The answer is mostly what people want to hear -- success awaits -- but then there’s disbelief with the caveat, as we near two of the most important games in Mark Richt’s career at Georgia.
Yes, Georgia can win the SEC East, at the very least because it’s highly doubtful we’ll see the horrific fundamental breakdowns on defense that had nothing to do with a scheme change but led to a subpar season in 2010.
But there’s this eyebrow-raising thought: Losing the first two games is nowhere near the doomsday scenario people think.
Georgia merely needs to play good football in those two games, more sound football, execute the little stuff (like covering receivers and tackling those with the ball) and tweak the offense.
Just as important -- and Georgia fans might want to go knock on some wood here -- is getting to Sept. 3 with the offensive line basically intact, which means allowing the freshmen who will play to keep learning the college game rather than jump up to the full-fledged game plan too soon.
The longer the youngsters up front can progress without the pressure of starting, the more prepared they’ll be when a lineman in front of them goes down. This being Georgia, it’ll happen sooner than later.
Mark Richt got chuckles at SEC Media Days when he said the depth was fine as long as nobody got hurt, and that’s true. Georgia’s first five are fine, and that group gets even better when a tight end is thrown in there. The depth improves every day a young lineman can stay young. If the Bulldogs get to the kickoff at the Georgia Dome with the starting five actually starting, strap in for a wild game and season.
Tailback is in better shape but not much.
Take a Valium regarding Isaiah Crowell. He doesn’t have any real leadership at the position in front of him, like Knowshon Moreno did with Thomas Brown. If Crowell starts feeling too much pressure, the football will hit the ground, and he’ll begin to miss some blocks.
Not having Carlton Thomas for the Boise State game hurts for that Saturday but isn’t fatal for the season.
Why can Georgia can lose the first two and still win the East, and it’s no shock?
It’s more about playing good football and improving than winning the first two games. Only one is a conference game, and South Carolina is the best team in the division but not by much.
Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia is obviously a wild card, but backup Connor Shaw is pretty good.
South Carolina’s schedule is favorable, with Auburn (one of the most underrated teams in the SEC), Kentucky and Florida at home. The Bulldogs get Tennessee after a week off, and they’re at Mississippi State before a week off and at Arkansas between Tennessee and Florida.
The Gamecocks are where they rarely are -- defending a championship. They’re not substantially better than Georgia, Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee and a hair behind Arkansas on the road. They can stumble.
Florida? Well, everybody’s due for the earth shattering losing season, and this might be it in Gainesville.
The Gators have issues, and I have never been enamored with Charlie Weis. They face five bowl teams, including three on the road, before the pre-Cocktail Party week off. Kentucky, which beat South Carolina last year and was quite competitive, could be a confidence-boosting 3-0 -- in football -- by kickoff.
Georgia is, right now, better than five of its seven pre-Florida opponents and close with Boise State (especially at the Georgia Dome) and South Carolina. Tennessee and Mississippi State are right there, but Mississippi State plays in Athens and will have played Auburn and LSU, so the West’s Bulldogs might be a little banged up.
Today, with absolutely nothing having been proven, I’m picking Georgia over Florida.
It’s nowhere near a stretch to be looking at a 6-2 or 5-3 Georgia team, which equates to 5-1 or 4-2 in the SEC. And the Bulldogs, who most certainly can win the first two, are equal to or better than Auburn and a notch above Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
Naturally, there’s plenty more to debate -- Richt being too involved in the offense, brutal defensive fundamentals, shaky recruiting, Richt’s future -- but a pinch of patience is necessary.
Richt knows what’s on the line, and to think otherwise is absurd. Why, he has shown some edge, publicly saying “hell” at least twice this summer, among other things.
What he probably won’t do is say “I told you so” after having an “I told you so” season, which is what 2011 feels like.
Contact Michael A. Lough at 744-4626 or mlough@macon.com
