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Lost in the shuffle of national title winners from the SEC, the Georgia Bulldogs have been having a tough time getting back to the spotlight recently. General opinion is that the decline started in 2008. This season marked the leg of the SEC Arms Race where UGA fell behind, while Florida and Alabama were stocking up on recruits and molding assistants into mercenary-caliber recruiters. Not only was the defensive scheme too soft to compete with the new offenses, the Dawgs lost SEVENTEEN potential starters for the season, including the best offensive and defensive linemen on the team. Ten of these were defensive players. Even though that could be chalked up to terrible luck, it reflected a deficiency in the Strength and Conditioning program. People have put the blame on Mark Richt called for his contract, but I, for one, was baffled at how former AD Damon Evans saw these symptoms and let these problems pile up.

Thanks to new AD Greg McGarity, the strength-and-conditioning disparities seem to be fixed, just in time. Coach Todd Grantham has put together a defense that is ten times more opportunistic than in years past, in only one year. After a disappointing 6-7 campaign, this season will be Coach Richt’s last stand. A football hotbed just recently getting its deserved recognition on the national scene, competition has converged on the state to recruit, and it took opposing SEC coaches no time to question the job security of the head man at the main in-state school. Despite the negative recruiting, Georgia clamped down on the recruiting trail and pulled out one of their deepest and most talented classes yet, full of players who will hold starting spots by the end of the season. Can this momentum translate to a winning season?

UGA would be a national title favorite if AJ Green came back for his senior season, but the Dawgs have a lot of holes to fill in his absence. UGA’s most proven receiving threat is tight end Orson Charles, who wasn’t targeted as much as many felt he should have been last year, but made the most of his receptions, grabbing 26 passes for 422 yards and two touchdowns. Junior flanker Tavarres King has reliable hands and is a solid deep threat, but is he consistent enough? His back-up is the shifty Rantavious Wooten, who missed time due to injury last year. On the other side, former five-star junior Marlon Brown hopes to finally step out of the shadows and make an impact. If neither of them steps up, look for true freshmen Malcolm Mitchell, Christian Conley, or Justin Scott-Wesley to get early playing time.

Since Knowshon Moreno entered the Draft, Georgia’s running game just hasn’t been the same. This can be attributed to injuries and coaching on the offensive line. Former coach Stacy Searles has left for the same job at University of Texas, and new coach Will Friend inherits a shaky group. Senior Cordy Glenn has returned, and will hold down the left tackle spot, next to sophomore Kenarious Gates and senior center Ben Jones. After that, the rotation gets sketchy. Projected starters Chris Burnette and Justin Anderson are both talented, but have been hampered by injuries in the past few years, as have backup Austin Long. Redshirt freshman Brent Benedict was projected to push for playing time, but has left the program.

The rushing attack looked like a team strength at the end of 2009, but 2010 served as a wake-up call for the Dawgs, even with two experienced backs in Caleb King and Washaun Ealey, they finished 10^th in the SEC in rushing. Making matters worse, Ealey has transferred, and today, King was ruled academically ineligible for the season. The hopes and dreams of the Georgia faithful have now been placed squarely on the shoulders of Murray and all-world RB recruit Isaiah Crowell. Crowell committed to UGA on Signing Day after a multi-year battle with Alabama and the rest of the NCAA’s powerhouse programs. It’s easy to see why everyone wanted his commitment; his highlight tape is easily one of the most impressive of the past few years. Along with redshirt freshman Ken Malcome, Crowell will hope the offensive line and newly-converted fullback Bruce Figgins (6’4, 272) can open holes.

With a year of game experience under his belt, Aaron Murray is the best QB in the SEC, and he played four games without Green due to suspension last year. This will be the first time since 2008 that the Dawgs have a returning starter at QB, and he may end up as the most prolific to ever come through Athens. In his freshman season, he threw for more yards than SEC Champion David Greene and #1 pick Matthew Stafford. Murray threw for 3,049 yards, 24 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions. He was the main question mark for the Dawgs’ offense, but turned out to be the strongest. He played the game like he’d been there for most of the year, yet disappointed in two crucial games: In the rivalry game with Florida, Murray threw a pick on the first play from scrimmage, one of three, including the one that all but sealed the game for the Gators in overtime. In the bowl game against UCF, he threw two interceptions and the Dawgs failed to reach the endzone in a 10-6 loss. Four of UGA’s seven losses came by seven points or less, one major reason was the Dawgs’ struggling third down defense.

Leading sack man Justin Houston is gone from his outside linebacker spot, as well as leading tackler Akeem Dent, but the Dawgs bring back a lot of quality underclassmen with another year under their belts. Starting inside linebacker Christian Robinson will be one of the team’s leaders on defense, along with USC transfer Jarvis Jones, former who recovered from a neck injury while taking a redshirt last year. Robinson is the more technically sound of the duo. Jones will step into the spot Houston left. Coaches and fans alike are excited about his potential; he was active during the spring game, showing awareness in the passing game that Houston lacked. Jones earned a reputation as a fierce hitter in his Carver High School days. Two years later, with guidance from Ken Norton, Jr. at Southern Cal and Grantham, there’s good reason for the Dawgs to be excited.

The other OLB spot is held by freak of nature Cornelius Washington. Washington is a former region champ in the 100-meter dash who now stands 6’4, 270. For all his potential, however, if Washington can’t get things going, he’ll get benched in a hurry. The Dawgs aren’t extremely experienced at the OLB spot, but there’s tons of talent there. True freshman Ray Drew was ranked by Rivals as the 9^th best player in the country; he has enough strength and speed to hold down his spot. Not to mention sophomore T.J. Stripling, who went down for the year with a torn patellar tendon in the Colorado game. If he’s recovered fully, he could be a huge asset to the pass rush; his burst off the line is tremendous. The other inside linebacker spot is held by Alec Ogletree, one of Georgia’s most feared hitters since Carolina Panther (and fellow Randolph-Clay High School alumnus) Thomas Davis graduated. Ogletree finished his true freshman season starting at safety, but was moved to linebacker. Most felt he would end up there eventually. Due to his physically imposing frame (currently at 6’3, 240), it’s a great move putting him closer to the line of scrimmage.

The defensive line has made the most drastic transformation since last season, DeAngelo Tyson has finally been able to switch from nose to his rightful place at defensive end, due to the development of redshirt sophomore Kwame Geathers and the signing of gargantuan JUCO nose tackle Johnathan Jenkins. Geathers and Jenkins are over 350 pounds, and could line up next to each other in the nickel and goal line package. The other end spot is held by Abry Jones, who continues to flourish in the transition to the 3-4 defense. The front seven should go a long way in improving the Dawgs’ third down defense, and will also make the secondary’s job a ton easier. The group is led by CB Brandon Boykin, who also holds the UGA career kickoff return yardage record, adding four returns for touchdowns. The other corner spot will be held by Sanders Commings, a former MLB draft pick with the size (6’2, 217) to play safety or cornerback. The secondary will be a huge mix of youth and experience, the Dawgs signed five talented defensive backs in 2011. Shawn Williams and Bacarri Rambo start at safety, but look for a freshman to ease into the free safety spot by the end of the year.

The Dawgs have a great shot at bouncing back this year; the defense will look like an entirely new team with the new centerpieces Jenkins and Geathers. The special teams unit is made up of Ray Guy and Lou Groza-award finalists Drew Butler and Blair Walsh. Add return threat Boykin, and this Bulldog team is one of the most complete in a while. They’ll be thrown into the spotlight immediately, in the Chik-Fil-A Kick-off classic against Boise State in Atlanta. Then right afterwards, they host Eastern favorite South Carolina between the Hedges. After hosting Coastal Carolina, they jump back into the conference schedule with a trip to Oxford to face Ole Miss and a home game against Dan Mullen and Mississippi State. After a Rocky Top road trip, with back-to-back games against Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Dawgs get an absolutely vital bye week before the Florida game. The Dawgs finish their season with home games against New Mexico State, Auburn, Kentucky, and a visit to Georgia Tech.

Since about March, I felt that UGA would take the East title this year. After losing both running backs and depth on the offensive line, my confidence has taken a huge blow. We’ve seen teams rely on their defense to win big before. The Dawg defense should be downright nasty this year, but they will need to score big to keep up with Boise and South Carolina. The way I see it, if Georgia finds a way to stay undefeated by the time they play Vanderbilt, they have just as much of a chance to win the SEC as any Western Division team. I see no more than 3 losses in this team’s future, and even then, there’s a large possibility that the Dawgs could win the East with that record. If the running game is productive enough, Murray is talented enough to spread the ball around and put up points. Barring injury, the defense will be a Top 25 unit. I think this team is young, at least one year away from the national title hunt. But a few freshman-like errors could get Mark Richt fired, which would leave the program in disarray for at least two years.

Written by: Timothy Threadcraft

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