Bill Shanks commentary on Georgia football: Bulldogs will be better this year, should win 10 games

Quarterback will be big question

By BILL SHANKS

Special to the Ledger-Enquirer

It is perhaps the best week of the sports year. We’re now counting down the days, and even the hours, until the start of the college football season.

This is what we do in the South. We love our college football. They don’t experience this in Vermont or Idaho, at least not like we do.

College football is an event. Every game means something. Every Saturday is special. Don’t get me wrong; I love the NFL, too. But there’s just something about college football.

It will be a little more fun when the temperatures drop a bit and the leaves turn. But if you wake up early Saturday and head to a game, you’re going to have a feeling knowing you’re going to watch something very special.

The Georgia Bulldogs hope for more success in 2010. They were 8-5 last year, and even though head coach Mark Richt wouldn’t admit it a few weeks ago, that was a mediocre season.

Mediocrity is something college football fans don’t like in the South. College football fans want to win, to dominate, to crush the competition. And Georgia fans hope a new defense will do just that.

Gone is the passive game plan of former defensive coordinator Willie Martinez. What’s new is a 3-4 scheme brought in by a coach who used to be with the Dallas Cowboys.

Todd Grantham seems like a tough old football coach, one that you’d want leading a defense. He may not be Rex Ryan, but he’s definitely not Martinez.

The new defense will be the main thing to watch this season for Georgia. And that’s the main reason the Bulldogs will be better.

The 3-4 fits Georgia’s personnel better. It did last year, too, but Martinez was sold on his 4-3. This will allow Georgia to penetrate and attack and do something we haven’t seen in a few years — put pressure on the quarterback.

Justin Houston is better suited to play at outside linebacker. He was not big enough for the defensive end position, but now he’ll be able to get a head start and go after the quarterback.

You will see a lot of movement up front, as Grantham seems satisfied with a rotation of players on the line. Brandon Wood and Demarcus Dobbs will start on the end. DeAngelo Tyson will begin at the nose position, but he’ll also slip outside on the end as well.

Georgia will then have two huge bodies, Justin Anderson and Kwame Geathers, putting pressure from the middle at the nose position.

But the most impressive part of Georgia’s defense is the depth in the secondary. They are two deep at all four spots, and it’s been a while since Bulldogs fans have seen that. They aren’t just names, either, but significant players who should make an impact.

The big unknown for Georgia is the quarterback spot. We know Aaron Murray will be the man, but we don’t know how good he will do. Murray better stay healthy, because the backup situation for Georgia is not good at all.

Murray will have the best receiver in the country in A.J. Green and perhaps the best group of tight ends in the Southeastern Conference at his disposal. And, when in doubt, he can do what quarterbacks do best in the South: turn around and hand the ball to a talented running back.

Caleb King is solid, and after he returns from his sabbatical the driver’s license-challenged Washaun Ealey will be counted on. Those two could be a dynamic duo, and with a solid offensive line, King and Ealey should really rack up significant yards.

Georgia will be better this season.

The Bulldogs should win 10 games, and while they still have to beat Florida to get over that proverbial hump, Bulldogs fans will be happier that progress will be made.

If you listen close enough, you probably can hear the bands warming up. The crowds will be cheering soon. And we’ll see the first kickoff of the year.

Thank goodness.

The Bill Shanks Show can be heard at www.foxsports1670.com from 3-6 p.m. daily.