UGA blog finds new home
Morning all. As I’ve said a couple of times this week, we’re converting this blog over to a WordPress platform and it will be a permanent move the first of next week.
Those of you who are regulars probably know that I’m not what you’d call techno-wizard when it comes to these things. But from what I understand the technology offered in this new format should make the blogging and commenting experience better for all. Of course, I’ll be learning as we go along, too. But I’m hoping to provide more pictures and video and things like that which should bring the blog more to life.
Of course, this blog is nothing without all you guys so I want to heartily invite (read: beg) you to come over to the new site by CLICKING HERE ON THE NEW ADDRESS and save it in your browsers. As of Monday, Feb. 23rd, this will be the permanent home of the UGA blog you so love or, in the case of some of you, love to loathe. If you’d prefer to copy and paste or just memorize, the new address is: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/.
See at the new place!
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July
July 2007
Dogs seeking major opponent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Those of you that heard Damon Evans and Mark Richt at the Greater Atlanta Bulldog Club meeting last night — and perhaps some of you who didn’t — no doubt picked up on their messages that Georgia continues to seek a big-time opponent for a home-and-home the 2011-2012 seasons, perhaps even more significant than Oklahoma State, Arizona State or Colorado.
For a while this summer, it had been rumored that opponent would be Michigan, which had not renewed its series with Notre Dame for those seasons. So I was all prepared to float that rumor here today and see what y’all thought about it. Fortunately I checked first and, as it turns out, Michigan announced today that it has booked the Irish for those two seasons. Bummer. I’ve always been partial to renewing that game since it played such a big part in Georgia’s history (remember Dooley’s Dawgs over the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 1965?).
So, the Bulldogs’ search continues. So let’s pretend we’re Arthur Johnson, the associate AD that handles scheduling for Evans and Richt, and we’re charged with coming up with a marquee opponent for a home-and-home those two years. Who would you like it to be and why?
I’ll get us started: How about Texas? You know, it’s still 10 to 9 out there.
Meanwhile, those of you ticket hounds still searching for some ducats, this just came out of UGA sports info: A limited number of single-game Georgia football tickets are still available for upcoming home dates against Oklahoma State (Sept. 1) and Kentucky (Nov. 17). Beginning Wednesday at 8 a.m., these remaining tickets can be purchased online www.georgiadogs.com or by calling the ticket office toll free 1-877-542-1231. There is no limit per order. Tickets are $40 each plus a processing fee and orders will be mailed out beginning August 20.
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UGA’s top cop defends actions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I got off the phone a short time ago with UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson. I figured I’d give him a call since, judging from the comments on Georgia fan forums and from a few bloggers in this space, he and his outfit are Public Enemy No. 1 and out to bring down the Bulldogs.
The outcry resulted from the recent arrests of a couple of Georgia football players for less-than-heinous crimes. Highly-touted tailback Caleb King was cited for driving the wrong way down a one-way street on a moped. Redshirt freshman tight end NaDerris Ward was pulled over last week for passing a car on the right. Both were booked at Athens-Clarke County Jail because their driver’s licenses were suspended.
As you might expect, Williamson said his force is not targeting athletes. He said he, too, hates to read in the newspaper that Georgia football players — or UGA students in general, for that matter — have gotten into trouble with the law.
“Our police officers patrol campus every day,” Williamson said. “Most violations end up in written warnings or citations. But once an officer stops a driver and finds out he has a suspended license, then the officer no longer has a choice. He has to take them in.”
Williamson said state law mandates that a driver that cannot produce a driver’s license or has one that is currently suspended be taken into custody and finger-printed. He said the officer that arrested King was prepared to write a warning until King’s license was found to be suspended. He said Ward was informed of an unresolved traffic issue in Sandy Springs he needed to clear up.
“Just because they play football doesn’t remove them from handling the responsibilities we all have,” Williamson said. “It could be argued that it’s even more important since thet are football players. But my officers probably didn’t know whether they played football or not. And even if they did, should that make a difference? Let’s say these officers cut these kids a break and it gets back to the NCAA. Where would we be now?”
Williamson went on to say that he has a good relationship with head coach Mark Richt and Steve Greer, director of football operations. He said he calls them personally whenever his officers encounter one of their players.
“We have a good communications line with them,” Williamson said. “I don’t think anybody thinks [UGA athletes are] running amok. I’m sure these two guys are good guys. They just made a mistake. These were just moments of indiscretion, but they have to learn from them”
So do you guys buy what Williamson is selling? Did the UGA police officers involved handle these situations appropriately? And what about the laws that dictate the action of police? Is it too strict to jail somebody with a suspended license? And what about underage consumption of alcohol? Until January of 2006, that was a ticketing offense? Now violators are taken to jail.
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Prediction madness at Media Days
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not to sound too much like Rich Brooks at SEC Media Days but, “I’M BAAAACK!” I’m a little sleep-deprived and slightly overwhelmed with the new baby and all but I’m raring to go as football season has officially descended upon us.
Let’s get right to it. I’m not at Media Days (for the first time in quite a while) but I’ve been monitoring the goings-on there, just like the rest of you guys probably are, and there are more than a few things that have captured my interest.
Georgia, as you no doubt already know, was picked third in the East. No surprise there. Interesting — and telling — to see that the Dogs pulled 12 first-place votes (then again, South Carolina got 11). I expected Florida to be picked first just because it’s coming off the national championship (or MNC - Mythical National Championship, as many here refer to it). And I think Tennessee is going to be pretty good this year. Had I voted, I likely would have put the Vols first. But, the truth is, you could probably put those three in a hat, shake ‘em out and throw ‘em on a table and have as good a chance of getting the order right. LSU as overall champion was the logical choice.
Despite Steve Spurrier’s insistance that they were ready to compete for the championship, the Gamecocks were predicted to finish outside the top three yet again. There’s no question Spurrier has improved considerably the talent level in Columbia and I’m sure South Carolina will slip up and knock off a good team or two, maybe even Georgia. But personally, I think it’s a better choice to remain a little humble and go out and do it on the field before proclaiming that you’re a whole lot better, especially given the Chickens’ history. Never been the Spurrier way though.
The reality is, I think there’s way too much emphasis put on prognostication in our business. The truth is, nobody really knows what’s going to happen. That’s why the college football season is always so intriguing.
The one beef I did have is Georgia’s Brandon Coutu being selected as the SEC’s second-team placekicker. That’s crazy. Again, preseason predictions aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, but to pick South Carolina’s junior Ryan Succop over the senior Coutu is strange. I won’t even get into all the details, such as Coutu’s five field goals over 50 yards, including a 58-yarder. I’ll just leave it to their career stats: Succop - 16 of 22 FGs/37-39 PATs; Coutu - 35 of 43 FGs/65-65 PATs.
But that’s just me. As always, I want to hear what you guys think. You OK with the predicted order of finish in the SEC (in case you missed: East - Florida (41), Tennessee (16), Georgia (12), South Carolina (11), Kentucky, Vanderbilt; West - LSU (63), Auburn (5), Arkansas (5), Alabama (7), Ole Miss, Mississippi State)? Got any feelings on the Coutu versus Succop argument?
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Richt rates the Dawgs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia coach Mark Richt was the first speaker Friday morning on the final day of SEC media days outside of Birmingham.
Among his assessments of this year’s squad:
• “I can see why people aren’t picking us,” after the team’s 1-4 finish in the division last year.
• “I think we’ll be OK,” in the secondary despite the loss of Paul Oliver to academics.
• “We’re going to have to be careful with this bunch until they get their feet wet,” concerning the youthful offensive line.
Let us know what you think of Richt’s comments and also let us know what you think about the team’s chances this season.
(Editor’s note: Commenting is now closed on this blog. We invite you to join the discussion on Chip Tower’s UGA blog.)
Getting to the core of the problem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia is closely watching some potential midyear transfers this year. That’s because a change in NCAA entry requirements that will be imposed starting in 2008. That year a player will have to have 16 core credits to be able to make it into a Division I-A program. Right now and at the midyear players will only need 14 core credits.
“We are looking at kids really close,’’ Richt said. “And with some it might make a difference whether they are coming in at the midyear or not.’’ Georgia has had a lot of success with midyear transfers and started to bring in more and more players. So in one aspect this moving up of core courses by the NCAA may be a good thing for Georgia.
In the long run it also could be a good thing. With 16 core courses now being required the NCAA may have to expand the list of core courses accepted. That is the hope of Bob Jones.
Now you may not know Bob Jones from Tom Jones. But he is the principal at Vance Cuff’s high school. And Jones has been in an argument with the Clearinghouse over what qualifies as a core course since April. That was when he heard a course at his high school and on Cuff’s transcript was first not allowed by the Clearinghouse and NCAA.
Jones sent 40 pages of documentation three separate times to the Clearinghouse, including documents from the Department of Education, to get that course approved. Each time he has been denied. That story is ongoing. And now Georgia has taken up the fight for a waiver on that course to be approved.
Next year Jones said with the expansion of the core credits needed some of the classes that are currently not allowed may be allowed. That could help high school guidance counselors in showing kids the myriad options they have when it comes to getting those 16 core courses.
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Keeping an eye on OSU’s Collins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thayer Evans, a Big 12-based writer for The New York Times, had an interesting story on Oklahoma State middle linebacker Chris Collins on Sunday. Collins was a big name in recruiting a couple of years ago out of Texarkana, Texas. The Longhorns, as they do with everybody, offered the linebacker early. Collins accepted. But then Collins was arrested and indicted in 2004 for sexually assaulting a female at an after-prom party in a hotel. Texas dropped him.
Oklahoma State picked him and Collins has turned into a stellar linebacker. He had 31 tackles through five games before a knee injury pushed him to the sideline. He may soon be pushed to the sideline again because of the indictment. His trial is set to begin Aug. 20. For now, Collins is still free on a $40,000 bond. But he faces anywhere from five to 99 years if convicted.
Collins maintains his innocence. Police said Collins has admitted to having sex with the girl. A female in the state of Texas can’t legally consent to intercourse until the age of 14. The girl in question was 12.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether or not Collins will be on the field Sept. 1 against Georgia. To date, OSU coach Mike Gundy has stuck by Collins, but he is also not talking at length about the case.
As for the university, it has a history of taking athletes with troubled pasts. JamesOn Curry was a North Carolina basketball recruit until he got busted for selling pot. Oklahoma State swooped in, offered him and Curry was the best player on the team the last two seasons.
So should a university put itself in this position? Remember, Collins has not been proven guilty of anything. Curry was guilty. But if you were a president or an athletic director would you risk taking a player such as this? Or does it depend on where you are a president or an AD? Do you take a guy like this at Oklahoma State because it is hard to get any top-flight players? Does that justify making this gamble?
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Depth on the defense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia didn’t have any guys on the first team preseason SEC defense, but I think there is a chance the Bulldogs could have some of the best overall depth in the conference at two spots - safeties and defensive tackles - by midseason.
First off at the safety position, Reshad Jones is going to be a player who would start for a lot of teams out there. And Quintin Banks hits like Thomas Davis and Greg Blue. And those two are backups. Yeah, both are young but I would expect them to be major contributors. Couple those two with Kelin Johnson and C.J. Byrd and it is a solid group that probably can match any team in the conference
On top of that if he can remain healthy and if his lateral movement is good - and everybody says it is - Antavious Coates can provide some stability back there.
At the other spot, I know Georgia may have lost some leadership at the defensive tackle spot, but there are six or seven players there who, by the end of the year, should really be contributing. First off Jeff Owens probably should have been second team all-SEC at the very least on the ballots. Geno Atkins and Kade Weston are the next best two players at D-tackle. Atkins is strong and agile. Weston is huge and can plug up the middle. Then there is Tripp Taylor. Taylor, off-field distractions aside, is a hard working player who is not afraid to match up with anyone. Throw in Corvey Irvin and Brandon Wood and there is some serious depth. Ricardo Crawford may also be able to provide some punch at that position.
Scouting OK State’s offense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In talking with Kelin Johnson this morning he made the comparison between Oklahoma State’s offense and the offense thrown onto the field by Boise State a couple of years ago. Both, he said, are difficult because they do so many things and you never really know what is going to come at you.
If you remember, Boise State didn’t have much time to come at Georgia because it was too busy going backwards thanks to several Jared Zabranski interceptions. OSU’s guy, Bobby Reid, who by the way was heavily recruited by Georgia, is a much better runner than Zabranski and can tuck and go rather than throw the picks.
Johnson said an aggressive defense should be able to take OSU out of its comfort zone. But he also warned to not get too caught up in oohing and aahing over the talent OSU has at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. Those guys are good, he said. But Johnson said the tight end, Brandon Pettigrew, is the best player on offense. Pettigrew, 6-6, had 24 catches and four touchdowns last season. The Pokes will be missing wide receiver Artrell Woods. Woods injured his back and is out. He was supposed to contend for the spot opposite Adarius Bowman.
Does the punishment fit the crime?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another Georgia player is in trouble. No big surprise. This time it is Tripp Taylor, a walk-on who had turned himself into a contributor for Georgia. Taylor allegedly was involved in a fight at a lake in May. Now depending on who you talk to, Taylor tried to break up the thing. Others say there may have been more than just Taylor involved. The police are sorting out the details.
So Taylor will most likely be suspended for at least the first game. Not a huge deal because he was a backup defensive tackle. But Georgia does rotate its tackles a ton. What is a bigger deal is that Taylor adds to the list of guys who will not play against Oklahoma State. Tripp Chandler and Ian Smith, two other players who will be key contributors this season, will also be suspended that first game.
Oklahoma State does have four newcomers on its defensive line. But still losing a tight end and an offensive lineman is never good.
Mark Richt’s hands are pretty much tied when it comes to the punishments of these players. Athletic department policy dictates most of the suspensions. So, the question is: Are the policies too harsh, too soft, or just right?
Which freshmen will stand out?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There is little question some redshirt freshmen and freshmen will get time on defense this year. Knowing that, there are a couple of guys who I am the most curious to see.
In the secondary Reshad Jones and Quintin Banks should pique the interest of just about everybody. Banks could become the best in Georgia’s long line of big hitters at the safety position. He may not be as big as some of the other heavy hitters. But he has lit up some people in scrimmages throughout his redshirt year and has shown that knack for finding the ball and serious slowing speed.
Jones is intriguing because of his versatility and athleticism. Mark Richt has talked about the possibility of playing him at corner as well as safety. At either position Jones should be able to create turnovers due to his rangy body and speed. It will be hard for Georgia to keep him off the field.
Linebacker Brandon Miller was talking the other day and he said he thinks either Charles White or Rennie Curran will see some time as a true freshman. If I had to bet on somebody, I would say it is Curran just because he is physically ready. But White is a very intelligent player and since he is coming from a military background he knows about discipline and how to stay on assignments.
At the line I know Geno Atkins is a sophomore but it will be interesting to see if he holds off Kade Weston all year. Atkins is not as physically imposing as Weston but he has a better motor at this point and that is why he is listed as a starter going into the fall.
3-0 in September? Or 1-2?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, the optimist in all Georgia fans surely has everybody believing the Bulldogs will win all three of their tough September games — Oklahoma State, South Carolina and at Alabama. (Western Carolina and Ole Miss should not present problems.) And there is the likelihood Georgia will win all those. Oklahoma State has yet to prove it can pull off a big road win under Mike Gundy. Sure Les Miles beat Oklahoma, but those days and players are gone. Also Georgia is a more intimidating environment that Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium.
As for South Carolina, an interesting little factoid popped up in the Columbia State newspaper the other day. Spurrier has not won an SEC game in September at USC. The win over Mississippi State last year was on Aug. 31. So USC has history going against it. Plus the Brinkley brothers can’t play offense and defense.
Now as for Alabama, I just get the feeling this could be one of those games when Georgia puts it together on offense like Auburn last year. The Bulldogs have two tough home games and then a game — Western Carolina — when they can fix their mistakes and rest their bodies. That allows for a lot of confidence against a team that should be struggling to find its own identity with a new coach.
So that’s the argument for 3-0. But one could also make a pretty sound argument for 2-1 or 1-2. This is, after all, a team that doesn’t have leadership on defense and is missing some huge pieces on that side of the ball as well. And remember last year’s defense couldn’t get stops when it needed to against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. So who is to say this year’s defense can get those crucial stops?
Coach Van labels ‘07 Dogs “special”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Visited with Georgia strength and conditioning coach Dave VanHalanger for a while today. If you’ve never met him, he is a truly energetic and incredibly upbeat guy.
Anyway, “Coach Van” asks me what I think are the two most important ingredients for building a championship football team. With weights getting lifted and slammed all around me, I thought this was an easy one. “Strength and speed,” I said.
“No,” Dave countered. “Chemistry and morale.”
“You really think so?” I said.
“I know it,” he said.
VanHalanger went on to say that everybody nowadays has good players and everybody lifts weights, runs and conditions year round. “The difference is how the players truly feel about each other. They have to love each other and care about each other.”
OK, now he had me set up. So I tossed him the proverbial soft ball.
“What about this team?” I asked. “Do they have those traits?”
“Are you kidding me?” he said incredulously. “Look around at these guys; look how hard they work. You see anybody complaining? Heck no. They’re having fun; they’re enjoying each other. That’s what’s gonna make them special.”
So there you go. According to Coach Van, this is a close-knit group that truly cares about each other. Now the question is whether that will translate into wins over Oklahoma State and South Carolina, for starters.
The Cowboys definitely have the Dogs’ attention. Everywhere you turn in the weight room there are signs — on the walls, on the mirrors, on the weightlifting platforms, even on the coaches shirts — that say, “Oklahoma State, Sept. 1, 2007.”
Again, Coach Van is upbeat as they get. But he truly believes this team is going to surprise some people. How about you? You think this is an 8- or 9-win team or maybe 10-, 11 or 12-win team? Coach Van, he’ll take the latter.
Couple of quick items:
Former Georgia tennis player John Isner, in his first tournament as a professional, won the Thompsons Buick-Pontiac-GMC Championships at the Millennium SportsClub El Dorado in Shingle Springs, Calif. Isner, the all-time winningest singles and doubles tennis player in Georgia history, was entered as a wildcard and proceeded to run the table. He dropped just one set the whole tournament, then knocked off No. 1 seed Ivan Miranda of Peru, 6-4, 7-6 (11) in the final. His prize: $15,000 prize.
Also, Lincoln Financial is airing a few television specials that highlight Georgia football in the coming weeks. In the Atlanta area, you’ll be able to see a special on Larry Munson on July 14 (5 p.m.), one on the Georgia-Florida series in Jacksonville on July 21 (4 p.m.) and one on former Bulldog and Atlanta Games CEO Billy Payne on july 21 (5 p.m.)
That’s all for now.
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