High Expectations In Athens!

Discussion in 'Sports Board' started by Gator Bill, Apr 6, 2008.

  1. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Dawg fans are rightfully expecting big things from their team this year.


    Big Expectations For Dawg Fans

    Expectations could bite Dogs

    By Jeff Schultz | Saturday, April 5, 2008, 06:20 PM

    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

    Athens — There are delusions and then there are SEC-fueled delusions, which are like delusions on steroids. These are the delusions that make the fall that much harder. These are the delusions that can drown a team before it ever plays Auburn or Florida or, in the case of Alabama, Louisiana-Monroe.

    It’s April. It’s spring football. The real kickoff is in nearly five months. But the delusions in Athens began shortly after Georgia steamrolled Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and finished No. 2 in the rankings.

    Expectation levels? They passed absurd two blocks ago. What’s it going to be like in August?

    Matthew Stafford rolled his eyes.

    “It’s above and beyond,” he said when asked about the tidal wave-like buildup. “But I think we kind of like it. We realize we need to be pushed.”

    It’s April. It’s spring football. The phony season kickoff, Saturday’s Red-Black game, drew 19,874 fans. Imagine if the weather wasn’t miserable. The school sold 11,000 advance tickets before cutting it off. Media coverage was at an all-time high. The game was televised by CSS and broadcast by three radio stations. The AJC even had five representatives in the press box, which is significant considering only box lunches were served.

    “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” said Vince Dooley said of the off-season buildup. “There was a great anticipation in 1980. But that wasn’t so much for the season as it was for Herschel [Walker].”

    Georgia will play 12 regular-season games next season. Theoretically, it can play 14, with the SEC championship and a bowl game. It only seems like the team can go 37-0.

    The Bulldogs should be very good next season. They have legitimate national-title hopes. But meteoric expectations — particularly in April — give coaches the willies.

    Mark Richt dealt with this sort of thing often when he was an assistant at Florida State. “We were preseason No. 1 [in 1988],” he said. “Then we went to Miami and got beat 31-0, so we didn’t handle it very well.”

    Richt certainly won’t have a problem when the Dogs begin next season with a high ranking (anywhere from No. 1 to No. 4). It’s more the months of brainwashing he’s concerned about.

    “First of all, one of the many reasons why we’re ranked high, or we’re going to be ranked high, supposedly, is because of what last year’s team did,” Richt said after the spring game. “I just tell them: ‘That team is gone. Those leaders are gone. That chemistry is gone. You’ve got to start over. To this point, you guys haven’t really proven anything. You’ve got to earn the right to be considered a great football team.’ That’s what we’re in the process of doing. The one way we can do that is focus on the moment.”

    Thus far, at least the school’s marketing wing is staying grounded. There were no “14-0” shirts in the bookstore. But the former coach said it would be easy for the players to get sucked in by the expectations.

    “They’re human, and they’re young,” he said. “It’s hard for it not to affect them. So you do everything you can as a coach to keep them focused. It starts in spring practice. The problem is, you don’t know if what you’re saying to them is enough compared to what the alumni is saying to them, or what they’re reading.”

    The extreme example of this happened in Tuscaloosa. Nick Saban’s arrival at Alabama led to 90,000 fans attending the spring game. Some had improbable BCS bowl projections. When the Tide won its first three games, some fans expected the team would be 8-0 going into the LSU game. Instead it lost at home to Georgia and nose-dived, going 4-6 the rest of the season, including the loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

    You can already see the potential for disaster here. Some already are making bowl plans for Miami (home of next season’s BCS championship). Open with easy wins over Georgia Southern, Central Michigan and South Carolina and some will skip ahead several games in their mind to Florida week.

    Beat the Gators and it will be, “How would we have done against Nebraska in ‘71?”

    “There’s always a danger factor,” Stafford said, “when people talk about you being No. 1 or No. 2, but only if you treat it the wrong way.”

    So far, the Dogs are 0-0. The trick is remembering that.Expectations could bite Dogs
     
  2. Terry O'Keefe

    Terry O'Keefe Well-Known Member Administrator

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    I wonder if Tailback has already put his money down in a Vegas Sports Book? :wink: :wink:
     
  3. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Yeah Terry, I wonder too!
     
  4. Motorcity Gator

    Motorcity Gator Well-Known Member

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    And this coming from a team that needed an injured Tebow and a couple of timely Moore fumbles to get by Florida and even that didn't win the SEC East for the pups......... :lol:
     
  5. Tailback

    Tailback Guest

    LOL MG. You guys can't tackle this guy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Zdkm-RAYo

    How will you stop 2 of them? UGA is bringing the best backfield it has ever had to Jax this year. Dawgs will rush for 500 yards against that defense.
     
  6. George Krebs

    George Krebs Well-Known Member

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    I don't blame Georgia for thinking big... they are hte team to beat in the SEC in my view.

    And TB, I see you're happy with the gift from the Garden State. His mom works for one of my best customers. I'm going to see if she can wrangle some NC game tix for me :wink:
     
  7. Tailback

    Tailback Guest

    I love the guy. He brings it every play.

    As far as his Mom goes, She'll retire soon.
     
  8. Motorcity Gator

    Motorcity Gator Well-Known Member

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    I suspect also that the Dawgs will catch a healthy Tim Tebow this time around and who knows how healthy Georgia will be after the war at LSU.
     
  9. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Hey Tailback, he's a heck of a back. However you will be facing a Gator team with a much better defense next season.

    I'll go on record that not only do you not rush for 500 yards but the Gators win.

    I'll also have to agree with George that Georgia will go into the season as the SEC favorite. In fact very likely to be ranked number one.
     
  10. Tailback

    Tailback Guest

    GB, We'll see. One thing I've always believed is if you can run the ball against UF, you will win.

    We have 2 backs this year.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZe99cnBT4s&feature=related
     
  11. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Tailback, with all due respect, the Gators have won 15 of the last 18 games against the Dawgs. Are you telling me that you haven't had several good running backs during that time?

    The Gators offense will be better this year than last and our defense will also improve. Having said that I will still agree that Georgia should be favored next year to win the SEC.

    But I will also predict you won't get by the Gators next season.

    Just my humble opinion.
     
  12. Tailback

    Tailback Guest

    Yeah that pretty much sums it GB. The running game hasn't been a factor at UGA for a long time. It is now though. The Gators can't tackle him either.
     
  13. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    TB, I think you read what I said wrong.

    You've had runners in the last 18 years and the Gators continued to win. I'm just stating that I expect that trend to resume next season.
     
  14. Tailback

    Tailback Guest

    Here's a look at the spring game. #4 isn't Mareno, He's Caleb King.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8r51ikm970
     
  15. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Looks like he may be a really good runner TB.

    However I still like our chances.
     
  16. Motorcity Gator

    Motorcity Gator Well-Known Member

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    "We have 2 backs this year."


    That is of course if both are healthy for the Florida game by the time Georgia makes it that far and the week after playing LSU. Of course if the Dawgs are not healthy I will vehemently deny that it was a factor in the Georgia loss to the Gators.... :wink:

    Also...last time I looked only one back can carry the ball at one time.

    Bill, in a lot of those 15 wins if not most of them, Florida has had an open date the week before the Georgia game.....like this year....and I don't recall Georgia having to play a game as tough as the one at LSU the very week before the game in Jax. :D

    Prior to 1990 when Georgia dominated the series UF played Auburn for many, many years the very week before the Georgia game while Georgia was either on open date or playing Kentucky.

    For those not tuned in to SEC football it would be like Notre Dame playing Southern Cal every year the week before the Michigan game while the Wolverines were either off or playing Northwestern.

    It makes a difference.
     
  17. Bear Down Rick

    Bear Down Rick Active Member

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    Does the defense always know in advance which back it will be?
     
  18. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Good point Rick, however these days I think there are typically only one real running back in the game most of the time. :wink: :wink:
     
  19. Bear Down Rick

    Bear Down Rick Active Member

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    Which would make rest and freshness factors. And yes, running backs feel they get stronger, get into the flow and see holes better with more touches over the course of the game, but I'd still list two running backs as being a good thing.
     
  20. Gator Bill

    Gator Bill Well-Known Member Administrator

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    I see two running backs as a good thing also, for sure as a matter of fact. But still I don't think there will be much doubt as to which one will get the ball.

    Hey with the way Marino tore up the Gators last year, I would probably run him every play if our defense hasn't improved.