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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
So we lost by 16 points Florida. It happens and we'll have our shot in Stegeman soon.
Some quick thoughts for you guys:
1) McThree -- Ricky McPhee is a VERY fun player to watch. He's another one of those clutch-shot white dudes that UGA always seems to have around. The previous ones were the Weehunt brothers from the early 2000s. Some of the shots he took tonight were amazing, from some very deep threes to a nice falling jumper on the baseline for two. He also single-handedly (apparently, "handedly" isn't a word, who knew?) kept the game from slipping into a tailspin with his play.
2) Trey Leslie -- If you took Trey Thompkins and mixed him with Travis Leslie, you'd have one of the most exciting basketball players ever. Leslie still struggles with his shot, but made some nice athletic plays. Thompkins did well tonight with some big shots and was hot early.
3) Better make it the first time -- We couldn't seem to grab a rebound to save our lives. Whether on our end after a missed shot, or on their end after they (rarely) missed a shot. We've got to rebound like we did against Tennessee or we'll get beat by a lot of teams in the SEC.
4) Oops! -- Turnovers were probably the biggest dagger for us tonight. We just absolutely got killed in taking care of the ball. Sloppy, sloppy play was the theme and probably gave us the biggest hindrance in mounting a significant comeback. As Dawgfan17 perfectly stated:
5) Coach, you can't say that on TV -- Fox got T'd up in what I think was eerily reminiscent to the way Bobby Cox gets thrown out of Braves games. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was right in being upset about the no-call, but instead of moving on, he let it boil over and let his players know he was OK with tossing etiquette out the window. He let his players know that he had their back. I liked it. A LOT.
6) I think I can, I think I can -- We've got some great things going for us right now in regards to overall improvement, but this team is going to have to learn to win on the road for us to get over the hump from being a mediocre team to even a good team. It's not the matter of winning, it's the matter of getting used to the idea of winning away from home. Our confidence sucks in that regard and it shows at times. Of course, when you have a team full of guys who haven't achieved road success in 4+ years, it's going to creep into their heads that they can't do it. A win against South Carolina this weekend would be HUGE for us.
7) Tick Tock -- I didn't remember to elaborate on this the last game, but one of the most overall improved things I've seen is our use of timeouts. It's been a blessing to see Coach Fox take timeouts to stop runs and coach up our guys. They're, for lack of a better word, quite timely. Felton never did that and it drove me crazy.
8) Ratings are up -- The biggest difference in a double-digit point loss to Florida this year versus last year? I was still tuning in this year. Last year's team quit in that game. Absolutely quit. It was disgusting and I had to turn it off. We all knew this game was over after the four minute mark, but I was still interested to see what this team would do. If any of us can take one thing away from tonight's loss, it's the proof in the pudding that this team is NOT last year's team.
So, there you have it. What stuck out to you?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Some quick thoughts for you guys:
1) McThree -- Ricky McPhee is a VERY fun player to watch. He's another one of those clutch-shot white dudes that UGA always seems to have around. The previous ones were the Weehunt brothers from the early 2000s. Some of the shots he took tonight were amazing, from some very deep threes to a nice falling jumper on the baseline for two. He also single-handedly (apparently, "handedly" isn't a word, who knew?) kept the game from slipping into a tailspin with his play.
2) Trey Leslie -- If you took Trey Thompkins and mixed him with Travis Leslie, you'd have one of the most exciting basketball players ever. Leslie still struggles with his shot, but made some nice athletic plays. Thompkins did well tonight with some big shots and was hot early.
3) Better make it the first time -- We couldn't seem to grab a rebound to save our lives. Whether on our end after a missed shot, or on their end after they (rarely) missed a shot. We've got to rebound like we did against Tennessee or we'll get beat by a lot of teams in the SEC.
4) Oops! -- Turnovers were probably the biggest dagger for us tonight. We just absolutely got killed in taking care of the ball. Sloppy, sloppy play was the theme and probably gave us the biggest hindrance in mounting a significant comeback. As Dawgfan17 perfectly stated:
Looking at the UF game tonight and most of our games for the season, if we can cut down the to's they can be much much better. We have turned it over 10 more times than UF so far and the game is a 10 pt game. If we turn it over even just 4 less times with both teams shooting 50% that is +4 points for us and -4 for them and the game is basically a tie. Everything else we have done this season has been a huge improvement. Go Dawgs!Couldn't have said it better myself. The best news is, that's a COACHABLE problem, and I have no worries about our coaching ability.
5) Coach, you can't say that on TV -- Fox got T'd up in what I think was eerily reminiscent to the way Bobby Cox gets thrown out of Braves games. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was right in being upset about the no-call, but instead of moving on, he let it boil over and let his players know he was OK with tossing etiquette out the window. He let his players know that he had their back. I liked it. A LOT.
6) I think I can, I think I can -- We've got some great things going for us right now in regards to overall improvement, but this team is going to have to learn to win on the road for us to get over the hump from being a mediocre team to even a good team. It's not the matter of winning, it's the matter of getting used to the idea of winning away from home. Our confidence sucks in that regard and it shows at times. Of course, when you have a team full of guys who haven't achieved road success in 4+ years, it's going to creep into their heads that they can't do it. A win against South Carolina this weekend would be HUGE for us.
7) Tick Tock -- I didn't remember to elaborate on this the last game, but one of the most overall improved things I've seen is our use of timeouts. It's been a blessing to see Coach Fox take timeouts to stop runs and coach up our guys. They're, for lack of a better word, quite timely. Felton never did that and it drove me crazy.
8) Ratings are up -- The biggest difference in a double-digit point loss to Florida this year versus last year? I was still tuning in this year. Last year's team quit in that game. Absolutely quit. It was disgusting and I had to turn it off. We all knew this game was over after the four minute mark, but I was still interested to see what this team would do. If any of us can take one thing away from tonight's loss, it's the proof in the pudding that this team is NOT last year's team.
So, there you have it. What stuck out to you?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: Game Recaps, I hate Florida, Men's Basketball
Saturday, January 23, 2010
So the game is fresh in my mind still and I've got about five minutes to burn, but here are some quick hits on the game from what I remember:
1) Travis Leslie is a beast. Just a flat out monster. His leaping ability makes him a threat off the glass and a very good shot blocker. If this kid can find some range from 13-17 feet out, he's going to be VERY dangerous. He's just a highlight reel waiting to happen. Oh, and don't underestimate his ability to dish the rock. He had some SPECTACULAR feeds tonight to guys around the rim.
2) The offense still runs through Trey. Thompkins had a good, but not extremely big night. The other guys still have to rely on him to be the "go-to" guy with the ball, though. When he turns it on, it raises the level of our play significantly.
3) Price is right. Jeremy Price had a nice game tonight, crashing boards, getting put-backs and converting on second chances. We'll need to him up his level of play to give us a strong inside presence going into the meat of our SEC schedule.
4) Dustin Ware = David Greene? Dustin Ware is not a flashy guy and he's good for roughly 7-10 points a game, but he takes care of the basketball and really directs that offense well.
5) No 5-hour energy here. There's definitely a late-game crash after our initial boost of energy. For everything we did right tonight, we still had our hiccups. Closing out the game, there was a stretch from 5:31 left to 1:37 left in the 2nd half where we didn't score a point. If the lead had been 10 or less, we would've found ourselves up a creek. We've got to find a way to dig deep and close out these big games. Close losses are still losses.
6) Thunderdome. Stege was rocking tonight. The students and fans really turned out and that's huge for us. We need that kind of support to build what Fox is trying to build in Athens.
7) Mark Fox just may be the guy. From his interviews, tweets and on-screen presence when coaching, he's creating an attitude in our team that has been missing for a while. The kids are having fun playing basketball again and the fans are enjoying watching it. If we can consistently get better week by week, we'll definitely see some type of post-season play. We just have to know we can do it.
Overall, big win and a very good way to get the fan base fired up.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
P.S. -- Negative points to the student who covered himself in peanut butter. I get the enthusiasm, but peanut butter? Really? Of course, when you think about it, it's probably a lot cheaper than face paint. Hate it for the people around him though.
Labels: Game Recaps, Men's Basketball
Sunday, November 22, 2009
But I tried anyway.
Warning: The video contains alcohol, some profanity, and...dare I say it...Maalox.
Enjoy!
Labels: College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, Tuck Fech, UGA Football, Video Evidence Confirms...
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
It seems everywhere we turn nowadays there's flaws with college football as a whole. Dawg fans notice gigantic flaws within the team, SEC fans are subjected to huge flaws in officiating, and college fans in general are pissed with the often-flawed BCS system.
As Dawg fans, we go out of our way sometimes to find the flaws. Hell, I'm guilty of it as much as anyone else. We beat Vandy handily, but I was no where near satisfied with the victory. Aside from a 4th quarter where we had guys in that seemingly wanted to play football, there really wasn't much to talk about other than A.J. Green.
Sure, the Defense played OK against a horrible Vandy team, A.J. played exceptionally well for his three catches, and Bobo showed us a "moment of brilliance" playcall with that screen pass to Caleb King, but other than that, I think we all left a little unfulfilled.
That's not to say it was all bad, though. I mean with what the team's been through, you'd have to think that the Dawgs were as down in the mouth as any team in America right now. An overly-talented team struggling in every game, a coaching staff on the verge of collapse, and a fanbase that has no idea what they really want to happen other than "change." Unless Helen Keller was suiting up for UGA, you know the players were hearing or seeing things that sent shockwaves through the lockerroom. It's going to happen.
The most important thing is that a 10-win season is OBTAINABLE. Is it likely? Not at all, but OBTAINABLE is better than impossible. At this point, I'd settle for revenge and a one-day-at-a-time mentality. I'd settle for our players trying to go and ruin Florida's season by beating them in Jacksonville. That's all I want to think about and that's all I want to hear about. I want a team mentality where everyone realizes that they truly have nothing to lose.
However, that's not going to happen unless Mike Slive gets a hold of the referees in this conference. Even I was getting tired of hearing about how all the SEC refs hate us, but the truth is, I'm starting to think that sans Florida and Alabama, they really do hate everyone. The numbers aren't lying and it's downright scary. With our statistics regarding penalties growing exponentially since the Celebration in 2007, combined with the LSU screw job, and the debacle in Gainesville last weekend against Arkansas, you can surely bet that no call is 100% right.
I guess the thing that's most frustrating about it all is that these calls aren't DETERMINING games. They're just influencing them. Arkansas didn't lose last weekend because of bad calls -- they lost because of missed field goals. We didn't lose against LSU because of a bad call against A.J. -- we lost because we can't cover worth a damn on Special Teams. The frustrating thing about the penalty issue is that a bad call of a non-touchdown or interception can be overturned with video evidence nowadays. A bad penalty call sets the tone, changes momentum and helps someone greatly while dismantling someone else's chances. It's not a matter of fairness -- it's a matter of responsibility.
No one's asking the refs to call every ticky-tack penalty. They're asking the refs to call it down the middle. They're asking the refs to call what needs to be called, and when it doubt, don't call it. It's that simple. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that we're dealing with hyper-sensitivite SEC referees when it comes to all teams not named "Alabama" or "Florida." I'm not subscribing to any conspiracy theories, but all I know is that those games are called differently for those teams than they are for the rest of the conference, especially in regards to Florida.
Slive needs to get on it, or Slive will be barking up a bad tree. SEC Football is religion to a lot of fans. It's one thing to have one school think the refs are against them. It's entirely different to have 10 schools think that way.
So, let's all enjoy the bye week for what it is...a chance to relax and focus for next weekend. We all need that right now.
Here's wishing a flawless week for you and yours.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, I hate Florida, Stupid People, UGA Football
Monday, October 05, 2009
I'm still too frustrated to go at length about the LSU game (and trust me, I could go for f'n days about it), so I'm just going to hit the high points and let y'all decide what to think.
1. Willie coached his ass off. Save the last play where guys didn't make the much-needed tackles at the time, our defense saved us from getting blown out. The score should've easily been 21-0 at halftime. Secondary still needs work, but we knew it was going to be rough back there this year. I think Bryan Evans is a good kid, but kudos to Rambo for earning more PT.
2. Mike Bobo is getting better, but still isn't consistent. We basically have one play right now that defines our offense -- it's the "Throw it to A.J." Play. I'm sorry, but that's not going to cut it the rest of the way. I think Bobo dialed up some good calls on Saturday, but we had guys, especially Joe Cox, not capitalize on big opportunities. Overall though, it'll get better only when the running game shows up again. I will say that every time we run it on 3rd and long, I die a little.
3. Speaking of the running game, where is ours? Part of me wants to say it's the O-line, but a majority of me says it's not. Richard Samuel is not a "toss sweep" guy, yet that seems to be the play we like him in. Caleb King is not a straight ahead runner, but yet we seem to try and power him forward. Waushan Ealey is like fresh air right now and running like a kid who REALLY wants to be the #1 guy. My question is, where's D-Jax? Where's Carlton Thomas? I'm not saying Ealey isn't good, but it's the age old "chicken vs. egg" question. If a freshman is making waves, does that mean he's really that good or are the four older guys that bad?
4. Our kickoff coverage makes me want to move to Canada. You know what drives me really batty about Florida? The fact that their kids look like they enjoy every snap. Even the special teams units give it everything they have. Why? Because at Florida, a special teams starter is considered a starter. We've got to quit throwing scrubs out there. I know those guys play hard, practice hard and have a lot of heart, but hell, I've got a lot of heart. That doesn't mean I think I need to strap on some pads and try to tackle Trindon Holliday. You don't win games by playing your #3 Offense and Defense. Why in the f*** would we think we're going to win the special teams battle by playing some of the slowest players on our team?
5. All I'm going to say about the penalty is two things: 1) Tim Brando nailed it when he said that the SEC doesn't want journalists to look deeper into who draws those excessive celebration penalties and 2) It changed the momentum, but it didn't keep us from tackling Holliday or Scott.
6. I should have a Vlog for the Tennessee game up this Thursday. It's a busy week for me and writing isn't going to cut it. So, you guys will get to see my huge head and way-too-damn-short haircut very soon.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, I hate Florida, UGA Football
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Ok, I know I should be happy with winning against South Carolina, and trust me, I totally am, but it's tough to sit back after watching that epic battle Between the Hedges and feel great about Saturday's win. Honestly, it was one of the best games I've seen in Sanford Stadium and I'm thankful for that, figuring I had awesome seats for it, but objectively, there were a lot of things left to be desired. Before we hop onto the bad, let's talk about the good some first.
Then you have to single out Rennie Curran. I *heart* Rennie Curran. I'd let him date my daughter if I had one. I'd vote for him for President. The only thing I wouldn't do around Rennie Curran is hand someone I cared about a football. Once he got done with them, all that would be left would be a mushroom cloud on confetti. I'd hand Kanye West a football around him, though. He could use a tune-up from one of the greatest playmakers to don a UGA uniform in a long time.
You have to give props first and foremost to Joe Cox. Aside from him staring a hole through A.J. Green for that pick-six, he played a helluva game. He had decent protection for most of the day, but decent is probably the best word I've give to it. He made great throws, good reads and managed the game quite well. I don't care how good your running game is, you have to have a heads up QB to hang 41 on anybody and he did that with great satisfaction in my opinion.
Secondly, hats off to Richard Samuel. He broke tackles, ran with authority and honestly did a much better job balance-wise of getting positive yardage. I'm a little perplexed as to why he stayed out of the game for a while when Carlton Thomas took over for a few series, considering he had the hot hand at the moment, but then again, I'm not on the sidelines and hopefully there's a good reason for it. Either way, Samuel showed that he could carry the load if called upon.
Next is A.J. Green, who does what A.J. Green does. The WRs as a whole did great, including Michael Moore, who may only have 17 receptions this year, but hell, they might all be touchdowns since that's pretty much the only time the ball's thrown his way. But A.J. stepped it up and bailed Cox out a few times with some very impressive catches. The kid is a natural born playmaker.
Special teams as a whole deserves some credit too, since it kept us in the game, essentially won the game for us and gave us all a huge sigh of relief. I'm sure the people around me thought I was nuts, but I went totally apeshit when Blair kicked the ball deep in the endzone for a touchback. Then, I nearly got my block knocked off from the rabid Dawg fan behind me who almost killed me when Brandon Boykin returned the kickoff for the score. No offense to the guy behind me though. I appreciate that kind of enthusiasm. Then, you can't forget DeAngelo Tyson who essentially won the game for us with a blocked PAT late. I mean honestly, it's been years since the Dawgs have done something like that, and it happens rarely in college football as it is.
Now, let's talk about some things that weren't so great.
Mike Bobo's playcalling left a lot to be desired. I'm still firmly on the Bobo bandwagon, and the reverse call to Branden Smith was pure genius (nice block by Joe as well), but sometimes I just feel like we find something that's working and then we switch it up too soon in a lame attempt to catch the other team off guard. Samuel was hot and we put Thomas in the game for an extended amount of time. We still don't use the TE as much as I would like, especially with Orson Charles showing now that he can make some plays, and we seem to get conservative when we have at least a 10+ point lead. If Mike Bobo had the mentality that we're always playing from behind, we'd probably really embarrass some folks.
Willie's Soft Zone nearly killed me. With all the injuries last year, I stood behind Willie saying that we should give him one more shot. However, and not taking anything away from Stephen Garcia who had essentially the game of his life, we were dinked and dunked to death last Saturday. I'm sure Petrino is looking at our game film and licking his chops at the WR screens and TE in-routes that he's surely going to try against us on Saturday. I understand that the defense played fairly well, we had some hurt personnel and that Garcia played out of his mind, but giving WRs 5-7 yard cushions every play isn't going to help . At some point, we're going to have to let our CBs do their thing and if we get burnt, we get burnt. However, underneath routes move sticks, keep your defense gassed and eat clock. WE should be doing that to them, not allowing them to do that to us.
Finally, North Campus' trash is an abomination. Please take the time to look at this post by PWD and slap anyone whose trash you may recognize. As PWD noted, it's irresponsible crap like this that screws everyone. I'm fine with folks having a large tailgate, getting bent and then firing it up in Sanford, but I'd much rather see people appreciate the liberties they have on Gameday. Other colleges are much tougher on these types of things than we are and right now, I wouldn't blame Adams one bit if he immediately imposed some new rules on tailgating. Either appreciate what you have or be prepared to have it taken away. There's no middle ground here.
Ok, now that I got all those things out, I feel much better. I'm going to try a new thing this week if I can get around to it. Even though I'm not camera savvy, I might try some video or audio blogging this week, depending on which works and is easier to upload. I had some friends mention to me that as much as they love my writing, I'm much better at talking football. I'd really love to dedicate some time to a podcast if I can, but I don't have the means or the avenue to do something like that AT THIS POINT. If that changes, though, you guys will be the first to know. A small video or audio blog though? I think I could handle that.
Now, let's get healthy (thoughts and prayers to Rod Battle), rested and ready for what I'm sure will be a really tough test against Arkansas on Saturday. I was looking at the schedule today and if we can go 5-2 or even 6-1 through these first seven games, it actually eases up a LITTLE after the Florida game following the bye week. If we could somehow go 6-1 through the first half of the schedule, 10-2 isn't out of the question. However, a slip up here and there could easily put us at 8-4 or worse. It's all about how we play from week to week.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Sunday, September 06, 2009
The following is an open letter to anyone dumb enough to think that Coach Mark Richt (CMR) is no longer the right guy for this program. Proceed with caution.
You have been warned.
Dear Dumbasses,
Yep. That's what I called you. I know that starts us off on a bad foot, but at this point stupid is as stupid does, right? I mean, would you rather me called you "Dear Concerned Citizens Who Are Without Intelligence?" I mean that'd be like calling Megan Fox "adequate looking."
Beginning yesterday and leading into today, the message boards have lit up with you morons thinking that after one game, which if I need to remind you was a loss to a higher ranked opponent, CMR and everyone associated with him need to be dismissed. Now, I'm not claiming to know everything, but I do know Georgia Football and I'm quite sure that at this point, I know more than you.
I was always taught to dance with the girl you came with. Well, after losing two top 15 draft picks (namely a QB who I've learned to appreciate more since yesterday and a RB who I wish would've never left....ever), you seem to think that we'd be better this year than we were last year. Don't get me wrong, I read the practice reports too. I heard the offseason workouts were going well. I heard our RBs were looking good and that Joe Cox had come into his own.
You think it's a good idea to fire the coach who got us two SECC rings and consistently puts a top-20 team together? You think it's good to fire the coach who brought us back into the national picture? You think it's good to fire the coach who gave us a team in 2007 that might have been the best overall team we've seen since 1980? Sure, that team didn't win the SECC, but did you watch that team filled with CMR's recruits?
Here are some of your comments to a post on the Dawgvent labeled "If Not CMR, Then Who?", with the posters' names removed to protect those who may face retribution from others with brain cells:
"I'm all for it...how about Muschamp for HC?""we seem to go to SECCG when UF and UT are down...well, those days are pretty much over, and I believe he will be continually outcoached by the teams with equal talent...ready for some new blood myself.""No coach can ever be bigger than the program. Richt and his staff are seriously underperforming and sooner or later we must have accountability. Richt is fast going from one of the top twenty coaches in the country to middle of the pack or worse. We have looked poorly coached for a while now and it doesn't look likely to change anytime soon."How has Richt fared since graduating the last of Donnan's players...the same players that were key to him winning two SECCs??? He's done less with more than any coach I can recall at Georgia including Donnan. Donnan's problem was that he was too stubborn to make changes that were best for the team (sounds familiar to me). He also could not catch a break with his DCs. Bottom line...there are better candidates out there than Richt. It's not up to me to find them...but they exist."John Gruden"
Each break in the paragraphs was from a different poster. Now I'm not going to claim to be the end-all-be-all in UGA football, but out of all that hot air, I didn't see one good point. In fact, out of every coach that people could've chosen, the best the came up with was Will Muschamp and John Gruden? John F'N Gruden? Hell, he won a Super Bowl with Tony Dungy's players, took over as GM and ran the Bucs back into mediocrity. In fact, if there's anything he CAN'T do, it's run a team effectively from top to bottom. Look, the best part of John Gruden's regime is now the DC at Tennessee. Besides, do you a-holes really want to experience Lane Kiffin part two? Let's hire another NFL guy and deal with THAT ego.
I could give a damn if you think I'm being harsh, or cruel, or dumb, or anything of that nature. I could also give a damn if you think I'm wrong, because I'm not.
Look, I watched the same game you saw yesterday. I saw Joe Cox play a very vanilla game with bad playcalling, poor running after first contact (I'm worried about Richard Samuel's balance and ability to break tackles), a horrible injury to a good kid, and a defense that was doing every damn thing it could to redeem itself from last year.
Yes I'm also worried about our kickoff coverage. Yes we lost seven points to a horrible call and probably cost ourselves another seven by a bogus block-in-the-back call on a punt return. Yes, I saw what you saw and no, I didn't like it one damn bit either.
But some of you folks have your heads so far up your own asses that if I pushed you, you'd roll all the way to Gainesville, FL and I'd hope to hell you stayed there. And if you think that because you're a booster or some type of fundraiser it makes your erroneous opinion correct, you are high off your ass.
Please put your tickets on eBay. I'll be heading to Athens this weekend and if you're going to spend your time booing and/or pouting, you don't deserve to be there. Obviously you have no idea what this is about and where we are as a program.
Sincerely (and no, I don't mean that),
Kit
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: Coaching Searches, College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, Stupid People, UGA Football
Monday, December 08, 2008
Well, where do we begin?
How about we begin by having you click over to my Examiner.com write-up for the game and tell me with a straight face that you disagree with anything I said.
I don't know what's worse: the fact that I'm writing about Georgia losing to Tech and not using four-letter words, or the fact that I wrote everything with the least bit of shock in my words.
Now I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but to say that UGA has problems defensively would be an understatement the size of Elliot Spitzer's apology to his wife. As I was watching the Tech game, I kept having the feeling that with every tackle after 4-5 yards rushing, we were just polishing the brass on the Titanic. Sure, I had just as much faith that the ball might bounce our way and we could pull one out, but the truth is no one on the defensive side of the ball (sans a Liberian named Rennie Curran) deserved to win that game.
Now offensively, it was a different story. We were a force to be reckoned with not only with throwing the ball, but also with accurate play calling. Stafford made a couple of ill-advised throws, but for the most part, he was where we needed him to be.
Furthermore, words cannot describe the amount of respect I have for MoMass. He might just go down as my second favorite Bulldog behind D.J. Shockley. He left his guts on the field Saturday, and truth be told, he deserved better than to have to walk off the field with his head hung in shame.
I've seem some half-assed attempts at tackling before, but this is the first time I can remember that I saw a Mark Richt team get progressively worse with fundamentals as the season went on. Now I'll support CMR and what he does for the university as long as he is our head coach. Even if/when he leaves, I'll still be a fan. Will be for life.
However, our players have been thrown under the bus so much that they're getting road rash. In fact, Blair Walsh has used his time wisely by learning to fix an axel, flush your transmission fluid and grease joints.
I don't have a problem with how we choose to run our team. We try to graduate players, put players in the NFL and win some games along the way. However, our utter lack of addressing problems adequately is something I'm really sick of seeing. If we can't tackle in the fifth game, we shouldn't be having the same problem by the twelfth. If we're missing assignments against Georgia Southern, we shouldn't be missing them against Georgia Tech.
I'm not a coach. I'm not paid $2.8 million a year to figure that out. Is the answer firing a coach? I don't know. Is it keeping things like they are? NO. That most certainly is not the answer.
Our answer is currently getting ready to play Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Hopefully it's the one we're all looking for.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
How about we begin by having you click over to my Examiner.com write-up for the game and tell me with a straight face that you disagree with anything I said.
I don't know what's worse: the fact that I'm writing about Georgia losing to Tech and not using four-letter words, or the fact that I wrote everything with the least bit of shock in my words.
Now I don't mean to get off on a rant here, but to say that UGA has problems defensively would be an understatement the size of Elliot Spitzer's apology to his wife. As I was watching the Tech game, I kept having the feeling that with every tackle after 4-5 yards rushing, we were just polishing the brass on the Titanic. Sure, I had just as much faith that the ball might bounce our way and we could pull one out, but the truth is no one on the defensive side of the ball (sans a Liberian named Rennie Curran) deserved to win that game.
Now offensively, it was a different story. We were a force to be reckoned with not only with throwing the ball, but also with accurate play calling. Stafford made a couple of ill-advised throws, but for the most part, he was where we needed him to be.
Furthermore, words cannot describe the amount of respect I have for MoMass. He might just go down as my second favorite Bulldog behind D.J. Shockley. He left his guts on the field Saturday, and truth be told, he deserved better than to have to walk off the field with his head hung in shame.
I've seem some half-assed attempts at tackling before, but this is the first time I can remember that I saw a Mark Richt team get progressively worse with fundamentals as the season went on. Now I'll support CMR and what he does for the university as long as he is our head coach. Even if/when he leaves, I'll still be a fan. Will be for life.
However, our players have been thrown under the bus so much that they're getting road rash. In fact, Blair Walsh has used his time wisely by learning to fix an axel, flush your transmission fluid and grease joints.
I don't have a problem with how we choose to run our team. We try to graduate players, put players in the NFL and win some games along the way. However, our utter lack of addressing problems adequately is something I'm really sick of seeing. If we can't tackle in the fifth game, we shouldn't be having the same problem by the twelfth. If we're missing assignments against Georgia Southern, we shouldn't be missing them against Georgia Tech.
I'm not a coach. I'm not paid $2.8 million a year to figure that out. Is the answer firing a coach? I don't know. Is it keeping things like they are? NO. That most certainly is not the answer.
Our answer is currently getting ready to play Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. Hopefully it's the one we're all looking for.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Sunday, November 16, 2008
GOOD!
With apologies to Tommy Tuberville, who I'm sure would hear every word of this if it were read aloud, I'd like to say...
AUBURN SUCKS!
You know how I know this? Well, mainly because they were beat by us, who played quite possibly one of the ugliest games I've seen us play on both sides of the ball in a long time. Ugh, I'm talking about South-Carolina-Sorority-Girl-Ugly, here. Anyway, let's get into the game breakdown, shall we?
The Stats Say:
In a nutshell, the stats say this was a hard fought win for UGA and a tough loss for Auburn, who made this one helluva game in the 4th Quarter. The truth is, it was a good all around game, but we kept Auburn in this game MUCH longer than they should have.
Also, the stats say that our penalty problems came back with a vengeance in this game. There were multiple times where drives had stalled or we found ways to force a 3rd and long, only to give up some kind of stupid penalty that kept Auburn drives alive.
The Good:
1) WR Play -- A.J. Green and MoMass proved their worth yet again by making tough catches, running great routes and getting necessary first downs. Can anyone honestly say that aside from MoMass, have we seen a UGA receiver make a catch in the endzone like A.J. did in the 4th Quarter? I can't think of a single receiver we've had since maybe Reggie Brown that had hands as solid as that...and Reggie Brown didn't have those until his junior year.
2) Knowshon Moreno -- Since people started calling him "soft" for taking himself out of the game too much, he's responded by rocking the proverbial face off of the Dawg Nation. He racked up 189 net yards on the ground and through the air total. If anyone thinks he ain't trying now, then I don't know what to tell you.
3) Matt Stafford -- Another game without any interceptions and made some really tough throws that really only a QB with his arm strength could make. He still overshot our WRs on some deep balls, but sometimes that happens. Once he puts EVERYTHING together, he's going to be dangerous. I really hope he's wearing Red & Black when that happens.
4) Rennie Curran -- Thank God he's only a sophomore. When all is said and done, he might be one of the best UGA LBs we've ever seen. The kid is a flat out ballhawk.
The Bad:
1) Penalties -- We touched on this earlier, but the penalties have to be cut down or we're going to put Tech in some really good spots against us. I'm also sick of hearing about all the "well that's what happens when guys play aggressive" talk that our players spit out. That's the biggest pile of BS I've heard in a while. It needs to be fixed. Period.
2) 2nd Level Play -- We'll touch on this in the "ugly" part as well, but when Auburn's players got into the second level of our Defense on Saturday, we took some of the poorest angles and had some of the most out-of-position players I've ever seen.
3) Offensive Production -- I say "production" even though I really mean "POINTS ON THE DAMN BOARD." Seriously, we get nearly 400 yards of Offense against one of the better Defenses in the NATION and all we have to show for it is 17 points? 17 points in two weeks means that we lose to Tech.
The Ugly:
1) Tackling -- Man that was some of the most piss poor tackling I've seen in a very long time. I'm talking about flat out bouncing off guys. With all the motion that Tech uses, if we try to tackle like that in two weeks, we'll lose by 30. Playing an option team means playing solid, assignment-based football. Assignment-based football means shooting gaps and playing man-on-man. Tackling better is not a request. It's necessary.
2) Kicking Game -- Not to knock Blair Walsh (because we all know kickers are head cases and if you knock them, they go crazy), but part of the whole "leaving points on the field" problem deals with the kicking game as well. I know he didn't get under the ball like he should have and he knows it too because he's the one that said it. However, there's a whole lotta mechanism that needs to be cleared and done quickly.
Well, there you have it. It could always be worse, but it really needs to get a lot better. The good news is that we've won three straight over Auburn and in two weeks, we get to try and make it eight wins over Tech.
Let's hope for a productive off-week. Deal?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Monday, November 10, 2008
Posting's going to be light over the next day or so due to work and other commitments, but hopefully soon I'll be able to share with everyone a new project that I've been working on.
In the meantime, here are some quick hits for you:
1) PWD takes a great look at the Defense. I'm not completely on the "Fire Willie" bandwagon, but I'm certainly on the "significant improvement" bandwagon. Something's missing. I don't know if anyone really has their finger solely on the cause yet.
2) The Good Senator has a post on passion and how a playoff would kill that. I think when all is said and done this year, the drumbeat for a playoff will be louder than ever.
3) Since I don't believe I will be able to break down the Kentucky game this week due to all the other stuff I have going on, but David Hale does a helluva job. One that's so good, that I might just not ever write one again. I know a lot of you guys miss Ching, but for my money, and no offense to Ching, I think Hale is just as good if not better.
4) Lastly, another great read about some knee jerk reactions and final thoughts on Kentucky from Ally. If you wanted to relive what it felt like on Saturday, that's your post.
Again, I hope to have some good news (and a new link for you to chew on) in the next few days, but it probably won't happen until Wednesday. Sorry, but some other stuff takes precedence right now.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, The Blogosphere, UGA Football
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Man I'm having a helluva time focusing on getting this recap out for a variety of reasons. The main one is because today kicks off Hate Week 2008 Part I. We're going to get to all that shortly, but we've got to recap that ass-whipping in Red Stick before we go any further.
This may be shorter than usual, but I'll try to make it worth your while.
The Stats Say:
That our Offense finally took stats and turned them into points. The most important stat of the day was 52 and really, nothing else matters as much as that. Of course, we took care of the football and caused LSU to make mistakes with it that helped translate into points as well.
Now, the 38 on the LSU side of the scoreboard is a little disconcerting, but then we could point to the stat that shows that LSU gained roughly 180 of those yards in the 4th quarter alone. We also kept pace with them tit for tat in that we both racked up 14 points in the 4th, extinguishing any hopes of them having a comeback.
The Good:
1) Matt Stafford -- Seriously, the kid had an exceptional day. He took care of the football and threw for 249 yards and 2 TDs, and he rushed for one as well. If you're looking for efficiency out of your QB, you needed to look no further than #7 on Saturday. He managed the game well and ran the Offense nearly flawlessly. It really was the complete game we were looking for him.
2) Knowshon Moreno -- He ran the ball extremely well on Saturday and netted himself 160 yards. I'd be interested to know when the last time we had a running back who rushed for 150+ in back-to-back games. He is quietly becoming Herschel-like in dependability when it comes to getting yards and you always know you're going to get his best effort.
3) Darryl Gamble -- 13 tackles and 2 INTs that were returned for touchdowns. That's a HELLUVA game.
4) Gary Danielson -- I know he's an announcer, but damn he was dead on this past Saturday with calling a good game. Everyone knows that I'm a huge fan of Uncle Verne, but Gary Danielson has been just as good. In fact, he's gotten my respect ever since he was the first to mention the Celebration was planned and his performance yesterday just solidified that he, in my mind, does just as much research as anyone else when getting ready for a game.
The Bad:
1) Giving Up 38 Points -- Look, as long as we win, I don't give a damn how many points we rack up, but it's important for our Defense to flip the switch and intimidate some folks. Now, we did get 2 sacks for a total loss of almost 30 yards, but I really wish we wouldn't have gotten eaten up so poorly with the simple plays. I mean seriously, Charles Scott is not fast and we did not clog the middle and try to force him to the outside. On top of that, we went and let LSU eat us up with screens. We do that against Florida, it's curtains for sure.
2) Poor Tackling -- Yeah, this one happens sometimes with us, but we flat out got freight-trained on some of those runs from Scott. What's scarier than not being able to tackle a guy who could hardly outrun some of our LBs? Not being able to tackle guys who run faster than any guy on our team. Much faster. If we don't cure that "missed tackle" thing that's plagued us a little bit this year, we'll get gashed bad this weekend.
3) Getting Carved Up on the Run -- Man if you would've told me that LSU could tally 200 yards of rushing against this team, I would have told you that you were insane. However, they certainly did just that and for it's scary knowing that since we're going up against a team that does so good of a job of getting the ball in their playmakers' hands in open space. We've got to curb that kind of performance.
The Ugly:
1) Missed FG -- Hey, I really feel like I'm reaching to find stuff for the "ugly" list, so I'll just throw this in here. The truth is that in the past two games, Walsh has had a hard time getting the ball through the posts and even though he connected on one FG attempt, he missed the other. Thankfully we have been in positions where those misses don't totally come back to bite us, but there's a real possibility that we will be this weekend. We just need to make sure we capitalize on as many opportunities as possible.
2) Retaliation -- Darryl Gamble let the cat out of the bag after the LSU game when he said the Seniors have "something up their sleeve" for this upcoming game. Look, if the Seniors have anything planned other than whipping Florida Gator ass, I don't want any part of it. This is a week to pack a lunch and some Advil because it's going to be a damn long week followed by an absolute war on Saturday. We HAVE to stay focused to win in Jacksonville.
Well, there you have it. LSU is in the past and Florida is in the future. Time to make it happen.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
*Editor's Note -- I did pretty good with the recap except I forgot one HUGE piece of the puzzle and that was the Offensive Line. Those guys played lights out and should have not been forgotten by a bumbling idiot like me. Congrats to all of them, not only for keeping Stafford out of serious trouble all day, but also for keeping the penalties down for the second straight game as well.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football, Uncle Verne
Sunday, October 19, 2008
There are a ton of people out there who are absolutely disgusted with our performance on Saturday, but I'll be honest, I'm really really REALLY pleased with this win. All in all, Vandy is a damn tough team. They have the record to reflect that. They've also played, and in 5 cases, beat, teams that are very good and very competitive.
We'll break down the game, but before I go any further, everyone needs to understand one thing and one thing only: we won.
The Stats Say:
The stats indicate that this game could have been a blowout. Think about it like this, Blair Walsh missed two field goals, resulting in 6 points not making it to the board. Take that and couple it with the points we gave Vandy on turnovers and you have a totally different ballgame.
However, you could've seen it coming from a mile away. Vandy is a ridiculously opportunistic team. They lead the SEC in turnovers taken and every game they've been in, they've been in it because of their Defense.
Nothing was different than that on Saturday. We gashed them on the run, we blocked well downfield and we executed well on some long passes. If Stafford doesn't turn the ball over twice (the second time he's done that in as many games), and we convert on those field goals, then the score is more like 30-7. At that point, I think we would have been excited about the game, right?
The Good:
1) Forcing Turnovers -- Darius Dewberry and Reshad Jones both had good days in capitalizing on turnovers, even though we dropped at least another two possible interceptions in the game as well. However, it's nice to know we could finally get some interceptions in there.
2) Commitment to the Running Game -- I absolutely love the toss sweep and I'm a huge fan of Bobo using it to perfection. Knowshon had a helluva day running, racking up over 170 yards of offense, including a touchdown. Nothing wrong with that at all.
3) Shaun Chapas Continues His Dominance -- Last week Chapas busted out and showed great balance, not only with blocking, but also running the ball and catching it out of the backfield. This time around, he continued to do the same thing. I'll admit, I've been extremely worried about the departure at Southerland at the end of the season, but if Chapas continues this trend, I'll be really pleased and les worried.
4) The Little Things -- There's a ton of things that went right on Saturday. Too many to mention, honestly, but honorable mention goes to the Offensive Line, less penalties, holding Vandy to less yardage than they've put up on average this year and racking up more yardage on Vandy than they're used to.
The Bad:
1) Stafford's Play -- Look, I'm a HUGE fan of Stafford, but I've said repeatedly that his mechanics are shot when he gets in a rush. However, this past weekend, he was hardly in a rush at all, yet he managed to look at his receivers so long, that his passes were batted and it caused interceptions. Granted, he still did a lot of things right, but turnovers resulting in points like what happened on Saturday will NOT fly in Baton Rouge this weekend.
2) Missed Opportunities -- I touched on this earlier, but we've got hands on stone lately. It's incredibly important for us to capitalize on mistakes when the present themselves. To keep on winning, we have to force turnovers and create opportunities from them. Asher and Darius both dropped for sure interceptions on Saturday. Great coverage, but missed opportunities.
The Ugly:
1) Lack of a Pass Rush -- This has got to change soon. We've got to get better doing this and we've got to do it quickly. It was right about this time last year when all this turned around for us, so we need to find that spark and make it happen again. Until it does, we're cruising for some losses.
2) Off-the-Field Issues -- Ugh. So Vince Vance gets arrested for driving on a license that expired on his birthday 7 days ago, you know, the day he tore his ACL. I guess while the swelling goes down, he should've gotten his ass to the DMV. I'm totally saying that tongue-in-cheek, by the way. Also, Brandon Wood gets arrested for DUI after blowing barely over the limit. Now, the reports I've heard say that B. Wood did well against all the field sobriety tests, and the cops were really excited about busting him, but that's neither here nor there. Either way, it sucks to lose B. Wood for at least one game, when we're already razor thin on the DL. S-U-C-K-S.
3) Fan Post-Game Reaction -- Ok, I get it that people are pissed at Bryan Evans, but let it go. The fade route to the back of the endzone wasn't his fault. If you're going to blame anyone, blame the Offense for putting the Defense in the position to work with such a short field. Points were going to result out of that drive any way you slice it. Plus, that fade route was one of the best throws I've seen all year. Then, we get fans not only blasting Evans for his play (which I will admit has been less than stellar), but blasting the whole team because we didn't blow Vandy out. Here's a hint, be glad we won and let's move on from there. You may not like the way Evans played, but he's a DGD and deserves the respect anyway. Trust me, no one's beating themselves up like that guy is. I guarantee that.
So there you have it. Feel free to tell me how dumb I am.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Yeah the title is lame. Sorry, but it is what it is. I apologize for the lack of posting over the past couple of days and you'll notice that this week's List may be non-existent or at the very least, late. That's because my Aunt had a health scare today that took my time away. Everything looks good now, but if you haven't told the people you care about that you love them, take some time today to do so. Just my two cents.
So I know I'm not the only one that left the game a little underwhelmed, but I also know that I'm not the only one that was excited as sh*t about a win on Saturday where the score didn't indicate the total domination that was the game.
As always, we had some things to be proud of and some things to be really pissed about, so let's get to all that right now.
2) The Defensive Line -- Man, is there anything better than holding UT to only 1 rushing yard? Granted, some of those yards they gained on the ground were lost due to sacks (yes, we actually pressured and sacked the QB some this game), but to hold a team with hosses on the O-line and the talent behind that to only one yard is pretty impressive. On top of that, we always have that aforementioned pressure and sacks. We all know how much I love pressure.
3) Prince Miller and Asher Allen -- Those two guys played lights out on Saturday. Asher had some really good pass breakups and there were times where Stephens wouldn't even throw it towards that side of the field, whereas Prince Miller played great as well, had some good punt returns and even recorded a sack.
The Bad:
1) Safety Play -- We've gotten burned a few times due to some blown assignments lately and this time around was no different, especially on UT's second touchdown. Part of the problem with our zone scheme is that the CBs will "release" guys into coverage expecting a Safety to float over and provide help. However, that hasn't happened as much lately as we would like. Reshad is a good talent and C.J. Byrd is as well, but these guys have got to step it up soon.
2) Lack of the Tight End -- I know a lot of this has to do with injuries, but is Aaron White so bad that we can't have him run routes at all? Maybe we're saving things for a rainy day, but having the TE not be a factor in the game at all is troublesome to me. I'm hoping that we can utilize that weapon soon because the TE is a big fixture in the success of Mark Richt's Offensive Scheme.
3) No Dagger -- There were a couple of missed opportunities in the red zone and out of it that kept us from putting that deadly dagger in the heart of UT. The game was much closer on the scoreboard than on the field and we probably left at least 14 points out there due to not making the right play calls, stupid turnovers and bad calls from the refs.
The Ugly:
1) The Injuries -- Man, it SUCKS losing another Offensive Linemen for the year. Big Vince Vance was trying his best to hold down the most crucial spot on the Offensive Line, but his torn ACL (on his BIRTHDAY no less) is a crucial blow to our young O-line. The good news is that Clint Boling is a VERY talented player and given enough reps, he might turn out to be a force on that side. In Stacey Searels we trust.
2) The Redcoat Band Drumline -- Look, this is my band dork moment of the day, so bear with me. I have NEVER heard the band sound that bad...EVER. I'm not a drummer and I damn sure don't pretend to be one, but I know what sounds like sh*t and the Redcoat Band sounded like sh*t on Saturday; especially the drumline. Trust me, I'm not alone in thinking that, either. While the drumline was trying to be cute, they were sloppy to a degree that made the whole band look bad. Seriously, if I were still in Redcoats, I would've been embarrassed on Saturday. Get your sh*t together guys.
Well, I'm sure I'll draw a little bit of heat here and there for that recap, but it is what it is. What else stuck out to you guys this past weekend?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
So I know I'm not the only one that left the game a little underwhelmed, but I also know that I'm not the only one that was excited as sh*t about a win on Saturday where the score didn't indicate the total domination that was the game.
As always, we had some things to be proud of and some things to be really pissed about, so let's get to all that right now.
The Good:
1) Matt Stafford -- Aside from his two interceptions (one of which was not his fault, but the other was), he had a great day throwing the ball and tallied up his first 300 yard game of his career. Sure, we never threw the deep ball (which I think sucked more than anything), but we did complete some high efficiency passes and we got the ball in some of our playmakers' hands and let them create. That's the point of throwing it to them right?2) The Defensive Line -- Man, is there anything better than holding UT to only 1 rushing yard? Granted, some of those yards they gained on the ground were lost due to sacks (yes, we actually pressured and sacked the QB some this game), but to hold a team with hosses on the O-line and the talent behind that to only one yard is pretty impressive. On top of that, we always have that aforementioned pressure and sacks. We all know how much I love pressure.
3) Prince Miller and Asher Allen -- Those two guys played lights out on Saturday. Asher had some really good pass breakups and there were times where Stephens wouldn't even throw it towards that side of the field, whereas Prince Miller played great as well, had some good punt returns and even recorded a sack.
The Bad:
1) Safety Play -- We've gotten burned a few times due to some blown assignments lately and this time around was no different, especially on UT's second touchdown. Part of the problem with our zone scheme is that the CBs will "release" guys into coverage expecting a Safety to float over and provide help. However, that hasn't happened as much lately as we would like. Reshad is a good talent and C.J. Byrd is as well, but these guys have got to step it up soon.
2) Lack of the Tight End -- I know a lot of this has to do with injuries, but is Aaron White so bad that we can't have him run routes at all? Maybe we're saving things for a rainy day, but having the TE not be a factor in the game at all is troublesome to me. I'm hoping that we can utilize that weapon soon because the TE is a big fixture in the success of Mark Richt's Offensive Scheme.
3) No Dagger -- There were a couple of missed opportunities in the red zone and out of it that kept us from putting that deadly dagger in the heart of UT. The game was much closer on the scoreboard than on the field and we probably left at least 14 points out there due to not making the right play calls, stupid turnovers and bad calls from the refs.
The Ugly:
1) The Injuries -- Man, it SUCKS losing another Offensive Linemen for the year. Big Vince Vance was trying his best to hold down the most crucial spot on the Offensive Line, but his torn ACL (on his BIRTHDAY no less) is a crucial blow to our young O-line. The good news is that Clint Boling is a VERY talented player and given enough reps, he might turn out to be a force on that side. In Stacey Searels we trust.
2) The Redcoat Band Drumline -- Look, this is my band dork moment of the day, so bear with me. I have NEVER heard the band sound that bad...EVER. I'm not a drummer and I damn sure don't pretend to be one, but I know what sounds like sh*t and the Redcoat Band sounded like sh*t on Saturday; especially the drumline. Trust me, I'm not alone in thinking that, either. While the drumline was trying to be cute, they were sloppy to a degree that made the whole band look bad. Seriously, if I were still in Redcoats, I would've been embarrassed on Saturday. Get your sh*t together guys.
Well, I'm sure I'll draw a little bit of heat here and there for that recap, but it is what it is. What else stuck out to you guys this past weekend?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Man what a disappointing loss. We fought in the second half, but it surely wasn't enough against a VERY good Alabama team. Give Nick Saban and Co. credit, they are punching people in the mouth right now and daring them to hit back.
Let's just get through this because honestly, I don't want to talk about this longer than I have to. A lot of things went wrong on Saturday, but I'll try to hit some of the finer points and leave the obvious stuff out, since you've probably already heard enough about those things already.
The Stats Say:
You won't see a more black/white (poor analogy?) 1st and 2nd half than that in a very long time. For everything UGA did wrong in the first half, they mostly got corrected in the second half.
Penalties are again killing us and it turns out we've had 54 penalties in 5 games. THIS is a problem that will make us easily an 8-4 team if we don't get it corrected soon. I'm not saying we win last night if we don't have those early penalties in the first drive that kept that Alabama drive alive and negated a turnover, but I'm saying it gives us a much better chance. UGLY, UGLY, UGLY play on both sides of the ball penalty-wise.
Also, they say we're getting adequate pressure on the QB, but it's when we're on Offense. Stafford was flat getting killed last night and it forced him to scramble, throw off his back foot and make him look like he hasn't looked since UT last year. He forced the ball, missed his checks and threw into covered receivers all because he didn't have time to make better decisions.
The Good:
1) Fan Participation -- If you would have told me that we'd be down 31-0 at halftime and our fans would not only stay in their seats, but also try and rally this team back, I'd have told you that I also have ocean front property in Colorado. The fans were jacked from the very first snap until maybe 3:00 left in the 4th quarter and if you aren't impressed by that, I don't know what to tell you.
2) Lack of "Quit" -- As ugly as the first half game was, our team did their best to try and come back, and did one helluva job doing it. We were aggressive in the second half like we should have been in the first half, and even though Alabama still had a comfortable lead, you have to acknowledge that their starters were in there for a reason. This game wasn't so out of hand that Alabama just cruised in the 3rd and 4th quarters, but it was never so close that we had more than a fighting chance, either. Anyway, the team came out and made some pretty big plays when we needed them desperately. I'll take that silver lining.
3) Rennie Curran -- This kid is a monster. His height may keep him at UGA all four years, but his talent level should suggest that he could play on Sundays as soon as he's eligible. This kid is a DGD.
4) The Recruits All Seem to Have Had a Good Time -- This ties back into points 1 and 2, but every recruiting scoop I've read so far lists that game as one where the crowd and the 2nd half performance saved us a lot of face. A lot of the kids we had visit last night like Branden Smith, Jarvis Jones and Orson Charles all gave good reviews of the game even though we lost. With as much exposure that we had with that ass-whipping, it was nice to know we still made a good impression on (possible) future Dawgs.
5) The 'Bama Fans -- I'll be honest, I admired the fact that they traveled so far to watch their team and after the game, I had a couple of really good coversations with 'Bama fans. They aren't bad like LSU fans in the sense that if they win, they won't go TOO out of the way to make you hate life. 'Bama fans are somewhere in between UGA fans (because they like southern football) and South Carolina fans (because sometimes they are flat out delusional). Aside from "Beat Down" in the comments section on the last post, most of them just said "Good game. Hope we see you in December." I admire that kind of sportsmanship.
The Bad:
1) 1st Half Gameplan -- Ugh. There's not even enough room on this limitless blog to tell you how flat and unprepared we were yesterday. Coverage was blown, gaps weren't filled, tackles were missed and penalties were created on the Defensive side. On the Offensive side, we tried to run it up the gut, Stafford was pressured and penalties were created. The problem is that when we knew it wasn't working, we tried to do it anyway. We didn't toss sweep, roll the pocket or anything to try and give our guys some space to work with, and on Defense, we stuck with the soft zone even though it was obviously failing. Yeah we changed the gameplan in the second half, but man it was WAY too late.
2) Brian Mimbs -- I hate to call the kid out because he's usually automatic, but not every single touchdown was the Defense's fault. When the opposing team starts from the 50 because your punt netted 10 yards, you have a problem, and it wasn't just one or two poor kicks. They were all bad. Mimbs has got to shake it off and get the boom back. I did hear on the 5th Quarter Show that they thought the problem was Mimbs was trying to directionally kick the ball because Arenas was so good and our coverage isn't solid, but if Mimbs can't directionally kick, just have him boom it and hope our gunners get there to force a fair catch. I'd rather out kick my coverage than have a punt only travel 10-20 yards. No brainer.
3) National Exposure -- Well, Dawg fans, you've been clamoring for more love from ESPN and whining about not getting enough love. Well, it filtered all the way to Briston, CT and the WWL, and it turns out that we totally sh*t the bed when they came to town. Now, all I see are Dawg fans asking for ESPN to never come back to Athens. Look, you can't have it both ways. Trust me, we want ESPN there because it's an AMAZING recruiting tool and it's great exposure when we win. There is no "Gameday Curse" or anything like that. However, the road to national prominence runs through ESPN, so do me a favor and stop crying. We had our chance and blew it. Now we have to win 7 straight in order to get the love again. Who's fault is that, really?
4) Chewing on This Loss for Two Weeks -- A win here and we take some serious momentum going into the UT game, but a loss takes the wind out of our sails and we have to practice with the thought of being embarrassed again in the back of our mind. I said earlier that "pressure breaks pipes" and I can tell you that the players know anything short of domination of UT means we will be considered as "overrated." I hope we use that idea to get motivated to destroy Phil & Co., but who knows how this team will respond?
The Ugly:
1) The Injuries -- Man oh man are we a razor thin team now. Knowshon, Chandler and Ellerbe are all questionable for Tennessee with Knowshon being more on the "probable" side. Durham is going to be gone for quite a while and it turns out that Bruce Figgins is most likely lost for the year. We're so thin at TE that we moved Kiante Tripp from the OT spot. Now, that's another post for probably tomorrow, but I do like the idea of moving KT. However, we've got to get healthy and get healthy quick. Getting Southerland back against UT helps, but man, it's as bad as I've ever seen it.
2) Losing the Blackout -- I'm a fan of the Blackout. It gets the players excited, gets the fans excited and gets the recruits excited. I don't think it's "gimmicky" at all. I also don't think the black jerseys cost us a game. I'm absolutely amazed by the folks on the message boards who think the Blackout should never come around ever again. We didn't lose the game because we were too worried about our wardrobe. We lost the game because we got punched in the mouth and didn't respond. That being said, I do think it's time to take the stance of making the players EARN the Blackout instead of just setting a date for it. Last year it was a reward; this year it was a certainty. I say keep the Blackout, but let's hang it up for just a little while until I get this taste of "embarrassment" out of my mouth.
3) Being Out of the National Title Race -- We'd have to win 7 straight games, including away games at LSU and Auburn in order to get back to Atlanta for the SECC to probably face 'Bama again. IF we somehow run the table and do that, we have to hope that whoever we play in Atlanta is ranked high enough to give us a significant bump in the polls. Then we also have to hope that every team ranked ahead of us currently takes a loss (or another loss), which is possible, but not entirely probable. At that point, we have an OUTSIDE shot of playing for the crystal football. That, my friends, sucks.
Well, there you have it. I'll write some more on the move of Kiante Tripp probably tomorrow. Also, for the commenter named "Beat Down" who took nearly every word I wrote in my preview and showed where I was wrong, I appreciate it. You've earned the right to gloat and certainly earned the right to show me where I made my mistakes. However, at the end of the day, I'm still from Georgia and you're still not. Thanks for proving my point.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Damn It, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Monday, September 08, 2008
I tell you one thing, Central Michigan does have a good team. This post might be laced with a joke here and there about their performance on Saturday, but make no mistake, this team is bowl bound and could probably win the MAC again this year.
In fact, I'd put them up against South Carolina, but that's another post for another day. Let's get to the review:
The Stats Say:
I forgot to add this in last week, but the stats say one overall thing: Our Offense is SICK. As The Good Senator noted, Phil Steele's computer guessed that UGA would rack up about 597 yards of total offense and we received further proof that Steele tends to have an idea of what he's talking about. Turns out that the Dawgs tallied up 552 yards of total offense, which isn't a bad performance at all, don't you think?
The Good:
1) Matt Stafford -- Don't worry, we'll get to Knowshon in a second, but in the meantime, did you notice that Stafford has yet to throw an interception and he's currently the highest rated passer in the SEC? Oh, you didn't? Well, I'm here to tell you that it's true. Stafford's progression has been a thing of beauty, even over his gameplay last year and I think we're going to see him get better and better. He's making wise decisions, throwing accurately and taking care of the football. Right now I see him as the most important cog for us to finish the season with the record (and hardware) we expect.
2) Knowshon Moreno -- Seriously, he JUMPED a guy...while running the football...after making a sick ass cut to get into the open field. If he'd had finished that play with a TD, he would've received the Heisman shortly thereafter. Don't let the hurdle fool you, though, it was a very bright spot in a flat out blinding day for the guy. Knowshon finished with 168 yards rushing (198 yards total) and 3 TDs. His production is off the charts and I think he's starting to feel his way around this young Offensive Line. It took all our running backs a minute to kind of see how this line was going to set up blocks, and now that we're gelling a little bit, I think you can expect to see more big performances.
3) Rennie Curran -- The Liberian Dream is back! After being nearly invisible against Georgia Southern, Curran recorded 11 tackles (8 solo and 1 sack included) and was absolutely disgruntled against the Chippewas. Dannell Ellerbe is the heart and soul of the Defense, but Curran is going to be our playmaker this year. He's a tackling machine and is a man amongst boys physically. I'm a fan, in case you can't tell.
4) Joe Cox -- I know he only saw mop up duty, but every time he takes the field I have the sneaking suspicion that he can flat out play ball. Is he as gifted as Stafford? No, but not many people are. However, if (heaven forbid) Stafford were to go down with an injury, I know that with Cox, we're not facing a similar situation to what Oregon faced last year. We are not as good without Stafford, but we're not necessarily bad without him either.
The Bad:
1) Our Kickoffs -- Man, we've got to find some consistency in the kicking-off-the-tee game. I know Blair Walsh has a cannon for a leg and the kid is doing the Dawg Nation proud right now as a true freshman, but he has got to get more consistent on the kickoffs. While we're playing scrubs, it's OK for them to have starting position outside the 30, but news flash, the days of playing scrub teams are over. We've got to start kicking it deep and start kicking it deep RIGHT NOW.
2) Willie's Soft Zone Defense -- Ugh. I don't even want to talk about this one. It was bad enough that we didn't blitz enough people to sack LaFevour more than twice, but it's worse when we're giving him so much time to throw that our DBs are getting toasted. Bryan Evans had one of the worst games of his career, and the truth is that no one else's was much better. Sure, Central Michigan only scored 17 points, but it was 17 well-earned-because-our-Defense-got-carved-up points. There were a couple of times where I would focus specifically on our DBs at the line, only to see them run up but not lay a hand on a receiver when the ball was snapped. That sh*t isn't going to cut it against Florida.
3) Lack of the TE -- Yeah, I know this is kind of ticky-tacky, but I really like how we utilize the TE. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see our WRs catch the ball consistently, get yards after catch, snag in the deep ball, etc. but I still like to see our TEs get some receptions as well. I'm sure we'll see more as we get deeper into the season because we have kept the play calling vanilla so far.
The Ugly:
1) The Heat -- It wasn't as brutal as I heard it was last Saturday, but it was still hot nonetheless. I know it's good to play in the heat since we're traveling to the F*CKING DESERT at the end of September, but I personally cannot wait for one of those perfect Athens-in-October fall days.
2) Being Hungover on Saturday -- Note to self: Drinking heavily on Friday, not good. It's called "moderation."
Well, there's my recap of the game. What was your Good, Bad & Ugly from the weekend?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Monday, September 01, 2008
Ok, there's plenty to cover regarding the game on Saturday, but let's just go ahead and skip all the pleasantries and get right to it.
The Good:
1) Offensive Production -- Finally we looked like we had every aspect of our Offensive scheme clicking on most (but not all) cylinders. Our running game was effective and our passing game was just as effective. Stafford's pass efficiency was around 62%, with no interceptions. On top of that, our receivers did a great job of catching tough passes. Offensively, we were about as effective as you could think.
2) 1st Half Defense -- Well, let's see, GSU only gained 88 yards in the first half and scored zero points. We did have to intercept one pass in the endzone and rely on a missed field goal in order to keep that shutout, but sometimes a little luck goes along way. In the first half, we tackled well, defended well and pressured the QB. All in all, it was 38-0 before GSU finally scored anything. I'd say something went right early on.
3) Kicking Game -- Well, Blair Walsh didn't disappoint did he? Instead of being afforded the luxury of kicking off, kicking a PAT and then kicking a few short FGs to find his stride, he was thrown right into the fire by having his first FG attempt be a monster one from 52 yards. The most important thing about that is that he not only converted that attempt, but he did it with extra room to spare. That kick would've been good from 55 or maybe even 60.
4) Freshmen Debuts -- Caleb King, Cordy Glenn, DeAngelo Tyson, A.J. Green and Tavarres King all made notable debuts between the hedges, with other freshmen like Logan Gray and Richard Samuel seeing some good time as well. All in all, I think the final count was that 10 true freshmen saw the field and got some quality game experience. Nothing wrong with that.
The Bad:
1) Injuries -- It not only sucks that Jeff Owens went down for the year with an ACL tear, but we had players all over the place go down with cramps. As of this writing, I still don't know what happened to Kenneth Harris for him to be in a walking boot, but that didn't look good either. The truth is, if we can't keep our guys healthy, then our chances of getting through the Alabama game without a loss is pretty slim.
2) 2nd Half Defense -- For everything that went right in the first half, it went wrong in the second half. We couldn't tackle, we couldn't cover and we couldn't pressure the QB worth a damn. Now, I'm not saying we're a "bad" Defense, per say, but I do think that we slacked up when we knew the game was in hand.
3) Buck Belue and Matt Stewart -- What's great about the new CBS and ESPN mega deals is that hopefully we won't have to deal with those two asshats any longer. I know Buck is a "legend" of sorts at UGA, but seriously, the guy drives me crazy behind the microphone. Buck's "analysis" is more "anal" than anything and Matt Stewart couldn't call a game to save his life. Ugh, I'll take Mike "What's Britney Up To These Days?" Patrick over those two any day.
The Ugly:
1) The Heat -- I wasn't there, but what I hear is that the temperatures and humidity were out of control after a pretty stellar summer of decent temperatures. My thoughts on that is that while it's ugly, it helps us in the long run, because it's not going to get any warmer in Arizona.
2) The Refereeing -- Wow. Seriously, can we get a crew that doesn't feel sorry for the other team? Evil Richt had to be brought out of his cage to open a can of whoop ass on the head ref, who couldn't count the men in the huddle. That's not including the multiple pass interference calls that were missed. Refereeing at Sanford Stadium is a guarantee to be bad...every time.
3) Ticket Prices -- Even though we're the No. 1, I didn't expect to hear that GSU tickets were up into the $100-$150 range. For someone who doesn't have season tickets like me, it's never a good thing to hear that ticket prices are so high-dollar. Looks like I'll be donating to the Hartman Fund until I'm 40 just to have the option to buy a face value ticket.
Final Thoughts:
We got what we expected. We saw some good things on Offense, good things on Defense and we answered questions about our Special Teams. There's not much more you can ask for than that. Unfortunately, we lost a leader in Owens, but that just means it's time for someone else to step up.
I was a little off on the score, but that's OK. A win's a win and I'll take it for what it is. Now we have to focus forward with a good week of practice in anticipation to face an offensively talented Central Michigan team.
Your thoughts?
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Saturday, April 05, 2008
First, a quick interview with DJ (who is probably my favorite Dawg of all time). He's the honorary coach for the red team. No questions to DJ about his NFL career. That kind of pisses me off. I'm really interested to see what's going on with him.
Then they interview Kevin Butler, coach of the Black team. Butler tells us what we all figured anyway; that we need some help in the kicking game.
I'm pissed about not getting an update about Shockley. Damn it.
Anyway, some first half observations.
- We are just not there on the O-line. I really believe Richt when he's said he doesn't feel that we're where we need to be. Thankfully, this is spring and we have plenty of time to get it together, but we've got to get after it better in the trenches. The talent gap between the first and second team is HUGE and we've got to get after it during the summer.
- Stafford and Moreno both look good and our WRs on the first team have some sure hands. Moreno is not as jaw-dropping as you would think, but he's still got that electricity about him where you hold your breath every time he touches the ball.
- We look solid in the front 7 on defense. Especially in the trenches, we're quick and create a lot of havoc. Damn we're deep on defense. The 2nd team looks good too and I can't say enough about our LBs. I think we're a little thin in the secondary as far as playmakers go since we've been burned a couple of times, but I'd say our defense could keep up with at least 80% of the teams in the nation RIGHT NOW. Who knows how much better we could be by the fall.
- Kicking wise, we don't look bad at all. Our punting isn't as solid as we'd like, but on FGs, we've got some legs out there.
3rd Quarter coming up.
Labels: Athens, College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football, We're talkin' 'bout practice
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Man I have missed my recaps. I usually hate doing the previews and recaps towards the end of the season, but I was really looking forward to both of them this time around.
So after the absolute destruction of Hawaii last night, there’s a ton of stuff to touch on. Let’s get to it.
The Exceptional:
Coach Willie Martinez – Seriously, this guy schemed a perfect game last night. I said that it would be beneficial to stunt a bunch of players, but only rush 3 or 4 and drift the rest into coverage. I turned out to be pretty right, except that we didn’t even need to stunt. Our D-line was so much bigger and quicker than their smaller O-line there was no reason to play possum. We were going after the QB every play and we succeeded. What resulted was 8 sacks and 3 interceptions by the “superb” QB in Colt Brennan. Helluva job by CWM. Schemed a masterful defensive plan.
Coach Mark Richt – Is it just me, or do you love Evil Mark Richt? He tried to get as many seniors involved as possible (though I was disappointed to know I had to wait until the 4th quarter before I saw Kregg Lumpkin) and really let Mike Bobo go out there and put us in a position to dominate. Regardless of what those clueless announcers were saying in some of his calls being “classless,” I think it’s pretty safe to say that Mark Richt is tired of being nice and waiting for good things to come to him for it. He wants a MNC as much as the fans and the players do, and he is going to start playing the game to put us in that position. He wanted us to dominate them and he got his wish. I have no problem with it at all.
Marcus Howard – Damn.
The Good:
The Running Game – Cut 2nd and long into 3rd in short multiple times to keep crucial drives going. TB got most of the carriers for a number of reasons, but Knowshon again looked solid as a rock on some of those runs. Again, I was a little disappointed in getting KL in so late, but I’m sure there was a good reason for that. He’s a good kid and Richt wouldn’t hold him out as punishment. Brennan Southerland and the entire O-line need to be credited with solid blocking efforts as they continually created opportunities for our guys to break one.
The Entire Defense – We did everything right. The only problems I saw was where we missed a couple of tackles late, but seriously, that’s as nit picky as it can possibly get. We played our most solid defensive game I’ve seen all season and just GATA the whole way through. Since Hawaii can’t run to save their lives, we had three weeks to prepare a pass rush and zone scheme that would confuse Brennan and it worked to perfection. Great, great, great, great job by these guys.
Kickers – From Brandon Coutu nailing a 52-yard kick that would’ve been good from 65, to Brian Mimbs throwing down some ninja-justice on a Hawaii player, these guys had an exceptional night. We still kick really short on kickoffs; which bothers me, but as far as the kickers go, we couldn’t have had a better night. One thing I like about Mimbs’ sneak attack…he looked for the ref first so that he wouldn’t draw a penalty. Welcome to the SEC.
The Bad:
Stafford’s throwing -- His audibles last night were the best plays he made. He was largely off target for a majority of the evening; making only a couple of really tough throws. I’m not sure if his mechanics just weren’t working or what, but he was high, wide, and short all night long. Seriously though, to be on the stage that he was on at his age (yes people, he’s still only a sophomore) and keep the poise that he kept all night long, it confirms he’s a leader. Once he lets his talent catch up to his mental understanding of the offense, the kid is going to be unstoppable.
Kregg’s Late Substitution – Sorry, but KL has always been my boy and I wish he could’ve gotten in with the first team. It would’ve been nice to see him break off a decent run or two before he had to hang up his “G” laces.
The Ugly:
Colt Brennan – I mean ungodly ugly at that. Every time I saw him throw a pick, I could hear Keanu Reeves’ monologue from “The Replacements” about quicksand. It was like watching a train wreck and when the backup came in and led a drive ending in a touchdown, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I kind of felt bad for old Colt 45, but then I remembered how cocky he is. Sometimes you just need to be humbled and this time, he got it in a big way. I read a quote that said he took some tips from Tebow about Georgia and if he beat UGA whereas Tebow couldn’t, Brennan said “it would validate a lot of things for him.” One thing absolutely validated for sure were the eye-witness reports saying that he was losing it on the sideline crying and being consoled by about 10 different players. Rumor has it, he learned the crying trick from Tebow as well. Let it flow, Colt. Your mental meltdown cost you a few million in signing bonuses for sure.
Mommy is it over yet?
So after the absolute destruction of Hawaii last night, there’s a ton of stuff to touch on. Let’s get to it.
The Exceptional:
Coach Willie Martinez – Seriously, this guy schemed a perfect game last night. I said that it would be beneficial to stunt a bunch of players, but only rush 3 or 4 and drift the rest into coverage. I turned out to be pretty right, except that we didn’t even need to stunt. Our D-line was so much bigger and quicker than their smaller O-line there was no reason to play possum. We were going after the QB every play and we succeeded. What resulted was 8 sacks and 3 interceptions by the “superb” QB in Colt Brennan. Helluva job by CWM. Schemed a masterful defensive plan.
Coach Mark Richt – Is it just me, or do you love Evil Mark Richt? He tried to get as many seniors involved as possible (though I was disappointed to know I had to wait until the 4th quarter before I saw Kregg Lumpkin) and really let Mike Bobo go out there and put us in a position to dominate. Regardless of what those clueless announcers were saying in some of his calls being “classless,” I think it’s pretty safe to say that Mark Richt is tired of being nice and waiting for good things to come to him for it. He wants a MNC as much as the fans and the players do, and he is going to start playing the game to put us in that position. He wanted us to dominate them and he got his wish. I have no problem with it at all.
Marcus Howard – Damn.
The Good:
The Running Game – Cut 2nd and long into 3rd in short multiple times to keep crucial drives going. TB got most of the carriers for a number of reasons, but Knowshon again looked solid as a rock on some of those runs. Again, I was a little disappointed in getting KL in so late, but I’m sure there was a good reason for that. He’s a good kid and Richt wouldn’t hold him out as punishment. Brennan Southerland and the entire O-line need to be credited with solid blocking efforts as they continually created opportunities for our guys to break one.
The Entire Defense – We did everything right. The only problems I saw was where we missed a couple of tackles late, but seriously, that’s as nit picky as it can possibly get. We played our most solid defensive game I’ve seen all season and just GATA the whole way through. Since Hawaii can’t run to save their lives, we had three weeks to prepare a pass rush and zone scheme that would confuse Brennan and it worked to perfection. Great, great, great, great job by these guys.
Kickers – From Brandon Coutu nailing a 52-yard kick that would’ve been good from 65, to Brian Mimbs throwing down some ninja-justice on a Hawaii player, these guys had an exceptional night. We still kick really short on kickoffs; which bothers me, but as far as the kickers go, we couldn’t have had a better night. One thing I like about Mimbs’ sneak attack…he looked for the ref first so that he wouldn’t draw a penalty. Welcome to the SEC.
The Bad:
Stafford’s throwing -- His audibles last night were the best plays he made. He was largely off target for a majority of the evening; making only a couple of really tough throws. I’m not sure if his mechanics just weren’t working or what, but he was high, wide, and short all night long. Seriously though, to be on the stage that he was on at his age (yes people, he’s still only a sophomore) and keep the poise that he kept all night long, it confirms he’s a leader. Once he lets his talent catch up to his mental understanding of the offense, the kid is going to be unstoppable.
Kregg’s Late Substitution – Sorry, but KL has always been my boy and I wish he could’ve gotten in with the first team. It would’ve been nice to see him break off a decent run or two before he had to hang up his “G” laces.
The Ugly:
Colt Brennan – I mean ungodly ugly at that. Every time I saw him throw a pick, I could hear Keanu Reeves’ monologue from “The Replacements” about quicksand. It was like watching a train wreck and when the backup came in and led a drive ending in a touchdown, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I kind of felt bad for old Colt 45, but then I remembered how cocky he is. Sometimes you just need to be humbled and this time, he got it in a big way. I read a quote that said he took some tips from Tebow about Georgia and if he beat UGA whereas Tebow couldn’t, Brennan said “it would validate a lot of things for him.” One thing absolutely validated for sure were the eye-witness reports saying that he was losing it on the sideline crying and being consoled by about 10 different players. Rumor has it, he learned the crying trick from Tebow as well. Let it flow, Colt. Your mental meltdown cost you a few million in signing bonuses for sure.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, UGA Football
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Ugh, Saturday’s contest sure was ugly wasn’t it? It’s going to make doing a recap tough, but let’s hit up the X’s and O’s and save the Gloat Fest 2007 for another post. In other words, expect this to be short. I can’t wait to brag.
The Stats Say:
Lies! All of them! From the stats it looks like Georgia had a dominating offensive performance (420+ yards and 30+ points scored), but the game was actually much closer than that. There are really only two things you can point out for sure:
- Tech did, in fact, keep Knowshon Moreno in check, but still surrendered numerous yards on the ground to Thomas Brown.
- Tech’s sack-happy defense had could did not have enough time to get to Matt Stafford. The team that leads the nation in sacks only had one against the Dawgs, which you can attribute to solid offensive game-planning, and the superb job that Stacy Searels has done with this young unit.
The Good:
Thomas Brown – Tech’s Defense worried so much about Knowshon that they forgot Brown could run. When you scamper for 130+ yards against the seventh ranked defense in the nation, you had a good day. His efforts helped set up the play action pass and his late touchdown run put the game away. All in all, it was a great way for the Senior to go out.
Matt Stafford – Again, Stafford proves himself to be a “big down” quarterback, but not the “every down” quarterback. Some of his throws will ill-advised, but the passes to Bailey and Mo Mass were things of beauty. He is really learning to put touch on the deep ball. Whoever we play in the bowl game better have a strong secondary or we’re going to torch the mess out of them.
WR Corps – These guys are doing a lot of things right. I have yet to see them crocodile arm any passes out of fear of getting hit, drop balls that were perfectly placed, or drop key blocks. These guys are doing nearly everything right and are coming up in big ways when the team needs them to. I have not been a huge fan of John Eason, but whatever he’s done with this group has been huge. Mo Mass and Sean Bailey both had solid games and seven different receivers caught passes on Saturday.
The Entire Defense – Our LBs are still ball hawking, we’re still getting pressure with the D-line, and the Secondary is playing the pass better than they have all year. There were still some weak spots regarding tackling and we were burnt deep a few times and just got lucky that Tech didn’t convert, but all in all it was a good effort by the entire group. Tashard Choice is a good running back and aside from that one drive where he was unstoppable, we did a pretty good job of keeping him contained.
Ball Control – Part of this can be attributed to Georgia Tech’s atrocious offense not being able to stay on the field, but our offense again showed amazing balance and sustained a few clock-eating drives. The key to Tenuta’s defense is for all their legs to stay fresh for the blitz and you could tell by the end of the game that we had just worn them slap out.
The Bad:
Sloppy Play – Both the Dawgs and the Jackets had poor showings on either side of the ball by surrendering big yards at certain times, as well as not taking care of the ball on offense. The turnover margin went in the Dawgs’ favor, and a case (though not a strong one) could be made that the Dawgs got a call or two here and there. However, Tech shot themselves in the foot, and if you want to bitch about officiating, then we can revisit the 1999 game and count that as a win for the Dawgs.
Flat Openings – I’m not sure if we just thought we were going to cake-walk Tech or what, but we started flat on the road again. I think part of the problem is that none of these kids have lost to Tech (but can you really consider that a problem?), and therefore they just don’t know what it’s like to lose to the Yellow Jackets. If they knew how much heck they’d receive for losing, then we probably would’ve come out and destroyed them from the start. Maybe they just didn’t come out playing with enough emotion, or HEART. Yeah, that previous sentence is meant to be sarcastic.
Overall:
I think Dawg fans will look at the “W” and be satisfied, and ultimately, that’s how they should take it. In my mind, it’s always nice to walk away with a win, but I wish we could’ve played a little bit more solid ball and hung about 50 on the Jackets. Let’s not forget that the Dawgs were driving and could have scored one more time to further the embarrassment, but Mark Richt is not that kind of guy, and to be fair, Chan Gailey doesn’t deserve it anyway. He’s down right now and there’s no reason to kick him.
More on this later during the Gloat Fest that is coming, but Georgia Tech just isn’t Georgia. Plain and simple. If they would have won, it would’ve been because Georgia shot themselves in the foot (which we tried to do a few times), and not because Tech has better players, better coaching, or anything like that. They just don’t. End of story.
Gloat Fest up next.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
Labels: College Football, Game Recaps, Tuck Fech, UGA Football
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])farm1.static.flickr.com/25/91629728_210e7c9470_o.jpg]The^20Dawg-gone^20Blog]],](](],](]white],](](]^23666](](](]black](](](],]55]5],](](]^23112029])])]black]1]5],](](]^23112029])])]black]maroon])])]black]30]black]^23F0A739],](](]black](](],]gainsboro]white]gray],](](]maroon])])],](](]^23112029])])],](](]maroon])])],](]black]gray]10]5]10]5]^23F0A739],](](],](],](](],](]black](](](],](](](],]gainsboro](](](],](](]gainsboro](](],](](],]gray]gainsboro](],](]Kit^20was^20wrong^20again^20at^20^24TIME.]20],](](]black])])]maroon])])]black]30]black]^23F0A739],](](]black],](](]gainsboro]white]gray]]]]Home]^24HOME]]E-mail^20Me]^24EMAIL]]Georgia^20Sites]]]Georgiadogs.com]www.georgiadogs.com]]Dawgbone.net]www.dawgbone.net]]Sic^20^27Em^20Dawgs])www.sicemdawgs.com/]]The^20Anti-Orange^20Page])antiorange.dawgtoons.com]]Georgia^20Blogs]]]***Georgia^20Sports^20Blog]Georgia^20Sports^20Blog]]***Get^20The^20Picture])blutarsky.wordpress.com]]***Dawg^20Sports]www.dawgspots.com]]***Ching^27s^20Blog])ching-athens.blogspot.com]]Hey^20Jenny^20Slater])heyjennyslater.blogspot.com]]Dawgs^20Online]www.dawgsonline.com]]Georgia^20Fanhouse^20^28AOL^29])sports.aol.com/fanhouse/category/georgia-football/]]Bulldogs^20Blog])ugadogsblog.blogspot.com/]]Hedge^20Clippings^20^28ABH^29])blogs.onlineathens.com/blog/25]]Only^20In^20America])www.onlyina.blogspot.com]]Odell^27s^20BBQ])odellsbbq.blogspot.com/]]The^20C.O.S.A.G.^20])gunslingers.blogspot.com/]]Hunker^20Down^20Dawg^20Blawg])hunkerdowndawg.blogspot.com/]]My^20Cathartic^20Ramblings])www.acevans.blogspot.com/]]Dawg^20Blog]www.dawgblog.com]]Other^20Sports^20Blogs]]]***EDSBS])www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/]Florida^20Gators]The^20Wizard^20of^20Odds])thewizardofodds.blogspot.com/]General^20College^20Football]Golden^20Tornado])goldentornado.blogspot.com]Georgia^20Tech]Burnt^20Orange^20Nation])www.burntorangenation.com]Texas]MGOBlog])mgoblog.blogspot.com]Michigan]College^20Football^20Resource])www.collegefootballresource.com]General^20College^20Football]Sunday^20Morning^20QB])www.sundaymorningqb.com]General^20College^20Football]Web^20Site^20Builders]]]^3Cimg^20src^3D^22)psyc.horm.org/barimg/bar_psycho.png^22^20width^3D^2280^22^20height^3D^2215^22^20alt^3D^22PsycHo^3A^20Free^20Template^20Generator^22^20style^3D^22border^3A^200px^20solid^20black^22^20/^3E]^24PSYCHO]PsycHo^3A^20Free^20Template^20Generator]^3Cimg^20src^3D^22)psyc.horm.org/barimg/bar_firefox.png^22^20width^3D^2280^22^20height^3D^2215^22^20alt^3D^22Get^20FireFox^21^22^20style^3D^22border^3A^200px^20solid^20black^22^20/^3E])www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/]Get^20Firefox^21]^3Cimg^20src^3D^22)psyc.horm.org/barimg/bar_xhtml.png^22^20width^3D^2280^22^20height^3D^2215^22^20alt^3D^22XHTML^20Validator^22^20style^3D^22border^3A^200px^20solid^20black^22^20/^3E])validator.w3.org/check/referer]XHTML^20Validator]Friends^20of^20Mine]]]Beer^20Blog^20Pong^20This])www.russellsauve.com]]The^20Song^20Writer])thoughtanddeed.blogspot.com]]The^20Man^20of^20Georgia])manofgeorgia.blogspot.com/]]The^20Road^20to^20Copacetic])dixieugadawg.wordpress.com/]]Read^20Dave])www.readdave.blogspot.com/]]Bean])sereniebeanie.blogspot.com]]Gunner]www.symbolicfactuality.blogspot.com]]Sh*t^20Hot^20Oob])oobblog.blogspot.com/]]Big^20Oob])banddirectorguy.blogspot.com]]Cute^20Oob])designerleslie.blogspot.com/]]Under^20the^20Carport])www.ssrcorley.blogspot.com/]]Stacy^27s^20Rarely^20Updated^20Blog])stacyrene02.blogspot.com]]Trina^27s^20Rarely^20Updated^20Blog])www.mulefritters.blogspot.com]]Archive]]]^24ARCHIVE]^20]]Site^20Feeds]]]]^3Cp^3E^3Ca^20href^3D^22)feeds.feedburner.com/TheDawg-goneBlog^22^20rel^3D^22alternate^22^20type^3D^22application/rss+xml^22^3E^3Cimg^20src^3D^22)www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon16x16.png^22^20alt^3D^22^22^20style^3D^22vertical-align^3Amiddle^3Bborder^3A0^22/^3E^3C/a^3E^26nbsp^3B^3Ca^20href^3D^22)feeds.feedburner.com/TheDawg-goneBlog^22^20rel^3D^22alternate^22^20type^3D^22application/rss+xml^22^3ESubscribe^20in^20a^20reader^3C/a^3E^3C/p^3E]PsycHo^3A^20Free^20Template^20Generator^26^2361470^3BPsycHo}){kind=small}
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