Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS, Ga. -- ESPN Watch List tight end Jeb Blazevich (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) is known for his eloquence and thoughtful answers when discussing his high-profile recruitment. Always respectful and diplomatic, Blazevich responds to inquiries with a skilled precision that any politician would envy. But when asked whether he could sum up his recent visit to Georgia in a hypothetical tweet, Blazevich shifted gears and demonstrated his knack for brevity.

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Georgia’s recent success against Florida has been a long time in coming. The Bulldogs had not beaten the Gators in back-to-back seasons in more than two decades, dating back to 1988-89. Florida has an 18-5 record over Georgia since 1990 so the rivalry has been mostly one-sided. But thanks to some recruiting success, Mark Richt has turned the annual showdown in Jacksonville, Fla., back into one of the most highly contested battles of the year.

And he did it with some ringers from the Sunshine State.

Quarterback Aaron Murray has struggled against the Gators but is 2-1 in his career against them. In his first win he completed four passes to tight end Orson Charles of Tampa, Fla. All-SEC kicker Blair Walsh, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., always said the Florida game was the biggest of the year and he scored 22 points against the Gators in his career. Keeping Murray upright this year was a freshman from Jacksonville, right tackle John Theus.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Recruiting battles matter. The results are almost always indicative of what future success a program can expect. Georgia is hoping that the fierce battles it won in 2010 will continue to pay dividends going forward.

On signing day 2011, the Bulldogs received letters of intent from 26 members of the “Dream Team” recruiting class --a moniker that Mark Richt bestowed on that year's signees. Despite having lost seven members of that class to transfers, dismissals and academic ineligibility, the Dream Team is 2-0 against Florida with one SEC East title to its credit and another title within reach this season.

Prior to that class, Georgia had a 14-12 record during the previous two seasons, including the program’s first losing season under Richt. He and his staff hit the recruiting trail hard in 2010 and the results have been obvious.

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The Florida-Georgia rivalry doesn't just take place in Jacksonville. The two schools compete all year long on the recruiting trail around the Southeast. Kipp Adams of DawgNation and Derek Tyson of GatorNation take a look at ten of the top battles for blue-chip players, five from each school's perspective.

Georgia

DT Marcus Stroud (Thomasville, Ga./Brooks County): The year was 1996. Florida was coming off six straight wins over the Bulldogs and to make matters worse, the Gators had a verbal commitment from elite Peach State defensive tackle prospect Marcus Stroud. Gators WR Jacquez Green was Stroud’s host during his official visit to Florida, and he felt Stroud was definitely going to be playing for the Gators. Signing day arrived, and what happened then became one of the all-time recruiting surprises of the past two decades, with Stroud switching his commitment to Georgia. Stroud’s Sports Illustrated cover energized a fanbase looking for any glimmer of hope against their rival in Gainesville. The next year, alongside starting quarterback and future offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Stroud helped end the losing streak against Florida in 1997. The No. 13 overall selection in the 2001 NFL Draft, Stroud played in the NFL for more a decade, earning three Pro-Bowl/All-Pro selections in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

DT Jeff Owens (Plantation, Fla/Plantation): The 6-2, 265-pound defensive lineman took official visits to Florida, FSU, Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech, and ultimately chose the Bulldogs -- although his father wanted him to stay in-state and play for the Gators. Owens went on to start 37 games at Georgia, making 102 tackles, five sacks, 13 tackles for loss, two fumbles forced, two fumbles recovered and three pass breakups.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Arthur Lynch preached patience last week when discussing how Georgia’s tight ends had just one reception to their credit in the Bulldogs’ first two games.

Lynch’s patience finally paid off in Saturday night’s win against Florida Atlantic, with the junior catching three passes for 73 yards and his first college touchdown. And he could have finished with four grabs for 101 yards, but a holding penalty against center David Andrews canceled out a 28-yard Lynch catch in the third quarter.

“All my guys, all my friends and random fraternity guys on campus would be like, ‘You guys have got to come on. Tight ends, tight ends.’ It was like, ‘Be patient guys. It’ll happen.’ And it did. We had some great plays called and we executed them when we had to.”

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Nine days remain until Georgia kicks off its season opener against Buffalo on Sept. 1. In the days counting down to the opener, DawgNation will profile, with our “Around the Hedges in 80 Days” series, a Bulldogs player we expect to make an impact. We will review each player’s career thus far and project his long-term potential as we progress through our alphabetical list, from center David Andrews to receiver Rantavious Wooten.

9. Nathan Theus
Redshirt freshman, Long snapper
6-foot-3, 249 pounds

Fall forecast: Unless something happens to three-year starting snapper Ty Frix, Theus might contribute on special teams only in a reserve role this fall. Frix has handled the snapping duties in every game of his Georgia career and seems to still have a grasp on the job entering his senior season. However, it would not be a shock to see Theus get some opportunities to snap some this fall, as well.

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Editor’s note: With Georgia set to open preseason camp on Thursday, DawgNation will break down each position group and the storylines to watch in August. After examining Georgia’s offensive and defensive position groups, we complete the series today with the Bulldogs’ special teams units.

Perhaps no area on Georgia’s roster is more unsettled than its special teams units as preseason practice approaches.

The Bulldogs lost a Ray Guy Award winner in punter Drew Butler, a record-setting Lou Groza Award finalist in kicker Blair Walsh and the 2011 Paul Hornung Award winner -- a prize given to the nation’s most versatile player -- to Brandon Boykin, who handled the majority of kickoff and punt returns last season.

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In less than a month, ESPN 150 offensive lineman John Theus (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles) will arrive in Athens and begin the next stage in his life as a college student athlete. The 6-foot-6, 295-pound prospect chose the Bulldogs over programs like Florida, FSU and Notre Dame, and his addition gives Mark Richt a much needed talent boost to the offensive line with the graduation of starters Cordy Glenn, Justin Anderson and Ben Jones. In this feature, Theus discusses his journey from Jacksonville to Athens.

It’s weird to think about where I came from, to where I am now. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was a freshman at 265 pounds and it was my first day of summer workouts. Now I am less than 30 days away from leaving my house for Athens. The last part of my senior year has definitely been a little hectic but also a lot of fun. We just had our senior prom a few weeks ago and with only a couple days of school left, all of my senior friends are ready to head out. I have mixed emotions about leaving home seeing because of how close I am to my family.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely excited about being in Athens with my brother, Nathan, and all the friends I already have up there. Nathan actually is back home now, so my real training for UGA has begun. The workouts that I have been doing are the ones that Coach T [Joe Tereshinski] sent to all of the signees. They are some of the toughest workouts I have done but I know I need them in order to prepare for the 6:30 a.m. summer workouts the best I can.

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