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Thursday, September 1, 2011

How ready are the Georgia Bulldogs for Saturday? Not as ready as I am!



If you ask me, the Bulldogs haven't been this ready to play a football game since the 2007 dismantling of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.
That game in itself was a turning point for the Bulldogs, the point where the Dawgs realized what their true potential really was, and it lasted very briefly.

The Bulldogs of 2008 were crowned preseason number one by a vast majority of polls and the Bulldogs themselves truly believed it.

The problem came when UGA faced a motivated team. A team with the real fight and desire to win, the desire that drives you to the early morning 7 on 7 practices, the desire that makes you want to practice, makes you want to work hard.

Alabama walked into Sanford Stadium in 2008 and turned the lights off during Georgia's "Black Out". Before the Bulldogs could even think about what was wrong they were down 31-0.

The Bulldogs came back in the second half motivated , but it was short lived. The #1 team in the land had been handed their own nuts on a crimson platter as if the Tide had performed the neutering themselves.

The reality was the Dawgs had neutered themselves, they had taken away their own reason to fight by accepting they were the best and feeling confident in their complacency.

It took another year to figure out that certain members of the coaching staff weren't being hard enough on the players, on and off the field.

We watched as our beloved Dawgs slipped slowly into obscurity on the field and rapidly into the police blotter off the field.

Then it seemed Mark Richt had taken all that he could handle, he decided to drop his longtime friend Willie Martinez from the staff and bring in NFL Defensive Line coach Todd Grantham.

From the outside looking in it didn't take long to notice that the Dawgs were responding to Coach Grantham. Players were slowly becoming a cohesive unit and the defense started to play football.

The amount of work that the coaching staff has put into the players this year has been equalled by the amount of work the players have put in.

The Bulldogs truly seem motivated, the players are acting like a team. The older players are encouraging the freshmen and the freshmen aren't worried about playing time.

The most important factor is that Aaron Murray is ready, the best signal caller in the SEC will need to be ready to face a defense with the ability of Boise State's.

Truth be told, I have been very impressed with how well Aaron Murray has taken over the team in only his third year on campus. He may be a redshirt sophomore but he acts like a redshirt senior. He is always studying game tape, calling players for outside of practice 7 on 7 games, and being a very vocal and spiritual leader for the entire team.

I hate to say it but he reminds me of another "special" SEC player that played for a team south of Georgia.

So to wrap thing up, I would have to say yes, I think the 2011 Georgia Bulldogs are ready.