Georgia, You Forgot Something

Georgia has enough talent to win every game they play. Georgia has enough talent to win the SEC Championship. Georgia even has enough talent to win the national title. I truly believe that. The offensive line returns four of five starters. The running back position may be the most talented not only in the SEC, not only in the nation, but in the history of college football. The passing game will not be as big an issue as most people think, because of all the weapons the quarterback (whoever it may be) will have. Malcom Mitchell is back, Justin Scott-Wesley is back, and Isaiah McKenzie is back. Throw in a pair of tight ends (Jeb Blazevich and Jay Rome) who can help in the passing game, and this offense should be just fine.

To make things even better the defense may be just as good. This pass rush looks lethal. The outside linebacking group, headlined by Jordan Jenkins, Leonard Floyd, and Lorenzo Carter, is one of the best in the nation with 15.5 sacks between the three of them. They are big (averaging 242 lbs) and very athletic. Couple that with a secondary that only loses one senior, and this pass defense could be among the best in the SEC. The only possible weakness, and by weakness I mean statistically in the middle of the SEC, is the rush defense. Gone are both middle linebackers and two defensive lineman. But, throw in big Chris Myers (324 lbs), veteran Sterling Bailey, and talented John Atkins, and this defensive line should be able to hold its own. Add Reggie Carter and Tim Kimbrough at the middle linebackers, and the middle of the defense should be good enough, even if it’s not as good as the rest of the defense. Historically, Georgia has not had a great rushing defense ranking, in the top 50 once in the past five years, so even just being solid against the run should be just fine.

So there you go, the Dawgs look stacked. See you in Atlanta. Hold up, I just got a phone call from Alabama. And another from Auburn, and yet another from Tennessee, and now I have Steve Spurrier on the line. Wow, Georgia fans, you forgot something – your schedule. No matter how talented your team is going to be, this season is as tough as ever. Whenever a schedule includes the Alabama Crimson Tide coming to town in a marquee matchup, and whenever you have to travel to Jordan-Hare and face Auburn, and whenever you have to go up and play on Rocky Top, and whenever you play the rivalry game against Florida (who proved just last year that you have to throw the records out before the game) and oh yeah, whenever you have Spurrier, the coach that has beaten you four out of the past five years and would love to go into Athens and ruin your season, suddenly automatic SEC domination doesn’t seem so certain.

Georgia fans, you don’t have Mike Bobo to blame anymore. You don’t have bad defensive play, to blame anymore, and it certainly looks like you have the most talent in the division. But Georgia will not win the East because of those five games I mentioned Georgia has a real good chance of losing three of them, and of course, flying under the radar yet again, Missouri will be coming to Athens in the middle of the season, hungry to show why they have won the East the past two years.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Georgia will win the East, never mind the SEC. And it isn’t a sin to lose to Alabama, because they will have the best defensive line in the country and their offense should be clicking by then. It isn’t a shocker to lose at Auburn, because, quite frankly, as talented as the Dawgs are, Auburn is even more talented. It may not even be too surprising if your luck against Tennessee runs out this year. Tennessee has lost the past two seasons to Georgia but has taken them to the wire both times. This year, Tennessee has enough talent to finally come through with a victory. Unfortunately for Georgia fans, sometimes a very talented team draws the short end of the stick.