#15 – Georgia Bulldogs 10-3 SU; 6-6-1 ATS
Fargo’s Take
- Georgia has the least amount of starters
returning since 2003 but don’t feel bad
for the Bulldogs. Instead of rebuilding, they
simply reload and that will be the case again
in 2006. The real concern is that this will be
the first year that head coach Mark Richt has
not had the services of either David Greene or
D.J. Shockley at quarterback. Stepping in will
be Joe Tereshinski who only has one career start
to his credit but he is a senior and he knows
the system. Nonetheless, expect Georgia to be
more apt to run the ball, at least early on in
the season. Defensively, the Bulldogs are strong
once again but the secondary took a big hit and
will be the biggest cause for concern. Richt has
won 52 games in his first five years at Georgia
and has had double-digit wins in each of the last
four seasons. He knows how to win and what it
takes to win and Georgia will be knocking at the
SEC door once again.
Returning Starters
on Offense – 4 Tereshinski beat out
three other signal callers to earn the starting
nod including heralded freshman Matthew Stafford,
who is the future of the Bulldogs. To ease some
of the transitional pressure, the rushing game
will be the primary offense and rightfully so.
Three running backs are in the mix with junior
Thomas Brown leading the way. He rushed for 736
yards on 5.0 ypc last season and will be the top
guy once again. Kregg Lumpkin and Danny Ware are
the best backups any team could ask for and overall,
the Bulldogs have the best group of running back
in the SEC. Like the quarterback, the receiving
corps will have to adjust as well as there is
not a lot of experience but a lot of potential.
Three new starters will be on the offensive line
but there is plenty of experience and depth in
that group and the running game won’t suffer
because of the lack of starts.
Returning Starters
on Defense – 5 Georgia finished 7th
in the country in passing defense and 12th in
passing efficiency defense last season but three
All-SEC starters have departed leaving big holes
to fill. Rover Tra Battle is back while Thomas
Flowers and Paul Oliver are expected to make big
impacts on the corners at some point in the season.
The strength of the defense is on the line, namely
defensive end Quinton Moss who flirted with leaving
early but decided to stay put for his senior season.
Moss is an All-American candidate and he will
be joined by Charles Johnson on the other side
to provide arguably the best bookends in the country.
All three linebackers return intact but they will
need to step things up and provide better rushing
coverage as the Bulldogs slipped from 15th in
rushing defense in 2004 to 52nd last season.
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Schedule
- As all SEC teams know, it’s never an easy
season trying to get through the brutal schedule.
The good news for Georgia is that most of the
difficult games come later on in the slate giving
it time to find the cohesiveness it needs. Three
of the first four games are at home with the one
road game being a decent challenge at South Carolina.
The home games consist of contests against Western
Kentucky, UAB and Colorado, none of which should
be a problem. September ends with a game at Mississippi
followed by the toughest test so far against Tennessee.
Following two more winnable games against Vanderbilt
and Mississippi, the Bulldogs face Florida in
Jacksonville and then travel to Auburn two weeks
later. The game against rival Georgia Tech is
at home. Three of the top four teams in the West,
LSU, Alabama and Arkansas missed the schedule.
You can bet on…
This will be one of biggest tests that Richt will
have faced in his short tenure in Athens. The
cupboard certainly isn’t bare but he has
to rely on some inexperienced players at some
key positions. If those players do step up, namely
Tereshinski, the Bulldogs have an excellent shot
of heading to Atlanta and the SEC Championship
for the fourth time in five years. Georgia is
19-2 in true road games under Richt which is amazing
considering the conference it is in. There are
only four road games, not counting Florida, this
season and with Georgia going 15-6 against the
number in those 21 road contests, more profits
could be in the way. The only real road test is
at Auburn and that doesn’t come until November
11th.
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