Ten Reasons Georgia Will Reach the Title Game Despite the Tough Schedule

Everyone’s talking about how tough Georgia’s schedule is.  The Bulldogs are “Number one, but...”  They see the schools, remember their reputation and how they played last year, and assume it will be the same this year.  But it never is.

This is the SEC, and it is tough every year.  Just ask the last two national champions.  Take a look at all the games they almost lost or did lose on their road to glory.

Here are the 10 reasons Georgia will overcome that tough schedule to get to Miami.

1. Everyone knows LSU not only lost QB Matt Flynn, but also highly touted Ryan Perrilloux.  The backups have a huge learning curve ahead of them.  Harvard transfer?  Seriously?

But what people aren’t considering is that they also lost their leading rusher Jacob Hester, top receiver Early Doucet, All-American LB Ali Highsmith, All-American safety Craig Steltz, and All-Everything DT Glenn Dorsey.  They also just won a National Championship, and The Dawgs are very good against former NCs in their hangover year.

2. The Florida Gators have a big hole in their secondary, losing four safeties in the offseason and graduating two others—and they weren’t that good to begin with.  They were 98th in the nation in passing defense.  Corner Wondy Pierre-Louis got beat like butter.

In addition, in the Cocktail Party, The Dawgs ran the ball every single play—yes, every play—the first drive, and that touted D-line couldn’t stop them.  Plus, Coach Richt beat them last year, breaking the momentum, getting in their heads, and he will do it again.

You say Tebow was hurt last year?  On his non-throwing shoulder!  Plus, the way he plays, there's a good chance Tebow will get hurt this season too.

3. The Tennessee Vols lost Erik Ainge and coach extraordinaire David Cutcliffe.  For some reason, those guys had Georgia’s number the last two years, putting up 51 and 35 points.

Fulmer is just not the same coach without Cutcliffe, and even he realized that fact when he brought him back in 2006.  Plus the Classic City Canines get Tennessee after a bye week.  The team will not forget last year and won’t let that happen again. 

4. The USC Gamecocks have declared Tommy Beecher the starting QB by default.  Beecher has been there the longest, so…tag, you’re it.  Can you name their running back, by the way?  I thought not.  Ohhh, I think Stephen Garcia just got arrested again.

5. Auburn is a wildcard with its new system, but the Plainsmen have been handled pretty darn easily the last couple of years.  It will be tougher without Brandon Cox throwing the Dawgs the ball on a regular basis.  He was Georgia’s MVP for that span.

The Tigers' new spread offense is not going to win in its first year—at least not the big games.

6. Last year Arizona State's ol' offensive line was a sieve, allowing 55 sacks.  That's more than four a game.  That’s good for 117th in the nation last year.  Did you know there were 117 teams?  That's 20 more sacks than Hawai'i.

Plus, the Sunny D's return—count ‘em—two members of that steel curtain.  That's probably a good thing for them actually.  Vegas has odds at even money that Rudy Carpenter cries before the end of the game.

7. At least SIX of the seven or eight toughest opponents have new QBs.  It is always difficult to win with new guys, but when they have to get used to SEC speed it is very hard.  Plus the backups aren’t exactly five-star world-beaters.  They will have to learn their systems, not make mistakes, and handle enormous pressure to win in this league.

8. Brannan Southerland is a great blocker and is guaranteed money for short yardage.  He's Georgia's Mike Alstott.  He’s overlooked by everyone not in DawgNation.  He should be back by the stretch run.

9. It goes without saying, but I couldn't NOT put him on the list: Knowshon Moreno.  Not only is he a great rusher, he makes everyone around him better with his energy and enthusiasm.

For example, Thomas Brown became better after KnowMo became the starter.  Instead of plowing into the line and gaining 0-3 yards, he started hitting holes, spinning, and breaking tackles.  Caleb King will be a decent backup learning from Knowshon.

10. Defense wins championships, and the defense was Nasty at the end of the season.  Defensive Coordinator Willie Martinez can almost forget about blitzing—they don’t need to.  They got to the QB rushing only five against some of the "best" arms (with some of the quickest releases) in the nation last year.

The Dawgs ranked eighth in the nation in sacks—first in the nation in making Heisman hopefuls cry.