Decision 2012
Redshirt junior quarterback Aaron Murray shattered Georgia’s single-season record for touchdown passes last season with 35, but his place in Bulldogs history would be enhanced by an SEC championship. David Greene and D.J. Shockley are the only quarterbacks in the Mark Richt era to lead the Bulldogs to a league title, and Murray last season became the first Georgia quarterback since Shockley to get the program into the league title tilt. Murray could have a decision to make after this season whether to leave early for the NFL, and that definitely will be the case for redshirt junior outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, an All-American last season. And what about defensive coordinator Todd Grantham? Georgia rewarded him this summer with a raise and a contract extension, but could a banner year result in him getting college head-coaching offers or more lucrative offers in the NFL?
In the polls
The Bulldogs were picked at SEC media days to repeat their East Division title of a year ago, and they were ranked No. 6 in the USA Today preseason poll as voted on by the coaches. Georgia has not been ranked this high to start a season since 2008, when the Bulldogs were No. 1 for all of one week before being passed by Southern California. That UGA team wound up with a 10-3 record and a Capital One Bowl championship, having been hammered by Alabama and Florida during the regular season as well as being upset by Georgia Tech. There would be 8-5 and 6-7 seasons that followed those ’08 Bulldogs, but last year’s 10-win team and the returning talent have coaches and media in agreement that this is a top-10 program again.
Swing vote of confidence
Georgia has the potential to be favored in every game this season, but the Bulldogs could be derailed as soon as the second weekend.
The SEC rewarded newcomers Missouri and Texas A&M with home league openers on Sept. 8 and made Georgia and Florida as the marquee opponents. The Tigers won their final four games last season to finish 8-5, and they have a dynamic offense led by dual-threat quarterback James Franklin, who accounted for 3,846 yards of total offense last season in his first year as a starter.
Missouri signed heralded 6-foot-6, 220-pound receiver Dorial Green-Beckham in February, and the Bulldogs will have to counter him without the services of top cornerback Sanders Commings, who is serving a two-game suspension.