RON SEIBEL: Expectations high, but will Georgia pull through?

So here we are, a little more than a week away from the start of college football season, unless you count Saturday’s game in Australia between Stanford and Rice.

Toe can’t meet leather fast enough. Fans are eager to get back into football mode, and players are eager to get out of practice mode.

It seems as if Georgia often finds itself the target of high preseason expectations. The Bulldogs often are slapped with the preseason favorite label, at least to win the SEC East, by media voting, preseason magazines and an ever-hungry fan base.

Those expectations have led to plenty of letdowns. Yes, there has been a near miss (those 5 yards against Alabama still haunt) or two. There also have been wipeouts.

So what does 2017 have in store? Here are three points to consider:

Quarterback: Request to head coach Kirby Smart: Please, please, please redshirt Jake Fromm.

Simply put, Fromm needs a year to develop. Yes, he has a great arm. Yes, he can target receivers. But he couldn’t guide Houston County to the GHSA Class 6A playoffs last year out of a five-team region.

Sure, Region 1-6A was super deep last year. But he needed to find a way to help Houston County gain a postseason spot, and that just didn’t work out.

I like Fromm. I’ve watched him compete since his Little League days when he helped Warner Robins earn a trip to Williamsport for the Little League World Series a couple of years after the 2007 Warner Robins team won it all. But he can use a year to learn and develop.

Jacob Eason has more than enough skills to do good things for Georgia this fall. So unless Eason gets hurt, put a redshirt on Fromm and give him one more year to shine down the road without having to compete with Eason.

Running back: Nick Chubb and Sony Michel in the lineup? Healthy, at that?

Yes, and yes.

If both stay healthy, they will chew up a bunch of yards and open the passing game right up for Eason. Georgia fans have to love that prospect.

The question is, can they stay healthy? Misfortune seems to attack at just the wrong time in this program. How many times has a potentially great Georgia season been sidetracked by an injury to a key player?

Defense: With 10 starters returning, including four linebackers and four defensive backs, the Georgia defense certainly has the pieces in place.

Last year, the Bulldogs finished 16th nationally in FBS and fourth in the SEC in total yards allowed per game, as well as eighth nationally and third in the conference in first downs allowed.

If players like Macon County product Roquan Smith build on what they have done, there’s no reason to believe that defense can’t hold up its end of things. That unit will be fun to watch.

So, it’s prediction time. What does the Georgia schedule look like?

Appalachian State (Sept. 2): A team that will shock the unsuspecting. Potential trap game, right off the bat. If Georgia loses this one, it will be a long season. Georgia, 30-17.

Notre Dame (Sept. 9): A Saturday night NBC game puts Georgia on the big stage. It would be appointment viewing had Notre Dame not gone 4-8 last season. Georgia, 35-21.

Samford (Sept. 16): Hearing former Valdosta State and Georgia Southern head coach Chris Hatcher on the speaking circuit is a treat. His team isn’t bad, either … for an FCS program. Georgia, 47-14.

Mississippi State (Sept. 23): Georgia lost 45-14 at Mississippi last season, falling to a team that went 2-6 in SEC play and didn’t go to a bowl game before the bottom fell out during the offseason. Mississippi State didn’t fare much better, but at least Dan Mullen is still the head coach. Georgia, 31-10.

Tennessee (Sept. 30): Do Georgia fans need any reminder of what happened last year? Tennessee, 46-45, 6OT (We’re overdue for a super-long overtime session in the SEC).

Vanderbilt (Oct. 7): Sure, the wheels can fall off after a heartbreaker. Then again, it’s just Vanderbilt. Except that Vanderbilt ruined Georgia’s homecoming last year. Georgia, 27-16.

Missouri (Oct. 14): Just not the same in Columbia following the departure of Gary Pinkel. Georgia, 43-7.

Florida (Oct. 28): As tempting as a Georgia pick might be here, Florida just has Georgia’s number. Florida, 27-21.

South Carolina (Nov. 4): Just not the same in Columbia following the departures of Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier. Georgia, 34-20.

Auburn (Nov. 11): Sure, the game is at Auburn this season, and the Tigers will be hungry after getting knocked out of the Top 10 by the Bulldogs a year ago. But Georgia will be the better team this season. Georgia, 27-7.

Kentucky (Nov. 18): A trap game in years past, but a win over Auburn will keep things positive in Athens. Georgia, 31-14.

Georgia Tech (Nov. 25): The Yellow Jackets start the season with negativity with a starting running back getting booted. Things might not look good for Paul Johnson … not that he pays any mind to his critics. Georgia, 21-10.

Projected Georgia record: 10-2.

Projected Georgia bowl: Orange.