SEC 2009 // Calling the Canines
by cocknfire on Jul 9, 2009 11:30 AM EDT
in SEC Football
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PrintC&F's predictions for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Finish: 2nd, SEC East
General: I'm giving a lot of credit to Mark Richt because, quite frankly, he's Mark Richt. This has nothing to do with the cliche that Richt does well when expectations are low -- Year2 has pretty well blown that notion up, or at least shown that there's no real evidence of it. Instead, it has to do with the fact that Richt has a record of almost always fielding solid teams. And he can get the most out of a young team. That will be critical for a team that lost so much of its offense when Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Morenoheaded to the NFL. This is, in my mind, an optimistic way of looking at Georgia's season. But Richt has earned that.
More specific: But it is a young team, so you can expect an upset somehwere along the line. Arkansas looks like a good bet, but if not there, it could come vs. South Carolina or vs. LSU or even at Tennesseee. I'm really torn on the Georgia Tech game; I think Tech could have a great team this year, but the record of Georgia dominance in recent years makes it hard to pick the Jackets. Even if Georgia drops that one, though, they could easily pick up a win in Stillwater or Fayetteville. Without another SEC upset somewhere, the latter would alter the conference record, but might not change the standings. Not to give anything away, of course.
Game-specific:
9.5 :: at Oklahoma State :: POSSIBLE LOSS
9.12 :: vs. South Carolina :: POSSIBLE WIN
9.19 :: at Arkansas :: POSSIBLE LOSS
9.24 :: vs. Arizona State :: POSSIBLE WIN
10.3 :: vs. LSU :: POSSIBLE WIN
10.10 :: at Tennessee :: PROBABLE WIN
10.17 :: at Vanderbilt :: PROBABLE WIN
10.31 :: vs. Florida :: PROBABLE LOSS
11.7 :: vs. Tennessee Tech :: WIN
11.14 :: vs. Auburn :: PROBABLE WIN
11.21 :: vs. Kentucky :: PROBABLE WIN
11.28 :: at Georgia Tech :: PUSH
Final record: 9-3, 6-2 SEC
--
MONDAY: Georgia Looks for Direction
TUESDAY: Dawg Days
WEDNESDAY: The Secret Life of Evil Richt; Does Mark Richt Do Best When Expectations Are Low?; How Deep are the Dawgs?
TODAY: Predictions
FRIDAY: Feedback and Conclusions
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road games
i’m going to have to disagree slightly on the Ok. state and arkansas picks as possible losses. I’m leaning toward thinking of them as pushes or possible wins for uga based in large part on richts remarkable road record. For whatever reason he gets his team to perform on the road consistently.
Arizona state will most likely suck, Im inclined to say thats more of a probable win.
LSU and south carolina or ever auburn coming to athens have real chances of winning.
My two cents at least.
If anything, i’d say push for most of the games is about as good as anyone can tell right now.
Nice analysis.....
Although, this is why preseason predictions are so much fun but so often useless in predicting how a team is actually going to perform. The same people who give no credit to Joe Cox predict all-American honors for Aaron Corp. Brown, Charles, and Wooten come in with the impossible freshman hype of AJ Green before them but are going to be forced into contribution due to Kris Durham’s injury. Can Owens, Weston, and Atkins be the force they were in ‘07? Is Bryan Evans’ transition to safety going to work out? Will Boykin, Cummings, and super-recruit Branden Smith be able to cover the like of Dez Bryant, Brandon Lafell, and whichever sub-4.3 receiver Florida happens to line up across from them? And that’s without even mentioning the question marks at defensive end and running back. Seen in different lights, this team could be plus or minus four or five games either way. As a bleeding-red-and-black Dawg fan, I’m optimistic, mostly because of the talent level present combined with Richt and his coaching staff. But, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea whatsoever what to expect from the ‘09 version of the Dawgs. Nonetheless, I’ll be screaming my face off for them either way. Go. Dawgs.
Cale Self
University of Georgia
www.allhailcale.blogspot.com
I think you and hotdawgin are both onto something
Georgia is one of the teams I really struggle to define. I’m trying to keep pushes to a minimum — it bugged me to include two on the South Carolina preview — so I’m having to pick between some teams that could go either way. But I agree with you — the difference between the ceiling and the floor for this team is vast.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Great preview
I pretty much agree with everything you’ve written EXCEPT for the push against Tech. Not only do I still believe last year was a fluke, but the fact that the game is in Atlanta only plays to our advantage if anything. Check out the record in Athens and Atlanta for the last 40 years or so, they’re roughly the same. Having 30-40% of the crowd wearing red&black certainly helps that.
The SC game (as always) is the one that is already giving me heartburn.
Who knows, really?
I, a Dawg, has this team at 8-4 in the regular season, so I’ll take the 9-3.
An optimistic look: With regards to OSU, Richt has ‘03 Clemson, ’05 BOISE STATE111, and the ’07 version of the Pokes as other up-n-comin’ teams he’s beaten the crumbs off of to open up the season. Georgia is USC’s Super Bowl, but they suck, so. ASU is meh, and they’re traveling East, so that’s an easy win. ARK ain’t much. LSU, ah LSU. They of the three straight hilarious beatdowns at Richt’s hands, including two in a row over Lesticles.
But yeah. I smell 3-2 out of that start, unfortunately.
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