Cock Lit

For your reading pleasure:

• Georgia game notes and Carolina game notes.
• The Senator sums up my feelings about any game preview posts quite nicely.  If we can't score more than 20 with Stafford, Moreno, and Green, why should we expect things to be any different Saturday?  Expect lots of defense and little scoring.  In other words, a typical Georgia-South Carolina game, the black hole of offensive production.
• For some in-depth analysis, it doesn't get much better than Chris Brown's take on Spurrier's play action and decreasing effectiveness plus a brief look at the Cock offensive butchering last Thursday night.
• T. Kyle and the Garnet and Black Attack have an amusing tete-a-tete about this Saturday's game.  G&BA surprisingly says he would take Rennie if he could grab any single player off UGA's roster.  Uh, I've seen your offense.  Believe me, you want A.J., not more defense.

So, there's some stuff to get you prepped, but if you've seen this game in this decade, you know what to expect.  Good defense, bad offense, and a crucial, game-deciding Carolina turnover.  Just my hunch.  Go Dawgs!

Quinton

The Grayhound in the Starting Blocks?

UGASports.com ($) and now ESPN.com's Joe Schad are reporting that Logan Gray is going to start on Saturday due to problems with Joe Cox's shoulder. Multiple other sites are reporting that Joe will start, and both will play.

It's the worst kept secret (or most repeated rumor with incredibly specific details) in Athens that Joe has had shoulder issues for weeks. And it isn't a shock to me to see Logan Gray play a ton or start.

If Logan is going to take the job, ideally it would be because he beat Joe out. Not because Joe got hurt. Here's to a healthy week for Joe and Logan.

Update: Claude Felton states on the record that Joe Cox will start Saturday.

PWD

The new Personal Foul rule

This is the biggest call in college football right now because it's going to happen mostly on 2nd or 3rd and long. It's going to be the biggest and most violent hits that are flagged whether they are legal or not.

A first down for a penalty in that situation could be game changing.

Shouldn't that penalty be eligible for instant replay? At least until refs get a better feel for what is and isn't a penalty?

PWD

Georgia: Gatekeeper to the Big Time?

In boxing, there is a type of fighter called a "gatekeeper".  He's capable and has skill.  He might have contended for championships during his career.  But, each such fighter has serious flaws that will always keep him from a title shot.  Instead, when promising young fighters come along, the gatekeepers welcome them to serious fights.  If the promising youngster beats the gatekeeper, he continues to close in on a title shot.  If not, he looks for work down at the docks.

Is this not exactly what Georgia has been the past five years?  A team that the up and coming play to gauge their progress toward the elite?  Boise State failed in 2005.  West Virginia passed.  The Pokes failed in 2007 and so did Hawai'i.  Alabama passed with flying colors last year.  Maybe Okie State passed last Saturday. 

Maybe it is just the oddities of our new scheduling philosophy, but it seems that we play a lot of teams about to emerge on the national stage.  If they beat us, then they are roundly hailed by the national media.  If they lose, they are forgotten.  West Virginia went on to top ten finishes in 2005-2007 and got as close to the national championship as we did in 2007.  Bama went on to a BCS bowl last year and look like they are on track for a similar result this year.  Time will tell about Okie State, but the breaks are falling their way so far this season (Bradford, Gresham). 

Quinton

About that kickoff thing....

I had bitched all off season....well....several off seasons that Georgia has far too many non-scholarship players and too many slow guys on our kick coverage unit.

That's one of the primary reasons that directional kicking as executed by this program doesn't work. The physics of something slow catching something fast seem pretty obviously flawed to me. That and the geometry of kicking directionally makes little sense. But I digress.

I did like seeing more high end speed on the kickoff coverage unit last week. Richt promised to put more high-end personnel on that unit, and he delivered. I saw quite a few front line players out there, and I only saw two wedge buster walk-on types on the unit. Did that help them make the key tackle on the 78 yard return. No. And that's not a trivial thing. But the coverage was pretty good on the other two kicks.

It was nice to see players who have legit wheels on that unit.

Although, I still don't get why we have a 280 lb defensive end out there covering kicks. Why would we tire out a guy that size running down the field for 60 yards when we have so many faster linebackers, safeties, corners, tight ends and running backs on scholarship?

It's not 1989 any more. Is anyone other than Fabris still putting 280 pounders who run 4.8+ on kick coverage? Well, anyone with a good coverage unit?

People sometimes ask me, "Why doesn't Fabris or Richt go talk to Kevin Butler about kickoffs. There is only one kicker in the College Football Hall of Fame, and he's our guy. Why don't we ask him?" My retort....what's busted is so obvious, they could probably just ask Barbara Dooley and get the same answers.

I love me some Mark Richt. But on this one issue. Geez. I just scratch my head.

PWD

Headlines from the Chicken Coop

The main talk track for the week is defense, defense, defense.

• Defense rules - TheState talks about the tone of this game. Realistically, I agree that this one will be an ugly slug fest. I'm thinking that 17-10 sounds about right for a final score. Ron Morris goes one step further suggesting that maybe Spurrier be seen as a defensive genius. Oh. Brother.
  
  
• But offense isn't a lost cause - The Charleston Post-Courier talks about Spurrier's work with their offense to turn things around. Spurrier's classic comment from this one, "When you only score 7 points, you're not dead set on anything."
  
  
• UGA's losing record - The Associated Press points out that this is the first time the Dawgs have had a losing record since 1996. That season UGA started 0-2 with losses at home to Southern Miss and at South Carolina before beating Texas Tech in an incredible down pour.
  
  
• AJ Green Profile - The Charleston paper does their yearly profile on hometown hero turned Dawg.
  
  
• Gamecock Kicking Woes - We aren't the only ones with kicking woes. The South Carolina field goal kicker missed two attempts vs. NC State. However, he has kicked the ball deep on kickoffs.

This game will come down to turnovers and special teams. Both teams are fairly inept in the kicking game so that's a wash. It'll come down to who protects the ball. If we are -3 in the turnover margin again this week, we'll lose. If we're -1 or better, we'll probably win by 7-10 points.

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. South Carolina

PWD

Back from the Ledge

It could be worse. Tanneyhill could be our QB

David Ching suggests that it's time to climb back from the ledge and take a deep breath. I happen to agree. Things are never as good or bad as they seem.

Ask yourself this...after the 2007 UT game, did you think we'd go 11-2? After the 2006 UK game, did you think we'd finish the season with 9 wins including wins over three ranked teams including the #5 team in the nation?

Do I think this group is going 11-2? No. Am I annoyed by the sheer fubar nature of Saturday. Obviously. But I don't think this is freak out time yet. We just lost on the road to a team that is now ranked #5 in the nation. I still think we can go 9-3 regular season plus a win over an 8 or 9 win ACC team in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.

If we lose this week...then it's freak out time. For me at least. Because this is looks like the least talented Gamecock squad since 1999's 0-11 unit. But right now, we're a team that played poorly offensively on the road vs. a quality opponent (and like it or not Oklahoma State was a quality team). The freaking out is a week early.

Everyone will feel better after the upcoming three game winning streak. If not...I'll be near the front of the panic line.

See Also:
-- Tickets: Georgia vs. South Carolina
-- Spurrier needs to show patience against UGA - Barnhart
-- Finding our identity - Zeier
-- Big issues on offense - Tucker
-- Confident in Cox - Hale
-- Hard to swallow - Robinson
-- Practice Notes - Hale

PWD