Just like last season, T. Kyle King from the top notch Georgia blog Dawg Sports has agreed to exchange a Q&A. We are grateful for his hard work and insight.
You may read my responses to his questions here, and I recommend joining his blog's GameThread to enjoy a high level of camaraderie with Bulldog fans.
With regard to the Georgia game tomorrow, ASU fans are well aware of the pedigree of the opposition. After the 27-10 thrashing witnessed in Tempe in 2008, Sun Devil faithful can only hope for a strong showing in SEC territory.
After all, it's all about the OOC schedule; with a good game against Georgia on the resume, ASU will find itself confident and prepared to make a run at the Pac-10 crown.
Without further ado, here is the Q&A:
Whom should the Sun Devils fear on offense?
Whom shouldn’t the Sun Devils fear on offense? Last Saturday night, Joe Cox earned national offensive player of the week honors by guiding nine scoring drives against Arkansas, six of which ended in touchdowns and six of which covered at least 57 yards. Orson Charles, A.J. Green, Tavarres King, and Aron White all caught TD passes. Richard Samuel, who had an 80-yard scoring scamper, is being pushed for playing time by newly-resurgent Caleb King.
Granted, all of that came against a suspect Razorback defense, but the Bulldogs tallied four offensive touchdowns against a pretty solid South Carolina D in a game in which Green and Michael Moore each had catches that went for touchdowns and Branden Smith scored on a 61-yard reverse. Right now, the Georgia offense is hitting on all cylinders, and it isn’t just one guy doing everything. The offseason theme in Athens has been that "it’s all about the team." On offense, that’s really true.
Whom should Arizona State fear on defense?
The secondary. Just kidding. As much as I’m hoping it will turn out to be Justin Houston, the answer (with all due respect to Jeff Owens) is Rennie Curran. The junior linebacker opened the campaign with eight tackles and a pass breakup in Stillwater, tied his personal-best 15 tackles against South Carolina (when he broke up a fourth-down pass near the goal line to preserve the win), and led the squad with eleven stops and a fumble recovery in Fayetteville last Saturday night.
Curran, whom The Sporting News identified as the SEC’s best hitter, was a preseason first-team all-SEC selection, and he is on the watch lists for the Lombardi Award, the Lott Trophy, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Butkus Award, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Eventually, at least one of those honors will be renamed "the Curran Trophy." He’s that good.
More from Dawg Sports after the jump...
What is Georgia’s biggest weakness?
Where do I begin? The Bulldogs commit too many turnovers and are flagged for too many penalties, many of which are of the "rookie mistake" variety rather than of the "playing aggressively" sort. Although the run defense is stout, the Georgia D is fooled by too many play action fakes. The secondary has failed to take away the deep ball, often getting caught out of position, and the middle of the field frequently is left open, much to the delight of opposing tight ends everywhere. The Red and Black have surrendered 37 or more points in seven of their last twelve games. Georgia’s kickoff coverage is a mess and directional kicking often sends the ball out of bounds to give the other team good starting field position, anyway.
Other than those few flaws, though, the ‘Dawgs are playing perfectly.
How are your new recruits working out and what role will they play in deciding the outcome?
Like all rookies at top-tier programs, they are displaying outrageous talent while committing mistakes born of youth. True freshman Branden Smith is a classic example, as he brought out a kickoff that should have been downed in the end zone and committed a costly turnover against South Carolina, but who turned right around and demonstrated his impressive speed on the aforementioned reverse.
The word is that redshirt freshman Sanders Commings, who was effective in the spring scrimmage, will see more playing time in the secondary, but, so far, the breakout star of the 2009 recruiting class has to be Orson Charles. The tight end from Tampa endeared himself to the Georgia faithful forever by shattering the Florida Gators’ 2006 national championship trophy with his behind while on a recruiting visit to Gainesville, but Charles also has shown early signs of living up to the hype. If he has a big game, the Bulldogs will have a big game. Who knows? Maybe Orson will have his big-time debut against Arizona State this year the way A.J. did a year ago. . . .