so.there.we.were

As my brand new t-shirt says, “daaaaaaaaaaaaaang,” I already cannot wait for college football season this fall. Georgia is gonna be good; really, really good. I need to start lining up tickets to home games (possibly some away games) from whomever is willing to sell/give them to me (offers?).

The two most important (IMO) post-Spring pre-preseason polls came out over the past couple of weeks, ESPN and SI, and UGA is sitting pretty in or just out of that top spot, which provides me with so much angst and ecstasy. The angst of not knowing if the team can live up to expectations and the ecstasy of knowing that, this year, they most likely will.

Not only will QB Matt Stafford and ridiculously-talented tailback Knowshon Moreno come back with another year of experience and spring practice under their belts, but Moreno will be joined in the backfield by newcomer Caleb King, who received nothing but rave reviews in Spring training and has already been highly-touted as the perfect complement to Moreno’s running style. If receiver AJ Green shows up ready to play, and academically eligible, and gives Stafford a target down field along with Tavarres King, then the offense should be so balanced that defenses won’t know what to do with themselves.

As for Georgia’s own defense, don’t get me started. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins, cornerback Asher Allen and linebackers Rennie Curran and Daniel Ellerbe are just the top of the pile on the other side of the ball, and it just gets deeper and more sturdy from there.

Now for the rankings:

My favorite college football writer, Stewart Mandel, placed Georgia in the top spot of his well thought out and usually pretty accurate “Power Rankings,” citing pretty much the same reasons as I did above for the ranking.

Georgia Bulldogs (11-2 in 2007)
Returning starters: 17 (Offense: 8 Defense: 9)

Key returnees: QB Matthew Stafford, RB Knowshon Moreno, DT Geno Atkins, LB Danell Ellerbe, CB Asher Allen.

Spring star: RB Caleb King. The redshirt freshman was impressive in Georgia’s spring game and should provide a nice complement to Moreno in the fall.

Spring recap: Stafford, entering his third season, showed continued development, and may have found a new go-to receiver in freshman Tavarres King. (Stud recruit A.J. Green also arrives in the fall.) LB Rennie Curran drew consistent praise from coach Mark Richt.

ESPN writer Mark Schlabach, who is usually pretty good with this kind of thing, put Georgia in the #2 spot behind effing Ohio State. Seriously? How many times does OSU have to implode in the post-season to be dropped out of the preseason top 5. The last several years they have choked big time and collapsed in their bowl game and they still. keep. getting. put. back. up. top. WTF?

Anyway, here is what he had to say about the Dawgs:

2. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia might be more explosive and talented than Ohio State, but the Bulldogs’ schedule is much tougher. The Bulldogs play consecutive road games at South Carolina and Arizona State, then play at LSU and against Florida in Jacksonville. Throw in back-to-back home games against Alabama and Tennessee and a road game at Auburn, and it might be the toughest schedule in the country. If Georgia can navigate its way through the schedule with only one loss (or maybe two), Ohio State could be waiting for the Bulldogs in Miami.

“More explosive and talented,” isn’t that usually a reason to rank one team higher than another? Whatever. Yes, the schedule is tough (ridiculously so) but that just means that if UGA can come out of it unscathed, or with just one or possibly two losses depending on the rest of the country, then Miami here we come. Oh, and tell Ohio State to bring their A-game to this bowl.

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