Mid-Season Roundtable

Kevin at College Football Zealots convened another roundtable, this one to assess all things Red and Black mid season and to ready ourselves for Florida. Part two will be up next week. Make sure you check out all of the questions and everyone's answers using the link above.

At the mid-way point what makes you the most excited about this Georgia football team?

Definitely the way the defense is playing. I can recall several occasions as recently as last year where the defense had just lost their intensity and was looking to get off the field. Now you can tell there is a vested interest in not letting the opponent score. And when they do give up points they don't look too thrilled about going to the sideline. More importantly we're swarming to the ball well and seem much more disciplined in our assignments than in recent years.  At the beginning of the season I needed to see progress on the defensive side of the ball. And since week one I feel that we have. A lot of it.

Which player has been the biggest surprise on offense so far this season?

I think it's clearly Michael Bennett. While Crowell and Mitchell have lived up to expectations, Bennett has become that go to receiver that can make the tough catch in traffic and give you 12 yards when you need 10. Mitchell is clearly our best option at receiver and King is having a decent season. But you need more than those two. Brown seems to be ready to contribute and enjoyed a great game as a wide open target against Vandy. Wooten just can't seem to find the field much at all. Who knows how long this concussion will hinder him. But Bennett has been steady, hauling in 18 catches so far this season.

Out of all the games left on the schedule which one worries you the most?

Florida, for all the obvious reasons. The WLOCP is our nemesis as much as the Florida Gators themselves. We're the clear favorite. We're getting some key players back. We've won 5 straight while they've lost 3 straight by a combined score of 96-27. But we've been in this position before and crapped our pants. I need to know if all this hard work since the South Carolina game is going to pay off or if it's just going to be another painful memory next to the St. Johns river. This is a big game for the relationship between myself and Coach Richt. Not that he's paying much attention to that, I hope...but I'll have some more definitive opinions about the program he's running on October 30th.
Winning this game could do wonders for the Georgia football program while sending Florida reeling into desperation mode. I would try and spend some energy being cautiously optimistic if I hadn't been kicked in the crotch 18 of the last 21 years.