From The Hog Source:
That was, of course, in response to my preview of Arkansas last week.
While those are perfectly valid points, I'm a little confused. Laying down for Georgia in 2003? 2003 was the first year of the Mike Shula expirement, and we certainly didn't sniff Atlanta that year. Maybe they are thinking of 2002, when our friends to the northwest played for the SEC Title courtesy of the Tide being on probation and unable to play for the title despite winning the west (and beating Arkansas 30-12, by the way), while the undeserving Hogs backed into the title game and were soundly thrashed by Georgia to the tune of 30-3. Is that what they were thinking of?
As for the rest of it, well, I stand by my assessment. Preseason rankings usually don't amount to much (ask the '05 UT squad or the 2000 Tide how well a #3 ranking worked out for them), McFadden is undoubtedly the best back in the country but even he can be slowed down (by the likes of Mississippi State, no less), and your passing game will be right back to woefully negligent without Malzahn and Mustain. As for the offseason turmoils, well, we know a little bit about that...
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| Offseason troubles, a program in turmoil, fan and booster meddling, player defections? Yeah, that always ends well! |