Season Preview: Georgia
Georgia BulldogsRecord: 136-48 (14 Seasons)
Last Year's Record: (10-3, 6-2), defeated Louisville in Belk Bowl, 37-14
Review of 2014 Season-
Last year was a season of highs and lows for the Bulldogs. They started off the year with an impressive win over Clemson at home before coming up short in their next outing against conference foe South Carolina. From there, they rattled off five straight wins behind a very powerful rushing attack of Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb along with a host of other quality backs further down the roster. Huston Mason proved to me a dependable game-manager, doing what he needed to get the ball in the hands of his big playmakers...although that usually just meant handing the ball off and getting out of the way. An absolutely head scratching loss to the Florida Gators down in Jacksonville along with a regular season finale lost to rival Georgia Tech kept the Dawgs from being a legitimate contender for a playoff spot.
Key Losses-QB Huston Mason, RB Todd Gurley, WR Michael Bennett, CB Damian Swann
Key Returners- RB Nick Chubb, WR Malcom Mitchell, PK Marshall Morgan, LB Leonard Floyd
Returning Starters: Offense-6; Defense-7
2015 Schedule-
September 5th Louisiana-Monroe
September 12th Vanderbilt
September 19th South Carolina*
September 26th Southern
October 3rd Alabama*
October 10th Tennessee*
October 17th Missouri
October 31st Florida* (Jacksonville, FL)
November 7th Kentucky
November 14th Auburn*
November 21st Georgia Southern
November 28th Georgia Tech*
#- Home games in BOLD
*-denotes key game
Schedule Analysis-
I think if you are a UGA fan, you have to like how the schedule is set up. As always you have the early season showdown with the Gamecocks but you get them at home along with Alabama who is believed to be in for a down year. In addition, Missouri and Kentucky will travel between the hedges this year. Although one might suggest that Missouri's early SEC luck has to eventually run cold. We shall see. Outside of their date with South Carolina in week 3, October will be the tell-tale of the season. If they can go at at least 3-1 in that stretch....watch out for the Dawgs. The Florida game will, as always be one to circle on your calendar, especially after last year's result. Can the Gators do it against UGA two years in a row?
My Thoughts-
While they return arguably the best running back in the nation in Nick Chubb this fall, their offense will have a different look this fall with a new offensive coordinator running the show as Mike Bobo is now the head coach at Colorado State. Brian Schottenheimer, the former St. Louis Rams Offensive Coordinator, will look to keep the Bulldogs rushing attack strong while they adjust to having a new guy under center for the second straight season. They should be solid up front which obviously is the key to their rushing attack and the success of Chubb. Several have said will prove to even better than his predecessor, Todd Gurley. I expect the defense to continue making strides under 2nd year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt.
Bottom Line- It seems almost every year we as ourselves the same question....is this the year? Can Georgia finally go from good to great? They came close last season. With what is expected to be a solid defense (that returns seven starters), they should be competitive in each of their games this fall. It helps that the East continues to be weaker than it normally is and significantly weaker than the West. If Georgia is able to get settled on a new, young QB early, this could very well be another 10 win season and beyond in Athens. Especially if they find a way to get it done either on the road against either Auburn or Tennessee. They are picked to win the East division but came up with a third place overall finish in the conference during SEC Media Days earlier last week. Auburn was picked to win it all. Things might not be too flashy on offense early on but I think the Dawgs get off to a favorable start to begin the 2015 season.
Regular season Prediction: 10-2
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