University of Georgia Athletics
Zeier Blog: The Countdown Begins
August 31, 2009 | Football
One of Georgia's greatest quarterbacks ever, Eric Zeier begins his third season as a color analyst on the Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network. By the end of his senior season in 1994, he held 67 school passing records and 18 marks in the Southeastern Conference. Zeier played in the NFL from 1996 to 2001 with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Bucs, and Atlanta Falcons. Each week during the 2009 football season, Zeier will be writing about Georgia football exclusively for georgiadogs.com.
Less than a week to go...FINALLY! The void of the football off-season is nearly behind us and life can once again get back to its normal, exhilarating self. However, for the Dawg Nation, the 2009 season begins with more questions than it does answers for the first time in quite some time. How do we replace former quarterback Matthew Stafford? How do we replace former tailback Knowshon Moreno? Will the defense rebound and once again dominate opposing offenses? And that schedule: if the gauntlet of the SEC were not enough, add Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and the annual battle with what is now a very talented Georgia Tech squad. How can we compete? While we will have a much better pulse on the state of our Dawgs on Saturday night, here are a few thoughts to ponder as we get ready for battle.
Offensive football is won up front in the trenches. Period. While we all want to talk about great throws, great catches, and running backs effortlessly leaping over helpless defensive backs, offensive football is won up front with the men in the trenches. Trinton Sturdivant (6-5, 306), Chris Davis (6-4, 290), Ben Jones (6-3, 294), Cordy Glenn (6-5, 330), and Clint Boling (6-5, 297) will likely make up the starting front five for the Bulldogs and have a combined 85 starts between them. The Dawgs are talented and deep at the most important positions on the offensive side of the ball, and this is where it counts. Great offensive lines allow talent to shine through. And while the likes of Stafford and Moreno are special and will be missed, we have plenty of talent waiting in the wings and this offensive line will allow for their talents to be seen. Richard Samuel is emerging as the heir apparent to Moreno, and at 6-2, 216, he has the size to punish opposing defenses and control the ball on offense and, therefore, control the game.
We have all heard of the kind of leader that Joe Cox is, and while this is true, let’s not forget that he is also immensely talented. He may not have the size or arm of Matthew Stafford, but he can make every throw you need him to make and he has a complete grasp of Mike Bobo’s offense. For the most part, Joe Cox will not be asked to put this team on his back and carry it. But if asked, and there will be a game or two that he will be, Joe has the talent to execute and he has the kind of supporting cast that will allow his talents to shine.
You would have been hard pressed this off-season to talk about the Dawgs and not have had a conversation about the defense creep into the discussion. Just a year removed from one of the most dominating defensive performances I have ever seen at any level (where the Bulldog Defense dismantled the high powered offense of the Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl), there were calls from far and wide that we have the wrong scheme in place, that we cannot win by playing cover two, that we need to blitz and bring pressure on every down. For a quick reality check, let’s take a look back at the Mark Richt era: last year the Dawgs posted 10 wins, Georgia has posted 82 wins since 2001, we have won the SEC twice and we are 30-4 on the road. Dawg Nation, you do not reach that level of success unless you are playing good defense, and that good defense has been with the same fundamental schemes. Different players of course, but the same basic scheme nonetheless.
The strength of our defense once again remains in the linebacker corps where WLB Rennie Curran (5-11, 222) returns, who is also the top returning tackler in the Southeastern Conference. Curran will be joined in the middle of the Dawgs defense by SLB Darius Dewberry (6-3,231) and MLB Darryl Gamble (6-2, 250) giving us speed and power at the middle level of our defense. The number of injuries sustained by our defense last year was mind blowing, but it appears as if we are starting to round the corner on that front. The return of Jeff Owens (6-3, 300) to the Georgia defensive interior cannot be overstated. Being stout up the middle allows for defenses to apply pressure off the edges, it disrupts running games and forces teams into predictable situations. Kade Weston (6-5, 320), Geno Atkins (6-1, 290) and Owens give us the kind of power up front that will make the engine run. Without talent in the interior D-Line, offenses can all too easily dictate what they want to do, there is no disruption of the flow of their game. We all want to see the opposing QB flat on their back, we want to see the go-for-broke style that creates big plays and turnovers for the defense. Well, I believe we have the schemes in place to do just that. We have done it in the past and we can do it again. We can do it because we are beginning to get the pieces back in place that will allow us to do it.
And finally for the schedule. Yes, it is difficult, but in the SEC it’s tough every year. And if we take care of business, it is the kind of schedule that will undoubtedly capture national attention. As difficult as it is, we do catch a bit of a break. South Carolina is still searching to find the offense of the Head Ball Coach, Tennessee and Auburn both have new head coaches and we get LSU at home. On top of that, we don’t have Alabama or Ole Miss on the docket, the two teams I think will finish 1-2 in the West. With that said, there is plenty in front of us by which to test ourselves. Florida has already been ordained as National Champs, we all know how good Tech can be when they get rolling and we start the season against a top 10 team on the road in Stillwater, Okla. There is no question that the schedule is difficult, but it is not impossible.
This weekend against Oklahoma State will say a lot. A win gives a team that is focused and full of an internal swagger the confidence to be great and shock the country. A loss and maybe they revisit the writings of the national experts that state this is a rebuilding year. I believe this: we will be ready, we will play hard, we will play with discipline and we will see many of the questions that have been asked this off-season answered in a way that prompts the entire Dawg Nation to stand and proudly shout...
GO DAWGS!
