Sleeping Dawgs

Can't rule out Georgia's chances, even in the loaded SEC East

May 7, 2007

By Trev Alberts

Special to CSTV.com

	TREV ALBERTS Trev Alberts is a football analyst for CSTV and CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- TREV's MAILBAG 2/20: Show Some Patience 1/23: Cutcliffe Can Be Successful At Duke 1/16: To Each His Own 1/10: Watching Different Games 1/2: Brennan's Sugar Performance Won't Hurt Him 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 12/19: Rodriguez Licking His Chops 12/12: Buckeyes Have A Chip 12/05: Missouri Got Hosed 11/28: Some Coaching Changes Ludicrous 11/21: Love Woodson's Poise 11/14: Dixon Can Be Contained, But Not Stopped 11/7: Pac-10 Far From Overrated 10/31: Appalachian State Loss An Afterthought 10/24: No Halves Off In College Football 10/17: Nebraska In Good Hands With The Doctor 10/10: Trojans Still A Player 10/03: Don't Hate On South Florida 09/26: Hangovers Part of The Game 09/19: Nebraska's Performance Disappointing 09/12: DeSean As Explosive As It Gets 09/05: Tebow Impressive In First Start 08/29: ACC QBs Better Than Advertised 08/24: McFadden Not Quite In Bush's Class 08/17: From Overrated To Underrated 08/10: Florida's Overrated 08/03: Spurrier's Got That Twinkle 07/27: Big East Deserves More Credit 07/20: Badgers Playing For Second, At Best 07/13: Gators Repeat? Not So Fast 07/06: Pac-10 Still Owned By USC 06/29: One Big's Better Than The Other 06/22: WAC Ain't All That 06/15: Text Messaging Ban Excessive 06/08: Fifth Year of Eligibility A Good Idea 05/25: Hot Seat Warming Up For Some Coaches 05/18: Big Ten Falling Behind SEC 05/11: 'Canes, Seminoles Have Ways To Go 05/07: Sleeping Dawgs 04/20: Look Out For South Florida 04/13: Boise's Johnson Has No Shot At '07 Heisman 03/30: The Best Atmosphere In College Football Belongs To... 03/23: Tough To Compare QBs With Different Styles 03/16: Top Coaches Need To Be Appreciated 03/9: Woodson Nation's Most Indispensable QB 03/2: Things Just Not The Same At Nebraska 02/23: Rodriguez Does Well With His Chips 02/16: Believe It Or Not, I Don't Have An FSU Agenda 02/09: Yes, I Do Know College Football 02/02: Of Course Huskers Make Adjustments 01/26: Coach Alberts In Lincoln? No Chance 01/19: Can't Begrudge Kids For Leaving Early 01/03: Saban Heads to Alabama 12/29: Some Coaching Changes Come As Surprise 12/22: Too Many Bowl Games Way of Life 12/15: Who Has The Best Talent In The Nation? 12/7: Who's The More Deserving National Title Participant? 12/1: Irish Don't Deserve BCS Bid 11/16: Ohio State the Better Team 11/9: Give the Big East Its Due 11/2: What's Wrong With D at USC? 10/26: Where Will Bowden Be in '07? 10/20: Who Belongs in the Top 20? FOOTBALL 1/8: In Surprise, Ohio State Beats Itself 1/6: Good Start Vital For Buckeyes 12/26: LSU Hater I Am Not 11/23: LSU Loss A Microcosm Of The Season 11/19: Give It Some Time 10/13: Give Kentucky All The Credit 10/7: USC Loss Sends Shockwaves 9/1: Michigan's Loss Nothing Short of Stunning 6/19: Hoeppner Did Things His Way 4/27: Unexpected Reigned In 1994 02/22: Combine Experience Can Be Eye Opening 02/08: Signing Day Observations 02/07: Walk Down Recruiting Memory Lane 11/17: Remebering Schembechler 9/5: One Week Is Just One Week 8/25: The Return Of Trev

You've got college football questions and CSTV football analyst Trev Alberts has answers and opinions. Each week Alberts will be answering questions and queries on the world of college football. So if you've got a question for Trev, just ask him.

You know Trev, I have liked you as a commentator and analyst for a while. You don't harbor too many biases and you generally try to shoot straight. Having loaded you up though, let me ask this......with all the attention Florida and Tennessee are getting, why is it that nobody thinks Georgia has a legitimate shot at taking the SEC crown again? I mean, Mark Richt has guided them to three SEC championship games. Albeit, one of them we came in the back door and got our clocks cleaned by a good LSU team. But what gives? - Billy Holland, Duluth, Ga.

If you really look at Georgia and what happened and why they took a step back, it's when they transitioned from D.J. Shockley, their veteran quarterback.

It doesn't take a whole lot of intelligence to figure out that a team with a returning starting quarterback that has experience is a team that is a legitimate threat. So when Georgia didn't have a returning quarterback and they had Joe Tereshinski, Joe Cox and Matthew Stafford, the results were typical. So much in college football is based on the play of your quarterback.

But Stafford finished last season gaining the team's confidence and I really think Georgia is a sleeper team this year. They're going to have a good defense, a good running game and I'm a Mark Richt fan. I think he does everything the right way with recruiting, where they've been outstanding. They need some wide receivers to step up and the quarterback has to make good decisions - playing solid and not turning the ball over.

But I'll tell you, that SEC East race is going to be incredible. It's not only a remarkable race for a conference, but it's a remarkable race for a division within a conference: Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina think pretty highly of themselves this year. Steve Spurrier thinks he has the best team he's had down there yet.

The ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 fans who are upset about the attention the SEC continually gets, well, I think that attention is warranted. They have remarkable talent and remarkable coaching to go along with it in Urban Meyer, Phil Fulmer, Richt and Spurrier. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that and that's only the Eastern Division.  

How good is Florida really going to be? They're bringing in a lot of freshman on that defense and when was the last time Urban Meyer coached three straight years at one university? - J.L., Alabama

It will be interesting to see how that team comes together. There were quite a few losses on defense. They will have a young defense, but I still think they're tremendously talented.

When you establish expectations about excellence, about how you prepare, how you handle yourself, that translates to the younger players. Some of those guys who may not have played a whole lot last year, but were around, learned from those great leaders of last year's championship team. They're either going to establish a blueprint for success that will just carry on to the new players, or they will become complacent, thinking they have things under control. I think those are the two things that happen when you win a championship

I don't think there's any doubt about the returning talent Florida has. It's about the mindset with the Gators, about how they're going to approach the upcoming season. Meyer has to force them to pay the price to defend and I would expect that to be the case. Guys come into programs prepared to play nowadays so the fact they're younger - and that their names are different - doesn't take away from the fact they're still tremendous athletes. Florida will still be right there.

What's the one rules change you would like to see the NCAA make? I know they just changed back the clock rules but my buddies and I think instituting the two-feet in rule, like the NFL, would make the game more interesting. What do you think? - James, Middletown, N.J.

I haven't thought about the two feet rule, but I can see merits to both sides. I do NFL games too and sometimes the spectacular catch in college football is great, but I don't know if a rule change would make a remarkable difference. It might change some routes and cut down a little bit on the spectacular plays, though.

But I really like the rule changes that went into effect this year with the kickoff being moved back. I like the fact that special teams will play a more integral part of the game. The Devin Hesters and Ted Ginn-types will have a much greater impact. And I think you may be surprised how many of these kicks go into the endzone, too. But any time you can add football plays it's a really good thing. We're all there to see a football game, to see the action. It's going to make the game even more interesting

We could do better on replay. Initially, I was wrong about replay. Now I believe it's very good. There are times when instant replay affects the outcome of the game because of momentum. They need to be done quicker, with communication between upstairs and downstairs improving. I would like to see coaches have more of a say about replays. I don't understand why there would be any limit at all on challenges, within reason and with lost timeouts as penalties, because I think it increases the chess match.

But I think our game is awfully good. You can be as critical as you want, but you have to give the NCAA credit for willing to be open-minded and admit when they're wrong. Maybe we haven't gotten all the way there yet with the BCS. But our sport is as healthy as it can be on the field. Off the field is where there's the most concern long term. It doesn't take a whole lot of intelligence to look at the landscape of college football and realize those who have the ability to build facilities to entice players to come have a marked advantage. That's just reality.

I went to Nebraska for the most part because the facilities were at a different level than Iowa was. But it saddens me when some schools have greater access to funds than others. But again, on the field our game is as polished as it comes. If we truly want to have a level playing field, I think it's pretty disingenuous to think someone like a Notre Dame, a Texas or even a Texas A&M is competing on the same playing field as a Missouri or Iowa State. But how do you regulate that? I don't know.