I’ve seen a few upset comments in reaction to Andy Staples’ prediction that Georgia’s looking at a 6-6 (3-5) regular season. But the folks responding are missing his qualifier:
… In the SEC, schedule matters. Which is why if my prediction about Georgia’s record is wrong, it probably will be astoundingly wrong. The Bulldogs play only three true road games in conference play (Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt). Their other two games away from Sanford Stadium (Boise State and Georgia Tech) will be in Atlanta, 67 miles from Athens. If Richt does turn things around, the schedule could help the Bulldogs come back in a big way.
At this point, I’m convinced that you can make a reasonable argument for any total of regular season wins from six to eleven for this team. (Florida’s a loss until they prove otherwise to me.)
I’ve been through five preseasons with the blog now. This is the first one I’ve experienced when I honestly have no opinion about what Georgia should do in the regular season.
If nothing else, this year shouldn’t be boring.
Get The Picture 
6-6 with this schedule would be a dumpster fire of a season. Changes would definitely be in order if the season turns out that way.
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He could well be right, but when he forgets that we play Florida in Jacksonville, its hard to believe he’s put much thought into his prediction. I’m more inclined to listen to someone who doesn’t just look at the @’s on a schedule to figure games away from home.
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1 Took the words right out of my mouth.
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Posted previously, but
I think it is hard because up until about 2007, this was an automatic 10-2/9-3 schedule at worst. But now, who knows? Like you said, only 6 wins is still on the table. We lost to Colorado and UCF last year so there simply aren’t many guarantees on the schedule until we tee it up and see how the players gel and coaches coach.
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I have said this before, what worries me is an 0-2 start. Confidence is huge with college kids. All of their effort and hard work during the off season goes down the crapper. What the coaches were preaching is no longer sinking in. If the Dawgs drop their first 2, I can see the season ending up around 6-6, or worse. But on the flip side, a 2-0 start only adds fuel to the players/coaches fire. Wins over Boise and SC could lead to a big year (11-1). I too will believe we beat the Gaytors when I see it.
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couldn’t agree w/ you more… even though I tend to be optimistic, rather than skeptical, dawg.
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Confidence comes and goes pretty quickly. A couple of losses could cause the team to lose confidence but the schedule sets up nicely so that their confidence can be regained quickly.
I remember last year during the FL game looking over at my Dad at half time and saying “I don’t think they have a come-back in them.” Then they come out the second half a completely different team. A confident team. Confidence can flip on a dime it seems with the Dawgs.
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I don’t think a 0-2 start would be as tough to overcome as some folks believe.
Look at last year. Other than the cupcake first game, we went 0-4 to begin the season. That is one full month of losing. All 4 of those losses were to teams that, in years past, we would have considered inferior to UGA. Obviously that hurt players’ and fans’ pride. But we didn’t give up and ended up fighting for and gaining bowl eligibility.
You don’t begin the season, basically, 0-4 then come back to become bowl eligible if you have a team that is going to quit. There was no quit from the players when we were down against Arkansas or MS State even though we lost those games. We were in them and could not finish. We didn’t quit against UF even though we were down early. We fought till the end and came up short.
I’m not worried about our players quitting if we start 0-2. The leaders on the team and the coaches will not let it happen.
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According to SI’s preseason previews from the past 3 seasons, UGA went 29-7. They had Auburn winning the west the year Tubbs got fired. MSU finishing last in 2010. On and On and On…
SI (and most other preseason prognostications) are nothing more than conventional wisdom…which is often self-perpetuating and inaccurate.
Speaking of conventional wisdom…I’d be willing to say that SI is probably the worst prognosticator of college football in existence. Of course, that’s not based on anything more than their pick of Arizona as preseason #1 back in 1994.
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I think we won it all in 2008 as well.
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Ahh the fine print, no good news to be found there…
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“I honestly have no opinion about what Georgia should do in the regular season.”
Senator – this is parsing words but I have a strong opinion about what we SHOULD do based on schedule, talent, facilities, etc. Given everything we SHOULD be no worse than 10-2 in the regular season.
What we WILL do is where I am at a loss given our recent history of underachievement.
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Ya know, CMR has made mistakes. But he’s not a fricken idiot. UGA has some good players and a relatively easy schedule. I expect the Dawgs to be pretty good this year – 9 or 10 wins shouldn’t be tough to achieve.
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When we latch onto any positive crumb like it’s dog feeding time, that lets me know that we all are a shell-shocked and frail fan base. It’s always a guess until games are played and I agree that SI can’t predict crap. Like the Dawgs, SI is a favorite for stories of football endeavor, but if you ever bet their team lines you will go broke.
Agree that this should be a good year to watch development of individuals gelling into a team. The games should be more exciting in that the fan base will not accept another year like this last. Last year may become heavier on our psyches as we proceed forward into this year, but many of us want to forgive in order that we get behind the team early. I think that things will get better as we move into the season and go hoarse from yelling. We hope it’s not from yelling the same epithets we yelled last year.
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We will go 9-3 this year with ALL of the losses coming from the SEC schedule.
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You should be careful about automatically assuming the Florida game is a loss. There are some around here who will question your fanhood and/or your manhood for such an assumption.
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But not my math skills. 😉
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For the record, you have my enthusiastic support for your assumption and your math skills. 🙂
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“Florida’s a loss until they prove otherwise to me.”
AGREED (albeit reluctantly).
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I agree that we have more unanswered questions going into this season than most so we may have more of a range in our predictions, but I’ll be damned if I will join you, and some others, in the French-like attitude of laying down for UF. I don’t understand it, don’t buy it, and am ashamed of all Dawg fans who espouse it. We will Florida just like any other team, when we either have more talent or play close to our potential. Nothing mysterious about this at all.
I only expect us to be underdogs in 2 games, and expect us to win at least one of those. My range for 2011 is 7-5 worst case (all our questions turn out badly), and 11-1 best case, only because we will just lose to someone, even if we address every area of concern….and I really, really, doubt that will be the gators. Much more concerned about BSU, SC, and MSU than UF. I feel 9-3, or 10-2 is most likely result, but a case can be made for better and worse and get no argument from me.
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