SDS continues a series looking in depth at teams and their biggest subplots heading into 2015. Next up, the Georgia Bulldogs.
1. A DECADE OF FUTILITY
It’s been 10 long years since Georgia last won an SEC Championship and an impatient fan base unwilling to spend a minute longer in the college football version of the wilderness thinks this just might be the year the drought ends.
And with good reason.
The Dawgs are arguably the most talented team in the entire conference, loaded with future pros on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense.
Sophomore running back Nick Chubb stamped himself among the elite college football running backs after grinding up 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman. He’ll again shoulder most of the load, but will have capable help with the likes of Sony Michel and a healthy Keith Marshall. But opposing defenses will be keying on the Georgia power running game, meaning that whoever emerges as the team’s starting quarterback will have to consistently make plays to keep them honest.
The Bulldogs defense will again rank as one of the nation’s best with the likes of Leonard Floyd, Jordan Jenkins and Lorenzo Carter terrorizing opposing quarterbacks and ball carriers.
Assuming they stay healthy, the sky is the limit for these Dawgs.
2. AVOIDING THE FACEPLANT
Last year, it came in Jacksonville at the hands of rival Florida, the year before that was a befuddling setback at Vanderbilt. It seems like every year the Bulldogs drop a game they have no business losing to kill any momentum they had building.
They were physically manhandled in last year’s meeting in Jacksonville against a Florida team that was reeling after losing three of its previous four games. The stunning 38-20 loss not only slammed the brakes on the positive buzz Georgia had going for it following an impressive 34-0 road beat down of Missouri, but opened the door up for the Tigers to storm back and claim the SEC East crown for the second consecutive season.
It’s become a maddening trend for Bulldogs fans, and the team needs to avoid to such another such calamity this fall.
3. CAN NICK CHUBB WIN THE HEISMAN TROPHY?
Your natural reaction is, well, of course he can. Chubb is easily one of the nation’s top running backs and he plays for one of the more marquee teams in college football’s marquee conference.
Right? Well, maybe not.
No SEC running back has won the Heisman Trophy since Alabama’s Mark Ingram took the trophy home in 2009. You have to go all the way back to Auburn’s Bo Jackson in 1985 to find the previous SEC running back to claim the Heisman Trophy.
The reasons for that drought are numerous, not the least of which is that race to be recognized as college football’s top player has largely become a quarterback-driven one. Playing in the rugged SEC also means it’s more likely any given week that your team could lose and thereby lessen your chances.
But Georgia is loaded with talent, and, assuming he stays healthy, Chubb might be wise to make some room in his trophy case.
SDS TAKEAWAYS
The season is yet to start, but we already know a lot about the Georgia football team.
We know that Nick Chubb will get his number called early and often this season, and that the sophomore tailback will again put up some gaudy numbers to power the Bulldogs offense. We know that Georgia’s defense is led by an elite group of linebackers capable of getting to opposing quarterbacks in a hurry and this unit will be very, very good.
It’s what people don’t know yet about the Bulldogs that makes some wonder whether this is actually the year Georgia again reigns supreme in the SEC and perhaps contends for a national title. Who will emerge to become the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback and can he make enough plays to make opposing defenses pay for exclusively focusing on Chubb and a potent Dawgs ground game?
Coach Mark Richt’s team might play its most dangerous game of the year on Nov. 7. That’s when Kentucky comes to town. The timing of the game screams “trap game” because it comes sandwiched between the annual meeting with rival Florida and the following week’s showdown at Auburn. No longer the league’s perennial doormat, the Wildcats are now a dangerous bunch capable of putting points up on the board quickly.
This is the kind of game against a seemingly-overwhelmed opponent that Georgia has lost in recent years.
That can’t happen again if the Dawgs hope to add another SEC banner to their cupboards.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
