So therefore, welcome to the first ever:

UGA GAME BREAKDOWN

Here you can expect complete game breakdowns, my thoughts on what we need to improve on, and what the future (I.E. next week, let's take this one game at a time) holds for our beloved Dawgs. I also will update my top 25, but without as much hurrah as I did in my preseason top 25.

Before I begin, everytime I go to write about college football, I'm reminded of how trivial things are compared to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, tragedy, etc. I won't say what's already been said, but I will say that we're all incredibly blessed and it'd pay good mind for us to remember that.

Moving on.

First of all, HOW GOOD DID D.J. SHOCKLEY LOOK? Seriously, that kid had the poise I predicted him to have. Yes, I WILL rub it in that I wasn't near as nervous about the Boise State game as I should have been. For some reason I knew we were going to be fine. Let's hope I'm always this right.

D.J. was instantly adopted by hundreds of thousands of UGA fans literally by the second half. Those who questioned his ability were instantly changed into believers and if you think that CMR (Richt) wanted him to do anything other than score the first TD all on his own, you're mistaken. BSU was not the only college that got schooled on opening day, since we were also quieted by the ghosts of LSU vs. UGA last year. Regardless of how we play the rest of the year (and I mean what I'm about to say), I will always be a fan of D.J. Shockley and his character and leadership. This team is going to win because they want to win for him. Talent, schemes and EMOTION win national championships. If we keep playing like we did two days ago, we will win the Nat'l Championship. You heard it here first.

Secondly, our WRs and TEs did not disappoint except in some minor situations. There were 5 dropped passes total, which is to be expected when everyone wants to keep scoring. They take their focus off of catching first and scoring second and they instead put it on how good they're going to look on the highlight reel. This will be corrected, but how great do we look at WR and TE? I mean this was a gigantic question coming into the season and we look DEEP at WR. I expect a lot of starting changes to be made this year, and please expect Mo Mass to get ample playing time, as well as T.J. Gartrell. Martrez Milner also had a helluva day.

Third, I was expecting a little more from the running game immediately after the last minutes passed. Then, I remembered how BSU stuffs 9 guys in the box and begs them to beat you with the pass. Well, that's what we did and damnit, it worked beautifully. I would have liked to have seen more Kregg Lumpkin, since I believe he's more talented than Danny Ware, but Thomas Brown continues to impress me with his strength and balance given his tiny frame. He reminds me of Darren Sproles of Kansas State fame. That guy was about as big as a Georgette and still ran over people like they were nothing. A little more about the running game will be said when I predict USC's game for next week.

Fourth, our defense as a whole. Nothing more can be said about how Willie Martinez had our boys ready not to stop the run or the pass, but instead ready to get the offense back on the field. Instead of hoping to go 4 and out like we used to, we instead wanted a 2 and out, or 3 and out. I was quite impressed with what I saw scheme-wise and that was a more patient, strategic defense. I was not let down and Greg Blue did what he always does. He hit someone so hard they dropped the ball. As my Dad told me on Sunday, "I believe he's liable to hit his Mama if she was carrying a football."

Finally, the DL and OL lines. Now, the DL line did what they were supposed to do and keep JZ in the pocket. I did want a few more sacks, but that's just me being greedy and not sticking to the game plan, which obviously was "create a pocket, make him beat you with his arm, not his feet." The OL was a great story as well since they kept D.J. with very little pressure and when he did have it, he waited that one extra second and threw the ball beautifully, instead of forgetting that extra second and running out of the pocket. His poise shows confidence in the beasts on the ball, and it's well deserved. We might have the best OL in the nation.

Now there isn't much to be said about BSU that already hasn't been touched on. In fact, many media outlets, *ahem*, FUCK YOU ESPN, want to focus instead on BSU imploding than UGA exploding, but that's ok. We have plenty of time to get the love we deserve. I didn't see Mark May on the post-game show, but I'm sure as to where he picked BSU to run all over us in the beginning, he probably changed his tune at the end and talked about how "BSU didn't bring their A, B, or C game." At least the coaches around the league took a look at what we did. A lot of them were quoted saying wonderful things about our Q.B.

But I will say one thing about BSU and more importantly their beloved Q.B. When that kid cuts his hair, doesn't he look an awful lot like Tate Donovan of "The O.C." fame? You be the judge.

Jared Zabransky




Tate Donovan





Now, my updated top 25.

1. USC -- Impressive, but not as much as I thought they'd be.

2. Texas -- Congrats, you beat the hell out of a cupcake. Next week will be the best indication of how good you really are.

3. Michigan -- No surprise here.

4. Iowa -- I might have had you boys ranked too low. Let's see what you do in a rivalry game.

5. Va. Tech -- Good defense, but your Q.B. was not as impressive as ours...PPPPPPPPPTH.

6. Ohio State -- Dismantled power-house Miami (OH). Wow.

7. LSU -- Off week.

8. Louisville -- Still, not as impressed as I'd like to have been, but it was a rivalry game, which are rarely won on talent.

9. DAWGS -- We earned this shit.

10. Tennessee -- Should've watched our old game film. UAB ain't no joke man. By the way, keep Rick Clausen in there when you play us. We all know how well y'all do when playing Clausens against the Dawgs.

11. Miami -- I'm predicting you to lose against FSU tonight.

12. Florida State -- I'm predicting you lose against Miami tonight.

13. Florida -- WOW MAN YOU KILLED WYOMING. That's never been done before. Seriously, if I can rant just a second here, why in the hell is the media giving Florida so much love when we dismantled the ONLY RANKED TEAM ANYONE PLAYED THIS WEEKEND???!!!??? I mean seriously, show me something against a good team and I'll give you some credit.

14. O-how-the-mighty-have-fallen-klahoma-- Wow, I guess my preseason ranking was right, and you STILL lost a spot.

15. California -- Um...sure.

16. Texas Tech -- I'll bet you and other teams in the Big XII are just dying to play number 14.

17. Arizona State -- *Yawn* I'm tired.

18. Boston College -- Blah.

19. Notre Dame -- Don't be surprised. They're better than most people think.

20. Georgia Tech -- Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth a little.

21. Auburn -- You got beat by Tech. In other news, Tubberville and Gailey switched hot seats. Thanks to The Georgia Sports Blog for that one.

22. Alabama -- Man I bet you can't wait to play the Iron Bowl now.

23. Virginia -- Still a good team.

24. Clemson -- Maybe this is the year they make a splash.

25. TCU -- Beat a number 5 team (not in my polls, but what do I know?), and you deserve to be ranked.

Alrighty, final thoughts headed into South Carolina. I expect a good game out of both teams and I am a little nervous about this one. What I expect Steve Spurrier to tell his team is that the UGA fans hate him and aren't focusing on the team they're playing. I expect USC to use that to an advantage and a disadvantage because we haven't spoken a lot about the team, but instead the man. However, to get him to throw his visor, we have to beat the team. So, if you aren't dizzy yet, basically I'm saying, we should play the game and be as loud as possible in helping our team to victory.

Scheme wise, I expect a lot more running from our guys and don't be surprised to see D.J. not as explosive as he was against BSU. With Spurrier's offense, he's more dangerous the more he's on the field, so I expect a lot more running of the ball and less passing. USC's defense does some funky shit, so it might be a tougher game than we all expect. Either way, I'm looking forward to it. I still think Dawgs on top and UGA's line is -17. I'm saying something in the area of 30-20, but that might change by Gameday.

Finally, a great picture of Spurrier to fire you guys up this week. Special thanks again to The Georgia Sports Blog for the photo.



Also, I'll be in Athens all weekend long and if you're there as well, give me a shout, I'd love to see all of you.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.