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Monday, September 29, 2008
Bouncing back from Bama won’t be easy for Dawgs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Five things we learned over the weekend:
1. Bouncing back from Bama won’t be easy for Dawgs: Physically, the Bulldogs need a break after getting beat up pretty good by Alabama. Alabama is a team that will punish everybody and Georgia certainly had the battle scars on Sunday. But I believe the more important aspect of this bye week is mental. It takes time for a good team—and Georgia is still a very good team—to get over being physically dominated the way the Bulldogs were on Saturday night. Clemson, I would suggest to you, still hasn’t gotten over its 34-10 beat down by Alabama yet. That kind of loss does something to the psyche of a team, particularly a team that had national championship aspirations. What Georgia needs to do now is pretty simple: Quit thinking about national rankings, the BCS, College Game Day and focus on the task at hand, which is beating Tennessee at home on Oct. 11. Georgia still controls its own destiny in the SEC East and if the Bulldogs take care of business, they may get another shot at Alabama in the Georgia Dome on Dec. 6.
2. Bama is back: Coach Nick Saban doesn’t want to hear this. He is a process guy and not a results guy. He doesn’t want to hear about his team being hyped in the media because he knows that Alabama could easily pull a Florida and get beat because they weren’t quite ready to play. But here is what I saw Saturday night at Sanford Stadium. After last year’s collapse in the second half of the season, Alabama has gotten better in all of the right places. The offensive line, which was hurt with suspensions and injury last season, is a veteran group that bulldozes opponents. They have upgraded at running back (Mark Ingram), wide receiver (Julio Jones, B.J. Scott), and are putting John Parker Wilson in much better positions to be successful. The defense is ridiculous. As a friend told me Saturday night, Alabama plays fast and with a lot of hunger. The only question that remains is how the Crimson Tide will handle success, which has been an issue for quite some time.
3. Tennessee needs to change quarterbacks—now: The reason that Jonathan Crompton has continued to be Tennessee’s starting quarterback is that he is the best player the Vols have at the position. If Nick Stephens or B.J. Coleman were doing anything better than Crompton in practice they would be playing. But there comes a point in a season where you have to make a change simply for the sake of change. Steve Spurrier did it this week at South Carolina with Stephen Garcia. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said Sunday that he was opening the quarterback competition to Crompton and Stephens. They will split the reps at No. 1 and the coaches will chart every play. The quarterback who does the best in practice will start against Northern Illinois. I would maintain that unless the performance gap in practice is huge, Fulmer needs to give Stephens a shot. Tennessee needs an infusion of optimism after suffering through so many mistakes in four games. If Stephens doesn’t work out, then Fulmer has to live with it. But when the offense is playing this poorly and the play at quarterback is so clearly inconsistent, you have to do something. Tennessee needs to give its fans hope for the Oct. 11 trip Georgia.
4. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape: Florida’s Tim Tebow had a bad game against Ole Miss with a couple of key turnovers in the 31-30 loss in The Swamp. Tebow was his usual classy self by taking all of the blame for the loss and vowing to do better. But when you give up 31 points at home to a team that has lost to Wake Forest and Vanderbilt, you have to say that it was a pure team loss by the Gators. Tebow, who is one of the most competitive people you’ll ever meet, says he will work harder than ever to make sure this doesn’t happen again. I really would not want to be Arkansas this week. But I stick to what I said after Florida beat Miami. The Gators have to develop a tailback that can run between the tackles. They got stuffed on a fourth and one at the end of the Ole Miss game because the whole world knew that No. 15 (Tebow) was going to run the ball.
5. Georgia Tech-Duke could be for ACC Coach of the Year: Yes, it’s early. But consider this: Going into this season nobody talked about Georgia Tech as a serious contender in the ACC Coastal or as a bowl team. A win Saturday over Duke gives Paul Johnson’s team a 4-1 record with seven games left to play. In the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons COMBINED, Duke won a grand total of three football games.David Cutcliffe has led the Blue Devils to victories in three of their first four games this season. The only loss was to Northwestern (24-0), a team that is 5-0. Cutcliffe has Duke playing with confidence and even with a little bit of an attitude. So the winner of Saturday’s game at Bobby Dodd Stadium should be the early favorite for ACC coach of the year.
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