One of the small pleasures of the football season is watching the typically unpredictable nature of every season turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The power polls, bombastic predictions, Heisman candidates, and what-if scenarios get blown up and regenerated every week. The lesson every time is to let the season play out, but what’s the fun in that? It was especially enjoyable to watch Tommy Tuberville get taught that lesson. In October of 2006 Tuberville, with Auburn undefeated and ranked #2, got caught up in worrying about the BCS and promptly got blown out by Arkansas. Georgia would do their part to keep Auburn out of the BCS a few weeks later. Damn, that was fun.

On to this year. We’ve already seen BCS-buster and Oklahoma slayer BYU go from favorite to forgotten. Now it’s Ole Miss’s turn. The ink was barely dry on this Glenn Guilbeau article in the Shreveport Times talking about the high rankings enjoyed by the SEC and the SEC West in particular when Ole Miss laid their egg in Columbia last night. I guess the SEC West *had* three teams ranked in the top 10.

It was always unrealistic to expect the SEC West to finish with three teams in the Top 10 (hindsight is great!) when they all play each other. No matter how good LSU, Ole Miss, and Alabama are, there are three losses to be had when those teams play the round-robin divisional schedule. Even that ignores LSU’s games with Florida and Georgia and, as it turns out, Ole Miss’s game at South Carolina. Throw in a resurgent Auburn team, and the difficulty of remaining unblemished and highly ranked is that much tougher. The polls might exalt the SEC and the SEC West right now, but the reality of the conference schedule has yet to hit.

About Ole Miss…they’re getting killed this morning, and it’s for good reason. They just didn’t play well and made some strange coaching decisions. That said, a lot of the reaction is predictably overboard. They still have the pieces to be a quality team and the schedule to finish with a record that gets them back to a New Year’s Day bowl. It’ll show a lot about them whether they realize they still have a lot to play for and are able to regroup. The best thing about the loss is that it comes against an SEC East team, so they’ll still be able to determine their own fate in the SEC West.

That said, I have to pile on left tackle Bradley Sowell’s comments.

“I’m glad it’s gone,” Rebels left tackle Bradley Sowell said of the high-intensity spotlight, “so we can just get back to basics and win ballgames.”

I don’t think you’ll hear that from an LSU or Alabama player if they lose. Unfortunately I did hear a lot of that sentiment from Georgia players and fans in the aftermath of the 2008 season. That’s just not a winning attitude.

The good news (at least from Bruce Figgins’ perspective): The athletic department decided that redshirting this year would count as “time served” for Figgins’ six-game suspension.

We raised the question back when Figgins’ suspension was announced whether or not he’d have to serve the six games if he decided to redshirt. He was going to miss the early part of the season anyway recovering from shoulder surgery, and a redshirting in 2009 might allow him to get back into top form in time to play a complete 2010 season. There was some discussion whether the redshirt went against the spirit of the suspension, but this week’s decision put an end to the uncertainty. It’s now up to Figgins and the coaches: return in the middle of this season with a senior season to follow in 2010 or redshirt and have two years of eligibility remaining.

The bad news: The suspension might have already had its biggest impact on Figgins’ future regardless of when he returns. At the beginning of the season the position was pretty wide open. Aron White was the only returning tight end with any experience, and he had just three receptions a year ago. That window of opportunity might be closing though as Georgia has three emerging young tight ends, and the position looks to be in good shape. As David Hale points out, the tight ends are already just two receptions shy of last year’s total for the entire season. White is a dependable receiver with good hands, Orson Charles just gets better and better, and Arthur Lynch is gaining situational experience. Whose playing time diminishes in order to get Figgins back on the field?

If there’s a niche where a return by Figgins might have the biggest impact, it’s in blocking. It’s not that Charles (or White for that matter) are blocking liabilities, but their strengths are as receivers for now. Lynch, who considers blocking his strong point, might not be quite ready yet – certainly no knock on a true freshman. If the offensive line play continues to be average, the coaches might look to use a blocking tight end more, and Figgins could fill that role. It would also give the coaches the option to use more two tight end sets while keeping both a strong blocking and receiving option on the field.

Mark Richt has a lot on his plate between now and the Vandy game (Figgins’ earliest possible return), and will worry about it then. “I think a lot will have to do with where we are and where everybody is at that time,” Richt said.

PS…if you’re able, read Anthony Dasher’s conversation with Lynch over at UGASports.com (subscription required). Lynch talks about everything from his homesickness (“…there was definitely a time when I wondered if I made the wrong choice…”), his resolve (“I’m the one who chose to come here and I don’t regret it a bit.”), his relationship with his mother (“She taught me to be a good person…”), and of course his approach to playing the game (“That’s the way I was brought up, to just go out there and fight, go out there every day and work my butt off, fight and play with a passion….I take pride in my blocking”). He comes across as a guy that’s already matured a great deal as a true freshman a long way from home.

You’ll also want to catch David Hale’s Q&A with Orson Charles. Again, tremendous maturity and self-awareness from a true freshman. When he scored his first touchdown at Arkansas, Charles said, “Thank you God for putting me on this team.” I think a lot of fans were saying that too.

It was announced with some fanfare over the summer that Peachtree TV would be Atlanta’s affiliate in the new SEC Network.

For Comcast’s Atlanta customers, this deal has been a loser and a step backwards. The SEC Network on Peachtree TV has only been showing up in standard definition. A lot of people are wondering what’s going on. Peachtree TV has apparently been bombarded with enough questions about this topic that they’ve put up an FAQ about it:

SEC games are shot and aired in native 1080i high definition. Not all providers carry Peachtree TV in HD. You will need to check with your cable or satellite provider to see if it is available to you. Please note: Comcast airs Peachtree TV in HD only during Primetime hours for Braves games coverage.

From the information Peachtree TV has given, the ball is completely in Comcast’s court. And it’s true, Comcast does activate an HD feed of Peachtree TV for Braves games (channel 802 in my area). Channel 802 is nothing but a test pattern on Saturday afternoons.

It’s an especially swift kick in the groin knowing that I can change channels and find good old Jefferson-Pilot broadcasts of ACC football in glorious HD. Regional broadcasts of SEC games along the Jefferson-Pilot / Lincoln Financial network were in HD last year. The return of the games to standard def, new-and-improved branding and all, isn’t a move in the right direction.

Again, this isn’t a matter of limited HD capacity which keeps channels like ESPNU-HD unavailable. Comcast is converting much of the Atlanta area during the fall over to a digital signal which will allow for greater capacity and additional HD channels very soon (better late than never). But in the case of Peachtree TV, the capacity is already there on channel 802.

Considering the ads Comcast is running touting the most SEC coverage available, this halfhearted effort to carry the SEC Network isn’t acceptable. If you’re a Comcast customer in Atlanta, consider contacting them through any of these methods.

PS…the AJC warns us that this weekend’s game with Arizona State won’t be on basic Comcast cable. ESPNU is part of the Sports and Entertainment package which, I must admit, is well worth the $5 per month. Fork it over even if ESPNU won’t be in HD yet.

The big news would have been a decision to disrupt the tradition of the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville, but the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors approved Damon Evans’ recommendation to negotiate for a continuation of the series at its current location through 2016.

The ABH also notes via its Twitter feed that “the team will begin flying direct from Athens to Jacksonville,” cutting out the bus trip to Atlanta and making the overall trip that much shorter.

In addition to the WLOCP news, funds were approved “to develop plans for two facility enhancement projects.” Both fit into a master plan outlined by the Athens Banner-Herald a year ago.

Basketball fans will be glad to hear that one of the projects was “a Stegeman Coliseum concourse renovation and expansion.” Anyone who’s been inside the Coliseum could tell you how badly this project is needed. The inside seating area has been addressed over the years and isn’t all that bad, but the concourse and entryway haven’t received much more than a coat of paint and new signage. The rationale behind the project is laid out well by PWD here – note the use of glass walls in the conceptual drawings that will widen and brighten up the concourses.

The project is also a sign that a tear-down or major renovation of Stegeman isn’t coming any time soon, but we knew that. This news follows through on Dennis Felton’s claims last year that “Damon Evans wants to renovate Stegeman sooner rather than later.”

The other project is “a project behind the north stands of Sanford Stadium that would provide a multi-function amenity supporting both the game day event and the campus on non-event days.” The idea of “Reed Alley” has been talked about for over seven years now, and it was part of the plans for the 600-level expansion of Sanford Stadium earlier this decade. The idea involves improving the area between the stadium and Reed Hall, using it as a wide pedestrian mall connecting East Campus Rd. and the Tate Center during the 359 days without football, and then using it as a wide open lower-level concourse on game days with vendors and such. The 600 level was built with this area in mind, and this project will be finishing off the vision.

Location of Reed Alley

The University is taking steps to address the North Campus trash problem, but it’s still going to come down to people doing the right thing:

The university plans to distribute 12,000 trash bags in parking lots and around campus this Saturday before the Georgia Bulldogs play host to the Arizona State Sun Devils in a 7 p.m. kickoff. Volunteers from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes will walk through tailgating areas distributing trash bags and encouraging tailgaters to bag their trash and deposit it in an appropriate receptacle. The number of disposable trash boxes on North Campus will be increased to 400 from the previous 250, and over the entire campus to 1,500 from the previous 1,200. Several large roll-off dumpsters will be placed strategically around campus for tailgaters to dispose of their bagged trash.

Additionally, the firm that contracts to clean the campus on Sundays following a football game – American Stadiums – will send crews on an initial sweep through North Campus during the first quarter of remaining games this season to pick up trash already collected and set aside by tailgaters.

The number of Port-a-Johns available on campus also will be increased, particularly in the North Campus area, which has been problematic.

Those are necessary and welcome actions – there really won’t be much excuse for people not to clean up after themselves. You can be certain that every media outlet is standing by to do a story on the state of campus come Sunday morning, and a lack of significant improvement will just bring more scrutiny and tighter restrictions.

The real test of these measures will come the following week when LSU visits. Fortunately that’s a 3:30 kickoff. Arizona State will be a decent first run, but it should be a lower-key tailgate than South Carolina or LSU especially if the predicted rain materializes this weekend.

Yes, it’s kind of late for postgame thoughts, and most everything has been said. We’ve been dealing with a little bit of rain over the past couple of days, but we’ll go ahead and wrap this up.

1: What kind of a weekend was it where a 10-point loss is a triumph, and a double-digit win by a road underdog leaves the victors grumbling?

2: Is everyone who was waiting for the Arkansas game to provide some clarity satisfied? What if, all along, the identity of this year’s Georgia team was there in the first two games? The only twist has been the health of Joe Cox in the opener. At this rate, I almost expect to head to Jacksonville and find at least one article proclaiming that now, finally, we’ll get a chance to see what this Georgia team is made of.

3: How many preseason assumptions have been shaken? Are the offensive line and defensive tackles the strengths they were supposed to be? Is Joe Cox able to do anything beyond the dreaded “manage the game”? Are the kicking woes sorted now after signing a Californian with a big leg?

4: Was anyone else surprised that Arkansas chose the field goal in the 4th quarter? The strategy was sound; it brought the game back to a one-possession defecit for the Razorbacks. Put the decision in the context of this post last week from the Senator. Petrino has a track record of not only going for it on 4th down but getting a fair number of his touchdowns on those attempts. Mallett, ridiculous whining about a late hit aside, had scrambled to put Arkansas in a 4th and 4 situation from the Georgia 6 with nearly 8 minutes left.

5: Was Miami or LSU the bigger beneficiary from the weekend’s biggest upsets? Miami, doing just fine on their own, looks even better after FSU’s drubbing of BYU. LSU’s struggles at Washington in the season opener raised a few eyebrows, but the Huskies handed Southern Cal the Trojans’ annual upset loss. Washington isn’t turning the clock back yet to 1991 (or even 2000), but a tough win over the Trojans makes a competitive showing against an SEC school seem like much less of a fluke or as big of a red flag for the Tigers.

6: How big were Richard Samuel and Caleb King in pass protection? It gets a little lost in the offense’s fireworks and the results they had carrying the ball, but several times the Georgia tailbacks stood their ground as the last line of defense for Joe Cox. The line, again, didn’t have its best day (and we’re not just talking penalties), but some big blocks from the running backs helped to ensure that Cox often had enough time to make his reads and throws.

7: Is “pooch kickoff specialist” now a scholarship position at Georgia?

8: Was there a more overblown play from the weekend than Eric Berry’s impact with Tim Tebow? Everyone else calls them “tackles”. It was the solid kind of hit you’d expect from an all-American safety. It wasn’t a decleater or anything that would leave Tebow or anyone else eating through a straw. From the reaction you’d have thought the collision produced antimatter, and the world can now enjoy free and limitless energy thanks to a T. Boone Pickens consortium founded to harvest the results of the play. Berry’s interception was a much tougher and more impressive play.

9: What did Georgia do differently on defense in the 4th quarter? It might’ve been an odd quirk that Arkansas was kept from scoring in the second quarter, but Mallett and the Arkansas offense in general were much less effective towards the end. Certainly Georgia had an advantage of an opponent in come-from-behind mode, and that meant even more passing. Whether it was the effect of Arkansas pressing, conditioning, or even Georgia being more battle-tested, the Dawgs were able to get more pressure. The sequence of Butler’s punt, a sack, and a three-and-out put Georgia in position to seal the win. We’ve seen plenty of examples, even from this game, of the offense, defense, and special teams combining for spectacular meltdowns. That set of events late in the game was an example of what can happen when it all goes right. It was a nice change and a great way to end the game.

10: Was that the upper bound for “Fluless Joe” Cox? TSK has some thoughts about Cox’s progression and concludes that the efficient performance against South Carolina is probably more in line with what we can expect from Cox. One thing that has helped Cox and the offense in general is the emergence of a diverse set of options beyond A.J. Green. Michael Moore has proven that his strong finish to 2008 was no fluke. King adds a speedy option to stretch defenses. Now the tight ends are getting in on the scoring. The backs aren’t as involved in the passing game, and there are depth concerns behind the trio of Green, Moore, and King, but those are quibbles at this point with what has become an effective passing game.

Joe Cox is in for one heck of a welcome from the home fans this weekend.

New Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox has done a lot of things right since arriving in Athens. He’s reached out to fans. He’s hired a staff that makes sense. He’s kept attrition to a minimum and convinced the team’s best player to remain on board. Leading up to his first season he’s done everything a reasonable fan could ask to get fans interested in the program.

But even Fox is not immune from the biggest stumbling block plaguing Georgia basketball coaches for decades: convincing the talent-rich state’s best players to play in Athens. Fox recognized this imperative right away, and his staff reflects it. The job of changing perceptions and preferences isn’t an overnight job though, and early results are proving how difficult the task will be. On Wednesday Fox lost one of his first high-profile recruiting battles as McEachern’s Trae Golden picked SEC foe Tennessee over the in-state Bulldogs.

Golden, a guard, is the nation’s #55 player according to Rivals.com. He originally committed to Ohio State but started to look around earlier this year. It didn’t hurt Tennessee that Golden’s AAU teammate Jordan McRae was already a Tennessee commitment.

Is Golden’s commitment a cause for alarm? Of course not. Golden wasn’t a make or break recruit, and the Dawgs have other point guard options coming in this year. It is a reminder though that the job of turning around the Georgia program is, at least in the short term, going to be an arduous and occasionally disappointing process even for someone making all of the right moves.

“The star of the team is the team” might’ve been a useful approach to the offseason for Mark Richt, but reality is that every top-level team, Georgia included, has its standouts who come through and shine during the season. Stafford and Moreno might be gone, but the 2009 Dawgs are starting to show that they aren’t bereft of exciting playmakers.

The young talent on the team has definitely been given the chance to shine, and the emergence of the Brandon and Branden show on Saturday was a nice glimpse into the future. As Tim Tucker wrote, “Stars were born.”

“Around campus, people [are] asking for autographs and everything,” Smith said Tuesday. “It has been kind of weird.”

The fresh faces aren’t the only star power on the team. The South Carolina game was full of big plays and huge swings in the momentum, but Rennie Curran’s deflection on South Carolina’s final pass sealed the win. Plays don’t come much bigger, and Curran’s reaction and tip should rank right up there with Witherspoon versus LSU or even Hoage against Vanderbilt.

Georgia’s red zone defense made the difference in the game. Though they surrendered tons of yardage, the ability to hold South Carolina to field goals after the first quarter helped the Dawgs withstand several mistakes. Elsewhere on the field Georgia’s linebackers were often used to blitz to compensate for the lack of pass rush and left quite a bit of the middle of the field open. South Carolina exploited that opening all night. But after getting burned on a blitz for South Carolina’s second touchdown, the Bulldog defense began dropping its linebackers in the red zone, and the Gamecocks didn’t find the endzone again. Curran’s game-saving play saw the Dawgs rush only four and drop the linebackers into coverage, and Georgia’s defensive star was in position to make the play.

And speaking of stars, anyone who can levitate like this is in a galaxy occupied by few others…

Photo: Kelly Lambert/ABH

Blutarsky points to a Chip Towers’ post gathering the reaction of recruits to Georgia’s use of Branden Smith. When you add that kind of element to a team, you tend to find your way on the field quickly. If Smith’s jaw-dropping speed on his reverse did anything, it was to instantly answer the question “why the heck to they keep trotting him back out there?” Now we know.

Be sure to read the excerpt Blutarsky has up about how Smith was greeted when he got back to the bench after his costly fumble. It got Smith pumped up to make a big play when he saw the field again, but it also had an impact on a VIP recruit watching from the sideline.

Khairi Fortt is one of the nation’s top linebacker recruits and was on his official visit. UGASports.com has a great two-part interview with him following the visit, and he had this to say about Smith:

“I liked the fact that there was a freshman player on Saturday in Smith that fumbled the ball on the kickoff return. Normally you do something like that you get down on yourself, and you start thinking that coach is going to bench you. But actually Coach Richt put him back in there on offense, and he scored on a 61-yard reverse, and he also put him back out there on kickoff return. I liked the fact that he had faith in his players, even true freshman. At other schools if you make a mistake it cost you playing time,” said Fortt.

Buried in a Saturday ABH article about tailgating was this note:

Athens-Clarke officials voted to hike city parking fees and fines this spring, doubling the price for football parking in the city’s downtown deck from $20 to $40. Some private lots have followed suit and raised prices.

Sure enough, as I drove along Hancock Street coming through downtown, I saw lot after lot operated by Prestige Parking charging $40 for a day’s worth of parking. The first move in this doubling of rates came from Athens-Clarke at the suggestion of the Athens Downtown Development Authority. The $40 game day rate approved by the city for the College Avenue Parking Deck is just $16.25 less than the monthly rate for that deck.

They can charge what they like of course, and there are ways to park in or near downtown for less if you’re early/resourceful enough. Due to the actions of the ADDA, I’ll avoid spending money in the downtown central business district during the season. It’s not a lot, but it certainly would be more than the $240 they’re asking for a season’s worth of downtown parking.

For many of us, the home opener is about getting back to Athens and reconnecting with the town, campus, and friends that make the whole experience much more than just a sporting event. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the campus and town continue to change between our visits, and there has definitely been some work done since the end of last season. As always, we recommend visiting the Gameday Gameplan site for specifics about enjoying Saturday in Athens, but here are a few of the highlights of some of the changes:

Tate Center Expansion

We mentioned this over the summer, but the opening of the Tate Center expansion will be a big change for the fans who like to gather and shop around the central campus in the shadow of the west side of Sanford Stadium. It will also make for a slightly different Dawg Walk, but more on that in a second.

In addition to being a boon for current students, the space added by the expansion will provide a lot more indoor space for fans on game days. The best part of the addition, at least from a fan’s point of view, might be the 24-foot projection TV screen in the third-floor lobby. Hang out there and watch other games or even the Georgia game if you don’t have a ticket. There’s also a parking deck underneath the structure, but that’s not an entirely new feature.

The new buildings and the loss of the open parking lot means that the corridor for the Dawg Walk will be a bit narrower than it’s been in recent years. One big plus of the new buildings is multiple levels from which to line the walkway and get a good look at the Dawg Walk. The expansion might even serve to shift the focus of the Walk from the original Tate Center back closer towards the Lumpkin Street end.

East Campus Construction

If you haven’t been on East Campus since last season, it’s quite a dramatic change. A new Greek Park has been opened along River Road not far from its terminus at East Campus Road around where the ATO house used to be. It currently houses four fraternities. Unfortunately the complex took out a lot of the older landscape of that part of campus to go along with the older house, so it’s a pretty stark place for now.

More construction is taking place further down River Rd. Buildings in the new Performing Arts Center have taken most of the open surface parking in that part of East Campus, and work is underway for a new parking deck to be located back behind the Performing Arts building. That deck is expected to be completed in November. There is still some surface parking available in the area, but it might not be as available or as accessible as you remember it.

Gameday Experience

Not much has changed this year with regards to campus tailgating regulations. It’s still the same 7 a.m. start time. One thing that caught my eye was a specific prohibition on “low country boils.” I remember deep fryers being prohibited, but the low country boil regulation is a new one I think. Apparently the boiling of water is something best left to the professionals. (Thank goodness we tailgate off-campus.)

One small change I noticed on the parking maps: the small North Campus lot behind Baldwin Hall was a hidden gem for several of my friends – a free lot close to the stadium. That lot is now controlled by the Athletic Association and will require a permit.

Perhaps overshadowed by the quarterback story, the Dawgs might have to shake things up on both sides of the ball due to injuries.

Contrary to reports earlier in the week, David Hale isn’t optimistic about Caleb King’s chances of playing on Saturday. It could come down to a game-time decision, but the coaches aren’t going to play him without some good practices this week. That window of opportunity is closing quickly.

Starting OLB Darius Dewberry is “doubtful” with a groin injury.

Trinton Sturdivant’s knee injury meant that a change was coming along the offensive line, but there will be an additional change up front. Vince Vance will take over for Sturdivant. He played a good bit on Saturday, and he also filled in for Sturdivant last year before his own season-ending injury. Hopefully Vance can finish out the season as the left tackle. In addition to Vance, guard Justin Anderson will start over Chris Davis. The move is more tactical than anything; Anderson’s larger size and brawn make him a better match against a large South Carolina defensive front.

It was also interesting to note that Tavarres King will start over Michael Moore. Mark Richt said on Sunday that “King earned himself some more playing time,” and it looks as if he’s earned a start.

Lots of “news” coming out of Athens this morning about Georgia’s quarterbacking situation. Best to just go down the list.

What we know:

• Logan Gray was seen working with the starters last night during the few practice periods observed by media.

The backstory:

• Rumors about Joe Cox dealing with a tired or “dead” arm surfaced last month. They weren’t helped by his performance in the season opener.

This morning’s developments:

• Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com (subscription required) expanded on his practice observation of watching Gray with the starters and reported that, according to sources, Gray “took all the snaps with the No. 1 unit Wednesday”.
• Dasher never claimed that Gray has been named the starter but concluded that Gray “could start Saturday’s game.” Dasher cited a source who says, “That’s the way it looks now.”

Muddy Waters

• David Hale followed up and reports that “Joe still took the vast majority of the first-team reps (on Wednesday).” Hale has also spoken with “multiple players who told (him) that (Gray taking all of the snaps) isn’t true.”
• Buck Belue chimed in on 680 AM in Atlanta to speculate that Cox is simply being rested during the week but will start.
• ESPN’s Joe Schad countered that “Georgia is likely to start” Gray. We don’t know if his source is Dasher or someone inside the program.

Got all that? The misinformation can’t be all bad in terms of what South Carolina has to prepare for. At the same time, you don’t waste valuable practice time on a smokescreen. If Gray was working with the starters above and beyond the usual time given to the backup, it was for a reason. If Belue is right and Cox is missing practice time to rest his shoulder, that’s not a positive angle to this story considering the problems in execution that plagued the offense last week. If Cox is going to start and play most of the game, the offense needs all of the practice time with him it can get.

Regardless, Hale notes that “we’ll find out for sure when we meet with Mark Richt around 4 p.m. today.” That should be fun.

UPDATE: Steve Patterson, publisher of UGASports.com, posted that UGA Sports Information released a statement saying that “Joe will be the starter Saturday.”

There’s enough blood in the water after a disappointing loss, and it’s easy to panic over the perception of a program in disarray that makes for good column and sports talk fodder. The coaches (and even the players to some degree) seem fine with chalking a lot of problems up to execution, but getting the coaches on the same page, even in analysis after the fact, has been a story that won’t go away.

It wasn’t just the first start in three years for Joe Cox or the debut of Branden Smith; it was also the first game in which Tony Ball served as Georgia’s receivers coach. Not much went well for the offense, but Ball in particular seemed to have a rough go of it. Georgia struggled to get production through the passing game, and leaving two promising receivers on the bench for the entire game didn’t help matters.

“Coach (Tony) Ball’s in the box and he didn’t have direct contact with us,” (Michael) Moore said of Georgia’s receivers coach. “He kind of didn’t realize that until the end of the game. … We didn’t know what the rotation was going to be and we ended up sticking with basically three guys.”

“He said the game was moving so fast and he was trying to find out what plays worked and what didn’t work, and he said he just forgot, it slipped his mind,” (Marlon) Brown said.

It should be pointed out that this isn’t Ball’s first rodeo as a receivers coach. He’s had the job at before at a major program (Virginia Tech). Position coaches at Georgia have a lot of freedom to set their rotations. It’s possible that Virginia Tech handled things differently when Ball was there. Still, it was an embarrassing oversight, and I don’t blame the players for bewilderment over the news that a position coach with only six scholarship players available forgot about two of them.

This isn’t just Ball’s failure though. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is sitting right next to Ball in the booth. With playcalling resting with Bobo and position coaches deciding on their own rotations, an experienced coach of offense like Mark Richt should be able to have a better big picture view of the offense and speak up when those in the booth get bogged down in the details.

I’m not the first to raise the communication issue, but it goes beyond getting a couple of freshmen on the field. Take another example from the game. Oklahoma State DB Perrish Cox, who was assigned to A.J. Green most of the day, was out of action for a series or two. Many fans noticed it, and the broadcast team did too. Georgia didn’t do much, if anything, to test that side of the field. It makes sense now – if Georgia’s coaches in the box didn’t have a good grip on their own personnel, how could they ever note the absence of a key defender and come up with a plan to test a possible weakness?

From player rotation to playcalling and even down to the approach to kickoffs, Richt delegates and yields to his assistants. That’s not necessarily a bad thing of course; you hope to hire a staff of professionals with the experience and skills to do their jobs, and the head coach cannot hope to micromanage every aspect of the program and game plan. I don’t mean to suggest that Richt is well down the Bobby Bowden path to oblivion. This is still his team though, and it does seem that some of the pieces are disjointed. We joke about Evil Richt and his various personalities…right now, the team could use a good kick from Assertive Richt.

You’ve read the previews and probably have a good idea what to watch for in terms of matchups and stars. An opener against a quality opponent like this can give you a pretty good read on your team in a hurry. That said, several of the things I’ll be watching for tie in to some of those offseason themes and should serve to let us know how different the team will be from the group that took the field against Georgia Southern over a year ago.

1) Leadership put to the test. If there’s been one overarching theme this offseason, it was leadership. From Cox to Owens to Curran, Georgia’s had no shortage of guys saying and doing the right things. If you like, you can hold up Georgia’s relatively clean offseason discipline record as evidence that all of the talk isn’t just so much bluster. Even Vince Dooley is impressed by the team’s apparent unity.

But of course the ultimate test of what’s changed will come on the field. How does unity and leadership hold up on the road under adversity? Does Joe Cox stay cool and in control after a sack or, God forbid, a turnover? Now that’s he’s facing the flu, will the team avoid being rattled?

This is still, going by the numbers, a team with a lot of young guys in key positions. The leading receiver, tailback, and the cornerback that will often line up opposite Dez Bryant are all true sophomores. The offensive line, with two juniors and three sophomores, look like grizzled veterans by comparison. Even Cox himself is getting his first start since 2006, and it’s a road start against a top 10 opponent.

2) Take away Bryant and Green. Who’s left? Dez Bryant and AJ Green will surely get plenty of attention from the other team’s defense. It’s doubtful that either will be completely shut down, but both teams are going to have to get production from elsewhere, and neither has the strongest of supporting casts. Oklahoma State doesn’t have many experienced returning receivers, and the loss of their starting tight end won’t help. Georgia has just six scholarship receivers, and that includes just one upperclassman. Georgia’s tight end position includes a starter with all of three receptions a year ago who will be backed up by two true freshmen.

3) Hidden yards and points. Georgia’s 2008 issues with penalties, kick coverage, and generating turnovers have received plenty of attention during the offseason. The Dawgs risked a scholarship on a kickoff specialist, and they’ve placed practice emphasis on reducing penalties and creating turnovers. Oklahoma State’s new defensive coordinator likewise is “preaching” a focus on turnovers.

In two games last night we saw sloppy fumbles, interceptions, botched kicks, and even a safety. Georgia’s 2007 win over Oklahoma State started with a short scoring drive following a muffed punt after the Cowboys’ opening drive. Points from these areas weren’t a Georgia point of pride last year; in fact, it amounted to about a touchdown per game advantage for Georgia’s opponents. The OSU offense is good enough without getting help from Georgia’s offense and special teams.

4) Return of the injured. A couple of Georgia’s perceived strengths this year depend on the recovery of key players. On the offensive line, both Sturdivant and Davis (and Vance) have had surgery. Ben Jones missed most of last week with an ankle injury. Then you have defensive lynchpin Jeff Owens whose 2008 injury shook up the defensive line. Defensive end Rod Battle was slowed by injury most of last season, and Reshad Jones was one of many who missed time this August with minor nuisance injuries. They’re all good to go, but any impact of lost practice time and conditioning will be apparent against a quality opponent. Still glad to get them all back, and the Dawgs have to feel fortunate to have had a preseason relatively uninterrupted by injuries. The absence of Kris Durham or Caleb King notwithstanding, it’s a far cry from last August when the team had a single healthy defensive end with which to practice. Perhaps most importantly, the offensive line has been able to work together as a unit for much of the summer and preseason. Remember – they might be experienced individually, but this starting offensive line combination has never taken the field together in a game.

5) The Russell Okung factor. A good left tackle can’t be overvalued (think back to Sturdivant and his injury), and Oklahoma State has perhaps the best in the nation. That’s one of the bigger differences from the game two seasons ago. The zone reads and speed options will rely on Okung to lead the way to the outside. He’ll also be the key to pass protection on a line that only gave up 16 sacks a year ago. Georgia should have the advantage inside, but how heavily can the Cowboys lean on their star tackle?

6) What’ve we got, exactly?

I’ll admit this has been one of the hardest Georgia teams to get a read on. On one hand you have some significant holes to fill. Much of the improvement is expected to come from a lot of the same players and coaches who couldn’t get it done last year. At the same time, there’s a confidence and cohesiveness about this team. As I said up top we’ll find out how that holds up in a real test, but you couldn’t ask for a better preseason in terms of discipline, health, and attitude. That confidence must be catching on, because I don’t get where this comes from:

In some respects, though, Georgia fans almost have to be waiting for the other shoe to drop — it seems more likely a question of which of the first five games the Dawgs will lose than whether they will fall.

It might be due to my own echo chamber, but I haven’t heard that sentiment from any Georgia fan, nor have I seen much analysis that concludes that a loss in the first five games is an inevitability. I grant that none of those five games is a clear-cut win, but Georgia has every reason at this point to be confident in their chances to compete in and win all of those games. Last year was full of shoes dropping; this year, not so much so far.

Does that mean a better team or a more satisfying season? Not necessarily. It’s entirely possible that the questions facing this team will be answered with a big, “NO”. As much as any opponent during this first month has an even-money shot at beating Georgia, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this team undefeated heading in to October. Maybe it’s just a matter of being conditioned to sailing through September with relatively easier schedules. The cold reality of Sunday morning might require a major reevaluation, but for now it’s full steam ahead.