Here’s something Andy Staples pointed out in a recent “Five SEC Burning Questions” post:
… We could see several new quarterbacks put up huge numbers thanks to experienced offensive lines. Brantley and whoever wins the quarterback derbies at Auburn and Georgia should enjoy the benefit of playing behind at least four returning offensive line starters.
The situation at Georgia might be the best one for a young quarterback. Whether it’s Murray, Gray or Mettenberger, the winner will play behind an experienced line and have the privilege of throwing to A.J. Green and handing off to Washaun Ealey and Caleb King. The Bulldogs’ ability to run the ball should take a ton of pressure off the quarterback.
If all this sounds vaguely familiar — quarterback competition, solid offensive line, an emerging young back bolstered by a steady older one — it should. Georgia found itself in this situation during coach Mark Richt‘s first season in 2001. The quarterback who emerged as the starter was redshirt freshman David Greene, who went on to set the Division I-A wins record that Texas quarterback Colt McCoy broke last season.
Get The Picture 
UGA Doom, Gloom, Pessimism 2010.
True. All I hear are excuses why UGA cannot win championships this year.
Yes we can, we can beat every team on our schedule.
The excuse chatter has started:
*It will take a few years for CTG to install new def.
*Freshmen QB’s cannot get it done.
*Our nose guard is not big enough
*We might have injuries
and on and on
Every year our A.D., coaches, and players have 2 goals: win conf championship, win national championship. Heck, we dont even have to win every game on our schedule to achieve this (LSU?).
I hope the players dont read all the reasons why they cannot win.
We support the players, our magnificent Dawg gladiators who give it all they’ve got.
Yes, we expect championships now, 2010.
No more excuses.
UGA CAN do it, Dec 4.
Only 110 days till Fall Camp.
Only 142 days till Sept 4.
Go You Hairy Richt Dawgs 2010!
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Think we had 8 wins in 2001
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I don’t think Staples was making a point about the win total – just that Richt may have a clue about how to fashion an offense under similar circumstances.
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4 losses in 2001.
-Last second loss to South Carolina, seems to me that this is the one to watch this year as well.
-Lost to #6 UF
-Lost to Auburn, you probably remember trying to run the ball and the clock running out. I dont see Richt making a similar mistake at this point in his career.
-Lost the bowl game to a Big East team. Do we ever beat teams from the Big East in bowls?
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“Do we ever beat teams from the Big East in bowls?”
We’ve had only two opportunities. We lost both. We are 0-2, all-time, against Big East teams.
All-time, we have winning records against every BCS conference except the Big East. We were 1-1 against the Big 8 and 14-9 against the SWC.
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Our bowl record all-time is 26-16-3; however, we are 0-6 in bowl games vs teams that are “currently” in the Big East: 0-2 vs Pitt, 0-2 vs BC, 0-1 vs WVU, 0-1 vs Syracuse. Could have easily won all but of those games…but we didn’t.
http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/sec/georgia/bowl_history.php
Since 1977(when we were routed by Pitt and Tony Dorsett in the Sugar Bowl), we are 17-8-2 in bowl games….and all of those 8 losses were by a TD or less. Some of those losses were incredibly frustrating, but it’s pretty remarkable to be that competitive in 27 straight bowl appearances.
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Agree re bowl competitiveness. I guess I should have explained about conference affiliation in my numbers. I don’t consider the Sugar Bowl loss to Pitt (or, for that matter the 1973 season opener loss to Pitt – funny how we got Dorsett’s first and last college games) as a loss to a Big East team. Same goes for Penn State/Big 10. And the BC loss doesn’t count toward our ACC record. That’s just me, I guess.
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Not to get too optimistic, but I’ve had the same thoughts about the possibility of Mettenberger and/or Murray. If one of those guys gets the nod this year, a run like we had w/ Greene is more than possible, esp w/ the D being shored up.
We’ve been on a downturn recently, but there’s no reason in the world to think we’re not on the verge of a Lefty-like surge…
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Has anyone seen this video of Jerry Jones? I know it’s a non-sequitur, but it does feed into the “Urban Meyer doesn’t prepare his players for the NFL” meme. Anyway, it’s pretty funny, nonetheless.
http://deadspin.com/5516297/slurring-jerry-jones-bad+mouths-bill-parcells-tim-tebow
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As I said in a comment yesterday, CMR has a record of bouncing back from poor seasons. The Dawgs 3 biggest problems were 1) poor coaching on D and 2) poor coaching on kick-offs, and 3) penalties. Playcalling and to’s were problems to a much lesser extent. The coaching change was aimed at turning problems 1 and 2 into strengths. Let’s hope the team has smartened up on the penalties.
It’s not the players. florida, Bama, USC, Oklahoma, OSU or Texas would all like to have Green, Houston, Ealey, King, Boling, Tyson, Boykin, Charles, Walsh, Butler, Ogletree, etc. All the coaches need to do is not screw it up. This team SHOULD win a lot of games, despite the cries of gloom. That’s why I’m really looking forward to this season.
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Eh, outside of AJ Green, I am suspect about our thin WR corp which seems to be lacking a good #2
Add in a OL that struggled mightly most of last year and a brand new QB
It will be a tough year
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Your pessimism is a good reality check…even if I don’t completely agree with your points. I think we’ll do better than last year in many areas, but in my “there’s no football for 3 months!” stupor I don’t want to get too excited and forget reality.
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I wouldn’t say the O-line “struggled mightily.” They were ineffective in their run-blocking for the 1st half of the year, but their pass blocking was good all year.
And while I would agree if you say we are lacking a “proven” #2 receiver, I have to disagree that we don’t have a “good” #2. I remember remarking on Kris Durham’s potential 2 years ago if he would only put the work in, and when I saw him Saturday, after having missed a year due to injury, it looks like he has REALLY put the work in. Not just in working on his game, but in his strength as well. He has added a lot of muscle, no doubt about it. He could be as good as Riley Cooper was for Florida last year. Coach Bobo seems to think that Marlon Brown will play a very important part for the offense this year too. And don’t forget about Troupe.
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One word on our #2 receiver: Wootendaballcarrier
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Vious, King would be a #1 WR on most teams in the SEC. He’s a fantastic #2 and had some huge catches last year. Don’t forget Durham. He looked really good on Saturday and is going to get single coverage all season. Orson Charles is going to be the best TE in the nation for the next 2 years, too.
The OL we saw the last half of the season will be more like what I think we’ll see this season.
If the QB can throw it to the red jerseys, we’ll be pretty good.
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