Dawgs Bite Paper Tigers …

Was Georgia that good, in their 45-7 thrashing of Auburn, or did the Tigers forget to War Eagle, instead rolling over offering up one of the most lopsided losses in this series?

Georgia finished with its biggest win in the series since a 41-0 triumph in 1946.

Probably a little of both, but in this crazy world of starting the season 0-2, just a few weeks back, Auburn was our favorite bitch …

Fortunately for Georgia, the Tigers did win one game away from Jordan-Hare Stadium — a 16-13 upset of South Carolina back on Oct. 1. That could turn out to be the difference in the SEC East.

The Bulldogs fell behind in the division with their 45-42 loss to the Gamecocks in the second week of the season. Georgia hasn’t been beaten since, while South Carolina dropped another conference game at Arkansas last week to clear the way for Georgia to take the East.

One more win will do it.  [Source:  Same as previous link]

What does it all mean? Bandwagon jumpers can hop back on in time for the Dawgs to squash the wild kitties from Kentucky, and capture the SEC crown. Who would have thought it after the rough 0-2 start? Certainly not me. I thought the 3-4 was not going to work; the team lacked heart, made too many mental mistakes, and was ready for a change. One poor showing over the next three weeks (assumption – wins over Kentucky, at the Bumbles Bees in ATL, and of course the SEC Championship) and we will all call for Richt’s head, because let’s face it, that is what armchair QB’ing is all about.

On a more serious note, I’m glad all the Boise St. talk is over. Yes they spanked Georgia, in the Dome no less, but that was Labor Day weekend, and the Dawgs were clearly not in form. There is no way any serious pundit could claim that the Blue Horsie boys would carry a win out of the Dome if the two teams were to play in the next three weeks.

Go Dawgs!

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Dawgs Beat Nasty Gators …

Over the history of this website (10 years and change), I have only been able to relish and bask in the Sunday glory of Saturday afternoon win over the dreaded Gators three times. For that matter, my oldest son (13) has only been around for three wins.

It wasn’t this way when I was growing up; hate writing that this is Georgia’s fourth win over Florida in the last 22 years! Did Head Coach Mark Richt save his job by putting down the demons of Florida? Probably …

… when a team has failed so often in this venue, any break in the pattern is major news. “Now that it’s over,” Richt said, “I can say, ‘Yeah, it was a big deal.’ It was a big deal for me personally.”

Georgia’s (6-2, 5-1 SEC) remaining schedule is very manageable, with three consecutive home dates (New Mexico State, Auburn) before ending the season against the hated bumble bees. If Georgia wins out, a once lost season, may actually end with merit, and (hopefully) a springboard to a 2012 SEC title run.

Go Dawgs!

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UGA – Where It All Went Wrong

This is an interesting article (via ajc.com) discussing where the UGA football program suffered a misguided step that setup the current downturn.

UPDATE: I asked Coach Richt at his presser Tuesday what he would point to as the main reason for the recent downturn. Here’s what he said:

“Last year we went through all that, and we talked about things that are a year old. Those are old. This season is the only thing I’m really concerned about, and obviously, we turned the ball over. Not only were they turnovers, they were turnovers for points. I guess there was five yards they had to track one time. Our defense basically gave up 17 points to a pretty darn good football team. They had no responsibility for the fake punt, the pick six or the fumble for a touchdown. They could have stopped them on the five yard line going in. Sudden change – that’s their job to turn it into a field goal. We just gave that one away.”

In general, the team has become undisciplined, does not seem to be ‘hungry’ which at some point has to fall on the coaches. UGA year in and year out has a top recruiting class, which at a minimum means Richt and company are bringing in quality athletes. It is up to the staff to put these young men in a position to win. Seems to be a lost cause.

Of course, win out and all is forgiven with the fan base.  Well, most will forgive, a few will still call for Richt’s head to be placed on a platter.

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Red, Black, and 0-2

Tough loss last night for the Dawgs; South Carolina 45 – 42 Georgia. On many levels I did not expect Georgia to win, but I never expected the Bulldogs to virtually give the game away.

In every game there are always several ‘what ifs’ …

Walsh, one of the best FG kickers in the country missed a 33 yard FG attempt that would have put Georgia up 9-0. What if he did not go wide left?

  • What if the refs didn’t call UGA off-sides when the Dawgs recovered a surprise on-side kick?
  • What if true freshman Isaiah Crowell doesn’t fumble the ball away with Georgia up 20-14 and driving?
  • What if Georgia’s o-line could actually block and doesn’t completely miss an assignment allowing SC to cream Murray, force a fumble, and put SC up by 10 with 3 minutes and change left in the game?

 

Ultimately, taking nothing away from South Carolina (I could still call ‘em the Fighting Chickens, but why bother), the Dawgs gift wrapped a win for South Carolina.

It sucks to already start looking towards next year.

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Dawgs Facing 0-2

I am not sure if I am more surprised, disappointed, or dangerously growing towards apathy. Or maybe some combo of all three …

  • Surprised that the Dawgs didn’t compete in a meaningful way.
  • Disappointed that the Dawgs didn’t compete in a meaningful way.
  • Apathetic that the Dawgs continue on a downward spiral.

 

As a lifelong Bulldog fan, this trend makes my stomach churn. Something has to give … but there appears to be a glaring lack of progress during the fall camp. We read article after article about how the Bulldogs were going to be better conditioned. Didn’t see that show up on the field as the defense was often gasping, and at one point had to call a timeout because they were unable to stop the Broncos march towards another TD.

And it’s hard to say how much credit the Broncos will really get for beating Georgia, even if it was essentially a true road game. The Bulldogs are coming off a 6-7 finish in 2010, which ended with an ugly 10-6 loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl.

Frankly, the Bulldogs didn’t look much different, aside from their Power Ranger-like jerseys and helmets. They committed untimely penalties and couldn’t run the ball effectively. [Source: ESPN]

It’s not that the Dwags lost, it is how they lost; more on that in the second quote from DawgSports, which sums up exactly how I feel.

UGA head coach Mark Richt is the nicest guy; all indications are he is a Christian, family-man, with great intentions. A real leader of young men. Unfortunately, of late, Richt seems to have lost his team. Richt loyalty to his staff, in this case offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, may ultimately be his undoing. The 3-4 experiment led by defensive coordinator Todd Grantham is clearly not working.

Is it time for a change? Things don’t get any easier for the Bulldogs, as they host the Fighting Chickens next week. 0-2? You bet, unless there are significant week-over-week changes, which is highly doubtful.

I am not going to go all brass balls on you and call for the ouster of Richt; it’s just that things have to change. Meaningful change. As in being competitive. There is no shame going down to a better team.

This article from DawgSports really sums up how I feel about the state of the program.

Please do not mistake this for excuse-making on my part; it is not. Boise State was the better team, they fully deserved the win that they got, and they won the game more convincingly on the field than the scoreboard suggested. The Broncos in many ways made the Bulldogs look so bad, which is to BSU’s credit. They are who we thought they were, and, even if Georgia had played well, Boise State still would have earned the win and gotten the win. I take nothing whatsoever away from Boise State.

The problem, from our perspective, is this: Boise State came into the game as a top five team, and the Broncos looked like a top five team, but Georgia came into the game as a top 20 team, and the Bulldogs did not look like a top 20 team. Again, a large part of the credit for that goes to Boise State, but our issue isn’t that the ‘Dawgs lost, it’s how they lost.

Nothing has been fixed, and few things have improved. While the defense probably played a bit better than the Broncos’ 35 points suggest, and the offense certainly played much worse than the Bulldogs’ 21 points indicate, essentially every problem that plagued this team before plagued this team still. This was the Liberty Bowl on a larger stage against a better team, which is why this game likely will mean much less to Boise State three months from now than it means to the Broncos tonight. Though the Broncos are as good as advertised, the Bulldogs remain less than the sum of their parts.

The focus has to turn 100% onto the coaching staff. Put together a solid game plan next week, put the players in a position to successfully execute on the plan, and the Dawgs will be competitive. Will they win? It’s hard to say, but starting the season 0-2 may just be the final straw in Bulldog Nation.

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Labor Day Spectacular – Red, White, and Blue

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend – baseball, college football, cold blue cans of wonderment, and BBQ. In tribute to the last gasp of summer, I give you eye candy for your summer closeout viewing pleasure.

Labor Day delicious eyecandy


Glod bless America!

Me? I started the weekend festivities a little early. I was in the ATL last night for the Falcons vs. Ravens game, which absolutely sucked. I’m going to demand a refund; not that it will happen or anything. The entertainment put on by the Falcons last night was disgraceful.

I bet Mel B is going to be sorely disappointed when she realizes that I am going to put back on those five pounds she helped me drop. Heck, after last night’s tailgate, I probably already ate my way to half of that fat. Easy come, easy go …

Speaking of tailgating, I’ll probably grill out every day over the long weekend, drink a truckload of beer, and catch whatever football action happens to come my way. There is that little game Saturday night at the Dome featuring my beloved Bulldogs taking on the blue turf boys from Boise St.

Hope you and yours have a great holiday!

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UGA Loses Out to OSU

When I saw the AJC heading recruit switches to OSU, I thought “Oh … well, some kid must have some nice tattoo” – I know, not nice. It turns out that the player was one CJ Curry, and the OSU in question was the Cowboys of Oklahoma St.

CJ Curry, who was UGA’s first commitment for its 2012 football recruiting class, switched from the Bulldogs to Oklahoma State on Thursday.

It was a stunning turn of events for the wide receiver from Flowery Branch High School, who informed UGA coach Mark Richt on Wednesday night. Curry had been committed to the Bulldogs since last October.

Ouch.

According to the poll the AJC is running, UGA fans are in denial. At “press time” 68% (1,547 votes) of fans voted that losing CJ was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The reality is that losing a Georgia prep star to a school outside of the state is a big deal; Oklahoma St. having a pipeline into Georgia is downright disgraceful.

The other reality is that recruiting is a crap shoot; rather rating classes is not exactly a neat and tidy process. I write about this all the time – it takes at least 2-3 years down the road to actually judge a recruiting class.

Go Dawgs!

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UGA HB Depth Chart Continues to Crumble

According to the AJC, Carlton Thomas has been suspended for (at least) the Boise St. opener.

Thomas’s suspension continues an alarming rate of attrition for the running backs under the watch of position coach Bryan McClendon. Ealey was indefinitely suspended and eventually granted an unconditional release due to mutual discontent and King was unable to meet the NCAA’s satisfactory progress rule for fifth-year seniors. Now Thomas has run afoul of team policy.

No specific reason was given for Thomas’ suspension. A 10 percent-competition suspension can be applied for missing excessive academic appointments, arrests or flunking a drug tests. No record of arrests could be found.

At least we know the reason for the recent decision to move Richard Samuel back to HB. I hope the freshman combo of Ken Malcome (red shirt freshman) and Isaiah Crowell (true freshman) are ready to carry the load.

Go Dawgs!

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Caleb King Gone; Richard Samuel Runs Again

I know I am a day late and a dollar short on these articles; blame it on my computer woes from last week. I just can’t help myself …

I doubt any team is going to take a flyer on King in the supplemental draft (whenever that occurs); maybe a team (thinking New England) that has plenty of 5-7 round picks stockpiled for future days.

These articles are just too nice; King flunked out of school, which is politically incorrect for losing one’s academic eligibility.

Because the Dawgs now find pitiful depth in the backfield, Samuel has been asked to switch positions yet again, returning to the backfield to help provide some stability, depth, and leadership.

Georgia lost its top two tailbacks of the two last seasons — Caleb King and Washaun Ealey – to academic ineligibility and transfer, respectively, since the end of spring practice. True freshman Isaiah Crowell, junior Carlton Thomas and redshirt freshman Ken “Boo” Malcome were the only remaining tailbacks on scholarship.

Did I mention that King flunked out? Ealey left after several disciplinary mishaps. Once again; these writers are too nice, but I guess they have to hold out for scoops. Or something; digressing again, sorry.

So back to Samuel. Good trooper, and all, but unless there are serious injury problems or concerns that the other backs are not going to be able to carry the load, I do not expect to see Samuel more than a handful of carries a game. If Samuel is looked to as the savior, we are facing another lost season.

Go Dawgs!

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Georgia third best in SEC? Help on the horizon.

Is it really college football annual time again? I keep swearing these off, and one of these days I am going to actually mean it … maybe.

This article from the AJC’s Mark Bradley reminded me that it is college football annual time again. Apparently, the SEC is none too impressed with UGA’s chances.

I bought the Sporting News College Football yearbook over the weekend and was surprised to see the Georgia Bulldogs picked third, behind South Carolina and Florida, in the SEC East. (South Carolina I can understand. Florida I can’t.)

According to the Birmingham News’ annual poll of SEC sports information directors, none of whom could vote for his own team, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Because this survey has it the same way: Gamecocks first, Gators second, Bulldogs third. And not a close third, either.

South Carolina received five first-place votes. (Only the East SIDs were asked to predict the East outcome, FYI.) Florida drew the other. Georgia took an 0-for-6 collar.

In the overall league power rankings, Georgia finished sixth — five points behind Florida, nine ahead of both Auburn and Mississippi State. Alabama was first, LSU second, South Carolina third and Arkansas fourth.

I am not sure why anyone would be surprised that UGA is still behind Florida; it is not as if the Dawgs have had much success against the Gators over the last 20 years! Will the Fighting Chicken really be that good? It is still early days (I have not even looked at their schedule), but I say the Gamecocks have a lapse or two.

In other Georgia news, apparently the Bulldogs are putting together a dandy 2012 class.

Jenkins County High School teammates Jonathan Taylor and James DeLoach both committed to UGA.

Taylor is a 6-foot-4, 325-pound defensive tackle and a candidate to be ranked as the Georgia’s No. 1 overall college football prospect for 2012. He’s only 16 years old, with his next birthday five months away.

DeLoach is 6-3, 265 pounds and can play defensive end or linebacker. Both said all along that they were going to be a “package deal” and play on the same football team on college.

I never put a lot of stock in recruiting; at least when it comes to rating the classes. While it is important to recruit well, and it obviously means you are getting top talent if everyone rates your signing class, too much can happen. Kids get homesick, fail to make grades, get injured, fall in love, get in trouble with the law (especially true of Georgia players in recent years), and so on and so forth.

The best DE to come out of Georgia in forever is only 16? I bet things change between now and September/August 2012 when Taylor actually has an opportunity to take the field.

Go Dawgs!

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Will Georgia’s tough schedule pay dividends in the 2011 NCAA Corvallis Regional?

Let’s talk college baseball for a moment. I started to write a full length feature Sunday about the Bulldogs’ performance over the weekend in the SEC Tournament, but last weekend was all about racing, so I settled for a minor digression between racing action. We open June with a college baseball quickie.

The CSS commentators covering the Bulldogs games against Florida were right; Georgia’s tough schedule gave them instant NCAA appeal.

After playing the nation’s top-rated schedule to go with a fourth place finish in the SEC and reaching the semifinals of the SEC Tournament, Georgia had a No. 16 RPI and earned an NCAA at-large bid to the field of 64. Georgia played 35 games against teams in this year’s NCAA Tournament, going 15-20. Also, the Bulldogs played an SEC-high 34 games versus ranked teams and led the SEC with 16 wins over top 25 clubs. The Bulldogs were road warriors, tallying an SEC-high 33 games away from home. Georgia has never faced Creighton or UALR, and it is 1-6 versus the Beavers. The Bulldogs will practice Wednesday morning and then depart for Corvallis in the afternoon.

It remains to be seen if the Bulldogs are up to the challenge. I like this team’s spunk, but I do not really like the West Coast draw. I think the Bulldogs finish second, which will not be enough to move on to the Super Regionals. I sincerely hope this team proves me wrong.

Go Dawgs!

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Spectacular Day of Racing

I kicked off the weekend with a slow cooked Boston Butt Roast; I am biased, but it was fantastically delicious. Watched some of the Nationwide action to see what the Ice Man would do. He was doing OK until a little over midway in the race he was penalized with a drive through penalty for leaving the pits too fast.

Quick digression; I also watched some Dawgs baseball. They managed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament by virtue of a decent run with wins over the Fighting Chickens and Gators. Too bad they could not manage a second win against the Gators in the elimination bracket. Georgia’s record may look flimsy, but when you look at their quality schedule, I hope they get consideration for the Tournament.

In a few minutes it’s onwards to Monaco, followed by some Indy 500 action and eventually some 600 miles NASCAR racing action well into the night. It is too much to take. I think throwing some wings on the grill and a cooler full of High Life and Miller Lite will just have to help me carry the day.

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Dawgs Continue To Draw Trouble

Sheesh; WTF is wrong with this batch of Bulldogs. Once again, Washaun Ealey seemingly is in trouble, having been suspended indefinitely.

At some point, Coach Richt and UGA is going to have to figure out that they cannot continue to recruit kids that have such a poor sense of judgment, responsibility, and commitment.

Oh well, bring on the batch of new kids and see what sort of trouble they can stir up.

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More Georgia Blues. SEC Down. Ohio St. Rules?

Will there be any fall-out from Georgia’s lackluster performance in yesterday’s Liberty Bowl? In Coach Richt’s post game press conference, he talked about “making changes” and making sure this (losing record, getting taken out by a C-USA team) does not happen again. Jeff Schultz writes a damning indictment of Richt’s program, and I have to begrudgingly admit that I cannot disagree with his assessment.

The Dogs didn’t necessarily look emotionless. They just looked pointless.

Central Florida, coached by the familiar George O’Leary, smacked them in the mouth. Georgia didn’t look equipped to smack back. They couldn’t run the ball. They couldn’t get tough yards. They couldn’t make a big play when they needed one. They were 3 for 14 on third-down conversions.

I am not ready to say that Richt has run his course at UGA, but I am almost ready to jump on that bandwagon. The problem Georgia faces – if they fired Richt, where do they turn next?

Let’s just hope that Richt figures things out by kickoff time next year against Boise St. or Dawg fans can look forward to another miserable year.

SEC Lays 3 Rotten Eggs
Tennessee (North Carolina), Georgia (UCF), and South Carolina (FSU) laid eggs, giving the SEC a nasty 0-3 Bowl record going into today’s match-ups. Granted, no one really cares about these lower tier games, with the exception of the Chick-fil-a Bowl, which is turning into a top flight experience.

After today’s SEC/Big-10 clashes – Alabama (Michigan St.), Florida (Penn St.), Miss. St. (Michigan) – the best the SEC can hope for is to break even, but I have a sneaking suspicion that SEC will not run the table.

Would you believe a dirty little secret of mine is that I have not necessarily been pulling for SEC teams this Bowl season. With the exception of Georgia, how in the hell would I pull for the others? Tennessee – no way. Fighting Chickens? You must be the Dancing Queen.

Today’s games are not really any different. There is no way on God’s Green Earth that I will pull for Florida, and Saint Nick is too damn smug for my taste. I will however pull for the Western Bulldogs to hammer Michigan.

Pessimism Abounds
From an SEC fanboy perspective, I think it looks good for the conference when the SEC does well, but I am really down on college football right now. Part of my doldrums can be contributed to having ATL Falcons season tickets, but this feeling has been building for a long time. The A.J. Green four-game suspension at the beginning of the year rubbed my nose in it. It is ridiculous that Georgia and Texas A&M split $1.1 million in last year’s Independence Bowl, but an athlete cannot cash in on his jersey.

Of course Bush giving back the Heisman and Cam having to do the same thing in a few years, once all the evidence comes out, is just the tip of the iceberg. I think the NCAA is out of control – not the athletes and institutions. I could write on this all day, but there is no need to get my blood pressure up before 8AM on New Year’s Day!

Love Me Some Buckeyes. No Really.
Long time readers will chuckle at the thought of me pulling for Ohio St. Tuesday night to embarrass Arkansas, but this should not be a total surprise if you kindly remember the following. As much as I cannot stand the yearly artificial hype from the media perching Ohio St. on the BCS Championship leader, I despise Bobby Petrino and find Arkansas the most unlikeable fan base in the SEC. So there; done. Buckeyes in the Sugar!

Tigers and Wildcats
This year’s Cotton Bowl features a Friday night clash between regional rivals LSU and Texas A&M. Shouldn’t college football be over by next Friday? I really do not like the Tigers from LSU, but that is only because every once in a while they beat my beloved Dawgs. Texas A&M is a different matter. They are arch rivals of Texas, so I should immediately hate the Aggies in this one, however I may just pull for state ties and bloodlines. Once a Texan, always a Texan? At least I have a week to decide who I want to lose.

Kentucky is playing on January 8 against Pittsburg in something called BBVA Compass Bowl? Seriously; that was a question. WTF is wrong with the Bowl game lineup powers that be for supporting a Bowl game this deep into the year on a NFL Playoff Sunday?

BCS – Ducks over Tigers?
The SEC could lose all there other Bowl games and I am not sure anyone would care. Thanks to the advent of the BCS, except for the large paydays, most of the other Bowl games have been rendered irrelevant by a game played over a week after the Rose Bowl. All is right with the world when an SEC team sits atop the Championship ladder, however, life in these parts would be unbearable if Auburn closes out the season with a win.

This is shades of 2009; the Tide fans were even more obnoxious than is typical for the Roll Tide sorts. I guess it comes with the territory living minutes from the Georgia/Alabama state line, and just 45 minutes from the Plains of Auburn.

At least last year was easy – Texas all the way. This year is not so easy, and I really don’t want to hear the Auburn cheated arguments. Regardless of what happened with Cam off the field, any shenanigans and likely paydays did not help Cam or Auburn win games.

With all that said, I think I am still going to pull for the Ducks. I would rather a PAC-10 team win it all than having to put up with an off season full of “War Eagle” cries.

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