Thursday, October 29, 2009

Coach Fox gets first hoops commitment of 2010

Scout.com and UGASports.com report that Cady Lalanne will sign with Georgia. He's a 6'9" 225 lb center/power forward from Orlando. The Mississippi State Scout site says that his stats from his JR year were:
Last year Lalanne averaged 17 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and 2 assists a game while being named All-Orlando.
His other official visits were Ole Miss, UMass and Virginia Commonwealth.

UGASports.com says he has a roughly a 7'2" wing span and shoots the ball well. Rivals has him as the #142 ranked player in the country. If you're going out of state, they need to be Top 150 players. That basically means you're projected as a high major prospect. When we venture out of state to sign kids off the radar like Felton loved doing, it makes me want to put my fist through a backboard (if I could reach one).

In my opinion, the Dawgs desperately need a small forward / wing type player to go along with a beefy big man. I hear rumblings of at least one more Top 100 player that may sign, but I'm unsure of position. Fox plays it closer to the vest than Felton did with those around the program so info is tougher to come by.

Speaking of UGA hoops, the Macon Telegraph has an article about the defense today. Last week, they did a piece on the offense. Defense is going to come a helluva lot easier to this group than offense. The last coaching staff really struggled to establish or teach any sort of competent ball movement, player movement away from the ball or spacing. The triangle offense needs all three of those things. Oh...and makers instead of shooters.

I like where the basketball team is going, but it'll be a work in progress growing into the schemes. The rumblings I'm hearing are all positive.

I may not post again til Sunday. Jumping in the car heading to Jax shortly.

PWD

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Ok...now, I'm pumped



Uploaded by: captkool1447

PWD

"I'm going to go out there and play my heart out."

The story of the day yesterday involved the players being asked about the timeouts at the end of the game last year from Coach Meyer. Of all the player responses, I appreciated A.J. Green's the most:

A.J. Green wasn't around for the 2007 game, but the even-keeled wide receiver seethes about the 2008 timeouts.

"That's motivation for me," he said. "That's a sign of disrespect. So I'm going to go out there and play my heart out."

At the end of the day, that's all I expect. I expect that when I lug my ass down to every game home and away to support the team. When I spend a tremendous percentage of my net income on the Dawgs and invest my time that the team is going to show up and plays their heart out for 60 minutes. When I don't see that, it sends me off the deep end.

I hope the team is pissed, and I hope they play like it.

If Georgia is focused and plays to their talent level for 60 minutes, there's now way that the 16 point spread holds up. This weekend is a formidable task for the Dawgs. They need to act like they belong on that field with the Gators and play to their ability. If it takes feeling slighted by the timeouts to make that happen, good.

Separately -- Tommy Tuberville on ESPNU picked Georgia to win this game. He thinks the Dawgs are rested, and UF is a beat up mess offensively (paraphrase).

See Also:
-- Tickets: World's Largest Cocktail Party

PWD

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

David Hale breaks down Coach Searels' Furlough Day

Hale brings us a moment by moment break down of Coach Stacy Searels' state mandated furlough. My favorite part:
7:15 a.m. - 7:35 a.m. -- Breakfast with the family. After a few minutes of lackluster kitchen-table conversation, Searels revamps the seating arrangement in hopes of better results. When that doesn't work, he phones Josh Davis, who subs for Searels' youngest daughter for the remainder of the meal.
Nice.

PWD

If I were Bobo...


AJ Green (Image: Hipple)

Upon further reflection, the most encouraging thing to me from the Vanderbilt game wasn't the play of the defense or the running game in the fourth quarter. The defensive intensity was nice, but it was Vandy after all. And I think the coaching staff's praise of the running game was pretty overblown given that Vandy's defense had already thrown in the towel by the time we started trying to pound it in the fourth quarter.

The most encouraging thing to me was Caleb King's touchdown on the screen pass. Stafford, Moreno and the offensive line did a masterful job the past two years of executing running back screens on the edges and the middle screen to our backs. Cox, the offensive line and the running backs have been a train wreck trying to execute those plays this year. Between missed blocks, dropped passes and bad timing, the screen game has been a mess.

I'm extremely skeptical that we're going to be able to run the ball against the Gator defense. We're going to have to throw it and throw it a lot to win this game*. However, we can't have Joe sit back there and try to pick them apart without something to slow the pass rush.

That's why seeing us execute the screen against Vandy was so encouraging to me. If I'm Bobo, I bust open the Oklahoma State 2007 game plan. I think we ran about 15 screens in that game. Here's what I wrote after that game:
Offensive Line Inexperience: The game plan by Bobo was brilliant. Use screens, flares, slants and quick outs to keep the defensive line off our young pups up front. After re-watching the game on DVR, I noticed a few plays where the entire OSU defensive front four stood straight up, took a step back and looked around for a screen. Only to see Stafford throw it behind them on a down field route. There were some moments of confusion and what appeared to be missed assignments up front, but overall...great effort and communication.
We need to run bubble screens, middle screens, swing passes to RBs, FB screens, rocket screen, tunnel screens, you name it, we need to run it. Hopefully, that'll open up the down field passes.

Also, my gut says that Florida isn't going to double team A.J. Green. Not at first anyway. They are going to play him on an island and dare Joe to get out of their blitz alive. Joe has to make them pay for that decision.

If we show up down there and run the ball successfully, I'll be thrilled. And shocked.

As for the defense plan...David Hale has some less than encouraging stats.

See Also:
-- Gator corners test for Green - ABH
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida

PWD

*Special teams TDs and turnovers galore by the Gators would really help, too.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Tech Karma? Significant schedule conflict may emerge


When it comes to basketball, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are one of the toughest teams for the Bulldogs to schedule. Tech's preference is to pick a date when the UGA students are out of town and our fans are ideally traveling to or from a bowl game.

Georgia Tech travels to Athens to play the Bulldogs on Jan. 5, 2010 at 7:00 pm. Kickoff for the Orange Bowl (home of the ACC Champion) is 8:00 pm on the same day.

Ideally, Tech won't be in the Orange Bowl. However, with Miami's epic bed wetting against Clemson and Tech holding the tie breakers on VT...things look extremely good for the Yellow Jackets to make it to the ACC title game. From there, they could face the 4th or 5th best team in their conference.

Karma's a bitch.

PWD

SEC Kickoff Times for Nov. 7th

The SEC announced kickoff times for these games:

LSU at Alabama (3:30 p.m. / CBS )
Vanderbilt at Florida (7:15 p.m. / ESPN or ESPN2)
SC at Arkansas (12:21 p.m. / SEC Network)
Memphis at Tennessee (7 p.m. / ESPNU)
N. Arizona at Ole Miss (7:30 p.m. / CSS)
Tennessee Tech at UGA (1 p.m. / UGA PPV)
E.Kentucky at UK (1 p.m. / Local Coverage)
Furman at Auburn (1:30 p.m. / AU PPV)

No word on the Nov. 14th TV schedule. However, CBS does have a double header that weekend including a 12:00 pm and a 3:30 pm game.

My original expectation was that UGA would host Auburn at noon on CBS. However, you could easily have 6-4 Auburn vs. 5-4 Georgia. That doesn't sound much like an CBS game. Our combined failings could push the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry to ESPN or ESPN2. Leaving CBS to take Alabama vs. Mississippi State.* That would be fine by me.

It also wouldn't shock me to see a 6 Day Option used by one of the networks for the 14th.

See Also:
Georgia vs. Auburn Tickets

PWD

*Yes. I totally re-wrote this article after I posted it.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

That's Mr. Adriel Jeremiah Green to you


A. J. Green (Image: Hipple)

Yesterday, the AJC's Steve Hummer (who should write more columns about UGA football) put together a gem of a piece on A.J. Green. The article basically talks about what a good kid AJ is.

I've seen some discussion on UGA message boards about where AJ might fit in among great all-time SEC WRs. Let's take a look at some numbers.

A.J. Green Career to date (20 Games)

Catches Yards TDs
Current Season 41 682 6
09 Projected Season 76 1,267 11




Current Career Totals 97 1,645 14
'09 Projected Career
132 2,229 19

With those numbers in mind, here are the all-time UGA and SEC records for receptions, yards and TDs in a season.

Single Season Receiving Records

UGA Record SEC Record
Catches 76 - Brice Hunter 97 - K. Edwards (VU)
Yards 1,004 - T. Edwards 1,740 - J. Reed (LSU)
TDs 11 - T. Edwards 18 - R. Anthony (UF)

As you can see, Green is on pace to match or top the three best receiving seasons in Bulldog history. As for career numbers, here are the record holders:

Career Receiving Records

UGA Record SEC Record
Catches 204 - T. Edwards 236 - E. Bennett (VU)
Yards 3,093 - T. Edwards 3,093 - T. Edwards (UGA)
TDs 30 - T. Edwards 31 - C. Doering (UF)

If Green goes for about 1,200 yards this season, he'll pass Lindsay Scott for 5th place on the all-time Georgia list for receiving yards in a career. Every other member of the Top 5 at UGA was in school for four years. He could enter the Top 5 in only 2 seasons.

Assuming he stays healthy, he has a very legitimate shot at taking down Terrence Edwards' career SEC yardage mark and Chris Doering's career TD mark. The record for catches is out of reach.

My point? We're watching a very special player, and we need to get him the ball a ton more.

See Also:
-- UGA's stars are mostly young - Chattanooga Free Press
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida starting at $79*

PWD

*as of 4;45 pm today.

About that Auburn vs. LSU game....

It looks like Chris Todd is back to his old, talentless self. Auburn had less than 150 yards of total offense vs. LSU until the final drive of the game quarterbacked by third team QB Neil Caudle. AuburnSports.com ($) says: "After throwing 12 touchdowns with only one interception the first five games, Todd has two interceptions and no TD passes in the last three -- all Auburn losses." Personnel changes appear to be forthcoming for the Tigers.

But it's not just Todd's fault. The entire offensive unit is a mess according to the Mobile Press Register. Also, Kevin Scarbinsky of the B'ham News wonders Who Drove the Gus Bus into the Ditch?

Auburn hosts Ole Miss at 11:21 am CST on Saturday. For Auburn's sake, they better hope Tuberville didn't leave his old alarm clock for Chizik's office. The Aubies haven't played worth a damn before 1 pm at home in a loooooooooooong time.

Speaking of Chizik, it's worth noting that his former team is now 5-2 on the season after their big win at Nebraska. That means Iowa State's new coach has caught Chizik on the Cyclones' career win total in only 7 games.

Does all of this mean that we'll beat the Tigers? Nah. But it's fun poking a stick at others who have problems.

PWD

Tebow Still Chasing Herschel's Rushing Record



The TV guys last night said that Tebow tied Herschel's record for career rushing touchdowns in the SEC last night. That's technically true, but it's pretty misleading.

Herschel actually scored 5 more rushing TDs that aren't counted in the record books because bowl stats didn't start counting until about 10 years ago. He scored twice vs. Notre Dame, twice vs. Pitt and once vs. Penn State in the '81-'83 Sugar Bowls.

In other words, Tebow still has six more rushing TDs to go to break Walker's REAL record. Also, Walker played in 36 total games including bowls. With the longer seasons today, Tebow has already started 34 games in two and a half seasons. Additionally, he has played in 48 total games so far. So it's not an apples to apples comparison.

Nor did Herschel have any of the elite surrounding players that Tebow has played with.

That aside, Douche 3:16's stats really are amazing, and I do think he's one of the Top 3 SEC players in my lifetime alongside Herschel and Bo. I just have a problem with him getting that record under fairly uneven terms.

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. Florida
-- Tebow very frustrated right now - Orlando Sentinel
-- Tebow speechless after throwing 2 TDs to MSU players - ESPN
-- Tebow is human - ESPN
-- Tebow works for tips - Orlando Sentinel

PWD

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

UGA to have a bye week before the 2011 Cocktail Party?

RedStripe over at SicEmDawgs.com does a good job with future football schedule tracking. A few weeks ago, he found that Mississippi State announced some future dates for 2011. The implications of their announcement suggest that Georgia likely has an open date before the 2011 Georgia/Florida game.

It's possible that we'll play Kentucky that week like we're doing in 2010, but it seems more likely that the SEC wants to alternate bye weeks for UGA and/or Florida going forward. No team should have a bye week every single year. It's competitively unbalanced.

It'll also be nice to have 7 home games in 2011 for only the 2nd time since league expansion in 1992. The other years were 2002 and 2006.

See Also:
-- Tickets: 2009 Georgia vs. Florida Game
-- Unofficial 2011 Schedule - SicEmDawgs.com

PWD

SEC Suspends Officating Crew

The press release below was posted to secsports.org late this afternoon:
SEC FOOTBALL OFFICIATING CREW SUSPENDED

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 21, 2009) -- The officiating crew from Saturday’s Arkansas at Florida football game will be removed from its next scheduled assignment on Oct. 31 and will not be assigned to officiate as a crew until Nov. 14, Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive announced Wednesday.

"A series of calls that have occurred during the last several weeks have not been to the standard that we expect from our officiating crews," said Slive. "I believe our officiating program is the best in the country, however, there are times when these actions must be taken."

Following each weekend, the conference office reviews games from the previous week, using video replays as well as interviews with officials, coaches and administrators.

"While only a few calls have been identified, the entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play. I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program," added Slive. "Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation."

In addition, there will be an impact on eligibility for post-season bowl assignments for the crew.
Obviously it doesn't matter a hill of beans if you're a Georgia or an Arkansas fan, but at least the public pressure on Slive forced him to reconsider his position on "public hangings." I respectfully submit that public humiliation, when warranted, is an effective motivator for the rest of your work force.

In reality, the suspended crew is not much worse than any of the SEC's other crews. The suspended crew had the bad judgment to screw up royally in two high profile games, but plenty of non-outcome determinative but equally poor calls occur in any given game officiated by SEC refs. I submit Penn Wagers and his band of merry men are equally capable of such underachievement.

I get that it's a tough job and every call is objected to by one team or the other. But the ticky-tacky subjective stuff riles me like an off-ball foul in the final two minutes of basketball game riled Jim Harrick. When the Vanderbilt player tossed Joe Cox's hand towel in the air after sacking him, it seemed like an appropriate place to throw a celebration flag. I mean, some official had to be watching, or they wouldn't know the play was dead. The lack of uniformity and the lack of objective criteria for certain calls are something Slive and Rogers Redding should be tackling.

Tony Barnhart probably hit closest to the mark when he criticized the overall mindset of the league's officials. Credit Mike Slive for realizing the SEC's credibility was taking a pounding and doing something about it.

Hopefully this is the first of several steps the SEC will take to address the horrific quality of conference officiating.

Gordon Beckham Named AL Rookie of the Year


Yesterday, the Sporting News named Gordon Beckham American League Rookie of the Year after hitting .270 with 28 doubles, 14 home runs and 63 RBI in 103 games. Over a full season, you're talking about a kid on pace to hit 40+ doubles, 20+ home runs and 100+ RBI. Those are disgustingly impressive numbers for a guy that was only in the minors for about 350 days.

As the Chicago Sun-Times points out the Sporting News ROY Award is special because:
A panel of 338 major-league players voted the third baseman The Sporting News American League Rookie of the Year, making Beckham, 23, the ninth rookie in Sox history to be honored by the magazine. Manager Ozzie Guillen last received the honor in 1985.
As a manager, no one keeps it more real than Ozzie Guillen. So when he drops the following quote to the Sun-Times, it is truly enormous praise:
‘‘I wish that kid was a two- or three-year veteran in the big leagues because he has that attitude,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘He has that right frame of mind. He was a leader his whole life from when he was in high school, college. I think he wants to be the face of the franchise, and we need something like that. When a player thinks like that, doesn’t hide in the weeds, you don’t see many players come up from the minor leagues and think that way. It’s a big challenge. But I don’t have a doubt in my mind that he has the right tools to be one. Obviously, it has to come from help from myself, Ken Williams and the staff to make him a great leader.’’
What's next for Gordo? He wants to hit for more power next year, and he'll be hitting the weight room shortly.

PWD

UGA vs. Colorado 2010 Hotel Info


Image by Jim Hipple

One of the things we try and do here at the Georgia Sports Blog is help out with road game travel plans when we can. With that in mind, I wanted to let you know that many Boulder Hotels for the 2010 Georgia Bulldogs vs. Colorado Buffaloes game are now open for booking.

The game is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 according to the UGA Media Guide. Here's a sampling of some of the hotel rates I've found along with distance from the stadium per Google Maps: (UPDATE: All the prices have changed. Call the hotels)
    Boulder Marriott - $239/night
    2660 Canyon Boulevard
    15 minute walk to stadium (Per Google Maps)
    Originally listed at $189. Price jumped a few days later.

    Courtyard Boulder - $99/night
    4710 Pearl East Circle
    2.3 miles from stadium
    Exceptional value at that price.

    Residence Inn Boulder - $139/night
    3030 Center Green Drive
    2.5 miles from stadium

    Homewood Suites - $107-139/night
    4950 Baseline Rd.
    2.5 miles from stadium
    Rate varies based on pre-payment as well as # of occupants.

    Holiday Inn Express Boulder - $135-149/night
    4777 North Broadway
    4.9 miles from Stadium
    Rate varies

    Quality Inn & Suites Boulder Creek - No Rate
    2020 Arapahoe Ave.
    15 minute walk to stadium.
    Appears booked (or they haven't opened reservations yet)
There are other places that are fairly close, but I gave you recommendations (except for the Quality Inn) for the types of places I stay when I'm on the road with the Dawgs.

I travel a lot for work, and I don't like staying in 2 star hotels. If you want to stay at the Best Western or Ramada Inn in a college town, you're more than welcome. But I'm not. There's actually a Best Western very close to campus, but I didn't research it. I typically stay at a Hampton Inn for personal travel. In fact, there is a Hampton Inn in Boulder for about $110, but it's located about 6+ miles away so I didn't bother to link given the other properties nearby.

This trip, I'm staying at the Boulder Marriott because I love walking to the stadium for road games. The trip to Tempe spoiled me in regards to walking to the game. I only listed the Google Map distances from the stadium. A search from whatever bar district (if any) they have would likely also be useful, but I didn't check into that. The rates were based on my best efforts as of Monday, Oct. 19.

The team hotel is unlikely to be in Boulder. They usually stay further out than that, but I didn't bother checking.

As for air travel, I'm going to wait until the NFL announces the 2010 Football Schedule before booking anything. I wouldn't mind sticking around Sunday and watching Knowshon and Champ play if the Broncos have a home game that weekend.

Hope that helps.

See Also:
-- UGA vs. Colorado: Tale of the Tape - From 2006 (GSB)

PWD

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Highest Bidder Votes

I get lots of email updates trying to get me to bid on the athletic department's online auctions.  The auctions raise money for the athletic department and you can buy autographed stuff and special experiences throught UGA athletics that you can't find other places.  We're not alone in this fundraising practice.  For the Florida game, LSU auctioned off the "experience of a lifetime" for LSU fans.  The package included walking with the team to the game, running through the tunnel, and watching the game with the AD.  It sold for over $15,000.  A friend asked how much it would cost to call LSU's plays for a quarter?  None of UGA's auctions have been that dramatic.

With that background, I was listening to Kirk Herbstreit yesterday on 680 as he was complaining that the Coaches Poll is just an absolute joke.  Coaches don't watch games because they have to, you know, work on Saturdays.  The SIDs that they hand off their voting duties to just look at the scores in the paper.  So, the vote doesn't really reflect reality because the voters are too busy to really watch what they are voting on.  It's like picking Miss America based on her application, sight unseen.

Thus, I have a proposal.  Explicitly allow the coaches to transfer their voting obligations (which they already do) and then let the athletic departments auction the vote off to the highest bidder.  First, this gets the vote into the hands of someone who might actually watch the games.  Second, it gets more money to the athletic departments.  Third, it could lead to some awesome market manipulation.  Boone Pickens and Phil Knight would battle to buy all the ballots.  It could even lead to more auctions so that the athletic departments could buy up more ballots.

Quinton

Like I was saying earlier...

Following the 2008 season, I posted the following (Jan. 9, 2009):

Richard Samuel is a key player the team needs to look at from a position move standpoint.

Many coaches would look at a player who is big, strong, fast, relishes contact, was an elite high school linebacker, and who fumbles or bobbles the ball regularly and they would say...."That is a linebacker." If Samuel doesn't learn to hang on to the ball, he's not going to play. That's pretty evident by his decreasing minutes to bobbled balls ratio this season. Giving him a long look at LB in the spring makes enormous sense to me.

Having him at LB is particularly intriguing given the speed we're facing in Jacksonville. The idea of having a guy with Samuel's wheels going against Demps and Rainey is much more appealing than a guy with Gamble, Washington, or Dent's feet. Richard is blessed with great speed, but it won't do him any good on splinter patrol due to fumblitist. He's a kid to watch.

Richt told the Atlanta Touchdown Club that he's open to moving Samuel to linebacker after the season. (ht - Blutarsky) I applaud the opened mindedness.

I like Richard Samuel's athletic ability very much. In high school, he was a truly spectacular linebacker, and I hope that the move (if it happens) pans out the way other famous UGA position switches have such as:

1. Robert Edwards from scorched earth CB to 1st Round draft pick RB
2. Chris Terry from little used DL to 2nd Round draft pick OT
3. Bruce Thornton from visionless RB to 4th Round pick at CB

See Also:
-- Saw Samuel - David Ching (Oct. 11, 2007)

PWD

Another Banner Week for SEC Officiating

Another week, another apology from the SEC for an outcome determinative officiating blunder.

How high does the body count have to get before the SEC does something about the integrity of its officiating? You don't need to be a graduate of Mike Slive's vaunted "accountability program" to know the crew that "officiated" the UGA/LSU game and the ARK/UF game could screw up a one car funeral.

Like the LSU game, this blunder wasn't what the legal profession calls "harmless error." The penalty, which the SEC concedes is not supported by any video evidence, gave the Gators the ball on the Arkansas 10-yard line. On the next play they tied the score at 20.

Tony Barnhart adds his voice to the call for a serious discussion about officiating. To his credit, he quickly dismisses conspiracy theories that the SEC is purposefully trying to help its unbeaten teams stay alive. He blames the league's philosophy instead.
I’m talking about a mindset. It’s the same mindset that looked at A.J. Green’s incredible catch and celebration with his teammates and thought SOMETHING had to be called. It’s the mindset looked at LSU’s Charles Scott, looking briefly to the stands after a touchdown run, and thought SOMETHING had to be called.

As someone who watched college football for a long time, there seems to be an attitude that officials are more concerned about NOT calling stuff. It seems to me that when in doubt, you DON’T throw the flag. To me, it’s much worse to call something that is NOT there than fail to call something that MIGHT be there.
Accountability starts at the top. If Rogers Redding worked for me, I'd call him into my office for a critical evaluation of his job performance. Whatever curative steps Redding took in the wake of the UGA/LSU game were demonstrably ineffective. Does he have a plan to fix the problem? "If it's not there don't call it" is not guidance. It's a meaningless platitude.

The integrity of the league has been called into question twice in the same month, and Mike Slive needs to take affirmative, public action to assure players, coaches and fans from each of the SEC member schools that the SEC is committed to having officiating commensurate with league's reputation for high quality competition.

Could Lil' Natch really be any worse?

Monday, October 19, 2009

SEC West and Bowl Thoughts for the Bye Week

Some thoughts on the SEC West, this coming weekend and bowls.

Arkansas at Ole Miss - 12:30 PM
    The Almond Joys Bowl. The Hawgs are 3-3 with very winnable remaining games vs. Eastern Michigan, Troy and Mississippi State. Those games give them bowl eligibility, but it's the Ole Miss and South Carolina games that decide are they going to the Papa John's/Independence Bowl, or do they have a shot at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl?

    For Ole Miss (4-2), the Arkansas game is also enormous. They'll be obvious favorites against Northern Arizona and MSU. But this Saturday is the first of three games in four weeks (Ark, at Auburn and Tennessee) that will go a long way towards deciding if this is a Cotton Bowl team or Liberty Bowl team. If the Rebels can't beat Arkansas at home, they're going no where interesting this December.
Auburn at LSU - 7:30 pm
    Auburn should get mauled in this one. If you can't beat Kentucky and Arkansas, how are you going to beat a dramatically more talented LSU team? The problem is...the Cajuns have a deeply flawed team as well. They are beatable. Auburn won't do it with the QB play they got last week, but it's not impossible.

    The big swing games for Auburn appear to be Ole Miss and Georgia. Beat both the Rebels and Dawgs, and the Aubies can find themselves in Tampa or Atlanta. Get swept by both, and they'll vacation at the Papa John's Bowl. The LSU game is mostly important because they don't want to face Ole Miss coming off three consecutive SEC loses.
My SEC Bowl forecast right now is:
    National Title - Bama
    Sugar - Florida
    Capital One - LSU
    Cotton - Ole Miss
    Outback - Kentucky (I'm assuming they beat UT)
    Peach - South Carolina
    Music City - Georgia
    Liberty - Tennessee
    Independence - Arkansas
    Papa Johns - Auburn
Basically, I think we're going to end up with a bunch of 6 to 8 win teams that are all bunched up and assigned to bowls based on georgraphy and ticket sales opportunities. UK is probably seeded a bit high, but the former CEO of Outback Steakhouse is a UK Grad. He also is a major driving force behind the Outback Bowl's existance.

Where do you think teams end up?

PWD

Balance is a Means. Not an End.

Like most of you, I'm mostly pleased with how things went on Saturday vs. Vanderbilt. Much better Georgia teams have struggled with worse Vanderbilt teams in Nashville. Seeing a game that was never in jeopardy was a nice change. In fact, the 24 point margin of victory was the largest against the Dores in Nashvegas since '93. Heck, I remember the 2003 SEC East Champs team being involved in a 2-0 punch in the face game at half time.

That's not to inflate Vanderbilt into something they aren't. Just to say, it was a nice way to spend the day enjoying college football. Versus let's say...I don't know...poking your eyes out with a rusty nail like the prior week in Neyland Stadium.

The positives were the tempo, the play of most of the defense, Prince Miller on punt returns, Reshad Jones, the Defensive Line and obviously AJ Green.

The big negatives were the fake punt, the play of Bryan Evans, and subbing Logan Gray for Prince Miller at midfield on punt returns for no logical reason imaginable to any human whose initials aren't Jon Fabris. I do understand why you don't put Prince Miller in the game to field a punt on the 10 yardline. He's explosive (See Bama '08), but he makes some bad decisions (See UT '09) in that spot. But really...midfield? As a CB he makes me exceptionally nervous, but as a punt return he's EXACTLY what the team needs. A playmaker. Treat him that way.

As for Evans, I don't get into calling players out generally. Inman being the glaring exception. So I'll put as positive a spin on this as possible. Bacarri Rambo is a better college football player today, tomorrow and yesterday. He makes more plays, and he should be starting. Period. See...that's positive about Rambo instead of negative about Bryan.

But it's Monday at lunch, and those issues have been talked to death. Mostly, I'm happy with the game. But...

An issue that's been bothering me for a few weeks is Richt and Bobo's pursuit of a Balanced Offense. I personally think there are four kinds of offenses:
A. Offenses that run the ball very well
B. Offenses that pass the ball very well
C. Offenses that do both very well.
D. Offenses that do neither very well.

There is no Option E called "Offenses That are Balanced." Being balanced is simply a means to an end...moving the ball and scoring points. Balance is not a stand alone goal. Being balanced is like being Mrs. Congenality. It's worth commenting on how nice Mrs. Congenality is, but people would much rather stare at the absolute hotness of the pageant winner.

I mostly like Bobo as a play caller, and I don't think he's part of the systemic issues we have in Athens right now. But the one area where I disagree with him completely is the apparent pursuit of balance for balance's sake. If we can complete passes to AJ Green, and we can't run the ball early in games. Let's try throwing it to AJ until they prove they can stop it. Let's not stop throwing it to AJ just because he's double covered. He can most certainly beat double coverage from Vandy level talent. Let's leverage AJ to get the running game loosened up.

The coaches would probably describe the results of the 4th quarter as UGA having done what I described above. I would argue that Vandy just got discouraged and stopped fighting in the fourth, and that was what opened the running game. But whatever.

Blutarsky touched on this a bit in one of his recaps after the game. I was in pretty much total agreement.

Mostly, I have positives from that game. Particulary, the fact that I think Reshad Jones might have played his best game as a Bulldog.

What was your take?

PWD

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I haven't forgotten you

The past few weeks have been really crazy with work, being sick and travel. Time for this site was limited. Activity should pick up next week.

PWD

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Some commentary and stats on UGA

Let's start with a solid balanced look at the Dawgs from Matt Hinton at Dr. Saturday. (ht - DawgSports.com)

Then we can move on to a stats oriented overview of the Dawg season so far from SicemDawgs.com. The stats are harsh, but they are what they are.

I only thing I don't like from his post is the comparison of the numbers of Van Gorder's defenses to those from Willie Martinez. I think that's somewhat unfair or misleading due to the apples to orange nature of the statistical comparison.

The SEC is a much tougher league today, and Willie doesn't have some of the horses that BVG had...many of whom neither recruited.

That's not to disparage what Van Gorder did (or SicemDawg's post for that matter). BVG was an excellent coordinator for us, and the product on the field was clearly better. It's just that the SEC today is tougher and more explosive offensively and defensively because coaching has been upgraded around us which makes the stats part of the conversation misleading:
  • Bama traded Coach Fran and Mike Shula for Nick Saban = Upgrade
  • Florida traded Ron Zook for Urban Meyer = Upgrade
  • South Carolina traded Lou Holtz for Steve Spurrier = Upgrade
  • LSU swapped Nick Saban for Les Milses and the results are the same or better
Personally, I don't care about our recent defenses vs. our past defenses. My concern is our current defense vs. our current competition. And that's pretty visible in the other stats on Sicemdawgs' site. It's also visible from ignoring the stats and just watching the tape.


PWD

A UGA Tradition Born Eighty Years Ago

This is a day late, but the Sanford Stadium hedges celebrated their 80th birthday yesterday. The history of the hedges via ESPN.com.

Damn Good Dawg Dan Magill wrote a first person account of the history of the hedges back in February.

Charles Martin, Father of the Hedges

Richt on staff changes

From the Athens Banner Herald and JimfromDuluth's recap of the Hotline show.
"I think a lot of people expect blood," Richt said of the reaction following a 45-19 loss Saturday to Tennessee that dropped Georgia to 3-3 for the first time since 1996. "They want somebody to be let go or fired or that kind of thing, and maybe that's what needs to be done, but at this point right now, we're going to do what we know is the best thing to do and that's to focus on this game this week."
That's exactly what he should be saying. The only way to throw in the towel on the season completely and send this team into a death spiral way, way, way beyond anything we've seen so far is to say something stupid like "I'm going to fire some coaches at the end of the season."

The best we can hope for is that Richt will keep an open mind on staff changes at the end of the season. But for now, he's got to sell his team that 9 or 10 wins is still on the table. He's got to find some way to sell that.

He found a way to do that in 2006 following a streak of losing 4 of 5 games including the Vandy and Kentucky losses. And they followed that up with wins over #5 Auburn, Top 25 GT and Top 20 Virginia Tech.

Also, for those of you who absurdly think Richt needs to go and "he can't turn this around." Remember, that Vince Dooley was hung in effigy following the 1974 season. Two years later, he played Pitt in the Sugar Bowl for a share of the national title.

Anything can happen. It's on Richt to make something happen.

See Also:
-- 5 Fixes for the Dawgs - Legge
-- Dawgs intend to change course - ABH
-- Damon says the right things - AJC
-- Tickets: UGA at Vandy

PWD

Monday, October 12, 2009

A Couple of Things

Judging by the comments on my last post, very few of you will read this so I'll be brief.  On offense, we are a play action passing team that can't run.  That's as simple as I can put it.  Monte played a lot of zone defense to take away the deep throw to A.J.  We couldn't do anything else to spark a real threat of offense without that route.  That's because we don't do anything else competently, except punt.

On defense, we can game plan, but find it impossible to react to what the other guy is doing.  If I was playing Tennessee, the plan would be to focus on Hardesty and the Vol running game.  Let Crompton beat you.  Our defense was so intent on that objective, Kiffy & Co. wisely ran play action to loosen it up.  The problem is we reacted like we had never see a play action bootleg and never adjusted through three quarters. 

I can't recall a more devastating loss since Richt took over.  The UF loss was bad last year, but UF went on to win the national title.  Tennessee lost to UCLA in Knoxville.  Some people think a giant catfish would be more effective as a quarterback than the guy we just handed the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award.  Tennessee isn't very good and they just beat the piss out of the Dawgs.

No one is without blame.

Quinton

Some good news for a change

Furman Bisher finally retired. I know, many of you thought he retired during the Carter Administration. Some people say he was a good writer back when he was alive, but that means you must enjoy reading about 1) golf, 2) Georgia Tech football, and/or 3) horse racing. I'm positive the first is not a sport, and doubtful about the other two.

For many reasons, he retires overrated and unappreciated (as opposed to underappreciated). For example, Bisher is why Bear Bryant hated the City of Atlanta.

On an unrelated note, did you ever notice how much Furman Bisher looks like Jack Warden?

Jack Warden

Furman Bisher

In his entire career, if Bisher had written an column one-tenth as entertaining as Used Cars, I might actually be sad to see him go.

Not just a movie. Cinema.

My 3 Concerns about The Program

In September 2006, I was interviewed by the publisher of the Colorado Rivals.com site. During that interview, I outlined to him the source of my confidence in the UGA program at that time. I said:

"With the exception of Auburn...every time Georgia laces them up, I expect us to win IF we show up prepared and ready to play. We rarely *lose* football games anymore. We beat ourselves via coming in flat or just stone cold wetting the bed...like when we enter the Jacksonville City limits.

...We just have to focus on blocking, tackling, passing and catching. The basics. If we make the plays that our talent level suggests we should make, we win.

Georgia doesn't have to do anything super human to win games with its talent, team work and conditioning.

Auburn is the ONLY team that we play that is just as tough. Just as well coached. Just as deep. Just as talented. And they are the only team that TAKES victory from us without us giving it to them or nutting up.

That's a very good place to be as a program. (PWD - Sept. 2006)"

That article was written before Urban Meyer really got things cooking at Florida. Before Saban turned Bama around. Before Miles really established himself at LSU. Before those three coaches combined to raise the standard of play in the SEC. Just as importantly, it was also before Georgia started the slow erosion of many of those areas of my confidence listed above.

Mark Richt's Future
I don't want Mark Richt to leave. Damon Evans doesn't want Mark Richt to leave. Mike Adams doesn't want Mark Richt to leave, and the vast majority of the lucid, Hartman contributing portion of the Bulldog Nation doesn't want Mark Richt to leave.

Just as importantly, Mark Richt doesn't want to leave. He has moved about 30 friends and family members to Athens. This is his family's home. All of those factors are why he's not going to leave.

But that doesn't mean that Mark Richt or any of the other folks listed above are happy with the current state of affairs. Nor should they be.

In the wake of the UT and LSU losses, there's a lot of talk about play calling, talent level, penalities, turnovers, etc. Those are symptoms. They aren't root cause problems. In my opinion, the Top 3 Core Issues are:

1. Lack of a Sense of Urgency -- This is a by product of Coach Richt's eight year deal and his enormous buyout. That contract and his track record of averaging over 10 wins a season have created a comfortable existence in Athens. Comfort has arguably lead to complacency and stagnation. The flip side of the argument -- Richt's contract promotes a level of stability that helps us recruit at a very high level.

2. Lack of a Transparent Meritocracy -- Sport is the ultimate meritocracy. The best move up. The weak move down. When the meritocracy breaks down within a program so that friendships, past relationships and/or seniority within the coaching staff or depth chart are favored over excellence or pursuit of excellence, everything falls apart. Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll have a relentless pursuit of merit among their players and coaches. If you're not good enough, you don't play or you move on. Knowshon Moreno would never redshirt for Pete Carroll. Bacarri Rambo would never be second string for Nick Saban, and our kick coverage would never be so un-special under Urban Meyer...not for this long.

3. Lack of an Attack Mentality on Every Down -- On Sunday, Blutarsky said we have a crisis of faith. He explained that by saying:

"It's a systemic doubt: the coaches lack faith in the players to execute and the players lack faith in the coaches' ability to deploy them efficiently and effectively."

I agree with him; although, I'd use a different phrase. I'd say we're coaching and playing scared. Scared of failure. Scared of giving up the big play. Scared of freshmen mistakes. Scared of everything. In the LSU game, we had Logan Gray fielding punts at mid-field in an obvious designed fair catch where we also didn't attempt to block the punt. That's as passive and submissive of a coaching move as you'll see. We're not attacking on special teams. We're not consistently attacking on defense. We're not consistently attacking on offense. We're not making the other guy uncomfortable.

The good news. All of this is fixable. And all of it is fixable by Mark Richt. In 2001, that's the kind of coaching staff and program he was building. But somewhere along the way things just sort of slipped.

How do you fix those issues?
If you fix #1, then #2 and #3 would fix itself.
If you fix #2, then #3 would fix itself.

The problem is...it's all fixable, but not without introducing new personalities into the mix. Something will have to change on that front, and Richt will have to make moves in the off season to address the issues.

Naming names and calling for specific heads to roll at this point does nothing. It helps nothing because Richt is not going to make a move mid-season. Nor should he. And Damon shouldn't start saber rattling either. Damon's private message to Richt should only be, "I'll give you the financial resources to do what it takes to make the staff excellent when the time comes. You can count on me."

Beyond that, Richt has to decide. How many more times does he want to feel like he felt Sunday morning? It's up to him.

PWD

The comments...

I've been away from the computer all weekend following my own advice....which is to let myself settle down before posting half cocked.

To clarify, there was no symbolic reason for leaving the comments open after the game. The battery on my wireless device died, and I couldn't close the comments until I got back home Saturday night. The comments were fast and furious, but they were mostly fair. There wasn't as much profanity laced tirades as I used to get after a loss. Thanks for that. I'm guessing that's at least partially because the earlier start kept booze consumption lower. Well...for you...not so much for me.

I did lock the original post below from the game. Nothing is gained by going back there.

I have a post that I'll get up shortly about what I think about the game. There are really two separate issues. One is the state of the program. The other is the state of this particular team.

PWD

Friday, October 9, 2009

Pulpwood on Tennessee

As always, it's most certainly not safe for work. Although, he makes great points on Mrs. Kiffin.

PWD

Rex Robinson and the AJC on special teams

I agree with Rex Robinson and Bill King. At this point, it's not the direction of the kick. It's the coverage unit that's the problem. Walsh kicked it 68 yards against LSU on the final kick. It came back 49 yards. Our guys weren't even in the picture frame when the returner caught the ball.

We have got to sort out the coverage issues and stop blaming the kickers.

PWD

What's to say about this game?

Our offense is bad. Their offense is worse. Our special teams are bad. Their special teams are actually worse because they don't have Drew Butler or Blair Walsh. And their defense is better than ours.

Beyond that...this is a helmet game. Which ever team plays the smartest and hardest wins.

The questions of the week:
  • Will the Dawgs let LSU beat them twice by pouting their way through this?
  • Will the Vols come out flat for the 12:21 pm start as the home team often does?
  • Will the crowd turn on the Vols if Crompton puts them in a position to go down 10+ early?
  • Will Washuan Ealey know any passing plays this week?
This is the game of the great unknown. All that's known is neither team can afford to lose this game. The Vols can't start 2-4 with games remaining against Bama, Ole Miss and South Carolina, and we can't go 3-3 with games remaining against UF, Auburn and Tech.

We have to win.

See Also:
-- Do I really have to preview this game? - Blutarsky
-- UGA Defensive line waking up - ABH
-- Kiffin envious of Green - ABH
-- Vols spending more time on kick coverage - Chattanooga Free Press

PWD

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mike Slive's faux accountability

At the risk of belaboring the whine-a-thon regarding the LSU game, Mike Slive invites some discussion when he says the SEC has an accountability system for officials and if somebody is not good enough they won't stay. Slive's "just never felt that a public hanging in the square" will make better officials.

That accountability system must really be effective if Al "Jasper was down!" Ford is still around. He was the replay official for the LSU game Saturday and the poster child for the fact the SEC does not run a meritocracy with respect to officials.

Bobby Gaston, right, selects his successor.

The problem with Slive's comment is that no one knows anything about the accountability system. And if there is an accountability system, shouldn't the conference talk with specificity about how it operates in order to inspire the kind of confidence Slive was trying to create?

I think such a discussion is important to the integrity of the game. The system for hiring, firing, and evaluating Southeastern Conference officials lacks transparency. It's precisely this veil of secrecy that permits conspiracy theories to take hold. It's easy to believe the SEC Supervisor of Officials is a patronage position for farted-out old Tech ankle biters when only Total Assholes Persons like Bobby Gaston and Rogers Redding have ever held the job, and no one quite knows what they do. Was that job opportunity even posted, or a successor merely annointed?

I would like to see the SEC talk about how it selects officials (are there fitness & vision requirements? How are they enforced?), what kind of training is required, the rate at which officials are involuntarily "retired" and other related facts. The LSU game merely brought these kinds of questions into focus for me, and Slive's bobbing and weaving on the issue only makes it look worse.

Tennessee Tech on PPV

Georgiadogs.com makes it official. Kickoff is 1:00PM. Can't believe CBS passed on this one.

Image: Georgiadogs.com

See Also:
-- Tennessee Tech's Cowboy-Trainer-Plumber-Medic

SEC swaps one funny smell for another

MSU vs. Texas A&M in the 2000 Independence Bowl

The SEC and the Independence Bowl are parting ways after a 15 year relationship that had its good moments (the 2000 Snow Bowl), bad moments (last year's inability to put an SEC team in the game) and ugly moments (the Shreveport Odor Complaint Form).

The league is replacing the Independence Bowl with a new Gator Bowl relationship starting with the 2010 season. The Independence Bowl, which was once called the Granddaddy of Bad Bowls by Spencer Hall, will replace the SEC and Big 12 tie-ins with ACC and MWC teams.

The Gator is dumping their ACC tie-in as well as their hybrid Big East/Notre Dame/Big 12 rotation in favor of a Big 10 team. The new SEC bowl pecking order isn't finalized, but it sounds like the Gator will definitely move in front of the Music City and Liberty in a deal that puts it close to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

Basically, the SEC swaps whatever Shreveport smelled like (see form above) with that gross sour coffee smell that permeates Jacksonville Municial Stadium's parking lots.

This off season has seen incredible movement in bowl tie-ins with the biggest moves surrounding the Gator Bowl and the the Alamo Bowl overtaking the Holiday Bowl. The biggest winners of all these shifts are the SEC, Gator and Alamo Bowls. The biggest losers are the Big East, ACC and Holiday Bowls.

PWD

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

UGA vs. GT in the Georgia Dome to open the 2011 season?


Image: AJC

Damon Evans says that UGA and Tech are in very preliminary discussions with the Georgia Dome to open the 2011 season.

The Positives:
  • Tech would essentially be giving up a home game as the Dawgs would have dramatically more fans at the game.
  • The pay day would be nice for the athletic department.
  • We would have all off season to get ready for the triple option.
The Negative:
  • Tech's greatest systemic program weakness is depth. One of the advantages we have in the series is the timing. By playing them late in the season, they are historically thinner on the lines of scrimmage and at other key positions. They beat Auburn twice and Notre Dame once in the season openers a few years ago.
I'm not a fan of the idea because the negative is an enormous issue. It didn't help us last year as Tech's OL and Nesbitt were both beat to pieces. However, taking the long view, depth late in the season is a huge problem for Tech historically. They can get 22 very solid players, but that second team depth has been their undoing.

And honestly...the Tech fan base is never going to go for this. The idea of giving UGA an additional 15-20k tickets for their "home" game just isn't going to happen.

See Also:
-- 2009 UGA at Georgia Tech Tickets

PWD

Stupid officiating isn't limited to the SEC apparently....

The NFL flagged a player on Sunday for excessive celebration. His crime. Thanking God.

It should be a taunting rule. Not a celebration rule. That's true for the NFL and the college game.

PWD

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

SEC Power Poll Ballot


  1. Alabama - The Wildcats scored some mop up TDs against Bama that made it look close, but the Tide remains unchallenged so far.  Again, everything Bama does is competent.  Nothing spectacular, just solid, consistent football.
  2. Florida - I guess we'll find out something about the Gators this weekend.  Tebow is questionable right now, but don't you have to assume the guy will play?  I can't see him missing their biggest game of the season in his senior year, headaches or not.
  3. LSU -  Even after the UGA game, I'm just not sure how good LSU really is.  If they had a consistent pass rusher and a vertical passing game, you might consider putting them in with Bama and Florida.  How an offense with that many quality skill people can't put games away is troubling.  Gary Crowton should turn it loose Saturday night because he'll have to.
  4. Auburn - The Aubs may have the most competent offense in the league and Gus Malzahn is coordinator of the year so far.  Do you remember how terrible their offense was last year?  Substantially the same personel, different genius, and 5-0.
  5. Georgia - Saturday's game in Knoxville is as big a game as UGA will play this year.  Win it and there is hope for continued relevance.  Lose it and the season starts heading toward a patented Fulmer Year of Death.  A.J. Green still looked like himself against Patrick Peterson and the LSU secondary.  Monte and Eric Berry await their chance to slow him down.
  6. South Carolina - The Cocks woke up after halftime to put away a patsy.  
  7. Ole Miss -Redemption calls this weekend.  If Snead didn't like the pressure Carolina was sending, wait until Saban brings the heat.
  8. Arkansas -If you don't pressure Ryan Mallett consistently, Arkansas will put up forty on you.  Ask the Aggies who spent $300 a ticket to watch Mallett light the wrecking crew up like a bonfire.
  9. Tennessee - I loved watching Kiffy call for a two point conversion after their meaningless touchdown while time expired.  I suppose the refs refused the try.  A win this weekend could give Kiffy some legitimacy.  A UT win would at least show the Vols that the program still contains short term promise. 
  10. Mississippi State - State couldn't hold up once the Tech option grinder got some traction.  At this point, State fans should be happy to score over twenty points a game.  They've simply switched their contraint from offense to defense.
  11. Kentucky - The Cats will fight and claw for everything and meet with a degree of success.  Too bad it's after the game has been decided by an overwhelming show of opponent force to open the game.
  12. Vanderbilt - It's back to the same old Vandy.
Quinton

Monday, October 5, 2009

Ah-hem, Not to Spoil the Pity Party, But ...

The bad celebration penalty didn't cost us the game.  Here's what did: one first down in the first half, no threat of a running game, a missed field goal, terrible kick coverage, and missed tackles.  LSU got kicked in the balls with 1:09 left in the fourth.  They scored a touchdown in twenty seconds.  We then got kicked in the balls with :49 left and threw a pick.  LSU got it done.  We didn't.  The refs afforded both teams opportunities.

If you want to blame Willie, fine.  Just remember that Rennie Curran, our best tackler, had Charles Scott at the line of scrimmage and couldn't close the deal.  He was in position to make the stop and didn't.  Don't blame Willie.  Blame Rennie, who absolutely played his ass off, set a career high with 16 tackles, and is our best defensive player.   Sometimes, the other guy makes a play.

Quinton

SEC: "The video does not support the call"

SEC Supervisor of Officials Rogers Redding (Georgia Tech class of '65) told the Athens Banner Herald that the video doesn't support the excessive celebration call.  Redding told Tony Barnhart that the ref feels bad about it.

Well...that makes it ok.  Wait. No it doesn't.

PWD

AJ Green "Celebration" another camera angle



Unbelievable. Uploaded by DrewinSC. I'm more sick about the play after watching this than I was before. What a screw job.

PWD

There's nothing special about our kick coverage

David Hale has an article about the inconsistency in the kicking game at Georgia on Macon.com. It's a good read, but the better read is his breakdown of disastrous kickoff coverage incidents since 2008 that have taken the momentum away from UGA and given it back to the opposition.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's simple physical science and rudimentary math. Slow doesn't catch fast.

If you have the fastest player in college football returning the kicks, you aren't going to have a reasonable opportunity to chase him down and tackle him using walk-ons, 280 lb defensive ends, back-up fullbacks and back-up quarterbacks. That issue is complicated when they approach the ball carrier tentatively and don't maintain their lanes.

We have a roster full of players like Richard Samuel who were born to cover kicks. The kid was a dominating linebacker in high school who runs fast and has no problem running into people. Why he's not on every coverage unit, I'll never know. There are an abundance of tight ends, linebackers, safeties and wide receivers on this team.

Jon Fabris is a whale of a very good* defensive ends coach, but his unshakable approach to personnel utilization on kickoff coverage and his entire approach to the subject doesn't work. It just doesn't, and it has never worked. It's not the kicker either.

The celebration penalty changed the game. But our inability to cover the final kick lost it for us. Think back to Baton Rouge in 2003. Everyone remembers Billy Bennett missing three field goals as a major reason we lost. Most folks remember our WRs inability to catch that day and our daycare aged offensive line being manhandled by the veteran LSU defensive line. But most folks forget that it was the kickoff following the 93 yard TD run by Tyson Browning that was returned to near midfield that set up the final Tiger miracle score.

How many more games will our kickoff coverage hurt us before we try something truly different? It's maddening.

See Also:
-- Upon further review - Blutarsky

PWD



*I over reached with the initial adjective. I do believe that he's done a very good job with what he's had HEALTHY to work with over the past 9 years. The DEs have arguably been our most consistent group during that period. Last year, he had next to nothing to work with that was healthy. He had one starting DE that was 2 biscuits shy of 300 lbs and a redshirt freshman as his only healthy guys.

Excessive Celebration - Brando's Rant



Move to the 4:45 second mark to hear Tim Brando discuss the call at the end of the LSU game (ht - Catfish and Cornbread). If you can't access YouTube via work, here's a transcription of the conversation that Steve Patterson of UGASports.com put together.
“The rule absolutely has to be abolished. Not changed. Just get rid of it...

...There are more of these called in the Southeastern Conference than any other league in America, and I am going to tell you because it is up to the discretion and judgment of the official that I think now that the politics of the community...of the area are going to be called into question. You don’t want this to happen, because if we take this conversation where we could, it is not going to bode well for the Southeastern Conference.

So first and foremost in the off season they've got to abolish it.

“Rogers Redding, who is in charge of the SEC officials, had better tell his officials 'you had better cease and desist on calling them so quickly.”

“They don't want us to go more in-depth on why the SEC is throwing more. I am telling you, it is a conversation, I don’t want to have it, my friend Spencer does not want to have it, and I am telling you, watch out, because people are going to take a closer look at this and it is not going to bode well for the league.”
What Brando appears to be talking about there is the issue of race. Tim Tebow has never been flagged by an SEC official for celebration; yet, Tebow dances around like an idiot after every two yard run both drawing attention to himself and pandering to the crowd. When LSU scored their first touchdown their offensive linemen were gesturing to the UGA student section and acting wildly on the field celebrating their TD without flag.

Am I saying the issue really is race? I believe that Caucasian players rarely get flagged in the SEC no matter how excited they get. I've never seen it. Have you? So is Brando right? Or is it simply a situation where UGA is still being punished for the 2007 Celebration in Jacksonville? Either way, I don't care. Enough is enough.

Living Under an Oppressive Regime
I'm generally not a conspiracy theorist. But Georgia does live under an oppressive officiating regime. The current SEC Supervisor of Officials is Rogers Redding (Georgia Tech class of 1965). The prior Supervisor of Officials was Bobby Gaston (Georgia Tech class of 1948). The Chief of Officials for Saturday's game vs. LSU was Marc Curles (Georgia Tech graduate). (Ht - HacksawDawg). And for good measure, the play by play man was Al Ford who wrongly announced that Jasper fumbled.

Let me just ask you this....would Kentucky ever allow the head of SEC basketball officials to be from Louisville? Obviously not. Yet, we've had a Tech man running the show for the SEC since 1988. 21 years is enough. Is there not a competent official from Iowa, Texas or hell...American Samoa.

PWD


(BTW -- It is outrageously inappropriate to email Curles at his place of business about his performance as a ref. If you have an issue with the officiating, you should contact Mike Slive via letter or email.)

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Kickoff Time Set for UGA at Tennessee

Kickoff is at 12:21 pm on SEC Network. That's Peachtree TV in Atlanta. Here's the list of games per SECSports.com.

GAME NETWORK TIME
Vanderbilt at Army CBS College Sports 12 p.m. ET
Auburn at Arkansas ESPN 12 p.m. ET
Georgia at Tennessee SEC Network 12:21 p.m. ET
Houston at Mississippi St. ESPNU 12:30 p.m. ET
Kentucky at South Carolina FS South 12:30 p.m. ET
Alabama at Ole Miss CBS 3:30 p.m. ET
Florida at LSU CBS 8 p.m. ET

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia at Tennessee

PWD

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Is LSU ideally suited for this UGA team?

Richt's teams generally perform their best when they are out of the spotlight or dismissed as incapable of greatness. However, give them accolades and throw roses at their feet and the wheels can fall off.

Sure, UGA is favored on Saturday, but LSU is still the #4 team in the nation. And the general feeling is that Georgia is completely off the national radar. That's a good thing for the Dawgs. They need to get pissed off. They need to feel disrespected. They need to get mean.

If UGA stops turning the ball over, it could start mauling opponents offensively. On the flip side of that equation, if LSU's Charles Scott gets going and the anemic LSU rushing attack gets rolling, they could justify their lofty ranking.

NOLA.com put up a story last night about the offensive problems of the Tigers. It's a good read. Here's the stats from NCAA.com to consider:

LSU's Offense:

Category National
Rank
Actual Conf
Rank
Rushing Offense 74 130.25 10
Passing Offense 90 179.75 7
Total Offense 105 310.00 12

UGA's Defense:
Category National
Rank
Actual Conf
Rank
Rushing Defense 42 112.75 6
Total Defense 67 355.75 11
Scoring Defense 95 29.75 11
Pass Defense 90 243.00 11

You know those games where someone says "it's strength on strength." This ain't that. This is weakness on weakness.

PWD