No. 22: Georgia Bulldogs

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 22 is Georgia.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

For a guy whose nine seasons as Georgia's coach have ended six times in double-digit wins, Mark Richt is inexplicably on the hot seat. Such is life in the ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference.

---

EXTRA: Images From 2009 Georgia-Oklahoma State Game

---

Richt's squad went into last year trying to recover from the departures of offensive stars Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. And this year, the Dawgs will start a new quarterback for the second straight season, but their rushing attack could prove to be one of the SEC's finest.

Click to read more ...

Three Thoughts For Thursday

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

ATLANTA -- I've got some non-football items to address today. I was born here in Atlanta, but only lived here until I was 2 years old.

So mom wants me to visit our old church and maybe even the hospital where I was born. I think I'll also visit our old neighbors, the Pompilios. 

And I need to hit Best Buy because, and let me know what you think of this: The 1TB external hard drive I bought right before I left on this tour doesn't work. I saved some things to it each of the first two or three weeks, and then it just sat unused but well traveled for a month. It must have gotten kicked or something by the baggage handlers.

Anyway, the Best Buy people said they'd do a free exchange, in which case I'd get a new drive but would lose the content on the old one that I'd return to them. Or they'd ship it out for the data to be retrieved for several hundred dollars. It's really a no-win situation. Isn't the point of guaranteeing the products you sell to protect consumers from having to dig deep into their pockets to pay for fixes that shouldn't have to be made in the first place?

But before I set out for the day, here are three quick football takes:

+ Cincinnati can run the table in the Big East and still won't play for the national championship. Boise State's unimpressive win last night at Tulsa was the Broncos' last chance to lose; they're home free the rest of the way. And if Boise's rank in the BCS standings at the end of the season isn't higher than Cincinnati's, a one-loss SEC team's will be.

+ I won't wait until after the USC game to say this, but Jimmy Clausen (pictured, above) is not a Heisman Trophy candidate. I know I wrote this season that a good Notre Dame team is good for the sport, but we don't need to try so hard to make it seem that that squad actually is good. The Irish lost to a decent Michigan team and struggled to beat bad Purdue and Michigan State teams. Let's take it easy with Clausen, who's a nice talent and will certainly play on Sundays, but after USC's defense shuts him down, the calligrapher can take his name off the invite list for a December trip to New York.

+ I don't get sports radio. I understand that Atlanta is more of a pro town, but when the local screamers talk about college football, they lose me. I hate that our culture is so obsessed with perfection, that if Mark Richt (pictured, above) leads struggling Georgia to only seven or eight wins this year, he and/or his assistants need to be fired. The 'Dawgs are 2-3, but fans knew it would be hard to replace both Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno on offense. Sometimes bad experiences can lead to good growth; fans just need to be patient to let it happen naturally. Would replacing Richt really make for a much better season in 2010?

The Greatest Headline in the History of Sports Journalism

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- I made a few friends in Stillwater two weeks ago, and one of them, a Georgia fan named Michelle, sent me an excellent note Tuesday night.

It's a link to a blog called Catfish and Cornbread. Friday's entry was called "The Greatest Headline in the History of Sports Journalism." Click here to read it.

It's actually coincidental -- not ironic -- that I opened Michelle's email as I was watching Frank Deford's excellent piece on HBO's "Real Sports," where, according to Bryant Gumble, nothing is out of bounds. Deford examined the demise of sports journalism and talked to some of the genre's best who seem to unanimously blame online news and this very blogosphere for the decline of hard-hitting sports coverage.

HBO seems to replay things frequently; I recommend watching Deford's piece pronto.

After Arrest, Cox Says Cowboys Ready For Prime Time

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

STILLWATER, Okla. -- After Georgia blasted Oklahoma State in 2007, Cowboys Coach Mike Gundy said his team wasn't ready for big-time games like that one. But two years later, OSU players now say they're up to the challenge, including defensive back Perrish Cox, fresh off last week's arrest for allegedly driving with a suspended license.

Oklahoma State, unranked before the 2007 meeting with the traditionally strong Bulldogs, finds itself in a unique position -- ranked among the nation's top ten teams before a single game has been played.

Saturday's meeting at Boone Pickens Stadium will be one of the top games in the country this weekend, and it's arguably the biggest season opener in team history.

There's so much focus on the game that Gundy kept the media away from practice for 10 days. Monday's luncheon was the first chance for reporters to ask their oh-so-critical questions.

And Cox, one of the nation's top dual-threats -- he's a lockdown corner who returns kicks with the best of them -- said he thinks he and his defensive mates are ready to improve a unit that was among the worst in the country.

NCAA's Handshake Move Rattles Gundy

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

STILLWATER, Okla. -- There's going to be some feel-good college football this weekend, particularly in Columbus when Ohio State fans are expected to stand and applaud when visiting Navy takes the field before it gets slaughtered by the Buckeyes.

YOUR THOUGHTS: Should teams shake hands before the game?

And in other games that don't have BCS implications, student-athletes will shake hands with their opponents before going to battle.

The NCAA has encouraged its schools to ask their players to meet their opponents at midfield for pregame handshakes this weekend. But some teams are thinking about things far more important than the practice of good sportsmanship.

Heck, here in Stillwater, Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has a national championship to chase this year, beginning with a huge tilt at home Saturday against national power Georgia.

Monday was my first face-to-face exposure with the man whose "I'm-a-man-I'm-40" meltdown was a YouTube sensation in 2007, and he told a room full of reporters familiar with the program that he didn't want to get riled up about the handshake sitch. Gundy light-heartedly asked a reporter not to inquire about the NCAA's suggestion, but the reporter of course pressed anyway.

"You have 110 or 115 (Oklahoma State players) that could potentially be in uniform and (Georgia's) bringing approximately 70," Gundy reasoned. "It just takes one guy to pop off, and I don't know that we could get it broken up before the game. That's one thing that concerns us."

Should a pregame donnybrook ensue, you can bet you'll see pictures of it right here on One Great Season.

"I have a lot of respect for (Georgia) Coach (Mark) Richt and their team and I'm sure he probably does for us, but how do you control something like that?"

Though the game is just a few days away, Gundy said he's still uncertain what to do.

"We haven't made that decision," he said. "It's a difficult decision."

OSU LB Expects "Old-School" Battle With Bulldogs

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Andre Sexton is hardly old-school. He's that new kind of hybrid linebacker/safety that's become all the rage in the sport the last couple of years. But that doesn't mean he's unclear about what tradition-rich Georgia will bring to Boone Pickens Stadium for college football's biggest game this opening weekend.

I had the pleasure Monday of meeting a couple guys from the OSU school newspaper, The Daily O'Collegian. Ryan Stewart told me it will be a sad day for local sports scribes when Sexton plays his final game for the Cowboys, since "he's the best interview on the team by far."

Sexton said while he's aware of Georgia's speed and athleticism, he doesn't expect the Bulldogs to forget to pack some of that "old-school" power for the trip.

Zac Robinson Says Passing Game Deeper Than Dez

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Zac Robinson, with his mop-top hanging just above those Adrian Grenier Hollywood blues, told reporters at Monday's media luncheon that his team is deeper and more mature than it was last year, so it's time to turn those close losses they couldn't finish last year into victories in 2009.

Plenty of preseason attention has gone to Robinson, his star wideout Dez Bryant and fellow stud Kendall Hunter at running back. But Robinson said the passing offense goes beyond Bryant, that there's a virtual entourage of receivers from which he'll be able to choose when SEC power Georgia visits Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday.

One Great Season Tour Kicks Off

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

STILLWATER, Okla. -- It's official: the One Great Season tour has arrived in Stillwater for Week One of what promises to be, well, one great season.

I'll be covering the Georgia vs. Oklahoma State game here at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday, but throughout the week leading up to the big season-opener, I'll try to capture some of the color and flavor for those of you who aren't here with me.

Follow | Subscribe | Donate