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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2006 > December > 07
Thursday, December 7, 2006
2007 Season Arrives Early
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So, Virginia Tech, ranked No. 14 nationally with a 10-2 record and the second bowl pick out of the ACC after champion Wake Forest, is only a 3-point favorite over Georgia, the unranked, 8-4 fifth pick out of the SEC.
Sounds about right.
Yeah, the Hokies have won six straight and are ranked higher than any other ACC team, including the champion Demon Deacons. Hardly resemble the team that got beat like a drum by the Yellow Jackets earlier in the season and then lost to Boston College the next week.
But then again the Georgia team that finished out with wins over two nationally ranked major rivals (including the then No. 5 team in the country and the same Yellow Jackets that embarrassed Virginia Tech) looks a whole lot different than the toothless team that dropped four out of five (a stretch that the poll voters still haven’t forgotten since those two wins weren’t enough to get us back into the Top 25).
Virginia Tech is the national leader in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense, but they’re not barnburners on offense, which probably accounts for it being just a 3-point spread over the Dawgs. And while we don’t want to get too comfortable being grateful for a bowl bid in Atlanta, this is the best scenario UGA could have hoped for coming out of that horrific midseason funk.
We’re playing the highest-ranked team not playing in a January bowl, and we’ll be doing it in front of a friendly crowd (though that doesn’t always mean much — witness the first half of the Sugar Bowl last year).
Best way for the Dawgs to approach it is that the new season begins Dec. 30 at the Georgia Dome, and we’ve got the kind of opening opponent Georgia fans have been hankering for.
BULLDOG BITES: I’m assuming I’ll be at the Dome on Dec. 30 since the Georgia Athletic Association says all season-ticket holders who ordered before Dec. 2 will get tickets (to be mailed out next week). I’m glad to hear Coach Richt and his staff are going to kick it up a notch with pre-bowl conditioning and preparations. The Dawgs looked awfully slow and out out of condition against West Virginia last season, especially on defense. … Meanwhile, the 2007 ticket priority package arrived this week. I see the Georgia Educational Enhancement Fund has been renamed the William C. Hartman Jr. Fund in honor of the late Coach Bill Hartman. A nice touch. But if I’m reading the glossy brochure correctly, they’ve moved up the cut-off point for receiving the Football Media Guide to a $1,000 annual contribution. Seems kinda chintzy for the nation’s most profitable athletic program. … I hate to sound churlish about this, but a couple of the Bulldogs’ postseason honors don’t make much sense to me. I mean, Martrez Milner making the All-SEC Coaches First Team? Sure, he was the Bulldogs’ second-leading receiver and an ace blocker, but he also had a bunch of key dropped passes. That’s good enough for first-team all-conference? And what about offensive tackle Daniel Inman being Georgia’s ONLY representative on the Associated Press All-SEC first team? The same Daniel Inman whose blocking was hit-or-miss and who was prone to drive-killing penalties? AP voters thought he was the most deserving Bulldog? You’ve gotta figure the folks voting in these beauty contests haven’t watched the players involved and are going mostly on pre-season expectations. Either that, or it was a really down year for offensive linemen in the SEC if Inman was one of the best. Hey, if any Georgia players deserved to be singled out for their performance this season, it was hardworking linebacker Tony Taylor (who did make the second team in both the AP and coaches’ lists) and overlooked fullback Brannan Southerland, the most dependable player we have.
