I know we have bigger fish to fry but man, it NEVER gets old beating the Insects from North Avenue. Especially now with Paul Johnson in place. That guy, well, I am really surprised he gets ANYONE to play for him the way he cusses out his players when they come to the sideline. He is just a total jerk and idiot as well. There is no doubt he is very confident in himself as offense coordinator but yet if you look at his record at GT against his biggest rivals, unfortunately for Paul he can only play Clemson one time a year-well, he won his ACC title by getting to play them twice. He is 4-1 against them, but against UGA, Miami and VaTech, a total of 3-9. Of course it is easy to figure out why that is-those three teams have great athletes on defense and also on offense-so despite the scheme used by GT, those teams have figured it out and then use superior athletes to get it done. Oh and might I add, great coaching as well. I wonder if Mark Bradley is not having second thoughts about calling Paul Johnson a genius, using Chan Gailey's recruited talent to win an ACC title (well no longer as it was stripped) during his second year in 2009. The only win he has against us was in 2008, a game we had a big lead but fell apart and only lost by 3 points. The common theme in all the games, Tech has ZERO defense and our D while not great the first 3 years-Willie's last stand was a pretty impressive D performance in 2009, but this year we totally dominated the Tech offense. I KNEW Johnson was worried when he started doing the inside counter runs with his A-backs. That meant he was fully aware he could NOT run up the middle on us with his B-back consisently, he witnessed our speed on the edges and figured his best bet was to run those plays that honestly, I have not seen them run all year. He furthered panicked when he started throwing the ball to start the second half-and you could tell Tevin Washington was SCARED to death of our D with how he threw the ball. To the credit of Mike Bobo, he knew that GT could NOT stop our pass game, even with our lack of running game so he stuck with it. When the game was sealed, he then turned to the run game and we iced it. Ken Malcome, I thought did a pretty good job and needs to get more reps-more than Carlton Thomas-yes, the kid had a great game against Auburn but it is pretty obvious the AU run defense is pretty bad-Bama ran all over them this past Saturday.
One encouraging sign we have noticed time and time again this year, when injury happens, someone steps up and plays maybe even better than the starter. When Ogletree got hurt, Herrera and Gillard stepped up-even more so when Robinson went down. When Gates got hurt early, Dallas Lee stepped him and did a great job. When Crowell has been hurt, several backs have stepped in to fill the void, when Lee got hurt, Gates came back in and did outstanding-in fact, he might now be our best blocker on the team. Likewise, when Tyson went out on the second play against GT, Garrison Smith stepped in and yesterday won DL of the week for the SEC. He had the crucial stop on 3rd and goal at our two on Tech's first scoring drive-held them to a FG which really did set the tone for the game. So now, when you think about next year, assuming our JR's stay, we have our replacement for one of our two SR's we lose on the defense in Tyson. With Boykin, we have several candidates to choose from. Bottom line, the quality/depth we are starting to build is what championship teams do, RELOAD.
Speaking of championships, we have a shot at one this Saturday afternoon. Yes, EVERYONE is aware just how good LSU is. Just watch ESPN at any time of the day and you will find out just how dominating and good both LSU and Bama truly are. At this point, it really seems as if the SEC title game has no implications on the national title game-LSU is assured a spot in the game. What is bothersome to me, Bama appears locked in there as well even without playing for the SEC title. I just think it is totally wrong for a rematch to happen, regardless of whether Bama is the best team left to play LSU-LSU BEAT THEM at home, they should not have to beat them again. That gives Bama a second shot at a title, when they had their shot and blew it. Course the BCS system is flawed anyway so what is new. I am hopeful that Oklahoma State beats OU by 2 touchdowns this week. I also hope VaTech beats Clemson by two TD's in the ACC title game. Now, the Cowboys lost to an average at best Iowa State team but it was on the road and in OT. VaTech lost at home by 20 points to Clemson, a team that has lost 3 of its last 4. So, to me if Oklahoma State beats OU on Saturday, they would be the most likely to jump over Bama. Despite what the ESPN "experts" want, I think there are enough voters that HATE the SEC looking to move ANYONE above Bama so their is not a rematch. I hope it happens because I just don't honestly think Bama deserves that shot and if they do get it, I will be a HUGE LSU fan that night.
On the recruiting trail, December 6th is decision day for Keith Marshall-one of the top ranked running backs in the nation, out of Raleigh, NC Millbrook HS. All my sources are saying he is a UGA lock at this point, let's hope that is the case. It is apparent Isaiah Crowell is a talent back, but it is also apparent he is not durable enough to be our only elite RB. We are in the lead for Marshall and also most believe for his friend and fellow North Carolina product, Todd Gurley. Let's hope the Marshall commitment helps kick off the 2012 class, a class that so far is not ranked all that high but also a class that has about 10-12 spots left to fill. The season we have had, Coach Richt being safely off the hot seat, I think Marshall will get the ball rolling nicely.
One final thought on the SEC title game, I really believe that the major difference between the two teams coming into Saturday-DEPTH, especially at RB, and also OL. We have no depth at either position and I will be honest, our OL really concerns me in this game-mostly Bean Anderson. He has not been as good as I had hoped this year, he seems to have slow feet at times. We must have some sort of run game to mix in with the pass against this talented and deep defense. From all indications, Crowell will be back this week and he needs to be 100%. Also, hopefully Tyson can play, we need depth on the DL and LB's because LSU wants to run power football-and if we can slow that down, putting the ball in Jefferson's hands, or Lee if he comes in, I will take my chances. Both have shown tendencies to throw picks if you get a little rush on them. Course as Jefferson showed last week, he does have the ability to run which is another weapon that Lee does not offer. Regardless, I look at this game as a survival game-meaning, the longer we survive and hang, the better our chances will be. Other than Bama, no team has been able to really survive and make a game of it with LSU in the second half. We have been in tight games a lot more than they have. Let's force it to a 4th quarter game and then take our chances.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Preview the Nerds, HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Ok, so not much time this week to blog, short work week, holidays etc but I do want to give a preview of the upcoming game against the in state rival, THE INSTITUTE. Unfortunately, I work so close to that place, I can smell the body odor of the Turkey neck himself, Paul Johnson. Ok, so you get the point that I DO NOT LIKE Georgia Tech. I will say, I have a lot of friends that are GT alums and fans. Most are truly good people and very good friends-in fact one of the best friends I have in the world happens to be a GT alum. He is NOT typical of their fanbase though. Here are all the common traits of the typical GT alum and fan. VERY smart, NERDY, arrogant (a know it all) and they have a superiority complex. That is the common theme for most Tech folks, in fact I often say about Techies, they are very book smart but very ignorant when it comes to common sense. Now I have a brother in law that is a Techie and while a good guy he does exhibit some of the traits I mentioned. Another interesting trait to watch is his passion for his alma mater in football-he could care less if they are struggling but he is ALL IN if they are winning-to borrow from Auburn. That is typically the way of the GT faithful and one thing is for certain, those folks HATE UGA probably more than we hate them. Bottom line, when it comes to football, we are their Florida Gators, they seem to find ways to lose to us most every year. I HOPE that continues yet again this year. The thing about Tech is, I have always wanted to beat them because I can't stand the arrogance of the general fan base and their players-they buy into the UGA is a football factory, we are true student-athletes, YEAH RIGHT. But with Paul Johnson at the helm, it has gone to another level. It is very similar to when George O'Leary was coaching over there, the coaches themselves are PERFECT for that fanbase because they themselves are so arrogant. So, that makes this game even more important. Johnson has really been full of bulletin board material this week-here is a sampling from the AJC-
After practice Monday, Tech coach Paul Johnson sarcastically played the woe-is-us card.
“They’ve got a heck of a team,” Johnson said. “Won nine in a row, SEC East champs. Hopefully we can stay with them.”
Johnson interrupted a question about his players not needing much motivation this week by saying they are “probably scared.”
“Personally, I think the conference thing is way overblown. How are you going to evaluate? Are you looking at the top two teams in the conference or are you going to take the conference as a whole? There’s four SEC-ACC games Saturday. Let’s see what happens. Who’s favored in the Clemson-South Carolina game? Who’s favored in the Florida-Florida State game? Wake-Vandy? I don’t know. But you see what I mean? Now, if we’re just talking about Alabama and LSU, that’s different.”
He was asked about the strength of the Dogs’ defensive line. He responded with some praise but added, “I don’t know. We’ve played some really good players. [North Carolina's] Quinton Coples is a first-round draft pick. [Clemson's] Brandon Thompson is a pretty good player. This won’t be the first good players we’ve seen.”
He was asked about Georgia tight end Orson Charles. He responded with some praise but added: “We’ve played against other tight ends who are really good. The tight end at Clemson [Dwayne Allen] is probably an early-round draft pick in the NFL.”
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose oft-unfettered tongue and unwillingness to back down to rival Georgia have earned him the admiration of Tech fans, apologized for a poor choice of words on his radio show Tuesday night.
Near the end of his show, a caller, presumably a Georgia Bulldogs fan, came on the air and said, “Hello? Hello?” and then began barking before either hanging up or being cut off. Johnson responded, “Hello? Hello? He just got off from Walmart.”
Johnson, who earlier in the day had commented how most Georgia fans he encounters are cordial, said, “Anybody who calls into a radio show and barks is either retarded or doesn’t have a life.”
Now, take all of that into account and then read what Mark Richt said about GT yesterday-
Taking a look at the GT starting lineups, no doubt we have a big size advantage (and I will add a big talent edge as well).
Offense Triple Option
OT Ray Beno 6-2 290 Soph
OGWill Jackson 6-3 285 Soph
C Jay Finch 6-3 283 Soph
OG Omoregie Uzzi 6-3 300 JR
OT Phil Smith 6-5 292 JR
WR Stephon Hill 6-5 200 JR
WR Tyler Melton 6-0 206 SR
HB-A back Roddy Jones 5-9 202 SR
HB-A back Orwin Smith 6-0 202 JR
FB-B back David Sims 6-0 218 Soph
QB Tevin Washington 6-1 205 JR
Defense 3-4
DE Jason Peters 6-4 277 SR
NT Logan Wells 6-2 299 SR
DE Izaan Cross 6-4 292 JR
LB Jeremiah Attaochu 6-3 235 Soph
LB Daniel Drummond 6-3 240 Soph
LB Julian Burnett 5-10 222 JR
LB Steven Sylvester 6-2 240 SR
CB Louis Young 6-1 201 Soph
S Rashad Reid 5-10 191 SR
S Isaiah Johnson 6-2 195 Soph
CB Rod Sweeting 6-0 184 JR
Ok, so the first thing that jumps out to me is they are very young on the OL, and not overly big. They have guys that are more short and stocky, can move well to block for the option attack. Put it this way, the ONLY OL we recruited that I recall out of their group was Uzzi who happens to be their biggest OL. Their backs are small, even Sims for the B-back position is very small compared to the 230-240 guys before, Dwyer and Allen. Of course their biggest playmaker this year has been Orwin Smith-and he did not play last week but will play this week-I doubt he will be 100% however. As I have said before and will say again, IF our NT's can take care of the middle dive, with the speed, power and athletic ability of our OLB and also the strength and power of our DE's, I really like our chances. I am really curious to see how our D stacks up on Saturday. IF they can play smart, assignment football, I really want to see how much success GT can have running the ball. They can't pass the ball, they will pull out a deep pass here and there but that is because they get the corners to bite on their play fakes-I think our corners can feel secure enough with the other 9 that they can play bump/tight man coverage and adjust to the play as it comes to them. Hill is a big kid height wise but pretty thin, Commings should be able to match up with him after facing some bigger guys this year.
As for the Tech D, they do have more experience on this side of the ball and they have had moments this year of playing pretty solid D-the most impressive being the game against Clemson. They will no doubt come after Murray early and often with blitz packages, let's face it, they have to do that to create some possible turnovers. They have proven time and time again this year that a good QB can and will pick them apart if given time, so I look for them to pressure Murray often. I would imagine they will also do their best to stop our run game, hopefully we get Crowell and Thomas back-we have to have balance but we also have to utilize our TE's, TE's have killed GT all year, also take some deep shots on their corners. They are not short corners but I feel our guys can beat them deep-and certainly some crossing patterns as well. I watched VT run their white WR in some crossing routes and burn them time and time again. There is no doubt our OL has a HUGE size advantage as is usual this year, and especially againt GT. They do actually have a good group of LB's so we will have to do a good job picking those guys up on blitzes and against our run. If we can have some balance and control the ball, thus giving our D some breaks/rest, I really like our chances to win this game.
I look for this game to have some scoring and it will depend on how we adjust to the option and how well our offense clicks to see how this game shakes out. The last three games against PJ and company, we have scored 42, 30, and 42, to expect us to not score much would be probably not a wise thing. Course under PJ, they have scored 45, 24, and 34 against us. SO, all that being said, I predict us to win this game 38-28. The way I see it going is GT comes out strong early, maybe taking 7-0 or 10-0 lead perhaps but the second quarter has been our quarter here lately and I would expect us to get back into it and maybe lead at half 21-14 of maybe behind 21-14, then in the second half we score a couple of TD's while they get one or two. I think we probably ice the game mid fourth quarter with a TD/FG and then run the clock out on them. This game is scary because we do have the bigger fish game next weekend in the dome but, I simply think we have way too much talent and I really can see our defense punishing some of their guys-I don't hope for any injuries but the way we hit QB's and smaller RB's, if we get clean shots in on their guys early, they are going to be feeling it all game long and will be tensing up during the game trying to anticipate another hard hit.
I hope everyone that stops by to read my blog has a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Let us all remember how blessed we truly are. Let us enjoy all our time spent with family and friends and not take anything for granted. Let us enjoy our spouses, parents, children, siblings, and friends letting them know either by words or actions just how much they mean to us. Life is short so let us all get along and be thankful for all our blessings. AMEN.
Go Dogs and thanks for reading.
After practice Monday, Tech coach Paul Johnson sarcastically played the woe-is-us card.
“They’ve got a heck of a team,” Johnson said. “Won nine in a row, SEC East champs. Hopefully we can stay with them.”
Johnson interrupted a question about his players not needing much motivation this week by saying they are “probably scared.”
“Personally, I think the conference thing is way overblown. How are you going to evaluate? Are you looking at the top two teams in the conference or are you going to take the conference as a whole? There’s four SEC-ACC games Saturday. Let’s see what happens. Who’s favored in the Clemson-South Carolina game? Who’s favored in the Florida-Florida State game? Wake-Vandy? I don’t know. But you see what I mean? Now, if we’re just talking about Alabama and LSU, that’s different.”
He was asked about the strength of the Dogs’ defensive line. He responded with some praise but added, “I don’t know. We’ve played some really good players. [North Carolina's] Quinton Coples is a first-round draft pick. [Clemson's] Brandon Thompson is a pretty good player. This won’t be the first good players we’ve seen.”
He was asked about Georgia tight end Orson Charles. He responded with some praise but added: “We’ve played against other tight ends who are really good. The tight end at Clemson [Dwayne Allen] is probably an early-round draft pick in the NFL.”
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose oft-unfettered tongue and unwillingness to back down to rival Georgia have earned him the admiration of Tech fans, apologized for a poor choice of words on his radio show Tuesday night.
Near the end of his show, a caller, presumably a Georgia Bulldogs fan, came on the air and said, “Hello? Hello?” and then began barking before either hanging up or being cut off. Johnson responded, “Hello? Hello? He just got off from Walmart.”
Johnson, who earlier in the day had commented how most Georgia fans he encounters are cordial, said, “Anybody who calls into a radio show and barks is either retarded or doesn’t have a life.”
Now, take all of that into account and then read what Mark Richt said about GT yesterday-
“We have Georgia Tech coming up. Coach (Paul) Johnson and his staff have done a fantastic job during the time he’s been there. They are really an outstanding football team and one that we really have a lot of respect for and one that we know we have our work cut out for us. Anybody who has ever played Coach Johnson’s offense, they know it’s an awful lot of work to get done in a short amount of time. We’re thankful that we don’t have school this week. It helps us to get in a few more walkthroughs and a few more meetings.Now you "get the picture" as Munson would say, the difference between having class and showing respect for your opponent, and being arrogant and showing no class.
“The toughest part for us it to get the scout team to try to vaguely resemble it. It’s hard to simulate what we are going to experience during the game. That will be one of the greatest challenges of the week as far as scout team to do a great job. They are number two in the nation in rushing and number six in the nation in pass efficiency. Third downs, which are so huge and we all understand how important it is to get an offensive team off the field, they are in the top five in the country in third down conversions. As we all know, Coach Johnson has a habit of going for it on fourth down too, and they make an awful lot of their fourth downs. That’s even more devastating, knowing that a lot of times if they don’t make it on third, they’ll make it on fourth, so they’ll continue the drive and put the pressure on your defense and your football team through that.
“I can’t imagine the atmosphere being anything but electric. I know that our players will be looking forward to the challenge. I’m sure they will too. We’re ready to prepare for that.”
Taking a look at the GT starting lineups, no doubt we have a big size advantage (and I will add a big talent edge as well).
Offense Triple Option
OT Ray Beno 6-2 290 Soph
OGWill Jackson 6-3 285 Soph
C Jay Finch 6-3 283 Soph
OG Omoregie Uzzi 6-3 300 JR
OT Phil Smith 6-5 292 JR
WR Stephon Hill 6-5 200 JR
WR Tyler Melton 6-0 206 SR
HB-A back Roddy Jones 5-9 202 SR
HB-A back Orwin Smith 6-0 202 JR
FB-B back David Sims 6-0 218 Soph
QB Tevin Washington 6-1 205 JR
Defense 3-4
DE Jason Peters 6-4 277 SR
NT Logan Wells 6-2 299 SR
DE Izaan Cross 6-4 292 JR
LB Jeremiah Attaochu 6-3 235 Soph
LB Daniel Drummond 6-3 240 Soph
LB Julian Burnett 5-10 222 JR
LB Steven Sylvester 6-2 240 SR
CB Louis Young 6-1 201 Soph
S Rashad Reid 5-10 191 SR
S Isaiah Johnson 6-2 195 Soph
CB Rod Sweeting 6-0 184 JR
Ok, so the first thing that jumps out to me is they are very young on the OL, and not overly big. They have guys that are more short and stocky, can move well to block for the option attack. Put it this way, the ONLY OL we recruited that I recall out of their group was Uzzi who happens to be their biggest OL. Their backs are small, even Sims for the B-back position is very small compared to the 230-240 guys before, Dwyer and Allen. Of course their biggest playmaker this year has been Orwin Smith-and he did not play last week but will play this week-I doubt he will be 100% however. As I have said before and will say again, IF our NT's can take care of the middle dive, with the speed, power and athletic ability of our OLB and also the strength and power of our DE's, I really like our chances. I am really curious to see how our D stacks up on Saturday. IF they can play smart, assignment football, I really want to see how much success GT can have running the ball. They can't pass the ball, they will pull out a deep pass here and there but that is because they get the corners to bite on their play fakes-I think our corners can feel secure enough with the other 9 that they can play bump/tight man coverage and adjust to the play as it comes to them. Hill is a big kid height wise but pretty thin, Commings should be able to match up with him after facing some bigger guys this year.
As for the Tech D, they do have more experience on this side of the ball and they have had moments this year of playing pretty solid D-the most impressive being the game against Clemson. They will no doubt come after Murray early and often with blitz packages, let's face it, they have to do that to create some possible turnovers. They have proven time and time again this year that a good QB can and will pick them apart if given time, so I look for them to pressure Murray often. I would imagine they will also do their best to stop our run game, hopefully we get Crowell and Thomas back-we have to have balance but we also have to utilize our TE's, TE's have killed GT all year, also take some deep shots on their corners. They are not short corners but I feel our guys can beat them deep-and certainly some crossing patterns as well. I watched VT run their white WR in some crossing routes and burn them time and time again. There is no doubt our OL has a HUGE size advantage as is usual this year, and especially againt GT. They do actually have a good group of LB's so we will have to do a good job picking those guys up on blitzes and against our run. If we can have some balance and control the ball, thus giving our D some breaks/rest, I really like our chances to win this game.
I look for this game to have some scoring and it will depend on how we adjust to the option and how well our offense clicks to see how this game shakes out. The last three games against PJ and company, we have scored 42, 30, and 42, to expect us to not score much would be probably not a wise thing. Course under PJ, they have scored 45, 24, and 34 against us. SO, all that being said, I predict us to win this game 38-28. The way I see it going is GT comes out strong early, maybe taking 7-0 or 10-0 lead perhaps but the second quarter has been our quarter here lately and I would expect us to get back into it and maybe lead at half 21-14 of maybe behind 21-14, then in the second half we score a couple of TD's while they get one or two. I think we probably ice the game mid fourth quarter with a TD/FG and then run the clock out on them. This game is scary because we do have the bigger fish game next weekend in the dome but, I simply think we have way too much talent and I really can see our defense punishing some of their guys-I don't hope for any injuries but the way we hit QB's and smaller RB's, if we get clean shots in on their guys early, they are going to be feeling it all game long and will be tensing up during the game trying to anticipate another hard hit.
I hope everyone that stops by to read my blog has a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Let us all remember how blessed we truly are. Let us enjoy all our time spent with family and friends and not take anything for granted. Let us enjoy our spouses, parents, children, siblings, and friends letting them know either by words or actions just how much they mean to us. Life is short so let us all get along and be thankful for all our blessings. AMEN.
Go Dogs and thanks for reading.
Monday, November 21, 2011
EAST champs, loss of a legend-RIP Larry Munson
Before I get to the UGA victory of Kentucky, I want to start out remembering the greatest play by play man to ever call a football game, Larry Munson. I can remember first hearing Larry back in the 70's, when my Dad would listen to the game on our OLD radio in the kitchen-back in those days, only one college game was typically on every week so Larry was truly the way to "get the picture" back in those days. He would come on the air and would say, "get the picture, Dogs in red helmets, red jersey with a black strip, with the silver britches", he would paint a picture of not only the teams uniforms but the stadium itself. When the game started, he would describe it in such a way you felt like you were at the stadium. You felt like you were playing in the game, you and Larry were teammates and the game was going on around you. Everyone will remember his famous calls, and they were so incredibly good that you can still remember them years after. But, for me, it was just that sense of comfort that Larry was there, he was calling the game and you knew he would pull the Dogs through victory but many times you would be exhausted after the game was over, because he kept you on the edge of your seat making the call. You knew just how much he loved UGA, you could hear it in his voice-and when you are a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs, for your announcer to share that love and passion with you as you listen, that is something special. The guys today try to avoid being too much of a homer-Scott Howard is certainly a homer and I think does a fine job, but he is no Larry and Scott would tell you as much himself. There will NEVER be another announcer to call UGA football any better than Larry Munson. I am sad to know he passed but glad he did get to see some of the game on Saturday-to see UGA beat Kentucky and win the east. To see his beloved program turn around from last year, I think Larry could rest in peace knowing order had been restored. I know the Munson family is in mourning and my prayers are with them now. But, the UGA family is in mourning as well, Larry was one special man and everyone that ever got to hear him call a UGA football game can attest to how special the man truly was. RIP Larry, you might be gone but you will never be forgotten.
Here is the official Larry Munson website where you can go hear some clips of the man that made UGA special to so many fans throughout the years. I have been doing a lot of reading about Larry this morning, reading a lot of tributes and I think one of the things that stands out the most to me is how many fans from opposing teams have taken the time to leave messages about how great Larry was. That speaks volumes when the other side can realize just how special the man was, even though you wanted UGA to lose against your school, you still loved to hear Larry call the game and pull for UGA.
http://www.larrymunson.com/
Ok, now back to UGA football as in this past weekend and moving forward. The game was in one word, UGLY. But, it was a WIN and that is all that truly matters. Think about it, in SEC games this year against a conference most believes (and rightfully so I might add) is VERY top heavy, check out our scores. SCarolina we lost by 3, Ole Miss we only won by 14, Miss State won by 14, UT only by 8, Vandy by 5, UF by 4 and UK by 9. So if you look at SEC games besides the Auburn game, and brake it down by the east standings, we lost to second place SCarolina, we beat third place UF by 4, fourth place UT by 8, fifth place Vandy by 5, last place UK by 9. We struggled in SECe games, so maybe we all should have expected what happend against UK afterall.
I think what happened on Saturday is twofold actually. First of all, there WAS a letdown involved, yes as crazy as that sounds when we are playing to win the east title. The players are human and they know how bad UK has been this season. Regardless of what the coaches try to do to get a kid to play his best, the kids have to make it happen. So, I personally believe our players at least early on were suffering from thinking about last week more than focusing on this week-even the defense didn't play the greatest early on. The other factor in this game was obviously the running back situation. I give Harton and Malcome a lot of credit, they did their best and other than each have a fumble, I thought both guys ran hard and tough. But, they are #4 and 5 on the depth chart for a reason. Without the balance, and with Murray having an off day, our offense didn't look good at all. Thankfully the D came to play, especially in the second half and once we got the lead before the break, you felt like the game was ours. Also a positive to come out of the game was better special teams play-KO return was much improved and forced a TO. Punt return was good, Walsh was 4-4 on FG attempts, Butler was booming his punts again. So, two out of three units played extremely well on Saturday. Next up is the state rivalry game and on paper, this is a game we should win-and I say that because we should OWN the lines of scrimmage in this one. I will break it down later this week, but we have a big size and talent advantages along the lines, and I really like our D matchup with the GT OL, and also like the fact that our secondary-both corners and safeties are GREAT open field tacklers. I also LOVE the speed and athletic ability of our LB's, you have to like players like Jarvis Jones, Ogletree, Gillard, Washington, Herrera and Robinson playing against this offense. Granted, it is unique and they will get some yardage but our guys are fast and so talented, it makes me feel better. If Murray can have time to throw, he can and will pick this GT secondary apart. I have watched nearly every team they have faced pick them apart and we have better WR's as a group than any team they have faced this year. We have tight ends that will give them fits, and if Crowell/Thomas can come back and play and give us some balance on offense, I can see us easily putting up 30+ points. But, GT will give us everything they got and we have to be ready to play and not be thinking about the SEC title game. I think the fact we will NOT have a clue who we are facing until Friday evening for the SEC title, is a GOOD thing for preparation this week. The coaches need to spend 100% of the time and energy focusing on this game. The SECe title can't be taken away from us but we need to win our state title before we play for the SEC title. We have a much better/talented team than does GT but as we found out against some lesser teams this year, it doesn't matter how much talent you have, it is how you play on the field. Heck, just look at this last weekend in college football to see where teams you would NEVER think could beat the big boys, did just that. Iowa State over Okie State, Baylor over OU, Oregon gets beat up by a good but not great SC team at home, that great Bama D gave up a lot of offense to Ga. Southern (who runs the same offense as does GT). You can never take anyone for granted in college football and I have confidence our guys will be ready to take it to GT on Saturday.
Here is the official Larry Munson website where you can go hear some clips of the man that made UGA special to so many fans throughout the years. I have been doing a lot of reading about Larry this morning, reading a lot of tributes and I think one of the things that stands out the most to me is how many fans from opposing teams have taken the time to leave messages about how great Larry was. That speaks volumes when the other side can realize just how special the man was, even though you wanted UGA to lose against your school, you still loved to hear Larry call the game and pull for UGA.
http://www.larrymunson.com/
Ok, now back to UGA football as in this past weekend and moving forward. The game was in one word, UGLY. But, it was a WIN and that is all that truly matters. Think about it, in SEC games this year against a conference most believes (and rightfully so I might add) is VERY top heavy, check out our scores. SCarolina we lost by 3, Ole Miss we only won by 14, Miss State won by 14, UT only by 8, Vandy by 5, UF by 4 and UK by 9. So if you look at SEC games besides the Auburn game, and brake it down by the east standings, we lost to second place SCarolina, we beat third place UF by 4, fourth place UT by 8, fifth place Vandy by 5, last place UK by 9. We struggled in SECe games, so maybe we all should have expected what happend against UK afterall.
| Sep. 3 | Boise State | L 21-35 | |
| Sep. 10 | South Carolina | L 42-45 | |
| Sep. 17 | Coastal Carolina | W 59-0 | |
| Sep. 24 | at Ole Miss | W 27-13 | |
| Oct. 1 | Miss. State | W 24-10 | |
| Oct. 8 | at Tennessee | W 20-12 | |
| Oct. 15 | at Vanderbilt | W 33-28 | |
| Oct. 29 | at Florida | W 24-20 | |
| Nov. 5 | New Mexico St. | W 63-16 | |
| Nov. 12 | Auburn | W 45-7 | |
| Nov. 19 | Kentucky | W 19-10 |
I think what happened on Saturday is twofold actually. First of all, there WAS a letdown involved, yes as crazy as that sounds when we are playing to win the east title. The players are human and they know how bad UK has been this season. Regardless of what the coaches try to do to get a kid to play his best, the kids have to make it happen. So, I personally believe our players at least early on were suffering from thinking about last week more than focusing on this week-even the defense didn't play the greatest early on. The other factor in this game was obviously the running back situation. I give Harton and Malcome a lot of credit, they did their best and other than each have a fumble, I thought both guys ran hard and tough. But, they are #4 and 5 on the depth chart for a reason. Without the balance, and with Murray having an off day, our offense didn't look good at all. Thankfully the D came to play, especially in the second half and once we got the lead before the break, you felt like the game was ours. Also a positive to come out of the game was better special teams play-KO return was much improved and forced a TO. Punt return was good, Walsh was 4-4 on FG attempts, Butler was booming his punts again. So, two out of three units played extremely well on Saturday. Next up is the state rivalry game and on paper, this is a game we should win-and I say that because we should OWN the lines of scrimmage in this one. I will break it down later this week, but we have a big size and talent advantages along the lines, and I really like our D matchup with the GT OL, and also like the fact that our secondary-both corners and safeties are GREAT open field tacklers. I also LOVE the speed and athletic ability of our LB's, you have to like players like Jarvis Jones, Ogletree, Gillard, Washington, Herrera and Robinson playing against this offense. Granted, it is unique and they will get some yardage but our guys are fast and so talented, it makes me feel better. If Murray can have time to throw, he can and will pick this GT secondary apart. I have watched nearly every team they have faced pick them apart and we have better WR's as a group than any team they have faced this year. We have tight ends that will give them fits, and if Crowell/Thomas can come back and play and give us some balance on offense, I can see us easily putting up 30+ points. But, GT will give us everything they got and we have to be ready to play and not be thinking about the SEC title game. I think the fact we will NOT have a clue who we are facing until Friday evening for the SEC title, is a GOOD thing for preparation this week. The coaches need to spend 100% of the time and energy focusing on this game. The SECe title can't be taken away from us but we need to win our state title before we play for the SEC title. We have a much better/talented team than does GT but as we found out against some lesser teams this year, it doesn't matter how much talent you have, it is how you play on the field. Heck, just look at this last weekend in college football to see where teams you would NEVER think could beat the big boys, did just that. Iowa State over Okie State, Baylor over OU, Oregon gets beat up by a good but not great SC team at home, that great Bama D gave up a lot of offense to Ga. Southern (who runs the same offense as does GT). You can never take anyone for granted in college football and I have confidence our guys will be ready to take it to GT on Saturday.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Previewing the Cats
Ok, so since I will not have much time tomorrow, figured I would do my Kentucky breakdown today, give my keys to the game and predicted final score. There is no doubt this game is very important to UGA but UK can argue it is important for them as well. They HAVE to win this game to have any shot at making a bowl game, and UK has been to a bowl game 5 straight years. For that program, quite a streak. Matter fact, before they qualified for a bowl in 2006, they had last been to a bowl game in 1999. So, their bowl streak is on the line against us. Course that doesn't quite compare to what is on the line for UGA in this game. From reading this morning, seems Coach Richt detected his team was tired and thus gave them some rest during practice yesterday. You know what, I am fine with that because let's face it, by game 11 everyone knows how to block, how to tackle, how to throw and catch. The most important thing to me is keeping everyone healthy and implenting the game plan we need to beat these guys. Next week at practice, it will be a very different week of practice, with the Thanksgiving holiday, school will be out for the week I believe-don't quote me on that, we are facing an offense that is totally unique from any other offense we see during a season. But more on next week, NEXT week.
Kentucky's last trip to Athens was a win for the Wildcats, in a game that I still remember to this day. I talk to my Dad at halftime every week if he is in town and I can remember telling him when we chatted-up 20-6, we got this game UNLESS we fumble this opening kickoff and turn it over a few more times. Sure enough, second half kickoff, Branden Smith fumbles, UK scores and suddenly it is 20-13. UGA turned the ball over 4 times that night, ended up losing 34-27. It was much like the SCarolina game of this year, we DOMINATED the stats, you felt like we were the better team by a long shot but lost on the scoreboard. Turnovers against teams you are better than, well, let's just say that is the great equalized. Kinda like the 3pt shot in college basketball, you get these smaller schools with some deadly shooters, you can see some upsets happening. Simply put for this game on Saturday, IF we do not turn the ball over, we will win this game. Let's take a look at the UK starters on offense and defense.
Defense
DE Mike Douglas 6-4 250 FR
DT Donte Rumph 6-3 308 Soph
DT Mister Cobble 6-0 332 Soph
DE Taylor Wyndham 6-4 246 JR
LB Danny Trevathan 6-1 232 SR
LB Ridge Wilson 6-3 246 JR
LB Ronnie Sneed 6-2 241 SR
CB Anthony Mosley 6-0 178 SR
S Winston Guy 6-1 216 SR
S Ashley Lowery 6-1 200 FR
CB Randall Burden 6-0 171 SR
Offense
OT Chandler Burden 6-4 313 SR
OG Stuart Hines 6-4 295 SR
C Matt Smith 6-4 303 JR
OG Larry Warford 6-3 336 JR
OT Billy Joe Murphy 6-6 308 SR
TE Jordan Aumiller 6-4 231 Soph
WR Matt Roark 6-5 214 SR
WR La'Rod King 6-4 194 JR
FB DJ Warren 6-0 230 FR
TB CoShik Williams 5-9 178 JR
QB Maxwell Smith 6-4 220 FR-believe he still will start instead of SR Morgan Newton 6-4 235 SR.
A few things stand out to me looking at the starters, first they have a big and experience OL. They also have some big WR's with experience. I suspect if the young QB can avoid making mistakes they are going to try to attack us with the pass as our run D has been nearly impossible to deal with. But, again, they have a young FR QB playing and that should equal mistakes. On D they also have some experience, some bigger DB's, some big hosses in the middle of their DL. I wouldn't be surprised if we run off tackle a good bit as the DE's are bit undersized, the LB's are experienced but will have their hands full with our TE's, and their secondary, while some bigger kids there, they have been burned by the deep ball this year so I look for Murray to test them early and often with some deep throws to Mitchell, King, and Conley. I would imagine knowing that UK is 118 out of 120 in total D, our offense is going to have a very good day. Connor Shaw of SCarolina, not known as a great throwing QB passed for 311 yards and 4 TD's against this team. Meanwhile, Lattimore rushed for 102 against them, against UF, Demps had 157 yards rushing, Rainey 105, Stacy for Vandy rushed for 135 just last week. Meanwhile the SCarolina offense has scored the following point totals in SEC games thus far-10, 7, 3, 16, 30 (win against Ole Miss), 8. So, they average 12pts per game in SEC play, course the Ole Miss game helps that average quite a bit. Meanwhile they have given up the following point totals in SEC games, 48, 35, 54, 28, 13 (Ole Miss again), 38. So, they are giving up 36 pts per game. If you go off those numbers, the spread of 29-30 pts is not far fetched.
My keys to the game,
-Come out with a killer instinct. No messing around in this game, take control early and don't let up. Second half should be just like last week against AU, let some reserves get some PT and look ahead to next couple weeks.
-Ball security is a must. Simply put, do not gift wrap scores for an opponent you are clearly better than. If do not turn the ball over, I see now way this game is close.
-Continue solid coverage on special teams, last week was a big improvement and that needs to continue. Same as with turnovers, don't let this team make a big play on a return/special teams play to give them life.
-Do not commit stupid penatlies. Notice a pattern in my keys to the game this week-bottom line, if we don't beat ourselves, NO WAY Kentucky keeps this game close.
I am a bit nervous about this game early on because last week was such a dominant performance against a decent team, what can we expect the next week against a team that everyone knows is weak. That being said, the team has A LOT to play for this week so that should give them enough juice. Next week against the Nerds, I do have a little worry about that game because it will be a bigger fish to fry game for us, hopefully though, our run defense is so strong we can take that one, along with an offense that is rolling along. But, enough on next week. This game will clinch the SECe title and first trip to the SEC title game since 2005. That year we were big underdog to LSU, same as is likely the case this year. I say the team starts a little sluggish but continues their second quarter magic. Final score, UGA 42 UK 10
Last note about the hoops team, they are now 3-0 on the young season. Now, they have been far from impressive but they are finding ways to win games against teams they SHOULD beat. Can't say the same for some other SEC teams in the early season. Next up is a game on Monday night against nationally ranked California. This will be a HUGE test to play away from home against a very good opponent but this team needs to see what they are made of and this will give us an early look. I expect Cal to beat us but hopefully our young team can learn from the experience.
Hope everyone that reads will have a great weekend. I will be coaching football this weekend, my son's football team is playing in a tournament, a game on Friday and TWO games on Saturday. I will miss the UGA game but will be tracking via the radio/phone and will DVR it and watch later. I feel pretty comfortable that a win is in the works though. I sure hope it is not down to the wire and I am having a fit trying to concentrate on my son's game and wanting to know what is happening in Athens-again though, SHOULDN'T be an issue. SECe champs is a great accomplishment for a team that started 0-2, including 0-1 in confenrence. This is a team to be proud of for sure, never quit, continuing to improve as the season progresses.
Kentucky's last trip to Athens was a win for the Wildcats, in a game that I still remember to this day. I talk to my Dad at halftime every week if he is in town and I can remember telling him when we chatted-up 20-6, we got this game UNLESS we fumble this opening kickoff and turn it over a few more times. Sure enough, second half kickoff, Branden Smith fumbles, UK scores and suddenly it is 20-13. UGA turned the ball over 4 times that night, ended up losing 34-27. It was much like the SCarolina game of this year, we DOMINATED the stats, you felt like we were the better team by a long shot but lost on the scoreboard. Turnovers against teams you are better than, well, let's just say that is the great equalized. Kinda like the 3pt shot in college basketball, you get these smaller schools with some deadly shooters, you can see some upsets happening. Simply put for this game on Saturday, IF we do not turn the ball over, we will win this game. Let's take a look at the UK starters on offense and defense.
Defense
DE Mike Douglas 6-4 250 FR
DT Donte Rumph 6-3 308 Soph
DT Mister Cobble 6-0 332 Soph
DE Taylor Wyndham 6-4 246 JR
LB Danny Trevathan 6-1 232 SR
LB Ridge Wilson 6-3 246 JR
LB Ronnie Sneed 6-2 241 SR
CB Anthony Mosley 6-0 178 SR
S Winston Guy 6-1 216 SR
S Ashley Lowery 6-1 200 FR
CB Randall Burden 6-0 171 SR
Offense
OT Chandler Burden 6-4 313 SR
OG Stuart Hines 6-4 295 SR
C Matt Smith 6-4 303 JR
OG Larry Warford 6-3 336 JR
OT Billy Joe Murphy 6-6 308 SR
TE Jordan Aumiller 6-4 231 Soph
WR Matt Roark 6-5 214 SR
WR La'Rod King 6-4 194 JR
FB DJ Warren 6-0 230 FR
TB CoShik Williams 5-9 178 JR
QB Maxwell Smith 6-4 220 FR-believe he still will start instead of SR Morgan Newton 6-4 235 SR.
A few things stand out to me looking at the starters, first they have a big and experience OL. They also have some big WR's with experience. I suspect if the young QB can avoid making mistakes they are going to try to attack us with the pass as our run D has been nearly impossible to deal with. But, again, they have a young FR QB playing and that should equal mistakes. On D they also have some experience, some bigger DB's, some big hosses in the middle of their DL. I wouldn't be surprised if we run off tackle a good bit as the DE's are bit undersized, the LB's are experienced but will have their hands full with our TE's, and their secondary, while some bigger kids there, they have been burned by the deep ball this year so I look for Murray to test them early and often with some deep throws to Mitchell, King, and Conley. I would imagine knowing that UK is 118 out of 120 in total D, our offense is going to have a very good day. Connor Shaw of SCarolina, not known as a great throwing QB passed for 311 yards and 4 TD's against this team. Meanwhile, Lattimore rushed for 102 against them, against UF, Demps had 157 yards rushing, Rainey 105, Stacy for Vandy rushed for 135 just last week. Meanwhile the SCarolina offense has scored the following point totals in SEC games thus far-10, 7, 3, 16, 30 (win against Ole Miss), 8. So, they average 12pts per game in SEC play, course the Ole Miss game helps that average quite a bit. Meanwhile they have given up the following point totals in SEC games, 48, 35, 54, 28, 13 (Ole Miss again), 38. So, they are giving up 36 pts per game. If you go off those numbers, the spread of 29-30 pts is not far fetched.
My keys to the game,
-Come out with a killer instinct. No messing around in this game, take control early and don't let up. Second half should be just like last week against AU, let some reserves get some PT and look ahead to next couple weeks.
-Ball security is a must. Simply put, do not gift wrap scores for an opponent you are clearly better than. If do not turn the ball over, I see now way this game is close.
-Continue solid coverage on special teams, last week was a big improvement and that needs to continue. Same as with turnovers, don't let this team make a big play on a return/special teams play to give them life.
-Do not commit stupid penatlies. Notice a pattern in my keys to the game this week-bottom line, if we don't beat ourselves, NO WAY Kentucky keeps this game close.
I am a bit nervous about this game early on because last week was such a dominant performance against a decent team, what can we expect the next week against a team that everyone knows is weak. That being said, the team has A LOT to play for this week so that should give them enough juice. Next week against the Nerds, I do have a little worry about that game because it will be a bigger fish to fry game for us, hopefully though, our run defense is so strong we can take that one, along with an offense that is rolling along. But, enough on next week. This game will clinch the SECe title and first trip to the SEC title game since 2005. That year we were big underdog to LSU, same as is likely the case this year. I say the team starts a little sluggish but continues their second quarter magic. Final score, UGA 42 UK 10
Last note about the hoops team, they are now 3-0 on the young season. Now, they have been far from impressive but they are finding ways to win games against teams they SHOULD beat. Can't say the same for some other SEC teams in the early season. Next up is a game on Monday night against nationally ranked California. This will be a HUGE test to play away from home against a very good opponent but this team needs to see what they are made of and this will give us an early look. I expect Cal to beat us but hopefully our young team can learn from the experience.
Hope everyone that reads will have a great weekend. I will be coaching football this weekend, my son's football team is playing in a tournament, a game on Friday and TWO games on Saturday. I will miss the UGA game but will be tracking via the radio/phone and will DVR it and watch later. I feel pretty comfortable that a win is in the works though. I sure hope it is not down to the wire and I am having a fit trying to concentrate on my son's game and wanting to know what is happening in Athens-again though, SHOULDN'T be an issue. SECe champs is a great accomplishment for a team that started 0-2, including 0-1 in confenrence. This is a team to be proud of for sure, never quit, continuing to improve as the season progresses.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
WOW, count me impressed
The game this past Saturday has to be the most impressive UGA performance, all around domination, since the Sugar bowl in 2008 against Hawaii. Probably the most dominating game at Sanford against a quality opponent since the GT 51-7 game. Some have mentioned the Bama game back in I think 2003, where UGA led 37-10 at the half (I was at that game), but Bama did manage 23 points that day to make it look more respectable. SO, I have to go all the way back to 2002 against GTU, another game I attended where we just simply steam rolled over them and it looked like they simply threw in the towel. I think AU threw in the towel basically at the half. It was VERY SWEET to beat Chizik, Trooper and company this year after what happened last year. Granted, I always enjoy beating Auburn but I was VERY angry after the game last year. Up until that game, I had always respected the rivalry and honestly, respected the AU program. BUT, after last year, I am not sure I will ever have that respect again. Of course right on cue, Fairley shows up this past Sunday getting flagged for slamming Jay Cutler into the ground. That kid is just quite frankly, a THUG-dirty player and he needs to be hit with some fines each and every time he does anything beyond playing football.
I think what I enjoyed more than anything in the game, the second half where it was boring yes, BUT, everyone in the stadium knew what we were going to do every single play-RUN the ball, run out the clock. Yet, AU still had trouble stopping us-in fact, we punted only one time in the game-that was a disaster but we survived. I was VERY impressed with Carlton Thomas. Crowell did play well in the second half but Thomas was the man on Saturday-course we ran him outsidet the tackle most of the time-loved seeing the toss sweeps. Aaron Murray, well, I think he was about as close to perfect as a QB could possibly be-and finally, in a BIG game, he played the way we all had hoped he would play. Check out his stats for this game-14 of 18, 224 with 4 TD's and zero INT's. He also picked up some yardage with his legs, the only negative for Murray is the fact he took a HORRIBLE looking hit near the sideline and you hate to see that especially in that the game was out of reach when he took the hit-he still needs to learn to slide more often. My thought is, if Murray continues to play the way he is playing right now, he gives us a REALLY good chance to be competitive with LSU or whomever in the SEC title game. Let's face it, neither LSU or Bama have offenses that can keep up with a team that can score points. Granted, it will be a TOUGH challenge for our offense to score a ton on either of those D's, but, if the OL can protect Murray, and we can remain balanced on offense, either of those two D's will be challenged in a way they have not really this year. Bama played Arky and handled them at home. LSU has yet to play Arky but other than UGA, Arkansas is the only other offense in the SEC that has our firepower. Difference between us and Arkansas, our D is MUCH better. If you look at the ARK game against Bama, they threw for 209 yards but only rushed for 17. That was the difference right there, Bama made them one dimensional which in turns makes it easier to defend that team. Game was 17-7 at the half though, then Bama exploded for 21 unanswered in the 3rd quarter, first TD was a pick 6.
Next up is the Kentucky Wildcats, a team we should handle. Out of 120 D1 schools, they are 118 in total offense, while we are 4 out of 120 in total D. Vegas has set the line with us favored by 29. Vandy just beat UK by 30 in Nashville, but will our team be totally focused knowing that this is a bad team, this is a 1-5 conference team, still feeling the high of beating up Auburn last week. I don't see that happening since we have to win this game, this game means a lot. I suspect we MIGHT start a little slow but the 2nd quarter has been magical to us the last few weeks. Matter of fact, if you look from the Vandy game on, you see the following scoring in the second quarter-20 against Vandy, 10 against UF, 42 against NMST, 21 against AU. I look for that to continue against the Cats, we might be flat early but in the second quarter, explode and then put it away. I would LOVE to be able to rest our guys in the second half and celebrate the SECe title. I have to admit, the following week against GT worries me in the fact that we have to be on our toes against that triple option knowing we have, as the great Paul Johnson would say, "bigger fish to fry the next Sat." Course that being said, the way our D is playing-having the mammoth guys in the middle, Jarvis Jones and Cornelius Washington playing OLB, Olgetree, Robinson, Herrera, Gillard at ILB, having safties and corners that can not only cover but tackle in open space, I REALLY like our D against that triple option-and, I really like Murray picking that D apart.
A lot of talk now about giving Mark Richt a contract extension. This of course is big because of the recruiting world-recruits LOVE Mark Richt, and families of recruits LOVE Mark Richt. Thus, knowing his job status is not up in the air, it makes recruiting much easier. I suspect assuming we beat UK and lock up the east, we will announce something the week of the SEC title game, beating GT yet again would also be an added bonus, 10 of 11 is just outstanding. I also know that Todd Grantham's agent has been quoted as saying that TG wants to stay in Athens but NFL teams have been asking about him, so have colleges-for NFL to be DC on that level, for college to become a head coach. Now, while I do think TG is a hot commodity right now, I doubt he is in line for a college job just yet, maybe the NFL DC. But, considering his two incidents last year with UF and this year with Vandy, not sure if he is college HC material YET. But, agents are known to throw stuff out there to get more money, and even though Grantham is making a TON and did get the multi year deal, I would certainly give the man a raise to keep him around. He is not only doing a great job coaching our D, but the man is becoming a recruiting plus for us because of the way his D is playing and because of his NFL experience. Granted, it is always a compliment to your program when your coaches are drawing interest from other teams/schools, but we need him to stick around and keep building us up-so therefore we need to make sure we are paying him enough to satisfy his needs in that area.
Later this week I will take a look at the Kentucky program. I know they are not a good team this year, I also know we threw away a game against them two years ago in Athens. I think that might have been one of the worst perfomances I have ever watched out of UGA. We had a 20-6 halftime lead and ended up losing 34-27. I do think we are far superior to the 2009 team and don't think UK is nearly as good this year as 2009-no more Randall Cobb thankfully. Still, this is one of those games we need to take care of early and get it over and done with, celebrate and then get ready for two HUGE games in Atlanta.
I think what I enjoyed more than anything in the game, the second half where it was boring yes, BUT, everyone in the stadium knew what we were going to do every single play-RUN the ball, run out the clock. Yet, AU still had trouble stopping us-in fact, we punted only one time in the game-that was a disaster but we survived. I was VERY impressed with Carlton Thomas. Crowell did play well in the second half but Thomas was the man on Saturday-course we ran him outsidet the tackle most of the time-loved seeing the toss sweeps. Aaron Murray, well, I think he was about as close to perfect as a QB could possibly be-and finally, in a BIG game, he played the way we all had hoped he would play. Check out his stats for this game-14 of 18, 224 with 4 TD's and zero INT's. He also picked up some yardage with his legs, the only negative for Murray is the fact he took a HORRIBLE looking hit near the sideline and you hate to see that especially in that the game was out of reach when he took the hit-he still needs to learn to slide more often. My thought is, if Murray continues to play the way he is playing right now, he gives us a REALLY good chance to be competitive with LSU or whomever in the SEC title game. Let's face it, neither LSU or Bama have offenses that can keep up with a team that can score points. Granted, it will be a TOUGH challenge for our offense to score a ton on either of those D's, but, if the OL can protect Murray, and we can remain balanced on offense, either of those two D's will be challenged in a way they have not really this year. Bama played Arky and handled them at home. LSU has yet to play Arky but other than UGA, Arkansas is the only other offense in the SEC that has our firepower. Difference between us and Arkansas, our D is MUCH better. If you look at the ARK game against Bama, they threw for 209 yards but only rushed for 17. That was the difference right there, Bama made them one dimensional which in turns makes it easier to defend that team. Game was 17-7 at the half though, then Bama exploded for 21 unanswered in the 3rd quarter, first TD was a pick 6.
Next up is the Kentucky Wildcats, a team we should handle. Out of 120 D1 schools, they are 118 in total offense, while we are 4 out of 120 in total D. Vegas has set the line with us favored by 29. Vandy just beat UK by 30 in Nashville, but will our team be totally focused knowing that this is a bad team, this is a 1-5 conference team, still feeling the high of beating up Auburn last week. I don't see that happening since we have to win this game, this game means a lot. I suspect we MIGHT start a little slow but the 2nd quarter has been magical to us the last few weeks. Matter of fact, if you look from the Vandy game on, you see the following scoring in the second quarter-20 against Vandy, 10 against UF, 42 against NMST, 21 against AU. I look for that to continue against the Cats, we might be flat early but in the second quarter, explode and then put it away. I would LOVE to be able to rest our guys in the second half and celebrate the SECe title. I have to admit, the following week against GT worries me in the fact that we have to be on our toes against that triple option knowing we have, as the great Paul Johnson would say, "bigger fish to fry the next Sat." Course that being said, the way our D is playing-having the mammoth guys in the middle, Jarvis Jones and Cornelius Washington playing OLB, Olgetree, Robinson, Herrera, Gillard at ILB, having safties and corners that can not only cover but tackle in open space, I REALLY like our D against that triple option-and, I really like Murray picking that D apart.
A lot of talk now about giving Mark Richt a contract extension. This of course is big because of the recruiting world-recruits LOVE Mark Richt, and families of recruits LOVE Mark Richt. Thus, knowing his job status is not up in the air, it makes recruiting much easier. I suspect assuming we beat UK and lock up the east, we will announce something the week of the SEC title game, beating GT yet again would also be an added bonus, 10 of 11 is just outstanding. I also know that Todd Grantham's agent has been quoted as saying that TG wants to stay in Athens but NFL teams have been asking about him, so have colleges-for NFL to be DC on that level, for college to become a head coach. Now, while I do think TG is a hot commodity right now, I doubt he is in line for a college job just yet, maybe the NFL DC. But, considering his two incidents last year with UF and this year with Vandy, not sure if he is college HC material YET. But, agents are known to throw stuff out there to get more money, and even though Grantham is making a TON and did get the multi year deal, I would certainly give the man a raise to keep him around. He is not only doing a great job coaching our D, but the man is becoming a recruiting plus for us because of the way his D is playing and because of his NFL experience. Granted, it is always a compliment to your program when your coaches are drawing interest from other teams/schools, but we need him to stick around and keep building us up-so therefore we need to make sure we are paying him enough to satisfy his needs in that area.
Later this week I will take a look at the Kentucky program. I know they are not a good team this year, I also know we threw away a game against them two years ago in Athens. I think that might have been one of the worst perfomances I have ever watched out of UGA. We had a 20-6 halftime lead and ended up losing 34-27. I do think we are far superior to the 2009 team and don't think UK is nearly as good this year as 2009-no more Randall Cobb thankfully. Still, this is one of those games we need to take care of early and get it over and done with, celebrate and then get ready for two HUGE games in Atlanta.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Time to preview AU
Ok, so after watching the first of the big 3 Georgia games last night, GT losing to VT, it is time to move to our big game on Saturday. First of all, after watching the genius that is Paul Johnson coaching Georgia Tech, it makes me even more thankful we have a man like Mark Richt on our sideline in Athens. WOW, the foul language, the arrogance, the stupidity that is Johnson, he is a "perfect fit" at Tech.
Auburn presents us with the best team we have played since our last loss, against South Carolina back in early September. In fact, offensively they remind me of South Carolina in one way, they have an elite level RB in Michael Dyer. Now, they do NOT have a WR in the category of Jeffrey but they do offer a very solid TE in Lutzenkirchen. Their passing game has not been very good at all, regardless of what QB they put in the game. I think we can rattle Moseley with some early pressure and crowd noise, he has two starts so far and he has been at QB in Death Valley so this will not be his first rodeo so to speak but his performance at LSU was not anything earth shattering, 12-20 145 with one INT. He is NOT mobile and thus there is no doubt what Auburn wants to do offensively, RUN the ball. Now, a big part of what made AU so good last year was the QB-Newton was a better passer than Moseley for sure and running wise, wow, you can't compare them at all. But, with Dyer and McCalebb, AU offers two different style backs that are fully capable of breaking off some runs if we don't do a good job of tackling. They also will probably try to run their no huddle hurry up offense to try to wear out our D so it will be important that we continue to do well on 3rd downs. We have got to get them off the field and obviously our run D is going to have do a great job. For as much as we talk about how good our run D has been this year, and they have, we have not really faced a good running team since, you guessed it, South Carolina. Remember, they rushed for 253 against us, Lattimore going for 176 of those yards. Course, also Melvin Ingram had 68 yards on the punt return as well-but point being, Lattimore shredded us pretty good. Dyer is the same type back-not as big or fast I don't believe but very physical, low to the ground-hard to tackle so we must gang tackle him. I still remember his run against Oregon in the national title game, everyone thought he was down but he was not and kept on running. It will all come down to how well our run defense can handle that AU running attack. On offense, I believe it will come down to having a balanced attack, no turnovers and finishing drives. Without the automatic Walsh, we need to score TD's. We also really need to get off to a fast start, get our crowd going and use that 12th man to help us out.
Here is a look at the starting O and D for the Auburn Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen or whatever else you want to call them.
Defense 4-3
DE Corey Lemonier 6-4 229 Soph
DT Kenneth Carter 6-4 290 Soph
DT Jeffrey Whitaker 6-4 312 Soph
DE Nosa Equaee 6-3 258 Soph
LB Daren Bates 5-11 205 Jr
LB Jonathan Evans 5-11 225 Jr
LB Eltoro Freeman 5-11 221 Sr
CB Chris Davis 5-11 188 Soph
S Demetruce McNeal 6-2 193 Soph
S Neiko Thorpe 6-3 191 Sr
CB T'Sharvan Bell 6-0 182 Jr
Offense Spread
OT AJ Greene 6-5 295 Sr
OG Chad Slade 6-5 320 Fr
C Reese Dismukes 6-3 285 Fr
OG John Sullen 6-5 333 Jr
OT Brandon Mosley 6-6 302 Sr
TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen 6-5 250 Jr
WR Quindarius Carr 6-1 185 Sr
WR Emory Blake 6-2 197 Jr
RB Michael Dyer 5-9 210 Soph and Onterio McCalebb 5-11 174 Jr
QB Clint Moseley 6-4 213 Soph
A few things jump out to me as I look at their starters, WOW, are they young on especially defense, also how much bigger our lines of scrimmage are compared to their guys. Now, for their OL against our hefty DL, that could indeed work to their advantage if they are able to keep us on the field with the no huddle, but that DL, being small and inexperienced, over time that should bode well for us. I am also amazed at how small their LB core is-that spells to me huge day for Orson Charles and Aaron White. I think it is going to be VERY important that our OT's Cordy Glenn and Justin Anderson get off the ball fast because they will be trying to block DE's that are nearly 100lbs lighter than they are. I would look for us to run between the tackles quite a bit with our massive guards, center and Figgins at fullback. I also would hope our OL can give Murray very good protection here, that will allow him to pick that D apart.
My keys to this game are as follows-
-Special teams, we must limit any long returns in kickoff and punt returns. Avoiding a special teams disaster this week is crucial because that is a way AU can stay/win this game as bad as we have been there this year.
-Limit turnovers, again, this is a great equalizer when one team appears more talented, experienced, bigger, stronger and playing at home. If we win the turnover battle, our chances of winning this game go WAY UP.
-Be strong on 3rd down both offensively and defensively. Especially for our D, we must continue to get off the field on 3rd downs. We are one of the best in the nation in this stat category, AU is not the best at converting. Fact is, stop the run and make them pass the ball and take our chances there.
-Tackle well, which goes along with the 3rd down conversions. We need to gang tackle Dyer, when they do pass the ball, we need to tackle their guys immediately. We can't have the missed tackles in this game to prolong drives and give AU life.
-Establish a running game. Granted, we have to be balanced but with our huge size advantage along the LOS, we SHOULD and NEED to run the ball effectively. Our OL needs to come out ready for the challenge, the AU DL manhandled us a lot last year, which in turn nearly got our QB killed. We have to control the line and run the ball.
-Create some easy scoring opportunities-this would be great early on-we need to jump on this team early and pile it on. This team is not designed to throw the ball around and play catch up, they are much more suited to play in a lower scoring, ball control type game. This is certainly NOT the AU offense of a year ago.
I have been skeptical of this line all week. I know this series history and I know we have a lot riding on this game. Honestly, I think unless we gift wrap this game, like we did our last loss nearly two months ago, we should have enough to beat AU. Hopefully with all we have riding on this game, coupled with what happened last year, we take care of business and with some help from the hated Gators, could really celebrate come Sat night. All that being said, I predict a UGA win but they will not cover the spread. Dogs 31 Tigers 20.
One last note, the mens hoop season tips off tonight at the Steg. The game is also on CSS at 8p. I will be watching Grayson HS play Collins Hill so I will have to DVR the game but want to see what we got. We open tonight against Wofford, a team that lost most of their best players from last year, same as us. Still, we have two SR guards in Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson. I want to see improvement from Marcus Thornton and Donte' Williams, really excited to see Kentavious Caldwell-Pope play, also been hearing a LOT of high praise for our EURO player, Nemanja Djurisic as well as several other newcomers in the post. Of course I also like to watch Connor Nolte play as well. The team will also play Bowling Green Sunday night at 6p, that game is on ESPNU I believe so busy weekend for the hoop Dogs.
One the hoops recruiting front, we signed 3 players this week all Georgia kids and all very good prospects. In case you missed it, here they are-
Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann and Brandon Morris.
Mann is the PG of the future, Gaines and Morris are more wing type players, good shooters with range. We could use another big and have one spot left. Everyone thought we would get Shaq Goodwin but he committed to Memphis. Now, he has NOT signed yet so there is still a chance he ends up in Athens. He of course wants to play football and basketbal in college which is really tough to do, certianly can't do both full time and from all indications, Goodwin is a much better hoops prospect than football prospect.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Go Dogs on the hardwood and between the hedges.
Auburn presents us with the best team we have played since our last loss, against South Carolina back in early September. In fact, offensively they remind me of South Carolina in one way, they have an elite level RB in Michael Dyer. Now, they do NOT have a WR in the category of Jeffrey but they do offer a very solid TE in Lutzenkirchen. Their passing game has not been very good at all, regardless of what QB they put in the game. I think we can rattle Moseley with some early pressure and crowd noise, he has two starts so far and he has been at QB in Death Valley so this will not be his first rodeo so to speak but his performance at LSU was not anything earth shattering, 12-20 145 with one INT. He is NOT mobile and thus there is no doubt what Auburn wants to do offensively, RUN the ball. Now, a big part of what made AU so good last year was the QB-Newton was a better passer than Moseley for sure and running wise, wow, you can't compare them at all. But, with Dyer and McCalebb, AU offers two different style backs that are fully capable of breaking off some runs if we don't do a good job of tackling. They also will probably try to run their no huddle hurry up offense to try to wear out our D so it will be important that we continue to do well on 3rd downs. We have got to get them off the field and obviously our run D is going to have do a great job. For as much as we talk about how good our run D has been this year, and they have, we have not really faced a good running team since, you guessed it, South Carolina. Remember, they rushed for 253 against us, Lattimore going for 176 of those yards. Course, also Melvin Ingram had 68 yards on the punt return as well-but point being, Lattimore shredded us pretty good. Dyer is the same type back-not as big or fast I don't believe but very physical, low to the ground-hard to tackle so we must gang tackle him. I still remember his run against Oregon in the national title game, everyone thought he was down but he was not and kept on running. It will all come down to how well our run defense can handle that AU running attack. On offense, I believe it will come down to having a balanced attack, no turnovers and finishing drives. Without the automatic Walsh, we need to score TD's. We also really need to get off to a fast start, get our crowd going and use that 12th man to help us out.
Here is a look at the starting O and D for the Auburn Tigers/War Eagles/Plainsmen or whatever else you want to call them.
Defense 4-3
DE Corey Lemonier 6-4 229 Soph
DT Kenneth Carter 6-4 290 Soph
DT Jeffrey Whitaker 6-4 312 Soph
DE Nosa Equaee 6-3 258 Soph
LB Daren Bates 5-11 205 Jr
LB Jonathan Evans 5-11 225 Jr
LB Eltoro Freeman 5-11 221 Sr
CB Chris Davis 5-11 188 Soph
S Demetruce McNeal 6-2 193 Soph
S Neiko Thorpe 6-3 191 Sr
CB T'Sharvan Bell 6-0 182 Jr
Offense Spread
OT AJ Greene 6-5 295 Sr
OG Chad Slade 6-5 320 Fr
C Reese Dismukes 6-3 285 Fr
OG John Sullen 6-5 333 Jr
OT Brandon Mosley 6-6 302 Sr
TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen 6-5 250 Jr
WR Quindarius Carr 6-1 185 Sr
WR Emory Blake 6-2 197 Jr
RB Michael Dyer 5-9 210 Soph and Onterio McCalebb 5-11 174 Jr
QB Clint Moseley 6-4 213 Soph
A few things jump out to me as I look at their starters, WOW, are they young on especially defense, also how much bigger our lines of scrimmage are compared to their guys. Now, for their OL against our hefty DL, that could indeed work to their advantage if they are able to keep us on the field with the no huddle, but that DL, being small and inexperienced, over time that should bode well for us. I am also amazed at how small their LB core is-that spells to me huge day for Orson Charles and Aaron White. I think it is going to be VERY important that our OT's Cordy Glenn and Justin Anderson get off the ball fast because they will be trying to block DE's that are nearly 100lbs lighter than they are. I would look for us to run between the tackles quite a bit with our massive guards, center and Figgins at fullback. I also would hope our OL can give Murray very good protection here, that will allow him to pick that D apart.
My keys to this game are as follows-
-Special teams, we must limit any long returns in kickoff and punt returns. Avoiding a special teams disaster this week is crucial because that is a way AU can stay/win this game as bad as we have been there this year.
-Limit turnovers, again, this is a great equalizer when one team appears more talented, experienced, bigger, stronger and playing at home. If we win the turnover battle, our chances of winning this game go WAY UP.
-Be strong on 3rd down both offensively and defensively. Especially for our D, we must continue to get off the field on 3rd downs. We are one of the best in the nation in this stat category, AU is not the best at converting. Fact is, stop the run and make them pass the ball and take our chances there.
-Tackle well, which goes along with the 3rd down conversions. We need to gang tackle Dyer, when they do pass the ball, we need to tackle their guys immediately. We can't have the missed tackles in this game to prolong drives and give AU life.
-Establish a running game. Granted, we have to be balanced but with our huge size advantage along the LOS, we SHOULD and NEED to run the ball effectively. Our OL needs to come out ready for the challenge, the AU DL manhandled us a lot last year, which in turn nearly got our QB killed. We have to control the line and run the ball.
-Create some easy scoring opportunities-this would be great early on-we need to jump on this team early and pile it on. This team is not designed to throw the ball around and play catch up, they are much more suited to play in a lower scoring, ball control type game. This is certainly NOT the AU offense of a year ago.
I have been skeptical of this line all week. I know this series history and I know we have a lot riding on this game. Honestly, I think unless we gift wrap this game, like we did our last loss nearly two months ago, we should have enough to beat AU. Hopefully with all we have riding on this game, coupled with what happened last year, we take care of business and with some help from the hated Gators, could really celebrate come Sat night. All that being said, I predict a UGA win but they will not cover the spread. Dogs 31 Tigers 20.
One last note, the mens hoop season tips off tonight at the Steg. The game is also on CSS at 8p. I will be watching Grayson HS play Collins Hill so I will have to DVR the game but want to see what we got. We open tonight against Wofford, a team that lost most of their best players from last year, same as us. Still, we have two SR guards in Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson. I want to see improvement from Marcus Thornton and Donte' Williams, really excited to see Kentavious Caldwell-Pope play, also been hearing a LOT of high praise for our EURO player, Nemanja Djurisic as well as several other newcomers in the post. Of course I also like to watch Connor Nolte play as well. The team will also play Bowling Green Sunday night at 6p, that game is on ESPNU I believe so busy weekend for the hoop Dogs.
One the hoops recruiting front, we signed 3 players this week all Georgia kids and all very good prospects. In case you missed it, here they are-
Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann and Brandon Morris.
Mann is the PG of the future, Gaines and Morris are more wing type players, good shooters with range. We could use another big and have one spot left. Everyone thought we would get Shaq Goodwin but he committed to Memphis. Now, he has NOT signed yet so there is still a chance he ends up in Athens. He of course wants to play football and basketbal in college which is really tough to do, certianly can't do both full time and from all indications, Goodwin is a much better hoops prospect than football prospect.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. Go Dogs on the hardwood and between the hedges.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Short and sweet today
So we are only a couple days from kickoff, all signs are pointing to the team being as close to full strength as possible-really for UGA at least, we will miss Richard Samuel and Rantavious Wooten (likely to redshirt this year after a car accident/concussion). Malcolm Mitchell appears set to play, Crowell is back from his one game suspension, all looks good. AU should be well rested and pretty much injury free what what I have read at least. The more interesting game of note for injuries is over in Columbia where it appears Connor Shaw will be able to play but a few other players for the Gamecocks might have to sit out. John Brantley is going to play for the Gators, and Chris Rainey should also make it back-looks like the Gators will be near full strength. I am not going to get greedy, Arkansas helped us out already but sure would nice if Muschamp can deliver the final blow to SCarolina and beat them, thus setting up a win against AU and a trip back to Atlanta.
Of course the big story nationally this week is at Penn State, where former DC Jerry Sandusky, the assistant years ago most thought would be in line to take over for legendary Joe Paterno, has been charged with sexually molesting numerous boys over the years. Joe Paterno said he would retire after this season but last night was fired by Penn State officials. I will be honest, I have NEVER cared much for JoePa, always thought he was an arrogant yankee, but I did always respect him as a man, and as a coach. That is all gone now, because there is no doubt he knew a LOT more about what was going on with his friend Sandusky but never did anyting about it. Yeah, he did report to PSU officials after the GA told him what he witnessed in the locker room shower, but he KNEW more was going on and did NOTHING. Course the grad assistant who reported what he witnessed to JoePa is still on the coaching staff-he should be fired as well. I am sorry but if you see a 10 year old boy being raped in the shower by a 50 year old man, and don't try to stop it, I have NO sympathy for you. ANY person that has a child(ren) would say this is the worst nightmare they could imagine for their child. Granted, this GA didn't have kids but as an adult, don't you have the obligation to try to help-ESPECIALLY a helpless child. This situation really makes me sick to my stomach because if people in the know had done something from the start, think about how many kids could have been saved from having to experience this horrible abuse. I do fear now that JoePa will not survive this, because let's face it, the man is 84 I believe, or around that age and his body I don't think can handle this amount of stress. This is the type thing that is going to eat at him until his death. I am not predicting he will die soon-I don't hope that on anyone, but I do know this is going to take a lot out of that man. Just a real shame a legend of a coach has to go out this way, BUT, it didn't have to be this way. He had a choice years ago and he made it. Now he has to live with it.
Back to the AU game, all the experts are predicting a UGA win on CBSsportsline, Phil Steele predicts a 34-17 win, which would cover the HUGE spread that has actually increased from 12.5 to 13 points. I still don't get it, I know AU other than SCarolina have been horrible on the road, I also know this game means so much for our team, also know despite what our coaches and players are saying, they DO remember what happened last year-motivation will not be a problem. I just know that our best SEC win thus far was by 14 points. Yes, that would cover the spread, but that opponent wasn't the caliber of AU-not that I think AU is a great team but they are probably the best team we have played since South Carolina.
Tomorrow I will take a look at the AU starting lineups, give my keys to victory and also my final score prediction.
Of course the big story nationally this week is at Penn State, where former DC Jerry Sandusky, the assistant years ago most thought would be in line to take over for legendary Joe Paterno, has been charged with sexually molesting numerous boys over the years. Joe Paterno said he would retire after this season but last night was fired by Penn State officials. I will be honest, I have NEVER cared much for JoePa, always thought he was an arrogant yankee, but I did always respect him as a man, and as a coach. That is all gone now, because there is no doubt he knew a LOT more about what was going on with his friend Sandusky but never did anyting about it. Yeah, he did report to PSU officials after the GA told him what he witnessed in the locker room shower, but he KNEW more was going on and did NOTHING. Course the grad assistant who reported what he witnessed to JoePa is still on the coaching staff-he should be fired as well. I am sorry but if you see a 10 year old boy being raped in the shower by a 50 year old man, and don't try to stop it, I have NO sympathy for you. ANY person that has a child(ren) would say this is the worst nightmare they could imagine for their child. Granted, this GA didn't have kids but as an adult, don't you have the obligation to try to help-ESPECIALLY a helpless child. This situation really makes me sick to my stomach because if people in the know had done something from the start, think about how many kids could have been saved from having to experience this horrible abuse. I do fear now that JoePa will not survive this, because let's face it, the man is 84 I believe, or around that age and his body I don't think can handle this amount of stress. This is the type thing that is going to eat at him until his death. I am not predicting he will die soon-I don't hope that on anyone, but I do know this is going to take a lot out of that man. Just a real shame a legend of a coach has to go out this way, BUT, it didn't have to be this way. He had a choice years ago and he made it. Now he has to live with it.
Back to the AU game, all the experts are predicting a UGA win on CBSsportsline, Phil Steele predicts a 34-17 win, which would cover the HUGE spread that has actually increased from 12.5 to 13 points. I still don't get it, I know AU other than SCarolina have been horrible on the road, I also know this game means so much for our team, also know despite what our coaches and players are saying, they DO remember what happened last year-motivation will not be a problem. I just know that our best SEC win thus far was by 14 points. Yes, that would cover the spread, but that opponent wasn't the caliber of AU-not that I think AU is a great team but they are probably the best team we have played since South Carolina.
Tomorrow I will take a look at the AU starting lineups, give my keys to victory and also my final score prediction.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Oldest Rivalry in the South, this Saturday in Athens
Simply put, the game on Saturday is HUGE for the UGA football program. With SCarolina losing at Arkansas Saturday night, UGA is clearly in the drivers seat to win the SECe and get a shot at most likely LSU in the SEC title game, which would be the rubber match between the two schools. Course LSU demolished us back in 2003 on their way to winning a national title. Two years later, we returned the favor by upsetting the Tigers. Before we can get to that game though, we have two games to play and win first. The first one is Auburn and they are of course the defending national champs. They enter off a bye week, they should be pretty healthy for us, they know how much this game means to us and how many times over the years have we had to beat AU to win the SEC crown or have a chance to play for the SEC crown. That being said, I will include the following clip from last year via youtube to get you all fired up. I know after I watched this, it brought all that anger back to me. Coach Richt has said that he has a short memory, doesn't really remember much about last year-I think after you watch this clip and see him out on the field talking with the refs-after the "fight" which happened due to Nick Fairley hitting Aaron Murray in the shin with his helmet, you can bet he really DOES remember it but is trying to downplay it to the media.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGB1xguTXLg&feature=youtu.be
Obviously the two prime offenders in the clip are being paid to play this year, well, some could say one was being paid last year but that is another story for another day! Still, this is enough to bring back the anger in me because of how incredibly dirty AU played that game last year. Also keep in mind, other than their 16-13 win at South Carolina, they have played very poorly on the road thus far this season, losing at Clemson 38-24, at Arkansas 38-14 and at LSU 45-10. Now, AU does have two outstanding RB's, one being Michael Dyer who is probably the best back we have faced this year not named Lattimore. They also have a skinny but lightning fast kid in Onterio McCalebb. We have been pretty good stopping the run this year but those two guys will really test us as both average 5.3 yards a carry. A big key will be the play of our DL and LB's, also our corners are going to have to step up and make some plays on the corner on the sweeps they run with McCalebb. They are using Clint Moseley now as their starting QB, he has done a pretty good job leading the team, especially his last game against Ole Miss where he threw 4 TD passes. Another key is going to be our LB's coverage of their talented TD Phillip Lutzenkirchen. He being a Georgia native, I am sure he will be very inspired playing against us. I would still take my chances with the Soph QB with only two starts beating us, compared with those running backs.
As for the AU D, well, they have Ted Roof the former Techie as the DC, and teams have been able to move the ball on them for sure. I suspect if we can have a balanced attack and NOT turn the ball over in this game, we can score in the mid to upper 20's, perhaps get into the 30's. I would not suspect their offense can put up more than 21 or so unless we have turnovers or our special teams falter yet again-and let's be honest, the special teams have been so bad this year, you can never feel confident in them making the plays. Murray seems to have got his INT's under wraps for now-let's hope that continues. He has thrown only 2 in his last 4 games, after throwing 6 in his first 5 games. The one INT in the UF game was maybe not completely his fault when the ball deflected off Crowell's hands and the UF guy made a diving INT. Certainly it will be very important that Murray play a great game for us to beat AU.
The oddsmakers have set the opening line with us favored by 12.5 points. Everyone sees that and says, WOW, what are they thinking. Considering how close this rivalry has always been, AU off a bye week, AU being the best team we have faced since South Carolina. Now, the object for Vegas is to try to get even numbers on both sides with the line, or so that is what I have always thought. BUT, when you see lines like this one, it causes you to really give it some thought. Just the same as the Clemson line was only 4-5 points over GTU and everyone was saying, WHAT, because GT was coming off back to back losses, Clemson was surging and it just appeared no way GT could keep within a TD. Of course we all know what happened. Same thing last year when we played UT, they were coming off the near, and probably should have been win at LSU, meanwhile we limped in at 1-4 after the loss at Colorado. The line was us favored by 11 and we more than covered. Now, all this being said, I would NEVER bet period but if I did, I would take AU with those points. I have a feeling a LOT of people are going to load up on AU and the spread might drop a point or two but to me that shows me that Vegas really does expect us to win this game. I guess I will take that vote of confidence.
Finally, it is official, Missouri will be joining the SEC for 2012 football. They will be playing in the east as that obviously makes the most sense with A&M going to the west. Those two will be the permanent opposite division opponents, which in turn allows everyone else to keep their permanent opponent-AU for us. It also brings up an interesting scheduling question for next year, with us now having play Mizzou, unless we go to 9 games, that means we will drop a west opponent next year. We have two rotating west opponents for next year, @Bama and home vs. Ole Miss. Because we are in the middle of a home and home with Ole Miss, logicially we would drop Bama. I know for me personally, I will take a Mizzou/Bama trade any day of the week. I would imagine they will have to redo the west rotation and by so doing, we will see each member of the west a lot less frequent now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGB1xguTXLg&feature=youtu.be
Obviously the two prime offenders in the clip are being paid to play this year, well, some could say one was being paid last year but that is another story for another day! Still, this is enough to bring back the anger in me because of how incredibly dirty AU played that game last year. Also keep in mind, other than their 16-13 win at South Carolina, they have played very poorly on the road thus far this season, losing at Clemson 38-24, at Arkansas 38-14 and at LSU 45-10. Now, AU does have two outstanding RB's, one being Michael Dyer who is probably the best back we have faced this year not named Lattimore. They also have a skinny but lightning fast kid in Onterio McCalebb. We have been pretty good stopping the run this year but those two guys will really test us as both average 5.3 yards a carry. A big key will be the play of our DL and LB's, also our corners are going to have to step up and make some plays on the corner on the sweeps they run with McCalebb. They are using Clint Moseley now as their starting QB, he has done a pretty good job leading the team, especially his last game against Ole Miss where he threw 4 TD passes. Another key is going to be our LB's coverage of their talented TD Phillip Lutzenkirchen. He being a Georgia native, I am sure he will be very inspired playing against us. I would still take my chances with the Soph QB with only two starts beating us, compared with those running backs.
As for the AU D, well, they have Ted Roof the former Techie as the DC, and teams have been able to move the ball on them for sure. I suspect if we can have a balanced attack and NOT turn the ball over in this game, we can score in the mid to upper 20's, perhaps get into the 30's. I would not suspect their offense can put up more than 21 or so unless we have turnovers or our special teams falter yet again-and let's be honest, the special teams have been so bad this year, you can never feel confident in them making the plays. Murray seems to have got his INT's under wraps for now-let's hope that continues. He has thrown only 2 in his last 4 games, after throwing 6 in his first 5 games. The one INT in the UF game was maybe not completely his fault when the ball deflected off Crowell's hands and the UF guy made a diving INT. Certainly it will be very important that Murray play a great game for us to beat AU.
The oddsmakers have set the opening line with us favored by 12.5 points. Everyone sees that and says, WOW, what are they thinking. Considering how close this rivalry has always been, AU off a bye week, AU being the best team we have faced since South Carolina. Now, the object for Vegas is to try to get even numbers on both sides with the line, or so that is what I have always thought. BUT, when you see lines like this one, it causes you to really give it some thought. Just the same as the Clemson line was only 4-5 points over GTU and everyone was saying, WHAT, because GT was coming off back to back losses, Clemson was surging and it just appeared no way GT could keep within a TD. Of course we all know what happened. Same thing last year when we played UT, they were coming off the near, and probably should have been win at LSU, meanwhile we limped in at 1-4 after the loss at Colorado. The line was us favored by 11 and we more than covered. Now, all this being said, I would NEVER bet period but if I did, I would take AU with those points. I have a feeling a LOT of people are going to load up on AU and the spread might drop a point or two but to me that shows me that Vegas really does expect us to win this game. I guess I will take that vote of confidence.
Finally, it is official, Missouri will be joining the SEC for 2012 football. They will be playing in the east as that obviously makes the most sense with A&M going to the west. Those two will be the permanent opposite division opponents, which in turn allows everyone else to keep their permanent opponent-AU for us. It also brings up an interesting scheduling question for next year, with us now having play Mizzou, unless we go to 9 games, that means we will drop a west opponent next year. We have two rotating west opponents for next year, @Bama and home vs. Ole Miss. Because we are in the middle of a home and home with Ole Miss, logicially we would drop Bama. I know for me personally, I will take a Mizzou/Bama trade any day of the week. I would imagine they will have to redo the west rotation and by so doing, we will see each member of the west a lot less frequent now.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Big games this weekend, not so much in Athens but certainly in the SEC
Ok so hard to get really excited about New Mexico State this weekend in Athens BUT, because of the suspensions of the three top backs, the injury to Richard Samuel, it will be VERY interesting to see how we move the ball on Saturday. In a sense, this game carries much the same type excitement as the spring game every year-you are not so much worried about the outcome but more interested to watch some of the lesser known players get some playing time. Now, granted, this game does count and New Mexico State is not nearly as bad as Coastal Carolina, but unless the team decides to turn the ball over about 4-5 times all of which lead directly to NMST TD's, I can't see this game being in doubt. The boys need to come to play EARLY, put the game away and then it becomes a watch Harton, or watch the white RB get some carries. It becomes watch Hutson Mason throw the ball, watch Ray Drew and Stripling making some plays, watch Bogotay kick the ball!! Ok, you all get the point.
Of course the big games are Saturday night, and honestly, everyone points to LSU/BAMA but I am more interested in ARK/SCAROLINA. Many have said this year is reminding them a lot of 2007 and yes, that very well could be the case except remember, that year our two losses were within the conference while this year we have a chance to go 7-1 in league play with wins over AU and UK. I have to say, IF South Carolina beats Arkansas tomorrow, there is no doubt they will beat UF at home in my mind and will claim the SECe. Will that be a shame, yeah because as we all know, we should have NEVER lost to SC earlier this year. But then again, in 2007, we should have never lost to them either. This could become a matter of, for UGA to make the SEC title game, they must beat SCarolina and lose to UF. If history is true on our appearances in the title game, this would be case. 2002, 2003, 2005-we beat SCarolina but lost to UF but still played for an SEC title. 2004 and 2007, we beat UF and did not play for the title, course 2007 adds the lost to SCarolina while in 2004 we actually did beat them. Bottom line as far as I am concerned, if South Carolina beats Arkansas on Saturday, then turns around and beats UF, they will DESERVE to win the east and I will say congrats to them. IF they lose to Arky on Saturday, I think there is a chance they lose to UF the next week-especially if their game is after we play AU and we are able to beat Auburn. Back to the game at hand this week-Arkansas has not lost at home thus far in the year, course SCarolina has not lost on the road all year. Arkansas has a good QB in Tyler Wilson, and if you look at how most teams have moved the ball against SCarolina, it would seem to play into the Hogs favor. East Carolina threw for 260 against them, UGA for 248, Miss State for 165 (high amount for them) but then again, SCarolina has also given up some rushing yardage at times as well, 246 against AU, 274 against Navy, 188 to UGA, 131 to Miss State and 151 last week to UT. The Arkansas D likewise has had some games where they have given up some rushing yardage but they appear most suspect against the pass, and I am not sure Connor Shaw is good enough to beat them throwing the ball-he did have a great game against UK with 351 passing yards and 4 TD's but had 155 yards passing against Miss State and last week 87 against UT. I think it will come down to turnovers as most games usually do. If Arkansas can limit turnovers, I think they have too much offensive firepower for SCarolina. We had too much offense for them as well but we killed ourselves with turnovers and sloppy special teams play. This one should be VERY interesting needless to say.
As for LSU/Bama, I personally like Bama to win this game because they are at home and because I like Richardson better than any weapon LSU has on offense. Now, that being said, I think LSU is more battle tested. I think both have incredible defenses but just think Bama is slighly better. I will be watching this game closely because I have not watched much of either team this year honestly. Assuming we do get a shot in the SEC title game, I want to see this game and figure out how we might match up. One thing is for sure, with the way ESPN has promoted this game as the national title game, we will likely be about a 14 to 17 point dog against either team. It appears a forgone conclusion that the winner of this game has a cake walk to the national title game, even though Bama still has AU to play, LSU still has Arkansas to play, and then the SEC title game. I would LOVE nothing more than for say LSU to win this game and then Ark beat them a few weeks from now. I can't stand either of these teams and I think it would be great if both suffer losses-course what would be the best thing, say Bama beats LSU, then we beat Bama for the SEC title-that would be so sweet for me personally, there are enough Bama folks around my area, it would be very special indeed.
So there you have it, my preview of the weekend. I hope after Saturday night, we have a clear path Atlanta, and of course hopefully have EVERYONE back next week, including our RB's and top WR, also we avoid any injuries against the Aggies. I can't see AU beating us if we are at full strength. There should be PLENTY of motivation to beat these guys, regarless of the outcome of the SCarolina game tomorrow. I know Nick Fairley is not playing for AU this year but let's keep fresh the memory of that classless jerk in our mind and use that as motivation-not to mention the other dirt bags that took swings at us late in the game last year. Hope everyone has a great weekend, remember Saturday night to set your clocks back. One extra hour of sleep-gotta love that!
Of course the big games are Saturday night, and honestly, everyone points to LSU/BAMA but I am more interested in ARK/SCAROLINA. Many have said this year is reminding them a lot of 2007 and yes, that very well could be the case except remember, that year our two losses were within the conference while this year we have a chance to go 7-1 in league play with wins over AU and UK. I have to say, IF South Carolina beats Arkansas tomorrow, there is no doubt they will beat UF at home in my mind and will claim the SECe. Will that be a shame, yeah because as we all know, we should have NEVER lost to SC earlier this year. But then again, in 2007, we should have never lost to them either. This could become a matter of, for UGA to make the SEC title game, they must beat SCarolina and lose to UF. If history is true on our appearances in the title game, this would be case. 2002, 2003, 2005-we beat SCarolina but lost to UF but still played for an SEC title. 2004 and 2007, we beat UF and did not play for the title, course 2007 adds the lost to SCarolina while in 2004 we actually did beat them. Bottom line as far as I am concerned, if South Carolina beats Arkansas on Saturday, then turns around and beats UF, they will DESERVE to win the east and I will say congrats to them. IF they lose to Arky on Saturday, I think there is a chance they lose to UF the next week-especially if their game is after we play AU and we are able to beat Auburn. Back to the game at hand this week-Arkansas has not lost at home thus far in the year, course SCarolina has not lost on the road all year. Arkansas has a good QB in Tyler Wilson, and if you look at how most teams have moved the ball against SCarolina, it would seem to play into the Hogs favor. East Carolina threw for 260 against them, UGA for 248, Miss State for 165 (high amount for them) but then again, SCarolina has also given up some rushing yardage at times as well, 246 against AU, 274 against Navy, 188 to UGA, 131 to Miss State and 151 last week to UT. The Arkansas D likewise has had some games where they have given up some rushing yardage but they appear most suspect against the pass, and I am not sure Connor Shaw is good enough to beat them throwing the ball-he did have a great game against UK with 351 passing yards and 4 TD's but had 155 yards passing against Miss State and last week 87 against UT. I think it will come down to turnovers as most games usually do. If Arkansas can limit turnovers, I think they have too much offensive firepower for SCarolina. We had too much offense for them as well but we killed ourselves with turnovers and sloppy special teams play. This one should be VERY interesting needless to say.
As for LSU/Bama, I personally like Bama to win this game because they are at home and because I like Richardson better than any weapon LSU has on offense. Now, that being said, I think LSU is more battle tested. I think both have incredible defenses but just think Bama is slighly better. I will be watching this game closely because I have not watched much of either team this year honestly. Assuming we do get a shot in the SEC title game, I want to see this game and figure out how we might match up. One thing is for sure, with the way ESPN has promoted this game as the national title game, we will likely be about a 14 to 17 point dog against either team. It appears a forgone conclusion that the winner of this game has a cake walk to the national title game, even though Bama still has AU to play, LSU still has Arkansas to play, and then the SEC title game. I would LOVE nothing more than for say LSU to win this game and then Ark beat them a few weeks from now. I can't stand either of these teams and I think it would be great if both suffer losses-course what would be the best thing, say Bama beats LSU, then we beat Bama for the SEC title-that would be so sweet for me personally, there are enough Bama folks around my area, it would be very special indeed.
So there you have it, my preview of the weekend. I hope after Saturday night, we have a clear path Atlanta, and of course hopefully have EVERYONE back next week, including our RB's and top WR, also we avoid any injuries against the Aggies. I can't see AU beating us if we are at full strength. There should be PLENTY of motivation to beat these guys, regarless of the outcome of the SCarolina game tomorrow. I know Nick Fairley is not playing for AU this year but let's keep fresh the memory of that classless jerk in our mind and use that as motivation-not to mention the other dirt bags that took swings at us late in the game last year. Hope everyone has a great weekend, remember Saturday night to set your clocks back. One extra hour of sleep-gotta love that!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Great win followed by controversy, WHY????
Ok, so back to the blog after the big win over the Gators. First of all let me just say, any win over that school is a great thing so even though we dominated the game on the stat sheet, I could care less we only won by 4. The fact is, when someone has beat you for years in games just like the one this past Saturday, where you thought you had the better team, had the better record, to find a way to win is always welcome. And, the fact we fell behind 17-3, didn't quit, didn't get the oh no, here we go again is very refreshing. Here are my highlights of the game-
-Jarvis Jones, getting a LOT of national recognition for his play against the Gators, rightfully so. He was all over the place, getting sack after sack, causing false start penalties. The guy has been more than we could have expected to this point.
-Michael Bennett and Tavarres King. Both made GREAT catches with a defender on them for TD's on 4th down. Either of those are dropped, we likely don't win the game. I felt the Bennett TD just prior to the half might have been the biggest play of the game. We had just missed a chip shot FG, but Olgetree forced the fumble and we finally took advantage. Down 17-10 at the half, I felt like we had a very legit shot to win the game.
-Richard Samuel-didn't lead us in rushing but with us going for the lead early in the 4th quarter, the kid simply would not be denied. Many times in football you hear folks talk about who wants it the most-it was clearly obvious Richard wanted it more on Saturday, he ran with power and passion. Just hate he got hurt on the last play of the game-where he almost scored again.
-Chris Conley-that catch he made late in the game, that was big time football. He went up strong with his HANDS and snatched that ball. Having Conley picking up his game, along with Bennett and Mitchell, WOW, three talented freshmen WR's, Murray has to be smiling.
-The D-to hold the Gators to one first down and I think about 30-40 yards of offense in the second half, you just can't say enough about this unit on Saturday. Yes, the Gators were playing with a gimpy QB, but that team is not void of talent and we just simply beat them up.
I thought Murray played a decent game, he had some bad throws, he had some passes dropped that, he missed some wide open guys but other than one tipped INT, he didn't make the costly mistakes he has in big games previously. He also had a few key runs for us during the game. Murray is to me fighting the expecations we all have for him this year, and probably the expectations he has for himself after a very solid FR year. He is still have a solid year but I think everyone expected more of him and I am not sure that is really fair. His OL, especially on of his tackles, struggles to protect him and he is having trouble putting touch on his passes, but he still is a very promising QB and I think he is doing a very good job this year directing our offense, and helping our young backs know what to do.
The only negative for this game, as has been the case ALL season, dreadful special teams. This game, even Drew Butler joined in with some AWFUL punts in crunch time. Walsh, between missing two more EASY FG's for a kicker of his ability, to his kickoffs being easily returnable, it is pretty obvious the kicking is now in his head. Coach Richt has said there will be no shakeup with the kickers but I hope he will give Bogotay a few shots against New Mexico St. Talk about a wasted scholarship. Brought in a few years ago because Walsh was having trouble with his kickoffs, Richt said we are going to sign a kicker that drill the ball through the endzone. So, we offer the JUCO Bogotay to be our kickoff guy and Walsh beats him out-the kid is taking up a spot and NEVER plays. Why not let him kickoff and let Walsh concentrate on FG's?? That is a question for Mark Richt but I think a lot of UGA fans are extremely worried that our kicker is going to cost us another game before this season is out. He missed a 33 yarder against SCarolina, now, he is far from the reason we lost that game but the fact remains, we did lose by 3 that day. Two straight games with kickoffs returned for TD's, where the return man is not even TOUCHED. I blame a low line drive kick more than likely, also our kick team not doing a great job fighting through blocks. With how our D is playing, I would almost rather just have our kicker kick it out of bounds and give it to them on the 40.
Up next is New Mexico State, a gimme game in most folks mind but this team is not horrible, they have beat Minnesota this year, they have maybe their best team in years. We should easily handle them but with our injuries and suspensions, it will be VERY important we come out early and take care of business-for various reason. First, for a huge underdog, you don't want them having hope they can hang with us. Second, with a huge game next week against Auburn, you want our guys getting rest. Looking at their scores below, I think you can see that our offense SHOULD be putting up big numbers and with how our D has been playing, let's again hope this game is decided in the first half, then let EVERYONE get some snaps in the second half.
After our game is complete, what a great night of football awaits, of course in case you missed it during our telecast on CBS last week, #1 LSU will visit #2 Alabama on CBS at 8p in what could decided half of the national title game. Course at 7:15, it will be #7 Arkansas hosting #9 South Carolina in a game VITALLY important to UGA fans. Considering we MUST have SCarolina lose one more game to have any hope of winnning the east, this appears the best shot they slip up. They play the Gators next week and UF has enough talent to beat them but not sure I can feel confident it will happen for them in Columbia. Arkansas has NOT been playing well lately, barely suriving in Nashville last week-everyone that was upset with our game against Vandy, well, Arkansas really got beat by Vandy but a fumble at the 3 yard line, as Vandy was about to be ahead by 15 points in the 4th quarter, turns into an Arky return for TD. Then, late in the 4th, Vandy lines up for a chip shot FG to send the game into OT, and of course wide right. Here is the deal with Arkansas THIS year though, they have played 3 games on the road, Texas A&M was a neutral site game in which they pulled out late. But, the three true road games this year, they lost 38-14 to Alabama, trailed Ole Miss by 17 but rallied to win and then of course last week at Vandy. They have NOT lost at home this year, in fact their closest home game this year was 38-28 against Troy. They bombed Auburn at home a few weeks ago, 38-14. If you look at their point total, other than Bama, they have scored 29 or more points every game this year. That bodes well for them beating SCarolina because I honestly believe the SCarolina offense is not going to score more than 17-20 points at most, so if Arky can get over 20, I see them winning this game. IF that happens, the AU game is going to be HUGE next week. Auburn is off this week, they did beat SCarolina in Columbia with Lattimore and Garcia playing, so they will be a tough challenge but certainly if our guys know that they have the east if they can beat Auburn-and then take care of UK, the house should be rocking next week.
Now to close out, we have the suspensions of our top 3 RB's, now that Samuel is out for the rest of the season. It has been reported that Crowell, Thomas and Malcome failed a drug test. This has not been officially confirmed of course. This brings about a lot of questions from the media-when did the players take the test, when did the results come back, did UGA sit on the results until after the UF game. Here is my take on it from what little I know. It has been reported the tests were given on Thursday, of course UGA leaves for JAX on Friday. Most tests take 3-5 days to get results. Of course some folks say the instant tests can give you results within minutes which is true but a LOT of tests can give false positives. SO, usually if you have a positive, you are given another test and it is sent away for evaluation OR the positive result is sent away for furthe evaluation. Bottom line, if the test was sent away Thursday, if you have the 3-5 day waiting period as has been my experience, 3 days would be Monday, 5 days would be Wednesday, not counting Sunday because labs are typically not open on Sunday. My take is that UGA got the results either Monday or Tuesday. The question remains, IF Coach Richt had the results at the time of his press conference, why not give the results at that time. By not giving out the information, some folks say it looks like he was avoiding or hiding the information as it was released an hour or so after his presser was done. My thought on that, it could be that the results were know Tuesday morning but all the families/kids MUST be notified first before you go public. There is all kind of speculation of course and bottom line, the kids are suspended for one game. Hopefully the media will let it go and move on to something else but ANYTIME there are unanswered questions and potential controversy, the media is going to continue to try to dig, every media member wants to be one that breaks "the story". I guess I am just tired of their always being controversy every time we beat UF-in 2004 it was the firing of Ron Zook days before the game, in 2007 Tebow was hurt and of course the celebration penalty was talked about for days after the game by national media. Now this year, you have this situation to deal with. Oh well, such is life. Now we just have to hope history does not repeat itself as it has previously when we beat UF under Richt. In 2004 and 2007, we beat UF but did NOT make the SEC title game.
-Jarvis Jones, getting a LOT of national recognition for his play against the Gators, rightfully so. He was all over the place, getting sack after sack, causing false start penalties. The guy has been more than we could have expected to this point.
-Michael Bennett and Tavarres King. Both made GREAT catches with a defender on them for TD's on 4th down. Either of those are dropped, we likely don't win the game. I felt the Bennett TD just prior to the half might have been the biggest play of the game. We had just missed a chip shot FG, but Olgetree forced the fumble and we finally took advantage. Down 17-10 at the half, I felt like we had a very legit shot to win the game.
-Richard Samuel-didn't lead us in rushing but with us going for the lead early in the 4th quarter, the kid simply would not be denied. Many times in football you hear folks talk about who wants it the most-it was clearly obvious Richard wanted it more on Saturday, he ran with power and passion. Just hate he got hurt on the last play of the game-where he almost scored again.
-Chris Conley-that catch he made late in the game, that was big time football. He went up strong with his HANDS and snatched that ball. Having Conley picking up his game, along with Bennett and Mitchell, WOW, three talented freshmen WR's, Murray has to be smiling.
-The D-to hold the Gators to one first down and I think about 30-40 yards of offense in the second half, you just can't say enough about this unit on Saturday. Yes, the Gators were playing with a gimpy QB, but that team is not void of talent and we just simply beat them up.
I thought Murray played a decent game, he had some bad throws, he had some passes dropped that, he missed some wide open guys but other than one tipped INT, he didn't make the costly mistakes he has in big games previously. He also had a few key runs for us during the game. Murray is to me fighting the expecations we all have for him this year, and probably the expectations he has for himself after a very solid FR year. He is still have a solid year but I think everyone expected more of him and I am not sure that is really fair. His OL, especially on of his tackles, struggles to protect him and he is having trouble putting touch on his passes, but he still is a very promising QB and I think he is doing a very good job this year directing our offense, and helping our young backs know what to do.
The only negative for this game, as has been the case ALL season, dreadful special teams. This game, even Drew Butler joined in with some AWFUL punts in crunch time. Walsh, between missing two more EASY FG's for a kicker of his ability, to his kickoffs being easily returnable, it is pretty obvious the kicking is now in his head. Coach Richt has said there will be no shakeup with the kickers but I hope he will give Bogotay a few shots against New Mexico St. Talk about a wasted scholarship. Brought in a few years ago because Walsh was having trouble with his kickoffs, Richt said we are going to sign a kicker that drill the ball through the endzone. So, we offer the JUCO Bogotay to be our kickoff guy and Walsh beats him out-the kid is taking up a spot and NEVER plays. Why not let him kickoff and let Walsh concentrate on FG's?? That is a question for Mark Richt but I think a lot of UGA fans are extremely worried that our kicker is going to cost us another game before this season is out. He missed a 33 yarder against SCarolina, now, he is far from the reason we lost that game but the fact remains, we did lose by 3 that day. Two straight games with kickoffs returned for TD's, where the return man is not even TOUCHED. I blame a low line drive kick more than likely, also our kick team not doing a great job fighting through blocks. With how our D is playing, I would almost rather just have our kicker kick it out of bounds and give it to them on the 40.
Up next is New Mexico State, a gimme game in most folks mind but this team is not horrible, they have beat Minnesota this year, they have maybe their best team in years. We should easily handle them but with our injuries and suspensions, it will be VERY important we come out early and take care of business-for various reason. First, for a huge underdog, you don't want them having hope they can hang with us. Second, with a huge game next week against Auburn, you want our guys getting rest. Looking at their scores below, I think you can see that our offense SHOULD be putting up big numbers and with how our D has been playing, let's again hope this game is decided in the first half, then let EVERYONE get some snaps in the second half.
| Sep. 3 | Ohio | L 24-44 | |
| Sep. 10 | at Minnesota | W 28-21 | |
| Sep. 17 | Texas-El Paso | L 10-16 | |
| Sep. 24 | at San Jose St. | L 24-34 | |
| Oct. 1 | at New Mexico | W 42-28 | |
| Oct. 15 | Idaho | W 31-24 | |
| Oct. 22 | at Hawaii | L 34-45 | |
| Oct. 29 | Nevada | L 34-48 |
After our game is complete, what a great night of football awaits, of course in case you missed it during our telecast on CBS last week, #1 LSU will visit #2 Alabama on CBS at 8p in what could decided half of the national title game. Course at 7:15, it will be #7 Arkansas hosting #9 South Carolina in a game VITALLY important to UGA fans. Considering we MUST have SCarolina lose one more game to have any hope of winnning the east, this appears the best shot they slip up. They play the Gators next week and UF has enough talent to beat them but not sure I can feel confident it will happen for them in Columbia. Arkansas has NOT been playing well lately, barely suriving in Nashville last week-everyone that was upset with our game against Vandy, well, Arkansas really got beat by Vandy but a fumble at the 3 yard line, as Vandy was about to be ahead by 15 points in the 4th quarter, turns into an Arky return for TD. Then, late in the 4th, Vandy lines up for a chip shot FG to send the game into OT, and of course wide right. Here is the deal with Arkansas THIS year though, they have played 3 games on the road, Texas A&M was a neutral site game in which they pulled out late. But, the three true road games this year, they lost 38-14 to Alabama, trailed Ole Miss by 17 but rallied to win and then of course last week at Vandy. They have NOT lost at home this year, in fact their closest home game this year was 38-28 against Troy. They bombed Auburn at home a few weeks ago, 38-14. If you look at their point total, other than Bama, they have scored 29 or more points every game this year. That bodes well for them beating SCarolina because I honestly believe the SCarolina offense is not going to score more than 17-20 points at most, so if Arky can get over 20, I see them winning this game. IF that happens, the AU game is going to be HUGE next week. Auburn is off this week, they did beat SCarolina in Columbia with Lattimore and Garcia playing, so they will be a tough challenge but certainly if our guys know that they have the east if they can beat Auburn-and then take care of UK, the house should be rocking next week.
Now to close out, we have the suspensions of our top 3 RB's, now that Samuel is out for the rest of the season. It has been reported that Crowell, Thomas and Malcome failed a drug test. This has not been officially confirmed of course. This brings about a lot of questions from the media-when did the players take the test, when did the results come back, did UGA sit on the results until after the UF game. Here is my take on it from what little I know. It has been reported the tests were given on Thursday, of course UGA leaves for JAX on Friday. Most tests take 3-5 days to get results. Of course some folks say the instant tests can give you results within minutes which is true but a LOT of tests can give false positives. SO, usually if you have a positive, you are given another test and it is sent away for evaluation OR the positive result is sent away for furthe evaluation. Bottom line, if the test was sent away Thursday, if you have the 3-5 day waiting period as has been my experience, 3 days would be Monday, 5 days would be Wednesday, not counting Sunday because labs are typically not open on Sunday. My take is that UGA got the results either Monday or Tuesday. The question remains, IF Coach Richt had the results at the time of his press conference, why not give the results at that time. By not giving out the information, some folks say it looks like he was avoiding or hiding the information as it was released an hour or so after his presser was done. My thought on that, it could be that the results were know Tuesday morning but all the families/kids MUST be notified first before you go public. There is all kind of speculation of course and bottom line, the kids are suspended for one game. Hopefully the media will let it go and move on to something else but ANYTIME there are unanswered questions and potential controversy, the media is going to continue to try to dig, every media member wants to be one that breaks "the story". I guess I am just tired of their always being controversy every time we beat UF-in 2004 it was the firing of Ron Zook days before the game, in 2007 Tebow was hurt and of course the celebration penalty was talked about for days after the game by national media. Now this year, you have this situation to deal with. Oh well, such is life. Now we just have to hope history does not repeat itself as it has previously when we beat UF under Richt. In 2004 and 2007, we beat UF but did NOT make the SEC title game.
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