Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009

Was Tech's victory over Georgia last season an aberration or trend?

By David Hale and Coley Harvey

dhale@ledger-enquirer.com and charvey@macon.com

Georgia owned the rivalry with Georgia Tech for most of the past decade, winning seven straight games over the Jackets.

When last season began, there was no reason to think that number wouldn’t grow to eight. After all, Georgia was the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the nation, while Tech had a first-year coach in Paul Johnson.

All of the experts said Johnson’s option offense never would work in a major conference such as the ACC.

Then as the season went on, Georgia was not as good as everyone thought, and Georgia Tech was better than most thought.

Proof of that came Nov. 29, when the Jackets ended the long drought against the Dogs with a 45-42 victory.

Now, as the 2009 season nears, questions abound for both programs, including whether that game was an aberration or a sign that the state’s two major football programs are in a state of transition.

Expectations go down

When Joe Cox made the trip to Birmingham, Ala., to meet with reporters at the SEC’s annual preseason media event, he had a pretty good idea of what to expect. He already had spent months answering the same question over and over.

A year ago, Georgia was the consensus pick as the nation’s best team, but this season, the stars are gone. Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Asher Allen left early for the NFL, seniors who had been key contributors for years are gone, and this season, few pundits are expecting much from the Bulldogs.

As it turns out, Cox wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Our expectations haven’t changed,” Cox said. “We know a lot of people are probably overlooking us, and that’s probably the best thing for us.”

The tempered national expectations have fueled a successful offseason for the Bulldogs.

Before earning preseason No. 1 status last year, nearly a dozen players landed in hot water off the field. Several players were arrested, more were suspended and three were released from the team.

This year has been different. The leadership has been dramatically better, attendance at voluntary offseason workouts and the camaraderie in the locker room formed around a team concept that head coach Mark Richt has worked to instill since January.

“I think a year ago, just in general, when you have what people consider stars like Knowshon and Matthew, they think you’re going to win a national championship,” Richt said. “Conversely, now that they’re gone, they won’t give us much chance to win a national championship. We know that football takes more than two guys.”

More than just isolating their stars last year, the Bulldogs bought in to some of the hype surrounding the team.

“Last year, we thought a lot of things were going to be handed to us, and we took a lot for granted,” receiver A.J. Green said. “This year, we’re just going to work hard, and a lot of people are trying to doubt us, so that gives us even more motivation to come out and do good things.”