Dawg Night is tonight, a few tidbits and notes

For those that read my blog regularly, you know that I am NOT a fan of the calling the Bulldogs DAWGS-I know most UGA faithful love that but I don't, call me different. But, since UGA football officially hosts what they call Dawg Night this evening, I will use it in this blog-well, I have already used it and will now stop. As my title points out, tonight is a night when a LOT of top talent visits Athens, a night that in previous years has yielded big recruiting results, last year John Theus committed for class of 2012, Brice Ramsey, Tramel Terry, and Derrick Henry committed for class of 2013, and Stanley Williams for class of 2014. Course everyone knows that soon after Terry backed off his pledge, only to firm that back up earlier this years. Henry has recently backed off his pledge and now lists Bama as his leader. Good news is, Henry, Ramsey and Terry will all be back again tonight. Most of the other committed players will be there as well, but one prospect that will not be there is Reuben Foster. Yesterday he switched his commitment from Bama to the Barn. WOW, most thought he would switch but would instead say UGA. But, the kid did move to Auburn HS to play his SR year of HS after his coach at Troup County was booted from his job. Course Troup County/Lagrange GA is just across the border from Alabama anyway, VERY close to the Auburn campus. Rumor has it as Adele would sing, Foster's Mom now has a nice job working in Auburn-I have even heard she has a job working on campus but again, just rumor I don't have facts. Also, Reuben has a 3 year old daughter, yes, he became a Dad at 15, so he would like to stay close to her while attending college. I am fine with Foster making a change for family reasons-I believe family is THE most important thing in your life so I can't blame him for doing what is best for his family. That being said, two of our top recruits have said they want to play together with Foster, Trey Mathews and Shaq Wiggins. Those two have always been two kids that I felt were 100% solid to UGA and would never break their verbal pledge-but that could be in jeopardy now. I hope these two kids will enjoy the night in Athens tonight and decide to stick together but rumor is they will be visiting AU tomorrow with Foster?? Anyway, tonight is a big night and here is a list of kids that should be attending per various sources-Bigredballer from Scout's UGA site also has a blog where you can check out who is coming or who has already arrived-

http://bigredballerblog.weebly.com/brb-dawg-forum.html#/brb-dawg-forum/

Alvin Kamara
Derrick Henry
Shaq Wiggins
Brice Ramsey
Tray Mathews
Kelsey Griffin
Trey Johnson
Tim Kimbrough
Josh McNeil
Brendan Langley
Tyrone Crowder
Taj Williams
Quincy Mauger
Tramel Terry

and many more. Check out the link above, I think you will like it. I have no idea who bigred is but he obviously is on campus and knows his stuff.

In player news, Brandon Burrows decided to leave UGA but now has decided to come back-much the same as Marc Deas and Ken Malcome last year. Heck, with Malcome, now that Crowell is gone I am thinking he is a VERY glad he stuck around. I hope the same can be true for Burrows. From all accounts, a great kid and solid player, just still waiting to make his mark. Also, recruit Leonard Floyd will not qualify and is heading to prep school so that he can return to Athens in January. So, out of the 19 kids signed last year, Floyd and Atkins both didn't make it in. Considering our numbers, roughly 69-70 kids on scholarship, we can use all the bodies we can get. The limit of course is 85!! I know attrition happens but we should never be this low. I think that is why Richt and company plan to sign as many as 34 kids this year, course that doesn't help us for this year. Depth and injuries certainly COULD play a role in this season-I am hoping we can make it through. Course the suspensions early, especially for the Missouri game could be tough.


I found it interesting that the SEC coaches selected 8 UGA players to the preseason ALL SEC teams-course there are 3 teams. UGA had only two players selected first team, LB Jarvis Jones and S Bacarri  Rambo. Aaron Murray is second team QB as is NG John Jenkins, with third team selections being WR-DB Malcolm Mitchell, DE Abry Jones, LB Alec Ogletree and CB Sanders Commings. What I find interesting is that last year UGA had 9 players selected, yet this year we only have 8? LSU and Bama led with 11 selections apiece, Arkansas had 10. I would think Gates would make it on the OL somewhere perhaps, I sure think Shawn Williams deserves a shot as well. But, 8 is 4th most in the conference and most folks believe the SECW has 3 teams better than any team in the SECE so guessing this makes sense-just not to me.

Also, a note about UGA, this from the Savannah morning news-seems Russ will continue for at least the beginning of the season and he will now have a link to all future UGA puppies, which to me means he will be buried at Sanford Stadium-I am a big fan of Russ!

By Savannah Morning News

Russ to remain Dawgs' interim mascot for season opener

Savannah Morning News

July 13, 2012 9:17 AM EDT

Russ the bulldog, the University of Georgia’s long-time stand-in at mascot, will remain in his interim role when the Bulldogs open the 2012 season against Buffalo on Sept. 1, according to a member of the Seiler family, who care for the dog.
The Seilers offered no other details about the family’s plans or timetable in naming the next Uga, Uga IX. The mascot’s main caretaker, Charles Seiler, expressed concerns late last year about subjecting a puppy to the early September heat and hinted the family might wait until late September to install a successor to Uga VIII, which died in December 2010.
Russ is the longest-serving sub since Sonny and Cecilia Seiler first brought Uga I to Sanford Stadium to root on the Bulldogs in 1956. The dog was a wedding gift for the then co-eds and quickly became the team’s mascot at the behest of then football coach Wally Butts.
Russ is currently in his second stint as interim mascot — he took over for his half-brother, Uga VII, following the dog’s death in 2009 — and he boasts a 14-10 record. He served the entirety of the 2011 season that saw the Bulldogs win the Southeastern Conference’s East Division title and play for the SEC championship.
The Dawgs lost that game to LSU.
Russ is charged with perpetuating the Uga line. Uga VIII was 17 months old when he died, and his illness was so sudden the Seilers did not breed him. Russ has sired several puppies over the last year-and-a-half, and one of those dogs will be the successor.

Hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for reading and I will blog again next week. Go Dogs!