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 > 2008 > September > 24
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Trench warfare will determine winner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A tale of the trenches. That’s what Saturday’s game between No. 3 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama is going to come down to.
It could be argued that every football game is decided along the offensive and defensive lines and to a great extent that’s true. But rarely is it as exaggerated as it will be this weekend at Sanford Stadium.
Start with the Crimson Tide’s defensive line. Anchoring their front is nose guard Terrence Cody. Georgia center/guard Chris Davis described him simply as “a large human being. Huge.” The 6-foot-5 JUCO transfer apparently weighed 425 pounds when Bama recruited him out of Gulf Coast Community College. Now he’s listed at 365 pounds, though there is considerable debate about how much he actually weighs. Regardless, Cody is quite agile for that size and has been blowing up opposing offenses.
“He’s a beast,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “No one man has blocked him and I haven’t really seem any double teams block him either. He’s a problem.”
Chiefly responsible for blocking Cody will be Georgia’s new starting center, Ben Jones. Jones (6-3, 304) is a true freshman. He’s also from Centreville, Ala.
“Ben’s a good ol’ country boy and he loves a challenge,” said Davis, who’ll likely team up with Jones against Cody often. “He’s not scared at all, you can see it in his eyes. He’s anxious. It’s his hometown team, Alabama, and I think he’s accepting this well.”
The problem with a guy like Cody is he’s pretty much guaranteed to take up two blockers. This shorts you a lineman to block the linebacker, and the Tide has a tough one in the middle in sophomore Rolando McClain (6-4, 249).
“He’ll pierce you,” Richt said. “That’s the term our offensive coaches used. He pierces people.”
Meanwhile, Georgia’s defensive front gets by far its stiffest test versus an O-line. Bama features an all junior and senior line anchored by left tackle Andre Smith and center Antoine Caldwell. Both are likely NFL first-rounders, according to Richt, especially Smith, who has started every game he’s played for the Tide.
By the same token, Alabama has not faced a defensive front of the caliber of the Georgia’s, particularly in the interior. And that’s where the Tide does its business. Very seldom do they attempt to beat defenses around the corner or throw the ball downfield. They pound big running backs Glen Coffee (6-1, 198) and Mark Ingram (5-10, 215) between the tackles. That tact has resulted in an SEC best rushing average of 236.8 yards, or 5.9 per carry.
“It’s smash-mouth football,” Georgia defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said. “We get to show what Georgia’s made of right here. They’re explosive, yeah, but we’re pretty good, too.”
Said linebacker Dannell Ellerbe: “I’m looking forward to that type of game. I play middle linebacker. That’s the kind of game I like, between the tackles. Just man up.”
So there you have it, football in its purest of form. Something has to give. Which side do you think it will be.
Attending a funeral
Alabama strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran’s high-energy histrionics might have gotten him into the middle of a minor controversy. A microphone on a video camera at practice this week picked up Cochran telling the team during warmups that the Bulldogs “are wearing black because they’re going to a (hyphenated-expletive) funeral.” It’s at about the 1:04 mark on the video here at YouTube if you care to listen to such a thing. Not that big a deal to me because I’ve heard all sorts of off-color things uttered on practice fields. But you can bet it will make Georgia’s bulletin board. Or should that be “bulletin video player?” …
ASU’s 12-man D
This may explain why Georgia couldn’t get into the end zone on its next-to-last offensive possession against Arizona State. The video clearly shows the Sun Devils had 12 men on defense. Tough night for those Pac-10 officials… .
Early Heisman watch
I hesitate to even bring this up because it’s much too early even to think about it but here’s Gene Menez, one of the hundreds of supposed national experts that are out there in cyberspace these days, breaking down the Heisman Trophy race. At the moment he has Knowshon Moreno fifth, MIssouri QB Chase Daniel first and Tim Tebow 10th. Whatever… .
Knowshon leads voting
If you want to cast your own lot on the Heisman Trophy race you can do so at the official Heisman website. For what it’s worth, Moreno leads in the early voting. But keep in mind, yours is not an official vote and will not determine the eventual winner… .
Out of the red and into the black
I sort of went down this road earlier this year when I wrote about the retail phenomena created by Moreno’s back No. 24 jersey. But the Athens Banner-Herald has a report today on the mini-economic boost Georgia’s decision to blackout Saturday’s game will give to local retailers.
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