In July, I wrote a season preview for this UGA team from the point of view of an extremely confident, yet uneasy fan. I knew this team had the talent, and depth in the right areas, to compete from Day One, but fate hadn’t been on our side for quite some time. As I mentioned in the article, our pre-season title hopes in ’08 were cut short by crippling attrition (seventeen potential starters lost due to injury) and the lack of a defense. In ’09, injury caused a freshman Aaron Murray to redshirt as opposed to gaining valuable game experience, while the rushing attack was inconsistent. In 2010, a redshirt freshman Murray was thrown into the fire with his security blanket, AJ Green, suspended for the first four games of the season. Before this season, the team’s two leading rushers left the program, along with promising offensive lineman Brent Benedict. To the rest of the country, UGA was down and Mark Richt was on the way out, and at that point in time I couldn’t blame them for their sentiment.
Rather than debate with the fans that had little to no clue about the workings of our program, personnel, recruiting, staff changes, however, I documented my thoughts and, like the team, was rewarded handsomely.
What I got right
· It wasn’t like I went out on a huge limb by saying Aaron Murray may end up as the most prolific QB to ever come through Athens, but I didn’t expect him to break Matthew Stafford’s single-season touchdown record this soon. I knew he had the ability to “spread the ball around and put up points,” but I never would’ve imagined this stat; 12 different players have caught touchdowns for the Dawgs, four receivers have recorded at least 30 receptions.
· If you’re familiar with recruiting, returning personnel, and coaching philosophy, you probably saw the return of the Junkyard Dawgs coming a mile away. I remarked that the front seven would make the secondary’s job much easier and improve third-down defense. The defense improved from 79th nationally to 2nd this year, a testament to the pieces finally coming together for the 3-4 scheme.
· I knew we’d have to score to keep up with Boise State and South Carolina. Sadly, Boise State was experienced on the defensive line while we were young on the offensive line. Aaron Murray proved he could throw with the best of them against South Carolina, but also gave up turnovers that changed the outcome of the game. It also doesn’t help that UGA was without ballhawk Bacarri Rambo for the Boise game, and would lose their starting inside linebackers by the South Carolina game.
· Last but not least, in July I said “I see no more than three losses in this team’s future,” and even though I knew it’d be tough to beat South Carolina early in the season, I still could see a return trip to the Dome in our future if we busted our asses for the remainder of the schedule.
What I got wrong
· Earlier in the year I was one of those guys who predicts a starter who had disappointed to lose his job to a incoming recruit, and it came back to haunt me. Cornelius Washington disappointed in 2010, and bounced back in a major way. Dude made life hell for many an offensive tackle this year. I thought Shawn Williams would eventually lose his starting spot to Corey Moore, but Williams proved me wrong and became perhaps the most improved player on defense. Hats off to these Dawgs for sticking it out.
The dark days this team has faced, specifically, the classes of 2009 and 2010 will do wonders for their resolve in the future. Aaron Murray will enter this spring as a first-team all SEC quarterback, with 12 SEC road starts under his belt. He’s faced some impressive defenses and showed flashes of brilliance in his greatest challenge so far, LSU’s absurdly talented and deep squad. Aside from being slightly streaky and turnover-prone, Murray has held his own against quality teams. Coach Will Friend’s unit showed great progress this year, and will return a core of solid contributors, and the 2011-2012 recruiting classes look to be ripe with O-line talent. The 2011 class featured five offensive linemen and the 2012 class will bring anywhere from three to five, including consensus five-star left tackle John Theus.
Turning point
There are so many moments I could mention here. Punching the ball in from the goal line on Rocky Top was huge, as well as Malcolm Mitchell’s long receptions earlier in the game. The goal-line stand after a blocked punt to avoid a letdown vs. Vandy, as well as Marlon Brown’s game-clinching score vs. Kentucky are plays that probably would have gone the other way in previous years, and are a testament to the time these guys put into the new strength-and-conditioning regimen as well as the team’s resolve.
Play of the year
It’s pretty hard to argue with the significance of either of these: Michael Bennett and/or Tavarres King’s touchdowns vs. UF on 4th down, Quintavious Harrow’s big hit on the kickoff or Rambo’s pick-six vs. Auburn, or Jarvis Jones’ sack to seal the Florida game. However, my personal favorite comes from the same game. Honorable mention goes out to Sanders Commings and Amarlo Herrera for their HUGE hit on Jeff Demps at the goal line in the 3rd quarter. (At the 5:30 mark here : http://www.youtube.com/prsonmike#p/u/3/bx2xA4_H4Z8) There were plenty of great plays being made on defense all day, but that hit sent a shock through Dawg Nation and pretty much broke the spirit of the Gator offense. It seemed like speedsters a la Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey had been killing us for an eternity, it was great to see our guys get a good, clean shot at one of their scatbacks.
Superlatives
Offensive MVP – No question here: Aaron Murray.
Defensive MVP – None here either, Jarvis Jones led the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss, and could break David Pollack’s single-season sack record. He’s a great player and an even better person, helping this team on the field as well as in the locker room.
Offensive Newcomer – Isaiah Crowell and Malcolm Mitchell. A ton of credit should be given to Michael Bennett for the tremendous plays he made this year, but these true freshmen, in large part, lived up to the hype. Much will be made about Crowell’s durability and alleged attitude issues, but most won’t take into account that our depth at tailback might have been the worst in the SEC coming into this season.
I’m sure Isaiah never saw the departures of Washaun Ealey and mentor Caleb King coming, and combined with the fact that he never got this many carries (against SEC competition, no less) in high school caused a great deal of distress towards the end of the year. The suspension is all on him; however he has since apologized and deserves a second chance. The fans’ backlash has been sickening, considering the kid played with wrist, knee, and ankle injuries all year and still managed to get close to 1000 yards rushing as a freshman. Saddest part about the trash some fans are spewing is that it’s fueled in large part by rumors as well as Crowell’s easygoing sideline demeanor. However, all these problems could be remedied as soon as January, as the Dawgs look to bring in two solid backups in this year’s recruiting class. One of which, Keith Marshall, will enroll in his school of choice in January.
Malcolm Mitchell is even more low-key than Crowell; the kid doesn’t have a Facebook or a Twitter page. The true freshman from Valdosta led the team in receiving for the first half of the season until he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. It'll be fun to watch him bounce back from that disappointing drop in the LSU game.
Defensive Newcomer – Amarlo Herrera. One of the first commits of the 2011 class who helped hold it together during a tough season, Herrera was thrown into the fire along with Michael Gilliard when Alec Ogletree and Christian Robinson went down. The guy just bleeds red and black, and has been saying for months now that “UGA has a heartbeat.” Damn good Dawg.
Most improved (offense) – Carlton Thomas. After struggling to get touches in his first three seasons, Thomas came on strong to finish second on the team in rushing.. Although he struggled through multiple suspensions, I can’t ignore his contributions on the field. His runs against Auburn were greatly needed, even though the lead was never in danger.
Most improved (defense) – Shawn Williams/Michael Gilliard. I can’t be any more proud than I am of these South Georgia Dawgs. Many fans expressed doubts about the safeties earlier, but by the end of the year, Shawn Williams emerged as an all-around beast. Coming up to smack ballcarriers as well as causing breakup after breakup, Williams even started a game at inside linebacker.
Mike Gilliard is another Dawg who was greatly rewarded for his perseverance. In May 2010, Gilliard was thinking of transferring but stuck around, and is proving to be one of the best young linebackers in the conference after jumping into the starting lineup, finishing third on the team in tackles, notching 7 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception.
Spring sleeper – Ken Malcome. Another message board pariah, Malcome quit the team due to lack of playing time only to return the next day. A powerful downhill runner who had been slowed by nagging injuries, Malcome clearly thought he was more ready to play than the coaches did, and may have proved himself right with the carries he got. In the Kentucky game, he lost a fumble but showed burst and a knack for keeping his legs churning after contact. In the Georgia Tech game, the running game struggled for three quarters until they put the ball in Boo’s hands. Malcome shouldered the load and preserved a Dawg victory. We could see a great deal of Boo in the Outback Bowl, and I’m anxious to see how he’ll stack up against another top-five ranked defense.
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