Massaquoi and Owens = Leaders

Welcome to Mo's (Image: Hipple)
Richt took two players with him to SEC Media Days in Birmingham -- Mohamed Massaquoi and Jeff Owens. Below are articles profiling their roles with the team in 2008 and/or including quotes from them about the team.

-- Georgia Counts on Massaquoi's Leadership - ABH
-- Embracing the expectations - Chattanooga Free Press
-- The Hype: Blessing and Curse - The State
-- Mo Mass on Knowshon - ESPN
-- Jeff Owens Video Interview - DawgPost.com
-- Massaquoi Video Interview - DawgPost.com
-- Jeff Owens on Prince Miller - GoUpState.com
-- Massaquoi on the UT Loss - Charleston.net

The kids represented themselves well.

PWD

Richt: Coping with Expectations for 2008

The Georgia Bulldogs are currently the pick of the litter when it comes to media hype. Particularly at SEC media days. Some highlights from articles around the country:

Dennis Dodd (Sportsline): Can UGA Hang on to #1
Part of the reason Georgia could start at No. 1, somewhere, is curb appeal. The pollsters who ignored them in December, love that kind of stuff when it comes to filling out their preseason ballots. Georgia has won its past seven. That's the country's second-longest winning streak. There are 17 returning starters, a studly defensive backfield, a Heisman favorite (Knowshon Moreno) and a blossoming quarterback (Stafford).

AP: Coping with the Buzz
"Here's our deal: We know everybody on our schedule can beat us," Richt said. "We know everybody in our division can and has beaten us. "Everybody we play, they all know how to win. We don't sit there and say we got this one and that one and boy that will be a tough one. We know they're all going to be tough. When we win games, I feel relief. I know every victory's a tough one."

Birmingham News: The Team to Beat
"Our goal is to focus on the moment, not way down the road," said Richt, adding that talking non-stop about the BCS title can be distracting because "it's too long to be chewing on that bone."

Rivals.com: Avoiding the Look Ahead
"There have been people saying, 'Mark Richt, he's a true gentleman of the game. He never gets excited. He's just kind of calm and stoic,' " Richt said. "My family members are just texting me saying, 'We know better.' Not that I'm not a gentleman. But I get riled up. I get fired up. "When I compete myself, whether it's racquetball or volleyball, whatever it might be, cards, my family knows I want to win. I'll do a little trash-talking. I'll do whatever I've got to do to get things riled up."

Dealing with Expectations: Independent Mail (SC)
“We can’t worry about what’s going to happen in January. We’re still in July. It’s a long road ahead,” defensive tackle Jeff Owens said Thursday during the annual Southeastern Conference preseason media days event. “We can’t listen to all the hype. We don’t want to end up like Michigan last season.”

See Also:

-- Again and Again. Richt gets the question - ABH
-- The team to beat - DawgPost.com
-- 9 minutes of video with Richt - DawgPost.com
-- Richt holds court - UGAsports.com

PWD

Getting to know Central Michigan

Image: Georgiadogs.com
Central Michigan might have raised a few Bulldog eyebrows because of their bowl performance against Purdue (51-48 loss). The offense, which averaged 34.8 points per game last season, is particularly intriguing because quarterback Dan LeFevour returns as one of only two players in NCAA history to throw for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.

Hmmm...returning 16 starters and a ton of offensive firepower....could this be a dangerous team coming into Athens?

A look closer reveals that they averaged only 22.75 points per game against BCS teams in four match-ups (Kansas, Clemson and Purdue...twice). Most of those points came against a Purdue squad that was ranked 50th-75th nationally in every major defensive category of interest.

As Sportsline.com's CMU preview shows, these guys have a defense that teeters around keystone cops territory. Last year, they gave up 303.5 yards passing per game (118th in nation), 460 total yards per game (109th in the nation), and 36.93 points per game (111th in nation). They lost three key performers from a defense that struggled, and their returning defensive line averages 246.5 pounds.

Points Allowed Defensively Last Season:

vs. Kansas: 52 points
vs. Purdue (regular season): 45 points
vs. North Dakota State: 44 points
vs. Ball State: 38 points
vs. Clemson: 70 points
vs. Kent State: 32 points
vs. Eastern Michigan: 48 points
vs. Akron: 32 points

Or put it another way...we have absolutely no idea who is going to start along the offensive line for Georgia against CMU. Trinton Sturdivant, Justin Anderson and Clint Boling all look at risk for this game, but it may not matter.

This is the perfect defense to face if you are breaking in young wide receivers and a patchwork offensive line. Particularly against a pass rush that finished 94th in the nation in sacks last year.

Are you at all nervous?

See Also:

-- Previewing CMU - The Quad (NY Times)
-- CMU All Star Candidates - CMU Athletics
-- About CMU: Catch a Predator Style - HeyJennySlater
-- Scouting CMU - CFN
-- Central Michigan vs. Georgia Bulldogs Tickets - Stubhub

PWD

What I Want to See: South Carolina

Image: Georgiadogs.com (2005 UGA vs. SC)

Paul's got some preseason looks at our 2008 opponents upcoming, but I couldn't wait any longer to roll one out myself. Originally, I was going to do an in-depth analysis of each team on the schedule, but I decided to provide a few things I'm looking for in each game instead. I have a couple of reasons for this.

First, most of you are hardcore Dawg fans who have already bought several of the preseason magazines because the Dawgs are ranked No. 1 in many of them. Those magazines have all sorts of information about every team, but don't necessarily analyze teams from a Georgia perspective. Second, there are people who do a far better job of team analysis than I can do. What I will provide is a set of things I look forward to about each game, either because they signal good things for Georgia or they are things we as Dawg fans enjoy.

I don't mean to insult Georgia Southern or Central Michigan, but I'm starting with Carolina. The Central Michigan game is important if only because it provides a trial run for offenses we will see later in the season.

If any of you watched the Motor City Bowl last year, you saw Dan LeFevour running the Chippewas spread offense. LeFevour is Tebow-light and the only player other than Vince Young to finish a season with 3,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. Facing him early will help in Jacksonville and presummably against Auburn's new Tony Franklin spread.

But, the real first game of the year is Carolina in Columbia. Here's what I want to see:

#1 - 17 points or more. Since 1997, South Carolina has scored more than 16 points once in the series. That was in 2000 when Quincy gave them five picks (and even with five picks, they scored 21). In the three losses during that period, UGA has scored a single touchdown. I foresee the same Gamecock offense as we've always faced, lots of cock, but not much fire. The Dawgs need 17 points or more, from a historical perspective, to get out of Columbia with a win.

Those points won't be easy. Phil Steele has a high regard for Ellis Johnson's group and predicts that they will be greatly improved. I've even heard Steele saying that Carolina shut Georgia down last year, which is true, so this year should be even more of a challenge for the Dawgs against essentially the same personnel in Columbia. But, I disagree. Even if you take for granted that Johnson, a fine DC, will have his troops in top form under a new scheme, I think the UGA offense will be much better than what SC faced in Athens last year.

Knowshon had a big game behind what was at the time a green offensive line. Stafford was good enough to win, but his receivers kept dropping balls. Mike Moore and Tony Wilson dropped key passes that could have turned the game's momentum to the Dawgs. You didn't see much of those two guys after that game and I don't recall many drops by wide receivers in the second half of last year.

Bottom line: the Cocks will have a good defense just like last year's group, it's just that the Georgia offense will be better.

#2 - A couple of catches from A.J. Green. Everybody's heard the whispers from the practice fields. Supposedly, Green is all that he was cracked up to be based on summer workouts. Will it carry over to fall camp when the pads go on? If A.J. gets playing time in the Carolina game, gets open, and catches a couple of balls, that means the coaches, the team, and Stafford are confident in him, even as a true freshman. It also means he'll have beaten out some upperclassmen for PT. If Green, or any other receiver, can turn into a legit threat to take pressure off MoMass, we should be tough to stop. A big game here for the South Carolina native will go along way toward validating the hype and scaring some future defensive coordinators.

#3 - A pass rush. Carolina's offensive line should be solid. They have everyone back from last year except their center. Last year's line gave up two sacks to a UGA defensive line that still lacked the cohesive flash of force and speed that almost killed Colt Brennan. This year, the prospective pass rush looks like last year, a solid group of returning tackles with two question marks on the ends. If we can rush off the ends in this game and apply pressure, I'll have all my questions about the defense answered.

#4 - Lots of visor tossing.

So there's what I'm looking for. How about you?

Quinton

Conference Media Days Schedule

The ACC media days started today, and the SEC's start on Wednesday.

At the SEC event, each team takes its coach and two players to their press conference. Richt will bring Massaquoi and Jeff Owens to represent the Dawgs on Thursday morning at 8:40 am. I think it's a classy move by Richt to stick with seniors instead of the flashy pick of taking Stafford (Jr.) or Moreno (So.).

The most interesting attendee to me is Michael Oher from Ole Miss. After the hype surrounding the book The Blind Side, it'll be interesting to see how he handles the spotlight and media questions on stage.

Here's a look at the full national conference by conference schedule sorted by start date.

BCS Conferences

Atlantic Coast - July 20-22, Ritz Carlton Lodge, Greensboro, Ga.
Big XII - July 21-23, Downtown Marriott, Kansas City
Southeastern - July 23-25, The Wynfrey Hotel, Hoover, Ala.
Big Ten - July 24-25, Hyatt Regency, Chicago
Pac-10 - July 24, Los Angeles Airport Hilton, Los Angeles
Big East - July 28-29, Hotel Viking, Newport, R.I.

Mid-Majors

Conference USA - July 20, Peabody Hotel, Memphis
Mountain West - July 21-22, Green Valley Ranch Resort, Las Vegas
Sun Belt - July 21-22, Hilton St. Charles, New Orleans
Western Athletic - July 22-24, Hilton Airport, Salt Lake City
Mid-American - July 28-29, Ford Field, Detroit

One thing that jumps off the page at me...the Pac-10 has so little media interest that they only devote one day to the event, and they host it at the LA Airport Hilton. They want people to be able to get in, and get the hell out of there.

PWD

(ht - NCAAFootball.com)

Improving Matt Stafford?

Image: Hipple
Some of our opponents and some media pundits continually bring up Matthew Stafford's lack of statistical prowess. You've heard it all, he's wildly inaccurate, prone to throw interceptions and/or grossly overrated.

I don't think any of those characterizations are completely fair.

I'm pretty sure that the wild eyed freshman from 2006 that threw 8 INTs over a three game span isn't going to start any games for UGA in 2008. So I question the idea that he's throwing INTs all over the place. In fact, Stafford only threw 10 interceptions in 2006 while the Heisman Winner threw 6. Across a 13 game schedule, that's only 0.31 more interceptions per game than TEH OMG BEST QB EVAH!!1!1!!111!1! (Note: Tebow only threw two more passes last year than Stafford so the comparison holds up.)

This year, Coach Richt set a goal for Stafford to complete 62% of his passes. Last year, he completed 55.7% of his passes. Richt has coached two Heisman winning QBs and the winningest quarterback college football history. If he says that 62% is the right number for Stafford, then who am I or Matt Hayes/Dennis Dodd/Etc to argue? Stafford is only 1.7 completions per game away from that goal. Again, is that really so far off?

As for being overrated....as a starter he's 17-4 with a 7-2 record against ranked opponents, and he's projected as a Top 5 pick in the upcoming draft. If that's overrated, I'm sure he'll take it.



The Nerd Stat Debate:
Another area where Stafford takes nitpicks is his "passing efficiency rating." First let me say that if you don't know the formula for this metric off the top of your head, then how big of a factor can it really be in a QB's success? That said, here is the formula for passing efficiency in college football (nerd time):

C + Y + T + I = Rating
C = (Completions / Attempts) * 100
Y = (Yards / Attempts) * 8.4
T = (TDs / Attempts) * 330
I = (INTs / Attempts) * (-200)

Last year Stafford's, Passer Rating was a rather pedestrian 128.9, which was good enough for 56th nationally and 4th in the SEC. Although, it was better than the #1 overall NFL draft Matt Ryan (127.04).

I ran some "what if" numbers for 2008, and this is what Stafford's Passer Rating looks like with only the modest improvements:

• Percentage: Completing Richt's recommended 62% of passes is a reasonable goal considering it's only 1.7 more completions per game. Assuming the same number of attempts and the same yards per attempt, means Stafford will throw for 2809 yards instead of the 2,523 from last year. The improvement in yards and percentage would increase his passer rating from 128.9 to 143.9. That rating would've been good enough for 3rd in the SEC and 21st nationally in 2007. It's also higher than 4 of the first 5 Div I-A QBs drafted in 2008.
  
  
• TDs: Assuming a modest improvement of 2.0 TDs per game from his 1.5 TDs per game during the regular season, and Stafford would get 26 TDs per game next year. That combined with the percentage improvement would increase his rating to 148.8. This rating would be good enough for 2nd in the SEC this year. Getting to 26 TDs is probably a stretch given that the Bulldogs prefer to run it in. Last year, Georgia had 32 rushing TDs on the year. Two of the three QBs rated above Stafford in the SEC last year were on teams that had 12 or fewer rushing TDs on the season.
  
  
• Interceptions: Every QB throws picks. Last year Stafford threw three massive brain farts INTs. The pick 6 against the Gators, a scrambling INT into triple coverage against Bama and a scrambling INT against Auburn where he was baited into throwing into bracketed coverage. I seriously doubt that his INT total drops much this coming season. He's a gun slinger, and even if he did drop the total it doesn't impact the rating that much.

Bottom line don't hate on Stafford. His stats are either (A) Better than most folks think or (B) easily improved given modest growth in maturity and experience.

Or said wildly differently, he should have the stats and hype to go pro after this season if he wants to.

See Also
-- Matthew Stafford Song - DawgSports

PWD

Predictions and Gambling Odds

A couple of prediction related articles and links for you to start your morning:

• Consolidated Pre-season rankings - SECSports.com looks at the early polls from Lindys, Athlons, Phil Steele, The Sporting News and Blue Ribbon magazine. They have Georgia tied for third. I think that's about where we'll start the year. Maybe 4th. We'll get our chances to impress voters. No worries there.
  
  
• Uga VII - He won't debut at Picture Day. They're going to hold off until Game 1. I like the move.
  
  
• Barnhart Interviews the Man of Steele - Tony talks with Phil Steele about the Georgia Bulldogs, and he looks at the pre-season rags. It's good to have Tony back from vacation.
  
  
• Vegas Baby! - The odds on a Georgia Bulldog National title are currently 8 to 1 per this site. That's down from 10 to 1 a few weeks ago. Florida at 5 to 1 is a very, very bad wager. If I were a cheese head strolling through Vegas, Wisconsin at 30 to 1 wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to drop $20 on. Check out the Badger schedule some time. Very manageable.
  
  
• Urban Meyer's Recruiting - If pointing and staring aren't working, you could always lie and sneak. The Bleacher Report drops a heavy handed rumor mongering diatribe on Meyer. It's almost unreasonably harsh, but I did enjoy reading every word of it.
  
  
• Losing great beat writers - David Ching is leaving the UGA beat in Columbus to cover Auburn. It's part of a reorganization within his parent company. Unfortunately, Josh Kendall is also leaving the UGA beat. This will be the first year that I can remember that the AJC (Strickland left), Macon and Columbus papers were all breaking in new guys at once. Cross your fingers. It's an awfully big season to have a bunch of new guys running into each other over there.
  

That's all for now. I'll try and upload some new NCAA 2009 video game covers in the morning. Right now, the photo uploader is shot to hell.

PWD

(ht - DawgRun.com for most of these links. They were on fire tonight)

Bradley's 10 Reasons Dawgs Win it All

Mark Bradley has written his 10 reasons UGA will win the national title. If it doesn't happen, he'll just run the article again next year and say "I didn't say what year they would win."

That aside, with the exception of #10 (Uga VI's death) which is intentionally tongue in cheek, and #6 (Stafford will throw better by throwing less) it's actually a good list.

(Image: Hipple)

PWD

The Importance of Blair Walsh

Many sites have already commented on Blair Walsh being named #1 kicker on the depth chart per-Richt. Given that the coaches haven't officially seen the kid practice yet, it's a very unusual move by the staff.

How critical is it that this kid have a tremendous first year? The following games under Richt were decided by three points or less or required several key field goals to win:

• 2001 - UT and GT (Billy hit 6 in the game)
  
• 2002 - Clemson, Bama and Auburn
  
• 2003 - LSU (away...Billy missed 3) and UAB
  
• 2004 - SC, UT (Bailey missed a FG early. If he makes it, UGA can kick a FG to win on the last play instead of the ill fated pass to Pope with 1 second left), and Wisconsin
  
• 2005 - SC, ARK, UF (we missed 2 FGs and lost by 4 points)
  
• 2006 - Vandy (miss a FG and lose by 2), MSU and UK (miss 2 FGs and lose by 4) and GT (a missed FG almost killed us)
  
• 2007 - Alabama, Vandy

It's unavoidable. Two or three games next year are coming down to the leg of a Freshman kicker. Kinda scary.

PWD

SMQ's Georgia Tech Preview

Sunday Morning Quarterback takes a look at Georgia Tech's opportunity in 2008. The article does a good job of facilitating a discussion related to what sort of expectations the Georgia Tech fans (sic) should have for the program.

(Image: Hipple)

Much of their optimism seems to built on the idea Johnson has won everywhere he's been. And that Navy had great success in Div I with his triple option. However, SMQ correctly points out that Johnson was completely lacking in success against quality BCS teams.

Number of Midshipmen victories since 2002 over teams that finished with a winning record: five, against Air Force (2003, 2007), New Mexico (2004), East Carolina (2006) and Colorado State (2005), if you’re willing count the 6-6 Rams. In six years under Johnson, the Middies’ best performance was probably against Boston College in the ‘06 Car Care Bowl, which they lost only because a late pitch in the rain squirted free and set up the winning field goal for BC. None of Navy’s actual BCS conference victims came anywhere near a winning record. (emphasis added)

Where will Tech finish this year? I think a seven win season would be a tremendous accomplishment given the mass defections, recruiting woes and normal learning curve for a triple option team.

2008 Schedule
Aug. 28 (Thur.)      JACKSONVILLE STATE
Sept. 6                   at Boston College
Sept. 13                 at Virginia Tech
Sept. 20                 MISSISSIPPI STATE
Sept. 27                 Open
Oct. 4                    DUKE (Family Weekend)
Oct. 11                  GARDNER-WEBB
Oct. 18                  at Clemson
Oct. 25                  VIRGINIA (Homecoming)
Nov. 1                    FLORIDA STATE
Nov. 8                    at North Carolina
Nov. 15                  Open
Nov. 20 (Thur.)       MIAMI
Nov. 29                  at Georgia

I see two three sure fire wins on the schedule (JSU, GW and Duke). The rest of the games look like toss up or much worse.

However, the must win games on the schedule that will decide whether or not his team is going bowling are:

• at Boston College - Tech badly needs to win this game. A loss here and 1-2 or 1-3 start becomes very likely. It will be extremely difficult for Tech to go bowling without a win against BC.
  
  
• vs. Mississippi State - Jokes about whiting out Croom aside, this is a big one. Win this and they have a chance to be 4-2 or better heading into their road game against Clemson. Sweeping BC and MSU would give the Jackets a tremendous shot at extending their meaningless bowl streak. Although a trip to the Congressional Bowl vs. Navy (where they would ideally lose) could make for great comedy). Lose to both MSU and BC, and the Duke and G-Webb games will be some of the most depressing BCS home games in America.
  
  
• at UNC -- A loss could mean that Butch Davis is rebuilding a much more broken down program at a faster clip than Johnson who inherited a relatively stable situation only one year removed from the ACC title game.

On the other hand, the program defining games for Johnson look to be:

• FSU or Miami - Both of these programs are in transition. If Josh Nesbitt (Tech's fumble prone but race car fast QB) has figured out the triple option, either of these games are winnable. Tech currently is riding a shocking three game winning streak against the Canes. A win vs. either team would give Tech fans reason to hope for better things in '09.

I didn't list the Georgia game as a potential program defining game. They are already defined by losing to us every year. What would another "L" really change? And beating Clemson hasn't changed much of anything for Tech historically. So I left that off the list as well. Although, it would certainly be a big win if it were to happen.

So what are your thoughts? What do you expect from the NATS?

PWD

Barnhart Gets this "blogging" thing

I've said many times that I think Tony Barnhart is the #1 reason to subscribe to the Atlanta Journal. Unfortunately for the AJC, I don't think there is a #2 reason. Don't get me wrong, I really like Chip Towers' stuff. However, it's all free on the cyberwebs...so really...paying for the hard copy gets me what? Isn't buying a hard copy newspaper just an arbitrage game centered around coupon clipping?

But I wildly digress.

Barnhart gets the blogging thing. He's all about quick hitters that generate discussion and keep the reader coming back for more. He's especially good at the "5 Things" format. Today's edition gives us an update on the UGA vs. ASU Ticket situation and the news of College Game Day coming to Atlanta for the Clemson vs. Bama game at the Dome.

PWD

DawgPost Roundtable from May 13th

Dean Legge, Josh Kendall and Quentin Grant talk about Georgia football. From DawgPost.com. They start things off with a discussion of special teams followed by a discussion of QBs in the Richt era.



PWD

SMQ: "The Contenders: Georgia"

Sunday Morning Quarterback (SMQ) has penned an exceptional preview of the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs. It's a fair and balanced look at a Georgia team which appears more and more likely to open the season as a consensus #1 ranking.

It's a must read.

See Also:
-- Examined by the Best - DawgSports

PWD

DawgPost.com Roundtable for April 28th

Dean Legge, Josh Kendall and Quentin Grant talk about Georgia football. From DawgPost.com. In particular, they talk about T. King, AJ Green and Ben Jones, and the importance of recruiting in-state or out of state recruits.



PWD

Keeping up with the Enemy Spring Updates II

Never get enough Black Out pics (image: Hipple)
A look around at how Spring Practice is fairing for our competition next season:

• GSU - Southern had to shorten their Spring game due to weather. Defense predictably dominated. Hatcher is talking national title.
  
  
• Central Michigan - CMU's spring game is the 19th.
  
  
• South Carolina - Spurrier is eager to right the ship in Columbia, and the Charleston paper thinks that Spurrier hasn't lost his marbles. Oh...and Corso thinks the Coots will win the East. As. If.
  
  
• Arizona State - ASU continues to add wrinkles to keep their QB off the ground. Last year, the Devils gave up 55 sacks. As a point of comparison, I think Notre Dame only allowed 58 sacks, and the Irish had the worst major conference OL in the past 500 years. At the same time, they are looking for stability at cornerback.
  
  
• Alabama - Finebaum says Bama is on the way back. Maybe that's because the Tight Ends might get the ball more this year? Nah. It's gotta be Saban's hair. Get the full recap.
  
  
• Tennessee - The Vols are focusing on their offense, and obviously donuts. Improving the offense was made easier as the QB play improved; although, Crompton will have minor elbow surgery after the spring.
  
  
• Vandy - They finished spring already.
  
  
• LSU - Nothing really jumped out at me.
  
  
• Florida - OMG!1!11! The best spring game ever in the history of the galaxy. Meyer didn't just invent the Spring Game. He invented Spring. Actually, he invented it but there were problems. Luckily, Tebow surgically repaired it. Oh, and Rainey looked good.
  
  
• Kentucky - Kentucky's offense struggled as their top two QB prospects combined to go 13-29 for 104 yards (3.6 yards per attempt). It's tough enough replacing Woodson at QB, but the task is tougher when you also have to replace the always reliable Tamme.
  
  
• Auburn - Tuberville can't stop chatting up his new offensive coordinator Tony Franklin.
  
  
• Georgia Tech - The Jackets continued to scrimmage without their top QB candidate (Josh Nesbitt). Last week, the NATS fumbled the ball 14 times. This week, they cut that number down to 6. Separately, the GT Sports Blog discusses the defensive disadvantages of Paul Johnson's offensive approach. It's a must read.

By the way, we added a new Poll over on the right. In your opinion, who is the best SEC coach other than Richt?

PWD

As much as I heart Evil Richt....

...I gotta tell ya...Normal Richt pretty much kicks ass, too. The Oklahoma State student newspaper has a great article about the recovery of OSU wide receiver Artrell Woods. You may remember that Woods was almost paralyzed during a weight lifting incident in Stillwater prior to the season opener with Georgia last year. Woods talks about his time in the hospital and the support UGA game him:

Woods said the level of support he received was a motivating factor in his recovery.

“I got tremendous support,” Woods said. “Nurses would walk in with a stack of e-mails from people from all over the place, not just Oklahoma. People from OU, Georgia, Texas, wherever, just everybody.”

The University of Georgia football team and coach Mark Richt sent Woods an autographed football and the players and coaches sent their best wishes. That gift meant a lot to Woods.

“They were so nice to me; I still have that football,” Woods said. “It’s like a showcase thing for me. “It just meant the world to me.”

Damn. What can you add to something like that? Nothing.

Separately, the expanding national story that is the 2008 Georgia Bulldog team, grows daily. Today, the LA Times suggests that Georgia could be the team to beat. However, a much larger media super power (The Tifton Gazette) interviews Richt and says the coach cautioned fans not to book travel to Miami for the title game ... yet.

PWD

SI.com Profiles Knowshon Moreno

Andy Staples of SI.com compares Knowshon to a Super Hero as he works to tell the back story of our legend in the making (Image: Hipple). The last paragraph (Page 2) is the best:

Moreno already seems poised to join the Justice League of former Georgia ballcarriers that includes Garrison Hearst, Tim Worley and Terrell Davis, but does he have the superhero chops to earn his way into Walker's one-man pantheon? In December, Herschel and Special K filmed a segment that ran on Fox minutes before the kickoff of Georgia's Sugar Bowl rout of Hawaii. They walked between the hedges at Sanford Stadium and chatted. Walker showed Moreno different push-up styles. Moreno challenged Walker to a 40-yard dash. At one point, Walker turned to Moreno and spoke.

"The only thing that separates us now," Walker said, "is the Heisman and the national championship."

Separately, check out Kyle King's article on why he thinks UGA can win the National Title in 2008.

PWD

It's An Even Number Year, So Book Your Trip to Omaha

Baseball season starts Friday and it should be an exciting season for UGA baseball if this trend holds up:

2003 - no postseason
2004 - College World Series participant
2005 - no postseason
2006 - College World Series participant
2007 - no postseason

On paper, the Dawgs have the ability to get back to Omaha and uphold the trend, but the schedule is rough. The strength of the team is a veteran weekend pitching rotation of Stephen Dodson, Nathan Moreau, and Trevor Holder. All three have SEC starting experience and have shown they can pitch in the league. Jason Leaver and Nick Montgomery, if healthy, should provide quality depth. Both can start and both can relieve.

The big hammer for the Georgia staff is Joshua Fields. After a dazzling 2006, Fields took a serious step back last year, blowing six saves. He pitched well at times, but was not the consistent lights out closer of 2006 and 2005. Look for Fields to be back to his usual dominant form this season. Baseball America named Fields to their preseason All-American team, even if it was the third team. Plus, it sounds like Fields will get some at bats as a designated hitter this season.

The offense will be anchored by shortstop Gordon Beckham, a first-team preseason All-American. Beckham hit for power and average last year, belting 13 home runs, 19 doubles, and knocking in 51 runs. The steady Ryan Peisel and outfielder Matt Olson will back up Beckham at the plate.

There is also a mystery to keep your eye on this year, too. Texas transfer Michael Demperio will start at second base for the Dawgs. Demperio was a high school phenom who spurned a host of schools to sign with the Horns. His first season was a struggle though and he is now back home in Georgia. He was a heralded hitter in high school, but Demperio is also a great defensive player. He and Beckham should be fun to watch and make up one of the league's best defensive middle infields. The question is can he hit college pitching?

The schedule is a beast, especially early. This weekend, the Dawgs open at Foley Field against preseason #2 Arizona. Then, they play the Braves next week. Then they go to two-time defending national champion and preseason #7 Oregon State the next weekend. If we can come out of those two weekend series at 3-3, we'll be looking fine. Other nonconference games of note include Clemson and the Georgia Tech games. This is all before the SEC schedule which features conference preseason favorite Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Ole Miss.

The Dawgs have the players to make it to the postseason. Our baseball team has been inconsistent for sure, but there are abundant promising signs at Foley Field. Rivals.com says we shouldn't stink too bad and our early signing period recruiting class was awesome. Like basketball, there is no reason that we can't be a consistent conference power, if not national power. Unlike basketball, though, the baseball team should make it to the postseason this year.

Quinton

2007 UGA Season: A Journey or a Destination:

Image: Jim Hipple

The 2007 Georgia Bulldog team is awash in talent at virtually every position. The problem is…much of it is extremely young. A team in the Southeastern Conference generally only goes as far as its offensive and defensive lines will carry it.

This year’s Dawgs will start at least two freshmen offensive linemen. If any injuries were to befall Chester Adams (who has struggled with ankle problems for long stretches of his career) or Fernando Velasco, we would start three freshmen along offensive front. That's not a championship recipe.

All told, 12 of the 14 linemen on scholarship have never played a down in Sanford Stadium. Matt Stafford can only make so many plays lying on his back.

Many comparisons have been made to the 2003 Georgia team that started:

OT – Max Jean-Gilles (So.)
OG – Josh Brock (So.) / Nick Jones (So.)
C – Russ Tanner (RFr.) / Nick Jones (So.)
OG – Bartley Miller (So.) / Fernando Velasco (Fr.)
OT -- Dan Inman (RFr.) / Dennis Roland (RFr.)

That group won the SEC Eastern Division, and it was arguably a few missed field goals from playing for the national title despite 20+ players who started at least one game missing at least one game for injury. This year's OL already has more experience with Adams and Velasco than that '03 group.

However, this year’s team doesn’t have David Pollack, Odell Thurman, Sean Jones or Thomas Davis to offset some of our offensive problems. It also doesn’t get to face a Clausen led Vol team or a Granny Holtz lead Gamecock squad.

Assuming we stay relatively healthy, I think the team should get dramatically better as the season goes along. Said another way, Georgia Tech is in for another beating, and the Cocktail party could be a ton of fun no matter what happens in September.

However, these first two games could be painful to watch. That’s why I say this season is more about the journey to get better than the destination of a title. If we win the East, I wouldn’t be shocked. But I would be pleasantly surprised.

Get past the first two without a blemish, and we brace ourselves for an incredible ride.

My prediction:
9-3 would be par in my mind. Win 10 or more, and the season is a huge success. Win fewer, and it’s a bit of a disappointment.

Agree or disagree?

See Also:
-- Tony Barnhart's Preview -- AJC
-- Expect the unexpected - ABH
-- Freshmen along the OL - ABH
-- Juco OL making a name for himself - ABH
-- Dogs schedule says BCS Bowl - AJC
-- What we've learned about the Dawgs - AJC

PWD

Big 12 Preview

Before I get into my thoughts, I want to share some of the "Best of" previews I've seen off the beaten path. To get us started, Barking Carnival is an outrageously funny blog devoted to Texas and the Big 12. Their conference team by team previews are pretty off the wall. Let's start with the program most relevant to Georgia fans.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys preview has a series of quality lines; although none tops this (warning profanity):

Offensive coordinator Larry Fedora knows what he’s doing, moving his family to Stillwater aside. He’s the guy that made Chris Leak a household name. Granted, it was ‘That Leak guy at Florida is a huge p*ssy,’ but at least people were talking. He runs a no huddle spread offense that worked really well last year against teams not named Texas.

He also has completed previews of Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska and others. I didn't see a Texas preview yet, but I'm sure its coming soon.

Other Big 12 Team Previews:
-- Big 12 South Picks - Sunday Morning Quarterback
-- Big 12 North Picks - Sunday Morning Quarterback
-- Missouri as Big 12 North Favorite - Houston Chronicle
-- The Big XII's bottom feeders - AOL Fanhouse

Westerdawg's Preview:

Big XII North:
1. Nebraska - Callahan gets his QB.
2. Missouri - Who else?
3. Kansas State - Out of shape QBs don't instill confidence
4. Colorado - Lost 4 games by a TD or less in '06.
5. Kansas - Please don't eat me.
6. Iowa State - Devolving back into the land of Who Cares

Big 12 South:
1. Texas - Will Colt's shoulder stay attached?
2. Oklahoma - I could QB these guys behind that OL
3. Oklahoma State - Also lost 4 games by a TD or less.
4. Texas Tech - Won 4 games by a TD or less. Luck runs leaner this year.
5. Texas A&M - I have a Coach Fran Voodoo Doll. Is that bad?
6. Baylor - Baptists are better at softball than football.

(Image: Mark Mangino)

Bowls:
Fiesta - Texas
Orange - Oklahoma
Gator - Nebraska (via Big 12 option instead of Big East)
Cotton - Oklahoma State
Holiday - Missouri
Alamo - Texas Tech
Insight - Insight.com
Independence - Texas A&M
Sun - Big East goes here when Big 12 goes Gator

You'll find nothing ground breaking there. Having said that, if you're looking for dark horses to emerge watch opening weekend in the SEC. If either OSU or KSU were to upset UGA or Auburn, the m