Phil Steele had some nice things to say about our Dawgs yesterday. While none of it rises to the heights of his “run the table” comment on ESPN, it’s all certainly encouraging.
First, from his follow-up post on strength of schedule, he listed the top teams seeing their schedule ease in 2010 compared with last year’s. Here’s the chart:
Since 2004, Steele reports that teams appearing on this list have more than a 75% chance of equaling or bettering their previous year’s record.
Steele also hosted a live chat on his Facebook page. He took several Georgia questions, starting with this one:
on AbrilPhil Steele: so uhhhhh, GEORGIA FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Should be a good year to be a Bulldog fan. Richt does best when expectations are low. They have my #1 rated Oline, improved D and solid Spec Teams.
That was followed by this exchange:
Taylor MastersPhil Steele: UGA UT score prediction?
Georgia 34 Tennessee 17
The Georgia-Florida game got a prediction request as well.
Taylor MastersPhil Steele: Do you see another blowout in the UGA UF game?
No, down to the wire decided by a FG.
That certainly beats the last two years’ blowouts. Here’s the last Q & A:
Jon AbrilPhil Steele: Phil, love your magazine,what do u think of UGA’s qb situation, aaron murray was the 2nd qb overall coming out of HS a few years back behind barkley, do you think he can come in as a true sophomore and lead our offense which should be stout this year, #1 ol in the sec, aj green, and our TE situation is looking solid, not to mention our running backs! do u think our offense will be dynamic enough to win the east?
Phil SteeleIf he stays healthy they will have improved QB play with a tremendous supporting cast on offense. My #1 rated Oline, #5 RB’s and #2 REC’s in the country.Yesterday at 11:05am
Jon Abrilwhat about the sec east, when its all said and done, where do u think we will stand?Yesterday at 11:08amI project them 2nd but only a 3 pt dog to Florida so that is the key to the SEC East title.
Get The Picture 
I think Steele’s assessment about UGA is dead on at this point, although I see the uf matchup even. I have no concerns about Murray’s abilities, only his health. Our lack of depth at QB is the only thing that could hold us back, and that is no issue at all unless AM gets hurt. That is certainly an obvious statement but not insignificant: in Richt’s 9 years the starting QB has only missed one game (Shockley’s absence against uf in 2005.) Offense is not a concern of mine.
If UGA shows just slight improvement over last year’s defense, and cuts the turnover margin in half, I like our chances of being in Atlanta. Those seem to be very achievable, realistic expectations. Sure, we will PROBABLY have to win in Jax to win the tie-breaker, but maybe not. If we win our three games against the West, I think we will win outright. Florida will lose at least one of the games against the West, Bama in Tusky, and a minimum of one more conference game. That is my call (subject to change several times before December.) Should Murray go down, all bets are off.
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People seem to forget just how good Murray is. The only QB in his class that was better started as a true freshman at southern cal. I think he’s going to light it up.
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But bobo suxxxx waaaaaah!! He cant coach any qbs evaaaah!! And Murray is short and sucked at g-day which is a totally accurate reflection of his abilities! Mettenberger was waaaay better but got kicked off the team! Uga=CHAOS and crappy coaching!
Fire bobo!
Fire martinez!
…wait…
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Freshman quarterbacks do not have a stellar history in the SEC, not matter how highly rated. The UGA – USC game will be very interesting.
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Perhaps the nationwide expectations are low, but this Dawg fan expects a very big year – perhaps CMR’s best. I just don’t see how a team with 10 returnees on O, the 2 top kickers in cfb, and an improving D, can be so underrated. Throw in some good depth, no significant injuries, a favorable schedule, and a big loss of graduated talent for the other SEC east teams. Chances like this don’t come around very often.
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I agree with you JC, however there is danger. The first SEC road game (USC) and the first SEC home game (ARK) are going to be real tests. If the Dawgs get past both of them they probably will be undefeated going into the WLOCP. If they beat FLA then it’s tall cotton. But if they lose one or (horrors) both of the USC and ARK games it will probably be only a good (9 wins or so) season. I wish they got to play at least one more cupcake before the SEC schedule starts but I am still betting on a great season.
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If the schedule is easier this year than last year, that means we should lose fewer than last year’s 5 losses.
Steele’s 2nd point is about Aaron Murray, with him mentioning that he has to talk about Injury. Then, again, he doesn’t say that Aaron Murray is going to continue the average 14 interceptions of the last 4 years, nor does Steele say that Aaron Murray is a freshman QB in The SEC. Steele is high on Caleb King and Steele is high on Aaron Murray. In fact, Steele is high on our Bulldogs’ Offense this season noting AJ Green and Orson Charles.
Therefore, if Murray is not injured, we will improve upon our 5-loss season last year.
9-4
10-3
We can about that with injury or without. Unfortunately, that has been good for 4th vs SEC teams the last 4 years and 3rd vs SEC East teams the last 4 years.
# 19
This is where Phil Steele predicts Georgia this 2010 season # 19.
After this year, we lose these players :
# 2 Depth Chart Split End Kris Durham 6′ 5″ 209
# 1 Depth Chart Left Tackle Clint Boling 6′ 5″ 309
# 1 Depth Chart Right Guard Chris Davis 6′ 4″ 295
# 1 Depth Chart Right Tackle Josh Davis 6′ 6″ 300
# 1 Depth Chart Fullback Shaun Chapas 6′ 2″ 245
# 2 Depth Chart Left End Brandon Wood 6′ 1″ 286
# 3 Depth Chart Nose Guard Demarcus Dobbs 6′ 2″ 274
# 4 Depth Chart Nose Guard Kiante Tripp 6′ 6″ 275
# 2 Depth Chart Sam Linebacker Darryl Gamble 6′ 2″ 250
# 1 Depth Chart Mike Linebacker Akeem Dent 6′ 2″ 233
# 3 Depth Chart Mike Linebacker Akeem Hebron 6′ 1″ 233
# 2 Depth Chart Strong Safety Quintin Banks 6′ 2″ 213
# 1 Depth Chart Cornerback Vance Cuff 5′ 11″ 177
NFL Draft Eligible, high round picks :
# 1 Depth Chart Flanker AJ Green 6′ 4″ 207
# 1 Depth Chart Center Ben Jones 6′ 3″ 300
# 1 Depth Chart Will Linebacker Justin Houston 6′ 3″ 259
# 1 Depth Chart Cornerback Brandon Boykin 5′ 10″ 185 load
These 4 are most likely gone after 2010.
We therefore will be BETTER at # 19 this 2010 season than we will be in 2011.
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