Division Eastern Division AP No. 2 Head coach Mark Richt (7th year) | Coaches No. 3 2007 record 11–2 (6–2 SEC) | |
Conference Southeastern Conference | ||
The 2007 Georgia Bulldogs football team competed on behalf of the University of Georgia in American football against teams from other colleges and universities. The Bulldogs tied for first place in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) but lost a tie-breaker with the University of Tennessee. The team finished its season by defeating the Hawaii Warriors in the 2008 Sugar Bowl. This was the Georgia Bulldogs' seventh season under the guidance of head coach Mark Richt.
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Preseason
Two key players from the 2006 season, defensive end Charles Johnson and running back Danny Ware, decided to leave school early to enter the NFL draft. Another junior, defensive back Paul Oliver, considered a move to the NFL, but decided to return to the Bulldogs for his senior year. Despite coming back for his senior year, Paul Oliver became academically ineligible and decided to enter the supplemental draft. The Bulldogs were led on offense by rising Sophomore QB Matthew Stafford. Sean Bailey and Mohammed Massaquoi led the receivers and Thomas Brown at Tailback. The defense saw the emergence of Asher Allen and Kelin Johnson in the Secondary. In addition, Dannell Ellerbe was the leader of the Linebackers while Geno Atkins and Jeff Owens anchored the Defensive Line.
Regular season
The Bulldogs started off strong with an impressive win at home against Oklahoma State. Though, the Bulldogs failed to score a touchdown the following week against South Carolina. The Dawgs rebounded against Western Carolina and enjoyed the thrill of an overtime victory on September 22 at Alabama. This was a legendary call for Scott Howard, the new play by play announcer replacing the legendary Larry Munson. Other high moments during the season were the upset win against Florida 42-30 and the win against Auburn 45-20 as Georgia wore Black jerseys for the first time. The season ended on a high note as the Bulldogs defeated Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana 41-10. The Bulldogs crushed the undefeated Warriors and their high-potent offense lead by NCAA record-setting quarterback Colt Brennan
Schedule
Before the season, CNNSI.com ranked the 2007 UGA schedule the 14th hardest in the country.
Final ranking
The Associated Press final poll lists the Bulldogs ranked 2nd- the highest ranking since December 6, 1982 and the highest final season ranking since the National Championship year of 1980. Buoyed by three first place votes, the Bulldogs barely outpaced the third ranked USC program. 2007 marks the eleventh consecutive final AP poll which the Bulldogs ranked in the top 25, the current longest active streak. The Bulldogs have been ranked 30 times in the final poll including 14 Top-10 and 9 Top-5 rankings.
The final USA Today poll listed the Bulldogs ranked 3rd – which ties the highest ranking ever in that poll (set in the final 2002 poll).
Coaching staff
The 2007 Season is Coach Richt's seventh season at Georgia. Neil Callaway, Georgia's offensive coordinator from 2001 to 2006, left at the end of 2006 to become the head coach at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Richt named former UGA quarterback Mike Bobo as the new offensive coordinator. Bobo took over play calling responsibilities during the Georgia Tech game as well as in the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl. Callaway also served as the offensive line coach. Stacy Searels, offensive line coach at LSU from 2003 to 2006, was named to the same position at Georgia to replace Callaway.