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2011 SEC Preview

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Cha Cha Cha PublishingEditor

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Cheri LeavySports GuruJeff Dantzler

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SEC Preview, July 26, 2011

From the editor : vance leavyWith the SEC Media Days now in the books, college football

fans’ long wait to see what their team will look like in 2011 is almostover. And for our team and its fan base, that wait has been evenlonger after the lowliness of the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Like everyone in the Bulldog Nation, I can’t wait to see our boysrun onto the field in Georgia Dome the first Saturday of the new sea-son. Even though a successful football season is never determinedin September, I’m a firm believer there are always a few signs here andthere that give major clues to whether a team is of championshipcaliber or not.

A realistic look at Georgia’s home opener last year in Athensagainst an inferior Louisiana-Lafayette team should have had every-one who loves red and black worried. Our offensive line and run-ning backs could not manage consistent forward push in that opener.And guess what, nor could they in the final bowl game, where a 99yard drive ended with them settling for a demoralizing first quarterfield goal.

Yuck, what terrible memories.When such lows are reached, a college football program led by

their coach, his staff and most importantly, his players either throwin the towel and wait for the remaining cards to fall or they reversethe course and begin a climb to a place where they think they belong.

To me, Georgia began that climb at the SEC Media Days led bya very inspired and focused Mark Richt. There was no hemmingand hawing from our top guy. Instead, he acknowledged that theprogram had fallen way below where it needs to be. Despite that, it’squite obvious that he has managed to remain upbeat and confidentin the belief that a return to greatness is attainable.

Don’t’ believe me? Then read his answer to the final question hewas asked in Birmingham.

Question: Mark, you mentioned it was your 11th year. Talk aboutthe difficulty of being at a school in the SEC for over a decade?

Richt: “It's not difficult if you win (laughter). It's not difficult ifyou win 9, 10, 11 a year, win the Eastern Division every other year,win the SEC every three or four years. It's not a problem at all. It'swhen you get 6-7, that's when it's a problem. But greater days are

coming. The best is yet to come.”Since our coach was willing to make

such a bold statement, I decided it had tobe used on our cover for this SEC Pre-view/Media Days issue. No matter whereyou fall on Coach Richt at this point, astatement like this one has to be music toyour ears from a head coach.

I encourage everyone to go to RyanScates’ column on page 25 to read hisspot-on take of Richt’s performance in

Birmingham. I definitely couldn’t have said it better and probablycouldn’t have even gotten close to the job Ryan did of pinpointingRicht’s mindset during the most challenging times of his ultra suc-cessful coaching career.

My hope is that Richt’s players will all comprehend that theircoach has put his word on the line that the Georgia football programis soon to return to greatness. After all, it’s the players who have tomake the plays to win games. Or, it’s the players who have to avoidsilly mistakes and penalties that can lose games.

Damn, I’m fired up about this season. How about you?Unfortunately, we’re not quite there yet. But I feel certain this

issue of BI will certainly help you get through these painstakingly,long remaining days. Both Ryan and our newest member of BI, TravisRagsdale made the trip to SEC Media Days and they have deliveredsome great content in this issue.

Beginning on page 12, Travis gives us a quick look at each teamincluding a comment from either a coach or player that was in Birm-ingham. Yes, there hasn’t been a college football game since aroundJanuary 10, but it’s still a blast to get updates on all the teams in thegreatest conference in the land. And then on page 22, Travis gives ourreaders the lowdown on what our players had to say at Media Days.Brandon Boykin, Ben Jones and Aaron Murray are certainly deserv-ing of being chosen to represent not only our football team, but alsoour university. And not surprisingly, they did a helluva job!

And even though JD wasn’t in Birmingham, his writing in thisissue is sure to get your juices flowing. From him discussing in hiscolumn on page 4 of the pressures of winning in the SEC to his allSEC player selections (pages, 6 and 7) to his don’t miss games of2011 (page 28), you the reader is bound to find something you did-n’t know or something you either agree or disagree with. The truesign for something well written.

And even though Murray Poole didn’t make the trip to B-ham,his column (page 5) is a beauty filled with some awesome SEC mo-ments in Georgia football during his 40 plus years of covering theDawgs. After Cheri proofed it, she commented that many of Mur-ray’s choices were some of the best Munson calls of all time.

Now, I know you have to be fired up. With that, I will need tosay good-bye.

However before I do, please also check out Carlton DeVooght’srecruiting update on page 26 and our lifestyle coverage on pages 8and 29. There’s nothing like getting a reliable pound cake recipe fortailgates and learning about Katherine and Frank Chanley’s love ofthe Dawgs. Wow, and I almost forgot to mention all the photos inthis issue, but I’m confident you would have found them anyhow.

See you August 16 with our Fall Camp update issue, when fi-nally we’ll be able to report on some head knocking. Until then, staysafe and get your body in shape as another season is oh, so close!

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The wonderfully simple cover ofthe Southeastern Conference MediaGuide said it all. The Number Five.In an unprecedented run of excel-lence, dominance, power and bal-ance, four different schools havecombined to win five consecutive na-tional championships.

Over this five year stretch, withFlorida, LSU, Florida, Alabama andAuburn respectively capturing thecrystal pigskin, three other SECteams also finished in the nation’s topthree. LSU finished No. 3 in ’06,Georgia No. 2 in ’07 and Florida No.3 in ’09.

Seven different schools haveplayed in the SEC ChampionshipGame in this five year run.

Defending national championAuburn is picked by the league’smedia to finish fifth, not in the con-ference, but in the West division.

Highlighted by top pick CamNewton, the SEC sent the NationalFootball League an incredible crop ofunderclassman talent, including apair of Heisman Trophy winners.

There is a great deal of talent toreplace and the question is askedagain. Can another SEC team win yetanother national championship?

Well every year, four to six of thetop ten recruiting classes in the coun-try belong to SEC schools. So, theanswer is yes. Even though there is atremendous amount of talent – New-ton, Mark Ingram, Nick Fairley,Patrick Peterson, A.J. Green, MarcelDareus, Julio Jones and Ryan Mallettmost notably – that has moved on,the league is loaded with heir appar-ent players ready to step into leadingroles.

You’ve heard the term, “we don’trebuild, we reload.”

Welcome to the SEC. With all of the conference’s amaz-

ing success, the pressure not just tosucceed, but to excel is at an all-timehigh in the toughest league in theland.

Back in 2007, I wrote that for thefirst time since maybe the late 1960swhen “Bear” Bryant, Vince Dooley,“Shug” Jordan, Charley McClendon,Johnny Vaught, Doug Dickey and RayGraves stalked the league’s sidelines,that a majority of the fan bases forevery school in the conference washappy with their head coach.

Nick Saban and Bobby Petrinohad taken over at Alabama andArkansas. Houston Nutt had movedto Ole Miss. Les Miles was comingoff a great season and LSU was em-barking on a national title run.Sylvester Croom had a Liberty Bowlappearance in Starkville. Tommy Tu-berville had guided Auburn to a 33-5run from 2004 – 2006. In the SECEast, Mark Richt was leading Georgiato a No. 2 national ranking. UrbanMeyer had led the Gators to the 2006national championship. Phil Fulmertook Tennessee to the 2007 SECChampionship Game. Rich Brookshad Kentucky going to bowls, andBobby Johnson had Vandy zeroing inon its first bowl in a quarter century.And Steve Spurrier, one of theleague’s greatest ever coaches, wasbuilding at South Carolina.

Four years later, only six of thosecoaches remain in place.

The seat is warm to hot in at leasttwo SEC hotbeds.

But then again, every coach is abad year away from feeling the heat.

And the numbers don’t allow foreveryone to win a bunch every year.To win the league title, there are eightconference games to navigate andthen the SEC Championship Game.

Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia,Florida and Tennessee – the league’s“big six” traditional powers, whohave combined to win every SECChampionship going back to 1964 –can’t all win 10 or 11 games everyyear.

Not that it was ever easy, but inthe days of six conference games, itwas much easier to keep more fansand alumni happy. Plus, SEC titlescould be shared. In 1989, Alabama,Auburn and Tennessee (when therewere seven conference games in thedays before expansion and divisionalplay) were tri-champs. They all gotto raise championship banners.

To go undefeated in league playand win the SEC Championship, itused to take six and then for a fewyears seven wins. Now it takes nine!

For decades, the SEC has beenthe country’s strongest league. Fiveof the 13 winningest teams in collegefootball history – Alabama,Tennnessee, Georgia, LSU andAuburn – are SEC schools. Note, thisdoesn’t include Florida, which wasarguably the country’s best programin the 1990s and 2000s combined.

But beating up on one anothermade access to play for the nationalchampionship extremely tough. In1988, Auburn went 10-1, losing onlyat LSU 7-6 in the “EarthquakeGame,” when the Bayou Bengalstouchdown sent Tiger Stadium intosuch a frenzy that it caused Seismicactivity and registered on the RichterScale. A West Virginia team thatplayed an incredibly weak schedule,got the date to play Notre Dame forthe national championship. If thesame thing happened today, obvi-ously Auburn would get that berth.

When the SEC finally, throughsome incredible fortune and circum-stance in Florida’s case in 1996 and2006 and for LSU in 2007, got accessto play for the big prize, leagueschools kicked down the door. Thelast eight SEC schools to play in thenational championship game won –six by double digits.

What has truly separated the SECthough is not just the power, but it’sthe balance. While other leagueshave had outstanding runs – nonenear the SEC’s – it has been twoschools. Oklahoma and Nebraska.Ohio State and Michigan. Not fourdifferent schools.

What sent the league into yet an-other stratosphere last year headinginto this, is caliber of coaches atArkansas, South Carolina and Missis-sippi State – not the usual con-tenders. In a recent poll, Arkansas’sPetrino, the Gamecocks Spurrier, andMullen of MSU were all votedamongst the top five coaches in theleague.

Arkansas won 10 games andwent to the Sugar Bowl. South Car-olina played in the SEC Champi-onship Game and beat Georgia,Alabama, Tennessee and Florida,winning nine. Mississippi State beatGeorgia, Florida and Michigan, alsowinning nine times.

While the Gators, Volunteers andGeorgia won eight, six and six, theHogs, Gamecocks and MSU won 10,nine and nine. That’s 20 wins com-pared to 28.

And with Petrino, Spurrier andMullen at the helm, these three pro-grams aren’t going anywhere and willcontinue to be a huge factor.

So you’ve got the big six pro-grams, where double digit wins, topten rankings and SEC and BCS cham-pionship contention are regularly ex-pected, and now three more added tothe mix.

This means that the odds of someteam going undefeated are prettylong. But it’s happened the last twoyears. And with the strength of theconference and its dominance in na-tional championship games, a once-beaten SEC champion should be avirtual lock to play for the big prize.

The quest for the SEC title in At-lanta will be a typical grind. Butdon’t bet against whoever prevails inthe Georgia Dome to win it all onceagain in the Super Dome.

Immense pressure to excel in SEC

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If Georgia is to entertain thoughts of its firstSEC title since 2005, the Bulldogs are going tohave successfully navigate a conference slate thatincludes battles with South Carolina, Ole Miss,Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida,Auburn and Kentucky.

Would a 6-2 finish in the SEC be enough tosend Georgia on to the Georgia Dome in earlyDecember? It’s very possible that would beenough to get the Bulldogs to the title game, thatis, if those two losses didn’t come to defendingEast Division champion South Carolina and oldnemesis Florida.

But, most assuredly, every conferencecounter will be vital for Mark Richt’s team thisseason and if the Bulldogs are to reach deep andachieve their goals in 2011, they’re going to haveto take care of business in those eight SEC battles.Just the same way Georgia’s greatest champi-onship teams of the past rose to the occasion intheir biggest league tests.

But then, all of the Bulldogs’ greatest andmost exciting wins in SEC games didn’t alwaystranspire in championship seasons. The follow-ing is one long-time sportswriter’s listing of the 10most monumental wins by Georgia in SECgames. You may notice I don’t go back into theCharley Trippi, Frank Sinkwich years of the early1940s, when I was a babe in diapers, nor do I in-clude undeniably one of the Bulldogs’ best- everconference wins, when I was a teenager in 1959and Fran Tarkenton guided the Bulldogs to a stir-ring 14-13 win over Auburn and Georgia’s firstSEC crown since Wally Butts’ 1948 champions.

Interesting to note that, of my 10 listedgames, four of them were Bulldog victories overthe Florida Gators. A message in that? … Mostcertainly, in more seasons than not, the road toan SEC title for Georgia must be traversed suc-cessfully through Jacksonville Municipal Sta-dium.

But here they are, the Bulldogs’ best-everSEC wins in my mind, starting with No. 10 andworking down to the very top one:

(10) Oct. 28, 1978 – Georgia 17, Kentucky 16Not a championship season but it was hard

to beat the Bulldogs’ scintillating one-point winthat fall evening in Lexington, Ky. Down by 16-0in the third quarter, Georgia, led by captain WillieMcClendon, battled back to score two touch-downs and then marched down to the Wildcats’12-yard line, where time was called to get kickerRex Robinson in the game. Robinson’s 29-yardgame-winner came with three seconds remainingand evoked one of Larry Munson’s most famouscalls … “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!”

(9) Nov. 16, 1996 – Georgia 56, Auburn 49 (four overtimes)In the first overtime game in SEC history,

Georgia fell into a 28-7 first half hole and stilltrailed Auburn 28-14 in the fourth quarter. How-ever, Jim Donnan’s Bulldogs then staged a furi-ous rally to tie the score on the last play ofregulation, when Mike Bobo and Corey Allenhooked up on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Finally,after three extra periods, Georgia cashed the win-ning TD in the fourth OT, on a one-yard run byTorin Kirtsey. Still, the Bulldogs had to stopAuburn’s Dameyune Craig one yard short of afirst down on fourth-and-three at the Georgia 18to seal the exciting victory.

(8) Nov. 9, 1985 – Georgia 24, Florida 3Unlike most wins over Florida, the Bulldogs’

trouncing of the Gators in the fall of 1985 didn’tlead to an SEC championship but, oh, how sweetit was for Georgia fans that Saturday afternoon onthe banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville.For, you see, Galen Hall’s Gators came into thatgame ranked No. 1 in all the land … only to betrampled by a Bulldog running game featuringfreshman backs Keith Henderson and Tim Wor-ley and a tenacious Bill Lewis defense that would-n’t allow Florida to cash a touchdown.

(7) Dec. 3, 2005 – Georgia 34, LSU 14 (SEC championship game)Since this was the last time the Bulldogs cap-

tured the conference crown, this contest simplymust be included in our top 10 list of best Geor-gia SEC games. It wasn’t that great of a surpriseRicht’s Bulldogs beat the Tigers that early De-cember evening in the Georgia Dome but whatwas rather shocking was the manner in whichGeorgia simply dominated Les Miles’ team. Ledby senior quarterback and game MVP D.J.Shockley and Willie Martinez’s ball-hawking de-fense, the Bulldogs controlled the Tigers from theget-go and, in the process, made amends fortough late-season losses to Florida and Auburn.

(6) Nov. 6, 1976 – Georgia 41, Florida 27Surely, one of Georgia’s greatest victories ever

over Florida, taking only a back seat to the epic1980 game and perhaps the 1966 win in Jack-sonville. Trailing the favored Gators 27-13 at thehalf, the Bulldogs staged one of their best come-

backs to remain on track toward the SEC title.Led by Ray Goff’s three touchdowns passing andtwo running, the Dogs pummeled the Gators 28-0 in the second half. Of course, in Gator lore, thiswill always be known as the “Fourth-and-Dumb”game as UF coach Doug Dickey opted to go forit on a fourth-and-one on his own 29-yard line,only to see Georgia defensive back Johnny Hen-derson nail the Florida back for a one-yard loss tosend the momentum the Bulldogs’ way for good.

(5) Oct. 6, 2001 – Georgia 26, Tennessee 24Although the Bulldogs ended the 2001 sea-

son with just an 8-4 mark – the exact same recordthat Georgia had compiled under Donnan theprevious two years – this became a landmark vic-tory for Richt in his first year at the UGA helm.Most certainly, the team’s newly-adopted mottoof “Finish the Drill” became a reality that after-noon in Neyland Stadium. The Vols struck for along touchdown with just 49 seconds left butwith redshirt freshman quarterback DavidGreene rapidly passing the Dogs down to theVols’ 6-yard line, Georgia then put the 26-24 dag-ger in Tennessee’s heart as Greene simply lobbedthe ball to fullback Verron Haynes, wide open inthe UT end zone. Winning this game (Munson’sfamous “Hobnail Boot” call) gave Georgia theconfidence it could play with anybody on theroad in future outings.

(4) Nov. 5, 1966 – Georgia 27, Florida 10The Bulldogs were on their way to their first

SEC title under third-year coach Dooley but onthis day in the old Gator Bowl, Georgia was a de-cided underdog to 7th-ranked and unbeatenFlorida, which was led by eventual Heisman Tro-phy winner Steve Spurrier. But down 10-3 athalftime, Georgia unleashed senior All-Americatackle George Patton and sophomore tackle BillStanfill on Spurrier and, fueled by a 50-yard in-terception touchdown run by Lynn Hughes, theBulldogs went on to outscore the Gators 24-0 inthe final two quarters. It was said, after Spurrierbecame head coach of the Gators in 1990, that hisreason for wanting to beat the Bulldogs so badly(which he managed to do) stemmed right back tothe frustration he experienced against Georgia inthe 1966 meeting.

(3) Nov. 16, 2002 – Georgia 24, Auburn 21Who can ever forget this one as it was the

win that propelled the Bulldogs of second-yearmentor Richt on to their first SEC championshipin 20 years. And, just like the Tennessee game theprevious season, it was last-second magic byDavid Greene – this time connecting withMichael Johnson in the end zone corner on a 19-yard pass on a fourth-and-15 with just over aminute remaining – that sent Bulldawg Nationinto complete euphoria. “Touchdown, oh God atouchdown, in the corner, with 85 seconds left,”screamed Munson as the Bulldogs rallied from a14-3 halftime deficit.

(2) Sept. 6, 1980 – Georgia 16, Tennessee 15Can any list of Georgia’s all-time greatest vic-

tories be complete without this one …. the in-troduction of Herschel Walker to the collegefootball world? No player ever made a more an-ticipated college debut than Walker, that humidSeptember night in Knoxville. But Dooley’s Dogshad to fall behind the Volunteers by 15-2 beforeDooley finally sent the touted freshman onto thefield in the third quarter. The rest, as they say, ishistory as over Bill Bates and other Vols Herschelran for his famous 16-yard TD gallop and thencame back with another nine-yard scoring run asGeorgia rallied for the shaky one-point win andbegan the Buldogs’ unbeaten quest for the school’sonly consensus national championship. And afterthat one, you can only guess as to the media mobscene around No. 34 in the cramped visitors’locker room at Neyland Stadium.

(1) Nov. 8, 1980 – Georgia 26, Florida 21Not much suspense here as to the greatest

Georgia win I’ve ever witnessed in an SEC game.Like the mighty Munson barked throughout theradio world, the Dogs were dead and gone, trail-ing the Gators 21-20 with just 1:35 to play andGeorgia facing a third-and-10 from its own seven-yard line. But just as I started to head for the ele-vator to the field and surely a despondent UGAlocker room, then came the play that will foreverbe immortalized in UGA history, with Buck Beluethrowing an over-the-middle strike to LindsayScott and Scott turning toward the left sidelines infront of the Georgia bench and racing 93 yardsinto Bulldog glory. Without the electrifying Belue-to-Scott scoring bomb (and can you believe it wasScott’s only TD catch of the season?), there is ofcourse no unbeaten season and national crown in1980. And, without question, the play providedMunson with his most famous call ever …. “RunLindsay!”


Remembering great UGA SEC wins

poole shotsBy Murray Poole

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There has never been a season in which one conference sent so much un-derclassmen talent to the National Football League, highlighted by a pair of Heis-man Trophy winners. Cam Newton, Mark Ingram, Ryan Mallett, A.J. Green,Julio Jones, Nick Fairley, Justin Houston and the dynamic Patrick Peterson wereall great players in college and now they’re set to begin their rookie seasons. Sowill this be a down year for the SEC with all that talent lost? Don’t bet on it.After all, every year, four to six of the top ten recruiting classes in the country be-long to programs from the toughest league in the land. It’s called re-loading. Sohere we go.

OffenseQB – Aaron Murray, GeorgiaHe sparkled as a redshirt freshman. Murray is the unquestioned leader of

the Bulldogs offense, but he’s surrounded by huge question marks at receiver,running back and on the offensive line. Murray has excellent feet and is elusive,he’s a weapon in the running game. He’s accurate and throws the deep ball well,but is not very big. He is not supersized and hulking like Tim Tebow and New-ton.

RB – Marcus Lattimore, South CarolinaThe SEC is stacked at tailback, with Lattimore, Alabama’s Trent Richardson, Michael

Dyer from Auburn, and Arkansas’ Knile Davis highlighting the class. He has power,speed, and a nose for the end zone and big games. South Carolina has had some goodbacks through the years, but he’s far and away the Gamecocks best since George Rogers.

RB – Trent Richardson, AlabamaTake your pick with this quartet of standout runners. Richardson and Ingram gave

Bama a dynamic duo, but he’s the focus now. The Crimson Tide should have a greatdefense and offensive line, and because of shared carries, Richardson will be plentyfresh to carry Nick Saban’s offense as he breaks in a new quarterback. A Heisman is adistinct possibility.

WR – Alshon Jeffery, South CarolinaWith Green and Jones gone to the NFL, Jeffery steps to the head of the SEC’s pass-

catching class, and he’s cut from their cloth. The Gamecocks junior is tall, fast and hasexcellent hands. With defenses focusing on Lattimore, Jeffery often finds advantageouscoverage schemes to exploit with big plays.

WR – Greg Childs, Arkansas Teaming with Joe Adams and Davis, Childs is a major part of one of the country’s

top set of skill position personnel. He’s tall and fast with excellent hands, and has comeup with a slew of big grabs in his career. It’s a pick-your-poison when defending theHogs and this should allow new QB Tyler Wilson to flourish.

TE – Orson Charles, GeorgiaHe’s just a different looking athlete. A prep teammate of Murray’s from Tampa,

these two have a great chemistry, and with Georgia’s question marks at receiver, Charleswill be the Bulldogs No. 1 receiving target.

OL – Barrett Jones, AlabamaThe Crimson Tide’s left tackle is the anchor of what is one of the country’s offen-

sive lines. Jones is versatile, as he played right guard a year ago. If Richardson puts upbig numbers, figure Jones and his fellow bruisers up front to get plenty of accolades.

OL – Cordy Glenn, GeorgiaThe Bulldogs are thin on the offensive line and will lean heavily on the talented

Glenn, as he moves to left tackle. He’s been one of the SEC’s best in the middle and nowGlenn will be relied on to protect Murray’s blindside against the SEC’s fierce edge pass-rushers.

OL – William Vlachos, AlabamaThe Crimson Tide’s man in the middle is arguably college football’s top center. All

four of Bama’s returning offensive line starters are All-SEC caliber, and you can bet thatthis is a hungry bunch after what happened last season in the Iron Bowl.

OL – Alex Hurst, LSULike Alabama, the Fightin’ Tigers return four starters on the offensive line and that’s

a big reason why both are picked in the nation’s top five. Hurst is massive at 6-6, 324,and is charged with protecting a speedy and talented group of skill position players.

OL – D.J. Fluker, AlabamaA heavily recruited prep phenom, the 6-6, 325 Fluker could explode as one of

college football’s top tackles this season. Projected to start on the right side, Flukergives the Crimson Tide tremendous power. It’s a pick your poison, if you gamble tostack the line against the Tide.

JD’s all SEC teamPreseason predictions for the top playersin the nation’s toughest football conference

By Jeff Dantzler

Alshon Jeffery


DefenseDL – Barkavious Mingo, LSUHave you seen “Swamp People?” You talk about tough! The Tigers get

these players out of Louisiana that other schools are probably scared to gorecruit. Glenn Dorsey, Tyson Jackson and Drake Nevis have all been defen-sive line terrors for Les Miles over the past five years, and an All-SEC Fresh-man selection with a name like this has to be Tigers next big star up front.

DL – Devin Taylor, South CarolinaIf freshman phenom Jadeveon Clowney is ready, then the Gamecocks

will have a dominating duo at defensive end. Taylor is rangy. An excellentpass-rusher and very tough against the run, Taylor is South Carolina’s beston the front seven since Eric Norwood and until Clowney blossoms.

DL – Sharrif Floyd, FloridaFloyd and Ronald Powell highlighted a defensive line class from 2010

that was the nation’s best, and they’ll be called upon to anchor WillMuschamp’s front the next couple of years. At 6-3, 303, Floyd is a proto-typical defensive anchor with great feet, hands and strength.

DL – Jake Bequette, ArkansasArkansas is known for its high powered offense under the watch of

standout coach Bobby Petrino, but the defense has improved in each of thelast two years. Bequette is a big reason, and he’s the motor in Arkansas’ de-fensive engine. If the Hogs are going to win the West, the defense has tomake another jump.

LB – Dont’a Hightower, Alabama Back at 100 percent from a knee injury that he suffered during the

Crimson Tide’s run to the 2009 national championship, there’s a good chance thatHightower will be the SEC’s – and maybe the nation’s - best linebacker. At 6-4, 260,Hightower is a run-stuffer supreme and a disruptive nightmare in the passing game.

LB – Nico Johnson, AlabamaA five-star talent coming out of high school, Johnson has stepped right in and fig-

ures to explode this season playing next to Hightower and Courtney Upshaw. All ofBama’s linebackers are stout, big, strong, tough and fast. It’s an NFL quality unit rightnow.

LB – Courtney Upshaw, AlabamaUpshaw is another part of this tremendous linebacking corps that could be

Saban’s best ever – and that includes the Relando McClain-led group from ’09 andsome great quartets at LSU. Upshaw is big, strong and fast. This unit doesn’t misstackles.

DB – Stephon Gilmore, South CarolinaHe’s probably not quite as good as LSU phenom Patrick Peterson was, but

Gilmore is cut from that cloth. He’s very good in coverage, tremendous in the returngame and has outstanding ball skills. Gilmore was one of Spurrier’s first big recruit-ing gets in Columbia.

DB – Mark Barron, AlabamaWhat a boost for the Crimson Tide with Barron returning for his senior season.

He’s got a great nose for the ball and is excellent in run support. This is the defensethat Saban has been dreaming of and building since he set foot on the capstone backin 2007, and Barron is the cherry on top.

DB – Robert Lester, AlabamaTeaming with Barron to give the Crimson Tide an incredible duo at safety, Lester

should put up gaudy numbers this year. After all, the line is excellent, the lineback-ers are incredible and Bama has a couple of 5-stars speedsters at corner.

DB – Janzen Jackson, TennesseeFar and away the Volunteers most talented player, Jackson has been a nightmare

and a headache off the field. But he’s back. And that gives Tennessee a big-time de-fensive play-maker, giving the Volunteers a much better shot as they go through abrutal mid-season scheduling gauntlet.

Special TeamsPK – Blair Walsh, GeorgiaJoining with Drew Butler to give Georgia the country’s best combination of kick-

ers, Walsh is the total package. He’s a very accurate kicker with great range. Walshhas also become a threat on kickoffs. This dynamic duo yet again gives Georgia atremendous special teams edge. Can the Dogs cash in this year?

P – Drew Butler, GeorgiaHis father is the greatest college football kicker ever. In 2009, Drew had one of

the greatest seasons of any punter ever. He was outstanding again last season and fig-ures to be at least as good as anyone here in 2011. Butler is a dual threat. He’s gotthe great leg and the touch on the coffin corner.

JD’s All SEC

Photographs by Ryan Scates

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In the kitchen with Katherine Moseley

Aunt Martha’s Pound Cake

2 sticks of butter - soft2 cups sugar4 eggs - room temp1 Can (5 oz) of Evaporated Milk2 cups flour - sifted 1T vanilla extract1 t almond flavoring1/2 t lemon flavoring

Well greased bundt pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

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Pour into well greased bundt pan. Bake appproximately 45-50 min. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then place in cooling rack.

Enjoy with fresh strawberries and ice cream or toasted with a pat of butter!

Every southerner needs a recipe for a good pound cake and I am thrilled to now have one since the Moseleys shared their family favorite. While father and son Matts were on the golf course, I caught up with the Moseley ladies, Greer and Katherine, and they showed me how to make their Aunt Martha’s pound cake. It was Greer’s choice for what to make because they all have fond memories of visit-ing Aunt Martha and her delicious desserts. Greer likes to help her mom make it and it isn’t just so she doesn’t miss out on “cleaning” the beaters. It is a traditional recipe with one pound each of flour, butter, sugar and eggs but it calls for a can of evaporated milk that makes it extra moist and must have been their Aunt Martha’s secret ingredient. It was fun to have them tell a little about their family while we baked. It resulted in Greer looking at her mom and dad’s wedding album with me. I was unaware that Katherine and Matt were both twins so it was wild to see her with her identical sister with Matt and his twin brother posing in photos on their big day. The two Georgia graduates settled in Athens after Matt finished up law school. Katherine grew up in Atlanta and Matt was born in Athens and raised in Dawson, Georgia. And now they are raising their precious family in the town of their alma mater taking advantage of being able to walk to UGA sporting events. Team sports and passed down recipes are honestly both pretty treasured by folks like us. I plan to take the Moseley’s Aunt Martha’s pound cake to my next potluck or tailgate. It will score big! Visit guide2athens website to see more of the photo shoot and “how to.”

Bon appetit- Cheri Leavy

Greer and Katherine

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EC Media Days has always provided writers andreporters that do not normally cover other SECfootball teams an opportunity to get a feel for

what to expect with the upcoming season. 2011 was noexception to this rule and reporters were able to grab greatinsight into other teams around the SEC and how the2011 season may shake out. Let’s take a look.

AlabamaThe writers at SEC Media Days have predicted for

Alabama to win the SEC West as well as the SEC Cham-pionship. Alabama returns seven starters on offense andnine of defense. They also are dominating the pre-seasonall-SEC teams with 16 total players on the writer’s poll in-cluding nine first teamers. The only question mark for theTide is going to be at quarterback. As soon as Fall Campstarts in Tuscaloosa the battle will be on for the covetedstarting quarterback job. On the defensive side of the ball,Alabama looks to have one of the strongest units in thecountry. Linebacker Dont’a Hightower is a legitimate can-didate for All-American and safety Mark Barron is a shoein for All-American honors. It looks as though Alabamawill remain amongst the elite in the SEC and the entirecountry.

Head Coach Nick Saban: “It's always a challenge tohave the right kind of team chemistry, your team have theright stuff. I feel like this team has the ingredients for that,but that's always the challenge, because the consistencyand performance is what helps you have successful sea-sons, especially in a league that's as challenging as oursin terms of the number of good teams.”

Arkansas Arkansas will look very similar to the team they

fielded last year. Certainly Ryan Mallett is a tough guy toreplace but Tyler Wilson showed in limited time last yearwhy head coach Bobby Petrino has so much confidencein him. The return of Knile Davis at the running back po-sition will also help Wilson as he won’t have to sling theball around as much with a solid back to help him powerthe offense. Arkansas will be lacking on defense. BobbyPetrino is an offensive-minded coach and has not spentnearly as much time working on the defense as he haswith the offense; he admitted as much at SEC media days.It will be hard for him and the Razorbacks to win the SECwith this philosophy in a conference that demands de-fensive dominance. Another factor not helping the Hogsis the fact that they play in the SEC west, a division thathas recently become incredibly strong with five teams lastyear finishing in the top-25.

Running Back Knile Davis: “I think the team as awhole is very confident. Since Coach Petrino got here,we’ve gotten a lot better every year and made improve-ments. We feel like setting big goals is the only way for usto get to the SEC Championship. We have the players todo it. We just don’t see why we can’t.”

AuburnRegardless of what Cam Newton is accused of doing,

it has hard to deny his talent. He was one of the mosttremendous athletes to play in the SEC in recent memory.With that being said, he is going to be impossible theTigers to replace. This is part of the reason that not a sin-gle member of the media voted for Auburn to win theSEC championship. They join Vanderbilt as the only teamto not receive a single vote. Auburn will return MichaelDyer at running back and tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen.So Auburn does in fact have some offensive weapons butoffensive coordinator Guz Malzahn will have to get cre-ative without the presence of Cam Newton. Last year’sNational Championship team had a defense that led SECin run defense. This was mainly due to defensive linemanNick Fairley clogging to middle and boggling offensivelinemen all year long. Without these two key pieces to theAuburn puzzle, the Tigers are going to struggle in 2011 toeven be a shade of the 2010 team.

Head Coach Gene Chizik: “So the journey fromthis point in time last year to now has been incredible forus. But I want to make this really, really clear because theminute our plane hit the ground in Montgomery on Jan-uary 11th, we had moved on. We have been focused andlocked in solely on the 2011 football season.”

FloridaFormer Dawg Will Muschamp is now the head man

in Gainesville. Dawg fans may be upset that he decided totake the Florida head coaching job but fans also have tobe excited to see Urban Meyer no longer in the coaching

role for the Gators. Withthat being said, WillMuschamp has a toughyear ahead of him. TheGators are an extremelyyoung team and havedepth issues on both theoffensive and defensivelines. To add insult to in-jury, Florida has hardlyany playmakers on eitherside of the ball. They areone of three teams in theSEC with no players onthe first team all-sec pre-season list. The bestplayer on their team istheir placekicker, CalebSturgis if that’s any indi-cation of where Floridastands. It may be a downyear for the Gators butdon’t expect them to staydown for long.Muschamp is going to bea great recruiter and willfind success in Gainesvillevery soon.

Quarterback JohnBrantley on the offensiveline: “During the spring,they were doing well. Afew of them got hurt, butthey’re back, workinghard. They’re all working hard, they’re hungry to play, andI’m excited about what they’ll do.”

GeorgiaThe Dawgs are a bit of a mystery coming into the

2011 year. Nobody from other teams at SEC Media Dayshad much to say about Georgia. You could say they areflying under the radar, at least right now. That will cer-tainly change when the Dawgs hook it up and clash withBoise State in the Georgia Dome. That game, is incrediblyimportant for the Dawgs. If they can beat Boise State onnational television to kick off the season, the team will beriding a huge wave of momentum coming into week twoagainst South Carolina. If the Dawgs beat Boise, they willbeat South Carolina and quickly be in the driver’s seat ofthe SEC East. At that point, Georgia will control their owndestiny with the toughest part of the schedule in the rear-view mirror. Coaches try to avoid pinning the whole sea-son on one game but the clash between the Dawgs andthe Broncos could be the deciding factor as to whetherGeorgia is able to reclaim their glory of old.

Head Coach Mark Richt: “Well, I'll say this: whenwe were making the decision, should we play this Chick-Fil-A game, should we play against Boise State, a lot ofthings went through my mind personally. Where we wereat that time was a decline in our record, a decline in howpeople perceived our program, a place that I didn't reallylike, I wasn't very comfortable in, wasn't used to. I said,‘What better way to send a surge of energy into this pro-gram than to schedule a game like that?”

Kentucky “Rise” is the mantra for the Kentucky Wildcats this

year and it seems to be an appropriate one. Head coachJoker Phillips was very impressive at SEC Media Days thisyear and with him at the helm, Kentucky will most as-suredly “rise” from where they are now. But they aren’tthere yet. Kentucky will once again pace the back of thepack in the SEC East. Still, the wildcats will prove to be atough game for anyone who has them on their schedule.They are very capable of adding a few upsets to their ré-sumé in 2011. They also have several playmakers on theirteam who will be fun to watch as the season progresses.All-American and 1st All-SEC linebacker Danny Tre-vathan comes to mind. Trevathan will lead the wildcat de-fense and while his defensive teammates may not be themost impressive in the conference, Trevathan strikes fearinto every SEC offensive coordinator with his abilities.

Linebacker Danny Trevathan: “I’m not really wor-ried about the defense. I have the kind of relationshipwith everyone where I trust them to the extent that Iknow they are going to take care of business. We havebeen through so much together that we don’t have roomto make mistakes that are going to be so costly. We arestill going to make mistakes but we are going to try andcapitalize off of them, turn it around and have a great sea-son this year.”

LSUThe Bayou Bengals have 16 seniors on this year’s

roster so the experience is there for LSU to have a bigyear. The biggest question mark, as it has been in yearspast, is head coach Les Miles. He has been known tomake some questionable on the field decisions. Thatdoesn’t bode well for the Tigers considering the recentnews of NCAA rules infractions. Giving Les Miles some-thing else to have to think about may create a distrac-tion that sends him over the edge. Players and coacheswill have to answer questions all year long about thoseviolations and it will be tough for them to concentrateon football. Even so, there is so much talent in BatonRouge that anyone would be hard pressed to say LSUwon’t have a successful year. They will clash with Ala-bama and Arkansas for top honors in the SEC west.

Head Coach Les Miles: “It's a quality team, 16seniors, 24 freshmen or sophomores in the two-deep, tome gives me a great blend of veterans and leaders andyoung guys that are really pursuing the field. I thinkthat there's a great leadership there. The guys that havebeen in our program and learned to do hard things andunderstand how you play in tight quarters, beenthrough the wars in this conference.”

Mississippi StateWatch out for the Bulldogs in 2011. Another team

that’s flying under the radar that had a very successfulyear in 2010 could be a sleeper in the SEC this year.Dan Mullen is a fantastic football coach and has finallygotten some players that compliment his offense thatwas so successful in Florida. Quarterback Chris Relfproved to himself as well as the rest of the SEC that hecan be a successful dual-threat signal caller in this con-ference. The defense will be anchored by the 6-4, 295pound junior Fletcher Cox. Cox is one of the best inthe SEC and if he can get some support behind himthen the Bulldogs defense could be much improvedfrom 2010. The bottom line is that Mississippi State isgoing to be a good team this year. They may not havethe superstars that some of their opponents may havebut they are sold from top to bottom and will surprisemany people when Saturdays in September start rollingin.

Head Coach Dan Mullen: “That's what the goalof our program every single year is going to be. It willbe no different for us this year as we get ready for thisseason, is to find a way to win the SEC West. That issomething we can control. That is something we willcontinue to pursue, find a way to get to Atlanta. Mis-sissippi State has been there before. We need to getthere again and find a way to win in Atlanta and getthat SEC title for the people of Mississippi.”

Continued on page 14

SEC ... SEC ... SECAnnual gathering in Birmingham signifies the beginning of battles to capture the league title

By Travis Ragsdale

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South CarolinaUnfortunately for everyone in the SEC, Steve

Spurrier was acting like he did when he was the headcoach of Florida while at SEC Media Days. Thismeans one thing; he knows he has a good team. Thisis a scary proposition for many because the implica-tions of him thinking he has a championship-caliberteam are extremely far reaching. People who have fol-lowed SEC football for a long time know that a cockySteve Spurrier means bad news for opponents. Inyears past at South Carolina, Spurrier has not had ateam that he could be confident about. But now he isconfident and for good reason. On offense, the Game-cocks have two of the best skill position players inthe entire country in sophomore running back Mar-cus Lattimore and junior wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.If quarterback Stephen Garcia can keep his head onstraight and not get in any more trouble, the offensiveattack from South Carolina will be very potent. Look-ing at South Carolina’s defense on paper, many wouldsay they have the second best D in the SEC behindAlabama. Defensive linemen Devin Taylor and Tra-vian Robertson will anchor an extremely impressivefront seven. Couple those guys with freshman phe-nom Jadeveon Clowney at defensive-end and SouthCarolina will have one of the best defensive lines inthe country. As long as the Gamecocks don’t do whatthey usually do and give away two or three games to-wards the end of the season, South Carolina will findthemselves in contention for an SEC title once again.

Head Coach Steve Spurrier: “We feel likewe've probably assembled the best group of playerswe've had in the seven years now that I've been there.But time will tell. Time will tell how this year's teamwill do.”

Ole MissThe Rebels have a long season ahead of them in

2011. It’s always scary when the head coach doesn’tknow who the starting quarterback is going to beheading into August. Give Houston Nutt creditthough, he has also found a way to get an upset ortwo in any given season. Even though Ole Miss maynot have a quarterback they will have at least an av-erage offense.The line will be anchored by senior of-fensive lineman Bradley Sowell and Junior BobbyMassie. They also return their running back Brandon

Bolden who had a successful 2010campaign. The problem for theRebels will be on the defensive sideof the ball. They will have tooutscore opponents to win andwithout an established quarterback,that is going to be a tough task.There’s a good chance Ole Miss willfinish at the bottom of the SECWest.

Offensive lineman BrandonBolden: “We were put at the bot-tom, the very bottom. We’ve got toget back to the top. We’ve got to wingames; we’ve got to do something.It’s a horrible spot to be in from 4-8.We’ve just got to get back to the top.We’ve just got to climb.”

TennesseeThe youngest team in the SEC

by a long shot. The offensive line isKnoxville will struggle mightilyagainst the overpowering lines of theSEC. That doesn’t bode well forquarterback Tyler Bray, who actuallyis a pretty good ball player. How-ever, if he doesn’t have any time tothrow the ball, he won’t be able touse those abilities. The Tennesseedefense is in a lot less trouble than the offense butthey will also have to battle through the woes of in-experience. Upfront they will have Malik Jacksonwho is a first-team all-SEC lineman but there is notmuch more on the defense for the Volunteers. Juniorcollege transfer Mo Couch could provide a sparkalong the line and if safety Janzen Jackson is re-in-stated by head coach Derek Dooley, then the defensecould improve a bit. Even so, Tennessee will have tobattle hard to compete amongst the elite in the SEC.

Head Coach Derek Dooley: “We enter thisyear, it's probably the youngest football team I've everbeen a part of and seen. I was looking at our rosterbefore we came down here, 57 freshmen, sopho-mores, 24 juniors and seniors representing about70% underclassmen. We have 10 seniors, only twoof them are returning starters. So that's our makeup.”

Vanderbilt The Commodores are still the Commodores de-

spite of what new head coach James Franklin says.From last year there has not been a great improvementon either side of the ball and there likely won’t for along time. However, currently Vanderbilt is assemblinga very good recruiting class by their standards but it isnowhere near the level it needs to be to compete in theSEC. Vanderbilt will once again finish at the bottom ofthe SEC.

Head Coach James Franklin: “Everybody has tounderstand we can't do this alone. It's not the players,it's not just the coaches. It's our alumni base, it's thecommunity, everybody. We need this fan base to unitelike it never has before.”


SEC ... SEC ... SECContinued from page 12

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or every team at SEC MediaDays, three players come, alongwith their head coach, to address

the reporters about the upcoming sea-son. In the 2011 version of Media Days,Georgia sent senior center Ben Jones,senior cornerback Brandon Boykin andredshirt sophomore quarterback AaronMurray. They joined head coach MarkRicht in stemming the media tide inBirmingham. This can actually be a diffi-cult proposition considering simply thesheer amount of media members in at-tendance. However, the three players didwith a grace that you can only expectDawg players to do.

Brandon Boykin was just excited tobe at media days saying, “As a freshman,sophomore, junior, you always watch it(media days) and always hope you canbe here. It’s gone by fast so far. Every-thing’s a blessing.”

Boykin was able to shed some lighton what the Dawgs have in the arsenalthis year. He also wanted to make surethat everyone knew Georgia was work-ing their hardest this off-season to getGeorgia back to their winning ways.

“We’re just training for the season,actually in January. We’re trying to trainand condition for that fourth quarter.Being able to sustain out whole energyfor the whole game,” said Boykin.

With how many close games Georgialost in the fourth quarter last year, thismust be music to Dawg fans ears to hearabout the players already training tofight and finish in the fourth quarter.

Aaron Murray attended media dayswhich was a bit of an anomaly in and ofitself. Generally, most coaches decide tobring upper-classmen to the event whomay be more well-versed in dealing withmembers of the media. But just likeBoykin, the redshirt sophomore Murrayhandled the spotlight well.

“It’s an honor to be here and I’m ex-cited to see what it’s like. I’ve heard frompeople before that it’s a lot of fun and I’mlooking forward to the rest of the day,”said Murray about the entire event.

Murray was very candid about howthe summer was going for himself andhis teammates. Most specifically, Murrayhad extremely high praise for true fresh-man Malcolm Mitchell. Coming out ofhigh school it seemed like there wouldbe a debate on whether the versatile ath-lete from Valdosta would play offense ordefense at the college level; it looks likeAaron Murray has solved that debate al-ready.

“I haven’t seen speed and quicknesslike that for a while,” Murray said. “Theother day he ran a post pattern and splitour starting safety and one of our start-ing corners. Shawn Williams came up tome afterward and he’s like, ‘Aaron, I’venever seen somebody with that kind ofspeed before.’ You ask any of the DBs,Boykin or any of those guys, Malcolmhas unbelievable speed, unbelievablequickness."

Not only did Murray say thatMitchell possesses the tools to be suc-cessful at the SEC level but he also hasthe wherewithal to realize that it takesmore than just talent to break into the 2-deep at Georgia.

“The thing I like about him most ishe works harder than anyone. I wouldsay he knows already 70 to 80 percent ofthe playbook. He’s been studying everyday. Every day after pass drills he’ll getwith me and we’ll work on routes a half-hour or 45 minutes. That’s every day.Three times a week he’ll call me and say,‘let’s go work on routes; let’s go do thisand that.’”

Ben Jones was being his usual self atSEC Media days this year, cracking jokesand keeping reporters on their toes. One

of the best moments of the week waswhen Mark Richt was at the podium inthe main room taking questions frommore than 300 reporters. Jones was ableto grab a microphone in the middle of itall and do his best impression of a sportswriter.

“Coach, Ben Jones, University ofGeorgia. I wanted to see how you feltabout Georgia’s offensive line in 2011and how much confidence you have inthem.”

The moment got a big laugh fromthe crowd of reporters and even a grinfrom Jones’ head coach.

In regards to what others were say-ing about Georgia’s football team in2011, players and coaches at SEC mediadays stayed very ho-hum about theDawgs, failing to bring them up unlessprompted. Even further is the fact thatwhen Georgia’s time came to address themedia, reporters were not nearly as in-fatuated with Georgia as they were withteams like Auburn, Alabama, Florida andeven South Carolina. However, what wassaid about the Dawgs by players andcoaches was very interesting and shouldbode well for the Dawgs in 2011.

South Carolina Gamecock headcoach Steve Spurrier is not well-knownfor paying others compliments too often;but when he was asked what defensemay cause him the most problems in2011 he had this to say, “I think that ofcourse Alabama is going to have a gooddefense, they always do. Georgia is goingto have a pretty darn good one I thinktoo. You know they’ve got some playersdown there in Athens that’s for sure.”

It is well-documented how great ofan offense coach Steve Spurrier is so thisis a great compliment to second year de-fensive coordinator Todd Grantham andhis defense.

There are plenty of question markson the offensive side of the ball for theDawgs in 2011. Once, again Georgia cer-tainly has the talent to be successful, itis only in experience that they are lack-ing. Mississippi State defensive linemanFletcher Cox agrees saying, “Georgia’sgot a good quarterback so they don’tneed much more there. I don’t reallyknow much about their offensive linebut it’s still Georgia so I’m sure they aregoing to have some guys ready to go.Same with running back.”

Aaron Murray certainly won’t be aquestion mark for Georgia after such astellar freshman campaign that saw himearn Freshman All-American honors. Infact, the Georgia signal caller was tabbedpre-season first –team All-SEC by mediamembers in Birmingham. This is quitethe accomplishment considering Murraywill only be entering into his second yearat the helm of the Bulldawg offense.There may have only been one person atSEC Media days who doesn’t think Mur-ray will have a stellar year and that’s Ten-nessee defensive lineman Malik Jacksonwho said Murray was “just another guy.”Jackson is the same person who believesTennessee won’t lose a game this year.

Coach Mark Richt is probably thehappiest of all after such a quiet week inSEC media days. He walked and talkedwith quiet poise which bodes well for theBulldawg Nation. Could this be theteam? Could this be the group of youngmen to lead the Dawgs back to the glorydays of 1980? There are many similari-ties between now and then. A team flyingunder the radar, not picked highly goinginto the season, a coach on the brink, afreshman tailback with high expecta-tions. The season is only a few weeksaway and it seems as though there is asleeping giant looming in Athens.


Dissecting the DogsBoykin, Jones and Murray discuss their team’schances in 2011, while others take notice of UGABy Travis Ragsdale

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*Conference Games

2011 Schedule


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Adam Land, Barrett Malone and Jeff Deloach Mandy Hewitt, Deanne Rosso and Webster HewittKathryn Lookofsky, Barry Rutherford and Megan Henning

Carey Stephens, Rick Doherty and Bo Hart Pat Allen and John GaultneyDan Styf, Liz Dalton and Trey Ragsdale

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SEC Media DaysBy Ryan Scates

Richt not shying away from hot seat

HOOVER, ALABAMA- No sportsmeme is more tired than that of the "hotseat coach". And nowhere is "hot seatcoach" talk hotter than it is each year atSEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama.Without any football action to talk about,each year the media scrambles for a con-sensus pick on the next coach to fall fromgrace. With the same fascination thatcomes from seeing a caged lion at a travel-ing carnival, middle-aged men with reced-ing hairlines and beer guts line up withcolumns, tweets, radio and television in-terviews, taking their proverbial prodsthrough the bars of the cage at formercoaches of the year before retiring to themall food court for some chinese food or abig pretzel.

Heading into 2011 SEC Media Days,Mark Richt knew his role in the carnival.2008, 2009 and 2010 were some of themost disappointing seasons relative to fanexpectations since the Ray Goff era. As theSEC office celebrates five consecutive na-tional championships, Richt carries the al-batross of a loss to UCF, coming in theLiberty Bowl of all places. So on Thursdaymorning over 900 media types swarmedinside of the Wynfrey Hotel, eager topounce on this year's hot seat coach.Would he respond like Tuberville, with adeer-in-the-headlights resignation to thewhole process? Or maybe Fulmer, with in-dignation and frustration that he shouldever have to defend his record after bring-ing his team to unprecedented modernglory?

No more than two minutes into his re-marks to the media, it was clear that theSEC has a new type of hot seat coach. Firstup was a question about that loss to UCF."How devastating was that?" asked aFlorida writer, surely well-versed in thingslike definitions and word usage.

"Devastating means you've like blownup the program and it's beyond repair," saidRicht, suddenly the English teacher in theroom, "so I don't think it was devastating."Next question?

The East Division was down lastyear...Why did that happen?"

Richt: "Well, it happened because wedidn't win." Profound.

How do you address off-season ru-mors about your future?"

Richt: "I don't." He may as well havedared the reporters in Eastwood style to,"Go ahead, make my day."

After that series of roars and flash ofthe teeth, the frustrated media membersgave way to the old Lion. Marking the 11thyear as an SEC Coach with his appearance,Richt was not willing to resign himself tothe fate that the gathered media had as-signed to him. Instead of giving way to theinevitable spotlight that comes with beinga coach in danger of losing his job, Richtgrabbed hold of the extra attention, owning

his status as the hot-seat coach and using itas a platform to showcase that he was stillthe man in charge between the hedges.

There was still plenty of room for crit-icism from the media. Why risk losing toBoise State in that fried-chicken game?Why change the uniform again when thelast two times the Dawgs strayed from theold red-and-silver it has backfired so horri-bly?

Richt cut the reporters off at the pass.On the Chick-fil-A game: "In order for us toget back to where we want to be, which ishighly ranked and highly thought of, weneed to play this game." On the jerseys thathave sent all of those sartorially-mindedGeorgia fans into a tizzy not seen since thelast season of Project Runway, Richt said,"You know what? Our players are excitedabout it...anytime you can have some funwith your guys, I think it's good to do that.To wear those uniforms is going to besomething they're really going to enjoy."

Around that time most of the mediawas thinking "But what about the person-nel issues, coach?! There is really no way tohide from the fact that you don't have anyproven running backs, and that offensiveline is so thin! Somebody pass the micro-phone to that unusually large Alabama manin the dark suit, he will put this tired oldLion back in his cage. Oh, it's an actualmember of that thin O-Line? Here we goagain...", someone handed Ben Jones themike.

The starting center asked, "CoachRicht, do you trust the offensive line thisyear?"

Richt replied, "I'm not worried about itif nobody gets hurt...I think (Ben Jones) isgoing to win the Remington." By this timeRicht has made his point. The media was-n't dealing with a Tuberville or Fulmer here.He may be on the hot seat, but Mark Richtwas not going to let some high-mindedpundits make him look like a lame duck.

Georgia's appearance at SEC MediaDays sent one consistent message: that theDawgs are ready for 2011 to be the fight oftheir lives. This is not to say that Richt isgoing to lead the Dawgs to a national titlethis year, or even that they won't start 0-2.But the Georgia delegation's demeanor ledthis reporter to wonder aloud, "why shyaway from the pressure? If you are peggedto go down anyway, why not own it? Is itreally better to beat Buffalo at noon on Pay-Per-View to open the season than to lose toTop-5-ranked Boise in prime time on na-tional television?"

For better or worse, this year's Georgiateam is owning their status as a team withsomething to prove. And if Richt can han-dle the likes of Spurrier, Muschamp, andeven Saban in the SEC Championshipgame as well as he could handle the media,look out. All of us Dawgs may be in for aspecial year yet.

Photograph by Ryan Scates


recruiting newsBy Carlton DeVooght

The Class is half full

It is more than a month before the 2011 College Foot-ball season begins and more than 6 months until NationalSigning Day for the Class of 2012. The Bulldogs recruitingclass for 2012 already has 12 commitments and appears tobe half full. Here is a quick look at the 12 young men whohave committed to be a part of the Bulldogs’ class for 2012.

Collin Barber, Kicker, Cartersville High School(6’2”, 191 lbs). Barber is a punter from Cartersville HighSchool with a booming leg. Currently, he is rated as thenumber two punter in high school by Kohl’s Kicking Camp.Barber has an average hang time of five seconds on hispunts. He will try to come in and take the place of DrewButler, who graduates after the upcoming season. Barber isa former soccer player who is excited to be committed to thehome state Bulldogs.

Chester Brown, Offensive Line, Bradwell Institute(6’5”, 333 lbs). Chester Brown is the Bulldogs’ most recentcommitment. This massive young man is a native Samoanwho only picked up the game of football his freshman yearof high school. At the recent Dawg Night Camp, Browngave a dominating performance, working mostly at offensiveguard. His film shows that he has very quick feet and movesas quickly as someone who weighs 75 to 80 pounds lessthan he does. Brown has flown under the recruiting radar,both because he is relatively new to the sport and BradwellInstitute is not a traditional southeast Georgia football pow-erhouse. Make no mistake about it, Brown is an excellentpick up for the Bulldogs and will be a real mauler at rightguard.

C.J. Curry, Wide Receiver, Flowery Branch HighSchool (6’2”, 203 lbs). C.J. Curry is a tough wide receiverwho committed to the Bulldogs in October, 2010. This 4-star prospect is ranked as one of the Top 20 prospects in thestate of Georgia this year and has been working hard to helprecruit other in-state blue chip prospects to join him inAthens. Curry has been impressive in camps throughoutthe summer and has demonstrated good hands. Look forthis big physical athlete to fight for the top wide receiverranking in the state of Georgia this year.

James Deloach, Defensive End, Jenkins CountyHigh School (6’3”, 260 lbs). Deloach is part of the “Dy-namic Duo” from Millen, Georgia. Deloach has a quickburst and could see playing time at outside linebacker orother positions, depending on how much he grows in thenext couple of years. Although his teammate (introducedbelow) may be more highly ranked, the Bulldogs look forDeloach to be an impact player when he arrives in Athens.He chose the Dawgs over offers from Alabama, Auburn,Clemson, Florida, Florida State, and many other colleges.

Jalen Fields, Defensive End, Georgia Military Col-lege (6’5”, 280 lbs). A little over two years ago, JalenFields, a 4-star prospect out of Dalton High School, com-mitted to the Bulldogs. Despite being re-recruited by Ten-nessee, Alabama, Miami and Auburn, the current GMCBulldog remains solid to Georgia. He is scheduled to grad-uate in December and cannot wait to get to the Classic City.Fields has a personal goal of double-digit sacks this year,and is one of the top defensive ends in the junior collegeranks. His explosiveness and solid technique will helpFields make an immediate impact in Coach Grantham’s de-fense when Fields arrives in Athens.

Leonard Floyd, Defensive End, Dodge County HighSchool (6’5”, 215 lbs). This 4-star prospect is ranked asone of the top 15 defensive ends in the country and one ofthe top 10 players this year in the state of Georgia. He is alsoa member of the Rivals 250, currently ranked as the 159th

best football player in the Country. Currently, a defensiveend in high school, Floyd will likely move to outside line-backer in Coach Grantham’s 3-4 defense. Standing 6’5”,with long arms, Floyd can shut down the passing lane on hisside of the field. While there is a chance that Floyd couldplay tight end in college, all signs seem to point to outsidelinebacker. He chose the Bulldogs over Alabama, Florida,Auburn, and many other top programs.

Quayvon Hicks, Running Back, Pierce County HighSchool (6‘2”, 245 lbs.). Quayvon Hicks currently playsdefensive end for Pierce County, but is being recruited by theBulldogs as a fullback. Although he does not have much ex-perience at the position, his performance at fullback in re-cent camps vaulted him to the #2 ranking in the country atthat position. Should he grow a couple of inches, there is apossibility he could wind up at defensive end in Athens.Right now, he is slated to be the next in the Bulldogs longline of hard-nosed, punishing fullbacks. Hicks has alsobeen a recruiting machine, staying in touch with all of theother blue-chip prospects in the state of Georgia. Already aleader in this class, look for Hicks to continue this leadershiprole when he arrives in Athens.

Marshall Morgan, Kicker, American Heritage HighSchool (6‘3”, 195 lbs.). Marshall Morgan was everyone’sfirst option at kicker. In fact, Florida, Florida State, VirginiaTech and many other schools did not extend an offer to an-other kicker until Marshall Morgan committed to Georgia.Ranked as the top kicker in the country by most recruitingsources, Morgan kicked 8 field goals last year that werelonger than 43 yards, including a long of 53 yards. He alsohad the opportunity to be one of, if not the very first foot-ball player to earn All-State Honors all four years of highschool at two positions (punter and kicker). Kickers get alot of grief, but Morgan is not your standard kicker. He hasplayed defensive end in his high school career and loves totackle. His high school coach says that Morgan loves to hita return man between the numbers whenever he gets thechance. That is a trait I want to see in a Bulldog kicker.

Lonnie Outlaw, Wide Receiver, Georgia MilitaryCollege (6‘6”, 201 lbs.). Lonnie Outlaw originally com-mitted to the Bulldogs out of Wilcox County High Schoolin 2010. Like Jalen Fields, Outlaw currently stars for theGMC Bulldogs and had a solid freshman season inMilledgeville. His size and vertical leap make him an idealred zone target for any quarterback. The smaller defensivebacks in the SEC will have nightmares watching film inpreparation for defending Outlaw. Like Fields, Outlaw isgoing to try to graduate in December. Even if he doesn’t,look for him to make an immediate impact in Athens for theBulldogs’ offense.

Ty Smith, Tight End, Colquitt County High School(6‘3”, 280 lbs.). A high school teammate of current Bull-dog, Xzavier Ward, Smith has solid hands (42 receptionsfor 576 yards) and a build very similar to current Bulldog,Orson Charles. He can play tight end or flex out when theDawgs to 4 wide. The team leader on the Packers team thatmade it to the 5A state title game, Smith picked the Bulldogsover Florida, Florida State and Georgia Tech.

Jonathan Taylor, Defensive Tackle, JenkinsCounty High School (6‘4”, 323 lbs.). Jonathan Taylor isthe other half of the “Dynamic Duo” (James Deloach) fromMillen, Georgia. This 4-star prospect is currently ranked asthe top overall player in the State of Georgia this year, the #6defensive tackle in the country and the 36th best overallprospect in the country. Taylor may very well be the topdefensive tackle to come out of Georgia in the last five toten years. He is a very raw athlete, but what he lacks in

technique at this point, he makes up for with potential andathleticism. He is incredibly tough for a young man who isnot yet 17, and will be an essential plug in the middle ofCoach Grantham’s 3-4 defense. Look for Taylor to moveup the national rankings during the course of this year as hefocuses on his technique. This is a huge get for the Dawgs.

John Theus, Offensive Line, the Bolles School (6‘6”,295 lbs.). As good as Jonathan Taylor is at defensive tackle,John Theus may be even better at offensive tackle. Cur-rently ranked as the top prospect in the state of Florida, sec-ond overall offensive tackle in the country and the seventhbest prospect in the country, this five-star prospect is one ofthe most dominating High School offensive tackles I haveseen on film. The younger brother of current Bulldog,Nathan Theus, John anchors Bolles Coach Corky Rogers’offensive line. Theus is a well-mannered young man off thefield who literally destroys opposing defenders on field. TheBulldog Illustrated will not give me enough space to list allof the accolades Theus has already earned prior to his sen-ior season. He is the offensive tackle Georgia wanted andneeded in this class. He also committed with three otherblue-chip prospects who are introduced below.

As you see, the first half of the class of 2012 is loadedwith Blue-Chip prospects and some of the very finest play-ers in the country. If the Bulldogs have a solid campaign onthe field, I feel certain that the second half of the class willbe just as good, if not better.

Surprise Commitment for Class of 2013 and 2014

Blue chip offensive tackle, John Theus committed tothe Bulldogs at Dawg Night with three elite prospects forthe Class of 2013. The self-named “Fab Four” includedTheus, Running Back Derrick Henry (Yulee, Florida), Quar-terback Brice Ramsey (Camden County High School) andTramel Terry (Goose Creek High School, Goose Creek,South Carolina).

Henry (6’3”, 232 lbs) averaged 6,000 yards and 65TDs over his first ten years of football. He has also run a sub-4.4 (4.38) 40. The Miami Herald already has him rankedas the likely top prospect in the State of Florida for 2013.Henry is friends with Brice Ramsey and John Theus, andwants to play with them at the collegiate level. Accordingto his coach, he has shut down his recruiter and is fully com-mitted to the Bulldogs.

Brice Ramsey has yet to start a game for the CamdenCounty Wildcats, but has been so dominant in camps thatthe Bulldog quarterbacks offered him a scholarship. Ram-sey got limited playing time in one game as a sophomorethat looks to lead Coach Jeff Herron’s Wildcats back to theGeorgia Dome and hopefully to another state title.

Tramel Terry is an electrifying Wide Receiver (4.4/40)from Goose Creek High School. Many recruiting expertsbelieve he will be the top prospect in the state of South Car-olina next year. Terry has received a great deal of grief fromGamecock fans in his hometown, but currently remainscommitted to the Bulldogs.

As if this news wasn’t exciting enough, StanleyWilliams, a running back from Apalachee High School, inBethlehem, Georgia committed to Coach Richt and the Bull-dogs at Dawg Night. At Dawg Night, Williams turned in atime of 4.28 in the 40-yard dash. As a freshman, he rushedfor 954 yards and 11 touchdowns. While he has a longway until he signs with the Bulldogs, he says he and his fam-ily have been Bulldog fans and he is very excited to be com-mitted to Georgia.

THE UGA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INVITES YOU TO KICK OFF FRIDAY!

Bulldog Breakfast Club with Coach Mark Richt8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Women of UGA Lunch with Sheryl McGarity and Cindy Fox11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Pricing: $20 for alumni and friends, $10 for students

FRIDAY

Join UGA alumni and friends at the Tate Student Center Grand Hall for a day full of food, networking, and fun! At breakfast we will hear the latest news from Coach Mark Richt. For lunch, we will be joined by Sheryl McGarity, Cindy Fox and other coaches’ wives to learn about being a part of Bulldog Nation from the perspective of a coach’s family.

UMNI ASSTHE UGA AL OTTOUYYOTION INVITESSOCIAAT Y!O KICK OFF FRIDAAY

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11:30 AM - 1:00 PMunch withomen of UGA LWWo

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hen it comes to playing for the SEC Championship, every leaguegame counts the same in the standings. But several are the truedifference makers. Let’s take a look at my Super 11 biggest (somebig time traditional match-ups are left out in this dream schedule

season) and then five other non-conference contests that will also shape the na-tional picture.

September 10

South Carolina at GeorgiaThe winner of this one is the early front-runner in the race for the SEC East title.If the Bulldogs can pull it out, the schedule is mighty manageable the rest ofthe year. A Gamecocks win, and the Garnet and Black faithful can dream theirbiggest dreams.

September 24

Arkansas at AlabamaA year ago, this was one of the league’s best games as the Crimson Tide pre-vailed 24-20 in Fayetteville. The Hogs are loaded on offense and could giveBama’s stout defense its toughest test of the season. Bama must go to Floridathe next week, while the Hogs must play Texas A&M in Arlington.

October 1

Auburn at South CarolinaThe champs twice beat the Gamecocks a year ago, but now must head to Co-lumbia. If South Carolina beats Georgia, this will be a prime opportunity toimprove to 5-0. Lattimore and Michael Dyer will give tailback lovers a great show.

Alabama at FloridaThis is the 20th season of divisional play in the toughest league in the land. Ala-bama and Florida have played one another in seven of the previous 19 SEC Cham-pionship Games. Bama blew the Gators out last season and would love to do itin the swamp.

October 8

Auburn at ArkansasLast season on the plains, Auburn prevailed in the highest scoring game in SEChistory. The Razorbacks will look to return the favor this season and stay in majorbowl game contention. Auburn’s defense will be put to the test.

Florida at LSUThis could be the best day of the season with these two match-ups, plus Georgiaat Tennessee. The Gator offense will be put to the test in noisy Baton Rouge, whileLSU plays yet another big game of a loaded schedule.

October 22Auburn at LSUThis rivalry has produced some of the SEC’s most memorable games of the 2000sand there’s no reason this one won’t be a dandy as well. Bama hosts Tennessee andArkansas is at Ole Miss as the SEC West takes shape.

October 29Georgia vs. Florida (Jacksonville)There’s no Urban Meyer or Steve Spurrier and the Gators have tons of questionmarks for first year coach Will Muschamp, a Georgia alum. The Dogs have a lotof questions and optimism. This is the chance for a new start for the Dogs in thismost painful of rivalries that has yielded just three wins in the last 21 meetings.

November 5LSU at AlabamaThese two powerhouses have combined to win two of the last four national titlesand have squared off in some doozies. Plus there is the Nick Saban factor. LSU’soffense and Bama’s defense will produce some awesome match-ups.

November 25Arkansas at LSUThis is another of those rivalries that has produced some of the league’s most mem-orable meetings of the 21st century. SEC Championship Game and BCS implica-tions could be on the line in what should be an entertaining shootout.

November 26Alabama at AuburnLast season – considering the circumstances, site, deficit and foe – Auburn pulledoff the greatest comeback in college football history. You can bet Saban has beenreminding his team every day. Bama may be punching its ticket to Atlanta and ashot at the big prize.

SEC vs. Non-ConferenceSeptember 3LSU vs. Oregon (Arlington)What a kickoff to the season, as the Fightin’ Tigers, national champions of 2003and 2007 tangle with Oregon, which fell to Auburn in last season’s BCS Champi-onship Game. The Ducks offense will be one of the country’s best. LSU, led byRussell Shepherd, has speed to burn. The Tigers have a lot of talent to replace ondefense. The crowd at the Cowboys stadium will be heavy LSU. Dallas is loadedwith Tiger alums.

Georgia vs. Boise State (Atlanta) In 2005, the Bulldogs crushed Boise State in Athens to open the season. The Bron-cos program has come a long way since. The Bulldogs get an early barometer onthe quest to return to the nation’s elite. The Georgia Dome will obviously be pro-Bulldog, but Boise gets a boost not having to deal with the brutal deep south heat.

September 10Alabama at Penn StateThis was an annual clash back in the 1980s and the Crimson Tide on the famousgoal line stand beat Penn State in the 1979 Sugar Bowl to win the national title.Last season, Bama blasted the Nittany Lions in Tuscaloosa. Joe Paterno hascoached against both Bear Bryant and Saban as Alabama coaches.

October 1Arkansas vs. Texas A&M (Arlington)These two old Southwest Conference rivals both have top ten dreams and thisgame could have major bowl ramifications. For the Hogs, the game comes be-tween Alabama and Auburn, which is awfully tough.

November 26Georgia at TechThis is one of the biggest days in the league, as the Dogs go to Tech, Florida hostsFlorida State and South Carolina entertains Clemson. The Bulldogs have wontwo straight and nine of the last ten against the Yellow Jackets. In the sunshinestate, Will Muschamp and Jimbo Fisher square off for the first time.

Don’t miss 2011 gamesThe doozies with huge implications toward thegoal of finishing in Atlanta and then New OrleansBy Jeff Dantzler

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Birmingham


To make the statement, "I'll always be aBulldawg!" is a natural enough thing to admit.To say, "I've always been a Bulldawg!" is anotherthing, but for some just as natural. Take for in-stance Katherine and Frank Chandley. I hadheard of the Chandleys and the devotion theyhold for the Bulldawg Nation, so I thought I'dcall on them to find out exactly where theystand in regard to their true devotion to theGeorgia Bulldogs.

I pulled up in front of their home, passedby two UGA flags in their yard, and was greetedby a painted bulldog on the porch. Then, theChandleys greeted me dressed from head to toein red and black. I actually mean head to toe,but I'll get back to that later.

As I entered their home, there was nodenying I had entered a Bulldawg museum. Ididn't even need to bring it up, and they felt noneed to explain their decor. I was quickly get-ting the feeling that the Chandleys had indeedalways been Bulldawgs. The only way I thoughtto describe this experience was to call it "Bull-dawgmania" which I utter with great reverence.

The Chandleys were made for each other.Her father was an attorney, and his was in thedry cleaning business. Katherine says, "I was acountry girl who wasn't all that country." Sheseems to me to have been a little spoiled. Frankgot his work ethic from his grandfather, afarmer. He says, "My father worked long hours,and I spent most of my time with my grandfa-ther." It seems to me that his grandfather mighthave pampered him a little.

In high school Frank was an overachiever,athletic and a natural born leader. Katherinewas a cheerleader, student council presidentand a real "looker." Frank didn't look that badeither. So, you can tell this made for each otherthing is coming together. Right?

After graduation they both headed toAthens and UGA, and it didn't take long forthem to become Bulldawgs of the highest order.He became a fraternity guy and she a sororitylady. He was elected to the Interfraternity Coun-cil as a freshman; she was a Davidson CollegeBoard member for two years. They becameBulldawgs, and their collective bark was to be-come an extremely loud one.

Graduation came; they married, and intothe world they went together. Frank's job withWestern Electric took them to North Carolina,and they commuted to Athens to footballgames and to the Sugar Bowl in 1969. Thenthey moved to New Jersey and attended gamesas they could. After they moved to Indianapo-lis and then to Colorada, they still managed toattend three home games a year. By then, theirson, David, was a training coach at Georgia. Yousee, Bulldawgmania is a generational condition.

While the Chandleys were still in Col-orado, several of Katherine's relatives had beenpart of the formation of an Athens tailgatinggroup called "The Oaktree Tailgate Gang."Frank and Katherine were asked to join, and,by 1994, they had tired of missing the tailgat-ing ritual in Athens. They decided to moveback home.

It was at this time that the Chandley's con-dition of Bulldawgmania was diagnosed as in-curable. Since that time, with the exceptions ofmarriages, deaths, or preventing illness, theChandleys have not missed a Georgia footballgame, home or away. Let me repeat that: TheChandleys have not missed a Georgia football

game, home or away, with those unavoidableexceptions.

I thought I'd ask the Chandleys a fewquestions about their lives with incurable Bull-dawgmania:

How do you describe the game day experience?

Katherine: Tailgating is not an easy task, butit's a thrill to be with friends who feel like usabout Georgia football. Then you walk intoSanford Stadium and it's all worth it.

Frank:A Georgia football game is a life or deathsocial event. The rules are that you have 24hours to celebrate or cry and then you moveon.

What could replace Georgia football in yourlives?

Katherine: Being able to travel without the ac-companying concern of winning and the fear oflosing.

Frank: I'd live with a big hole in my life. Thereis no replacing it.

How do you describe football spirit?

Katherine: I don't really know. It's just an emo-tion that changes everything.

Frank: It's the feeling of enthusiasm, pride andlove for something which has always been partof your life.

What makes you happy?

Katherine: Being loved and appreciated, myfamily, and my home.

Frank: A big win.

What was your favorite journey?

Katherine:: Going to the White House.

Frank: My career and my involvement withOlympic games.

I understand you have been married for fiftyyears. Has your mutual love for Georgia foot-ball played a significant roll in your maritallongevity?

Katherine:: I've never thought of it that way.For me, it's about loving a wonderful personwho is my best friend and who never bores me.

Frank: Being married for fifty years is abouthaving an understanding partner, compatibil-ity, sincerity, and a willingness to cooperate. Butthat's enough about me!

When I noticed your Bulldog attire as yougreeted me on your porch, I described you asdressed in red and black from head to toe. Doyou have on Bulldog boxers?

Frank:: Yes, I do.

Enough said!

Meet Katherine and Frank Chanley

ConversationsBy Andrew Downs


College football has gone through a great deal of change. The PAC-10 is now the PAC-12. The Big Ten nowhas 12 teams and the Big XII has 10. The SEC is still the strongest conference in the land, but most of the powerremains in the west, lessening the odds a bit for an undefeated season. Unless it’s Alabama. The SEC champagainst the Big XII champ – Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State all have top tier talent – for the big prizewould make for a doozy in the Big Easy.

1. Alabama – The Crimson Tide lost a lot of talent, four first-rounders, including 2009 Heisman winner Mark Ingram, MarcelDareus and Julio Jones. But Nick Saban’s last four recruitingclasses have all been ranked in the top three nationally. With Sabanat the helm, the Bama fans have been able to put away their “dighim up” bumper stickers.

2. Oklahoma - Boomer Sooner is loaded. Bob Stoops hasled Oklahoma to four BCS Championship Games. Since 2000,the Sooners have won seven Big XII championships. Texas two.The schedule is more than manageable. The Aggies come to Nor-man.

3. Oregon – What a game to open the season in Dallas. TheDucks and LSU go head-to-head at the Cowboys Stadium. ThePAC-10 might not have a slew of top ten teams, but there areplenty of schools capable of pulling off the upset. If Oregon beatsthe Bayou Bengals, a return to the BCS Championship Game couldbe in the cards.

4. South Carolina – Marcus Lattimore is on his way to beingan all-time great back. And the Gamecocks are loaded for a runin 2011. They are clearly the team to beat in the SEC East andCam Newton-less Auburn comes to Columbia. If Steve Spurrier getssettled at quarterback, the sky’s the limit.

5. LSU – The Bayou Bengals have a brutal schedule, openingwith Oregon and fighting through the teeth of the SEC West. LSUlost a lot of talent on defense, most notably the sensational PatrickPeterson, a dynamo at corner and on returns, and a beast of a dom-inating defensive tackle in Drake Nevis.

6. Florida State – It will be tough for the Seminoles to replaceChristian Ponder, but the Seminoles still have the best talent in theACC. Plus, Florida is not what Florida was while dominating the‘Noles in the ‘2000s. Same goes for Miami, which has won nearlyevery big game ever contested with FSU.

7. Nebraska – What an opportune time for the Cornhuskersto be moving to the Big Ten (12). With chaos at Ohio State and ashaky hire with low talent at Michigan, the window is open. Don’tbe surprised if Nebraska wins the Big Ten championship within itsfirst couple of years in the league.

8. Arkansas – Ryan Mallett will be missed on the field. Makeno mistake. But Tyler Wilson is solid, Knile Davis is a premiertailback and the Hogs receivers may be the country’s best. And saywhat you will about Bobby Petrino, the guy took Louisville to an Or-ange Bowl and Arkansas to the Sugar.

9. Oklahoma State – Mike Gundy has a good thing going inStillwater. There’s only one problem. The Cowboys play in thesame state as Bob Stoops and the Sooners. As usual, OklahomaState will be able to score a ton of points. Can they make enoughstops? That’s the challenge.

10. Wisconsin – Many favor the Badgers to win the Big Ten thisyear, and with good reason. As usual, they will have an excellent,massive offensive eline and be able to run the ball at will in theleague.

11. Boise State – If Boise State beats Georgia, the Broncos willhave the credibility to get a crack at the BCS Championship Gameif they go undefeated and there aren’t two big boy unbeatens.Kellen Moore and Doug Martin are a tremendous one-two back-field punch.

12. Stanford – The Cardinal will drop off some. Jim Harbaughdid incredible things on the Farm, most notably posting winningrecords over both Southern Cal and Notre Dame, and leading theCardinal to a No. 4 national finish last season. Andrew Luck is in-credibly special and will be the top pick in the draft. He’ll be sec-ond only to Elway in Stanford’s illustrious signal caller annals.

13. Texas A&M - Mike Sherman, slowly but surely, has TexasA&M turned back around. How about this trifecta: the Aggiesbeat Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska last season. It’s a pretty goodbet that’s a first. Texas A&M will miss Von Miller, but the Aggiescan move the ball.

14. Ohio State – Both the crime and the cover-up were bad.How did the NCAA let those five players participate in the SugarBowl? What a farce. They’re reeling in Columbus. Jim Tresselis second only to Woody Hayes in Buckeye coaching lore.They’re hoping that after a year away, Urban Meyer may beready to strap the whistle around his neck again.

15. TCU – What a job Gary Patterson has done at TCU.This program was borderline dormant for decades. He’s takenthe Horned Frogs back to their glory days of Davey O’Brien andSlingin’ Sammy Baugh. Not even the greatest writer of them allDan Jenkins could have scripted TCU going to Pasadena andwinning the Rose Bowl. Patterson is the toast of the town at JoeT. Garcia’s, home of the world’s greatest Tex-Mex.

16. Virginia Tech – What a bizarre season for the Hokies,who lost a heart-breaker to Boise State, were stunned by JamesMadison, then ran the table in the ACC, before getting clockedby Stanford in the Orange Bowl. Frank Beamer is a hall of famerand his program is very consistent.

17. Auburn – On the heels of the dream season, it will bedifficult for Auburn to repeat as SEC kings with the loss of CamNewton and Nick Fairley. But oh they’ve got the tailbacks andthat house money victory ride. Don’t count Auburn out in theSEC West.

18. Mississippi State – Dan Mullen has done some kind ofjob in Starkville. Think about this, and throw in all the factorsyou want…whatever: Mississippi State beat Georgia, Floridaand Michigan last season. And Chris Relf is coming at quarter-back.

19. Miami – You just never know in the ACC. But if AlGolden had a nine win season at Temple and took the Owls toa bowl, then certainly he can push Miami in the top 25. News-flash, the Hurricanes have tons of speed.

20. Penn State – Joe Paterno should have another solid teamin State College. The schedule, as usual, is far from challeng-ing. The Nittany Lions could take advantage of the situationsat Ohio State and Michigan. The Penn State people are rightthere with the Buckeye faithful hoping that Urban Meyer is theirnext guy.

21. Missouri - The Tigers have fallen into that 8 – to – 10win range and with Nebraska gone out of the Big XII North,Missouri has a window to make a jump. With Chase Danieland Blane Gabbert, the Tigers have been a standout QB – pro-ducing school.

22. Michigan State – The Spartans put together one of theirgreat seasons of all-time, going 11-1 and sharing the Big Tenchampionship. The downer: Alabama lambasted MichiganState in the Capital One Bowl, just humiliated Sparty. MichiganState has enough to contend again, if they aren’t hung over fromthe Crimson Tide pasting.

23. Texas – What a crushing season for the Longhorns.Texas should never lose to Baylor and Iowa State in the sameyear at home. With all of their resources and a cake schedule,the Longhorns standards should be higher than almost any.Mack Brown made Texas nationally relevant again, but he’s noStoops. Texas needs an offensive identity. Getting heralded tail-back Malcolm Brown is a big step in getting the Longhorns back.

24. Georgia – The Bulldogs have a manageable schedulethat has neither LSU nor Alabama. There are questions on de-fense, the O-Line and at receiver. Georgia needs freshman helpfrom a talented crop. If Georgia can beat both Boise State andSouth Carolina, the Bulldogs could contend for a top ten sea-son.

25. Florida – Will Muschamp was a surprise hire for theGators. In his first year as a head coach, Muschamp brought inCharlie Weis to run the offense. There figure to be some grow-ing pains. Florida has been recruiting very well, especiallyon defense.

Jeff Dantzler’s Top 25

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