Expectations surrounding the 2004 Georgia Bulldogs are running high as the season's opening kick-off approaches, and not just in Athens. National publications and prognosticators see Georgia (along with USC and Oklahoma) as the favorites to win the National Championship.
Unfortunately for fans of the Bulldogs, these national prognosticators might be falling prey to the most obvious of misconceptions.
Every summer, when college football preseason publications start to flood the newsstand, eager fans gobble up the literature on star quarterbacks, game-breaking receivers, and disruptive pass-rushers. It is rare that a team (other than maybe Nebraska of the mid-'90s) gets written up as a national contender due to their offensive line. It is the very nature of preseason forecasting to focus on the skill position players, the so-called "household names," and ignore the "big uglies" up front.
But this year, the fate of the Georgia Bulldogs rests squarely on the shoulders of the five men that will comprise their offensive line. And that could spell trouble in Athens.
Ignoring their offensive line for a moment, the Georgia Bulldogs are as stacked with talent as any team in the nation. They have Heisman candidate David Greene at quarterback, burgeoning game-breaker Fred Gibson at receiver, two-time All-American David Pollack at defensive end, and future first-round draft choice Odell Thurman at linebacker, to name just a few. They also return all five starters at offensive line. That fact might look good on paper, but, to anyone who watched Georgia in 2003, it means absolutely nothing.
The Georgia offensive line of 2003 was multi-talented in the sense that they could not establish the run and were horrible in pass protection. While their ineffectiveness could be excused early in the year due to the fact that they were breaking in five new starters, the line as a unit did not progress nearly as much as expected.
Furthermore, only one of those new starters (mammoth Max Jean-Gilles) showed signs of having star potential, and he could be forced to play out of position at tackle this season due to injuries and ineptitude.
The progression of the Bulldogs' offensive line will have far-reaching implications. If they can not protect Greene better than they did last year, than the Georgia staff might be forced to use the more athletic D.J. Shockley under center, as he is far superior to the statuesque Greene at avoiding the pass rush.
Shockley, despite the fact that he oozes potential, has a bad history at Georgia of making major mistakes at key moments. Senior Greene, in his fourth year of piloting the offense, has the poise and presence (along with a deadly accurate arm) to guide Georgia to the national title that some are predicting. But the offensive line must improve their pass-blocking and allow Greene to display his skills and lead the offense.
This whole point is moot, of course, if the five returning starters gel together and develop as an offensive line. Mark Richt as recruited as well as anyone in the country over the last three years, so the raw talent is definitely there. But if that talent does not translate into production, it will be a year of disappointment at Sanford Stadium.
And all of the preseason prognosticators, who were blinded by the prime talent Georgia possesses at the skill positions, will be reminded that football games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage.
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