Last year’s Southern California Trojans turned out to be one
of the biggest busts in college football history after failing to back up their
preseason number one ranking. The Trojans ended 2012 with a loss to Georgia
Tech in the unimpressive Hyundai Sun Bowl to cap off a 7-6 season.
Posterboy quarterback Matt Barkley had been the face of the
Trojans and was an early Heisman frontrunner, as well as potential number one
pick in a relatively weak draft class. Barkley and USC could do know wrong,
that is until they met state rival Stanford in Palo Alto which would be there
first loss of the season after a 2-0 start.
In the next months, USC would fall apart, dropping five more
decisions along with Barkley’s once sky high draft stock as he fell to the
fourth round where he was picked by the miserable Philadelphia Eagles.
Almost a year since USC fell off the radar, it seems like
history is about to repeat itself with another top five nationally ranked team,
the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia began its season on Saturday where the Tajh Boyd-led
#5 Clemson Tigers outlasted the Bulldogs in a 38-35 showdown on ABC’s Saturday
Night Game of the Week. One game and one loss into the their season, the
Bulldogs do not have an easy road ahead of them. Next week, Georgia gets the
wonderful opportunity to face off against fellow SEC power #6 South Carolina
and their merciless, hard-hitting Heisman candidate, Jadeveon Clowney.
Following their meeting with the other USC, Georgia has an
early bye to likely revive their skill position players’ health from Clowney’s
hits before they have North Texas at home, which should end with a win. After the Mean Green (Can’t type that with a
straight face), the Bulldogs are slated to take on the #12 LSU Tigers. Luckily
for the Bulldogs, this game will also be played at home and not in possibly
college football’s worst atmosphere, Death Valley.
It is possible that by Week 5, Georgia can be either 2-2 or
1-3 with another six conference games left on their schedule and no bye. In the
SEC, it is as hard to make it to the conference championship with more than two
losses as it is to win eight straight games in any college conference. The only
ranked opponent after LSU will be another prominent SEC program in the #10
Florida Gators.
After a preseason of hype as the next best team in the SEC
behind mighty Alabama, Georgia is facing the risk of a futile season much like
the Trojans last year. To add to the idea of déjà vu, Georgia has a highly
touted quarterback and Heisman favorite in senior Aaron Murray just like USC
with Barkley.
Like Barkley, Murray bypassed entering the NFL Draft for
another season in college. Murray also lived up to Barkley’s hype when he was
named as this preseason’s All-SEC quarterback, instead of two time defending
national champion AJ McCarron and troubled reigning Heisman winner Johnny
Manziel.
Whether it was out of greed or pure determination, Murray
returned for his final year in Athens wanting things he did not already have, a
national championship, an SEC crown, and a Heisman. If Murray follows in
Barkley’s footsteps and flops as a senior he could see his draft stock also
drop along with his credibility in football.
Just like their quarterback, the Bulldogs are at the brink
of criticism. By putting together one of the better schedules in the nation
including a tough stretch early on, Georgia looked to gain respect as a
national power.
However, the only way to gain that respect would be to win
those important games, otherwise, the Bulldogs will be the laughingstock of
college football just like USC was a year ago. Only, Georgia would have tried
being someone they aren’t which is the ultimate offense in my book.
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