Season Previews: Georgia

I'm back....again. It has been quite the summer to say the least!  My life has been shaken up a bit the past few weeks. On Father's Day, my house burned down and my family and I lost everything in the fire, including my mother's car. As you can imagine, its been a REALLY tough time and I haven't had the time or energy to keep up and discuss all the major headlines this summer. However, things are slowly starting to look up. If you know me personally, you know that life has thrown me quite a few hurdles the past couple of years but I've cleared them all...and will continue to come back stronger and better than before! The job search has continued to be a headache but I have found a part-time gig with Event Partners Inc and will be working Clemson football games this year as well as the opportunity for other sporting events, concerts and other events around the area moving forward. Still looking for that first "real" job but for now going to work on just finding another job to keep me busy during the week until things become more settled in my personal life. Have a few leads on what that second job....will keep you guys posted on that. Special shout-out and thank you to all my friends, family and neighbors that have rallied around us and supported us the past few weeks. Its has been truly amazing and I can't thank you enough! But now on to more positive and fun topics....like the return of college football! We are just under a month away from the return of, in my opinion, the best sport in the world. With that being said, I'm well overdue to chime in with my two cents and bring you my annual pre-season predictions and previews for Georgia, Clemson and the University of South Carolina. First up I'll take a dive into Georgia and look at what is going on in Athens and what to expect from the Dawgs this year as they look to bounce back after a season that was filled with numerous significant injuries.

Georgia Bulldogs 

Head Coach: Mark Richt (126-45 in 13 years at Georgia) 

Last year's record: 8-5 (5-3 in SEC) loss to Nebraska in Gator Bowl

Returning Starters: Offense: 6  Defense 9

Key Losses:  QB Aaron Murray, WR Rantavious Wooten, FS Tray Matthews, SS Josh Harvey-Clemons 

Players to Watch- RB Todd Gurley, RB Keith Marshall, WR Michael Bennett, WR Isaiah McKenzie, QB Hutson Mason, 

2014 Schedule: 

*August 30th Clemson

*September 13th @ South Carolina #

September 20th Troy

September 27th Tennessee#

October 4th Vanderbilt#

*October 11th @ Missouri#

October 18th Arkansas#

November 1st Florida#

November 8th @ Kentucky#

*November 15th Auburn#

November 22nd Charleston Southern

November 29th Georgia Tech  

*-denotes key game

#-denotes SEC game

Overall Thoughts: The Bulldogs could easily kick off the 2014 season with an 0-2 start as they open with games against Clemson and South Carolina, however I don't expect that to happen. The Dawgs get an early bye week before they head to Columbia. In theory, that should be beneficial to Hutson and company but having it so early in the season not sure how significant it will be. Nevertheless, you'd be hard pressed to find someone upset about having an extra week to prepare for a Steve Spurrier coached team. The rest of the schedule sets up relatively nice in my opinion for Georgia....no Texas A&M, Alabama or LSU. They do have to travel to last year's eastern division champ, Missouri, but get a shot to shake things up in mid November when Auburn comes to town. I'm not buying the hype that Florida will be "back" this year. I think Muschamp is in his final hours in Gainesville (Cue Chad Morris Watch 2014)  and the Dawgs should come out on top in that historic rivalry game. The Dawgs out of conference games shape up well with Clemson, Troy, Charleston Southern and Georgia Tech. I'd be surprised if they go anything less than 3-1 in those games. Hutson Mason has a tough act to follow with the departure of Aaron Murray...make no mistake about it. However, having the best running back in the nation  (Todd Gurley) who can also catch the ball...that will definitely help take a bit of the pressure off. Mason isn't exactly a stranger to the first team with two starts under his belt in an overtime win over rival Georgia Tech and loss to Nebraska in the Gator Bowl. If Georgia 's key players can stay healthy, (and out of trouble) and Mason can play within his element and not try to do too much, this could be a rebound year in Athens after last year's rather disappointing, injury-ridden season. 

Bottom Line: Heading into the season I would be most inclined to say that the Dawgs will take either the game against Clemson OR break the Gamecock's 18 game win streak in Williams Brice Stadium and take down South Carolina. The way the schedule sets up, if the Dawgs take care of business in their first two games, they will likely head to Missouri in October a perfect 5-0. With games against Troy, Vandy and Tennessee leading up to the showdown against last year's eastern division champ, Missouri...that seems like a reasonable possibility. Although I don't want to discredit the Vols who SHOULD have knocked off the Bulldogs last year in Knoxville had Alton Howard been able hold on to the ball and score in the first overtime. However, he fumbled and the ball rolled out of the back of the end-zone for a touch back and Tenneesee's upset bid eventually fell short. I would have trouble picking them to win on the road...for me the Vols are another one of those teams that really don't have an identity right now. Nothing about them scares me. Nothing. Only time will tell how good (or bad) Huston Mason will be either way, it should be a overall good year for Mark Richt's squad. 

Preseason Prediction:  9-3 Overall (Regular Season)