Georgia Football: 5 Things We Learned About the Bulldogs in 2011

It's been a week since the Bulldogs fell to Michigan State in the Outback Bowl.

While there are still a few fans upset about the loss, there are those who look back and are glad with what the Bulldogs accomplished.

It was a season that had its ups and downs, but a lot of young players stepped up and the future looks bright for the Bulldogs.

While 2011 was good, 2012 has to be better in order to have the entire Bulldog nation believe the program is headed in the right direction.

Here's five things to take away from the 2011 season.

The Wide Receiver Postion Is Deep

Before the 2011 season, the outlook was Tavarres King was going to be Aaron Murray's No. 1 target.

When the 2011 season ended, King was the team's leading receiver with 47 receptions and 705 yards.

However, freshmen Malcolm Mitchell, Michael Bennett and Chris Conley all played well and will be better next season because they will have a better relationship with Murray.

It will be fun to see this group develop into big-time receivers the next couple of years.

The Linebackers Are the Best in the Conference

We all know how good of a season Jarvis Jones had in 2011. But Michael Gilliard, Alec Ogletree, Amarlo Herrera, Cornelius Washington and Christian Robinson were solid and they were the reason the defense was a good as any in the country.

And like the wide receivers, the linebackers are young and have a a lot of depth. If they can all stay healthy, the defense will have an even better year in 2012.

There Is Still a Running Back Competition

Isaiah Crowell was supposed to be the savior for the Bulldogs.

He was supposed to be the next big thing and bring the Bulldogs a SEC title.

While he did have a sold season (850 yards and five touchdowns), he was injury prone and could never put two good games together.

That led to Richard Samuel, Carlton Thomas and Ken Malcome getting more reps than they anticipated. In fact, Malcome was the starter in the Outback Bowl and had 12 carries for 51 yards.

There's a very good chance all these players come back for the 2012 year. And when you add Keith Marshall to the mix, the running back competition will be very fierce when training camp begins.

Aaron Murray Took That Next Step

Even though Aaron Murray made more mistakes than he would have liked, he did put up some great numbers. Other than Ben Jones, he was the team's most valuable player on offense.

He threw the deep ball well and did a good job distributing the ball to different receivers as four players had over 30 receptions.

He does need to cut the down the interceptions and fumbles, but with another year under his belt, Murray should have an even bigger season in 2012.

Mark Richt Knows What He's Doing

Mark Richt is one of the better coaches in the conference.

Many fans called for his head when the team went 0-2, but Richt stayed with the plan and as a result, the Bulldogs won 10 consecutive games and won the SEC East title.

Does he need to have a better season in 2012 to prove that the Bulldogs are where they need to be? Absolutely, but this season proved that Richt is a good coach and it would have been a mistake to fire him during or after the season.