My honest take on Urban Meyer's Departure

As I said on Twitter yesterday, I"m having a lot of trouble getting excited about Meyer's departure from Florida. My reasoning is pretty simple. Florida isn't Georgia's biggest obstacle to success right now.

Georgia's biggest obstacle to success at this point is Georgia. We absolutely must get our own house in order, or we won't take advantage of Meyer's departure. I still believe now as I did last off season, that our problems are:

1. Sense of Urgency
2. Lack of a Meritocracy - Which I would extend to the hiring process
3. Personnel Utilization Issues

I'm glad Meyer's gone because he's an excellent coach, but I'm more interested in what Mark Richt and Greg McGarity are doing in Athens than what Jeremy Foley is doing in Gainesville.

PWD

Buying a Tiger

This is why the Internet was invented.



Uploaded by cwashpt . HT - trillium via the DawgVent.

Strength and Conditioning

Mark Richt rebuilt the Georgia Bulldog football program in 2001 on the core premise of Finishing the Drill. The idea was simple. If we work harder than the other guys, we're going to win the fourth quarter and therefore the game. (Image by Jim Hipple)

There's been lots of bitching and moaning here and elsewhere about our strength program. The crux of the argument usually sounds like this, "Look at us getting mauled at the line of scrimmage." Or "I hear bad things about S&C." Beyond that the feedback is usually either very vague or full of innuendo.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know what goes on in the weight room. But you know what? I don't care. I don't give a damn if they try ballet, dabble in yoga, bust rocks or replicate the Siberian Workout Scene from Rocky IV. The process is of no interest to me. All I care about is the outcome.

This year against BCS opposition, Georgia was outscored in the fourth quarter/OT in 8 of 10 games by a combined score of 54 UGA to 88 opposition. In the six losses, the numbers are even more lopsided at 37-61. That point differential is an unacceptable outcome.

This isn't a symptom of some larger issue. This is one of the DNA-level problems that Coach Richt has to resolve between now and next season, and it's not going to be solved by touting fake 40 yard dash times or making field trips the swimming pool.

It's time to GATA again.

PWD

Aaron Murray's Freshman Season

If you had told me preseason that Aaron Murray would throw for 2,851 yards, 24 TDs and only 6 INTs with one game remaining on the schedule, I would've thought for sure that we'd have won 9-10 games. Easily. But here we sit at 6-6. (Image by Jim Hipple)

As a point of comparison, here are the first year starter totals for other recent UGA QBs:

• Joe Cox (RSr.) - 2,584 yards / 24 TDs / 15 INTs
  
• Matt Stafford (Fr.) - 1,749 / 7 TDs / 13 INTs
  
• DJ Shockley (RSr.) - 2,588 / 24 TDs / 5 INTs
  
• David Green (RFr.) - 2,789 / 17 TDs
  
• Quincy Carter (Fr.) - 2,484 / 12 TDs
  
• Mike Bobo (RJr.) - 2,440 / 13 TDs
  
• Eric Zeier (Fr.) - 1,984 / 7 TDs

INT information isn't as easy to get your hands on prior to 2004. Also...Bobo was technically a first year starter in 1995, but he was injured so early that I didn't think it was fair to post those stats.

Murray's current passer rating of 162.7 is greater than Mike Bobo's UGA single season record of 155.8. His 61.8% completion percentage is third best in UGA history for a single season, and he's one TD away from tying the single season Georgia record Matt Stafford obtained in his final season before being the #1 pick of the draft.

All of which baffles me when I think about us being 6-6.

PWD

Video: Aaron Murray Season Highlight

2010 Season Highlights from Aaron Murray. The video was uploaded to Youtube by pr1sonmike



Watching this is about as encouraging as it gets.

PWD

The Struggles Start Up Front

What's the difference between Van Gorder's saw blades of doom and the Martinez/Grantham* sieves?  I'll give you a few hints: David Pollock, Kedric Golston, Quentin Moses, Marcus Howard, Charles Johnson and Will Thompson.  Those are the defensive lineman who were on the roster in 2004, Van Gorder's last year.  All of those guys went on to leave a lasting impression on opposing quarterbacks and offensive linemen as players you had to scheme around.  If you didn't, your offense was going to get disrupted and the defensive back seven would make plays on you.  This was the cornerstone to those great defenses of the early 2000's.  Get pressure with four and let the back seven reap the benefits. (Image: Dean Legge at Dawg Post.)

I would argue that one of the chief culprits in the current defensive erosion into mediocrity has been the inability to get pressure with our four down linemen.  That has been a direct result of the recruiting battles we have both won and lost in the period of 2005 to 2008. Of all the defensive line recruits in that period signed by Georgia who were from the State of Georgia, only one has been an outstanding player: Justin Houston.  All the rest of our Georgia recruits were either average players, nonqualifiers, discipline casualties, medical casualties, or are too young to evaluate (including almost our entire DL this year).  That group includes Corey Moon, Brandon Sesay, Rod Battle, Brandon Wood, Michael Lemon, Demarcus Dobbs, Neland Ball, DeAngelo Tyson, Toby Jackson, and Cornelius Washington.

In compiling that list though, I was surprised to see how few good recruits the State of Georgia turned out in that four year period.  The Peach State has an excellent record of producing defensive lineman, as evidenced by the group on the 2004 roster.  Between 2005 and 2008, though, the state produced zero D-line All-Americans and only three first team all-conference players: Eric Norwood (an All-American and All-SEC outside LB at South Carolina), Allen Bailey (All-ACC at Miami), and Cam Heyward (All-Big 10 at Ohio State).  Jermaine Cunningham was a second team All-SEC selection at Florida.  So, of all the DL prospects in Georgia, only three were difference makers on the D-line and we missed on all but one. 

What does this tell us?  First, it shows that the talent pool in Georgia over the past few years was much more limited than in the 2000-2004 classes.  Second, when there was a prominent prospect on the board, we weren't likely to get them. (See also, Kyle Moore and Omar Hunter.)

Until we can start to land serious D-line prospects, either from our state or otherwise, I wouldn't expect the defense to get substantially more intimidating.  And if Georgia isn't producing them, we have to find them elsewhere.

Quinton

*It's unfair to lump Grantham in with Willie, but so far, the defense ain't much better than last year.  Some progress is evident, but we have a long, long way to go.

Source of Concern: UGA's Toughness

When you rock the "I Run This State" body paint and eye patches, the other team typically doesn't forget it. Much like celebrating in an end zone...you don't just have to back that up for one year. It's something you have to back up year after year after year.

I loved the confidence last year...I just hope the team realizes they have to live up to that swagger this year, too. Because I can assure you Tech hasn't forgotten.

PWD

Source of Concern: UGA's Defense

Georgia's 2010 defense has issues stopping misdirection, playing assignment football and consistently tackling well. Unfortunately, Paul Johnson's entire career is built on preying upon teams that have those faults.

It's no secret that one of the biggest problems in defending the Triple Option (T.O.) is having enough practice time to install the offense with your scout team in a competent enough manner to properly simulate what you'll face on game day. Teams who've had more than a week to prepare for GT's T.O. have obviously fared dramatically better than those that haven't. However, there are exceptions.

In 2008, Coach Martinez had a bye week to prepare, and it didn't help at all. The Yellow Jackets ran for a bazillion yards.

To his credit, Martinez wised up in 2009. He realized that he didn't have a bye week to get ready so he and Richt quietly came up with another plan to prepare the Dawg defense. They devoted a practice session everyday from Fall Camp to Thanksgiving to learning/defending the Tech offense. The result was a well prepared UGA defense holding Tech 109 yards below its season rushing average.

So...how will Grantham prepare the Dawgs to stop Tech? How will he overcome our fundamental problems in managing misdirection?

Well..they don't exactly run Johnson's offense in the NFL so it's hard to say what he'll do. Based on his resume, I don't think Grantham has coached against any true belly option teams since the 1996 Michigan State at Nebraska game, which ended about like every game against a mid-90s Husker team ended.

Coach Belin saw the T.O. several times at Vandy including two losses to Johnson's Navy squad and several other match-ups with military academies and other smaller programs. He probably has the deepest breadth of experience on the staff outside of Garner...and the graduate assistants.

Coach Lakatos appears to have last faced the triple option in 2006 as Paul Johnson's Navy team beat UConn 41 to 17 in Storres, CT. He has some other military school encounters vs terrible Army teams with better results, and he was at Div I-AA Maine from '95-'00 where he probably saw the T.O. quite a bit. Although, the next piece of information I have about Maine football will be the first.

Basically -- I'm saying I have concerns with our ability to stop them. GT operating without Nesbitt *should* mean a massive UGA victory, but you still have to play smart, physical football and tackle well. And UGA hasn't done much of that this season.

GT isn't going to roll over and play dead for us just because their "Heisman candidate" is out with a busted arm.

See Also:
-- Grantham braces for Option - DawgPost.com

PWD

Hoops: Enormous Week for Dawgs

I was looking for a video that showcased the end of UGA's win at Saint Louis, but I can't find anything. However, I can direct you to a first hand recap of the game from Bulldog in Exile who was in attendance. Apparently, Georgia got off to a lackluster start from an intensity standpoint, but snapped out of it before it was too late.

My top two concerns for this season are:

1. Developing the mental toughness to win on the road. This is a skill set that needs to be developed totally from scratch as UGA was 1-19 away from Athens over the prior two seasons. In fact, Georgia hasn't won more than two SEC regular season road games in a single season since the 2002-2003 season...Jim Harrick's last in Athens. That group went 4-4 on the road in SEC play. That's why Saturday's win was so huge from a momentum standpoint.

2. Staying healthy. We're already struggling here with Trey's ankle injury and now Connor Nolte's broken nose. It looks like Trey won't play this weekend in Orlando and Connor will need nose surgery when the team returns from Orlando.

Speaking of Orlando:
The bracket for the Old Spice Tournament can be found here. The TV Schedule is:

Game 1 vs. Notre Dame: Thanksgiving Night 7:00 pm ESPN2

If we win Game 1:
Game 2 vs. Cal or Temple: Friday at 5:00 pm on ESPN2

If we lose Game 1:
Game 2 vs. Cal or Temple: Friday at 7:30 on ESPNU

Game 3 on Sunday depends on what happens in the earlier games with two of the three scenarios televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Three of ESPN.com's top basketball analysts/writers have Georgia winning this tourney even without Trey Thompkins. In fact, Fran Fraschilla goes as far as to say don't be surprised "if Georgia's Gerald Robinson Jr. is the MVP of this tournament. The Tennessee State transfer has given Mark Fox another scoring option this season, and he could have a breakout performance here." (See bottom of page)

PWD

Source of Confidence: UGA's Offense

I'll make this pretty brief. Georgia Tech has positively no one on their roster who can cover AJ Green. Not in single coverage and likely not in double coverage. Al Groh's only hope of
stopping Georgia on Saturday is:

A. Clog the running lanes on 1st and 2nd downs. Pummel Murray on 3rd and long and knock him out of the game.

B. Hope that Bobo stops calling plays that work.

I don't think Tech can stop UGA's offense if Murray stays upright. Only Mike Bobo and Mark Richt can stop it. If they go into this game with some pursuit of balance for balance's sake as often happens, we'll predictably run into issues. Or if Bobo stops calling plays that work, we'll predictably run into issues.

Last year, Bobo ignored his demons until the last 3rd down call of the game and pounded GT with run after run after run after run. Why? Because it was working. I personally think the answer this year will be throw it deep, then deeper still and then deeper again.

Statistically, GT has a better pass defense than run defense, but that's partially because they haven't faced very many competent passing offenses. The NC State group was probably the best unit they've seen, and NCSU went for 368 yards through the air.

If we don't try and outsmart ourselves and don't turn it over, we should win.

The next posts are the flip side of this post....My 2 concerns.

PWD

Zabransky's Revenge?

In 2005, a much-hyped Boise State team came to Athens on a quest for legitimacy.  The Broncos weren't yet the BCS perennial and national title bridesmaid they are now.  Many in the national media picked Boise as a sheik chic upset pick to beat the favored Bulldogs because of the departures of David Greene and David Pollack.  The result was, um, not pretty.

That game served Boise with notice of what it takes to play college football at the highest level.  They seemed to figure it out in subsequent years.  Recent Boise teams look nothing like the 2005 Boise team that played in Athens.  They are now poised, exciting, well-coached, and don't make a bunch of silly mistakes.  In the documentary "Out of the Blue," the Boise players that subsequently upset Oklahoma in Tempe say that during that game, some were thinking back to Athens and using that humiliation as motivation to beat the Sooners on the big stage.  (They amusingly recall that trip to Athens around the 9:00 mark in the linked video.)

Georgia has also changed quite a bit since that game.  Check out the athletes in that video.  Our bench seemed to overflow with playmakers.  In the past two seasons, however, it's been the Dawgs who give up the key turnover or make the silly mistake.  

Which brings us to the rumored rematch between Boise and UGA for the Chick-fil-a kickoff game next year.  Initially, this looks like a sound move from Greg McGarity, even though he has been outspoken about eliminating the cross-sectional home-and-home games we've enjoyed the past few years.  We swap a degraded Louisville series for a national showcase game in Atlanta without a return trip.  We keep recruiting rivals like Alabama, LSU, or Auburn from that national stage.  There's also a tidy bit of cash money split between the teams.  All of these are sound points.  The Senator makes a fine case for the game and I can't see much fault with his arguments. 

But, McGarity might also be clearing out more than just future schedule warts.  If Georgia loses to Boise to open the season next year, I think Mark Richt will be declared terminal with the Georgia fan base.  Given the steady decline in results over the past three years, there are already many UGA fans who have abandoned their hopes of a championship team with Richt at the helm.  If we get beat by Boise, a team that few SEC fans respect, the boosters are going to start passing the hat for a buyout and placing odds on the next coach.  In other words, Richt might be coaching for his job in that game.  That shouldn't be a comfortable position for Richt considering he will be without one of the greatest offensive threats in school history and his only legitimate defensive menace, both of whom will be sitting on piles of money. 

I can hear those comments now.  "You're scared."  "You're not a real Dawg if you are scared of Boise."  So, let me retort preemptively.  I'm not scared of playing Boise.  I'm all in favor of inventive and courageous scheduling.  I want to keep those cross-sectional home-and-homes going, unlike most fans and my athletic director.  I'm just pointing out that if you play a national spotlight game with fragile fanbase credibility and lose, the consequences can be long lasting and fatal.  Ask Tommy Bowden.  McGarity is throwing his coach in the deep end here.  Can Richt swim?

Since 2005, Boise has performed at its best when it was in the national spotlight.  When was the last game we won in the national spotlight? 

Quinton

Hate Under the Lights

This should be fun.  The Tech game is at 7:45 on ESPN.  We've been complaining about the lack of night games and its injurious effect on recruiting.  Well, here comes a big one against a hated rival with bowl eligibility on the line. It should be the best atmosphere in Athens the Dawgs have seen all year.

Quinton

In All Fairleyness ...

Frankly, the Dawgs performed better than I thought they would tonight.  This was one of the few games in the Richt era where I thought we had almost no shot of winning.  While we weren't that close to a win on the scoreboard, the team performed quite well in spurts.  The first quarter was some of the best football we've played all year.  Eventually, however, we just couldn't keep up with Auburn's offense.  As soon as we kicked a field goal in the third, I knew the game was essentially over because they had broken serve.  That offense was the best unit we've seen all year.  Our defense continues to struggle and I think this is just who we are, fundamentally inconsistent, not particularly physical, and perpetually susceptible to a big play.  With that said, Grantham has two weeks to get ready and I expect a good performance against a hobbled Tech offense.

The Dawgs got a takeaway early and ended up winning the official turnover battle, but I would count the onside kick as essentially equivalent to a turnover.  It was a gutsy call by Chizik, but it worked and stole a precious possession that could have helped UGA put the pressure on Auburn to keep up with us, instead of us keeping up with them.  Richt said he had prepared the team for such a tactic, but they weren't watching for it when it actually happened, I guess.  Based on Boykin's second half returns, I guess they were only concerned with the onside kick after Auburn got one and forgot to block.

Three other good things before I get to the bad.  Aaron Murray and Alec Ogletree are as good a set of freshmen as we've had in a while.  Murray is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites.  The kid was getting beat senseless, but kept fighting at every turn.  Tonight might have been his best game of the year all things considered.  If we had a legit running game to really sell the play action fakes, he'd be an absolute mortal lock for SEC and national freshman of the year.  Ogletree needs to start every game for us until he turns pro.  He's big, physical, as sure a tackler as we have in the defensive backfield, and he needs experience.  I know he got toasted on Auburn's last touchdown, but the way they were running all night you can't blame him for the cheat step up.  And lastly, A.J. Green is the best receiver we have ever had or will ever have.  How exactly will our offense function next year without him?  Nevermind, I know.  I was in Starkville.

Now, on to the ugliness.  I've never been a fervent Auburn-hater like Kyle King.  I've always sort of considered us friendly rivals with outbursts of mild fire-hosing or drink-throwing, but nothing of the Tech or UF caliber hate.  Our games always seem to be physical, hard-fought games that are fun to watch and inspiring of a certain earned respect.  With that preface, Auburn was a dirty football team tonight.  Perhaps it is unfair to characterize an entire team for the actions of a single player, so I guess I'll say Nick Fairley is a dirty football player.  I realize I'm biased, but it's not just me who thinks Fairley was unsportsmanlike.  Every father should show his son Fairley's actions tonight and tell them "if you play like this, I'll kick your ass."  Nick Fairley's a good football player and he'll be a millionaire very soon, but he'll never be able to buy a good reputation.  He's dirty and he plays the game the wrong way.  I'll never cheer for a player to get injured, but I'm as close as I can get to breaking that rule for Fairley.

Update: Lots of Georgia blogs are on the Fairley thing, but here are some more unbiased opinions for you too. 

Quinton

UGA Basketball Update

The basketball season officially begins on Friday night in Athens as the Bulldogs face Mississippi Valley State. There are discounted tickets on sale via Georgiadogs.com. Some items of interest with the season on its way:

• Recruiting Rankings -- Rivals.com ranks the basketball signing class as #24 in the nation. Our peers in the SEC East are UK (#1), UT (#23) and UF (#25). It's nice to see us ranked, and in the mix vs. our direct competition.
  

• Georgia's 2011 Commitments -- Preseason I felt that if Georgia signed Kentavious Caldwell (best player in state), Tim Dixon (best true center in state) and two other players that this would be a good class. The hope was that one of those two players other would be Julian Royal (GT) or Nick Jacobs (Bama) and we'd go from "good to great." Obviously, that didn't happen. The addition of the raw 7'1" JUCO center will help some. The class is solid, but we're going to need more star power over the long term to make a consistent move towards the top of the SEC. Devin Langford (Wing) is still out there and considering the Bulldogs which would be a very solid addition. (Note: It appears that the LOIs for all existing commits are in)
  

• 2012 Recruiting -- Dan McDonald of UGASports.com has his recruiting 2012 hot board up. The Bulldogs are in the Top 3 for some of the true gems of the class including high profile in state players like Jordan Price (PG), Jordan Adams (SG), Evan Nolte (SF), Jamal Reid (SF) and Tony Parker (C). Evan Nolte's brother is on the team, and Reid's half-brother is Jeremy Price. Parker was HS teammates with Donte Williams. Both Jordans are Atlantic Celtics, and our success story with their AAU program is Trey Thompkins. Fox really needs to sign at least three of those kids as all represent areas of extreme need. Hopefully, he'll benefit from this group of kids seeing our 2010-2011 progress on the court.

Playing rotation once Trey returns based on what I'm hearing:

5 - Price then Barnes
4 - Trey then Barnes then Donte
3 - Travis then Connor then Thornton (til MT learns the scheme)
2 - Gerald then Travis then Brantley
1 - Ware then Gerald then Vincent

Other tidbits:

• Jeremy Price -- Fox told a recent booster gathering that Price is an emerging leader on the team. Those that have attended team banquets and practices since Fox's arrival will tell you that Price was Coach Fox's favorite subject of ball busting (both playful and otherwise), but that seems to be changing. For this team to meet it's true potential Price has to become a steady 12 points and 7 rebounds a night type performer.
  

• Chris Barnes -- Chris and Jeremy will graduate per Coach Fox, and Gerald Robinson is also on pace to graduate. This is pretty significant improvement for a program that once went 6 years with only 1 scholarship player getting a diploma during the Jirsa to Harrick transition phase.
  

• Scheduling -- Coach Fox said that in his first 2 years we will have played about 11 BCS opponents, but only 2 (Colorado and GT) in Athens. He is working with McGarity to try and fix that, but it's tough because everyone knows we beat GT, UT, Vandy and UF at home last year. Other coaches aren't stupid...they don't want to walk into a snake pit and get beat. So, it's tough getting things lined up.
  

• Stegeman -- I took a tour on Nov. 2nd, but I missed the exhibition game. Still, I can tell you that it looks absolutely incredible. It'll look even better once the graphics are finished on or before Nov. 18th.
  

• Ticket Sales -- As of 1 week ago, season ticket sales were up about 18% and contributions were up 30%. Also, the UK game sold out with only ~150 tickets going to non-donors (those with the pre-sale password). Since we have some UK fans who donate to UGA for SEC Tourney tickets, the Cats will get some tickets. However, it should be the fewest number of blue clad fans in Athens in a very, very long time. Five hundred UK fans is better than 1,500+ as we've seen in the past.
  

That's what I'm hearing.

PWD

Thoughts on Cam Newton's saga

I'll start by saying that I find it highly unlikely that Mark Schlabach, Pat Forde and Chris Low would all put their names on the original story involving Newton and Mississippi State if they didn't have it cold. Joe Schad's a different animal entirely. I'd put his willingness to put himself out on a breakable limb as pretty high, but I digress.

It's important to remember that Forde, Schlabach and Low didn't say Auburn paid for Newton, and that's an enormous issue in this story. They simply said that a representative for MSU stated that someone representing Cam Newton tried to sell Newton to MSU.

Yes...Schad is reporting that the MSU recruiters say they were outbid. However, I wouldn't put much stock into that as the MSU recruiters have nothing to lose by lying or exaggerating to Schad. And I think Schad may be the weakest link in the entire ESPN news organization .

Hello, I'm Agent Killjoy:
However, the FBI getting involved as TMZ is reporting makes it an entirely different thing. Ask yourself why and how the FBI gets involved in a case like this? They certainly don't care about college football's integrity or NCAA violations. So why get involved?

Well...laundering money through a entity with non-profit tax status like a church...that's on their radar. Using cross state phone lines to commit fraud or other crimes is also on their radar.

But again...the FBI doesn't get involved with a lot of wild goose chases. They simply don't have the time. So why this case?

Consider these three facts:

1. The NCAA has no subpoena power. They can't make a Church(es) reveal documents they don't want to reveal. Nor can they make "runners" or "agents" cooperate with them.

2. Contributing to non-profit organizations in a non-quid pro quo manner is not an NCAA violation. Take a look at a some of the big name AAU basketball programs' web sites and notice that several have very visible "Donate Now" pay pal buttons that anyone can hit. Routing money to AAU coaches via their non-profit AAU status is very common and tough for the NCAA to prove without subpoena Same with routing money through a church I'd imagine.

3. NCAA investigators are often retired/former FBI agents who love sports and hate being lied to.

So,What's more likely? That MSU, Bama or UF called the FBI into this saga? Thereby increasing their own legal costs and creating distractions for their personnel. Or that an NCAA investigator called a former co-worker at the FBI and shared his information to date.

Bringing in the FBI is perfect for the NCAA. They can then let the Feds do the heavy lifting regarding the money trail and leverage their subpoena power to find dirty secrets. Then the NCAA can read the testimony and discovery documents after the fact.

The NCAA wants real meaningful change in the recruitment of student athletes and what better way to facilitate that change than to have the parents, runners, agents and/or coaches involved in high profile cases go to jail?

So is Auburn in real trouble?
Maybe. Maybe not. If I were betting, I'd suggest that Cam Newton's dad was more likely to end up in hot water than anyone at Auburn. But Auburn officials should be sweating bullets. Just remember, there are five people that you never want to see in your front yard:

1. Jim Cantore
2. An IRS Agent
3. An FBI Agent
4. Greta Van Susteren
5. Chris Hansen

If Cam and Auburn want due process, well..they are going to get it. Sadly, just not fast enough for Georgia to benefit on Saturday.

PWD

My Overall Thoughts on the Football Program

If Georgia had played as hard against South Carolina and Mississippi State (and to a lesser degree Colorado) as they played against the Gators, I believe that things would look very different. We could still be in first place in the East, and things wouldn't look so bleak.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The Bulldogs played dispassionate football for much of the first five games of the season, and they put themselves in this position.

That's what bothers me.  I just can't comprehend why in 2007, 2009 and 2010 this program's coaches and players waited until the biggest prizes were off the table to decide to play their hardest and smartest football*.  It's maddening.

Georgia is not a program with 4-5 talent.  Georgia is not a program with 4-5 facilities, recruiting base, financial backing or any other infrastructural element.  There's no Jan Kemp, Ronny Contrell or Lane Kiffin-sized legitimate excuse for where we are.  We are here because Coach Richt has consistently waited too long to address the glaring problems surrounding the program, and that is why we are where we are.

It's a systemic issue of urgency that we've discussed frequently over the years.  A coach with "hair on fire urgency" doesn't do the following:

• Tolerate Neil Callaway's recruiting for 6 seasons
• Tolerate John Jancek's epic fail linebacker coaching for 5 seasons
  
• Tolerate John Fabris' idiotic kickoff "strategies" for 9 seasons
  
• Redshirt Knowshon Moreno
• Promote a kid like McClendon when *obviously* more qualified candidates were available
  
• Wait to terminate Martinez and post-pone an inevitable rebuilding process
  
• Blow off two a day practices in favor of pool parties
• Let the strength program fall to where we're getting mauled up front

So here Richt sits scrambling to find answers that are less painful than the obvious ones.  Just like last year.

It's all so avoidable, and that's what frustrates me the most. 

To clarify, I'm not calling for Mark Richt's job or his head.  I want him to be successful because he's a good person...but more importantly because the process of replacing him is TERRIFYING when you consider the realistic pool of potential candidates.

I'm simply asking that our coach manage our program in the proactive manner that is commensurate with his compensation package.  To date, we've paid Coach Richt almost $20 million.  The bulk of that money was not paid as a reward for past performances. It was paid to ensure we got consistently excellent results on a go forward basis.  Once you win the SEC, you're not Coach for Life.  You still have to drive the program forward.

We've now lost 10 games in the past two seasons, and appear very likely to lose 11 in two seasons. As a point of comparison, Jim Donnan lost 11 games in his final THREE seasons in Athens.  Regardless of Richt's excellent achievements in his first five years, he absolutely cannot take the program to a level lower than he found it.  That's simply not acceptable.

He's being paid to make the tough decisions BEFORE those decisions become obvious to those of us who've never been in the arena.  Waiting for years after we can figure it out is far too long.  And that's my frustration.

PWD


*Ht to "Whyso" via DawgPost.com's message board for helping me articulate that sentence more concisely than my original draft.  He articulated what I was trying to say in a similar manner.  Not the whole post...just that sentence.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

I don't think it's a secret that I've been a frank pessimist regarding the Dawgs since about midway through the second quarter of the 2008 Alabama game.  That doesn't mean I don't desperately want to be an unbridled, unabashed optimist about the Dawgs.  My problem is a lack of evidence to make the turn.  In the last two and a half seasons, there's only been one sound defeat of a legitimate team (Tech 2009).  Even inferior teams have given the Dawgs problems (and more than a couple of losses) during that span.  And then, there's been two epic beatings in Jacksonville.

This year's team, left for dead in the Flatirons, has suddenly appeared competent with three straight convincing wins.  While I'm not yet ready to start beating my chest until it's red and black, there seem to be a lot of us who are.  Vegas likes us this weekend.  The experts, if you call Mark Bradley that, are for the most part picking the Dawgs, despite our recent historical difficulties in Jacksonville. I can't remember this much objective enthusiasm about UGA's chances in Jacksonville since Zook was fired or that suicide-inducing 2002 game (I apologize for bringing it up, **PUKING**).

The experts are picking us because we are the "hot" team.  Three straight convincing wins will evidently make you forget two atrocious efforts earlier in the same season.  But, it looks to me that our relative hotness and the Gators' relative coolness is simply a matter of timing.  UF beat UT and UK badly, just like us.  UF lost to Mississippi State in embarrassing fashion, just like we did.  These results, however, have just come at opposing times.  UF got UT and UK early and we played them this month.  So, we're essentially the same team against common opponents.  They've looked like a bunch of turds lately, but we looked turdtastic early.  

Even with the experts on our side, there's something of a lingering dread about this game that keeps me from complete confidence Saturday.  I'm having a problem turning myself into a bubbly fountain of hope because I've been burned so often and so badly in this series, but am I just not getting it this year?  Should I be more confident?

Given the recent history of the series, I feel like the Dawgs have to show me they can beat the Gators without endzone celebrations, lame duck coaches, or goofy alternate unis.  I want a straight up win over the Gators with no frills.  It's something I haven't seen in thirteen years.  I don't want to hear how we're going to do it.  I want to see it. Let us have it, Dawgs.  Please.  My capacity for hope in this series could be at stake.

Quinton

Quick Hoops / Stegeman Update

Player News:
Trey Thompkins continues to get positive press following his nomination as preseason SEC Player of the Year. One of my favorite articles so far comes Andy Katz talking about Trey's status as the best big man in the league. It's a very encouraging read.

Recruiting News:
On a separate note, I noticed Nick Jacobs committed to Alabama yesterday. It's unfortunate that Jacobs didn't give us a longer look given that we have so much playing time available, and his connection to the program via David Jacobs (former football player). The biggest issue with the 2011 recruiting right now is simply that the signing period is BEFORE what should be our breakout season. I hope to sign one more big man in the Spring, and we've got offers out to one more guard/wing for the Fall in Devin Langford and Dai-Jon Parker (Nov. 5th announcement scheduled).

Facilities News:
I dropped by Stegeman on Friday to check out some of the renovation work, and I came away incredibly impressed. The all glass facade completely reshapes the look of the place from the exterior. Interestingly...to me at least...hanging each piece of glass properly is quite the ordeal. I counted 1 crane, 3 cherry pickers and 10-13 men required to install one panel of glass. Oh..and each panel looked to take about 25-30 minutes to get in place with two separate crews doing the work -- one on each side of the building . This photo from the Red and Black shows the work pretty well.

On Friday, it looked like they had 4 panels left on the Carlton Street side and about 10-12 panels left on the practice field side. I would imagine they are probably pretty close to finished on that aspect of the work. Anyone who wants to drive by the building and post a comment about the progress is welcome.

Interestingly, I talked to one of the guys on site who was supervising. He said they install a rubber connector of sorts to connect the top row of glass to the concrete roof of Stegeman. The connector has to allow for the expansion and contraction of the concrete. They've measured Stegeman's roof height during temperature variations as much as 50 degrees and found almost 4 inches difference in height as the concrete reacts to external temp swings. The roof "moves" less when the building is closed off to the outside temps...in other words when they finish they'll be able to regulate the internal temps much better and reduce the movement of the roof.

The crews are basically working around the clock to finish in time, and it looks like all the major work will be done in time for the Nov. 4th exhibition game. However, I would expect quite a bit of cosmetic work regarding the graphics and visual extras to be completed closer to the official home opener.

You have to hand it to Damon Evans. This is a high value investment in our basketball facilities.

One negative in all of this...I do have to say that it's a real whiff to have the exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 4th instead of the originally announced Friday, Nov. 5th. There are lots of folks...me included...who just can't make three separate trips to Athens in one week. One trip for the exhibition game, one for the football game and one separate athletics related trip. We need to get that exhibition game next year moved back to the Friday before the home opener to help our fans.

That's all. Overall...momentum continues to build around basketball.

PWD

Random UF Humor

Urban Meyer talks to his offensive coordinator Steve Addazio. Ht - lowcountrydawg via the Vent



PWD

About the Bye Week

Image: DawgPost.com '07
Obviously, Florida isn't going to just roll over and play dead for us, but you wouldn't know it from reading some of the message board posts or reviewing the betting line.

Think back to 2007. Georgia was coming off a bad 2006 season, and it entered the 2007 Cocktail Party in a very flaccid fashion. The South Carolina loss was bad followed by the 28-0 halftime Volunteer lead in Neyland. All followed by barely beating Vanderbilt in Nashville. The only legitimately positive sign that season was the big win at Bama.

But Georgia took advantage of the bye week to get its act together and beat the defending national champs senseless.

There's no reason to think that Florida...despite all their problems...can't do something similar. It's not like they are without talent. They just have to pull their heads out of the sand in order to give us a war.

And to clarify...This post isn't some subtle pre-game excuse making way of saying "Florida will win because of the bye week." That's a bullshit excuse on par with bitching about the weather (as Blutarsky mentioned on Monday). The Dawgs had the bye last year before UF and in 2008 before the Tech game, and it did them no good. It's simply to say that the Gators are probably tired of hearing how much they suck, and they will play their best game of the year against UGA. Much like UT did in 2007 after their bye week.

Also the Dawgs should be very thankful we didn't have the bye week this year. Georgia needed the extra week to build more momentum and confidence. Plus, Caleb King would've been suspended for the Gator game if we had the bye on Saturday.

Derek Dooley on the Germans

There's a lot of message board and twitter buzz about Derek Dooley's comparison of the Vols to the WWII Germans. The sound bytes read like a lunatic was talking, but if you actually watch the video...it's quite funny and lucid.



I'm all for mocking Precious and kicking the Vols when they are down, but this actually had me busting out laughing with him. Not at him.

Imagine Les Miles' socially awkward self trying to pull this off. Now that would be comedy.

PWD

That's Mr. Houston to You

Houston on the tackle vs. UT (Image: Hipple)

Yes. He's a badass. The SEC Defensive Player of the week now is now tied for the lead nationally in Total Sacks with 9.5 according to CFBStats.com.

The only thing missing from his game is an inside spin move. He's so fast rushing up field past the OT that teams often call the inside draw play to run inside his attack route. If he could vary his approach a little with an inside spin, he could further disrupt the opponent's play calling.

Houston is currently on pace to record 15.5 sacks this season. Although, that number will be almost impossible to hit with GT throwing the ball so infrequently and Cam Newton being so super human difficult to sack.

UGA single season sack leaders:

14 - David Pollack (2002)
13 - Mitch Davis (1993)
12.5 - David Pollack (2003)
12 - Richard Tardits - (1988)
12 - Jimmy Payne (1981)

SEC career sacks records:

52 - Derrick Thomas: Alabama '85-88
49 - Billy Jackson: Ole Miss '80-83
37 - Ben Williams: Ole Miss '72-75
36 - David Pollack, UGA '01-04
33 - Alex Brown, UGA '98-01
32 - Reggie White, UT '80-83
29 - Richard Tardits, UGA '85-88

For his career, Houston currently has 19.5 sacks. He would need to stick around for his senior season to have a shot at the UGA career mark. And it would take one helluva a season to knock that record down.

PWD

One Prerequisite Is Fulfilled

Have you ever heard that UF has a really good record lately against Georgia?  Usually, it's the ONLY thing the national media discusses in previews of this game in recent years.  As I've said before, we aren't the only team who's struggled against the Gators in the last twenty years.  Despite that, it seems we're the only team that consistently gets the recent series record dangled in our face.

So sure, we've had our issues in Jacksonville.  In every UGA victory in that twenty year span of futility, though, UF came into the game with a loss against LSU (1997, 2004, and 2007).  An LSU victory over the Gators doesn't signify that the Dawgs will win because LSU has beaten UF a few more times in the last twenty years than we have, but we haven't beaten them without LSU doing it first.  At least that one tiny omen favors us.

Quinton

Third and Grantham

Much like their prior two games, the Dawgs were workmanlike Saturday. They scored on a couple of long, bruising drives that were reminiscent of the Tech game last year. The run blocking was much better last night, resulting in a record five rushing TDs from a tailback benched earlier in the year for ball security issues. Then, when UK made a big mistake with the fumble on their own five, the Dawgs were there to cash in some easy points. The turnovers that killed us the last two years are suddenly bouncing our way. The Dawgs got four Saturday, three fumbles and a Sanders Commings INT in the UGA endzone. Oh yeah, Boykin had another 100 yard kickoff return. Ho-hum.

Overall, I'm not going to complain about much of anything, considering I left both Starkville and Boulder utterly convinced that the 'Cats were going to beat us for the third time in five games. So, I'm excited that we've got a shot at a bowl game, something I thought utterly unimaginable on the flight home from Colorado.

With that said, Saturday's game illustrated a worrisome defect in our defensive play. UK converted nine of fifteen third downs. That's sixty percent and two of the unconverted third downs were late in the fourth quarter when UK was in desperation mode. Even counting those last two, UK outperformed their season third down conversion rate by 15%. Georgia's now allowing opponents to pick up third downs at a rate of over 42%. We're very likely to be last in the conference in third down conversion defense when the stats are updated Monday.

A bigger problem Saturday night was the way our third down defense allowed all those conversions. Generally, the defense performed well on first and second downs. That set up several third and longs, the goal of every defensive coordinator. We just couldn't take advantage of those third and longs. UK converted nine third downs. All but one were third and more than five yards to go. Three were third and really long (10, 12, and 15). We just can't keep that up. So, either our coverage skills have to improve or we have to get better pressure on third downs. With those kinds of numbers, it shows our third down pressure ain't working. When the blitz comes, it's ineffective. When we don't bring pressure, our zone defense is still full of the same holes that were there last year.

"Third and Grantham," a comment of derision among Dawg fans, must turn into a term feared by opponents. So far, we're a long way from that.

Quinton

Georgia vs. Vandy Photos: The Offense

All pictures by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.


Carlton Thomas on the carry.


AJ Green in the open field.


Great photo of AJ Green snagging the ball.


Ealey on the run.


Orson Charles with the stiff arm.

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.

Uga VIII's Debut

A couple of photos from Uga VIII's debut in Athens against Vanderbilt. All images by Jim Hipple.

Georgia vs. Vandy Photos: The Defense

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.


DeAngelo Tyson chases down Vanderbilt's QB


Dobbs pressures the QB.


Dowtin with the tackle.


Ogletree prepares for impact.

All images courtesy of Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.

PWD

Tennessee State Champs

Not much mystery to the 43-0 homecoming victory. Georgia was surprisingly dominant against an inferior opponent for the second consecutive week. Vandy was just outmatched all day and their own mistakes didn't help them either. Despite the shutout, I'm not yet convinced that our defense is completely ready for Kentucky, UF, Auburn, and Tech (well, maybe UF). Our run defense was good and there weren't a bunch of broken tackles, but Vandy also dropped a bunch of passes. We still have some work to do on pass defense.

Otherwise, I thought Aaron Murray just kept on chugging. You can see the guy getting better every week. This week's lesson was throwing the ball away in the red zone with the clock ticking down. Good veteran move. (Why did he need to do that? Because we used all of our time outs in the first six minutes of the first quarter. Does Richt need to consult Homer Smith again?) I thought I saw an open A.J. Green outright drop a pass and Blair Walsh miss a 31 yard field goal, but I know both of those things are impossible.

Overall, Vandy was the perfect homecoming opponent. There's little about the Dawgs' play one can legitimately complain about.

It's not about the game per se, but I do have a very legitimate complaint about what I heard during the game. Dave Neal and Andre Ware made a few of the most stunningly boneheaded comments during the game that I can recall a broadcast crew saying. First, on the botched Vandy snap, Dave Neal said a possible result of the review could be that Vandy would get the ball on their 20. Uh, how? It was either a Georgia touchdown or a safety. How could Vandy get the ball in that situation? Please explain to me. Next, when Aaron Murray almost got his face knocked off on a scramble, Andre Ware says something like "that was close to helmet-to-helmet contact." Close? The Vandy D-lineman, using nothing but the crown of his helmet, attempted to knock Murray's facemask up his nose. The ONLY contact was helmet-to-helmet. Lastly, I just chuckled when Ware said Georgia might have been flagged for "roughing the passer" when they sacked the Vandy quarterback. At least "Nomar Morano" didn't make an appearance.

When I watch games, I can push the SAP button to hear the Spanish announcers. Why can't I push the same button to turn off any commentary? I want to hear the crowd and the band, but I don't want to hear anyone talking to me. Can someone help me here?

Quinton

Urban Meyer is a bad guy

Gregg Doyel, CBS Sportsline National Columnist and Florida Gator Alumni, eviscerates Urban Meyer for the reinstatement of Chris Rainey.  Per the article:

Rainey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking after sending the following text message to his girlfriend: "Time to Die B-tch."

Is Chris Rainey back at practice this week if he'd sent that to Meyer's daughter?

We'll never know, and good for that. I don't wish ill will on Meyer or his family, but I do wish the single most visible man at Florida -- my alma mater, if you didn't know -- would stop embarrassing UF grads like me who wonder why he's considered such a strong leader when in reality he's weak. Soft. Pathetic.

Meyer cares only about winning games, and if he'd stand there and tell the world, "I care only about winning games," then I could live with it. I'd still be embarrassed that a dangerous cretin like Chris Rainey was allowed to represent my school so soon after telling a woman that it was time to die, b-tch -- but I could live with Meyer being true to who Meyer is, which is a cutthroat coach concerned not with his players or his university, but with his career winning percentage and the $24 million contract that comes with it.

The article is an interesting read.

PWD

On the Bright Side

I spoke with a member of the UGA Marketing Department last night, and he said Georgia Basketball Season Ticket Sales are up 20% over the same period last year.  The enthusiasm for the basketball team's start is extremely high. 

If you want to continue to be excited, check out Sportsline.com's Gary Parrish as he discusses Mark Fox's work at UGA so far.  The next big date for the Dawgs is Thursday as I think Julian Royal will announce between Georgia, GT and Wake.  Most of the pundits think it's either UGA or GT.  If we can sign an elite power forward like Royal to complement Kentavious Caldwell on the wing, it would be a huge building block for the roster.

PWD

Caleb King Suspended for 2 Games

I think the punishment is too harsh for the individual act that Caleb committed.  Ultimately, he's guilty of being stupid.  However, at some point Mike Adams, Greg McGarity and Mark Richt have to say enough is enough.  Ultimately, it stops being about 1 arrest.  You have to look at the big picture.

If you're a UGA football player you know that unpaid tickets result in suspended licenses.  You also know that suspended licenses result in jail time, and you know that Richt, the administration and the fan base have had just about enough of the arrests.  You've been warned that subsequent arrests will be dealt with more harshly.

So you can't be pissed or shocked that you get whacked for two games for essentially being dumb.

Eleven arrest this season is complete and total non-sense.  I recognize that there's a MASSIVE disconnect (as Blutarsky called it) between the UGA Administration and the surrounding police force for this to be an issue with Caleb.  I also recognize that at many other schools this never results in an arrest. But it doesn't matter.  Eleven arrests is eleven arrests.  And it's not all paperwork and boys will be boys stuff. 

It's already hurting us with recruiting as Bama is using our arrest problem to help sway Crowell.  And that's why I care the most.

I also care because I think it speaks to the leadership of the program at the player level.  The team needs a gigantic kick in the ass, and it has needed one for a long time.  At some point, that kick in the ass has to come from a guy like Shockley, Pollack, Greene, Gilbert, etc.  There's a black hole in terms of leadership within the team that's existed since the 2007 season ended. 

Don't think so?  We were in a four game losing streak without a players only meeting being called. That's incomprehensible to me. As a point of comparison, LSU was 5-0 and had a players only meeting after almost losing a game.

Teams with great leaders have fewer off the field problems, and they win more on the field. 

Until our Mark Richt and our Strength and Conditioning program get back into the business of producing real leaders, I don't expect that our on the field discipline or our arrest record will improve.  And yes...that's what the S&C program used to brag about the most. Not the size of our players or fictitious 40 times, but the program's ability to develop true leadership.

PWD

Georgia at Kentucky - Kickoff Time Announced

The SEC announced their kickoff time for Oct. 23rd, and UGA will face the Kentucky Wildcats at 7:30 pm ET on CSS.  The complete SEC TV schedule for that weekend includes:

12:21 pm Ole Miss at Alabama (SEC Network)
3:30 pm LSU at Auburn (CBS)
7:00 pm Alabama at Tennessee (ESPN)
7:00 pm UAB at Miss State (ESPNU)
7:00 pm South Carolina at Vandy (FSN)
7:30 pm UGA at UK (CSS)

The Georgia vs. Florida game is at 3:30 pm on CBS the following week.  It's expected that Idaho State will be at 1:00 pm, although the ISU start time hasn't been confirmed yet.

PWD

Brutal but funny

The AJC's Mike Luckovich weighed in on Coach Richt earlier in the week. Gotta love the dark humor.

PWD

The Rave Is Over

From this morning's Athens Banner-Herald:

"Student representative Trey Sinyard told the board that the timing of some commercials being shown on the Sanford Stadium videoboard during the game result in 'killing the atmosphere.'

McGarity said after the meeting that Georgia is 'taking a hard look,' at some of the presentations, including 'canned music.'

'I’m pretty much a traditionalist, a conservative,' McGarity said. 'If the bands there, I want to hear the band playing. I think our fans do too.'"

Thanks you, Jesus.  When I went to Starkville, I was unsure how the State athletic administration managed to turn Davis-Wade into a dance party, complete with techno music before every kick off.  Look, if I wanted to go to a dance club with blaring techno music, I'd buy Hawks tickets.

Good luck, Greg McGarity.  Let the band play.

Quinton

to add to that last post

..the one about the call in show and more physical practices.

To answer a question all of us should be asking..."No. I have no idea what took him so long to do this."  But it's directionally right so I'm going with that.

Rays of Hope

I sincerely hope you had the opportunity last night to listen to Coach Richt's Bulldog Hotline Show.  I found it to be the most refreshing, honest and genuine conversation with Richt in a long time.  JimFromDuluth has a recap, but it's impossible to capture Richt's tone.  Here are some highlights from my recollection in addition to the full recap from Jim:

1.  Toughness -- Richt openly and candidly addressed the issue of toughness on the team. He talked about our need to be more physical at the point of attack on both sides of the ball and to tackle better.  To that end, he reshaped this week's practice schedule.  Typically, Monday is a day for lifting, reviewing Saturday's mistakes with the players and doing a shorts and pads walk-thru.  However, the team went full pads and full speed yesterday and did 1's vs. 1's work. 

It's extremely rare and incredibly frustrating / baffling to me why Richt does so little 1 vs. 1 work.  Typically, it's first teamers vs. second teamers or 1's vs. Scout teamers in practice.  So yesterday was uncommon.  He said the practice was incredibly spirited, and the guys had fun competing.  I also liked that the losers for all the drills had extra running.  He said the team got better, and that they'll be going the same speed today.  He also said that toughness and physicality are two of the biggest areas of emphasis for him right now. 

2.  Play Calling -- He addressed the play calling on 1st and Goal from the 4 yard line vs. Colorado.  He said in retrospect that we absolutely should've pounded those guys four times.  However, he said the real mistake was not telling Bobo when they got down there that he was going to go for it on 4th down.  If Bobo knew he had 3 whacks at it after they got to the 2 yard line following Chapas' run on first down, he felt the play calling would've been different.  He didn't address the idiocy of having AJ Green on the bench for the disastrous 3rd down pass, but he at least admitted that they completely bungled that possession.

He also said that as a result of that nonsense on the goal line much of Monday's 1 vs. 1 practice session was focused on a Goal Line Possession called "1st and Goal from the 4"...where the offense wasn't allowed to pass. 

3.  Vance Cuff's 3 Penalties -- He was basically asked how in the heck Cuff could get a third personal foul in that game without being benched.  Richt candidly said that he badly wanted to bench him.  But with Branden Smith out with a concussion, they didn't think that Cuff's back up was experienced enough to play better.  Richt would rather have pulled him, but didn't think it would work.  Now...you can agree or disagree with that reasoning, but at least he had valid logic.  I've felt in the past that they screw up...and it's never even considered to pull them.  (No word on why Jakar Hamilton still sees the field, but that's a topic for another day)

4.  Visible Leadership -- A woman called last night and asked him about visible leadership. She said that Nick Saban and others lead their team out onto the field pregame, but Richt is the last one out of the tunnel.  She acknowledged that typically Richt has said he wants that moment to be about the players, but she wants to see him lead the program.  He said she had a valid point, and he will lead the team out this week.  Most of you won't care about this at all.  But it's been a source of annoyance for me and a few friends for years.  Same with the Dawg Walk.  His excuse about not doing the Dawg Walk but once a year has never made a lick of sense to me.  Is it why we're losing? No.  But it's part of a bigger issue about leadership.

5.  Being a Nice Guy -- Richt routinely gets calls on the show about being a nice guy and a good Christian man.  Last night, he said (paraphrased heavily) that he appreciates that praise.  He also recognizes that being a head coach is about more than wins and losses.  It's about developing young men, seeing them graduate, etc.  But he said the wins and losses are the biggest and most visible thing.  More importantly, we're no where near where we need to be, where he expects to be or where the fans wants to be in that regard.  We have to improve.  Again, that's heavily paraphrased, but his general tone (that I interpreted) was that he knows it's not enough to be a Nice Guy or Rev. Richt.  Which I appreciate.


You can read everything I wrote about last night, and not think any of it matters or will fix anything.  Maybe you are right, but I can tell you that I'm an extreme skeptic related to the rhetoric from our coaching staff.  I was incredibly encouraged.  Richt sounded passionate, and he sounded sincerely humble. 

For the first time this season including before the ULL game, my optimism and hope for the season is based on something other than a weak schedule and a belief that "Murray can't be worse than Cox / Grantham can't be worse than Martinez." 

Don't get me wrong...he still has to beat UT or we move into DEFCON 1 PANIC.  But for one night, I finally heard most of what I wanted him to say about the big picture stuff.  Get us tougher, and many other things will fix themselves.

PWD

Lessons from Ray Goff's Tenure

Well...we've lost four games in a row for the first time since Ray Goff's 1990 team went 4-7 overall. If we lose to the Vols, it would be the first five game losing streak since the early 1950s when UGA was by far at it's absolute lowest historical point.

Given that you have to reflect back to Goff's tenure to find failure of this scope, it makes sense to look at some of Ray's good and bad moves in times of crisis.

Positive Lessons Learned from Goff:
An offensive turnaround can happen quickly. UGA lost 13 games from 1989 and 1990 on the strength of a dramatic collapse in the talent base and an offensive philosophy that was wildly out of date. Offensive Coordinator George Haffner's play calling was straight out of the stone age. Our QBs in 1990 were Greg Talley, Preston Jones and Joe Dupree, and the 1990 recruiting class which was ranked #1 in the nation with guys like Hearst and Hastings was still in diapers.

So how did Ray turn around the offense? He brought in Wayne McDuffie with an innovative wide open passing attack, and signed an elite QB in Zeier to run it. The improvement began immediately as the Dawgs went from 4-7 in '90 to 9-3 in '91 and 10-2 in '92.

Negative Lessons Learned from Goff:
Goff kept his "hunting" buddies on staff for far, far too long. His inability to hire a competent defensive coordinator to complement McDuffie on the other side of the ball created an imbalance he could never overcome. (that and being stupid and lazy...but that's another topic)

He also struggled with personnel utilization issues on both sides of the ball. Even McDuffie and his brilliance had issues here. Reflect back to the 1994 game at Alabama. The Tide went undefeated in the regular season, but the Dawgs were a whisker from beating them. Unfortunately, we had Hines Ward (Super Bowl MVP WR) at Running Back, Robert Edwards (Top 10 NFL Draft Pick RB) at defensive back, and Terrell Davis (Super Bowl MVP RB) on the bench.

Lastly, he let the strength and conditioning program fall behind the times. When Donnan came to UGA in 1996, he commented (paraphrase) that his Marshall offensive line was stronger than his UGA line when he arrived.

Where are we now?
Richt is shockingly making mistakes right out of Ray Goff's play book. He waited too long to replace Martinez. Our strength program may produce great "stats" but our guys up front are getting mangled at the point of attack.

We have a former WR coaching RBs who should've gotten his "big break" in Div I-AA. We have a RB coaching WRs who was a much better RB coach for us. Our offensive coordinator refuses to sit in the press box where he can have a complete view of the field.

Granted, Richt isn't watching soap operas in his office instead of game film unlike one of the really depressing Goff rumors. But holy hell the ox is clearly in the ditch.

Where Next?
This is STILL very fixable. There are innovative offensive minds all over college football who would KILL for a chance to coach Aaron Murray. They would kill to coach in the SEC. And it doesn't have to take forever to turn things around.

OR..Mike Bobo could prove that he's one of those people and this season has been a wacky mix-up of some variety. Which I'm fine with...but skeptical.

In the Shortest Term
At a minimum, Bobo should be back upstairs where he could see the entire field better...with instructions to get AJ Green the ball at least twice per offensive possession. We should make sure our best players are in the game -- like Kwame Geathers getting more snaps on defense. And Branden Smith should have more offensive touches than Carlton Thomas. Because...you know..that simply makes sense.

As for the defense...it takes time to implement a completely new system. However, it would probably be a shorter process if the playbook wasn't 12 inches thick. These are college kids with 20 hours to learn and absorb a scheme. Right now, it looks like the only team that's confused by our defense is our own. The brilliance of Bill Oliver, legendary defensive coordinator at Bama, wasn't his complexity or his aggressiveness...it was his ability to put guys in the right spot and tackle well. That's why he was the first defensive coordinator to handle Spurrier in the early 90s.

It's all still fixable. But...it's been fixable all season.

PWD

Speaking of Strength and Conditioning

Remember back in June when UGA released their strength and speed numbers. An interesting read in light of what we've seen so far on the field.

I like our chances Saturday because we're more talented. If we get our confidence back, we'll be fine.

PWD

Recycling is Good for the Planet

Before the 2006 UGA vs. Colorado game, I did a "Tale of the Tape" article. I'm biased, but I thought it was one of my better pieces. For a visit to the time machine...

PWD

I Can't Wrap My Head Around...

You can measure the worth of most non-government subsidized items by demand.  How badly would someone else want that item?  I know almost everyone is unhappy with our assistant coaches right now and for good reason. In particular, many are unhappy with the job that Stacy Searels is doing with our offensive line.

But here's the thing.  Stacy Searels is by far the most accomplished assistant coach on this staff.  He built two national championship offensive lines for LSU.  He coached the 2003 unit under Nick Saban, and he recruited, taught and developed the 2007 line from scratch that Les Miles took to a national title the year after Searels left for Athens.

Searels is a guy that Nick Saban tried to hire in 2007, and Gene Chizik made a run at him last year to return to his alma mater.  If Georgia were to let Searels go at the end of the season, he would only be unemployed for about 30 minutes.

And...his players are the most experienced unit on the team and one of the more seasoned groups in the nation.  Clint Boling (Sr.) and Chris Davis (RSr.) have started over 35 games each.  Cordy Glenn (Jr.) and Ben Jones (Jr.) have started over 25 games each, and Josh Davis is a fifth year senior with 10+ starts under his belt.

So my question boils down to this...How on earth could our most accomplished coach who is leading our most experienced group deliver a unit that is by far the worst on the team?  I've been a Dawg fan for 20 years, and I've attended well over 200 games in person.  In that time, I don't think I've ever seen us produce an offensive line of this gross ineptitude.  I can't speak for that 1990 team but I don't remember anything as terrible as this since then.

Even the 2003 OL which started 3 Freshmen (two of whom were badly injured all season) and 2 sophs was better than this unit.  How is that possible?

As a fan, I simply can't put my head around it.  I've never seen a team that had coaching and personnel continuity like our offensive line regress in such catastrophic fashion.

If Searels can reach this group...or bench some of them...you would think this season can be salvaged to some measure.  If he can't, a long season will get a lot longer.

PWD


(As for Bobo...the play calling is bad and so is the scheme.  But every play looks better when it's blocked.  I have thoughts on Bobo that I'll share later, but it's nothing ground breaking.  Everyone knows the play calling is a hot mess.)

Do we keep Mississippi State on the Schedule?

I don't really get the point of canceling the Oregon series as McGarity and Oregon have just done.  McGarity says he wants seven home games a year.

For what?  To make more money?  We already have the most profitable athletic department in the country.

To have a lighter schedule?  Well...are Mississippi State, Kentucky and Vandy going to stay on the schedule?  Because Richt is 14-2  vs. non-conference opponents in the regular season since he arrived, but he is 5-4 vs. the three worst teams in our league since 2006.

Non-conference scheduling is the least of our problems / barriers to greatness.

I don't agree with the decision to weaken our non-conference schedules.  Do I think that the schedules were booked in an optimal fashion? No.  The Oregon series was booked on the wrong years anyway with both GT and Oregon being away games in the same year.  Do I think that it was a mistake to book three BCS opponents in one year like we did in 2009. Definitely.

But I don't think fans want to see three bad non-conference games a year.  Does the price of tickets go down if we have fewer quality games on the schedule?

PWD

The Sick Man of the SEC

As prologue, I'll admit that I didn't watch the game closely.  I took my rambunctious toddler to Starkville and she made it impossible to adequately watch the play-by-play in an analytical way.  I haven't had the heart to watch the TiVo yet and I'm unlikely to have the desire to watch any significant portions of it.  More stringent observation, however, isn't needed for what I'm about to say.

Georgia shouldn't lose to Mississippi State.  Ever.  We have too many inherent advantages, from our fertile recruiting base to our superior financial wherewithal.   I've heard Jeff Dantzler talk about our lack of brilliant talent due to recruiting misses for the in-state elite.  But, no matter what you say about our talent level, it should be (and I believe is) above State's at all times.  What State can do, though, is make sure their athletes are well coached and that their effort is maximized.  That's exactly what they exploited Saturday night.  With inferior talent and resources, State beat a sinking Georgia program that appeared careless, undisciplined, and hopelessly unlucky. They did it with a well-coached, fired-up team that took advantage of its breaks and won a conference game.  It was an effort in stark contrast with their opponents.

For the first time in a long while, I agree with every line of a Mark Bradley column.  He makes most of the points that immediately ran through my mind on the long drive out of Starkville.  It's not a happy agreement, but it's difficult to argue any point he makes.  The issue is one of faith.  We, as fans, have kept our faith in Richt for the most part.  He's built a large stack of chits during his career in Athens.  Last night's game, however, may have exhausted Richt's supply.  Losing to Carolina and Arkansas isn't fun, but it's temporarily understandable.  Losing to State isn't understandable.

To borrow a metaphor from nineteenth century European history, Georgia is the "sick man" of the SEC.  A former power that has run into hard times due to repeated setbacks, relevant only because of its reputation, size and affiliation with other great powers.  Georgia is withering before our eyes.  When a team that has won championships in recent memory begins to lose battles with State, Kentucky, Arkansas, and South Carolina, none of whom have won a championship in longer than recent memory, the only conclusion is a degenerative, sustained illness.  An illness consuming the patient, who is condemned to a slow and painful death. 

The question for Greg McGarity is one of prescription, not diagnosis.  We know the program is sick.  The question is the cure. 

Quinton

Two MSU Tickets Need a Good Home

I have 2 tickets for the Mississippi State game. They are in Section 311 Row 9. If you're a Dawg fan in Northeast Atlanta and can pick them up before 6 pm, they are yours.

Sold. Thanks.

Preview for Mississippi State

There are tons of previews around. You know why you're not going to get one here? Because the preview only takes one sentence to write.

"Georgia is better than Mississippi State, and Georgia will win if our players give max effort every play."

If our guys pout or loaf their way into Starkganistan, it will be one long ass ride back to Athens. It really can't be much more simple than that.

I'm taking UGA +2. Richt's record as a true* road underdog is ridiculously good. The only game I can think of that he lost as a road dog was Auburn 2004. I can't remember if we were the favorite or not in Baton Rouge 2003. Regardless, those two teams weren't exactly the MSU Bulldogs of 2010.

Is your memory different than mine?

PWD


*Meaning not neutral site games.

Georgia Basketball Update

On the recruiting front:

• As you already know, earlier in the week Tim Dixon committed to UGA. Dixon is listed as a 3 star player by Rivals.com, and he was arguably one of the top two centers in the state before he transferred to a Florida high school to work on his academics and strength.  Dan McDonald of UGAsports.com describes him as a long kid (6'10") with good feet and hands, and a decent mid-range jumper.  His weakness is clearly strength as he's only about 215 lbs.  He's got 13 months to add at least 15 pounds of muscle to that frame before he gets to campus. The commitment

• Dixon's commitment is significant because many quality power forwards don't want to play the center position in college.  Why? As Jim Harrick once said of Jumaine Jones' decision to leave for the NBA (paraphrase): "He didn't want to get elbowed in the neck, and that would've happened if we had to play him at the five spot."  Julian Royal, the elite power forward at Milton High School, should be comforted to know that we'll have a long big man to potentially play beside him. 

• On the strength of Dixon's commitment, Coach Fox's recruiting class for 2011 jumped to #16 in the nation in the latest ESPNU rankings.  If the Bulldogs close some of the elite prospects on the board, they could shoot dramatically higher.

• Nick Jacobs, a relative of former Bulldog defensive tackle David Jacobs, is still out there as an elite combo center / power forward.  Jacobs visited Athens last weekend, and he had a good time.  Jacobs is 6'9" and 250 lbs, and he would be an immediate starter for the Bulldogs at center during the 2011-2012 season.  

• Overall, UGA needs to sign at least two more kids to complement Dixon and Caldwell. I asked Dan McDonald last week, "Is it realistic that UGA could sign Caldwell, Dixon and the two remaining Milton kids (Royal and Dai-Jon Parker?)"  His response, "It's absolutely realistic to think UGA could sign those 4 guys." Although, he cautioned that Royal is still a UGA vs. GT toss-up and Parker is a bit of a wild card. Still encouraging to think we're still in the mix for such elite players.
  

On the TV front:

• The SEC and UGA have released more Television Information for the 2010-2011 season.  The Bulldogs should have 10 games televised by ESPN/2/U during the regular season.  We only had four such games last season.  We're also getting a CBS game this year.  Last year, CBS didn't sniff us.  You have to be on TV to land the big recruits.

Next season, I like our chances at going 12-2 non-conference.  I could see us going 2-1 in Orlando and then going 3-1 vs. Georgia Tech (road), Xavier (home), UAB (home) and Saint Louis (tricky early road game).  Non-conference the SEC West is so weak that I could see doing as well as 11-5 in the league if we develop more mental toughness and stay healthy.  But the SEC East is so strong, that might still only be good enough for third in the East.

Thoughts?

PWD

Nesbitt for Heisman Watch

Some stats to consider as part of the Joshua Nesbitt for Heisman Campaign. For the season, Nesbitt is completing 36% of his passes. That's 8.3 attempts per game and exactly 3.0 completions per game.

On 3rd down:

• 3rd and 1-3 yards -- 0 for 1
  
• 3rd and 4-6 yards -- 1 for 2
  
• 3rd and 7-9 yards -- 0 for 1
  
• 3rd and 10+ yards -- 2 for 4

For the season, Tech has faced third down 38 times, and they've converted 50% of them. Therefore, no one can completely dismiss what Coach Johnson wants to do in the short term. He's going to run the ball on anything shorter than 3rd and 8. Everyone knows it, and folks are really struggling to stop the very large Nesbitt.

But again, it's the long term that's interesting. It always comes back to the issue of why would any kid in their right mind ever want to play QB or WR for Johnson? Same for offensive tackles and defensive backs (who don't see a competent passing scheme in practice). So what happens when Nesbitt...their Heisman Candidate leaves?

But back to Johnson and Nesbitt. Consider these red zones

• Inside their own 20 yard line (regardless of down) Nesbitt is 1 for 1 passing.
  
• Inside the opponent's 20 yard line regardless of down, Nesbitt is 0-2 passing

All that said...5 of the guy's 9 completions have gone for 25+ yards.

Against UNC, he was 3 of 4 passing for the game for 76 yards and a TD. Outside of the UNC game, he's 6 of 21 for 124 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT against Kansas and SC State.

GT passing nationally rankings....

• 119th in attempts
  
• 120th in completions
  
• 120th in percentage
  
• 119th in yards
• 93rd in passing TDs

Only Army passes the ball less effectively. Source: CFBstats

The stats are simply amazing. Where's my Heisman ballot?

PWD

Single Game Colorado Tickets on Sale Now

Predictably, the Colorado athletic department has put single game tickets on sale for the Georgia Bulldogs at Colorado Buffaloes game.  Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 2nd at 7:00 Eastern / 5:00 Mountain.

Sideline tickets are on sale for $100 each and end zone tickets are available for $75 each.  As of the time of this posting, you could still get tickets in groups of nine or fewer.

Also, you've probably already heard this, but Colorado is going with a Black Out for this game, and the Colorado Bulldog Club has requested that UGA fans wear Red to the Game. The resulting picture will make it look like a Bulldog home game.

It's going to be a fun trip.

PWD

Photos: UGA vs. Arkansas Part 2

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.


King makes a gutsy play.


Robinson on the tackle.


Richt yells.


Richt ponders.


Stretching for the endzone.

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.