Are Georgia's Expectations Too Hot to Handle, or Are Dawgs Ready for Prime Time?

Take the No. 1 preseason ranking in the AP, Coaches', and SI polls. Return 17 players, including your quarterback and star running back, from the No. 2 team last year. Mix in a rabid SEC-chanting fan base, and you get the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs.

Preseason pundits and amateurs alike were almost unanimous in their analysis: They have the talent, but they also have the most difficult schedule in the nation. Given the history of such schedules, making it to the BCS championship would be a statistical anomaly. Therefore, we’re sunk.

Four games into the season, let’s review. Our strengths were Knowshon, absolutely dominating defensive tackles, a deep and athletic linebacking corps, and our coaches. Our weaknesses were a lack of a game-breaking receiver, a true freshman kicker, a young offensive line, and an inconsistent Matthew Stafford.

Well, hello A.J. Green. Anyone who saw the first half of his 150-yard first half against Arizona State is well aware that we have a gamebreaker at receiver.

Blair Walsh absolutely crushes field goals. His only two misses were from 55 and 56, and both had the leg with one hitting an upright.

As for Matthew Stafford, no one ever doubted his arm strength. But questions about accuracy and decision-making flew around all preseason. He’s currently the highest rated passer in the SEC and has ZERO interceptions thus far. This is my favorite stat of all.

Most concerns look great. All in all, we look very formidable right now.

If there are areas where we could end up losing a game, they would be one of these three.

1) Kickoffs and coverage must improve. Our opponents seem like they have an open invitation to start across the 30.

2) Penalties have been absurd. Over 100 yards in penalties in a single game will hurt us eventually.

3) The offensive line is still coming around. Every week, we see improvement. Like last year, I’m really hoping they gel soon and then the team explodes. They appeared overmatched versus a veteran South Carolina defense, but after some shifts, dramatic improvement showed against Arizona State.

This is currently my largest concern with Mount Cody and Alabama coming to town this week. We’ll hold off the verdict for one more week on this one.

However, our defensive line continues to allow nobody to run on us. The Gamecocks had 16 rushes for 18 yards, and Arizona State had 19 rushes for four yards. Those aren’t typos.

Rennie Curran and Dannell Ellerbe at linebacker are both absolute beasts who will play on Sunday and fly to the ball as well. Georgia Southern and Central Michigan only had a few more yards because most came after four- and five-touchdown differentials in the score.

Now couple this with zero interceptions from Stafford and a 6.6 per carry average from Moreno. If those numbers continue, we will not be beaten.

That said, we’ll know a lot more after this weekend. Alabama was my pick to win the West in dark horse fashion. I figured this game would be one of our three toughest (along with LSU and Florida) after that West Coast trip.

I predicted if we won all three from South Carolina, Arizona State, and Alabama, then we would take two out of three from LSU, Florida, and Auburn. Further, this would be enough to propel us to the SEC championship game and a national championship.

Bold prediction? Guilty. But here in Georgia, the land of white-hot expectations, I’ll stick with it.