ESPN College Football

Originally Published: October 7, 2005

Georgia controls its own fate in the SEC East

While Georgia was overlooked in the preseason polls, the Dawgs can no longer be ignored.

Email Print Share

By Chris Low
Special to ESPN.com

As the NFL draft plodded along back in April as only it can, you could almost hear the screeching sound of Georgia's football team sliding down the Southeastern Conference's proverbial pole.

Never mind that the Bulldogs were the only team in the conference to finish in the top 10 of the polls each of the last three years.

The defections on draft day were simply going to be too much to overcome.

Or were they?

The Bulldogs had five players go on the first day of the draft, including a pair of juniors. Safety Thomas Davis went to the Carolina Panthers in the first round and linebacker Odell Thurman to the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round.

Also moving on were four-year starting quarterback David Greene and pass-rushing specialist David Pollack (who opposing defensive coordinators swear played six seasons in the SEC), not to mention the Bulldogs' top two receivers from a year ago, Reggie Brown and Fred Gibson.

"We lost a lot of good players, but this is Georgia," quarterback D.J. Shockley said. "There were guys just waiting on their chance."

Waiting and wondering how the Bulldogs could be such an afterthought in the SEC's Eastern Division race.

Most of the chatter in the preseason centered around Tennessee's returning talent and the unveiling of Urban Meyer's spread-option offense at Florida.

About the only mention Georgia got was in the police blotter. The Bulldogs ran a close race with Tennessee and South Carolina this offseason when it came to players getting in trouble.

Otherwise, Georgia sort of flew under the radar. Until now.

The Bulldogs (4-0, 2-0) suddenly find themselves as the highest-ranked team in the conference. They get a chance to prove they're the best team Saturday, when they try and make it three in a row over Tennessee in Knoxville.

The Vols haven't lost three straight to the same team at home since Alabama won five in a row at Neyland Stadium from 1986-1994.

"I still feel like we have stuff to establish," Georgia cornerback DeMario Minter said. "I don't know if people are giving us respect or not, but all we have to do is take care of ourselves. Our performance will speak for itself."

If anything, the Bulldogs have basked in being the forgotten team heading into this season. It's safe to say that coach Mark Richt has reminded them that much on more than one occasion.

"At first, it was kind of disrespectful to us with all the things we've done over the last three or four years," Shockley said. "Just because we lost a couple of players, to be downgraded like that and automatically put behind Tennessee and Florida didn't sit well with the guys.

"But as the year's gone on, we've used it for motivation. Our team knew we had the athletes and players to play with all those teams they put above us. Right now, it's only motivated us to go out and play harder."

There's still the business of doing it against a marquee team. All the Bulldogs have proven to this point is that they can beat up on the teams they're supposed to.

Boise State is the best team Georgia has faced, and the Bulldogs have yet to see a defense the caliber of Tennessee's. The combined record of Georgia's last three opponents (Mississippi State, Louisiana-Monroe and South Carolina) is just 6-9.

Tennessee, meanwhile, has already played two games on the road against teams that were ranked in the top five at the time.

"This is our first [game] really of that magnitude, and it's at their place," said Richt, who's 16-2 in the stadium of opposing teams. "It takes a little getting used to, especially for some of our younger players who have never played in a game like this before.

"It's a different speed. It's a different amount of excitement, especially that first series or two. It's really a shock to your body."

For Shockley, it's a chance to prove that he can lead this team to a championship. He was the change-of-pace guy the last few years behind Greene.

Now, he's the guy -- period.

"As players, we know the importance of this game," said Shockley, who's thrown eight touchdown passes and only two interceptions. "This is the game that catapults the winner to the East championship."

The schedule also works in the Bulldogs' favor if they can win Saturday. Florida, which has already lost to Alabama, still has to play at LSU. Tennessee still has to play at Alabama. Georgia avoids Alabama this season and gets Auburn at home on Nov. 12.

The Georgia players say they're still sick over last season's loss to the Vols, who were a 13-point underdog.

But the Bulldogs also insist that this isn't as much about revenge as it is proving a point: The Eastern Division crown still travels through Athens.

"We just want to show the world that we're for real," senior free safety Greg Blue said.

Chris Low covers the SEC for The (Nashville) Tennessean.