Bulldog Season Wrap and Crystal Ball

Well, when 10 wins leaves room for complaints, your fanbase is pretty fortunate. There are some complaints, however, after the 2008 season. The defense waited until the bowl game to show signs of life, which was bittersweet when considering the 42, 49, and 45 points we gave up in our three losses. We did beat a Michigan St. team with 9 wins (who lost by considerable margins to both Ohio St. and Penn St.), and this is the "sweet" portion of that oxymoron.

Perhaps even larger than what we won or lost between August 30-Jan. 1 is who we lost in the following weeks: Knowshon Moreno, Matthew Stafford and, more recently, Asher Allen. I am going to sail out to the one-man island here and say that Georgia is better off without them. If not better off, at least no worse. Mark Richt has 6 10-win seasons in his 8 years as a Dawg, with only two of those coming with the three kids leaving. Richt was able to win two conference championships with David Greene and DJ Shockley under center and Thomas Brown, Musa Smith, Kregg Lumpking, etc. at tailback. Richt won zero conference crowns with Stafford and Moreno...

The talent coming in makes you scratch your head a bit. How was Richt able to convince the ESPN.com #1 quarterback AND the ESPN.com #10 quarterback to come to Georgia in the same class? Who cares, really? The point is, they are both coming and their names are Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenburger (sounds alot like a certain Steelers superbowl winning QB eh, John Gray?). If either prove to live up to the expectations, Richt will not hesitate to start the best QB (See Stafford). Personally, I'm pulling for Joe Cox to come in in his senior season and remind us all of how effective Shockley was when he got his shot.

Moreno is harder to lose because he is a special talent, but Georgia's running offense was not statistically better with him in the lineup. Look it up. It may seem that way, but the fact is that three years ago when UGA rushed for 200 yards in a game, three guys shared the load, under Moreno, only one guy supplied the yards. Everyone knows UGA is a magnet for good running backs, and King and Samuel will prove to work hard and be effective like all of our other rotating runners.

Bottom line is, I look for Georgia to have at least 9 wins again next year, maybe even 10 with their New Year's Day bowl game.

Of course, the road will be tough, with the disheartening news that Tebow will delay his entry into the NFL - who projected him as a mid-level tight end - this all may be a moot point. Miracles can happen...on ice anyway. Boldest January prediction - Georgia loses 1 game next year to the Gators, who lose 2, Georgia 2009 SEC champs. If you're under the radar, get your but off the floor.