2010 Brings A Breath of Fresh Air For Georgia Bulldogs

Published by Wes Holtzclaw | Filed under Georgia

After a somewhat dissappointing 2009 season, the Georgia Bulldogs finished with an 8-5 record and an Independance Bowl victory over Texas A&M that secured a 13th straight season with at least eight wins. 

Going into the 2009, I along with several others, predicted that Joe Cox would be a great game manager that is careful with the football. We were definitely wrong with that prediction.

Cox’s numbers were actually reasonable: 2584 yds, 24 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. The problem with Cox was that at least eight of his interceptions were inside the Dawgs own 40-yard line giving the Bulldog defense a short field to defend.

Another four of his interceptions were from him trying to throw the ball out of bounds but not getting it even near the sidelines.

One thing Cox was able to do was continue to keep plugging along, not giving in, and leading the team to several shoot-out wins. Most notably the wins over South Carolina and Arkansas, which if he threw in the towel, the Dawgs would have been 5-7 and would have not been able to play in the post-season.

Led by Willie Martinez and his soft zone scheme, the defense was also disappointing in 2009 giving up over 20 points in 10 out of the 13 games played. The sad thing is that the Dawgs ranked in the bottom half of the nation in almost every defensive category.

That being said, Coach Mark Richt did the right thing by letting go of coaches Martinez, Jancek, and Fabris. 

Even though the new defensive coordinator has not been named to date, he will be named in the next week or two. Let us all hope and pray that he brings with him an attack style of defense that will bring back memories of the defenses that played for the Dawgs in the ’80s and early 2000’s. 

In 2009, Georgia was able to show glimpses of what can be expected in 2010 with the emergences of several freshmen and sophomores.

Players such as freshman RB Washaun Ealey (125 carries, 717 yards, 3 tds in only nine games), sophomore RB Caleb King (114 carries, 594 yards, 7 tds in 10 games), sophomore WR A J Green (53 receptions, 808 yards, 6 tds in 10 games),  and freshman TE Orson Charles (23 receptions, 374 yards, 3 tds).

Georgia is returning 10 out of 11 starters on offense and if two prominent juniors on defense return (LB Rennie Curran and SS Reshad Jones) eight out of 11 starters on defense. That is a lot of experience returning to play a schedule that is somewhat softer than the previous two years.

Teams such as Louisianna-Lafayette, Colorado, Mississippi State, and Idaho State replace Oklahoma State, Arizona State, LSU, and Tennessee Tech on the 2010 schedule.

Georgia also returns Ray Guy award winner P Drew Butler and Lou Groza award finalist PK Blair Walsh to handle the kicking duties. Both players will be juniors next season and will look to repeat their success. Coach Richt just hopes he doesn’t have to turn to them as much as he did this season.

Even though the Dawgs lose return man Prince Miller, sophomore Branden Boykin emerged as one of the best return men in the nation (38 returns, 988 yards, 3 tds).

One of the two freshman QBs (Aaron Murray or Zach Mettenberger) will meet Coach Richt’s criteria for the next signal-caller: “Whoever wins that job has to have a very good respect for the football. I think it’s going to be a very difficult thing for these young men because in one sense they want to do something great to win the job, but they also understand they need to respect the football and not be careless. That is a big part of the job description and it might be the biggest thing they have to understand.”

The offense should be able to score points whether it is led by Murray or Mettenberger and hopefully the defense will be able to prevent opponents from even getting into the red-zone.

It should be an exciting off-season as we wait to see who will win the quarterback battle, if Curran and Jones stay, and who exactly will be leading our defense as it’s coordinator.

Stadium Journey

Published by Wes Holtzclaw | Filed under Atlanta Braves

Guys I just wanted to let each one of you know that there is a new website called Stadiumjourney.com that rates all of the stadiums in the country.

They currently have all of the MLB stadiums up and are also working on all of the NFL and NHL venues.

They use a FANFARE system to rate each ballpark on their food, atmosphere, neighborhood, fans, access, return on investment and etc.

I believe it will be an awesome tool to figure out if taking your family to the ballpark would be worth it, especially when you are going to a stadium you are not familiar with when you go.

You can check out what I had to say about Turner Field as I was able to do the review for the Braves’ stadium earlier this summer.

Check it out at: StadiumJourney.com

Five Possible Bowl Destinations For the Georgia Bulldogs

Published by Wes Holtzclaw | Filed under Georgia

With the 2009 season coming to a close and Georgia becoming bowl eligible with their win against Auburn last week, let us take a look at some of the destinations the Dawgs could be going bowling.

Liberty Bowl – Memphis, Tennessee

If the Dawgs stumble to both Kentucky tonight and Georgia Tech on Thanksgiving weekend, they will wind up with a record of 6-6.

At 6-6 the Dawgs will be landing in the Liberty Bowl and could possibly face a team such as East Carolina who would be the Conference USA champion.

The last time Georgia played in the Liberty Bowl was in 1987 against Arkansas. In that game, John Kasay hit a last second field goal to give Georgia a 20-17 victory.

Music City Bowl – Nashville, Tennesse

If the Dawgs win against Kentucky, lose to Georgia Tech and finish the year with a 7-5 record, the Dawgs will be traveling to Nashville, Tennessee for the Music City Bowl.

This scenario also hinges on what teams like Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss, Auburn and Arkansas do over the final two weeks.

The Dawgs will be facing the No. 5, 6, or 7 team in the ACC. Some of the teams Georgia would face are Boston College, Florida State, Miami, or North Carolina.

The last time Georgia played in the Music City Bowl was in 2001 against Boston College. This was coach Mark Richt’s first bowl game and Georgia lost 20-16.

Chick-Fil- A Bowl – Atlanta, Georgia

If the Dawgs win out and go 8-4 they will have a shot to play the ACC No. 2 team.

This scenario hinges on Auburn losing to Alabama, Tennessee losing out and LSU winning out.

Some of the teams Georgia would play are Clemson, Virginia Tech or maybe even a rematch against Georgia Tech.

The last time Georgia played in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl was in 2006 against Virginia Tech. Georgia rallied from a 21-3 deficit at halftime to win 31-24.

Outback Bowl – Tampa, Florida

If the Dawgs plan to play in Tampa they will definitely have to win out. Some other things must happen: Auburn has to lose to Alabama and LSU has to win out.

Some of the teams Georgia would face would be Penn State, Wisconsin or Northwestern.

The last time Georgia played in the Outback Bowl was in 2005 against Wisconsin.

In this game, the Dawg Nation was able to say good-bye to two of the greatest bulldogs of all-time, David Pollack and David Greene.

These two went out on top, 24-21 as David Pollack set the record for career sacks at Georgia and David Greene set the NCAA record with victories.

Capitol One Bowl – Orlando, Florida

For the Dawgs to play in Orlando several things have to happen in the SEC.

Georgia must win out to be 8-4, LSU must lose out to finish 8-4 and Auburn must lose to Alabama.

Even though LSU defeated Georgia 20-13, a four-loss Georgia team might be a better draw than a four-loss LSU team. Especially after a win against Georgia Tech.

In the Capitol One Bowl Georgia would either play Penn State or Wisconsin.

The last time Georgia played in the Capitol One Bowl was last season as Georgia defeated Michigan State, 24-12.

This was also a good-bye game for two more bulldog greats, Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno.

Whatever bowl the Dawgs play in, it will hinge on the team taking care of business the next two weeks. It all starts tonight between the hedges without our beloved mascot, UGA VII.

In UGA VII’s honor I suggest we wear the black jerseys, not for motivation but for mourning “Loren’s Best”.