Georgia bulldogs #1 in preseason usa today college football poll

The Georgia Bulldogs ended the 2007 campaign by destroying Hawaii 41-10 in the Sugar Bowl in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. In the process, they sacked the Rainbows’ highly touted QB Colt Brennan 8 times who commented after the game that he’d never seen such a fast defense.

The good news for Brennan is that he’s done with his college football career and won’t have to worry about facing the “Dawgs” again. The bad news for the rest of the NCAA is that the Bulldogs returned 9 starters from that fast and physical defense, and that the overall defense may have gotten better—and faster—since last year.

While a stout defense has become something of a fixture in Athens, this Bulldog team also boasts a deep and productive offense. The team returns 8 starters on this side of the ball including QB Mathew Stafford, who’s growing into a very poised team leader to compliment his strong arm and good head for reading defenses. He’s got a deep receiving corps to throw to led by NFL caliber WR Mohamed Massaquoi. Making the Bulldog offense even scarier is the team’s deep compliment of running backs behind Knowshon Moreno, who’s arguably the best running back seen at Georgia since Hershel Walker.

All of this wasn’t lost on the coaches participating in the USA TODAY college football poll, as they voted Georgia the preseason #1 team ahead of #2 USC and #3 Florida. The talent laden team is impressive enough, and they’re run by Mark Richt, who’s arguably the smartest and best prepared coach in college football. With longtime radio play by play broadcaster Larry Munson returning from brain surgery for what could be his final campaign, this season could be one for the ages in Athens.

There are a couple of obstacles that the team must overcome, the most compelling of which is a brutal schedule. The SEC conference is always tough, but this year Georgia faces South Carolina, LSU and Auburn along with PAC-10 foe Arizona State on the road. They’ll face Florida in Jacksonville, and Tennessee and Alabama at home. Even their non-conference foes are tougher than the usual overmatched mid-majors looking for a payday, as the team plays a solid MAC team in Central Michigan and 1-AA traditional power Georgia Southern. Several of the schedule ranking metrics have the Georgia schedule pegged as the third toughest in Division 1 college football.

Georgia’s season begins on August 30th, as they host Georgia Southern.