University of Georgia Athletics
Zeier Blog: Finding Our Identity
September 08, 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.
Note to the Dawg Nation: One game does not make a season. While it may not feel that way right now, and it normally doesn’t after a loss, let’s make sure we keep Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma State in perspective. In the big scheme of things, what does this loss really do for our Dawgs? Does it hurt our chances of winning the SEC East? Does it hurt our chances of winning the SEC? Does it hurt our chances of winning a national title? The answer in each case is no. We can still accomplish every goal we set out to accomplish this year. The only thing this loss does is make us fully alert to the fact there is more work yet to be done. Do we have to improve? Absolutely. Should we write the season off? Absolutely not. There is no doubt that losses bring the skeptics out in full force; one bad game and the picture is painted that the program is in ruins. Need I remind everyone that the last time we lost a game in an opponents’ stadium it was October 6th, 2007 against Tennessee? After that game the same questions swirled around the program and the same doubts crept into the mind of the entire Dawg Nation. Do we have the right QB? Do we have the right RB? Do we have the passion and talent to compete? What followed that loss was one of the greatest streaks in the history of Georgia Football: 7 wins in a row to round out the season, including a dance celebration in a Jacksonville end zone as we trounced Florida, a blackout of Auburn, and a dismantling of Hawaii in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. Will the same fate fall upon these Dawgs? Only those that strap on the red and black each week can answer that question, but I for one will not put it past this coaching staff or these players to find greatness where others search for failure.
The Dawgs entered Boone Pickens Stadiums with a number of questions waiting to be answered. We leave Stillwater with a number of those questions still out there. With that said, there is one answer that should provide an awful lot of comfort to all those that bleed red and black. That answer is that our defense appears as if they are for real. The Oklahoma State offense came into this game with as much hype as any we have played, and they lived up to it. Zac Robinson, Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter are for real. They are really good players that play the game at a break neck pace, and our defense more than held their own in standing up to the challenge. It is hard to find fault with a defensive unit that came under so much scrutiny last year, save one play that resulted in the Cowboys first score. They executed a tremendous game plan against an offense that will light up other teams this year, they delivered knockout blows in the secondary, they were physical, and they were fast. Defenses allow you to win games, they can’t win alone of course, but if this unit continues to play at the level it did last weekend we will be in every game. And if you are in every game, you can win every game.
The offense is where the questions remain. After a first drive that was absolute perfection, the Dawgs sputtered and looked as if they were searching for their identity. And that is probably the right question: How quickly can this offensive unit find their identity? The question is not if we have enough talent or if we will find our identity, it is just how quickly we will do so. We have the makings of a dominant offense because we can be dominant up front. Even with the injury to Trinton Sturdivant, the offensive line remains the engine that can make this offense go at an impressive clip. We are new at quarterback and at running back and we have skill guys not yet fully tested on college’s brightest stage. But we are talented, and it will not be long before they find their identity. Many believe it is the coaches job to give their team its identity, and that is true to some extent, but it really is the players that create this. Identity is created when these guys find success, when they believe they can win and when they learn how to win. Finding your identity can come in one play, like it did for me. A simple inside post route against cover two to Paul Etheridge is where I found my identity. It is where I knew I could play in the SEC. I let that pass go when, to everyone else, Paul looked covered. The strong side linebacker was running stride for stride with Paul down the field, but he had his head turned looking at the TE and could not see me. The window to throw the ball was small, but if I could throw right by his helmet, Paul would be off to the races. Just like that I let it go, we completed the pass, and I knew then that I belonged. I stepped off the field that day and told my Dad that I was ready. One play. One play and I knew I belonged. So it can be for this offense, so it can be for Joe Cox, so it can be for Richard Samuel, so it can be for anyone on this offensive unit. We have the talent, they simply have to experience success for themselves and know that they belong, know that they can dominate.
The test this week will be another tough one; games against South Carolina always are. Six of the last eight games have been decided by seven points or less, and this year appears to be no different with both defenses looking as if they are ready to go. For our offense, it will be the ultimate test, especially when all of the questions this week will be about their ability just to compete, not on what they will do to compete. But know this, we have the talent to play with anyone. All that is needed is that one play, that one play that allows them to believe they are ready. That one play that shows them they can compete and win. That one play that gives them their identity. GO DAWGS!
