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.

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.