Just a reminder about something obvious:
THE SEC’S EASIEST HOME SCHEDULE: Georgia
The skinny: The Bulldogs welcome in Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and South Carolina. Uhhh, that is not a daunting home schedule. At all. Only UK among those teams had a winning record last season – and the Wildcats finished 7-6.
Georgia will be favored in all six home games this year, by solid margins. Putting neutral-site Jacksonville to the side, the remaining games are on the road at Notre Dame, which has already been discussed, Tennessee and Vanderbilt, both of which went down to the wire last season and, based on returning talent, should on paper tilt towards Georgia, and Auburn and Georgia Tech, against whom Georgia has enjoyed notable road success over the past several seasons.
If the Dawgs can’t manage at least a 3-2 record in those five games, that’s going to be a major disappointment and open up some serious questioning about Smart’s ability to take the program to the next level.
Get The Picture 
IF Kirbo doesn’t win the east this season…
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then it is the curbo
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Pretty much. Significant injuries notwithstanding, the defense is full of experience, talent, and depth. IF the offense can be ranked nationally in at least the 40’s or 50’s, it would be hard for me to imagine going any worse than 9-3.
By that measure, I would definitely begin to question Smart’s ability to accomplish great things. As of right now, though, I expect a very good season. (I didn’t expect much last year, fwiw)
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I’d say that’s a low bar. Florida’s defense was great and their special teams very good. Their offense – almost as bad as our offense. (So the hidden key isn’t just offensive improvement, but special teams improvement.)
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Senator, your last paragraph pretty much says it all. If we can’t go 10-2 then….well, what you said.
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I suspect UGA will be better than last year, but it’s hard getting too excited about the prospect of going 6-0 at home when you think back to losing to Vandy and damn-near losing to Nichols State between the hedges. I suspect literally every team on this year’s home slate within the SEC will be better than both of those teams were a year ago.
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The narrow escape against Nicholls rankles me as much as anybody, but if that game is the benchmark by which the program’s future performance under Smart will be measured, they might as well go ahead and fire him now to put everyone out of their misery.
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Er, if that game is the benchmark by which future performance is measured, seven-win seasons would be rousing successes.
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Be careful PTC will tell you to let it go.
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The Senators point is spot on…
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I get that. But until I see a change I’m not going into the season expecting one. Call me cautiously pessimistic, if you will.
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If we struggle against Samford like we did against Nicholls, we may be lucky to be 7-5 again. Boom was a dead man walking after losing to Georgia Southern. Another stinker against an FCS team would put Kirby on the ropes.
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…and Georgia Southern is a damn sight better than Nicholls.
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I agree with your premise Senator, that the Dawgs need to be better or the wolves will be howling for Kirby. That said, I do not agree about the “easy” schedule. The Dawgs get their most difficult games away from Athens this year. ND in South Bend is going to be a difficult game and historically the Irish bounce back with a good season after a bad one. UT in KnoxVegas will be a tough out–Neyland Stadium and its “surface” is a one TD advantage right there and need I remind you that Bootch is on a 2 game winning streak against the Dawgs. Vandy beat the Dawgs in Athens last year and should have a better team this season. Auburn, if that new QB pans out, will be better, too. Need I remind anyone that Tech has won 2 out of the last 3 from the Dawgs. The WLOCP–what can I say? Georgia has lost the last 3 in Jax and 20 out of the last 28. It would not surprise me one bit if the Dawgs lost 4 or 5 of the away games. The home schedule: UK is coming in as the most improved team in the East IMHO–and the Dawgs beat them last season with a last second FG. We also barely got past Mizzou last year–a TD pass thrown by the Kid in the last minute of the game–on fourth down no less! Missy State was a very improved team at the end of last year, as was South Carolina. It would not surprise me if the Dawgs dropped 2 of those 4. You guys are griping about 8-5. If the Dawgs do better than 8-5 in ’17 we all should be rejoicing. We’ll be lucky to win enough to get bowl eligible with the coaching staff we have at present.
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Gracious sakes! Mayor is sure swinging for the fences with the off-season happy talk.
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Good to hear another Larry Munson fan.
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Skeptic Dawg, is that you. My oh my, you doth worry too much. Our defense will shut folks down so the offense and FG kicker cannot keep us below nine wins. Eight wins will be panic time, ten should be the break even point with this schedule. And I just watched two replays this week and saw how bad we looked. Lowered my expectations down one game. 10-2 is still expected but 9-3 could be in the picture. I will not celebrate 8 wins with this talent and a weak schedule (I don’t buy the Vandy, SC, and MSU scare tactic at all.)
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Ask and ye shall receive sir! Better late than never as they say. While I did not post under Mayor’s name, I must that I could not have done better myself. And I agree with Mayor 100%. I believe that 8-4/7-5 is where we finish up this season. The schedule is not overly daunting, however, neither is our OL, WR’s, nor QB. Least we forget, our defense could not stop anyone in the redzone last season. As for the kicker you mention, well, let’s see if Blankenship is around at the end of camp. Even then I am not filled with confidence. So, all in all this will be yet another lackluster season.
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Another season like the last puts Kirby exactly where his predecessor was when Kirby was running around Georgia high schools negatively recruiting against his alma mater. For someone who has only proven he can recruit, that would not be a good outlook.
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OK Mac, maybe you are right about Vandy, SC and MSU. I never said the Dawgs would go winless. Other than the actual cupcakes they are the weakest teams UGA plays next year. Where are the other wins coming from?
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You could be correct but I think we do better…BL Kirbo must win the east or the wolves will howl for his removal…
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9 wins will not be “improvement”. We need to at least win thise 10 meaningless games again.
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10 is the realistic goal. The WLOCP and Auburn will likely be tough. I know everyone is down on Auburn but Gus is looking to have options at QB.
In theory Jacksonville should be the game that decides the East with both teams rolling into the game in the top 10 and perfect records.
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In my crystal ball I see a team other than the usual suspects winning the East in ’17. A team that hasn’t won it in a while or maybe never won it at all.
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Also if he goes 10-2 and one of the 2 losses is to GT, there will be hot seat talk.
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A loss to tech and he’s on the way out if he doesn’t win the SEC in ’18.
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9-3, middling bowl, gotcha…
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He’s got fire and doesn’t take the kids swimming once a year…SECC here we come.
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“Killer instinct.”
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Fran the Shark Tarkenton got his man in place. Y’all quit whining. Wins don’t matter. What matters is fire on the 7-5 sideline. Vocals get it done.
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Then we shoulda signed Boom.
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This season comes down to the O-line. As it improves so will UGA record. As a whole that unit has to get mentally tougher and control the line of scrimmage. With the young guys coming in, we may still be a few years away. Maybe it will happen sooner. Let’s hope.
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Beat Florida. Please.
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Thank you.
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Suddenly, demanding excellence is out of fashion? I’m confused.
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