That scent is back in the air, the scent of blood and sweat and fear. It's faint right now, wafting as it is all the way from Stillwater, but it's there all the same. A good Dawg can smell blood, can smell fear, and knows when it's right to attack. Lucky for Athens, it's populated with good Dawgs. Unluckily for the rest of the country, those Dawgs have been kept hungry and caged since just after Thanksgiving.
I talk about the rest of the country, because unlike nearly every other FBS team in contention this year -- Virginia Tech being an extremely notable exception -- Georgia is actually playing teams from all over the country, from the so-called BCS conferences. Should Georgia run the table, there will be no question who the best team in college football is. There won't even be a need for a game to be played January 8th. The crown will simply descend.
There is no need to worry, Bulldog Nation. This is not a team about which we need to worry. This is a team that's all grown up, and only needs to prove something to itself. This is a team driven and a team led. This is a team that is expected to do nothing by everyone in the country save the 85 men who don the red and black come September fifth.
And you know something? I think that's the way they want it.
Oklahoma State, a team that beat exactly one ranked team last season and lost to four of them, is a touchdown favorite over Georgia.
LSU, a team that has a freshman quarterback and returns a defense which gave up 50 points two weeks in a row last year, is expected to waltz into Athens and beat Georgia between the hedges for the first time since 1987.
Tennessee, a team whose only new asset is a coach with a mouth bigger than Neyland Stadium, is considered a \"major threat\" to Georgia's season.
And even the Classic City Faithful believe that Georgia will not -- cannot -- beat Georgia Tech this year.
And I think all of that is music to our Dawgs' ears. Georgia has something to prove this year, a year removed from their first number one preseason ranking in history, a year removed from being ousted from that position without having lost a game. Georgia doesn't have to play the respect card this year, because the house dealt them that card in spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts.
This is a team without stars. This is a team without NFL prospects. This is a team without a rocket-armed quarterback, without an ounce of hype. This is a team without anybody to believe in them save themselves.
But this is a team with veteran linemen. This is a team with a fifth-year quarterback who's just as hungry as he is weathered. This is a team with exciting new prospects and battle-tested juniors and seniors.
This is Erk's kind of team. All the nicknames he gave his teams -- the Junkyard Dawgs, the Wonderdawg Underdawgs -- apply this year. This is a scrappy bunch of pound puppies that nobody believes in. And that's just the way Erk liked his men.
Vince Dooley, Erk's boss for some sixteen years at Georgia, would have said this at the outset of this week's practices: \"I believe that this is the worst bunch of seniors I've ever seen. You all are the last of the team that lost to Vandy and Kentucky in the same season. You all are the first Georgia team to lose to Tech this century. You're the only Georgia team to ever beat both Florida and Auburn in the same year and STILL not win the SEC. We've got no defensive ends, we've got no shutdown corners, and we've got no stars on offense. I think Oklahoma State's got your number. I think LSU is too tough for you. I think Florida is out of your league, and I think Vandy's defense might shut down our star-free backfield. And boys, I don't think you can beat Georgia Tech.
\"Now: prove me wrong.\"
I think, Dawg Nation, that with those words ringing in their ears and that scent of blood and sweat and fear in the air, that our Bulldogs are poised to do just that. They might be well-served to remove the names from the back of their jerseys this year and simply emblazon \"Prove Them Wrong\" in their place.
This year, boys, I think we take what's ours.
Red and Black, Win or Lose
Well said!! 
