This Is Crunch Time for UGA Football

Some may think that the first 2 games of the year are the 2 biggest weeks of 2011 for UGA football. Some out there may point at that stretch of games from Florida, to Auburn then @ GA TECH are the weeks that matter most. Some may think that it is the SEC championship game where the dawgs look to return the first weekend of December.

None of these come CLOSE to the importance of the next 8 weeks. These are the days that worry me most. Over the next few days all the incoming freshmen will arrive on campus for summer conditioning and workouts to get in shape for the 2011 season. They will arrive in Athens for the next stage in their lives. They will move into the dorms, some may even do a few summer classes. They will have moved away from home for the first time.

So why is this crunch time? Their parents arent around. Neither are the coaches. The coaching staff isnt allowed time with them until fall camp begins in August. So from June 4th until the beginning of August these young men will have lots of time alone in the beautiful city of Athens, GA. No supervision, so what could go wrong? As you all know, there have been issues in the past with just a few that felt that more fun than the usual was needed. This wound up costing the dawgs in the arrest columns in the newspaper and in the local jails. It also found a few players on 2 game suspensions. I do not blame these guys for having fun, I dont blame them at all. They just made some bad choices at a bad time, but these times wound up costing the team as a whole in a big way. No one wants to go into the season missing players and without a full complement of weapons.

While the first game in other years has been against a game on paper that was already won, this year isnt the same. UGA opens against a TOP 5 oppponent in week 1, and against the #8 team in week 2 and that one is a CONFERENCE GAME.

With what I am hearing from some of the incoming players, I dont really see this being a problem this year. The incoming guys seem focused, seem to be well behaved and making it a priority to be a dawg in ways to make us proud off the field as well as between the lines. But this IS crunch time. Right now is the most important part of the 2011 season. People talk about erasing the perception that Georgia isnt an elite program. People talk about erasing the thoughts that maybe GA players cant behave in the offseason.

The way to put the football program back on the map is by winning those first 2 games, by defeating 2 top 10 opponents in a row to begin the season and take the early lead in the SEC east and announce that we have a team to be reckoned with. The way to make that happen is to get rid of the behavior perception. We signed a great recruiting class full of great young men. This is their first crunch time, this is their time to begin the resurgence.

GO DAWGS!!!

(EVERYONE WEAR RED ON SEPTEMBER 3rd)