I am seeing a lot of “Georgia will be OK with the runningback depth we have now” talk out there.
Gurley, Marshall, Malcome, Harton and possibly Samuel is a “good” stable and rotation of tailbacks.
Crowell, Gurley, Marshall, Malcome, Harton and possibly Samuel is a “great” stable and rotation of tailbacks.
The difference between good and great is big. Good possibly gets you another SEC East title, but probably gets you on the outside looking in come the first weekend in December. Good might have you beat Florida, Auburn, Missouri and Georgia Tech, but has you losing to South Carolina.
Great has you winning the East with no real concern, and it gives you a shot to beat LSU/Alabama in the Dome and potentially play for something special.
Good sometimes might be good enough. Great is always good enough.
Corbindawg
Corbin,
Finally, someone who agrees with me. None of my firends do. But yes, even though Malcome, Gurley, Marshall, have 1 touchdown combined, and even though Samuel has a 3.7 yards per carry average, I agree with you, it proves we are outstanding. Great point.
The running game will be much improved over last year. Besides Samuel in the UF game, the Dawgs were bad except when IC was healthy. The Dawgs should have 2 or 3 very solid backs to tote the rock. They didn’t have one solid back against LSU. With better blocking TE’s, the running game will be just fine this year. I also see AM having a great year throwing the ball downfield which will also open up more running lanes that didn’t exist last year. Defense wins championships in the SEC; and barring a rash of injuries, the Dawgs will be very strong on D. Go Dawgs! I do hope IC cleans his act up and matures to be a productive citizen.
the run game has been somewhere between 7th-12th in the SEC vs. ranked teams for several years now. The backs have very little to do with that. the o-lines have been too inexeprienced due to poor rotation schemes and dismal recruiting. you have a couple of coaches who don’t really get run blocking (CMR/MBobo). So, like 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, the rush game will finish between 7th – 12th in the conference against the good teams.
With all the inexperience on the off line, and at runn back, with the way Murray’s played in his last 5 public outings (LSU, Mich St, 3 Spring games–the horror), and half the defensive starters suspended, it’s shaping up to be another slow start and another 6-7 season.
The one thing that gives me a little comfort is knowing that Marshall came in as an early-enrollee. He went through spring (although he was injured for the last part) and he’s been through S&C. I expect him to have as good a season as Crowell did or maybe even a little better. But is that better than what Crowell’s second season would have been? Probably not.
I remember when we had Brown , Lumpkin, and Ware as the running backs. I hope we can duplicate that rotation