More O-line stuff

Hale's blog has a more accurate prediction of who the starting O-Line will be than mine was...that is, if you consider Trinton Sturdivant to be a more trustworthy source for such information than me(which I GUESS I do).

So, the starting line, as of right now, is:
LT - Sturdivant
LG - Vance
C - Jones
RG - Glenn
RT - Boling

Coach Searles likes to establish his starters early and get them as much work as a unit as possible, so I would say this has a pretty good chance of being the starting five in Stillwater. If both Sturdivant and Vance are healthy, this may be the best line we have had in the Richt era.

Not to mention a bench of: Chris Davis, Josh Davis, Justin Anderson, Tanner Strickland, Ben Harden, Dallas Lee, AJ Harmon, Jonathan Owens, and Chris Burnette. I'll take that.

Speaking of Burnette, I've been saying all along that he would probably redshirt, just due to the sheer volume of linemen on the roster. However, there have been several reports (from fellow players, since coaches can't be at practice yet) that he is looking very impressive. Maybe he works his way into the two-deep by the fall, but if he's not getting playing time early I still say we redshirt him.

We know Austin Long is almost definitely going to redshirt, due to injury. And I have been totally forgetting Kwame Geathers in all of this, but I completely expect him to redshirt (if he is academically qualified...did that happen already?).

I know I've mentioned this before, but I just enjoy bringing it up...out of all of these O-Linemen, only ONE (Vance) is a Senior this year. We bring back every one of these guys next year, as well as any recruits we bring in in 2010 (and we already have a good one in Benedict). Our starting O-Line NEXT season could be:

LT - Sturdivant (RS Junior)
LG - Anderson (RS Jr)
C - Jones (Jr)
RG - Glenn (Jr)
RT - Boling (Sr)

Bench would be: Harmon (RS Soph), C. Davis (Sr), J Davis (Sr), Lee (Soph), Burnette (RS Fr), Long (RS Fr), Geathers (RS Fr), Strickland (RS Jr), Owens (RS Soph), Harden (RS Jr), Benedict (Fr).

Wow. We only lose one starter off of that lineup, so the next season should set up even better, with a senior-laden starting five and TONS of quality depth.

I think it was after the 2003 season that Richt vowed to never go through another season like they just had...lost virtually the entire starting line after the '02 season and played with all freshemen and sophomores in 2003. It's taken a few years, and injuries have taken a toll, but it looks like he has finally made good on that promise.

GO DAWGS!!!

72 DAYS!!! Happy Vince Vance Day!