NCAAF Odds: Georgia looks to make move in SEC

Mark Richt begins his 10th season at the helm of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Life is never easy in the big, bad SEC and no one knows that more than the Georgia Bulldogs.

Bookmaker.com has Georgia at 30/1 to win college football’s national title. The win total is 8 ½, with the ‘over’ the favored scenario at minus 125.

Coach Mark Richt is entering his 10th season with the team and has a 90-27 record. There’s some talk of him being on the hot seat with a new Athletic Director in Greg McGarity, but it’s hard to replace someone averaging 10 wins per season.

Richt has two SEC titles to his name, with the last one coming in 2005. The team’s record (11-2 in 2007, 10-3 in 2008 and 8-5 in 2009) has declined the last three years and the coach needs to stem the tide.

The 2008 squad is the one Richt is still answering for. Georgia was the preseason favorite to win the national championship after finishing the 2007 season ranked No. 2. The team had stars Matthew Stafford at quarterback and Knowshon Moreno at running back, but fell way short on expectations by losing three games.

Those two players left for the NFL last year and the Bulldogs had to make due with the inconsistent Joe Cox at quarterback. They did finish the year with wins over Georgia Tech and Texas A&M in the Independence Bowl, building momentum for this season.
 
Quarterback is the big issue once again. Talented redshirt freshman Aaron Murray has won the starting job, but he’s never taken a college snap. Murray will rely on junior receiver A.J. Green, who easily led the team in receiving yards (808) and touchdowns (six) last year.

The running back duo of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King each have 1,000 yard potential. They combined for 349 yards in the Georgia Tech game and will be called upon a lot if Murray struggles. They’ll also be running behind a veteran offensive line.

There should be a lot of improvement from the nation’s 75th ranked offense in total yards (362.2) and 51st in points (28.9), but much of it depends on Murray.

The defense returns just four starters and has a new defensive coordinator in Todd Grantham. Grantham comes over from the Dallas Cowboys and he’s implementing a change from the 4-3 to 3-4 defense. That always requires a leaning curve, which could be felt early in the season.

The road to the conference title game is a little easier this year. Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and LSU are all top-25 teams, but in the SEC West.

Georgia (No. 23) and Florida (No. 4) are the only SEC East teams ranked in the top-25. The Gators are loaded with talent once again, but still have to replace a legend in Tim Tebow. South Carolina and Tennessee are the two other division teams that could surprise.

The schedule begins with UL Lafayette on Sept. 4. Georgia is listed as an early 27-point college football spread favorite. A trip to South Carolina and Steve Spurrier comes next on Sept. 11 and Tennessee pays a visit on Oct. 9.

The big game on the schedule is always the ‘World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.’ That takes place against Florida in the neutral Jacksonville location. The Gators have won 17 of the last 20 years.