Last Time

John Isner took a set off Roger Federer, Appy State beat Michigan, and Knowshon Moreno saw his first action in a college game.

Quinton

In case you missed it...

The Athens Banner Herald's Season Preview yesterday was pretty good. The highlight is David Ching's piece titled, "What's not to like about this team?" He basically states that this is an extremely likable, hardworking team full of players that's easy to pull for.

My only beef with the season preview is Loran's puff piece on Coach Fabris. It's true that our punt return teams are consistently at the top of the SEC. But he's responsible for the kickoff coverage debacle, too. Anyway, I'm just grinding my axe I guess.

Regardless, if you missed it, the ABH did a good job of consolidating all their links in one place. Did the Weekly Reader AJC do a season preview? I must've missed it.

PWD

Get to Know: Oklahoma State

The UGA at Oklahoma State game is predictably a measuring stick for this year's edition of the Big 12 vs. SEC debate. That's certainly the way ESPN is playing it. Personally, all I think the game will show is whether or not Georgia is better than the Cowboys.

Regardless, here are some profile pieces on the Cowboys from their local papers:

• Zac Robinson: Ladies Man - NewsOk.com
  
• Des Bryant: Move over Randy Moss - NewsOk.com
  
• Andre Sexton (LB): Move Over Michael Jordan - NewsOK.com
  
• Kendall Hunter: Size Doesn't Matter - NewsOk.com
  
• Russell Okung (OT): 34 consecutive starts - Tulsa World
  
• The Trifecta a winning Ticket? - Ft. Worth Star Telegram
  
• T. Boone: Funding the Dream - Dallas Morning News

At the end of the day, I think the Pokes have about 4-5 guys that would definitely start for Georgia. Okung, Bryant, Hunter, Robinson are the obvious choices. We may have more overall talent, but the match-ups cause considerable concern. But we'll know soon enough who had the horses.

See Also:
-- Tickets for UGA at OSU starting at Face Value* -- Stubhub
-- Road Tested Bulldogs -- Tulsa World
-- Richt Discusses OSU - Tulsa World
-- Big Time Opener for Ok State - Tulsa World

PWD

*As of the time of this posting.

Georgia Bulldog Football Season Tickets Available

Stubhub has pairs of Georgia Bulldog Season Tickets starting at $425 each as of this evening (lower level). I saw several pairs for sale under $590 each.

BTW - I just saw that the $425 tickets are faculty/staff. When you click on the "Details" button next to the price it tells you that these are faculty/staff and you'll need an ID. Most of the other great deals don't seem to have that disclaimer, but read the "details" before you buy.

(Ticket Prices Updated on this Post on 8/29/09)

When you consider the real cost of football season tickets being face value + contribution, those are very reasonable prices. See you at Sanford Stadium.

See Also:
-- 2009 Georgia Football Tickets

PWD

College Football Pick 'em is back!

In conjunction with FunOfficePools.com, we will be running our 2nd Annual College Football Pick 'em Contest. Last year, we had about 500 people playing! I think that all of those folks have been re-invited to play this year.

(Update: Over 140 people signed up in under 4 hours. And you still have time to join)

Each week we'll have about 10-15 games for you to pick - we'll be picking the winners only - no spreads - but you'll also have to assign confidence points to your picks.

The more points you assign to a game, the more likely you think your selected outcome is correct. If you're right, you'll get the amount of confidence points you assigned to a game. We'll be picking games that include UGA, the other SEC teams, GT and some of the best other games of the week as well. (No Div I-AA games...usually)

To participate, just join our pool. It's completely free to play, and FunOfficePools.com is spam-free as well. The pool is open now to join, and first picks are due by August 28th - so sign up now. The pool will run the whole regular season, concluding on December 6th with, among other games, the conference championship games. Let's get as many of you signed up as we can, and find out who really is the best at picking winners in football.

If you've already signed up, click here to go to the FunOfficePools main page and log in.

Thanks.

Paul Westerdawg
Georgia Sports Blog

What Would Tim Tebow Do?

This is exceptionally funny.

PWD

Oklahoma City Newspaper on the Dawg Fans...

The (link fixed) actual newspaper article is dramatically better than the interview above. The article ponders the question of how many UGA fans will attend the game. I agree with one of the assumptions in the article...about 8k is my guess.

Although, I do have to laugh at the question of whether or not it's silly to pay $4k to go to this game (that's the cut-off score). That's not really how it works or how anyone contributing to the program would look at it. But regardless, if you want to go...tickets for UGA vs. Oklahoma State on Stubhub start at $110 each as of the time of this posting. That's just $10 over face value.

At that price...how can you afford not to go?

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia Bulldogs at Oklahoma State Cowboys

PWD

Arizona State Update: Checking in on the Sun Devils

The 1:10 Mark is the Best Part

I started looking around for news on the Sun Devils after I saw an ESPN ticker announcement that they lost a defensive end to a three game suspension through the UGA game. However, the East Valley Tribune reports that he was running second team in camp so it's not that big a deal. But I still did the snooping so you get the headlines:

ASU Defense Headlines

• The Sun Devil defense is trying to pick up the tempo and level of aggression after last year's disappointing season. AZCentral reports that their freshmen are making an impact.

• The ASU campus paper makes a good point that the Sun Devil defense actually played ok in the second half of the season. Especially as it relates to forcing turnovers. However, the article talking about how special the defense looks right now is hard for me to take serious. They're just playing the ASU defense.

• A more balanced look at the situation comes from the East Valley Tribune which states that ASU's season is almost entirely dependent on the defense. Last year, they gave up 20 points or more seven times and lost all seven games. How good will they be this year? File this comment under the heading over confidence:

"We just see ourselves as being one of the best defenses in the nation so anybody we face is going to struggle … We can be as great as we want to be. If we want to be No. 1 in the country, we can do that." -- Omar Bolden (CB who was beaten like a rented mule by AJ Green last year)

ASU Offense Headlines

• It's back to the future for Coach Erickson. OregonLive.com says that before the 2008 season the ASU coach wanted to air things out and go with 4 and 5 WRs and throw it around. However, they had to scrap that plan due to their offensive line's ineptitude. Per the paper:

"We couldn't block anybody," Erickson said recently at Pacific-10 Conference media day. "We were going to get Rudy (Carpenter, the quarterback) killed."

This, then, is the 2009 blueprint for the Sun Devils: See 2008, before reality bit.

"I'm going to go back to what I used to do, spreadin' 'em out," Erickson said. "I think offensively we're going to be a lot better."

His optimism comes from the OL. We'll see. That group last year was wretched.

• The campus paper reports that there are questions all over the place. While DevilsDigest (Scout.com Premium) says the burden of proof is on the O. The overall tone of all articles is that the Sun Devils are looking at 2009 as a fresh start / clean slate type scenario. Really, that's not such a different mentality than what we're hearing out of Athens.

See Also:
-- Key Players for ASU in '09 - AZCentral.com
-- Tickets: Arizona State Sun Devils at the Georgia Bulldogs
-- Yeah, but it was a dry can of whoop ass - GSB


PWD

2010 Georgia at UK: Bring on the Ponies!

The Georgia Bulldogs will play the Kentucky Wildcats on Oct. 23, 2010 in Lexington. Moving the game forward to late October brings it back into prime horse racing season at Keeneland. From 1956-2002, Georgia always played Kentucky in late October. Over the decades, many Dawg fans like myself enjoyed the Friday and sometimes Saturday trip to the track. It was one of the best road trips in the SEC.

When the Kentucky game moved to mid-November in '03, we lost the only compelling thing about the UK trip. Without a day at the track, it's just a long drive to a vanilla stadium to typically watch misplaced Big 10 fans sit on their hands while the Dawgs typically beat them. We went 21-4 in Lexington during that '56-'02 stretch.

The other upside of moving the game means that it forces the SEC West rotational opponent games up to September or the first week in October, and it moves a non-conference cupcake game back to November. Essentially, it gives us two bye weeks in November. One off week and one week against a likely Div I-AA team to rest up.

More importantly, the extra November home game will help break up the 4 consecutive SEC road game problem we faced in 2004 and 2008. I'd love a bye week before the Florida game, but it's much more important to not play4 consecutive games away from home.

In 2010, we have open slots on Nov. 6th and the week before the Tech game. One will be filled with a power puff game while the other will be a bye.

When I was confirming that this wasn't a typo in the media guide, I also asked if the move of the UK game to October was permanent. The person I asked didn't know. This could just be a one year thing to help avoid the 4 in a row problem.

Regardless, I'm thankful both for a trip to the track...and that I don't have to do a Starkville to Jacksonville to Lexington to Auburn four game swing next year. That's hell on those of us who actually travel to all the road games.

We'll see what the long term schedule implications later.

PWD


This scheduling development was mentioned on Page 2 of the football media guide; however, it somehow slipped past unnoticed by most of us.

Viral Marketing Video for Hoops

Check CoachMarkFox.com for a promotional video supporting next season. It takes a while to load, but it's pretty nifty. Tickets are on sale from Georgiadogs.com for the 2009-2010 season.

PWD

Swine Flu and College Football

With the CDC's most recent prediction that nearly half the US population could be infected in some fashion with the H1N1 Swine Flu virus, you have to wonder which college football team is going to have their season damaged by an outbreak.

I'm not really talking about player deaths here. I'm talking about a week or two of having a large portion of a team's players slowed by flu like symptoms. Think it's all hyperbole and not likely to impact anyone's season?

On August 15th (no idea how I missed this story until today), the Duke University said nearly half of its 99 football players have been treated for symptoms believed related to the H1N1 virus according to the Charlotte News-Observer.

"Cutcliffe, whose team is scheduled to hold a closed scrimmage today, said multiple players have battled symptoms of the virus, also known as swine flu, since the opening of training camp on Aug. 5. Several players have returned to practice, while others are recovering and will play a limited role in today's full-pad scrimmage."

In Duke's case, they've been dealing with the disease for at least 10 days. The News-Observer article says that healthy college aged athletes should suffer problems for 3-5 days on average, but their lives aren't generally at risk. But that's 3-5 days per player as it moves through a team. Thus, the near two week window if it's not isolated quickly within a team.

And it's not just Duke. Tulane had more than 24 players miss practice time because of the flu. However, only two of the cases were confirmed to be the H1N1 virus. As NOLA.com asked, isn't Tulane due for a positive break of some kind?

This virus could end up being one of the biggest story lines in college football this off season.

In case you're wondering, peak flu season generally runs from November to March.

See Also:
-- 100 cases of suspected Swine Flu on GT's Campus - WSB (Aug. 25th)

PWD

Things I Don't Understand These Days

This offseason has been a confusing one for me.  People have been screaming at me to just get some things through my head, but I've not yet seen the logic behind some of their conjectures. So here's a little list of things that I don't understand and that keep bugging me.

1. The Alabama Hype - Alabama's going to have a good defense.  Any Nick Saban coached team must be respected as defenders.  My trouble is on offense.  The Tide lost two of the best offensive lineman in the country off last year's team.  It's difficult to replace one of those guys, much less two.  And those losses are at the most critical line spots, left tackle and center.  Just look at the two games Smith didn't play in last year and what happened to Bama's production - Tulane, 172 yards of total offense, and Utah, 208 yards of total offense. Add to that a new quarterback, and I don't think the sum of those subtractions equals the number 5 team in the country.
   
2.  "Sliders" or Mini-hamburgers - Why would I want three small things when I can get one big thing, roughly equivalent in size to the three small things, for a lower price? 
3. The Credibility of Preseason Polls - This has been covered a thousand times by much better writers than me, but I'd just like to mention one game that beautifully illustrates my confusion.  An LSU friend of mine recently argued that all you need to judge the credibility of preseaon polls is to look at the LSU-Auburn game last year.  Both teams were in the top 10 in the country and ESPN Gameday was there.  LSU finished the regular season 7-5.  Auburn was an ugly 5-7 and didn't even get invited to the PapaJohns.com Bowl.  In retrospect, it was a highly-ranked average team against a highly-ranked bad team.  Why do we keep doing this?  To sell newspapers?  Who is buying newspapers?
4. The New SEC Digital Network Deal - There's been a load of discussion on this in the blogosphere.  The Senator and David Hale had some rational and sound thoughts about the new video restrictions on highlights and replays of SEC games under the new online media rights deal, which have subsequently been revised.  My concern is if the delivery platform will be reliable.  The online deal is with XOS Technologies who, through JumpTV, has administered GXtra.  During my time as a GXtra subscriber, I'm not sure if I spent more time fuming over the technical difficulties or actually following the game.  Whatever the SEC online media center looks like, it better run better than GXtra or every SEC fan, not just the reporters on the beat, will be squawking loudly.
5. What the Braves are Doing.  This is usually the time of the year when I figure out if I am going to keep following the Braves through the start of football season or cut them loose.  For a while I thought it was going to be easy, but the past couple of series have given me a little bit of hope for the wild card.  They've got the arms, but if the increased offense is relying on Adam LaRoche, I'm concerned.

Quinton

Another '09 Hype Video

Another fan produced 2009 Georgia Football hype video. Uploaded by Mud97. Good stuff.



PWD

Vols lose another WR...temporarily

Fans are funny in lots of ways. Not the least of which is that all my team's favorite players will return from injury very quickly, and all of your team's injured players will wreck your season.

The Vols lost Gerald Jones for 4 to 6 weeks with a high ankle sprain. UGA will face the Vols on Oct. 10, that's 7 weeks from now so I'd wager he'll be back. In the meantime, FSU transfer and elite young pass catching TE Brandon Warren is getting snaps at WR. Personally, I think Warren is a helluva ball player.

Completely unrelated to Jones' ankle...John Adams, the contrarian of the Knoxville State Run Media: Newspaper Division, has an interesting "is it football season yet" type article. We're almost there folks.

See Also:
-- Tickets: UGA at Tennessee

PWD

Checking in with the Gamecocks

As the Coot Turns:

• Two Gamecocks have legal issues. One is a he said she said deal involving a running back, and nothing will come of that. The other involves Clifton Geathers, starting SC defensive end and brother of Dawgs Robert and Kwame Geathers, and a 3:10 am trip to jail:

  Geathers, 21, is charged with resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness after Columbia police, responding to a fight between Geathers and a bouncer at Club Ice, struggled to detain the 6-foot-8, 281-pound Geathers.

  If Geathers were to be suspended for the UGA game (and I see that as unlikely given Spurrier's track record with punishment of starters), they would be without two of their top three defensive linemen for our game. Out of respect for the mom who produced two other Dawgs, I'm not posting his mug shot or taking my normal shots at the arrested. But allegedly getting in a fist fight with a bar's security guard at 3 in the morning is never a good thing.
  
  
• SC's New OL Coach - The Gamecock offensive line has been a constant source of frustration for Spurrier since his arrival in Columbia. Their new OL Coach has been getting rave reviews, but I did have to chuckle at this line from The State:

  But the line’s performance in general has been a constant problem since Steve Spurrier arrived five seasons ago. A lack of consistent protection has hindered the quarterbacks’ development, and a lack of running holes has prevented the team from having a 1,000-yard rusher.

  I don't think you can pin all of those woes just on the OL. Not recruiting a QB or RB worth a damn for five seasons is probably a large contributing factor, too. The last scary RB in Columbia was Derek Watson....unless you were ovulating...then probably Demetris Summers.
  
  
• The Garcia Saga Continues - The Gamecocks had a ray of hope as Garcia went 14 of 16 for 150 years and a TD in last Wednesday's scrimmage. On Saturday, he followed that up with a 10 of 23 performance for 100 yards. Spurrier calls him so-so and "very average", and he sees little difference between Garcia and Reid McCollum. I saw Reid play a game in HS. Athletically, I'd say he's a poor man's Greg Talley or a scholarship version of Brian Smith (some early to mid-90s Dawg comparisons). And yeah...that's a shot at Garcia and Reid. Last year, Chicken QBs combined to throw 27 QBs.
  
  
• A Trindon Holliday Type? - The Gamecocks may have found some offense with walk-on Bryce Sherman. Sherman is a Trindon Holliday type track star who has looked very good in scrimmages for the Chickens this year. This is one to keep an eye on. It'll be interesting to see how he performs when hit.
  
  
• Moe Brown Profile - Brown is a senior WR that's better known for his feet than hands; however, he did go for 7 catches and 130 yards against Georgia last year. Quick...name the last UGA opponent other than Brown to get 100 yards receiving? Hint: It's not Percy Harvin, Calvin Johnson or Robert Meachem. An autographed copy of my bar tab to the winner. Brown is the closet thing to a proven play maker on the SC defense.

You didn't ask, but I think this is a 7 win team if Spurrier does a fabulous job coaching. If not, who knows how bad it could get. The Fighting Poultry are notorious for imploding in the face of adversity.

See Also:
-- Steve Spurrier vs Ray Goff: A Comparison ('08) - GSB
-- Tickets: South Carolina at UGA

PWD

ESPN's Oklahoma State Preview

A few weeks ago Quinton wrote a pretty balanced piece about the relative awfulness of Oklahoma State defense. On Tuesday, I went back at their offense and defense a bit a few days ago over on the DawgRun.

As my retort to ESPN's comment that they have one of the best offenses in the country, I would retort that much of their greatness was manufactured at the expense of America's Top Cupcakes.

Yes, they have great stats on offense, but look at who they ran the numbers up against. Overall, the Cowboys averaged 40.8 points per game on offense. That's good enough for 9th in the nation. However, against schools with a losing overall record or from a non-BCS conference, that scoring average ballooned to 55 points per game.

Against BCS schools that did not have a losing record, they only averaged 29 points per game. Just saying...look closer at the numbers.

Also, we linked yesterday to the outrageous predictions by T. Boone Pickens that the Cowboys would score 387 points on the Dawgs. I found some other good reactions to that news that I thought you'd appreciate

-- Richt has God's phone number - EDSBS
-- 55 TDs or 6.85 points per second - Obi's Sister
-- The downside of testosterone - Get the Picture
-- All Ok State Needs....except 387 points - Fanhouse

See Also:
-- Oklahoma State 2008 Stats - NCAA.org
-- Tickets: Georgia Bulldogs at Oklahoma State Cowboys

PWD

(BTW-- The header graphic tag line above about buying first downs is from something Bob Davie of ESPN said during the 2007 game.)

Cheap Airfare for Arkansas Game

Over the past few weeks, Delta has offered all sorts of really cheap fares from Atlanta. Because the UGA vs. Arkansas game starts at night, you can get a good rate on a flight out Saturday morning...if you're willing to fly into Springfield, Mo. and drive down.

RockDawg on the DawgVent pointed out that Delta has a sale (tonight at least) starting at $152 (plus fees).

Departing ATL to SGF:
8:40 am = $152.01 round trip (plus fees)
12:18 pm = $195.01 round trip (plus fees)

Returning SGF to ATL:
6:10 AM (cheapest)
5:30 PM (2nd cheapest)

It's about 145 miles (2.5 hours) from Springfield, Missouri to Fayetteville. Rental cars are cheap on Hotwire from the SGF airport, and the Bentonville Hilton Garden Inn north of Fayetteville has rooms starting at $76/night without a two night minimum stay. I get no kick backs from Delta, Hotwire or Hilton for the heads up here.

And, tickets to the Georgia vs. Arkansas football game...should you need them...start at $82 currently on Stubhub.

See Also:
-- Arkansas Game Travel Info - Georgia Sports Blog

PWD

DawgSports interviewed David Hale

For a classic back and forth, check out the Macon Telegraph's David Hale's responses to MaconDawg's interview questions. The article seems to pair well with a Guinness 250. Just saying.

PWD

Could UGA face Fulmer again soon?

Fulmer told Tony Barnhart (and anyone else that'll listen for that matter) that he wants to coach again starting next season. Although, he wants to go to a school that is "committed to winning championships."

The types of jobs that I could see opening next year that would be interested in Fulmer are South Carolina and Louisville.

Fulmer turns 59 in a few days, and South Carolina's last two coaching hires would suggest that they aren't afraid to go after an older formerly successful coach. But you have to imagine they've been there and done that now. If Spurrier walks away this year, I think Tommy Tuberville, Skip Holtz, Charlie Strong, and Gary Patterson (ties to the SC AD) will get the first looks there. Plus, there's the argument that SC isn't committed to winning championships.

Which brings me back to Louisville. They've been to a BCS Bowl, and Fulmer would resonate as a hire there. He also knows the recruiting territory better than anyone else they could possibly get. Will they go that route? Can they even afford him? Who knows.

But UGA opens the 2011 schedule at home against Louisville. It would take that game to a whole new level of intriguing. That's for sure.

PWD

T. Boone Pickens Predicts Score of UGA Game

Scenes from the last encounter (Image: Hipple)
Some headlines from the folks out in Stillwater:

• T. Boone Pickens thinks the score will be Ok State 387 UGA 24. Seriously. (ht - Mark Bradley)

  Dear Mr. Pickens,
  
  Thank you for making sure the Georgia football team will be 1000% focused on the season opener. Your help in motivating our players is greatly appreciated.
  
  Sincerely - The Georgia Fans

• The NY Times has their season preview of the Cowboys up today. The Pokes come in at #15 in their preseason ranking. This is a must read. They predict a 9-3 season with losses to UGA, Texas and Oklahoma with a "complete dismantling" of the rest of their schedule.
  
  
• The biggest loss from the '08 Cowboy team was all-universe tight end Brandon Pettigrew. The Oklahoman has a profile of his replacement Jamal Mosley. I think their TE vs. our LBs will be an interesting match-up. We've struggled at times with ultra athletic guys like Jared Cook from South Carolina.

What's your reaction to T. Boone's trash talk?

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia at Oklahoma State
-- Stillwater Travel Info - Georgia Sports Blog

PWD

UGA Announces Full Basketball Schedule

Georgia and the SEC released the men's basketball schedule today. All 16 of Georgia's SEC games will be televised. David Ching had the TV Schedule up first.

MemphisDog and I ended up being right on all the non-conference games by the time all was said and done. Really, we had the 12 of 13 right a month or so ago. But enough of slapping myself on the back. Here are some thoughts on the schedule:

The Positives:

• It's a big boy schedule -- I'd wager that less than 10 teams will play five BCS Conference members without participating in a pre-season tournament. Georgia has road games against Missouri, Virginia Tech and St. John's (Big East Challenge in Madison Square Garden). Plus, a neutral site game in Gwinnett vs. Illinois, and a home game against Tech. 15 of 29 teams played in the post-season last year. We'll know more about Fox's scheduling habits next year as only Saint Louis, UAB, Georgia Tech and Hawaii are on the books for 2010-2011.

• The Schedule Builds -- November is a build up to December which builds towards the insanity of January. There is a chance for the team to build up their confidence before facing the January gauntlet of SEC play plus at Missouri and vs. GT.

• Home Games on Friday Night before Football -- We face North Georgia in an exhibition on Friday, Nov. 6th. That's the day before the Tennessee Tech game. The season opener is against New Orleans on Nov. 13th the day before we face Auburn.

The Negatives:

• The best games are Away from Steg -- This is mostly Felton's fault. He knew we had Illinois at Gwinnett and an away game for the Big East Challenge this year. But he still booked games at Virginia Tech and at Missouri. I expect Fox to even the lumpiness of our scheduling out in the future.

• UAB nutty timing -- It's inexplicable that we're playing at UAB on a football Saturday. No one will watch that game, and I can't imagine it'll be televised. More than being disappointed with Fox on this, I'm baffled that Mike Davis at UAB could be so stupid to blow a home game like that.
  

Overall, the five biggest games are:

• Georgia Tech (home) - I'm pretty sure that we haven't lost to Tech at home since 1976 (The series returned to campus in the mid-90s). Tech is loaded, but you still can't lose to them at home.
  

• Alabama (home) - There's a segment of the fan base that will always compare Fox to Anthony Grant. This is a big game for perception.

• Ole Miss (home) - The first SEC home game. The students will be back on campus, and there's a chance to give them a big show in a winnable game.

• Florida (home) - I think this is the last SEC home game before the students go on Spring Break. More importantly, it looks like the highest profile winnable game on the schedule. There's an opportunity to show momentum and improvement by picking up a big win against the Gators at home.

• New Orleans (home) - You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

What's your reaction?

PWD

More on the Defensive Ends

Basically, anything I read positive about the defensive ends makes me incrementally that much less uncomfortable with this season. Today's article focuses on Rod Battle's progress. Realistically, you can't tell much about him whipping our second team offensive tackles in practice....except that it means he's healthy.

A big change from last year.

PWD

Fear the Grayhound

The Wildcat or Wild Dawg name is so 2007. When we put Logan Gray in at QB, I'm ditching the Wild_____ naming system and calling it "The Grayhound."

Speaking of which, UGASports.com has an premium content interview with Bobo where he expresses confidence in the back-up signal caller. One of the interesting things to watch during the Ok State game will be the frequency (if at all) that we put Gray in at QB. If it were me, I'd put Samuel in at RB with Branden Smith in motion from WR (ala Felix Jones when Arkansas ran the Wildcat in '07).

I did a lot of bitching and moaning about Gray on kickoff coverage last season (a decision I still can't fathom...although it certainly wasn't his fault). But given the statisics coming out of each scrimmage regarding Gray's ability to move the team offensively, I'm really getting intrigued by his possibilities.

Through the first two scrimmages he was a combined 12-20 for 184 yards and two TDs passing. Not too shabby regardless of which defensive unit he was going against.

Separately, ESPN's Chris Low ranked the SEC's QBs, and he goes with the Joe Cox/Logan Gray combo at #5. Seriously? I'll spot you Jefferson at LSU, but Ryan Mallett? As a freshman at Michigan, Mallett went 61-141 (43% completion) for 892 yards, while throwing 7 TDs and 5 INTs. I asked Michigan blogger Brian Cook for a review of Mallett, and he responded:

"Well... [Mallett] is a huge guy with a cannon arm who appears to be on LSD*. He was really, really terrible in his 25% of a season as the starter at Michigan. His season was best summarized by the Wisconsin game, which he played most of because Chad Henne had separated his shoulder. During that game he picked up a first down by pitching it backwards to a stunned Carson Butler -- who had been beaten, naturally, in pass protection.

That was sort of the summary of the guy: he had no idea what was a good idea. A lot of freshmen have a similar thing, sure, but he was like an *uber*-freshman.

He retains the stuff -- enormity, huge arm -- that made him the #2 QB recruit in his class, but I think he'll be really erratic his first year. He'll try to make every ridiculous play, make some of them, and see some of them returned for touchdowns."

It could easily be argued that Michigan fans aren't lacking in bias for this topic, but still. Regardless, I digress. Below are some other recent articles about The Grayhound.

See Also
-- Of hamstrings, QBs and more - AJC
-- Georgia's Gray is an intriguing option - ESPN.com
-- Everybody loves a solid #2 - ABH
-- Georgia Bulldogs Season Tickets Football - GSB

PWD

*Note: Hyperbole and sarcasm was intended. Not an actual allegation of drug use.

Finally

I don't think that I can make active links from this gmail mobile app
I'm using...but read this

http://www.macon.com/166/story/812961.html

Another huge reason to be encouraged about this season.

Uncle Boone Beholds the Magnificence He Bought

T. Boone isn't concerned about being the biggest, just the best. After donating around $250 million to OSU athletics, he finally toured the facilities upgrades he paid for, which include his own ventilated locker (it keeps the stench of rotting money from disturbing the players). T. Boone's locker is right next to the locker of Sherman Smith, another old rich guy who really wants to hang out with the football team.

Do any of our boosters have lockers? I understand that for $250 mil we'd likely give a donor whatever they wanted, but it's still odd. Isn't it a bit creepy that big money donors can come in, sit in their lockers and watch the team change clothes before the game?

The facilities upgrades are impressive, by any measure. We've heard a lot during the offseason that the game with the Pokes will be the first in the completed T. Boone Pickens stadium, but that's a bit deceiving. Most of the upgrades were in the training and meeting facilities in the building attached to the stadium. As I understand it, the spectator won't notice much of a change from last year. I guess Uncle Boone feels like his money is being well spent, but I expected more wind turbines.

See Also:
-- Stillwater Travel Info - Georgia Sports Blog

Quinton

Deadline for MLB Draft Signings is Today

Anyone who was drafted in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft must sign his contract by today or they are eligible for next year's draft. The Athens Banner Herald reports that the Dawgs aren't expecting any last minute signings so everyone who is going to ink has already done it.

The juniors who left early are:

Rich Poythress (1B)
Joey Lewis (C/DH)
Michael Demperio (2B)
Matt Cerione (OF)
Dean Weaver (Closer)

The recruits who signed with MLB teams are:

Zach Dotson (Pitcher)
Miles Head (1B/C)

The Banner Herald has a full list of who is gone and who is coming back. They have a separate article about the dramatically different look the team will have next year.

Based on their performances this summer, I think you're going to see a big contribution from Peter Verdin (C/OF) and Zach Cone (OF). Lyle Allen can play first base or outfield, and Jonathan Taylor may emerge as a steady lead-off hitter this year with a year under his belt.

I agree with Perno that we have enough pitching if Cecil Tanner and Michael Palazzone take the next step in their growth.

But as Perno says in the ABH article, the question is one of power. Chicks dig the long ball. Chase Davidson is probably the most important person on the roster to emerge with the big bat. He's got the body and the raw material. It just has to click for him.

PWD

2010 UGA Baseball Schedule Released

Coach Perno released the 2010 Georgia Baseball schedule last week, and it's much tougher than last year's pasty filled extravaganza. The schedule is highlighted by the usual three game series with Georgia Tech (home, away and Turner Field) plus the two game series with Clemson.

This year also adds a three game series at Florida State. I've heard that the Noles will come to Athens in 2011. Also, the season will open with four games in Waco, Texas as Baylor is hosting a round robin invitational involving Baylor, UGA and Duke.

I've highlighted the most interesting non-conference teams based on their 2009 final RPI (according to WarrenNolan.com). I haven't listed every team because some of the match-ups (Siena and Stetson for instance) aren't interesting RPI wise. Although, I will say that not playing Jacksonville State is a good thing. I can't take any more losses to those guys.

The only downside to the non-conference slate is a lack of a marquee three game series in Athens.

Team	2009 RPI	# of Games	Location
Georgia Tech	8	2	H/A/Turner
Clemson	11	2	H/A
Florida State	14	3	A
Baylor	30	2	A
Alabama*	36	1	Hoover, AL
W. Carolina	55	1	H
Duke	71	2	Waco, TX
Kennesaw St.	87	2	H/A
Georgia State	95	1	H

* The biggest scheduling quirk involves a non-conference game with the University of Alabama. The SEC schedules a 30 game league slate per team. With each series lasting three games, that means you don't play one of the 11 other teams each year. The last two years, Georgia missed Auburn in the rotation. This year, it's Alabama. We're playing them once in Hoover, and I think we get them in Gwinnett next year.

The deadline to sign 2009 MLB draft picks is tomorrow. Joey Lewis recently signed with the Royals, but I'm not sure where we stand with some of our other signees and players. Obviously, that news will drive expectations for the '10 season.

PWD

Night Games and the SEC TV Contract

Mmmmm.....Night Games (Image: BusinessWeek)
David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press wrote a lengthy, informative article about the new SEC TV contract and the rise in night games going forward. The article states:

Last season, 54.2 percent of games involving SEC teams (52 of 96) had morning or afternoon kickoffs. This season, only 39.6 percent (38 of 96) are projected as daytime starts.

On a typical week, you're going to have about 6 SEC games televised. They will be picked in this order*:

1. CBS 3:30
2. ESPN Night Game (7 pm or later)
3. ESPN2 Night Game (7 pm or later)
4. ESPNU Night Game (7 pm or later)
5. ESPN-Regional 12:21 PN
6. Fox Sports South or CSS (7 pm or later)
7. Any other games would be at night.

In other words, on a typical week 2 of 6 games in the day time. That's because the CBS 3:30 pm start is an exclusive time slot with only a limited exceptions number of exceptions per year for twilight starts on the ESPN Networks at 6:30 or 6:00 pm.

The bigger exceptions are the two CBS double header weekends. This year those exceptions are Oct. 10th (3:30 and 8:00 kickoffs for CBS) and Nov. 14th (3:30 and 12 pm). The 8:00 pm kickoff has always been an exclusive time slot for CBS. That means ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPU would in theory have to run day games if they want to show other games.

What does that mean for the Dawgs Kickoff Times:
The short answer...there are 33% more night games per season across the league. With the top half of the league logically getting an unbalanced larger share of those games at night. So instead of getting 1-2 night games per season in Athens you can expect about 3 going forward.

Our Oct. 10th game vs. Tennessee in Knoxville will likely be at noon on one of the ESPN Cable Networks as the double header will more likely be UF at LSU (8:00 pm) and Bama at Ole Miss (3:30 pm). Playing the Vols at noon as the road team would be a good thing for UGA. That's what time the Hobnail Boot game kicked off, and the big Vol crowd would be more docile.

It also means that the Auburn home game could kickoff at noon on CBS. UF at SC sounds like a 3:30 pm game. The other big games of the day which would be a candidate for the CBS noon slot are AU at UGA and UT at Ole Miss. Starting vs. AU at noon would suck, but...

The UK at UGA game looks like a night game now. The big CBS game of the day on Nov. 21st is LSU at Ole Miss.

My revised Bulldog Schedule Projections:

Date	Opponent	TV Network	Time	Confirmed?	Tickets
9/5	at Oklahoma St.	ABC	3:30	Yes	Tickets
9/12	vs. S. Carolina	ESPN2	7:00	Yes	Tickets
9/19	at Arkansas	ESPN/ESPN2	7:45	Yes	Tickets
9/26	vs. Arizona St.	No Idea	TBD	No Idea**	Tickets
10/3	vs. LSU	CBS	3:30	Estimated	Tickets
10/10	at Tennessee	ESPN2/ESPNU	12:00	Estimated	Tickets
10/17	at Vanderbilt	ESPNU	7:00	Estimated	Tickets
10/24	BYE WEEK
10/31	vs. Florida (Jax)	CBS	3:30	Yes	Tickets
11/7	vs. Tenn. Tech	PPV	1:00	Estimated	Tickets
11/14	vs. Auburn	CBS	12:00	Estimated	Tickets
11/21	vs. Kentucky	ESPN2/ESPNU	7:00	Estimated	Tickets
11/28	at Georgia Tech	ABC	3:30	Estimated	Tickets

*Not every station will pick every week, but that's a good rough estimation.

**ASU vs. UGA will depend on how Georgia does the first three games. Arkansas at Alabama is another strong game that day. We could be a night game or a 3:30 start. I lean towards this being at night.

See Also:
-- JimFromDuluth's TV Projections - Anti-Orange Page
-- 2009 SEC Composite Schedule
-- Play more games at night - Bulldog Illustrated
-- Georgia Bulldogs 2009 Football Tickets

PWD

Annual Two-A-Days Aquatics

After a lethargic practice yesterday, Mark Richt gave the guys the annual swimming & diving jumping break today.  The watermelon feast followed yesterday afternoon's practice.  The Banner-Herald has this video from the pool:



Best part is the video of Kwame Geathers displacing the same amount of water as a tugboat. 

Laney Kiffin had the same idea, but chose to bowl.

Quinton

Mark Richt: A Comparison

After the uproar over the coaching, performances, and disappointment of last season, I went looking for some perspective on Coach Richt.  I wanted to find a coaching parallel.  A parallel that had enjoyed great success, but for some reason or another couldn't breakout of consistent and diligent excellence to capture an mythical national title.  I went looking for a coach in a similar position.  A coach in a major conference with a major national rival who has shined a bit brighter and who also has an in-state little brother.  A coach who has proved himself an able recruiter in a fertile garden of football talent.  It didn't take long to turn my eyes upon Texas and coach Mack Brown. I hadn't remembered my search until Peter Bean's comment about Richt and Brown in this week's EDSBS Live, which jogged my recollection of all the parallels between the two coaches.

Brown took the golden reigns at Texas in 1998 after the Horns had grossly underachieved for years. His hiring set in motion the golden age of Texas athletics.  Brown has averaged over ten wins a season, is 8-3 in bowl games, and has ended up in the top ten of the final AP poll six of the last eight seasons.  Brown most importantly won the 2005 national title in that epic Rose Bowl against USC.  Surprisingly, Texas has won only one Big 12 title during Brown's tenure, in that same 2005 season.

While Mack Brown is now recognized as one of the best college football coaches in the country, he also has some serious flaws.  Brown was, and still is, an impeccable recruiter.  Normally that isn't a knock on a guy, but Brown failed to deliver results on the field that matched his success on signing day.  For a while there, Brown was dubbed Mr. February for his successes in recruits' living rooms rather than on the field of play.  After Bob Stoops took over in Norman, Brown and UT seemed cursed in their annual neutral site battle in Dallas.  After beating the Sooners in 1999, Stoops' first year, Brown lost five straight to the Sooners, sometimes by spectacular scores.  He's still only 4-6 against Stoops despite his recent successes in Dallas.  In Brown's twelve season tenure, the Horns have still only won that single Big 12 championship and have lost two other Big 12 title games.  He's also lost to the lesser in-state program, Texas A&M, three times, but still holds a 9-3 record against the Aggies.

Richt has eerily similar stats: averages over ten wins a season, 6-2 in bowls, ended in the top ten five times in the last eight seasons, three divisional titles and two conference crowns.  He's 7-1 against Tech.  Richt has an eerily similar weakness, too: 2-6 against the Gators.  Richt has also had two teams that, on paper, were absolutely loaded with talent and disappointed, 2004 and 2008.  So, you have two coaches in similar situations with similar results.  The notable exception is Brown's national championship.  That only took Vince Young and one of the greatest games in NCAA history.  Both coaches have also had a team with national championship caliber resumes that didn't get a chance to play for the crystal, Richt in 2007 and Brown in 2008.

There is one notable exception to the Brown and Richt comparison: their philosophy on defensive coordinator turnover.  Offensively, Brown has had one coordinator, Greg Davis, during his entire tenure at Texas.  Davis has had his detractors, but Brown has stubbornly remained loyal.  Richt has had only one OC other than himself (I'm not counting Neil Callaway because, ... well, you know why).  On defense, both Brown and Richt had a solid DC for the first few years.  Brown had Carl Reese for six years.  Richt had VanGorder for four seasons.  Since then, however, Brown has had a revolving door at DC, four coordinators over a six year period. Richt has held steady with one, Willie Martinez.  Other than turnover at DC, both coaches mix in long-term stability with new blood.  Brown has four assistants that have been with him from the start at Texas.  Richt has five.

I guess this comparison is useful, no matter what your viewpoint on Richt.  One could argue that like Brown, Richt simply needs the stars to align correctly to win the MNC.  He's doing everything right, but he just needs his luck to change and he will break through, just like Brown did.  On the other hand, one could argue that Brown broke through because he became willing to inject new blood into the highest ranks of his coaching staff.  Thus, Willie should find somewhere else to go.  Take the data as you will, but those two are almost exactly parallel.  Maybe Richt will get his shot soon, too.  

Quinton

South Carolina loses starting DT for UGA game

The State is reporting that Gamecock defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye will miss the first three games of the season for South Carolina due to a suspension following an arrest on possession of weed charges. They play the Georgia Bulldogs in Week 2. Ladi found the bright side:

If there was a silver lining to his situation, Ajiboye said his inactivity while suspended for spring practice caused him to lose 25 pounds from last season's playing weight of 300. "I feel like that worked out for the better because I feel like I'm in better shape because I lost so much fat," Ajiboye said. "I was pretty fat, I'm not going to lie. It wasn't all muscle."

Now, I've never been an SEC caliber athlete, but I do know a little something about "inactivity" as I most certainly subscribed to the chiseled "Body by Playstation" look. As an expert, I can tell you that inactivity doesn't cause one to lose weight. I'm also not a drug user, but I would suggest that cutting down on the weed may have been a factor in the weight loss big fella.

Ajiboye had started 22 games over the past two years for the Chickens. This will only help as Georgia works to establish ownership of the line of scrimmage in this game.

See Also:
-- Tickets: South Carolina Gamecocks at Georgia

PWD

Digital Media Guide Up and Running

For those of you who didn't give a grand to the Hartman Fund or buy a copy already, the 2009 football media guide is fully accessible on the athletic administrations's website.  You can virtually thumb through it in full screen mode by clicking the cover page.  

The media guide is Georgia football's best version of itself.  Pages 76-112 are the recruiting portion of the guide and they are quite compelling.  

Quinton

Top Trap Games of 2009?

Yesterday, Tony Barnhart listed his Top 5 Trap games for 2009. These are games that don't look so difficult on paper but can really trip a team up. His top five are:

1. Arkansas at Florida
2. Tennessee at Alabama
3. Georgia at Arkansas
4. LSU at Georgia
5. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt

He explains his reasoning, and there's some merit in those selections. However, I'd argue for a few differences.

First off, Florida is going to slaughter Arkansas. The Ole Miss debacle last year wasn't just caused by Florida's ambivalence towards the underrated Rebels. It was also caused by Dan Mullen not finding his rhythm with utilizing Demps, Rainey and Harvin at tailback to take pressure off of Tebow. Once they sorted their personnel utilization issues out, they were borderline unstoppable offensively. I don't see the Gators being tripped up at home against the worst defense in the SEC.

Separately, Tony's hedged remarks about the LSU at Georgia game aside, that's not a trap for LSU. Even though they play Florida the following week, Miles will have them squarely focused on the Dawgs. You don't give up 52 points at home and forget about it.

Alternative Selections
I'd replace one of those two games with Ole Miss at South Carolina on Thursday Night of Week 4. The Gamecocks start the season at NC State and at Georgia before coming home in Week 3 against Florida Atlantic. At best, they'll likely be 2-1 coming into the Ole Miss game, and I'm inclinded to believe they'll be 1-2.

Ole Miss should paste the Gamecocks, but you have the Houston Nutt Implosion Factor(TM) combined with Ole Miss' four decade long struggle with Altitude Sickness. They blow themselves up anytime the thin air of a high ranking gets too much for them. Also, the Gamecocks beat the Rebels last year in Oxford, and this year's game is on a Thursday night where home teams do pretty well. I think the Rebels win, but this is a very dangerous game for Nutt.

Secondly, I'd list Kentucky at Auburn as a trap for Auburn. You could argue that this can't be classified as a trap for AU because Kentucky is likely better than the Tigers. However, most Aubies would have trouble admitting that UK is ahead of them. The Tigers will be coming off consecutive away games at Tennessee and Arkansas, and they get LSU and Ole Miss following the UK game. For the Cats, the trip to The Plains could be the difference between a Peach Bowl birth and a Liberty Bowl game. I think those factors converge to make for a brutally disappointing game for Aubies.

What do you think is the biggest trap game in the SEC?

See Also:
-- SEC Schedule Grid

PWD

Cover Pokes

Okie State QB Zac Robinson is a newly minted SI coverboy for their college football preview issue.  These are regional covers but the picks were surprising: Penn State, Okie State, Ole Miss, and Oregon.  (How can SI not have Timmy Tebow on their cover?  That is something Urban Meyer will never forget.)  Let me be the first to say it: Jinx! Jinx! JINX!

 

As we know, SI is a reliable predictor of football success.

On another, more-expensive note:  Forbes has scoured the secondary market place for the most expensive tickets to 2009 college football games.  Their rankings were based on StubHub numbers.  First on the list is USC's visit to Notre Dame.  Not shocking.  The second, however, is "The University of Georgia - All home games."  Florida's trip to LSU is fifth.  The Red River Shootout is eighth!  So a normal home game in Athens is more expensive that two of the most anticipated games of the year in college football. 

Quinton

Away Game Cut-Off Scores for Georgia Tech and Vandy Announced

Geno Atkins vs. Tech in '07 (Image: Hipple)
The Athletic Department announced the ticket cut-off for the Georgia Bulldog games at GT and Vanderbilt.

• Vanderbilt: All Hartman Fund contributors who ordered with a cumulative score of 11,300 and higher will receive tickets.
  
• Georgia Tech: All Hartman Fund contributors who ordered with a cumulative score of 30,000 and higher will receive tickets.

If you don't have tickets and are interested in aftermarket sources, I may be able to help. Our relationship with Stubhub gives you access to tickets in almost any section of Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium or Vandy's Dudley Field. Links to ticket information from Stubhub is below:

• UGA at Georgia Tech (Boddy Dodd Stadium at Grant Field)
  
• UGA at Vanderbilt (Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field)

The UGA Athletic Department hasn't announced the cutoff scores for the Cocktail Party this year. When they announce for the Florida game, we'll let you know.

PWD

Kickoffs Coming into Focus

The ABH sat down with Coach Fabris to talk kickoff coverage. Fabris was fairly candid in talking about an open mindedness to change the kickoff approach with Bogotay's strong leg.

"Do you change?" asked assistant coach Jon Fabris, who oversees the unit. "That's kind of like saying we've been running the offense we've been running here and we sign a Michael Vick - that kind of guy. Do you implement some things for (Georgia's dual-threat backup quarterback) Logan Gray? Do you emphasize some things to show him off? That's no different than that deal."

We'll see. The more interesting thing to me will be today's practice report when we hopefully hear how many freshmen skill players were on the kick coverage unit vs. how many older, slower walk-ons.

See Also:
-- Hidden Yardage: Kickoff Coverage - Georgia Sports Blog

PWD

Excellent recap of Monday's Activities

If you don't read anything else today, read David Hale's exhaustive recap of practice from yesterday. He talks running back depth, injuries and practice tempo. Some of the encouraging tidbits include only 1 penalty yesterday by the offense and none by the defense.

Separately, it appears that the Bulldogs are dreaming of Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant. The Chattanooga Free Press has a good article on prepping for the Cowboys. (ht - ESPN) Prince Miller's quote on the topic is:

Only visions of Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant, and lots of them. "You can't help but think of him every day," Miller said. "He's one of the best players in the country, and this is what I've trained for all summer."

PWD