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 > November
November 2008
3rd quarter collapse does in Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are you surprised? Can’t say I’m surprised. Based on the way Georgia’s defense has played this season and the way Georgia Tech has been playing of late under coach Paul Johnson, I fully expected the Yellow Jackets to be in position to win this game. So their 45-42 victory is not unexpected.
I did NOT expect them to do all their work in the third quarter. That, I think, is probably the most disconcerting part for Georgia fans. By coming from behind to score score 26 unanswered points in the third quarter — and adding a back-breaking TD in the fourth — the Bulldogs have now allowed colossal halves at least four times this season.
Some numbers: Tech 409 yards RUSHING, only 19 passing and none after halftime. Georgia 407 yards PASSING, 488 total.So great job by the Yellow Jackets. It overcomes big games from Georgia’s Mohamed Massaquoi, Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. The really bad news: All three of those guys might not be back next season.
Some quotes from Coach Mark Richt… .
On season: “We didn’t meet our expectations. Our goal was to win the Eastern Division. Didn’t do it. Didn’t have a chance to play for the SEC. That’s the main goal for us… . So it’s not a season where we reached the goals that we set for us. A victory here could have been a little salve for our wounds but it didn’t happen.”
On Willie Martinez: “My thought is that a lot of times when things don’t go exactly how you want them to people want to find somebody to blame. I’m not going to do that.”
On whether Moreno and Stafford will turn pro: “It’s going to be a real interesting decision for them. By NFLPA rules and all the agent stuff shouldn’t happen until after the bowl game. But I’m sure between now and then will be a time to reflect on where they are. We’ll spend some time talking to them and get them the best possible information we can. Both of them are going to be interested in hearing what the NFL people has to say where they are. That will be the beginning point for them to decide what to do.”
On the job he did: “There will be some reflection on what I will do different, what I could do better.”
Your thoughts?
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Strange vibe to 116th Georgia-Tech game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from wet and soggy Sanford Stadium, site of the 116th renewal of the Georgia-Georgia Tech football rivalry. At this moment it’s about a half-hour before the noon kickoff. Considering the weather it will probably come as no surprise that the stadium is less than half full right now. Not sure if it will fill up even after kickoff.
There’s a strange vibe here in Athens today. Because of the rain I guess, I didn’t see anybody tailgating on my way to the stadium. Traffic was light even when I drove in, which was after I attended the long Vince Dooley dedication ceremony up at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall. Beautiful event, by the way, with lots of Who’s Who in Georgia athletics history in attendance.
Anyway, there certainly is not the electricity I’m used to from the crowd. Now that’s the crowd. Just now the two teams squared off at midfield at the end of their warmups. No pushes or punches were exchanged, they just kind of jumped up and down and postured for each other. I didn’t see the whole thing but it appeared the Yellow Jackets were the aggressors. They’re definitely fired up and confident they can win.
And speaking of the weather, I understand now that they’re not going to try to bring Larry Munson out on the field now. Not sure how they’re going to handle it but I think he’ll just be up in the booth waving to the crowd while they show his video tribute on the scoreboard. I also understand a lot of recruits that were supposed to be here didn’t show up.
Well, there it is. Tech-Georgia for the 116th time. A seven-game win streak on the line for the Dogs. Putting the rival back in rivalry for the Jackets. Rain throughout and a very wet field just to add to the drama.
I’ll be updating throughout. Stay tuned!
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Another arrest, rain and Dooley’s statue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings folks. Hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving. I’m still stuffed.
I’m actually enjoying a little off day today but I thought I’d start a new post in anticipation of Saturday’s game. This one will be a potpourri so as to squeeze everything in before Saturday’s noon kickoff for Georgia-Georgia Tech.
Until then, here are the most pertinent issues:
(1) I’m sure most of you guys saw that third-string center Kevin Perez was arrested for DUI in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Fitting way to finish the season. That was arrest No. 11 among for the Bulldogs since the Sugar Bowl last New Year’s. Some of those charges were dropped and all but one were alcohol-related misdemeanors. But there is absolutely no excuse for that many players to get in trouble with the law in one year. And there’s a month to go still!
(2) The Vince Dooley statue and athletic complex dedication is Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. I’ll be there. How about y’all? Anybody making a special effort to get to Athens to see that. And do you feel it’s an appropriate tribute? Does this mean they need not bother to add his name to Sanford Stadium or name the field for him?
(3) Most of you know I’ve been around Georgia athletics a long time and this is about as nervous and concerned I remember the Bulldogs’ fans being about a Georgia Tech game in a long time. Even when they lost those fumble-marred games in the late 1990s the fans were going into the games with a great deal of confidence. Not this year.
(4) According to this morning’s weather report it is a virtual certainty that it will rain at least a little on Saturday’s game (70 percent chance). If so, who does that favor, the option-oriented Tech team or the pass-happy Bulldogs? I’m inclined to believe that rainj actually favors a throwing team because the receivers know where they’re going on their pass routes while the DBs and linebackers have to react on a slippery field. But the same could be said for defending the option I guess.
(5) And finally, who’s gonna win, why and by what score?
I’ll check in when I can today and holler back sometime before kickoff tomorrow.
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MoMass grows on, off field
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Time flies. That’s the general consensus of all the Georgia seniors I’ve talked to this week.
Every year about this time we interview a bunch of the seniors as they prepare for their final home game and Senior Day. Ultimately you’re looking for someone’s story that will serve as a good “senior spotlight,” but it’s also nice to catch up and talk about how much has changed since they first arrived on campus. Over four and five years, us beat guys get to know some of these players pretty well during their careers. Some of them we talk to almost every week of every season.
Mohamed Massaquoi is one such person. I can remember when MoMass first showed up on Georgia’s campus, a tall, skinny, wide receiver from Charlotte with an impressive football resume from Independence High. I remember how shy he was and how uncomfortable he was talking to the media. And I remember how he kind of shut down on us his sophomore season when he had a couple of drops and drew some criticism.
To talk to him today is to recognize a young man who has grown both on and off the field. He’s the consummate captain for the Bulldogs nowadays: An eloquent spokesperson articulating the team’s thoughts and feelings heading into and coming out of contests and the ultimate leader and warrior on the football field, making the tough catches on third down and the big catches when games are on the line.
As sports journalists it’s important that we remain unbiased when it comes to the team but you can’t help but root for guys like Massaquoi to do well. You’ve seen up close how hard they’ve worked and how far they’ve come. I felt the same way about Eric Zeier and Hines Ward and Verron Haynes and Jon Stinchcomb and Thomas Brown and many other Bulldogs over the years.
Following is a snippet of a brief interview I had with MoMass this week.
Q: It seems like yesterday you were showing up as a freshman.
MM: Yeah, it goes by fast. I can remember being recruited and the Georgia coaches first coming through the doors at Independence. It’s funny how fast time goes by. You don’t realize it ‘til you get a little bit older. It’s not until you actually get here that you understand.
Q: Who came to Independence that first time?
MM: Mike Bobo. I was actually in the 9th grade and he was recruiting Mario Raley. He kind of just looked at me and laughed because I was kind of a skinny kid.
Q: Did he know you were a prospect then?
MM: No, he didn’t care two cents about me [laughs].
Q: The first couple years you seemed pretty shy or guarded?
MM: I’ve always been a quiet guy. If you see me out you’d probably think the same thing. I’m really not a guy who you’ll see all the time making a bunch of noise. It was probably a mix of both, being a quiet guy and not really understanding the whole media aspect. I guess the older you get the more comfortable you get with it.
Some links:
Here’s an in-depth into Auburn’s scoring woes, if you’re interested… .
With Florida’s Cam Newton suspended due to his burglary arrest, among those getting looks at backup quarterback for Tim Tebow is Percy Harvin… .
A golf leaderboard look at Tennessee’s coaching search by Knoxville columnist John Adam.
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‘What If’ the Bulldogs had …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
NOTE: PRESS CONFERENCE NEWS UPDATES IN COMMENTS BELOW
I don’t know if this is a good thing or simply a scary thing. I’d been planning since this weekend to do a “What If … ” blog this week. Then I was perusing the comments on Monday’s blog and noticed a number of you guys were already thinking about the same thing.
Personally I’m not a recruitnik. It’s not that I don’t understand the importance and the excitement of recruiting. I get it. But when you’ve done this as long as I have, you just get tired of all the hype, all the fawning over high school seniors and you just kind of think it sad to see grown men rejoicing and bemoaning the whims of 18-year-olds.
Now Georgia is always going to recruit well. Just because it’s the flagship university in a state brimming with Top 100 national prospects — not to mention UGA graduates — the Bulldogs are always going to get their share of blue-chippers.
But almost as impressive as the players Georgia has been able to sign under Mark Richt is the list of really, really good ones that got away. Imagine if the Bulldogs had this year just a few of the prospects that had them as finalists only to go another direction.
“What if …”
(1) Georgia had Tennessee defensive back Eric Berry?
Even though his father played for the Vols, Berry made numerous visits to Georgia and considered the Bulldogs all the way to the end. Earlier this season he told me he still has loads of friends in Athens and could have seen himself going to school there.
(2) They could have landed Allen Bailey?
The freakishly-athletic, big guy from the tiny Hog Hammock community on Sapelo Island chose Miami over Georgia mainly because the Hurricanes promised him a crack at linebacker. The 6-foot-4, 285-pounder played one series against Texas A&M last season but has emerged as a star defensive end this season.
(3) Cameron Heyward had come to Athens?
Drew Butler’s 6-6, 287-pound teammate at Peachtree Ridge instead chose Ohio State, where he was named freshman All-America and has 35 tackles and 3 sacks this season.
(4) Antwane Greenlee doesn’t flip but flops?
The 6-foot-6, 292-pounder from Columbus backed out on the Bulldogs on national signing day to ink with Florida State, where he’s now a starting tackle. Georgia thought it recovered with Chris Little’s last-second reversal on Notre Dame but Little quit the Bulldogs and headed back to Twiggs County earlier this fall without ever playing a down.
That’s but a few. You could go on and on and the same could probably be said of almost virtually every BCS program around but it is fascinating to consider What If? What if Tech’s Jonathan Dwyer had come to Georgia instead Tech. What if Brian VanGorder had never left? What if the Bulldogs hadn’t “blacked out” the Alabama game? What if they’re not called for two personal fouls on the Tide’s opening drive? What if Knowshon Moreno had signed with Maryland and Matthew Stafford with Texas and A.J. Green with South Carolina? Things might be a little different.
Let’s hear some of your best “what-ifs.”
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It’s all relative for Dogs, Jackets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, here we go into Georgia-Georgia Tech week. It has shaped up just exactly how we expected in the preseason, hasn’t it?
One team is getting ready to possibly play in its conference championship game while the other one is just hoping to put a positive ending on an otherwise disappointing season.
Raise your hand if you expected the Yellow Jackets to be the ones still in the hunt for a championship. They will be in the ACC Championship in Tampa [not Jacksonville—thanks bloggers!] if Virginia beats Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Saturday. That game also kicks off at noon.
I’m just teasing the Bulldogs. The truth is Georgia (9-2) has had a solid season. Just not up to expectations. Regardless of whose expectations they were or how realistic they were, it’s like they say — it’s all relative.
You could equate these two programs’ seasons to mountain climbing. For the Bulldogs, who began the season as the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, only reaching the peak of Mount Everest or K-2 was going to do. The Jackets (8-3) had their own mountain to climb but, in this particular year at least, that summit was much more modest. Call theirs Mt. McKinley.
Whatever you want to call it, all that junk will be out the window on Saturday. Georgia will be going for it’s eighth straight win over Tech, matching the longest streak in the series. Tech will be doing everything in its power to see that the Bulldogs don’t win that eighth one in a row.
We’ll have all kinds of great stories coming to you out of both camps all week long leading up to Saturday’s game in Athens. Let us hear from you about what you want to read. And as always, let me have your questions — legitimate and reasonable only please — to ask coach Mark Richt and/or players at the press luncheon on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, here’s a few links:
Florida Today columnist and UF grad Peter Kerasotis believes Urban Meyer will leave Florida for Notre Dame.
This is a profile on Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer… .
Here’s a story in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press on Georgia’s first-year chaplain Thomas Settles III. He succeeded Kevin “Chappy” Hynes, Richt’s brother-in-law… .
This is a story in the Athens Banner-Herald about Georgia’s tattoo-covered slot receiver Michael Moore.
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Tech’s win should get Dogs’ attention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Come on now, Georgia fans, you’ve got to admit it — that was an impressive performance by Georgia Tech against Miami last night. Four hundred seventy-two yards rushing, are you kidding me? Two gift TDs for the Hurricanes there at the end, too. In reality it was more like a 48-9 game than 41-23.
Just because of the intensity with which we have to cover our own beats and conflicts with the Yellow Jackets’ games on Saturdays, I hadn’t gotten to see a lot of Tech this season. Just bits and pieces here and there throughout the season and highlights on the local and national news. And, of course, I’ve read most everything our Tech writers have reported this year.
But that was the first time I was able to sit down, prop my feet up and take in one of their games. I didn’t watch every minute but I saw enough to see what I needed to see. They’re the real deal.
I told people around Athens at the outset of the season that Paul Johnson’s triple option was going to be a beast by the time these rivals met at the end of the season and that was without expecting Tech to arrive in Athens at 8-3. But they’re very good on defense as well, though I think the Bulldogs are going to bring considerably more to the table offensively that “The U” did.
From what I saw we should have the makings of one of the better Georgia-Georgia Tech matchups that we’ve seen in a while. What about those of you in the Bulldog Nation? Impressed with what you saw out of the Jackets? More fearful than before or are you still confident Georgia can stretch the streak to eight games?
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Injuries ravaged Dogs in 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to Ron Courson, Georgia’s director of sports medicine, the Bulldogs had only two season-ending injuries this time last season and one of those was to walkon Chris Gaunder, who managed to return later for the bowl game.
This season that number is 18.
Let that number roll around in your head a moment.
People wondering what happened to the Bulldogs this year can rest assured some of their struggles are at least partly due to injuries.
To be sure, not all of those are starters. If you count starters only, they have missed a combined total of 49 potential games so far because of injuries. That number includes of course left tackles Trinton Sturdivant and Vince Vance, defensive tackle Jeff Owens, middle linebacker Dannell Ellerbe, tight end Tripp Chandler and, the latest, right tackle Justin Anderson.
“That’s a lot,” coach Mark Richt stated flatly Wednesday.
But the number of starters missing doesn’t paint the full picture. That doesn’t take into account players like wide receiver Tony Wilson, linebackers Darius Dewberry, Akeem Hebron, Marcus Washington and Charles White and safety Quintin Banks. Those are players that, in addition to playing a lot of snaps on offense or defense, played on nearly every special teams units the Bulldogs field.
“It affects your scout teams, it affects your special teams, it affects everything,” Richt said. “I don’t want to go through that again.”
Georgia’s not alone. Auburn has had 16 players from its two-deep miss a combined 57 games. Among those are three starters — LB Tray Blackmon, OL Chaz Ramsey and DB Aairon Savage.
Anyway, regarding Georgia’s injuries: Legitimate reason for losing two games and not looking great in a couple of others or just lame excuses?
Some links:
This is just another notebook off of yesterday’s practice but ugasports.com’s Anthony Dasher talks to tailback Caleb King, who hasn’t played in the last two games, about his demotion to third team… .
I’ll have to check with Coach Richt on this one to see if there’s anything to it but there’s a conspiracy theory going around regarding Auburn’s offensive signals… .
John Walters of NBCsports.com is one of the few voices against an eight-team playoff for college football… .
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Who’s the next Bulldog great?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Geno Atkins is definitely coming back. Asher Allen, Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford all claim they haven’t even started thinking about it yet.
That was the word out of Georgia’s camp on Tuesday. What underclassmen might be considering jumping for the pros was a popular subject on the Georgia beat for whatever reason this week (gotta write about something, right?). The four aforementioned players were the ones being asked about it.
Of course, that has been the million-dollar question hovering over Moreno and Stafford all season. I wouldn’t have considered Allen a strong prospect this year but some other folks apparently do. And Atkins, you may not realize it because his good work often gets lost in the clutter that is the middle of the line of scrimmage, but he is a beast of a defensive tackle. Played one play at “wham,” or fullback, this past Saturday, too. It’s definitely good news for the Bulldogs to know he’s coming back.
I was watching the replay of the Georgia-Auburn came on my DVR Sunday night (I know, sad) and watched Atkins drive Auburn senior center Jason Bosley straight back into quarterback Kodi Burns, who had taken the snap out of the shotgun. Atkins actually disrupted Burns’ pass he shoved Bosley into him so hard. I played it back a couple of times in slo-mo just to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Having him back along with Jeff Owens — who has not said for certain that he’s coming back for a fifth season — would be a heckuva start for the defense going into next season.
Another one that I’d keep an eye on is free safety Reshad Jones. He’s a third-year sophomore so he’s eligible. Safeties don’t generally command great respect in drafts and Jones hasn’t had a great season. But you never know.
Anyway, we’re not going to be able to get Moreno or Stafford to say what they’re planning on doing — even if they actually DO know — for a while yet. Feel free to speculate about it all you want here. But I figured it’d be more interesting to look ahead and think about who might be their most likely replacements.
So who do you think is most likely to become the primary ball carrier if Moreno bolts: Caleb King, Richard Samuel, Dontavius Jackson, Carlton Thomas, Kalvin Daniels, Washaun Ealey? Others?
Quarterback will be a very interesting competition whenever Stafford decides to move on. Who do you like? Joe Cox, Logan Gray, Aaron Murray, Zach Mettenberger, John deLaureal (hey, he’s out there everyday working, too)?
While you’re thinking about that, here’s some links chew on:
Kind of whiney if you ask me but here’s a link to the now semi-famous website pleading with Stafford and Moreno to return for another season… .
Here’s the inside story from the Austin American Statesman on Will Muschamp’s appointment as “head coach in waiting” at Texas. I like Muschamp and think he’s a good coach but I can’t get over the fuss made over him the past couple of years. Three things: I watched Georgia light his defense up twice at Auburn, I’ve seen the Big 12 put some points on him, too, and, finally, what about being a good d-coordinator assures one of being a good head coach? Good for him, though… .
Personally I’m not the BCS hater that a lot of you folks are (hey, it DOES give college football the most meaningful regular season of any sport). But those of you that think you should drop the “C” from the formula will enjoy this video… .
In case you missed it elsewhere, here is our report on Georgia’s narrow escape over Eastern Michigan in the second round of the Preseason NIT Tip-off. To put it simply, the Bulldogs desperately need Trey Thompkins to get well.
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Bulldogs seem to lack heart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s up, UGA bloggers? I’m actually writing this on Monday night. I was tabbed for jury duty this week and am trying to do my civic duty. Got to go back Tuesday but I’ll try to keep the blog updated the rest of the week. Thanks to Tim Tucker for Monday’s nice post and your thoughtful responses.
At the moment I’m listening to the Georgia-Loyola basketball game on the radio. Not looking too good as the Bulldogs have fallen behind by 13 — oops, make that 15 — in the second half. That’s pretty awful if that stands up. They’re still without Trey Thompkins but that’s laying a big-time egg on the road. It might be a good thing they don’t draw Purdue afterall. Boilermakers killed in the first game.
Meanwhile, here we are in the last off week of the season for the football team. For the most part the Bulldogs’ fate has been sealed. It’s highly unlikely they won’t play in the Capital One Bowl regardless of what happens in the Georgia Tech game. SEC and national championship talk seems a distant memory, doesn’t it?
Can’t say I’m surprised the Dogs lost two games. If you go back and look at some of our exchanges before the season started you’ll see I thought that was a distinct possibility. But how and how bad they lost those games was definitely not something I expected. And I thought they might dominate a few that they haven’t.
It’s been a strange season. Certainly as disappointing a 9-2 year I’ve ever encountered from the standoint of Georgia’s fans. I expect a full-blown riot should the Bulldogs lose to Georgia Tech in the season finale.
Again, I think it’s the “how” more than the “what.” Getting manhandled by Alabama and Florida just shouldn’t happen to a team this talented. Then having to fight and struggle against overmatched opponents in the last two games, while still making the kinds of mistakes you expect to see in the season’s first month, didn’t provide any salve.
I don’t share a lot of the views I see here about firing this coach and that one. The majority of this staff has been together to win 81 games over eight seasons so far. That’s some pretty tall cotton. And the injury issues have been significant. I just think this might be one of those cases where the players just don’t have the chemistry and/or heart, if you will, that great teams must have. Perhaps they’ll prove me wrong in the last couple of games but that’s what I see.
Anyway, Dogs still way down in Indiana. I’ll leave you with some links:
Here’s a report on Georgia coach Mark Richt’s speech to the Macon Bulldog Club from David Hale’s Bulldogs Blog… .
You guys calling for a college football playoff surely must of enjoyed the interview of President-elect Barack Obama on 60 Minutes Sunday night… .
Florida’s Urban Meyer is pumping some of his assistant coaches for head coaching jobs… .
The talk of Auburn’s six wins in a row already is grating on Alabama coach Nick Saban and there’s still over a week and a half to go before the game.
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‘Tough grind’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Someone asked Mark Richt on his Sunday evening teleconference what one word he would choose to describe this Georgia season to date.
Richt struggled to reduce it to one.
“I’ll say - I don’t even know what I could say other than it’s been a tough grind,” he said.
“Most seasons are, really and truly,” he added.
He went on to speak of Georgia’s 9-2 record in the context of an inordinate number of injuries and recent stretch of four consecutive games away from Athens:
“I was hoping we’d be a team that would be resilient and would persevere and do what it takes to win,” Richt said. “It was a tough stretch. Of course, we didn’t win them all. But we won three out of four, and after having a tough loss [to Florida], we played two extremely emotional games after that and we hung in there and we finished.
“I think once you lose the opportunity to play for the SEC championship, it could make a lot of guys say, ‘Is it really worth it?,’ that kind of thing. But our guys kept fighting because they care and are high-character guys and our leaders kept leading and our coaches kept banging away. It was very good to see that our guys were as tight knit as I really thought they were.”
Anyway, back to the original question, which was asked by Anthony Dasher: What one word would YOU choose to describe this Georgia season?
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Bulldogs survive another scare
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, that was about typical of the Georgia-Auburn series, the oldest rivalry in the Deep South. The Bulldogs were up and down the field all day on offense but never could break free of the Tigers’ grasp. You knew it’d be close throughout and that it was. Georgia comes from behind with a mid-fourth-quarter TD drive for a 17-13 victory.
Game wasn’t decided until Kodi Burns’ incompletion to Ben Tate in the Georgia end zone with one second remaining. Nice coverage by linebacker Rennie Curran.
The Bulldogs aren’t going to get much credit for this win. Auburn’s down this year and they were supposed to win, people will say. Both those people aren’t familiar with this rivalry. These teams always go to war. The last two years, big wins by Georgia, were much more the exception.
We saw a lot of what we’ve seen from the Bulldogs this season — special teams breakdowns, porous defense, untimely penalties. But we saw also a Georgia offense that does what it has to when it has to and, for that matter, a defense that does as well.
So what did you think? Happy with the Dogs improving to 9-2 or are you ticked off they had to fight so hard to get it.
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Auburn has edge in desperation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from Auburn, Ala. I’m sitting here in the press box at Jordan-Hare Stadium, high above what they now call Pat Dye Field. Technically the venue is called Pat Dye Field at Jordan-Hare Stadium but I have yet to see anybody refer to it as that in print.
Every time I come here it makes me think about the Vince Dooley debate at Sanford Stadium. All due respect to Dye but he never won a national championship. If you can name the field after him certainly Dooley is worthy. And Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium has a nice ring to it but, as I mentioned, I’m not sure how much actual use would come of it. If it was Sanford-Dooley Stadium there would be no avoiding it.
The conditions here today are very similar to what we saw last week at Kentucky. That is, it’s an extremely blustery day. Winds 13-15 mph and gusting up to 25 mph. Whether that’s a bad omen or not I can’t be sure. The windy conditions certainly didn’t help Georgia’s passing game early on against Wildcats. I was talking to Eric Zeier a little while ago and he said was throwing the football on the field before the game and anything thrown toward the Georgia sideline going toward the end zone marked “Auburn” was being knocked down by the wind. “But Matthew has a little better arm than I do,” Zeier quipped.
Today’s game is huge for Auburn. The Tigers, who lest we forget were picked to win the Western Division, need one more win to become bowl eligible. You can bet they like their chances at home today better than in two weeks at No. 1 Alabama. And they claim to be very motivated by Georgia’s blackout in last year’s game, particularly the dancing to Soulja Boy late in that game.
So give Auburn the edge in desperation. Georgia certainly gets the nod on offense. I have no idea what to expect on special teams anymore.
We’re about ready to go here. Let’s see what happens.
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Marshall: AU losing with good players
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Phillip Marshall has been covering college football in Alabama for 39 years. Or as he says, “I’m really old.” But he’s really not.
What Phillip is is one of the great characters in the SEC, in my opinion. He’s been everywhere and seen just about everything over four decades in this league and he’s one of the best storytellers you’ll ever encounter.
Phillip covered Auburn for the Huntsville Times for 14 years until earlier this summer when he became one of the latest scribes to jump to a dot-com. Phillip is now the senior writer for the ESPN affiliate AuburnUndercover.com. In terms of knowing what’s going on at Auburn there is nobody better.
Phillip was nice enough to take some time out of his busy week to answer some questions for us about the 5-5 Auburn team Georgia will meet Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on The Plains:
Q: So, Phillp, what the heck is going on at Auburn this season? A team besieged by counterproductive influences or just not a good team?
Marshall: You can’t win with bad players, but you can lose with good ones. That’s what Auburn has managed to do. It hasn’t recovered from the Tony Franklin fiasco and isn’t likely to this season. Since the SEC isn’t real strong, it was set up for these guys to have a good year. But when you lose to Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Ole Miss, that ain’t good. They don’t have the best talent in the SEC, but they have too much talent to be as bad as they are. To be fair, they’ve had a lot of injuries, particularly on defense. The defense was really good early, but lately, not so much.
Q: Is there any truth at all to all these rumors that Tommy Tuberville is being run off or might bolt for Clemson or some other such place? Is there a jet warming up somewhere?
Marshall: Don’t think so. All indications are he’ll be back for his 11th Auburn season in 2009.
Q: What’s the inside story on this Tony Franklin character? And how much are his DVDs going for now?
Marshall: Tony is a good guy. High school coaches swear by him and his version of the spread worked at Troy. He was a bad fit at Auburn. He should have known and Tuberville should have known. Auburn is probably the only school in the country that is paying two offensive coordinators (Franklin and Al Borges) to not coach.
Q: Have they sorted out their problems now and getting back to Auburn football? Tell us about Kodi Burns and some other good players to watch for?
Marshall: I don’t think these problems are going to be sorted out until they get a new coordinator and move forward on offense. They were bad on offense when Franklin was around and they still are. Burns has made a lot of progress. He’s a better runner than passer right now, though he has a very strong arm. Most of the impact players are on defense, if they are healthy. Tackle Sen’Derrick Marks, cornerback Jerraud Powers and end Antonio Coleman are the best ones.
Q: What about this year’s Georgia game? Based on the history of this series, sets up perfect for the Tigers, doesn’t it?
Marshall: You know, it really does in that respect. Auburn is in a similar position to what Georgia was in 2006. Georgia had lost four out of five, as Auburn has, and whipped the Tigers good. But Auburn doesn’t have Matt Stafford, who I think kind of came into his own that day. I know Georgia has had some problems on defense, but I don’t believe Auburn can score enough points to keep up. Besides, Auburn is at home, and that’s usually bad news in this series.
So there you go, word from behind enemy lines, as it were.
A reminder, Georgia’s men’s basketball team opens the season against USC-Upstate (formerly USC-Spartanburg) tonight at 7:30 in Athens. Sooner or later we’re going to have to introduce some basketball talk to this blog. Anybody interested.
Next blog coming to you from The Plains.
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Auburn has Dogs right where it wants
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the surface, Auburn doesn’t have much going for it heading into the Georgia game. If there is one clear advantage the Tigers might have it’s desperation. Think about it. They have to beat either a Georgia team with the best offense in the SEC or undefeated Alabama squad just to become bowl eligible.
Then again, considering the wacky history of this storied series, it’s set up perfect for an Auburn victory. Traditionally this is a heart-stomping series. Whoever had the most to lose usually does. Only thing working against the Tigers is they’re at home. That never seems to bode well in this series.
Personally, Auburn-Georgia is one of my favorite of the Bulldogs’ many rivalries. The two programs are almost like a couple of feuding cousins and the closeness of the games is uncannny. In 111 meetings, Auburn leads the series 53-50-8 and Georgia has outscored the Tigers 1,730-1,685. So I guess you could say the Dogs win by little more when they win.
Then, of course, there’s the strange home-road aspect of the series. Georgia leads 13-9-2 at Jordan-Hare Stadium and Auburn leads 18-10 at Sanford Stadium. For 39 years they played in Columbus.
Auburn’s unranked, Georgia’s ranked No. 10. Everything’s setting up for the Tigers, right?
Some links:
Auburn’s defensive players are very impressed with Georgia QB Matthew Stafford… .
The Athens Banner-Herald gets into Georgia’s unusual lack of production at defensive end… .
[Chad Simmons of UGAsports.com went up to Franklin Springs and wrote a profile on new Georgia basketball signee DeMario Mayfield… .
North Carolina’s Butch Davis is the latest coach to say he’s not interested in the Tennessee job… .
Looks like Florida State is taking a page out of the Georgia playbook and wearing black jerseys for Saturday’s game against Boston College… .
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Dogs’ defenders want to have more fun
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hundreds of questions and thousands of comments this week. The grand majority have been about Georgia’s porous defense. I tried to answer the most prevalent ones the best I could based on interviews this week:
- Lots of questions — and even more statements — about the defense. Can’t possibly boil them all into one but I’ll have just share some observations and then some player and coach comments.
CMR has been adamant about saying that it’s “a team game” and Georgia’s defensive shortcomings haven’t fallen solely on that unit’s shoulders. He pointed out that in the last two games the Bulldogs’ opponents have started possessions inside the 41-yard line seven times due to special teams breakdowns and/or turnovers.
“That’s almost unheard of to have that many in a season, let alone only a two-game span,” Richt said.
He added [with a laugh]: “It’s perfectly acceptable to force them to kick a field goal every once in a while.”
All the defensive players Tim and I talked to this week vigorously defended defensive coordinator Willie Martinez. They held a players-only meeting on Sunday and have come to the conclusion they’re simply not having enough fun, that they’re just taking the game too serious.
“I don’t feel like we’re having enough fun out there,” linebacker Darryl Gamble said. “Football is supposed to be fun. It just seems like more of a job in that perspective and just going out there and try to get things done the way coaches want it without having fun.”
Said cornerback Asher Allen: “The past couple of games there have been times where people have made plays and never really celebrated. I feel like that’s just a part of the game.”
Senior defensive tackle Corvey Irvin has emerged as the vocal leader of this bunch and it was him and linebacker Rennie Curran that led the metting. “We’re going to set everything else aside - all the BCS and all the other stuff - and we’re just going to play football this week,” Irvin said. “Our goal is just to get our swagger back and have fun. We’ve got to punish, man. We’ve got to punish. That’s it.”
- What’s Georgia doing about all its special teams’ breakdowns?
I asked CMR if they were spending more time on special teams this week in light of all the breakdowns last Saturday. He said they were not but he doesn’t believe special teams are a chronic problem for the team. Here’s his complete answer:
“We feel like we spend enough time on them. It hasn’t been a year-long issue really, just this last ball game. This last ball game is the worst we’ve done on special teams as a unit in a long time. Overall it hasn’t been too bad. We were number one in [punting] before that last ball game. Before that last ball game we were number one in punt return. I think we’re still number one in punt return. Our kickoff coverage has been decent. Extra points and field goals have been pretty good. We did have the Florida game where we missed a few but overall it’s been pretty good. You can’t overkill it especially this time of the season. It’s going to wear guys out. Our numbers are thinning out. You have guys that are playing a lot of defense. Rennie Curran for example, he’s two special teams, plus playing almost every snap on defense.”
- A few of you guys asked whether AD Damon Evans or President Michael Adams would intervene about making a coaching change on the defensive staff.
In a word, no. I talked to some folks in the know on the subject and essentially what I got back was that CMR has won 80 games in eight seasons and such decisions are his and his only to make.
- Why isn’t DeAngelo Tyson playing more?
Because Geno Atkins, Corvey Irvin, Brandon Wood and Ricardo Crwford are playing better.
- When’s the last time Georgia gave up 38 or more in three straight games?
Actually our Tim Tucker answered that in a story earlier in the week — 1900. FWIW, the Bulldogs went 2-4 that season, E.E. Jones’ first and only year as coach.
Some links:
Nice piece from David Hale in the Macon Telegraph on Matthew Stafford’s continued growth as a quarterback… .
Here’s the latest on Auburn’s injury situation… .
Here’s some insight on Auburn quarterback Kodi Burns from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer… .
Here you can listen to the entire Tommy Tuberville press conference from yesterday via an audio file.
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Dogs pile up yards despite line woes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Running a little short on time this morning so I’m going to be quick and to the point. I’m working on a story for tomorrow’s paper on Georgia’s offensive skill players, focusing primarily QB Matthew Stafford, TB Knowshon Moreno and wide receivers A.J. Green and Mohamed Massaquoi.
In these four players I think the Bulldogs have arguably one of the best multi-threat offenses around (yes, Florida’s are pretty good, too). Never mind how bad Georgia’s defense played against Kentucky. What the Dogs did on offense, against what is a very formidable Kentucky defense, was pretty incredible. They piled up 520 yards and scored on the Wildcats almost on command.
Coach Mark Richt was talking Sunday about how the offensive line “is blocking some” but that Georgia is getting some fairly amazing play from its skill guys and that’s why the Bulldogs are leading the SEC in total offense and passing offense. They’re doing this behind an offensive line made up of three freshmen and two sophomores and missing three starters due to injuries. Imagine what kind of numbers they might be putting up behind a veteran, experienced O-line. Methinks Texas Tech-like.
So what do you think? Fantastic job by O-line coach Stacey Searels? Great play-calling by Mike Bobo? Who would you say deserves offensive MVP for the Dogs so far — Stafford, Moreno, Massaquoi or Green?
In the meantime, here’s some links:
Apparently Auburn’s Rod Smith was none too happy about Georgia’s players dancing to Soulja Boy toward the end of last year’s blackout game in Athens. Read about it here at the bottom of David Hale’s notebook in the Macon paper… . Speaking of Hale, he talked to a bunch of players yesterday about the Bulldogs’ defensive breakdowns and wrote about it in his Bulldogs Blog… .
We’re going to get into Auburn’s story later this week but, in the meantime, here’s what the Athens Banner-Herald on the Tigers’ season to forget… .
Here’s something on Auburn QB Kodi Burns in the Chattanooga paper… .
While Georgia was struggling against Kentucky with its worst overall special teams performance of the season, Auburn’s Tristan Davis was returning his second kickoff for a TD this season)… .
Not sure how many of you guys caught this an Auburn associate AD died of a heart attack shortly after this past Saturday’s game against Tennessee-Martin. Here’s a few more details about 46-year-old Virgil Starks… .
This is a fun little feature that Birmingham’s Doug Segrest puts together every week in which he grades each SEC team on it overall performance the previous weekend. What do you think he gave the Bulldogs against Kentucky? …
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Richt defends defense, Martinez
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, I get it. I’ve heard your constant complaints about Georgia’s defense. I’ve heard your incessant cries that coach Mark Richt fire defensive coordinator Willie Martinez.
Here’s a news flash: It’s not going to happen.
Never mind that Richt isn’t the firing type or that Martinez is his friend. The bottom line is Richt sincerely does not believe that Martinez is doing a bad job.
Richt’s not delusional about the defense. He’s aware of the dwindling performance this season. He knows that opponents’ points and yards are up and that takeaways are down. He knows SEC teams thus far are averaging 28.7 points a game against his Bulldogs. He just doesn’t believe Martinez is the problem. After all, Martinez is coaching the defense the way Richt wants it coached.
Richt spoke extensively on the subject of the defense — probably because he was asked about it so much — during his Sunday night teleconference with beat reporters. I’ll share most of it here:
Q: The defense has given up 125 points in the last three games. Don’t you have to get your opponents’ point totals down?
Richt: “Well we do but it does have to do with everybody. We’ve got some special teams issues that have put these guys in a bind. We’ve had turnover issues that have put these guys in a bind. It is a team game and it’s going to take the entire team to get the point total down. That’s the bottom line. It’s not just the defense.”
Would you say the poor defense this season has to do with scheme or execution?
Richt: “The bottom line is we’ve got to, the coaches have to, put the players in position to make plays and the players have got to make the play once that happens. Here’s the whole thing for me: We are a team and we’re not going to point fingers, certainly not in the media. We will always go back and look at the things we’ve got to do to make things better, whether it’s a coaching decision or whether it’s a player-execution situation. That’s just how we handle it.”
Q: Is it fair to say that it is, in fact, your defense, that Willie is only employing the tactics that you want him to? Couldn’t you direct him at any moment to be more aggressive, to “turn the defense loose” as so many fans are calling for and try to make some things happen?
Richt: “People don’t get it. People think they know but they don’t. I mean, if people really knew football, they’d know that we’ve been blitzing; they’d know that we’ve been playing zero coverage; they’d know we’ve been playing cover one; they’d know that we’ve been playing robber (coverage); we’ve been go fire-zone with cover three behind it; fire-zones with cover two behind it. So if they really knew football they wouldn’t be saying the things they say. But they don’t.
“It’s the same basic defensive scheme that we’ve had since we got here. You know, it’s not like a kind of philosophical issue. I mean, the philosophy of our defense hasn’t really changed hardly at all in eight years. And we’ve not been in this spot in the past. So that’s not the problem.”
Q: But there’s no denying the poor production. Are you surprised about that given the supposed high-pedigree of the personnel?
Richt: “Like I said, it takes the entire team to play good defense. It takes the offense, it takes lack of turnovers, it takes our special teams to play well, it takes our defense to play well. It takes us to not have penalties that, when you stop a drive, allows the drive keep going. It takes all those things. Like I said its a team game, buddy.”
So there you go. As you can tell, Richt is pretty, ah, defensive about his defense and his defensive coordinator. And the reality is this staff just won its 80th game in eight seasons with three more games to go. That’s an average of 10 wins per season.
I think what neither Richt nor Martinez is saying is some of their players simply aren’t as good as advertised or just not playing well for whatever the reason.
Rather than “curse the wind,” as my father always told me, let’s take a more constructive approach. Tell me what you would you have the Bulldogs do on defense? Would you flip around some personnel? Would you bench someone in favor of someone else? Would you just throw caution to the wind and all-out blitz every down?
Because what’s NOT going to happen is Martinez getting fired.
And remember, it’s Monday, so give me your questions for this week.
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Dobbs saves the day for Dogs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Exactly what you expected, right? A shootout between Georgia and Kentucky. Man, the Bulldogs come out with this one by the skin of their canines. Demarcus Dobbs rips down an interception of a Randall Cobb screen pass with 40 seconds to play inside the Georgia 10 and the Bulldogs win 42-38.
It was the only red zone stop of the day for either team.
The two plays that defined the win for Georgia belie what happened the rest of the game. Mohamed Massaquoi, who had two fumbles earlier in the game, hauled in a pass and ran with it 78 yards to set up the winning score by the Bulldogs. Massaquoi finished with a career high 191 yards on eight catches.
Scrambling right on third-and-goal from the Kentucky 11, Matthew Stafford hit A.J. Green in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score with 1:54 to play. Green slipped behind four defenders and outjumped everybody for the ball.
Cats flew back down the field, aided by a 29-yard pass on first down. Looked like Dogs had them stopped and won the game on fourth-and-two at the Georgia 26. But Jarious Wynn was called for facemask while pressuring Kentucky QB. First down at Georgia 13.
Then Dobbs saves the day.
Dogs had over 500 yards offense and Kentucky not a whole lot less than that.
So tell us, are you ticked that the Bulldogs had to fight so hard for this and were gashed by the option? Our you just thankful for the victory and singing “It’s Great to be a Georgia Bulldog.”
Hey, exciting game either way, right?
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‘Cats hoping to make Dogs feel blue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from Lexington, Ky. I’m coming to you today from the closed-in press box above C.M. Newton Field at Kentucky’s Commonwealth Stadium. I’m particularly happy about the closed-in part as it is pretty cool outside today. Not sure if it will get to 50 as predicted but it’s hard to tell because the wind is really whipping. But it’s an absolutely gorgeous day for football. Clear blue skies with only a smattering of clouds, probably pretty nice when you’re running around in 25 pounds of football gear.
I’ve always thought this was one of the more attractive venues around the South. Maybe it’s all the blue. There’s blue everywhere. The walls around the field are blue. The field numbers are outlined in blue. The Wildcats are in their all-blue uniforms, the fans are in their all-blue outfits. Sort of a blue-out I guess.
I was eating at Malone’s last night and was pretty impressed with the number of Georgia fans in there. A couple of weeks ago, while waiting for our plane in the New Orleans airport, Mark Bradley, Tim Tucker and I were looking at all the Bulldogs’ fans there and talking about how dedicated college football fans have to be to follow their teams. Of course, Georgia is in Week 3 of four straight road games. But as I sit here I’m looking at the northwest corner of the stadium fill up with a pretty good representation of red, which stands out nicely against all the blue. Pretty impressive considering what happened down in Jacksonville last week.
And speaking of blue, as I sat there and ate at the bar last night, it was Kentucky fans were six deep behind me watching the Wildcats’ televised exhibition game against Ouachita Baptist. These people were hanging on every possession like it was an SEC game. Checked this morning and they had 23,000 at Rupp Arena. Incredible.
That said, it’s a sellout for today’s football game against Georgia, too. Tailgaters were out in good numbers and they’re pretty excited about their football team, which stands to become the first UK squad since Paul Bear Bryant’s in 1949, ‘50 and ‘51 to go to three straight bowl games. The Wildcats are 6-3 and besides a 63-5 blowout loss to Florida, played everybody tough, including a three-point loss at Alabama and a seven-point loss to South Carolina.
I’m very interested in seeing what Georgia team shows up here. If the Dogs don’t turn the ball over like they did in Jacksonville I think they should win handily. But they got their head handed to them last time they were here in 2006. Just ask quarterback Matthew Stafford, who left with cuts on his nose and lip and a big knot on his forehead. The ‘Cats can get after it on defense and they’ll be after him again.
That’s enough scene-setting. Kickoff is fast approaching so I’m gonna finish settling in. As always I’ll be providing updates throughout the game. Let me know what you’re seeing and hearing on the television.
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Any chance Dogs drop another game?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry guys, but I dropped the ball this week on arranging a Q&A with the opposing team’s beat writer. I could tell you what I think my colleague Chip Crosby of the Lexington Herald-Leader would have said about Kentucky, but that probably wouldn’t have been real fair to him. Besides, basketball season is about to start up there and we would have probably gotten a scouting report on Billy Gillispie’s ‘Cats anyway.
It’s a typical busy Friday as I’m having to wrap up my weekly work and family duties and trying to get to the airport to hop a plane to Lexington. So we’re going to keep it real simple here today. The Bulldogs have regular-season games remaining against Kentucky on Saturday and Auburn and Georgia Tech after that. Let’s hear how you think they’ll do in those games, what record they’ll finish with and what bowl you think they’ll end up in.
Which game do you think will be most problematic? Based on what I’ve seen lately, they all look tough to me but I’m looking forward to another very competitive Tech-Georgia game. Should the Bulldogs drop another game would you consider it a disastrous year? Has it been a disaster already? Or is it just the modern-day life of college football?
By the way, coach Dennis Felton’s Hoops Dogs take the court tonight at Stegeman Coliseum with an exhibition game against Albany State. What’s the level of anticipation for the defending SEC Tournament champion Bulldogs. Unfortunately, because I’m traveling I won’t get to see them. But I’m really looking forward to seeing freshman power forward Trey Thompkins in action. He’s injured right now (ankle) and won’t play tonight, but there is a ton of buzz on the team about how good he is and what he could possibly bring to the team.
OK, I’m off to Bluegrass Country. I’ll check in as often as I can between here and there and definitely after I arrive, God willing.
Meanwhile, some links for your perusing pleasure:
The Athens Banner-Herald talks with Georgia linebacker Dannell Ellerbe about his injury-marred senior season… .
‘Cats focused on stopping Knowshon Moreno… .
Augusta Chronicle columnist Scott Michaux weighs in on the tremendously disappointing season it has been thus far for Georgia… .
This Dallas Morning News writer is predicting a 17-13 upset of Alabama by LSU… .
Just in case anybody is wondering, it will cost $6 million for Auburn to force out coach Tommy Tuberville. Of course, that didn’t stop Tennessee.
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Don’t look now, but UK’s pretty good
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Considering all the griping and groaning in here this week, perhaps it’s time to change the focus from Georgia to its opponent this week, Kentucky.
Personally, I’ve been very impressed with the Wildcats under coach Rich Brooks. Do you realize that they are bowl eligible for the third straight year under him? They haven’t been to bowls in three consecutive seasons since 1949-51. Some guy named Paul Bryant was coach there then.
Everybody knows Florida waxed the Wildcats 63-5 a couple of weeks ago. But UK remains a very dangerous team. It lost 17-14 on the road at No. 2 Alabama and 24-17 to South Carolina. So this is not a game to be taken lightly.
The big story with Kentucky this season is the play of versatile true freshman Randall Cobb. Cobb will start at quarterback — he alternates there with sophomore Mike Hartline — against the Bulldogs on Saturday but he also plays wide receiver. In fact, he’s second among Wildcats in receiving yards with 197 and is fifth in rushing with 140. He also returns punts (7 for 60 yards). He started the first four games as a receiver and earned his first start at QB last week against Mississippi State. UK won 14-13.
Kentucky won’t strike fear in teams offensively. It is fifth in the league in total offense (312.0 ypg) and seventh in scoring (21.9 ppg). But what production it has had is amazing when you consider that because of graduations and injuries, the Wildcats return only one percent of its passing yardage, six percent of its receiving and 33 percent of rushing from last year. They’ve lost WR Dicky Lyons and TB Derrick Locke to season-ending injuries.
Kentucky’s defense is what keeps it competitive. The Wildcats have a national rank of 25 or better in six different defensive categories, including red zone defense (14th), scoring defense (18th), pass efficiency defense (19th), pass defense (23), sacks (21) and tackles for loss (23). UK is also second in the SEC and 29th nationally in turnover margin at plus-six. They have several All-SEC caliber players on defense, including two from Georgia — LB Braxton Kelly (LaGrange) and CB Trevard Lindley (Hiram). Senior DE Ventrell Jenkins was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week this past week.
So as you can see, pretty good team. The Bulldogs have to be sure to let go of the Florida game and give Kentucky their full and undivided focus or else this season could really turn disastrous.
Here’s some links:
Here’s a nice feature from the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Georgia flanker Mohamed Massaquoi… .
The Bulldogs still believe all their goals are still attainable, even the BCS title, according to a story in the Macon Telegraph… .
Here’s an odd story at SI-CNN that compares BCS contenders to WWE wrestlers. For the record it has Georgia as “The Ultimate Warrior.” …
From Florida Today, Florida lineman Ronnie Wilson has apparently run afoul of the law again and could be off the team for good this time.
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Moreno, others hear your questions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As we have the last couple of weeks, I vowed to answer or get answered your more prevalent questions posed here on Monday. Since then I had three interview opportunities with the team (one with coach Mark Richt): Monday night after practice, Tuesday’s press luncheon and Tuesday night after practice. Let’s get right to it.
(1) Many of you wondered about Knowshon Moreno taking himself out of games, particularly at a couple of inopportune moments against Florida.
Moreno: “It’s just keeping a good rotation out there and keeping everybody fresh. I’m not really tired out there. I’m really energetic guy. It’s not really about tired. It’s more about keeping the rotation going.”
[But isn’t Georgia better off with you out there rather than Caleb King, I asked] “I see the stuff Caleb does in practice,” Moreno said. “He knows what he’s doing. He’s a really good athlete. We’re not really losing a step when he’s in there. The same thing with Richard [Samuel]. We wouldn’t be losing with a step with Richard in there either. We have some really good backs back there.”
There was a little more to this but I’m writing a story for the paper, which should be up later this evening.
(2) What’s the motivation moving ahead?
Believe it or not, Georgia can still make it to the SEC Championship Game. Yes, it is very unlikely but the fact is it is still possible. And as we all know after last season (remember Pitt over West Virginia?) anything can happen. I called the SEC to verify the scenarios. Here’s what has to happen: (a) Florida has to lose Saturday at Vanderbilt, which would be a monumental upset but, hey, they have to play the game and also to South Carolina (again, unlikely but not beyond the realm of possibility), and Georgia and Vanderbilt win out, then Dogs go via head-to-had tiebreaker; (b) if Florida loses to Vanderbilt and wins out in the SEC, and Georgia and Vandy win out in the SEC, then it goes to the last of seven tiebreakers between the three 6-2 teams, which is highest BCS ranking. It’s still a longshot Georgia would be ahead of Florida since the Gators put a 49-10 thumping on the Dogs, so they’d probably need Florida to lose to Florida State as well.
“Until we’re mathematically eliminated, we’re still focused on winning the East,” Richt said.
Also, there has been a lot of talk about getting 11 wins again.
(3) Should Richard Samuel be playing more?
Well, of course, Richard Samuel thinks so. I talked to him after practice Tuesday night and he said he doesn’t know if he will be but he seems to be getting more reps on kickoff return in practice (he had three returns for 99 yards with a long of 60 against the Gators). Samuel bobbled a couple of those and practically had to be tackled by his own teammate to be kept from bringing the ball out from six yards deep in the end zone. CMR hinted said he might have to get a few offensive carries but there aren’t many left over after Moreno and King.
(4) Willie Martinez (and Mike Bobo) gotta go.
The defensive and offensive coordinators are always targets after a loss like Georgia had to Florida. No, I didn’t come right out and ask CMR is he was considering firing either guy. There are still four games left to play this season and the Dogs likely will be favored in them all. So let’s let the season play out. But Richt did say Tuesday “I believe in our defense” and said the same thing about the offense and about kicker Blair Walsh. Sorry fellas, but Richt doesn’t share Tommy Tuberville’s philosophy on coordinators. But I can assure you it’ll be brought up the downward trends continue.
(5) How are the players taking it?
Pretty good considering. I walked by the weight room Monday night and watched through the glass wall about a minute and the music was cranked up loud and the players were laughing and joking and getting after each other to lift more and go harder, etc. And there’s definitely an edge to them in interviews. I’ll let senior defensive tackle Corvey Irvin handle it from here.
Irvin: “It’s over. The game is over. They hyped it up, ‘big payback’ and all this. We just made too many mistakes, offense, defense, special teams, we made too many mistakes. I’ll still say we’re the better team on any good day. You put Georgia on a good day, y’all know how good we can be; y’all seen it. Life goes on. Football, I believe it teaches you to be a man. When adversity hits, let’s see how you respond. I figure right now nobody respects Georgia, they probably say we’re a fluke, we were the number one team in the preseason and probably calling us overrated. But, hey, we’re gonna go and make a statement against Kentucky, see if we can get our swagger back.”
Some links:
Looks like Kentucky is going to stick with two quarterbacks… .
Speaking of two quarterbacks, Chattanooga’s David Paschall writes about the one that’s making a big difference for the Wildcats, freshman Randall Cobb… .
Here’s a good story by Charles Odum of The Associated Press on Matthew Stafford’s interceptions problem… .
Baton Rouge prepares for the return of the great and terrible and Nick Saban… .
The master list of potential Phillip Fulmer replacements from the Nashville Tennesssean… .
Here’s a refreshingly different take. The BCS is not just a good thing; it’s a great thing, according to [Ron Morris of the Columbia State].
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Martinez becomes focus of fans’ ire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Criticism comes in a lot of forms and, after a loss like Georgia suffered last Saturday in Jacksonville, nobody is safe from receiving it. But from Day One in this forum I’ve been hearing it about defensive coordinator Willie Martinez.
In many ways Martinez has never had a chance. He followed a relative legend in Brian VanGorder and you know what they say about following legends. But it had been a tossup for Richt about whether to name BVG or Martinez defensive coordinator when the two first joined his staff in 2001 and Richt wasted no time in tabbing Martinez the position when VanGorder began his football sojourn after the 2004 season.
I’ve been a pretty staunch defender of Martinez the last couple of seasons. After all, the Bulldogs have averaged 10 wins his three seasons overseeing the defense and never finished worse than 18th nationally in total D. But he has become more difficult to defend this season.
The Bulldogs have famously given up 128 points in games against their three highest ranked opponents this season — Alabama (41), Florida (49) and LSU (38). You can argue the offense didn’t help the cause in the two losses but, still, it’s the defense’s job to keep the other guys out of the end zone. With nine returning starters and a collection of other highly-recruited talent, Georgia is 11th in passing defense (217.6 ypg) and ninth in total defense (306.7). Worse, it is giving up 23.4 points a game. That’s 10th, or third from last, in the SEC this season.
The points allowed continues a disturbing trend under Martinez. The Dogs have actually given up more each year — 16.4 per game in 2005, 17.6 in ‘07, 20.2 in ‘07, now 23.4.
Here’s the bottom line, though. Even if it remained there the rest of the season, which it shouldn’t, it’s highly doubtful coach Mark Richt would make a change. He has repeatedly defended his coordinator and has always been outspoken about staff continuity being important to continued success. Besides, there is still a very good chance Georgia could finish the season 10-2, 11-2 with a bowl win. If so, that’s not exactly a colossal failure of a season.
So I put it to you, the all-knowing blogosphere. Do the Dogs need a change there or just a change of attitude?
Some links:
Here’s the main story of Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer’s resignation from the Knoxville News-Sentinel… .
Your probably wondering about replacement candidates. So was the Knox-News’ John Adams… .
In the meantime, Kentucky awaits and the Wildcats are pretty good. They’re eyeing a win over Georgia as a way to improve their bowl opportunities… .
The Athens Banner-Herald got into some detail with place-kicker Blair Walsh about his recent slump… .
This picture would have you think Richt was giving Urban Meyer the finger. Look for yourself and se if you think he was or if he just had an itch.
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Dogs: Lack poise or not very good?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Bulldogs have played two games this season where virtually every eye in college football was focusing in on them, against Alabama in Week 5 and against Florida in Week 10. In both cases they laid a proverbial egg. They lost the two games by a combined 90-40, including blowout halves in which they fell behind by a combined 66-7.
That got me wondering: Does Georgia have a problem from the standpoint of poise and composure when comes to playing on the biggest stages? Or are those two teams simply that much better than the Dogs?
I posed that question to Mark Richt Sunday night. Here’s his (long) answer:
“I think part of it is just the fact that we’re young up front,” he said. “You don’t want to make excuses but the bottom line is we’re playing a bunch of puppies up front offensively and that hasn’t helped us. And you have to give the other teams credit, too. When the season’s over history might prove they’re the two very best teams in the country, at least two of the top five anyway. We had a chance to be one of those with a victory in either one of those games.”
The schedule we’ve all alluded to all season may have contributed, too, Richt said.
“Both of our games where we didn’t play extremely well came off of long road trips that were pretty emotional games,” Richt said. “The way our schedule went, we go to Arizona State, get back at 7 or 8 o’clock in the morning, then we go play a game against Alabama. Then we went on one of our longer road trips to LSU in a very emotional game and then we came right back to Florida. It’s just tough to peak week after week after week. And we didn’t. I’ve got to do a better job of getting them to do that. But that probably had something to do with it, too.”
CMR was asked if such humiliating losses caused him and his staff to do some “soul-searching.”
“We’re always soul-searching,” Richt said. “You’re always going to be critiquing what you do. We do that every week in the coaching business. Not only do we have all our fans in the media to do that, we do it ourselves, too. It’s just part of the game. You have to review film and the film doesn’t lie. You watch what happened and you make judgments on how well players are playing, how well they understand what they’re doing, the kind of effort they’re giving, do we need to make any changes, how we’re approaching it scheme wise, do we need to make any personnel changes, do we need to allow one guy to play a little more than he’s been playing in the past. All those things gets critiqued every time we play a game and really every time we practice. Coaches don’t get much sleep during the week trying to figure out what’s the best action to take.”
Those were Richt’s answers to some of my questions. Like I do every week, I’d like to solicit your questions for CMR and/or specific coaches or players. As always, I’ll determine which ones are most asked and do my best to get answers during our main media opportunities Monday and Tuesday.
P.S. In case you haven’t noticed basketball season is upon us. The Bulldogs are holding an open practice for anybody who wants to come into the Coliseum and check them out tonight from 6 to 8 p.m.
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Gators have seven TD celebrations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For everybody wondering what Florida would do to answer Georgia’s touchdown celebration, there’s your answer. The Gators retaliated by scoring seven touchdowns en route to one of their most lopsided victories in series history — 49-10.
It was the worst loss of the Mark Richt era. It was on the way to being a bigger rout than anything Steve Spurrier ever did to Georgia when Florida was up by 46 (49-3) late in the fourth quarter. But then Joe Cox led the Bulldogs on a scoring drive. So the 39-point victory was only the second-biggest Florida win over Georgia ever. Some consolation, huh.
As for that Tim Tebow-versus-Matthew Stafford debate, Tebow certainly looked a lot better on this day. The Gators’ junior quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner played a nearly flawless game: 12 carries for 39 yards and three touchdowns; 10-for-13 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Stafford had a horrendous day — 18 of 33 for 265 yards with three very costly interceptions, all in the second half.
The only gigging I saw from Florida was calling all their timeouts on the final possession of the game.
So there you have it. The Bulldogs didn’t play very poised in possibly the biggest Georgia-Florida game ever. Instead, it was one of the biggest routs ever.
Your thoughts.
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Hold onto your hats for this one
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings from Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. It’s hard for me to get used to calling it that. For me it was the Gator Bowl for years and years. About the time I got used to Alltel Stadium, then they changed it to Jacksonville Muni.
No matter what you call it this place is going to be the venue for what projects as one of the greatest Georgia-Florida games ever. Unless one of the teams blows out the other, which I don’t expect, it should be a classic. The team whose defense plays better is going to win it. I think both offenses are pretty rock solid.
We’ll know several things when it’s over. We’ll know who’s probably going to represent the East in the SEC Championship Game at the Georgia Dome. We’ll know one team that is NOT going to be in the BCS title game and likely not even a BCS bowl. And we’ll know who is going to play on ESPN at 8 p.m. next Saturday. The network has said they’re taking the winner. The loser plays on Raycom at 12:30 p.m. (Alabama at LSU is on CBS).
A few observations:
Insofar as I can tell there will be NO red pants for the Bulldogs today. They’re warming up in silver britches. Equipment manager John Meshad played coy with me and said “you never say never” but other folks on the Georgia sideline told me it wasn’t going to happen. I, for one, am glad to hear that.
TE Tripp Chandler and LB Dannell Ellerbe are running around moving as if they’ll get plenty of action today. Chandler’s ability to block could be a big help if he’s close to full strength.
Coaches were making sure of know pregame shenanigans. Assistants for both teams formed a line along the 50 to defend against any possible spillover clashes at midfield.
The weather is fairly cool, certainly not as warm as predicted (mid 70s). Pretty windy so the coin toss could be a factor for the kicking game.
Michael Moore is wearing a #26 jersey in honor of Jacksonville native Tony Wilson, who couldn’t be here due to season-ending ankle surgery.
The Redcoact Band just ran on the field so that’s about it for now. Ask me anything you want and I’ll try to get you the answer. As usual I’ll be providing updates throughout the game.
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