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 > September
September 2007
Game had all the markings of a trap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia was in a real dog fight until scoring the final 28 points to defeat Ole Miss 45-17 Saturday in Athens.
Can’t say I was real surprised. This game had all the markings of a trap, what with Ole Miss coming off an impressive performance against the defending national champions, the Bulldogs coming off their emotional overtime win at Alabama and Georgia at Tennessee next Saturday. That and this being a 1 p.m. kickoff and non-televised game, there was bound to not be the electric atmosphere you usually encounter for a Southeastern Conference contest.
Georgia was very, very, very fortunate not to be down in this game. The game was tied 17-all in the third quarter but the Bulldogs hadn’t really stopped Ole Miss all day at that point.
Thomas Brown ran for 180 yards and scored three touchdowns as the Bulldogs picked up 328 yards rushing.
Tennessee awaits.
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Georgia’s defense an enigma
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m having a hard time figuring out what to make of this Georgia defense. I think it’s safe to say they it’s pretty good. The Bulldogs’ numbers stack up with some of the better defenses (read better, not bests) in the country. But when you take into account what they’re doing at the end of halves against good teams and you begin to wonder.
First let’s just put the stats out there for your perusal:
Category, Avg., SEC rank, nat’l rank
Scoring, 17.2, 3rd, 21st
Rush, 109.2, 3rd, 34th
Pass, 223.2, 6th, 57th
Total, 282.5, 2nd, 16th
Other than pass defense, all of those are very respectable and certainly serviceable numbers. In fact, as far as total defense, Willie Martinez’s units are almost always up toward the top nationally.
But as Carter Strickland reported earlier this week, Georgia’s D has been having a hard time getting off the field late in halves and during critical situations. Twice in four games with the outcome on the line they have been unable to get a stop. Against South Carolina, the Gamecocks knocked out three straight first downs and burned off more than three minutes of clock when Georgia was trying to get the ball back. And Bama, needing 89 yards to go for a game-tying touchdown, was able to do it fairly easily.
Ole Miss will provide another good litmus test this week. The Rebels are an interesting offensive team in the way they like to pound the rock with BenJarvus Green-Ellis but also hit teams deep with long passes.
What do you guys think about Georgia’s D, good, bad, mediocre, great? Considering they were replacing eight starters, better or worse than you expected? What has been the chief problem to stopping late rallies? What questions would you have use pose to Martinez or his charges?
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Moreno stays behind Brown at TB
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just sitting down at my desk after coming back from Georgia’s weekly press conference over at Stegeman Coliseum. Pretty non-eventful session for the most part. Probably the two items you guys would be most interested in are that Thomas Brown will continue to be the starter ahead of Knowshon Moreno at tailback and that Tripp Chandler is NOT in coach Mark Richt’s doghouse but is competing for his starting job this week.
A few other items of interest: Even though Mohamed Massaquoi had only two catches for 23 yards Richt thought he played the best overall game of his career. Coincidentally, he said Sean Bailey and Mikey Henderson probably did, too. Kregg Lumpkin may come back this week but still won’t carry the football. Marcus Howard continues to be a beast at tight end, cornerback Asher Allen had the game of his life and Richt is having Willie Martinez work overtime to get him some answers on the defensive breakdowns at ends of halves this season.
Oh, and the closed-practice veil has been lifted, though only ever so slightly. Practices will be opened for 20 minutes on Tuesdays between the first and fourth periods as they work in full pads on fundamentals.
But let’s focus on the two most high-profile topics today — Moreno and Chandler.
Here was Richt’s comment on the prospect of starting Moreno ahead of Thomas Brown: “That’s not going to happen. Knowshon’s not ready to be the starter yet, in my opinion. He’s talented but he’s still growing. He’s still learning. It’s tough to do. And Thomas is playing extremely well in his own right and he’s a great leader, too. You’ve got to have leadership.”
Richt went on to say he likes the way the tailbacks are being deployed. Saturday night, they combined for 44 touches (47 if you include Brown’s three kickoff returns) for 209 yards (277 including KOR). “We do like to have those guys touch it,” Richt said. “We want the best players getting the opportunitioes and those guys have been the most productive to this point. I like how we utilize our backs.”
Here’s what he said about Chandler: “I don’t know what happened [on the dropped balls]. He’s been very sure-handed. I don’t know what happened. I guess he’s human. Even so, he’s got to keep fighting to keep his job like everybody else. I mean, I haven’t lost confidence in Tripp, but we’ll continue to compete at that position… . That was a good catch at the end. It was great; it was clutch.”
So there you go, Richt’s answers to some of your questions that have been swirling around here. Let’s here what you think about them.
And meanwhile, as long as we’re kind of on the subject, in light of Mike Gundy’s blowup at The Oklahoman columnist for being extremely critical of Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid, where do you guys fall on the issue of criticizing college players. You guys have gotten after Chandler and Martrez Milner and others pretty hard about drops and we have, too, to some extent in print. Should we be more forgiving and less critical of these players since they’re not professionals?
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Dogs’ win makes statement
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I got a few e-mails from Alabama fans in the wake of their loss to Georgia Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, one of which was particularly interesting.
The guy, who shall remain nameless, said he didn’t know why the Bulldogs were making such a big deal about their win over there because The Crimson Tide has such a young team and that, in two years time, Nick Saban would have their talent level up where LSU’s is today.
Now I don’t doubt that Alabama will have more talent two years from now than it does today. Saban has a proven record where that is concerned. But doesn’t Georgia also under Mark Richt?
As I pointed out to that Bama fan, the Bulldogs are pretty darn young, too. In fact, much younger than that Tide team it played. Georgia started three freshmen on the offensive line, a sophomore at quarterback and played only four seniors all night on defense.
Yet, still, I thought Georgia had the better team going into that game. That was what struck me when I went over to Tuscaloosa early last week. I really didn’t think the team and, quite obviously, most of their fans were giving even a moment’s thought that the Bulldogs could somehow win that game. One local columnist actually wrote of College GameDay coming to town, “you think this is big, wait until Alabama is 8-0 and undefeated LSU comes to town.”
The truth is, as most of you saw, Alabama really had no business being in that game, some bad breaks, stupid plays, horrendous officiating and conservative play-calling allowed the Crimson Tide the chance hang around and — granted — make the plays it needed to extend the game. But in the end, I did think it was a significant victory for the Bulldogs and should help them down the line.
Coach Mark Richt said from the outset of this season that he thought his team would improve a lot as the year went on because of its youth. Now comes the biggest test of that immaturity. As we just saw with Alabama, which was coming off an exhilirating win over Arkansas, it’s important to forget past triumphs and focus on the next challenge. That’s Ole Miss and a clearly much-improved team that gave Florida fits before losing by six this past Saturday.
Talking to Ole Miss coach Ed Orgerson this morning, he went on and on about how great he thought Knowshon Moreno is. In case you missed it, Moreno was named SEC freshman of the week on Monday.
So what were your observations coming out of the Bama game this week? How do you believe that win might affect the Dogs for the rest of the season? What Georgia player or players were you most impressed with against the Tide and who needs to be utilized more heading into the Ole Miss game?
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Seeing game from different angle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from Bogart, Ga.! That’s right. I’m not Tuscaloosa. I’ve been grounded. Well, actually I was ordered to stay home in bed this weekend. I started to get a cold last weekend and it kept getting worse to the point I could not this past Wednesday. Went to see my doctor and he was afraid I might have pneumonia. Tests and x-rays were negative but he did determine I had bronchitis. He prescribed drugs, rest and, that’s right, no driving to Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Just the fact I’m chiming in here today should let you know I’m feeling markedly better, thank you. In a way I feel like I’ve landed on another planet or something (and it’s not the drugs, I promise). This is the first college football Saturday I haven’t been working since 1997 and you have to go back to 1988 before that. So it’s a bid odd.
Obviously I’d rather be in Alabama where the action is tonight but it has been somewhat refreshing and enlightening to sit (or in my case, lay) at home and watch all the games on television. Usually, we just get occasionally glances at the television throughout the day when we’re wroking a game. And in the case of a prime-time night game, we really see almost nothing of the telecast, except for the occasional instant replay. And because of deadlines and everything we have to write, we probably don’t get to watch games as close as many of you at home late in the second half as we feverishly try to pound out our copy for you. Hopefully it all makes sense by the time it reaches your doorstep — or your laptop.
Anyway, I decided I felt good enough to maybe throw together a blog here tonight and keep it going throughout the game (that is, if anybody out there peers in and see there’s something going on). I’m gonna try to listen to Scott Howard call the game some, too. So we can weigh in about that as the night goes on.
If it all gets to be too much, I’ll let you know and gracefully bow out. But you guys stuck at home like me stay with it and we’ll carry this thing on into Monday morrning. Hopefully I’ll be back to feeling like myself by then.
OK. Florida wins, LSU wins. What about your Dogs?
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Will you listen without Larry?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Talked to Larry Munson earlier today. I wasn’t alone. Georgia’s legendary play-by-play man had gotten so many requests for interviews in advance of missing a Bulldogs’ football broadcast for just the second time 42 years this Saturday that UGA’s sports communication office had to set up a teleconference call for him.
It was both a sad and enjoyable session. It was tough to hear him talk about how ESPN’s 7:45 p.m. kickoff had screwed up his plans to go fishing and listen to the game on a radio in his boat. And you can tell he is really despondent about his failing health, which he refers to as “stupid.”
But it’s always a delight to hear him talk about all the good times he’s had, the favorite calls he’s made, the changes in the game he has witnessed and the good fortune he has had, “working for a major school that started to win. If you win, you sound good. Working with Georgia has been a fine assignment.”
For the record, Munson said his favorite call was “the hobnail boot” at Tennessee in 2001, replacing his previous favorite on Belue-to-Scott. He also said he thought his replacement, Scott Howard, “will do fine.”
I’ll be filing a story later which will provide more details. In the meantime, I wanted to hear from you guys and find out what you think about Larry’s absence for this Saturday’s broadcast of the Alabama game. Do you think it will hurt the sound and the feel of the broadcast? Do you think Scott Howard is the right guy to succeed Munson? What’s your favorite Larry call or your favorite Larry memory? And are you going to be less inclined to listen to the radio boradcast if Munson isn’t a part of it?
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Paranoia reigns in Athens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s all in your head, you need to unwind You’re losing your grip, the paranoia never ends It’s all in your head, what you see in your mind There’s no reason to trip, the paranoia never ends
Borrowing the style of the AJC’s undisputed ace blogger, Braves reporter David O’Brien — or DOB as he’s known in the blogosphere — that’s the chorus of a song by a band called “Swollen Member.” I can’t profess to being a fan of or having any idea what they sound like, but the lyrics of their song “Paronoia” are appropriate today considering the current state of mind of the Georgia football camp. (I was actually looking for the lyrics of an 80s song I remembered that says “paranoia will destroy ya,” but Swollen Members’ work is all I got on that. Oh well).
Anyway, I don’t think I can recall a time when there was as much concern over football espionage. Alabama’s Nick Saban has somewhat of a reputation for doing whatever it takes to win and, a former member of Bill Belichick’s staff, he actually has been accused of deploying some sneaky tactics — or is he just being creative? — to gather information that may help his team gain some sort of edge. I’m not going to repeat the accusations here because I can’t independently determine their validity. Let’s just say they’re out there and judging from Georgia coach Mark Richt’s behavior this week, he is accutely aware of them. It’s probably not a coincidence that first-year offensive line coach Stacy Searels worked with Saban for years and would know for certain what tactics Saban deploys.
All that said, as I’m sure most of you guys are aware, Coach Richt has closed practices this week to the media — and everybody besides direct family of the Georgia coaches. He said Tuesday he didn’t have a problem with the actual members of the media or what we’re writing, but just that he wanted to be sure to control and and all information that comes out of their practices this week.
“We felt like we just wanted some privacy,” Richt said. “We’re always concerned about people watching practice. I know we’ve cut the media out of it but we’ve cut a lot of people out of it. Coaches always worry about if so-and-so says something. Some people say things inadvertently or they may something to a friend and a friend puts it on the ‘Net and then it becomes a clue for someone… . What happened in the NFL awareness probably brought a little more awareness to maybe something going on.”
Carter’s writing a story about it but I just wanted to get the views of you good folks about this. Is Richt just being paranoid. Obviously I’d prefer that they didn’t close practices — though they’ve limited it to the point these days that we don’t see thatj much anyway — but are you glad to see shutting things down? And what about the distraction angle? Is all this focus and concern on security and information control taking away from the primary task of preparing for and ultimately finding a way to beat Alabama?
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‘Bama’s focused on UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m here in Tuscaloosa. Specificially, I’m in the Naylor Stone Media Suite on the second floor of the Moore Athletic Facility. This is where coach Nick Saban conducts his weekly press briefing and where we interview ‘Bama players.
Couple of observations. The town and the program is still very much abuzz about this past Saturday’s come-from-behind, last-seconds win over Arkansas (41-38). Believe it or not, the Tide hadn’t recorded a fourth-quarter win since 2001 and never under previus coach Mike Shula. They were already bananas about Saban before so you can imagine what it’s like now. There is already talk of ‘Bama running the table. Even Saban laughed at that one.
“They’ve been saying crazy things since I’ve been here,” Saban said. “But I don’t want to dampen their spirits or expectations. I just want them to be enthusiastic and supportive.”
You can tell, though, that Saban is already tiring of all the talk about last Saturday. Almost all of the questions from the local media today had to do with the last game, specifically quarterback John Parker Wilson’s pass to Matt Caddell with eight seconds left, or the fact the ESPN GameDay is going to be in town. When the line of questioning continued in that direction, Saban finally bristled.
“The team we’re playing this week is where our focus needs to be,” he said. “We’re not talking about last week.”
Saban pointed out that the reason the Tide had to execute a dramatic last-second play was they blew a 31-10 lead by giving up 28 unanswered points. That they overcame adversity was admirable but that they needed to was not, he said.
“If you have outstanding victories in games or in life, you usually have to overcome adversity and we did that against Arkansas,” Saban said. “But we also have to understand that excellence is a habit and there was a significant difference in how we played when we were ahead 31-10 than we did at the beginning or at the end.”
Some of the other interesting tidbits from today:
Saban said of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford: “I think he’s clearly one of the best quarterbacks in the league and I think very soon he will be one of the best in the country.”
Saban got downright cantankerous when talk turned to Alabama being ranked this week: “That is one of those external factors that has no impact whatsoever on anything. It’s good exposure, it’s good for our program, but it has absolutely nothing to do with anything.”
I also talked to Matt Caddell, John Parker Wilson, Wallace Gilberry, Darren Mustin and a couple others.
That’s all for now. I’ll be filing some notes from here later, then heading back to Athens. I’ll also be doing some ‘Bama stories for the paper this week.
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Bama win good or bad for Dogs?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What a great night for college football. Never mind your allegiances. Never mind who you were rooting for, there were some great games being played Saturday night.
Georgia’s wasn’t necessarily one of them. The Bulldogs did what they had to do against Western Carolina, which was basically to win without expending too much effort. And, for the most part, they were able to do that. Worse thing I saw about it was the sprained ankle of defensive lineman Corvey Irvin. That and they didn’t exactly bowl over the Catamounts early on. But OK given all the circumstances.
I wanted to see what happened with the Arkansas-Alabama game before I weighed in here. I was really eager to see how the Crimson Tide, under new coach Nick Saban, would handle Arkansas, which I expect to be a pretty darn good team this year.
In case you missed it, Alabama pulled out a 41-38 win with a TD pass in the final seconds. After Georgia’s win, head coach Mark Richt was asked what kind of outcome he hoped for. He said he merely hoped the Crimson Tide would have to put forth a great effort. They did indeed.
As exciting as that game was, I didn’t come away too overly impressed with either defense. I was pretty impressed with both offenses but the defenses were way too soft, in my opinion.
So what do you think? Was it a good or bad thing for Georgia that Bama pulled out that win? Would you have preferred to catch the Tide after a loss, where they’re questioning the new regime, or after a win, where they’re perhaps overconfident?
And how ‘bout them Dawgs?! They certainly have a lot of issues. That was evident even in victory. O-line and linebackers continue to be areas of concern. What has to happen to get by Saban and the Tide in Tuscaloosa?
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Felton’s program gaining momentum
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I just a short time ago got off the phone with the Serbian guy that committed to Georgia this week. If you haven’t heard, his name is Drazan (pronouced DROW-sun) Zlovaric. I’ll be filing a story this afternoon that will be up on the site later and in tomorrow’s paper but, in the meantime, I think it’s safe to say coach Dennis Felton got him a good one here.
I’m not sure how much Zlovaric, a 6-foot-9 two-guard, might be able to help them immediately. He’s still thin and still learning the more physical American game. But Georgia got him over Texas and Arkansas and he had offers from literally dozens of Division I schools and he plays on the Serbian National team. He also has a 3.8 grade-point average, according to his high school coach, and wants to be a doctor one day. And after talking to him on the phone I can tell you he’s fluent in English.
Anyway, all of this is to provide a kind of update on the men’s basketball team. I’ve been trying to get around to it for a while but obviously football is kind of heavy on everybody’s brains this time of year. To put it succinctly, I think Georgia basketball fans have a lot to be excited.
First of all, I went to the grand opening of the new $30 million practice and training facility two weeks ago and I’m here to tell you that place is going to be a difference maker for the three programs that are going to operate out of it: men’s and women’s hoops and gymnastics. The gymnastics portion of it — quite appropriately named the Suzanne Yoculan Gymnastics Center — is state of the art and I’m not sure there is anything as nice as it anywhere. But the men’s and women’s basketball offices, locker rooms and practice gyms are also breathtaking.
To give you an idea, the men’s lockers are in a rotunda room, all wood circling some posh benches in the center. Adjacent is the team meeting room, with auditorium seating for a giant widescreen to watch game video and MTV or whatever they desire. Killer built-in sound system is piped in. Speaking of MTV, the lounge portion, which is the first thing you see when you enter, is out of an episode of Real World. Pool table on black felt with a big Georgia in the center, at least a half-dozen video game machines and an actual bar. They serve only sports drinks, water and juices but it’s definitely cool. Also big gyms with lots of goals and some pretty cool graphics painted high on the walls. Downstairs on the first floor is a huge weightroom and training facility that would be the envy of the football team.
This will — and already has — attracted some blue-chippers Georgia’s way. Some folks say, yeah, but they still have to play in Stegeman. Well, yeah, but this new place is where these players are going to spend 90 percent of there time. It was somewhat patterned after the one Kentucky built and, from everybody I talked to, they said this one is better.
But never mind all that. In attendance at the grand opening were all of Georgia’s players. We’ll have to wait to see how they play this year but, as they say, they’re going to look pretty darn good getting off the bus this year. The Bulldogs have some serious bigs this season. Singleton, Jackson, Price, Barnes, Bliss, Woodbury and Brown, all 6-7 and up. Takais Brown looks very trim and fit. Singleton and Jackson have beefed up considerably. Lot of good feedback leaking out about Price.
The only possible snag is Mike Mercer, who spent the summer at home in Snellville working at a dealership rather than rehabbing with UGA’s exceptional training staff. I’ll see if I can get an update on him during the next couple of weeks because Mercer failed to return my phone calls to him this summer. But other than that, the Dogs look like they’ll be able to run with the big dogs this fall.
OK, so football has Western Carolina on Saturday. Think you guys can bring yourselves to talk some hoops for one weekend? Practice starts one month from today!
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Are Dogs’ linebackers getting it done?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You may have noticed some of the other outlets that cover Georgia reporting a “shakeup” at linebacker for the Bulldogs. I didn’t run with that and here’s why.
Coach Mark Richt was asked after Wednesday’s practice if they had been shuffling the lineup at linebacker. Following is that exhange:
Richt: “We’ve been rolling them around, yeah.”
Q: Is there a possible change to the starting lineup there?
“There’s always the chance of that. [Akeem] Dent got some work with the ones today and [Darryl] Gamble got a little more work and did a good job today and we still have the ability to move Dannell [Ellerbe] from Mike to Will. We’re just continuing to move people around and trying to get them as much experience as we can, making sure we create as much depth as we can.”
Q: Is Miller giving you guys what you need at Sam?
A: “He’s doing all right; he’s doing all right. He’ll be fine.”
Dent, a redshirt freshman who had been backing up Miller at strongside linebacker, worked with the No. 1 defense Wednesday. So did Gamble, another redshirt freshman, who had been third-string weakside linebacker behind Darius Dewberry and Rennie Curran. Richt also praised Marcus Washington, who’s been Dannell Ellerbe’s backup at middle linebacker.
“We’ve been very pleased,” Richt said. “He’s gotten his weight down to a really good level and he actually moves pretty good.”
Here’s what I think (and it’s just a hypothesis since I wasn’t able to get Coach Jancek or any of the linebackers after practice, and won’t be able to today): The Bulldogs are getting ready to play Western Carolina. Therefore, they’re getting the backups ready to play a lot.
That said, Richt clearly was not happy with the way the defense performed at the end of the game against South Carolina. When he made the controversial decision to kick the field goal late in the game, he did so with the expectation his defense would stone the Gamecocks and get the ball right back to Georgia’s offense. But with South Carolina in an obvious run-the-clock situation, it gashed the defense for 15, 12 and 11 yards on the first three plays, all rushes That forced the Dogs to start taking their timeouts and, eventually, they finally got the Gamecocks stopped, but with only 80 seconds remaining.
Maybe Georgia’s defense was just gassed and that’s why they’re trying to create some more depth this week. Either way, it played pretty good most of the game but definitely blew it there.
So you tell me: Are the Dogs getting it done at linebacker? Was that a coaching gaffe in that Georgia did sell out and bring the house against the run on that last possession? Or are they simply working in some backups for a nothing game?
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Should Moreno start at tailback?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s pretty evident after two games that Georgia has a special player in freshman tailback Knowshon Moreno.
You needed to see nothing other than his 50-yard run, where he jumped over a downed lineman and cut sharply from right to left to spring himself, to see what all the fuss is about with this New Jersey product. Later, his fiery competitive nature was evident when a lineman got in his way on one run and after back-to-back runs of 11 and 10 yards in the fourth quarter. Moreno said all the right things afterward but he clearly wanted the ball again — badly — when the Dogs opted to throw passes three times in a row down there in the red zone.
I talked to offensive coordinator Mike Bobo after last Saturday’s game and again after practice yesterday (my story about him will be up on the site later and in tomorrow’s paper) and both times he emphasized that they were going to have to make a concerted effort to get the ball in Moreno’s hands more. A quick glance at the numbers tells why.
Moreno is the team’s leading rusher after two games with 188 yards on 34 carries. He is averaging of 5.1 yards per carry and 87 yards per game, both team bests. Senior Thomas Brown is second with 97 yards on 24 carries for averages of 4.0 ypc and 48.5 ypg. Pretty solid, too.
I also spoke to running backs coach Tony Ball briefly yesterday and asked him if they planned to start Moreno. “No,” he said. “He’s not ready. Not yet. It’s not time.”
To me, “not time” is an indication it’s only a matter of time. In the meantime, it looks like they’re going to stick with Brown, though I suspect Moreno will get more totes anyway.
Is that the right call? Should it make any difference who’s starting as long as the most productive player is getting the most carries? And while we’re at it, what do you think of Moreno so far? Where do you think he’ll eventually stack up with Georgia’s greatest runners?
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No self-pity party for Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today coach Mark Richt held his weekly press briefing over at Stegeman Coliseum. Quite clearly, the theme for the team this week is shaking off the doldrums of the South Carolina loss and getting on with their college football lives.
It hasn’t been easy. Richt called Monday’s practice “lackluster” and said there was “not a lot of enthusiasm,” as the Bulldogs began preparations for Western Carolina.
“I think they kind of felt sorry for themselves a bit, probably me included,” Richt said. “So we’ve got to snap out of it here pretty quickly.”
The reality is Georgia played pretty poorly and got hardly any breaks at all and still had a chance beat the Gamecocks. Statistically they were almost dead even, with the Bulldogs outgaining Carolina 341 to 314 and running 11 more offensive plays. Take into account the receivers’ drops coupled with Matthew Stafford’s off day and you can see how it could have been a much more productive offensive game.
But even more than that was the bad fortune Georgia endured. There was the illegal block play on Dannell Ellerbe that was overturned; there was the “very close” illegal motion penalty that negated a fumble recovery on a Carolina punt return right before halftime; there was Brandon Coutu’s rare missed field goal; and again, all the critical drops.
Even Steve Spurrier, talking to the South Carolina media this week, said his team was extremely fortunate in Athens.
“We can’t rely on a lot of good luck, a lot of good fortune that happened for us,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully, we can get better because we have a pretty good team. Not a great team, but a pretty good team.”
So how do the Bulldogs plan on snapping out of it? By practicing extremely hard.
Monday, players were subjected to extra conditioning before and after practice. Today’s practice plan should ne reminiscent of the old days when it was known as “Bloody Tuesday.”
“Football’s not quite as much fun when you lose as when you win. So we’re dealing with that right now. I think the coaches are doing a good job of getting us over that,” Richt said. I’m glad we don’t have an open date. It would’ve been awful to have to wait a week. You can get that taste out of your mouth. Hopefully we can get back on the winning track this week.”
Of course they will against Western Carolina. But what will the rest of the SEC slate hold?
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Blame the playmakers or playcallers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coach Mark Richt pretty much defended Mike Bobo, his first-year offensive coordinator, for the gameplan and play-calling in Saturday’s loss to South Carolina. I’ve read enough comments in this blog and in other fan forums to realize a lot of people don’t agree with that assessment.
I plan to talk to Bobo sometime this week and do a little story on him as far as how he’s dealing with the criticism — or whether he actually hears it — and whether or not he’ll do anything different in the wake of Saturday’s offensive failures.
In the meantime, I’d like to hear your direct thoughts on the situation. Was it the playcallers or the playmakers that led to Georgia offensive woes this past Saturday? What specifically did you not agree with? And what, if anything, do the Dogs need to do differently? What would you want to know if you were asking Bobo questions this week?
I’ll be checking back in regularly.
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Richt’s call, Stafford’s play costly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, here we are fresh at the end of Georgia’s first loss of the season. Come on now, tell the truth. You didn’t expect the Dogs to go undefeated did you?
I’ve got to admit, I expected them to win this game. It’s not that I think they’re markedly better than South Carolina at this particular juncture. I just thought they had a Grade A quarterback — the most important aspect of college football, in my opinion — and were playing an evening game at home, which is usually worth a handful of points.
The fact is, Stafford did not play well at all, in my opinion, or in his. He was pretty much soaking up all the blame in the postgame locker room. I didn’t think the line played real good, certainly not early in the game. And there were some drops, though few of the “how the heck did he drop that” variety. But 19 of 44 is pretty bad, no matter how you slice it up.
Coach Mark Richt didn’t think it was a very questionable decision to kick the field goal with 4:50 or so remaining and trailing 16-9 rather than go for a touchdown on fourth down atj the South Carolina 15. Not many in the press box agreed with it, I can tell you that. You still have to score a touchdown was our thinking. Here’s what he said:
“We still had two timeouts,” Richt said. “I felt if we put points on the board there, South Carolina would feel like they had to move the ball and might take a few more chances. If we didn’t get it, I felt they’d be more conservative with a seven-point lead. We did stop them, we got the ball back and we had a chance to win the game. If it had been fourth and a little less I would have gone for it. But at fourth-and-15 the odds are not good.”
Anybody out there have a problem with that rationale? Let’s hear your thoughts on the game.
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Dogs, Cocks also battle for recruits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry just getting around to the blog today. Been a busy one but enjoyable as the week kind of winds down for us on Thursday evening. Friday’s are wonderful for me in the fall. Saturday’s are, too, but for us they can be extemely intense workwise, especially with evening kickoffs.
It appears this is going to be a huge recruiting weekend for the Dogs. Now I’m not a recruitnik and I don’t call prospects every day and Georgia, of course, can’t divulge whom they might be hosting on any given weekend. So I can’t detail you on which blue-chipper from where is going to be in Athens this weekend. If you know, please feel share with the distinquished audience herein. But I saw Bryant Gantt, who helps coordinate the Bulldogs’ recruiting visits, and he did confirm that it was a big weekend.
I would assume wide receiver prospect A.J. Green of Summerville, S.C., will be on site. Of course, this 5-star recruit has been a solid UGA commitment for a long time. But South Carolina has been hot and heavy after him and has never relented in their pursuit, as I understand it. Which makes you wonder if the outcomes of these games really make a difference to the eventual destinations of these individual recruits.
Most of the time most of the SEC schools are all after the same recruits. If you’re a 4- or 5-star prospect, you can bet every one of them knows about you and has at least made some phone calls and asked for you to visit. Makes you wonder if Tennessee mounting that big second-half comeback on Georgia in Athens last year had any influence on Eric Berry eventually signing with the Vols. By the same token, could Green’s eventual destination be swayed by the outcome of Saturday’s game?
Traditionally — and especially under coach Mark Richt — the Bulldogs have been able to go into the Palmetto State and cherry-pick the best players to come play for them in Athens (see Richard Seymour). Georgia has only five South Carolina players at the moment but three of them are at least part-time or full-time starters (FS CJ Byrd, DE Marcus Howard and CB Prince Miller). DB Antavious Coates was a prep All-American before four knee surgeries sidelined his career and the Bulldogs expect Charles White to star linebacker before he leaves.
But South Carolina and Georgia are increasingly going head-to-head on top recruits and the Dogs have lost more of those battles recently. I wrote a story that was in this morning’s newspaper about the mysterious loss of Clifton Geathers to the Chickens and Georgia also lost out in the battle for Cliff Mathews of Cheraw, S.C., who will play Saturday as a backup defensive end for the Gamecocks.
All of which is to say, the Bulldogs have to be very diligent about staying on top of South Carolina in recruiting and continue to win the battles for the blue-chippers. That makes the sweepstakes for A.J. Green that much more important, in my opinion. What do y’all think?
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Is Spurrier or Richt the better coach?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Say this for Steve Spurrier: No matter what he does or where he goes, the man generates a lot of buzz. He is the ultimate polarizer. Generally, people either love him or hate him. Just look at the recent poll my newspaper conducted. Never mind the outcome in which he retained his title as most hated opposing coach by Georgia fans. Just look at the number of responses he generated and the passion of those responses.
That in and of itself is the best thing about Spurrier being at South Carolina. He brings that program increased visibility and respect. What he hasn’t brought the Gamecocks, however, is more victories. Not yet anyway.
South Carolina averaged five losses per season in Lou Holtz’s last five seasons as coach and it went 6-5 his last year there. It has lost five games in each of the last two seasons under Spurrier. Including his two NFL seasons with the Washington Redskins, with whom he went 12-20, Spurrier has lost 30 games in the four seasons since he returned to coaching from his post-Florida hiatus. Not exactly lighting it up.
Yet, when Philip Marshall of the Huntsville Times conducted a poll of sportswriters and asked them to rank the SEC coaches, Spurrier was the overwhelming pick as the league’s best. Took the top spot for offensive coordinator, too. Meanwhile, Georgia’s Mark Richt, who has won more games and more SEC titles than any of his SEC brethren the last five years, came in fifth behind Urban Meyer, Tommy Tuberville and Nick Saban. If I’m not mistaken I believe the Birmingham News did a similar poll and got similar results.
The question is, is Spurrier really the best coach in the league and he just hasn’t gotten all the players he needs yet to dominate the conference like he did at Florida? Has he lost something between his 1990s run with the Gators? Have teams figured out his once-vaunted offensive system? Or perhaps there’s only so much winning that can be done at South Carolina regardless of who’s coaching.
In the meantime, here’s the results of the Huntsville poll:
THE HEAD COACHES 12 points were awarded for a first-place vote, 11 for second, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses.
- Steve Spurrier (19), South Carolina, 229
- Urban Meyer (6), Florida, 205
- Tommy Tuberville (2), Auburn, 187
- Nick Saban, Alabama, 187
- Mark Richt, Georgia, 166
- Phillip Fulmer (2), Tennessee, 161
- Les Miles, LSU, 115
- Houston Nutt, Arkansas, 102
- Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt, 71
- Rich Brooks, Kentucky, 70
- Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State, 44
- Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss, 21
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Spurrier: We’ve got to start beating UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m still in Columbia at the moment. Just got through listening to Steve Spurrier and talking to a few South Carolina players at the Gamecocks’ weekly press conference. I’ll be heading down I-20 shortly and hopefully get to Athens in time to catch the Dogs’ afternoon practice.
Spurrier was his usual Spurrier self. That is, a lot of sarcasm and quick wit. The difference in him today and years past is his barbs are mostly directed at his own team. He has experienced a kind of role reversal in his three years here at South Carolina. There was hardly anything he or Florida could do to lose to Georgia during his years in Gainesville and the Gamecocks have been unable to get by the Bulldogs. They’ve lost five in a row, including the last two under Spurrier. He knows he has to change that.
So far, Spurrier has managed to beat Florida and Tennessee. But he hasn’t been able to get over the hump that is Georgia.
“That is right, isn’t it?” he said Tuesday. “They’re in our division. Certainly, it’s a crucial game, but no more particularly than any of the other losses we’ve had. But if we’re going to start competing for the division, we’ve got to start beating them some day. Hopefully it’ll be this year. If it’s not, then we’ll try to do it next year.”
Lee Corso famously said recently that South Carolina couldn’t win the SEC “in 400 years” with Spurrier as coach or not, or something along those lines. What do y’all think? Do the Gamecocks have what it takes yet? Will they ever? Will Spurrier get it done eventually?
And what about Georgia this year? Any reason to think they won’t handle the Gamecocks on Saturday in Athens?
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Will less Lumpkin mean more Moreno?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We saw exactly why Georgia coach Mark Richt doesn’t like to be overly dependent on one tailback during Saturday night’s win over Oklahoma State. Kregg Lumpkin, the Bulldogs’ leading rusher last season, suffered a fracture and dislocation of one of his thumbs in the 35-14 win over Cowboys. He will be out at least a couple of weeks, which obviously includes Saturday’s game against South Carolina.
This is bad news. But, had Lumpkin been the only featured tailback in the Bulldogs’ backfield, it would have been devastating news. Because Georgia’s offensive philosophy under Richt is for tailbacks to share the load, the Dogs have two well-trained and experienced runners to absorb the blow in Thomas Brown and Knowshon Moreno.
I’m sure after this past Saturday, a lot of people will want to see more of Moreno and you may. But, a closer look reveals that the Dogs didn’t exactly bulldoze Oklahoma State on the ground. Moreno averaged only 3.5 yards on 20 carries and, as a team, the Dogs managed only 3.0 yards per carry versus the Cowboys’ modest defense. Most of their success came on quick screens but, you can be assured, they’ll meet much more resistance from a stout South Carolina defensive unit.
That’s notable because it’s very likely Georgia is not going to be able to just line up run the ball against the Gamecocks, something it did on 47 of 71 plays against the Cowboys. That means the Dogs will have to pass more and that puts a premium on pass protection. This is an area in which Moreno himself says he needs the most improvement.
So what do you think? Should the Dogs go to Moreno even more against the Gamecocks? Or should they stick with Brown and just bring in Moreno as an occasional change of pace? And what about behind those two? Jason Johnson did not play Saturday because of a neck injury. If he can’t go, should the Dogs pull the redshirt off Caleb King and see what he’s got?
LOOKING FOR COMMENTS: I need your help for a piece we’re doing for the paper this week. Our editors want to know: Is Steve Spurrier still the most hated coach for UGA fans? Or has he lost that distinction to Phil Fulmer or Urban Meyer or Tommy Tuberville or Nick Saban?
If you’d like to be quoted in an article we’re doing on this, please e-mail me your thoughts on this at ctowers@ajc.com and be sure to include your full name, hometown, occupation and a phone number at which you could be reached.
Thanks in advance.
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