Beware of the Headline Editor

David Paschall as a piece in today's Chattanooga paper examining the 2009 Bulldogs. Pretty typical stuff, he looks at the past few years and delves into what lies ahead. As to be expected, Florida is used as a measuring stick. Would we like to stomp the ever loving cold-blood out of those reptiles? Yes. Can our goals be met without a win in Jacksonville? Absolutely. We did it in 2002 and 2005.

Chattanooga Times Free Press | 'You've got to beat Florida'

It's a resume envied by almost every college football program in the country. Among the rare exceptions is Florida, of course, which has won 35 games and two BCS national championships in the same span.

Thursday Brings Questions?

Bernie has a great question regarding the incoming quarterbacks, one I have no good answer for. Bernie's Dawg Blawg: The Red-Shirt vs. Murray & Mett

..what becomes of the newbies? Would you rather both red-shirt?

Speaking of questions, do not care for any of these queries: Bulldogs Blog: Help Wanted: 5 Players Who Need to Step Up

Today, I figured it made sense to take a minute to look at who the biggest question marks might be.

T Kyle addresses a subject that is probably serious, as a big fan of personal responsibility and individualism, I leave the question to sociologists and academics. I certainly do love the ways he closes:
Is It Responsible of Us to Care So Much About College Football in Times of Economic Crisis? - Dawg Sports

Accordingly, our fixation on football in these trying times not only isn’t unhealthy, it’s actually a pretty sound long-term strategy. Train up a child in the way he should go, and, when he is older, he will graduate from the University of Georgia, get a good job, and cheer for the Red and Black.

Dang, I’m ready for some football.

More from the Cowpokes, drip, drip, drip :The Red and Black

“Georgia’s the one that has to be scared. Not us.”

It pays to win, sure, but it also pays to make people think you will one day win: Orlando Sentinel - Football coaches pay on the rise despite economic woes throughout college athletics by Iliana Limón

Head coaches aren’t the only ones making big bucks these days. Take a look at the five highest-paid assistant coaches, many of them head coaches-in-waiting, in the country:

And finally, the biggest question of them all: The Hot Button: Will UGA win a BCS title under Mark Richt? | Mark Bradley

We know Mark Richt can coach football. What we still don’t know after eight years of watching is whether he’s pragmatic enough to be a national championship coach.

Fear Not Bulldawg Nation

A heap of offense

Time had not expired on the Citrus Bowl clock when the questions about Stafford and Moreno's future took center stage. Then came the answer and the fretting, then more fretting. Add Mohamed Massaquoi to the list of departures and fret some more. There have been more stories than I care to recognize detailing the amount of offense that has departed the Classic City. Georgia averaged 426 yards per game in 2008, all but about 50 of those yards were produced by the aforementioned trio.

This is the game we love. We pour our heart and sole into these young men, living through their successes and dying with their failures. Then they leave and others take their places. Their athletic eligibility is limited but their place in the Bulldawg Nation is eternal. This is the game we love.

Any magic left in that #14 jersey?

The Joe Cox era will begin without the quarterback controversy that seems to be the norm at other schools. From every indication, he has the complete confidence of his teammates and coaching staff, if not the NFL scouts. He has been in the program for four years, is a student of the game, and aspires to be a coach when his playing days are done. His top goal in life is to be Head Football Coach of a National Champion. Will he lead, as a player, his team to a championship? We are about to find out.

I certainly do not remember a more daunting season opener to be breaking in a new quarterback on the road. We should know all we need to know about the "Ginger Assasin" by the time we hit the Arkansas line on the way home from Stillwater. Expect him to do what coaches do, get the ball into the hands of his play makers.

Tailback by committee begins with these two

Caleb King and Richard Samuel both ooze athleticism. King is very shifty and has decent speed. Samuels is a load that has some get up and go. King tended to bounce it outside a little too much last year. Samuels looked like a strong safety carrying the football and looking for contact. A year of seasoning and film study should pay off. Carlton Thomas and Washuan Ealey will make sure these two do not get complacent.

Coach Richt's recent comment about King being number one "for a reason, not just because we like him" gets me pretty fired up. It seemed like both of these guys were trying a little too hard last year. As their carries increase I imagine things will slow down for them and their talent will prevail. Running back is not going to be a weakness for this team.

Joe Cox likes this picture, Rodney Cox is glad to be graduated

The only knock on our number eight appears to be that he doesn't spell his name j u l i o j o n e s. Without getting into any media biases against our guy, the real question is who will benefit from the double teams AJ is certain to face all season. Just like with our running backs, there is a lot of receiving talent on the roster that has yet to demonstrate itself in game situations. One advantage they will have is the amount of practice reps they have shared with Cox while MoMass was catching the Stafford strikes. These guys are scholarship athletes at the University of Georgia. We will be fine.

No offense to Tripp Chandler, but Tight End has not been a strength in recent years. The coaches appeared to have addressed this shortcoming with excellent recruiting. Only time will tell, but I am looking forward to seeing the big guys fly down the middle of the field again. I am sure Joe Cox does too.

A great coach with lots of great talent

With all of the attention giving to the departures, it is easy to lose sight of what remains. Coach Searels has plenty of healthy talent to coach up. In retrospect, the Dawg's accomplishments last year were pretty amazing given all of the injuries and changes along the offensive line. Last years weakness should be this years strength. Even a yankee knows football games are won and lost in the trenches. This year, the trenches should be our briar patch.

So fear not Bulldawg Nation. 2009 promises to have the Dawg's back in the thick of the SEC race. We even have one more orange clad opponent on the schedule, and nothing makes your red pants look better than to stand next to someone wearing an orange.

He’s a Man that Wears Orange

We have all seen the rant, coach comes to the defense of his quarterback, and no, we are not talking about Corch Meyer, today we are talking about Mike Gundy, Head Coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. After a 9-4 season in 2008, Gundy begins his 5th season at his alma mater with a 27-23 record as a head coach. No, the 2007 opener in Athens didn’t count as 2 Ls for Man Gundy. Outside of the above mentioned “I’m a man” rant, what do we know about these orange clad cowboys and their coach?

The most fascinating thing I discovered is they had one helluva a punter. Frankly, I was not aware they punted in the Big12. Apparently some of those swiss cheese defenses were able to stop Zac Robinson and his natural gas, or is it wind, powered offense. In addition to Robinson’s gun slinging, the Pokes present 2 running backs that both averaged over 6.5 yards per carry last year. I dare not even mention Dez Bryant. So either Man Gundy actually knows a thing or two about offense, or just he just knows how to pick his opponents.

Les Miles appears to have left while the leaving was good, but Gundy has filled the empty cupboard the “Hat” left behind. Their offensive line is proven. Their skill position players are talented and experienced. Their video department has enough footage of Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, and North Avenue to make a Dawg tuck its tail. They will enter the game with a national ranking of somewhere around 10. Vegas has already placed them a 3.5 favorite against our visiting Dawgs.

How will we survive?
40.8 pts/game, 245.5 rushing yds/game, 242.2 passing yds/game. Hell, they only suffer 54.3 penalty yds/game. They punted 37 times in 13 games. They are converting 3rd downs at a 45% clip. 89% red zone efficiency with 68% touchdowns. They didn’t miss a PAT. I have no proof but I bet they didn’t have a single kickoff go out of bounds.

Outstanding offense, outstanding special teams, a top ten ranking, a new stadium to open the season, a “Man” for a coach, enough “Z”s on their roster to win any scrabble game, how will we survive?

We bring an unproven QB and unproven RBs. Our defense lacks depth and experience in the secondary. Our pass rush was non-existent last year. Okie State will not play by our practice rules (touch football). They are not going to put boards up along the sidelines so our kick offs do not go out of bounds. How will we survive?

WE WILL SURVIVE AND THRIVE by playing Georgia Football. We will be healthy and at full strength. We will have something to prove. Last year was an aberration, an anomaly. We lost three games, to three good teams. In those three games, we only played three halves of football.

Coach Martinez is going to show us all why he IS the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Georgia. Rennie Curran is going to show the world why he is leather-seeking missile. Jeff Owens is going to remind all of the NFL scouts what Georgia DTs are all about. Reshad Jones is going to remember how to tackle TO THE GROUND.

Joe Cox IS A WINNER, and he is going to show the world. Someone, if not several, is/are going to step up at running back. The offensive line is going to turn that swiss cheese defensive into slices so thin a deli would be proud. AJ Green is going to be AJ Green, and the other receivers are going to be wide open. Blair Walsh is going to kick it straight and true through the uprights and Brandon Bogatay is going to kick it deep and inbounds.

The Georgia Bulldogs are going to be the Georgia Bulldawgs and the Oklahoma State Cowboys are going to wear orange!