
Grantham's D
January 12th, 2012
11:09 pm
Grantham is the best D-coordinator in the SEC and he’s built an angry, physical D for next season. The Dawg D will shut down any offense in the SEC next year—take it to the bank. On offense, Murray, ICro and Marshall will light up the scoreboard. Dawgs go 11-1, to the BCS!!
Troup Co. Dawg
January 13th, 2012
12:59 am
I’ll be dreamin’……..and then wake up as somebody like C. Upshaw runs down Murray from behind, sounds like a nightmare, but that is reality. If the OL can’t block players of his caliber….well, we are 4th best in the SEC at best!
Integrity
January 13th, 2012
6:36 am
I really think that the Dawgs can compete with any team in the SEC. I feel that would have been the case this year with some tweaking as to offensive play calling strategy. Many mention the lack of depth as being the problem at UGA. I, for one, feel that it has more to do with the lack of methodical offensive drives. This not only burns the clock, but it wears down the defense of the opponent as well; but most importantly, it give our defense an opportunity to regenerate. A short passing game, (even shuttle or screen), some runs (but not so many up the middle), an occasional bomb, and I believe we might have even been more successful this year. In reflecting upon the David Green era, we didn’t always look that spectacular, but we played smart and won the big games. If we eliminate so many runs “up the middle” against teams when it is apparent that the opponent cannot be blocked, get our speedy players to the outside, and don’t waste so many plays throwing bombs, I think we might bring an SEC crown back to my alma mater next year. And most importantly of all, our offense and special teams have got to quit putting us into so many bad situations where they generate more scoring opportunities for the opponents than does our defense.
GA > alabama
January 13th, 2012
6:53 am
Mark this down–Ga will upset #1 alabama next year in the Ga Dome for the SEC title. Ga’s roster is loaded with talent and with all the new dream team recruits, Richt’s offense will be unstoppable. Ga 33 Alabama 20!
RCB
January 13th, 2012
8:56 am
The fundamental question is the offensive line. How many times can you say they dominated this year? Conversely, in two of their defeats they were beaten badly (I will not say they were beaten badly in the South Caroina game). If you want to compete in the SEC, you have to be able to consistantly gain at least 2 or 3 yards even when everybody in the stadium knows you are going to run. We cannot keep relying on trick plays and running backs juking 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage just to avoid a loss.
When somebody specifically addresses the offensive line and explains why they will look and act more like an Alabam or LSU line, then I will start listening.
Bama Fan#2
January 13th, 2012
9:33 am
Georgia should be s top 10 football school every year with
the talent the state puts all. Richt is a good coach and I
like your DC but your OC is very average like Mike Shula
offense at Bama back 6 or 7 years ago, ask any Bama
fan and they say Darby up the middle. RTR
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
9:44 am
Mark, I have never thought of you as being one of the Koolaid Factory Gang but apparently you are.
Lets see. LSU put 44 on UGA and Alabama won by 22 over LSU. So this year’s UGA is only 66 points
worse than Bama and this will be erased next year ? I have to see it first.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
9:51 am
Dismissing South Carolina is a big mistake. We know NOTHING until UGA and SC play yet millions will spend the entire next 8 months spewing those old worn-out KoolAid Gang lines such as:
1. “The Dawgs could really get into the nat champ picture if Jenkins, Rambo don’t get hurt”
2. ” We gotta be careful against Kentucky. They can always upset the applecart”
3. “The Dawgs toughest game will be against Vandy in Nashville”
4. ” I worry about Missouri. Just don’t know what it will be like up there.”
Such meaningless points will the subject of hundreds of blogs that elicit 1500 responses.
mike quinn
January 13th, 2012
10:34 am
MARK A DECENT HIGH SCHOOL TEAM WOULD HAVE A WINNING SEASON WITH THE DOGS SCHEDULE. THEY SURE WON’T WIN A SEC CHAMPIONSHIP AGAINST A WEST TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. THEY WERE AN EMBARSEMENT IN THAT GAME AND IN THE BOWL GAME. EVERY GOOD TEAM THEY PLAYED THEY LOST. NEXT YEAR WILL BE NO DIFFERENT. WHEN THEY START BEATING THE BIG BOYS THEN START TALKING HOW GOOD THEY ARE. UNTIL THEN YOU SHOULD WRITE ABOUT THE TOP TEAMS.
Bulldog59
January 13th, 2012
10:34 am
So many have asked, from MB’s prediction of 11-1, who is the “1″?
1. Mizzou will look to open in SEC with a bang, but it won’t happen, Dawgs will look to show Mizzou what SEC football is all about. (No knock on the Tigers, Dawgs are just takin’ care of business.)
2. Vandy will come to Athens and CTG and Co. will make it their mission to “payback” Coach Franklin for his press conference facade of “we play and coach with class and integrity.” It will resemble Wil Patton’s line in Remember the Titans, “not another yard!” They will certainly remember this day that they played the Dawgs.
3. UT will come to Athens and Ol’ Smokey will leave whimpering. CMR will show his soft side and admiration of the Dooley family, calling off the Dawgs late and UGA only wins by 21.
4. SC – Spurrier? Could be trouble. The questions become: can CTG’s unit rattle Flowery Branch’s Connor Shaw? Will SC have a running game? Even if Lattimore is back, it’s doubtful he will be 100% of what he was, at least not at that point. And finally, what about the D with Ellis Johnson gone. Still……potential trouble for the Dawgs.
5. UK – Fugetaboutit. Dawgs simply play hard and make sure no one gets hurt.
6. UF- Muschamp knows the importance of this rivalry. He lived it. He could still be searching for his first signature win, and if he is, he’ll be under significant pressure and pull out all the stops in JAX.
7. Ole Miss – see #5 above.
8. Auburn – A new OC at some point, most likely from the NFL. A new and better DC. We know the D will be better by then. Still Auburn’s letdown in 2011 showed how much of their team was one guy on O and one guy on D in 2010. Tough game, but Dawgs win.
Brian Friel
January 13th, 2012
10:44 am
The Bulldogs should win out with a very weak schedule they have in 2012. My concern is if UGA can start beating ranked opponents and “big games.” We will see if UGA is dawg gone good or full of Bull….
True Dawg Fan
January 13th, 2012
11:15 am
Spank that Doggie and Call PETA
January 12th, 2012
5:01 pm
hahahahaha please show me one time I have been proven wrong on anything. Unlike you clowns I go to the real insiders to get my information. I dont wait for these free for all sites or pay sites to put something out bc they are always 2 weeks late (Carvell being the easiest example)
Funny though that only the trolls and the 2 UGA cry baby fans that think I am wrong and/or dumb hmmm………
Call them rants all you want, bc we know you only call them that bc you wish you knew that much about this game. I dont care what you think of me really (Sorry I dont need internet buddies)
FYI which troll are you?? I know you have to be a secondary handel for some poor retard troll on here that I have probably embarrassed many times. You sound angry like GT Joke.
And FYI just bc comments go for 9 hours doesnt even come close to meaning I was here the whole time. Wonder if thats why at multiple points I was still embarrassing folks from a previous page. hmmmm….. but of course you are right bc well you are you and have brought so many great things to this blog, hahahahhahahahaha.
Keep thinking you have an opinion that matters to anyone but yourself. And ill keep embarrassing you for how stupid it is!! Maybe you can email Mark B like folks emaild Carvell and get me banned. Come on you know you want to be one of those little cry babies and go tell on me for embarrassing you. wahh wahh wahh wahh wahh wahh
Let me know when you have soemthing meaningful to talk about or can prove where anyone has ever proven me wrong on here and me not admit it you clown. Please go look I very much await your return of altered copy and paste post from me. (FYI dont fall for the loser that poses as me sometimes)
True Dawg Fan
January 13th, 2012
11:17 am
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
9:44 am
Get the score right retard. How hard is that to look something up if you arent sure????
And the law of transitive properties doesnt work in football. You would think that you being a nerd would know that by now.
Another clueless unifromed poster that shouldnt be allowed to have an opinion.
True Dawg Fan
January 13th, 2012
11:18 am
GA > alabama
January 13th, 2012
6:53 am
Actually we wont have to play bama bc they wont sniff the SEC title game again as usual. We will be playing LSU again in the dome.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
11:26 am
Just another pack of unsignature wins.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
11:27 am
True Dawg Fan: Your right. Bama is only 38 points better than UGA. There, does that make you feel better ?
REV Dawg
January 13th, 2012
11:38 am
With all that top recruiting talent richt is bringing in, only lsu can match the dawgs roster in 2012. The Dawg O will be loaded and they can beat lsu in the title game. Dawgs roll to the BCS—-take it to the bank!
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
11:41 am
This crowd has been prematurely celebrating championships for the past 15 years.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
11:46 am
Excessive Celebration: You da man. This fandom has been prematurely celebrating championships for the past 15 years. No better time than the present to pop the champagne cork ( aka Koolaid) on next years championship. Forget the fact (who cares about facts in dawgpatch ?) that Bama just won it three days ago. There were probably more dawgs on Bourbon Street Monday night than Tigers or Bama fans.
dawgfan4life
January 13th, 2012
12:02 pm
ok georgia fans dont get too excited about next season. specailly with a OC like BOBO who needs to get gone. the defense yeah we all can get excited about that but that offense need another driver driving that side of the team. plus we need a special team coach too many yards on punt and kickoff returns. the schedule is promising as well as the defense. dont get to excited people just take it one week at a time.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
12:08 pm
MacGarity: Still seeking that one signature win ? Sad, really.
JMac1220
January 13th, 2012
12:09 pm
You gotta just love the hilarity of a column by MB. UGA should go 11-1, at worst, with their pee-wee football schedule, but…. they will finish out of the race with a 9-3 record. Watch out for Mizzou, USCe, Vandy, and a better Auburn team.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
12:09 pm
No better time than the present to pop the champagne cork ( Koolaid) on next years championship.
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
12:13 pm
We now enter the best time of the year for Dawg fans which is the 8 months when no football is played. This will be Euphoria-Land until the season begins.
UGA alumnus here
January 13th, 2012
12:23 pm
Murray is a individual stat kind of guy. He has nice stats but no real signature wins. His nicest game was vs. UT in 2010 BUT they were so far below what even an average UT team really is, that I cannot even count that game.
He hurts UGA in the big games and he personally cost UGA the 2010 Florida game with one TD pic 6 and a fumble Quick 6 TD and even at the end in OT, when he COULD HAVE WON that game, he throws a dumb pic to triple covered Orson Charles and they got the ball and hit a FG. Game over.
SC in 2011 and the MSU game in the Outback …………….it goes on and on with this kid. Why? LSU game he choked.
Aaron Murray is simply out of control emotionally and is team mates pick up on that in the huddle and on the sidelines. He is a UGA liability or has been so far.
UGA class of 71 & 73, married to UGA gal, class of 73.
History class
January 13th, 2012
12:31 pm
Weak UGA SEC schedule? Georgia Tech under Bobby Dodd usually avoided Ole Miss and LSU and that was in the late 50s and 60s, when these two fine programs were in their high cotton days. Yes, Bobby Dodd WOULD NOT play home and away, specifically with these two teams ……………. blaming it on “cost of travel” or some lame thing like that. Dodd was a gamer and a pool hall hustler and he got away with it.
ANYONE my age from Atlanta knows this fact. Also, after the mid 1950s, Dodd did not see a major bowl game until the 1967 Orange Bowl, his very last humiliating loss to SEC Florida, who did not even win the SEC that year.
Don’t talk about UGA’s schedule. You play in the SEC …………….YOU PLAYED a schedule. Look at Clemson from the ACC ………………………..West Virgina is STILL SCORING TDs.
Who does anyone in the Big 12 play or the PAC 12? ACC? Laughable that is. Big East?? Big 10 teams all lost to SEC teams ………….cepting my choking Dogs.
Gooooooooooooooooo Dogs.
UPdate on Tucker's LB James Vaughter at Stanford??
January 13th, 2012
12:35 pm
What did this young man do for Stanford this year? Anyone know? Supposedly a great kid and great LB and student.
Anyone know?
True Dawg Fan
January 13th, 2012
12:38 pm
Wreckmaniac
January 13th, 2012
11:27 am
hahahahahaha Law of transitive properties doesnt work here sorry DA. Keep trying though.
How are those signature wins panning out for tech???? ahahhahahahahahahahahaha what a clown. Let me know when you can beat UGA for than 1 time a decade