ATHENS, Ga. --- Only a year ago this month, Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the preseason football poll for the first time in the program's 117-year history. Coach Mark Richt wouldn't mind it being the last time.
"I think preseason No. 2 is a whole lot better than being preseason No. 1," said Richt, whose 2009 team generally falls in the No. 10 to 20 range of most entrance polls. "I enjoyed this summer a lot more."
Why not? There were no unrealistic expectations to defend. There were no superstar players in constant demand to shield. There were seldom any disciplinary controversies to deal with. There are even fewer season-ending injuries to fret over.
That combination created a perfect storm of things that should have been recognized as worrisome.
"Last year we thought everything was going to be handed to us and took a lot of things for granted," said top receiver A.J. Green. "This year we're working hard and a lot of people are doubting us. That gives us even more motivation to come out and try to do great things."
That has seemed apparent in the way the Bulldogs have worked together and with a sense of purpose in the off-season. They opened practices on Tuesday with a business-like demeanor that wasn't present 12 months ago.
"We didn't want to come into camp and be embarrassed like we were last year, having to hear about how undisciplined we were and being a bad group of guys," said Joe Cox, the senior quarterback who has assumed the role of team leader since the departure of No. 1 draft choice Matthew Stafford. "We're the same guys, just grown up."
The Bulldogs hope that everything will be reflected on the football field this fall. Last year's team was plagued by penalties that, at times, proved crippling at critical moments.
"Have we been a more disciplined team from January to August? Yes we have," Richt said. "Hopefully it will translate into more discipline on the field."
"What you do off the field and the decisions that you make off the field will correlate on the field," said linebacker Rennie Curran. "If you're not a dependable guy off the field you're probably not going to be able to come through on the field."
Georgia finished 10-3 a year ago after a resounding bowl victory over Michigan State. But 2008 was defined much more by the three high-scoring losses to rivals Alabama, Florida and Georgia Tech than it was by any of the 10 wins.
"Whenever you lose three games like that, and the big games that we lost, it couldn't have been considered a successful season," Green said.
So with the residue of those defensive meltdowns still fresh and the off-season departures of offensive superstars Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Mohamed Massaquoi, the predictions for success have been much more stark this year. That suits everybody just fine from the coaches on down.
"It's brought everybody together and really gives us something to work for," Cox said. "When people say you're not going to do something you just want to prove them wrong. I think it's a great way to start the season and a great attitude to have."
Curran concurs: "The team seems to be focused more. There's not as much craziness going around and the fans asking us how we feel about being preseason No. 1."
Instead, there's a very quiet sense of confidence that this Georgia team might exceed everyone's expectations. While Southeastern Conference East rival Florida is getting all of the attention with its Heisman-winning quarterback Tim Tebow and its two national titles in three years, Georgia hopes to thrive under the radar.
It reminds some people of 2005, when the Bulldogs were replacing key leaders including quarterback David Greene after coming off a relatively disappointing 10-2 campaign that didn't include a trip to the SEC Championship Game.
Cox was a redshirted newcomer on that team and watched how veteran backup D.J. Shockley became a respected leader and took the Bulldogs to their last SEC championship.
Cox, now a senior himself, is reminding people in Athens of Shockley with the way he handled himself behind a superstar and stepped in confidently when called upon.
"There are a lot of similarities between the respect the team has for both of these men and the respect and trust the coaches have in these men and the charisma they have," Richt said of Shockley and Cox. "They draw people to them."
Cox knows this season will ultimately define him and his fellow seniors the same way that 2005 season defined Shockley and his classmates.
"We want to be a team that's remembered for doing great things," Cox said.
The strange thing is, as much as this team is being overlooked and as vaunted as the challenges of what may be the toughest schedule from beginning (at Oklahoma State) to end (at Georgia Tech) of any team in the country, this Georgia team is exuding a better aura than its ballyhooed predecessor.
"Just bring on the season, and we'll see what happens," Richt said.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
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Scott, I think you touched on something that needs to be weighed more when time comes for voting teams in the polls, and that's strength of schedule. I heard Mack Brown from Texas talking about this yesterday, and he's right. Just because a team plays some Div II patsy team and beats them by 60 points, they should NOT be rewarded equally as a team who plays a fellow Div I team and "only" beats them by 1 point. The people who vote for the polls can't possibly see every game and they shouldn't base their vote on the score they read in the paper the next day. But they do, and that's why you see patsy teams getting beat by 60 points...just so to impress the voters. It also should be said that often times, those winning teams still have their first-stringers in the game well in to the 4th quarter, rather than having their 3rd stringers in the game to get play time experience. Every Saturday in the fall, some schools play 2 games..the game on the field and then the game with the polls!
To that same end you also have teams like UGA that dont run the score up, on anyone. When they played Georgia Southern they played more conservitavely, and swapped many players in and out of the game. Going out and beating a team by 60 to 70 points is pointless and demoralizing to the other team.