After one of the best years in program history, how do the Georgia Bulldogs looking for 2013-2014, and what chances are the College Football odds makers giving this team for a shot at the title?
After
their big win over Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day, the Georgia
Bulldogs head into an off-season where it looks like they're going to have to
go into almost full rebuild mode. The Bulldogs have 16 seniors leaving the
program after their Citrus Bowl win, and even some juniors looking at the NFL.
After
finishing seventh in the BCS standings this past season, Georgia opened up at
28/1 to win the BCS championship in 2014. 13 schools have better odds to win
the title next season, including Alabama, LSU, Florida, and even South
Carolina. Of course all of these schools are in the SEC as well as Georgia.
It
doesn't get any easier, as it seems that Georgia has at least 10 to 15 sure
fire NFL draft picks going into April's draft. This is going to leave an
anonymous hold on their roster, but the Bulldogs do have some bright spots on
the roster as underclassmen, as well as a great recruiting class coming in.
Perhaps
the biggest and best news coming in to Athens Georgia going into next season is
that soon-to-be senior Aaron Murray will be returning for that senior season to
play football for the Bulldogs. Some experts say that Murray left significant
NFL money on the table by returning for his senior season, but either way its
good news for Bulldogs fans. Murray threw for almost 3900 yards and 36
touchdowns in his junior season, leading the Bulldogs all the way to their
Citrus Bowl victory.
Also
returning will be one of the standout freshmen from last season, Todd Gurley.
Gurley ran for nearly 1400 yard this past season as a freshman, averaging over
6.2 yards per carry, and scoring 17 touchdowns.
The soon-to-be
sophomore had some outstanding performances in his first year as a college
running back, including 122 yards and two touchdowns in the SEC title game
against Alabama, who of course went on to stifle Notre Dame in the BCS
championship. Gurley also had a phenomenal performance in the Citrus Bowl,
where he rushed for 125 yards and another touchdown. The Bulldogs are also
returning Keith Marshall, who added eight more touchdowns and 750 yards on the
ground as a freshman as well last season.
So, you may
be asking why are the Bulldogs at 28/1 next season? Well it could be because
eight and possibly even nine of the Bulldogs that are about to be drafted in
this April's NFL draft played defense on last year’s team. That team gave up
less than 20 points per game.
It also
doesn't help to the Bulldogs are losing arguably two of the best linebackers
from last season. Jarvis Jones is the number one outside linebacker listed on a
lot of scouts draft orders this year, and Alec Ogletree is considered by some
to be one of the best inside linebackers in this year’s draft. Losing two guys
like that alone will definitely knock down your chances at winning a BCS title
next season.
The mountain and needs to be climbed is very steep for the Bulldogs, but
if some of their incoming freshmen pan out for next season, especially on
defense, this offense is going to have some firepower it hasn’t seen since Matt
Stafford’s days there. But if you can’t play defense in the SEC, it’s going to
be tough to win against the conference elite.