Southern hospitality: Red & Black provides insight on Georgia Bulldogs

SARA CALDWELL/THE RED & BLACK - Georgia running back Caleb King battles with Shawn Williams during Georgia's spring scrimmage in Athens.

It’s no secret that this is a huge year for the Boise State football team. It seems like Bronco Nation has been saying that since the first Fiesta Bowl win over the Oklahoma in 2007.

Things have only gotten better for the Broncos since their first Bowl Championship Series win, a game that really put the Broncos on the map in college football circles and was arguably the most exciting game in college football history for its late game theatrics.

Since then, the Broncos have stampeded into the nation’s capitol and upended eventual Atlantic Coast Conference Champions, Virginia Tech, sent an under the radar quarterback to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony and suffered one of the most crushing defeats in recent years at Nevada in one of the biggest games in Bronco history.

The loss to Nevada in 2010 will be in Bronco fans’ hearts until the next big game is won, which easily could be in 2011.

This year will provide many new challenges and experiences for the Broncos. They’ll begin 2011 with a nice preseason ranking and begin the transition from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West Conference, their third conference move in the last 15 years.

And again, the Broncos will be asked to play David vs. Goliath when they travel South to face the University of Georgia Bulldogs, much like they did in Landover, Md., last fall. The game is at a “neutral site” again, this time in Atlanta.

SEC country isn’t too unfamiliar to the Broncos. UGA smacked the Broncos in the mouth on national television in 2005 winning, 48-13, and former BSU backup quarterback Mike Tamburo has since returned to his native Georgia.

That was ‘05, and although Coach Pete was the head offensive coordinator then, Coach Hawkins was clearly the captain of the ship that ran into UGA head man Mark Richt and his pack of Dawgs.

A lot has changed for both programs since that meeting between the hedges.

BSU has continued its dominance in the WAC, while continuing to climb as far as the powers that be will let them in college football. According to the big boys though, they need to strengthen their resume if they ever want to become a regular at BCS parties.

Head coach Mark Richt has won more games than any coach in Georgia history. The Bulldogs are coming off of an 8-5 season in 2009 followed by a dismal 6-7 campaign in 2010.

Offensively, the good news for UGA is Aaron Murray is a sophomore, and the word is he’s ready to put on a show for folks in Athens this season.

The bad news is who will Murray throw it to? UGA lost All-american wide receiver and potential top-10 pick A.J. Green to this spring’s NFL Draft, and will have pups at the receiver position as far as experience goes.

The backfield should be solid with the return of junior Caleb King and incoming freshmen Isaiah Crowell, the nation’s top running back as a high school senior.

Both teams have a ton of questions on both sides of the ball this offseason. So The Arbiter called in a source with some valuable information on the subject, Nick Parker.

Parker is the sports editor and a beat writer for UGA football at their student paper the Red & Black. He took a quick minute to chop it up with The Arbiter about the game.

TH: What’s the buzz like around campus right now for the season opener?

NP: I think everyone’s really excited. Boise (State) comes in as a Top 5 program, Georgia is kind of rebuilding after a 6-7 year. At the same time they’ve got a lot of pieces to be excited about. I don’t think anyone in Athens knows what to expect from this team at this point, a lot of uncertainty.

TH: Does the move from the WAC to the MWC give the Broncos more credibility?

NP: There’s no doubt they’re a great football program. Going to play at Fresno State is not exactly a night game in Starkville, Mississippi vs. Mississippi State. There’s no week off in the SEC.

TH: Is there a belief you guys could lose this football game, or is it set in stone that you guys have this one in the bag?

NP: Obviously BSU is a good program, you would think Georgia wouldn’t feel too optimistic, but I swear fans around here think it’s a given that they’re just going to win this football game. I wouldn’t want to be Mark Richt if UGA does lose. Boise (State) can compete, but everyone expects Georgia to win.

TH: Who’s going to fill the void left by A.J. Green?

NP: The wide receiver has to be a big question mark right now in my mind. They really don’t have any one that was very effective last year, a lot of inexperience and a lot of unproven guys.

TH: Can Bronco Nation expect some southern hospitality?

NP: It’s kind of a mixed bag. You’ll run into some extremely nice southern football fans just there to have a good time. Then of course it’s the South, I can promise you won’t see anything like it as far as tailgating goes in college football. It will be a great football environment for sure

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Posted by Trent Lootens on Apr 25 2011. Filed under Blue-N-Orange, Bowl Championship Series, Main Feature, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.