The University of Georgia spent the run-up to 2008 as the nationally presumed lead Dawgs in the hunt for the SEC Championship. Now, after a solid, but ultimately unfulfilling 10-3 campaign in 2008 in which its bark was a little worse than its bite, the Bulldogs are again sniffing for a trip to their backyard in Atlanta for the SEC championship game.

Senior quarterback Joe Cox (6’1 198) has patiently bided his time behind Stafford for most of the last three seasons, and his teammates and head coach, Mark Richt think he is up to the challenge.

Richt lauded Cox during SEC Media Days last week, noting that all but four of the 110 Bulldogs polled after spring practice tabbed Cox as the team’s leader.

“I think that was significant,“ Richt said. “He was the number one vote getter, if you want to call them votes…for a guy that hasn’t started but one game his entire career–that was about two or three years ago–I think that says a lot about what the guys think about Joe and what Joe has done in preparation for this moment.”

To be sure, Cox won’t be expected to replicate Stafford’s stats, which included a whopping 25 TDs and 3,459 passing yards in 2008. He will, however, be charged with spreading the ball around to the Bulldogs’ playmakers.

UGA’s biggest threat is 2008 1^st Team AP All-SEC WR A.J. Green (6-4 207), who has the look of an eventual NFL star. As a freshman last year, he nabbed 56 catches for 963 yards and eight TDs.

Defenses will focus on Green, though, so Cox will need to be able to count on other targets like Senior Michael Moore (6-1 207) and redshirt freshman Tavarres King (6-1 178). Aron White (6-4 227) is tabbed as the starter at tight end. Two of his three career receptions have been TDs.

Richt expects a talented group of backs to hit the ground running and collectively replace Moreno, who piled up 2,736 career rushing yards and 30 TDs at Georgia.

The returning group of running backs includes sophomore Caleb King (5-11 210), Richard Samuel (6-2 216), Carlton Thomas (5-7 178) and Dontavious Jackson (5-10 200).

An All-American and number one player in the state of Georgia coming out of high school in Norcross in 2007, King has battled back from a leg injury (broken tibia) sustained during his senior year at Greater Atlanta Christian.

King has paid his dues and should get the first shot to tote the note, but he will have to produce or lose carries to the other UGA running backs. In addition to the veterans, that group will also include much-heralded true freshman Washaun Ealey from Twin City, GA, who picked the home state Bulldogs early in the recruiting process  and will be looking to make an early impact.

Scholar athlete and fullback Shawn Chapas takes over for Brannen Southerland, who was one of the best in the country at the position a year ago. Chapas has greatly improved over his time at Georgia and has the skill set to lead the way for the game breakers and provide an outlet for Cox out of the backfield.

While outsiders see the loss of UGA’s go-to back, Moreno, as an issue, Richt thinks he has plenty of viable options in the backfield.

“I think I could probably blindly grab two or three of them, pick them up, and I would have confidence in whatever three I picked out, Richt said. “We will have success with them. Sometimes when you say no one has separated themselves from the pack, that’s bad if your pack isn’t very good. But if you have a pack of good ones, it’s hard to separate also because you have some pretty good guys around you…I think it’s more a situation of that than not having anybody outstanding. I think they’re all pretty outstanding.”

Junior Clint Boling (6-5 297) has played up and down the line in his career, but he is slated to start the season as the left tackle. He is a steady, talented lineman that provides versatility and experience. Trinton Sturdivant started 13 games at left tackle in 2007, but missed all of 2008 and spring drills in 2009 after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

Sturdivant is said to be ready for action in the fall, and if he is, Boling could slide over to right tackle, reopening the left tackle position for Sturdivant and giving the Bulldogs a formidable pair of bookends.

Massive Sophomore Cordy Glenn (6-5 330) was named Freshman All-SEC last year by the coaches, and he will vie for starting spot at right tackle, too, putting pressure on Sturdivant to quickly knock off any rust from his long layoff or risk losing snaps.

Sophomore Ben Jones (6-3 294) returns at center after making 10 starts earning Freshman All-SEC honors in 2008. Sophomore Tanner Strickland (6-5 328) and Junior Chris Davis (6-4 290) were set to battle for the left guard position, but Strickland sustained a shoulder injury during offseason workouts, and will miss the ’09 season. Sophomore Justin Anderson (6-5 328) is listed as the 1^st-team right guard.

Senior defensive tackles Geno Atkins (6-1 290) and Jeff Owens (6-3 300) will start and rotate with Kade Weston (6-5 320) DeAngelo Tyson (6-2 294).

Junior Rennie Curran is not the prototypical linebacker, but his size, 5-11 222, belies his production (115 tackles in 2008 while earning 1^st-Team All SEC Honors from the coaches). Akeem Dent (6-2 226) gets the nod at MLB and Darryl Gamble (6-2 250) brings some size to the strongside. Reshad Jones (6-2 214) is a beast at strong safety, and Richt trusts senior free safety Bryan Evans (5-11 190).

Junior strong safety Quintin Banks (6-2 213) is coming off of a knee injury and could provide depth, if healthy, while redshirt freshman Bacarri Rambo (6-0 208) looks like he will be a contributor even if he probably won’t have the opportunity to draw “First Blood’.

If the Bulldogs are susceptible to a repeat of last year‘s up-and-down performance, though, it is on the edges of both the line, and the secondary. Historically a glamour position on the UGA defense, defensive end is a spot at which the Bulldogs need a wrecker of havoc to emerge.

The potential candidates–Senior Roderick Battle (6-4 259), Junior Demarcus Dobbs (6-2 274), Sophomore Justin Houston (6-3 259) and Junior Junior Kiante Tripp (6-6 270) all have potential that has, as of yet, not been fully maximized.

Battle and Houston arguably have the most athleticism of the DEs, but both are anything but bankable producers because of nagging issues (Battle has frequently been injured and Houston is suspended for the first two games of the season).

If UGA can’t find any playmakers off the edge their smallish cornerbacks, Senior Prince Miller (5-8 198) and Sophomore Brandon Boykin (5-10 182) could pay the price. Sanders Commings (6-2 214) and Makiri Pugh (6-0 196) are bigger, but not necessarily better…yet.

The biggest concern of all, though, for the Bulldogs has to be their unforgiving schedule. They open the season on September 5^th at Oklahoma State. The high-powered Cowboys will re-dedicate Boone-Pickens Stadium that night, and legions of orange-clad Okies will be lubed up and ready to make UGA’s opener a very difficult one.

Add out-of conference tilts with Arizona State (Sept. 26) and Georgia Tech (Nov. 28) to SEC clashes versus Florida (in Jacksonville), LSU (in Athens) and Tennessee (in Knoxville) and it’s easy to see why Richt thinks that, with their schedule and inexperience in the offensive backfield, the Bulldogs might have bitten off more than they can chew.

However, Cox and company welcome the challenge, and their newfound role as relative underDawgs. “I think (the offseason) really brought our team together,” Cox said. “With people telling you, ‘You won’t be as good’, you turn it around and use it on the field and in the lockerroom. When someone tells you that you can’t do something, it motivates you and you better yourself. We preached about that a lot this off season.”

Georgia Offense:

Returning starters: 7

Georgia Defense:

Returning Starters: 7

9/5 at Oklahoma St L
9/12 South Carolina W
9/19 at Arkansas W
9/26 Arizona State W
10/3 LSU L
10/10 at Tennessee W
10/17 at Vanderbilt W
10/24 OPEN DATE
10/31 Florida (Jack.) L
11/7 Tennessee Tech W
11/14 Auburn W
11/21 Kentucky W
11/28 at Georgia Tech W