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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May
May 2007
Get well, Coach Dooley!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As you’ve probably read, the tumor removed recently from Vince Dooley’s vocal cords turned out to be malignant and he’ll undergo radiation treatments sometime in June. The prognosis is good, his doctors say.
I exchanged e-mails with Coach Dooley last week and he showed his usual good humor in addressing the situation. “I should be OK even if I get a negative lab report,” he said. “Biggest problem right now is no talking. … My wife Barbara always did get the last word. Now she’s getting all the words.”
I’ve made no secret here that I’m a Vince Dooley partisan. Always have been and always will be. I’ve always proud to have him representing the University of Georgia, and I’m looking forward to him continuing to do that.
A speedy recovery, Coach!
Losing Oliver hurts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The UGA athletics office made it official today that, as rumored, senior cornerback Paul Oliver failed to meet NCAA academic eligibility requirements in order to play this fall, and instead he plans to petition the NFL for entry into the supplemental draft this summer. That’s a real shame since Oliver had passed up the chance to enter the NFL draft as a junior in order to play his final season as a Bulldog.
While Oliver didn’t end up being quite as dominating a player last season as some of us had expected, he finished strong (shutting down superstar Yellow Jackets receiver Calvin Johnson, who ended up with only two catches for 13 yards). Oliver’s academic troubles weren’t really a shocker, though, as he missed some practices and a scrimmage during the spring while trying to catch up on classwork.
A case of a player just not making the grades, or did the coaching staff not stay on him hard enough about his academics? Those of us outside the program don’t really know.
The departure of Oliver will leave only three returning defensive starters for Georgia. On top of the suspension of rising linebacker Akeem Hebron, this will leave the D (which didn’t look so hot at G-Day) even more vulnerable.
For those of you who didn’t make it to G-Day this year (and who have access to the CSS cable channel), the telecast of the spring game will be repeated again at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Spring games are fun and sometimes even give you an inkling of what sort of team will take the field in the fall, but you have to keep in mind you’re only seeing part of the team play another part of the same team. The suspicion here is that, at least at the start, the Dawgs’ offense might not be as awesome as it looked at times at G-Day. And the hope is that the defense won’t be nearly as porous (though losing Oliver certainly won’t help).
Anyway, the cybergoblins that sometimes afflict blogs and Web sites managed to obliterate all trace of the G-Day Blawg about a week after it was posted on April 8, so I thought I’d re-post some excerpts below concerning the matchup of the Red and Black teams.
ON THE G-DAY GAME:
With the chilly temperatures and gusty winds, it looked like it took a little while for Red starter Matthew Stafford to get on track, with his first couple of passes badly underthrown, but then he started threading the needle (particularly on a throw to Mohamed Massaquoi), and the first-string offense pretty much had its way with the first-string defense in the day’s good news/bad news scenario.
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo threw in some twists, with passes thrown by a split end and a halfback and Kregg Lumpkin pitching to Sean Bailey on an end-around on the first play. Stafford directed four touchdown drives for the victorious Reds, Joe Cox directed three touchdown drives (one for the Reds and two for the Blacks), and Blake Barnes, who got a surprising amount of playing time, led the Blacks to one score. Stafford and Cox both looked good and both threw the ball away when necessary, avoiding interceptions. All in all, there was 624 yards of total offense and 55 points scored in the 34-21 game, which made for an entertaining afternoon (except when you shuddered at the thought of some other school’s offense lighting up our D like that).
Highlights included a 60-yard scoring pass from Cox to Kris Durham, the day’s leading receiver with six catches for 137 yards; a 32-yard halfback pass from tailback/fullback Jason Johnson to Tony Wilson; spring best all-around offensive player Mikey Henderson streaking down the field on that 60-yard TD catch (unfortunately, right past DB Asher Allen); tight end Tripp Chandler catching three balls for 74 yards (including a 52-yarder from Cox and a low ball that he caught by the laces) and doing some nice running after the catch; a nice catch and run by Brannan Southerland on a 43-yarder from Stafford; and some impressive cuts on a slashing 20-yard run by Knowshon Moreno.
Lowlights: The first-string defense gave up five scoring drives. And the punting game needs work.
Looking at the running game, Moreno ran 11 times for 68 yards. Lumpkin looked good in flashes racking up 53 yards on 13 carries.
Most impressive players of the day? Defnitely Moreno, who showed speed and good moves. And Kris Durham also looks to be a comer at split end. On the defense, Rashad Jones had the day’s only interception (though on a wounded duck pass thrown by Durham), broke up another pass and made three tackles. It’s not surprising he was named most improved defensive back this spring.
16 weeks and counting …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’ll be in Sanford Stadium Saturday, cheering along with a lot of other very proud parents as my son and his classmates graduate from UGA. And that set me to thinking that just 16 weeks to the day after that, Coach Mark Richt’s Dawgs will open the season hosting the Big 12’s Oklahoma State Cowboys.
In an online poll this week, the Athens Banner-Herald asked which 2007 game Georgia fans will worry the most about this summer. Predictably, the Florida game in Jacksonville led the way with 39.3 percent of the vote, but next was the Oklahoma State game, with 31.7 percent. The South Carolina game, which comes a week after Oklahoma State, drew 16.1 percent.
Opening games are always a big question mark (unless we’re playing one of those designated victims just there for the paycheck), and with Oklahoma State having a veteran offense led by QB Bobby Reid, which blitzed its defense in their spring game (much the same way the Dawgs’ defense got hammered on G-Day), this one could be tough.
Those first two games, against the Cowboys and Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks, could have a lot to do with how Georgia’s season goes. Come out of them 2-0, and we should enter the Alabama game two weeks later feeling pretty confident, despite their $4 million coach. Split those first two and we’ll be likely to have to battle our way through the season. I don’t even want to contemplate the Dogs losing them both (which I think is highly unlikely).
Georgia should be able to run on the Cowboys, who are replacing several defensive linemen, and if our passing game is on target (and the receivers catching the ball), their secondary has a tendency to give up the big play. So we might well be able to win a shootout. But I’d much rather see the defense come up big in our opener, wouldn’t you?
BULLDOG BITES: It was interesting that ESPN.com spent most of its post-spring SEC roundup talking about LSU (their predicted champion) and Florida, while quietly picking Georgia to win the SEC East. They also picked Dogs freshman Knowshon Moreno as likely Newcomer of the Year. … The Gym Dogs winning their third consecutive NCAA National Title and eighth overall will be telecast at 4 p.m. Saturday on CBS. … Don’t forget, the NCAA Tennis Championships are returning to their once semi-permanent home at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens May 17-28. You can find out about tickets at Georgiadogs.com.
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