Aaron Murray should be primed for a stellar year as a redshirt junior qb. Murray completed 238-of-403 passes (59%) for 3,149 yards, 35 TDs and 14 ints. Murray is explosive and very good, but he can throw an interception at times, too. Murray needs to be consistent for the Bulldogs to excel this year. Isaiah Crowell is back at tailback after running for 901 yards last year. He’s a bit of a head case, can get in trouble and get suspended like several of Richt’s players do, but he can be a pretty explosive back. Liked what I saw out of Richard Samuel at running back. Ken Malcome looks like a pretty good back. Incoming freshman Keith Marshall was the number one running back in the country by Rivals in the 2012 class, so he should be a factor. Offensive line looks pretty solid. Wide receiver position is led by senior Tavarres King, who caught 47 passes for 705 yards and eight TDs last year. Malcolm Mitchell is also back. He caught 45 passes for 665 yards and four TDs. Don’t think Mitchell is suspended. Believe he was hurt in spring game. Kind of hard to keep up with Georgia’s suspensions.
On defense, really like nose guard Kwame Geathers. Looks like he could be a force. Ramik Wilson, a linebacker, had seven tackles, two for loss, and an interception that he returned 19 yards in the spring game. Bacarri Rambo is an excellent safety, but he’s going to be suspended for the first four games of the season. Linebacker Alex Ogletree is another stellar guy, but he’s suspended for at least two games in 2012 maybe more.

Georgia looks like a very good team; they just need to stay out of trouble. They’re at Missouri, at South Carolina, at Kentucky and at Auburn. They play Vandy, Tennessee, and Ole Miss at home. Florida is in Jacksonville. Ga. Tech game in Athens. Buffalo, Florida Atlantic and Georgia Southern are at home. Georgia Southern is a legitimate team, at least they were last year, ask Alabama. So the ‘Dawgs better be ready to play in that game.

Pretty manageable schedule. Don’t play Alabama, Arkansas or LSU. Things set up pretty nicely. South Carolina game (10/6) is big. There are tough games in there, don’t get me wrong, but if the ‘Dawgs can stay healthy, Murray especially, and get back to full strength from suspensions and stay out of trouble, it could be a pretty special season for them. Don’t think they can beat the West champion, but they can certainly win the East if they can get by South Carolina.

(Aaron Murray primed for big season.)

The front seven for LSU on defense is very imposing led by defensive end Sam Montgomery. Miles was boasting about his front seven in his post-spring game press conference. Likes his secondary a lot, too. Secondary outstanding with the talented Tyrann Mathieu back at corner and safety Eric Reed also back. Ronald Martin had a pick in the game from the dbackfield. Could be a name to watch this year.
Georgia transfer Zach Mettenberger has taken over at quarterback. He had a solid spring game completing 14-of-25 for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He threw a 49-yard TD pass to wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He also threw an 18-yard TD pass to senior wideout Russell Shephard. Another weapon on the outside is Jarvis Landry, who caught six passes for 120 yards, including a 54-yarder from Mettenberger, which wasn’t a TD, but led the team to a score.

Running back is loaded with Alfred Blue, who ran for 73 yards on nine carries in the spring game, the powerful Kenny Hilliard, who ran for 40 on eight carries, and the tough Spencer Ware, who ran for 51 yards on eight carries. Steven Rivers will backup Mettenberger. He was six-for-17 for 75 yards and an int.

Drew Alleman is back to place kick. He was two-for-three with makes from 47 and 44 yards. Brad Wing is back to punt. Kicking game looks solid. Mathieu will return punts and we all know how lethal he can be returning punts.

LSU is on a mission this year to redeem themselves from last year’s 21-0 loss to ‘Bama in the BCS National Championship game. They start out with North Texas, Washington and Idaho at home, then go to Auburn, which will be a terrific matchup-AU looks good, then at home vs Towson (didn’t even know they had a football team), then at Florida, at home against South Carolina, at Texas A&M, ‘Bama, State and Ole Miss at home, then at Arkansas to end the season. No wonder they scheduled pretty much a powder puff non-conference schedule; the SEC games are brutal. At AU, Florida, A&M, and Arkansas are major challenges. Home games with ‘Bama and South Carolina very difficult. Think they’ll beat Florida, A&M, and South Carolina and could edge out Auburn. ‘Bama and Arkansas will be difficult, though they could win those game; they have the talent, if they can stay healthy at key positions, though they have more quality depth than most teams in the country. Getting out of that SEC schedule with 11-12 wins would be terrific for the Bengal Tigers. They said last year that this was the year they were really going to shine, even though last year was pretty outstanding until the last game. They should be outstanding this year; it’s just going to be a difficult schedule. They could go 11-2, or, if they get injured at key positions, and finish 9-4. It never is easy for any team in the SEC. The talent is certainly there at LSU to make a run, but the schedule is pretty precarious. Mettenberger is going to have to be good, that’s for sure. He is highly talented, but was a head case at Georgia, and got kicked off the team for an assault charge two years ago. We’ll see how he responds this season.

(The Honey Badger is ready to make another title run.)