Georgia Bulldogs: Dawgs Picked To Finish Third In SEC East

The Birmingham News released their 65th Annual SEC Spring Football Preview this past Sunday and the general consensus is that South Carolina and Alabama will meet at the Georgia Dome for the 2011 SEC Championship. It's a prediction that seems popular but leaves me scratching my head for a couple of reasons.

For one, aside from Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery, the Gamecocks aren't likely to overwhelm anyone with their returning talent.

If Stephen Garcia plays—and that's more a when than an if to be honest—he has shown little in the way of maturity as far as his decision-making is concerned. Quite frankly, the guy should be pumping gas at an Exxon station based on the amount of trouble he's been in over the past five years.

Secondly, after Marcus Lattimore, who is responsible for keeping the running game afloat? This kid is the real deal, but if he has to miss a couple games again due to being banged up, Spurrier's in trouble.

As for Alabama being the team South Carolina meets in Atlanta, well, I guess that's fair—if only by default. There aren't any other teams in the SEC West that look like semi-pro conglomerates when you peruse their active roster. That said, Saban still has to address the fact that both Greg McElroy and Mark Ingram are gone.

Sure, Trent Richardson is there and he's going to be money, but he's spent the better part of his career playing in the media shadow of Mark Ingram. How will he handle receiving the brunt of the criticism should he hit a rough patch in the season? Even more, there's still the matter of replacing Julio Jones—ya know, the guy who caught better than 85 percent of their former quarterback's passes?

It just seems to me that the decision to make Alabama the favorite has more to do with a weak SEC West than a great Alabama team.

Georgia was picked to finish behind South Carolina and Florida, respectively, and the reason behind the choice had to do with the fact that "...Georgia had a lot of players taken in the NFL Draft in April and now the Bulldogs are in search of a bevy of starters. Even worse, leading rusher Washaun Ealey was given his unconditional release because of off-the-field issues during the offseason. The biggest name missing is receiver A.J. Green, who will next be seen in the NFL."

While I can certainly agree that Georgia will miss the defensive talents of both Justin Houston and Akeem Dent, as well as offensive starters A.J. Green and Kris Durham, I am not ready to hang the possibility of a questionable running game on the departure of Washaun Ealey.

To be honest, there are more than a few Georgia fans who would be willing to argue that the ball security issues, suffered by both Caleb King and Washaun Ealey, played a key role in several of Georgia's losses (South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Colorado to name a few) last season.

Ealey's loss will be felt on the depth chart, but his release became a necessary evil if Georgia was to move in a more productive and positive direction in 2011.

Even so, it's nice to see the Bulldogs in the underdog position as they just might be able to sneak up on a few folks this season if they perform at a more consistent level this year.

The Birmingham News also selected "the best in the SEC" for 2011 and Blair Walsh, Drew Butler, Aaron Murray, and Orson Charles were selected as tops at their respective positions.

Ben Jones and Brandon Boykin also made an appearance on the list.

What say you...will Georgia finish third in the East?

Related articles

• Georgia Bulldogs: Ben Jones Named To 2011 Rimington Watch List (theladysportswriter.blogspot.com)
• Ex-UGA RB Ealey to drop down a level, play in '11 (collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com)
• Washaun Ealey: "...I probably need to go somewhere I can focus." (theladysportswriter.blogspot.com)

Georgia Bulldogs Offer 2012 Prospect Dillon Lee

Whenever you mention the Georgia Bulldogs and Dillon Lee in the same sentence, most people only have one thought: why hasn't Georgia offered him yet?

Well, finally, after it seemed Georgia would let this top in-state product get away, they extended an offer to the stud linebacker prospect from Buford High School in Buford, GA.

Lee is 6'4", 220, and seems tailor made for the 3-4 defense. He moves well, has great presence in space, and uses his hands well—he's played tight end and could play there at the next level depending on his college choice. Personally, I feel he'll make his living on defense as an outside linebacker as he has too much defensive upside.

He's a big hitter who knows how to get into the backfield and lay out a guy.

With such a late offer by the Bulldogs, most would assume that Mark Richt's bunch are well out of the race, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Lee is reportedly adding Georgia to his list of finalists and will be considering them as a possible destination in 2012—although most still feel he could land in Tuscaloosa with the Crimson Tide (FSU is also a real possibility).

One thing is certain, Lee looks like he's ready to be a big time ball player at the next level.

College Football ATS Picks: South Carolina Looks To Knock Off Florida State

The biggest game on the national menu will take place in the Georgia Dome this evening as Florida State locks up with South Carolina for the rights to a 10-win season—the first either team will have seen in quite some time.

South Carolina has fresh memories of their last trip to the Dome—a 56-17 beat down at the hands of Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers—however this game won't bear any resemblance to that one.

Florida State quarterback, Christian Ponder, is expected to make his triumphant return, but he's no Cam Newton and the Seminoles won't have a Nick Fairley to terrorize quarterback Stephen Garcia.

South Carolina has plenty of weapons at its disposal—from freshman running sensation Marcus Lattimore to future NFL draft pick, Alshon Jeffery—not to mention a defense that is tough against the run and well-rested coming into the contest.

Florida State has shown brilliance on both offense and defense this season, but there are questions about the consistency of both units. Can the Seminoles contain the Gamecock's rushing attack for a full 60 minutes?

Will Christian Ponder be ready to come back at full-strength and infuse the Seminoles' offense with the leadership it needs to win the game?

Both teams have plenty to play for so the only question truly is 'who wants it more'?

ATS picks follow. All lines are courtesy of VegasInsider.com. The 'Lady' is 8-9 in ATS bowl picks thus far.

South Florida at Clemson, Meineke Car Care Bowl: Clemson (-5.5)

Clemson isn't a world-beater, but they field a very tough defense and it's tough to imagine that the Bulls will have an answer for anything the Tigers throw at them today—Da'Quan Bowers should be in for another big game.

The Lady's Pick: Clemson to cover

Notre Dame at Miami Hurricanes, Sun Bowl: Miami (-2.5)

Flip a coin in this game as neither side is in the best shape coming into the contest.

The Irish lost many of their games this season due to inconsistent play and key injury. However, they want to finish the year strong and reset for 2011.

As for Miami, coach Shannon is gone, and it is unclear how many players will be motivated to play their best brand of football without their guy on the sideline.

It's a tough one to call, but the return of Jacory Harris might be the difference in this one.

The Lady's Pick: Miami to cover

Central Florida at Georgia, Liberty Bowl: Georgia (-6.5)

Pay attention to the way Georgia plays the run in this one. The Knights are a strong rushing team behind the trio of Ronnie Weaver, Jeff Godfrey, and Latavius Murray and five of Georgia's six losses this season came as a result of poor run defense biting them in the backside.

As for the Knights, they will have the tough task of defending a Georgia passing game that features, arguably, the best wide receiver in the country in A.J. Green. Look for Aaron Murray to take to the air early in this one—hopefully opening up some room for Washaun Ealey and Carlton Thomas to make a play or two against a tough Knights run defense.

The Lady's Pick: UCF to cover

Florida State at South Carolina, Chick-Fil-A Bowl: South Carolina (-3)

Florida State will see the return of Christian Ponder, but unless the Seminole defense can find an answer for a healthy Marcus Lattimore and a determined Alshon Jeffery, that won't matter much.

While both teams sport good run defenses, the edge has to go to the Gamecocks here as they will likely be the most motivated to play well today—erasing the debacle of the SEC Championship from their memory.

The Lady's Pick: South Carolina to cover

Related articles

• Florida State vs. South Carolina Pick, Point Spread & Betting Trends: December 31st 2010 (touthouse.com)
• 2010 SEC Bowl Previews (blogcritics.org)
• Chick-Fil-A Bowl, South Carolina Vs. Florida State: Two Near-BCS Teams Do Battle In Atlanta (sbnation.com)

Georgia Bulldogs Football: Will 2011 Be Mark Richt's Rebound Year?

The Georgia Bulldogs might have lit just the spark they needed to get the fanbase and the players pumped up for a rebound in 2011.

Greg McGarity, Georgia's newest athletic director, announced on Friday evening that the team would open their season in the Georgia Dome—against Boise State.

Boise and Georgia have met before, but any Boise fan will be quick to let you know that this Boise team is nothing like the one the Bulldogs annihilated in 2006. No, this Boise team is likely to arrive in Atlanta sporting a Top 5 ranking and, very likely, will be favored to beat a Georgia team that will be coming off another disappointing season.

That said, will 2011 be the year that Mark Richt finally puts it all together?

If his staff can come up with a gameplan to defeat the Broncos in what promises to be a heavily red and black skewed crowd, then the rest of the schedule looks promising.

Georgia will have six true home games (South Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Mississippi State, New Mexico State, Auburn, and Kentucky). Two of those games are wins—no question. The others present a challenge but, in year two of the 3-4, one would hope that the defense is able to fix what ails them—starting with their propensity towards missing defensive assignments.

That factor alone might have cost them at least 1-2 wins this season.

Even more, road games against Ole Miss (who will be looking to replace Jeremiah Masoli), Georgia Tech (who will be replacing both Josh Nesbitt and Anthony Allen), and Vanderbilt, should present less of a challenge for Georgia than either Tennessee (who seems to have found their quarterback in Tyler Bray) or Florida.

One thing is for certain, Georgia fans will be looking for something big from Richt in 2011, as this could be his last year to prove his worth as Georgia's head coach.

Let's Be Blount: Tampa Bay Coach, Raheem Morris, Can't Blame Sunday's Loss on His Radio

This is just comical: Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, Raheem Morris, is making a thinly-veiled attempt at blaming his team's loss on Sunday to radio problems.

Tampa Bay beat writer, Rick Stroud, posted this message, via his Twitter account, on Monday afternoon:

 

Really, Raheem? That's your best excuse for losing the game? Come on, man. We all know that you believe you're the coach of the "best team in the NFC",  but that doesn't mean they won't get beat every now and then, does it?

Even more, you still had another opportunity to win the game, or at least take over the lead, on 4th down when you decided to run LeGarrette Blount. Did the Falcons brass also ensure that an invisible force field dropped down from the Georgia Dome's rafters to stop his progress as well?

Hmm, let's take a look and see:



No...nothing to see there—except a Falcons defense that managed to hold.

Just tip your hat to the Falcons, Raheem. Your guys played tough, but they lost this one and, radio malfunction or not, you had every opportunity to win the game on Sunday.

So, take your lumps and move on—don't offer excuses.

You lost. They won. End of story.