Sports Page Atlanta

On a very rainy day in Athens the feeling was that people were not going to come out and support the UGA football team. But, at around two o’clock the fans came out of the wood work. Some were tailgating, but most showed up right on time. It is the largest turn out for a spring game that I have seen in the seven years that I have been attending the G-Day game, despite the weather.

With the eight minute quarters it was a short game, but we got a preview of what we are in store for this fall. Stafford looked solid going 6 for 10 with 78 yards and a touchdown. He had the poise and command that everyone has been talking about all year. At half-back Knowshon Moreno looked good, with his limited playing time. But, the buzz around the stadium was how well Caleb King would run the ball. He looked pretty smooth and made people miss. He had 6 carries for 31 yards and 2 receptions for 17 yards. King displayed his quick feet by making a man miss with a nifty spin move at mid-field. That move brought most of the fans to there feet and had most people feeling like we are going to have two special running backs. At receiver Israel Troupe and Michael Moore brought the people to their feet with their combined numbers of 5 receptions for 92 yards and a TD.

The defense looked pretty good. I got a chance to talk to defensive standout Dannell Ellerbe and asked him how the defense played and he responded with “I think the defense played an overall average ball game.” He was right on the mark with that comment. The defense didn’t look that bad and it didn’t look all that amazing it was just an average game. When I asked Ellerbe, in his eyes who stood out on the defensive side of the ball he said “that John Knox and Jarius Wynn were the two that played a good game.” John Knox had 4 tackles and one pick on the day while Jarius Wynn had four big tackles.

The day went well. I saw both intensity and desire out there. When I asked Dannell if he felt that he needed to step up and become a leader this year he said, “Of course I do, but it is not a new role for me because I was already a leader last year.” All in all it was a pretty solid day for the Dawgs and with veteran leaders like Dannell on the team, I am sure when practice starts back up at the end of the summer, he will help lead the team in recovering the same momentum and intensity that they played with last season.
photo credit: popofatticus

In 2002 it felt as though the numbers lined up for the University of Georgia Football team. It seemed that with the twenty year SEC championship drought on everyone’s mind and a team that could be great, people expected some kind of SEC miracle. The numbers just seemed to line up. Fresh off a season with a hobnail boot and a new coach getting his feel for the team the next year just seemed to have it all line up to shatter that drought. Of course we all know with a Michel Johnson’s miracle catch in the Auburn game the rest was history and the numbers indeed lined up.

This 2008 season seems to line up in the same kind of way. Destiny seems to smile on the team as the 2008 schedule, with the leap year, end’s up having all the same dates as that magical 1980 season in which the Dawgs won it all. Due to the longer schedule there is an extra game, but here is how it all lines up:

2008 Schedule                                                1980 Schedule
Aug. 30 Georgia Southern                                 Extra game due to longer season.
Sept 6 Central Michigan                                     Sept 6 Tennessee
Sept 13 South Carolina                                       Sept 13 Texas A&M
Sept 20 Arizona State                                        Sept 20 Clemson
Sept 27 Alabama                                                 Sept 27 Texas Christian
Oct 11 Tennessee                                               Oct 11 Mississippi
Oct 25 LSU                                                         Oct 25 Kentucky
Nov 1 Florida                                                      Nov 1 South Carolina
Nov 8 Kentucky                                                  Nov 8 Florida
Nov 15 Auburn                                                    Nov 15 Auburn
Nov 29 Georgia Tech                                          Nov 29 Georgia Tech

Fate is a strong word to use when you want something as important as a national title for a team, but is that not the perfect example of the “numbers lining up”. The numbers just seem to be right and the team just seems to have the talent and maybe all we need is that small touch of destiny to put us over the top. This could be one of those years.

How will the high pre-season ranking that UGA will receive at the end of the summer affect the mentality of the team in the fall? This question has been going through the heads of the people of the Dawg nation since the University of Georgia ending their season as arguably the best team in the nation last year.

In the past the Dawgs have not done well with the high pre-season ranking. In recent history the Dawg fans have had to live through this bad omen before. Everyone remembers the dreaded 2004 season which had Georgia pre-season ranked no. 3. We crushed the national champion LSU tigers at home and then we got our hearts broken the next weekend by the Vols in Sanford stadium. Also, who could forget the Terrence Edwards drop in 2002 against Florida that would have cemented Georgia’s national title appearance? We were ranked eighth in the pre-season polls that year and before that game we had moved up into the top five.

With the season ahead of us the schedule looks very demanding. With away games like South Carolina and Arizona State back to back and the four game away gauntlet that consist of LSU, Florida, Kentucky, and Auburn can the Dawgs navigate this schedule without a loss?

Normally, with the recent history that we have gone through as Georgia fans I would have a negative attitude saying “no way not going to happen,” but I have never seen a Georgia team with this much enthusiasm and drive to be the best. Did the pile up in the Florida game, which brought every player to the middle of the field, change the mentality of this Georgia team for the next few years; will that momentum carry on to the season where the Dawgs will certainly need it the most? Well, the Dawgs have won seven in a row since that afternoon in Florida and I haven’t seen any indication that suggests the momentum won’t continue on especially since Georgia is returning a ton of people. I have never seen a more dominate Dawgs team in my lifetime. Regardless of schedule this team has the confidence, rarely seen in a Dawgs team, which can keep the Dawgs on top. Fall can’t come soon enough for college football fans. For the Dawg fans this might be a special one.

Watch many Georgia Bulldog football games? Listen up. The Dawgs are at the point in the spring time where the number battle begins. Here is a list of the Dawgs that have changed their numbers for the next season.

• QB Sophomore Logan Gray is swapping from number 19 to snag Lumpkin’s number 6
• Tailback Sophomore Caleb King switches from 22 to 4.
• RT Redshirt Sophomore Kiante Tripp who wore two numbers last year (92, 64) finds his permanent number with former bulldog Fernando Velasco’s 75
• Linebacker Redshirt Sophomore Akeem Hebron is now going to be (37)

Now that the number changes are out of the way lets move on to the new guys. With a great recruiting class coming in, it seems that there will be a mad scramble to pick a number in which the player feels that he can be successful. The early enrollees get first dibs on numbers, and here is a list of those players.

• WR Tavarres King picks (12)
• RB Richard Samuel goes with (22)
• RB Dontavious Jackson settles on (27)
• OL Ben Jones reaches a decision on (61)

Hopefully the numbers that these guys picked will provide that extra surge to make them the dominate players that the dawg nation hopes they will become.