Just the Facts

Some might look at my diagnosis of the potential problems Zac Robinson could cause Georgia and label me a pessimist.

Some might read my story in today's Telegraph about all of Oklahoma State's offensive weapons and assumed I was picking the Cowboys to win handily on Saturday.

Some might even assume that due to my excessive amount of orange t-shirts, I'd be pulling for the Cow Pokes secretly.

In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.

I do think this game provides a good opening-week test for Georgia, and I think the talented first opponent was a good motivation for the team this offseason.

But if I were a betting man (thanks, Delaware!), I'd have my money on Georgia.

Here are 11 reasons why...

1. The last time Georgia lost its opening game, the world had never heard of Monica Lewinski, JonBenet Ramsey was living happily with her family, Tupac Shakur was two weeks away from being (maybe) killed, "Macarena" was atop the Billboard charts, Mark Richt was about to lead Florida State to an 11-0 regular season record, and the Big XII conference had never played a football game.

2. Georgia comes into the game ranked 13th in the nation. That's considered a disappointing start to the year. Oklahoma State is ranked ninth. That's got people talking about lofty expectations.

3. Under Mark Richt, Georgia has racked up an impressive mark of 17-3 against non-conference BCS teams. Under Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State's record in such games is 4-12.

4. You may remember THIS from last season. That didn't work out so well. Which should get you excited about THIS.

5. Because Rennie Curran says so: "If everybody's doing their job, containing the quarterback, stopping the run and making them kind of one-dimensional, it can be a long day for them." Confidence is great, isn't it?

6. When it comes to looking dumb on YouTube, Mark Richt isn't so bad. Mike Gundy, on the other hand, well, he's a man, and he's 40.

7. I have a stats page for my blog that shows what site is sending readers my way. Despite the fact that it has been more than a year since I started the blog, I still get a good number of readers linking from David Ching's old blog from when he was with the Ledger-Enquirer. Anyway, the other day I decided to take a look back at what David was writing about leading up to the Georgia-Oklahoma State opener in 2007, and I was surprised at the amount of concern the Cowboys' offense engendered way back then. So... Okie State had some scary weapons on offense in 2007. The final score of that game was 35-14, Georgia.

8. Mark Richt has a career mark of 30-4 in an opponent's stadium, including a 10-2 record against ranked foes.

9. When it comes to motivational music videos, Georgia knows how to party. Oklahoma State? Eh, not so much. (h/t Nick V.)

10. Georgia won 10 games last season and people are talking about Mark Richt's job being in jeopardy. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, last won 10 games when Ronald Reagan was president. (And if you're looking for more "remember whens"... the Cubs had never played a night game, Microsoft was riding high after the release of Windows 2.1, NASA resumed shuttle flights for the first time following the Challenger disaster and Matthew Stafford had just been born.) Oh, and in the time since Oklahoma State last won 10 games, it has also lost 10 games in a season.

11. There's nothing quite like Southern exceptionalism, or at least that's what an Oklahoma professor has to say. But wait... is it bragging if you really are better than everyone else?

So... am I missing a few? Chime in with your thoughts on the game in the comments section.