Georgia has 10 of 11 starters returning from last year’s offense. Aaron Murray, of course, returns for his senior season at quarterback. Murray completed 249–of-386 passes last year (64.5%) for 3,893 yards and 36 TDs against 10 interceptions. He’s got a chance to have a special year. He’ll be tested early as Georgia goes to Clemson to open the season (Aug. 31, 8 PM ET/7 CT on ABC), plays South Carolina at home the next week, then gets a break against North Texas at home, before LSU comes to Athens on Sept. 28. Murray looked like he might have the Alabama game won in the SEC championship game when he led a late drive with the Dawgs needing a touchdown to win it. The Dawgs were on the ‘Bama eight yard line with no timeouts and the Tide leading 32-28. Murray motioned to the sideline to spike the ball after a completed pass to the eight, but amazingly Mark Richt and oc Mike Bobo told him to run a play. Murray attempted a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. A Georgia player caught it was tackled and the game was over. The Dawgs took care of business in the Capital One bowl with a 45-31 victory over Nebraska. The ‘Dawgs finished the season 12-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference regular season with their only regular season conference loss coming to South Carolina, a stunning 35-7 defeat.
Georgia also plays @ UT, @ Vandy (not a cakewalk anymore), vs. Florida in Jacksonville, @ Auburn, vs. Kentucky and @ Tech. There’s another non-conferece game against App State, which I don’t know, may be an interesting game. Don’t know a lot about App State, but they’ve taken down a giant before when they beat Michigan at the Big House three or four years ago.
I see the ‘Dawgs in the thick of the SEC title hunt and consequentially in the national title hunt. They’ll have to survive those first three of four games gauntlet, but if they do and come out 4-0, they could be right in the title hunt both in the conference and nationally. Clemson will have quarterback Tajh Boyd and all world wide out Sammie Watkins back, and Dabo has recruited well, so that could be a pretty good tussle for the Dawgs. South Carolina should be very good and LSU will be loaded with the only problem being Les Miles making decisions on the sidelines. But they’ll be covered with talent and could overcome Miles’ questionable decision-makingc during games. But a 4-0 mark is a possibility with SC and LSU at home, and the Dawgs should be better than Clemson. Will know more about SC and Clemson when I watch their spring games. LSU doesn’t televise their spring game, but will get stats from it. Like SC and Georgia to battle it out for the east crown, with Florida in the hunt ,but behind Ga and SC. Will have my predictions this summer during media days.
Todd Gurley will return for his sophomore campaign at running back and he should have a phenomenal season. Gurley ran for 1,385 yards last year, averaging 6.2 yards per carry and scored 17 touchdowns. He’ll be a force in the conference. Keith Marshall ran for 759 yardsand eight touchdowns last year. He was as highly regarded as Gurley coming out of high school, and even more so, so he’ll be a major factor in the offense. Malcolm Mithcell returns at wide receiver as does Michael Bennett, who is returning from a season ending knee injury last year. Mitchell is a game changer who can go the distance any time he catches the ball. He made the play of the season for the Dawgs when he caught a short out pass from Murray late in the Florida game and took it to the house 51 yards for the game clinching TD. He’s fantastic. Bennett is an excellent possession receiver. There are others and tight ends Arthur Lynch and Jay Rome should give Murray some big time targets in the passing game as well. The offensive line returns in tact. The offense is in very good shape.
Defense lost some very key players to t he NFL in linebacker Alex Ogletree (St. Louis Rams), linebacker Jarvis Jones (Pittsburgh Steelers), nose tackle John Jenkins (Saints), safety Bacarri Rambo (Washington Redskins) and safety Shawn Williams (Cincinnati Bengals). Those are some key losses, but there is a ton of young talent. Cornerback Damian Swann should be the leader. Swann, a junior, led the ‘Dawgs with four ints last year. He also had two fumble recoveries. He’s a player. There were 11 early enrollees at spring practice, so that was good for the offense and defense. True freshman safety Tray Mattews is a headhunter. True freshman linebacker Reggie Carter and true frosh cornerback Reggie Wilkerson are other guys to watch. Redshirt freshman nose tackle John Taylor is 6″4″, 335. Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham will have to get the group playing hard and cohesively this summer in preparation for Clemson.
It’s going to be an awesome race in the SEC East and Georgia is once again going to be a major player. If Richt loses a couple of the first four games, he will once again be on the hot seat. Coaches just have to survive in the SEC, and while Richt has done a good job, fans have short fuses on their patience meters, so he’ll need to at leastwin three of the four (North Texas for sure, and he really needs to beat South Carolina after last year’s debacle) to be in good shape vocationally.
But Georgia should be a factor in this conference title race, which, if you win the conference title, almost automatically puts you in the national championship game. They will be loaded on offense and defense should be pretty stout with a lot of young, stellar players.
Tomorrow: A&M