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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September
September 2008
We’re not dead yet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No, this wasn’t a funeral.
Just as surely as the bandwagon hoppers jumped aboard after the Dawgs’ strong finish in 2007 and again after the impressive win out in Arizona, they’re jumping off now with predictably snarky cracks about Mark Richt’s Blackout and how the loss to Alabama sounds the death knell of Georgia’s national championship hopes.
Not so fast my friend, as a recent visitor to Athens likes to say.
The Dawgs now join the ranks of the once-beaten, a group that includes Southern Cal, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Auburn and Kansas among others, and which is sure to grow as the season progresses. Are all these teams out of contention? Hardly, even if we don’t end up with as crazy a BCS scenario as last season, where even two losses weren’t a dealbreaker.
That doesn’t mean Georgia is sitting pretty at this point. The glaring problems (penalties caused by lack of focus, the offensive line, lack of a pass rush) that had been apparent in the previous four games finally proved insurmountable when the team was faced with the schedule’s first top-notch opponent. Georgia didn’t look too well prepared, either, and the coaching staff appeared slow to react and disorganized at times. (More on that later in the week.)
But the Dawgs didn’t quit Saturday night, even though the odds were stacked against them overcoming a 31-point deficit. They still have more talent across the board at skill positions than just about any other team. Linemen can mature. Defensive schemes can be reworked to improve the pass rush or someone may break out of the pack like Marcus Howard did late last year. And the Dawgs still control their own destiny in the SEC East, though the challenges ahead are daunting.
One thing you can take to the bank: Another strong finish like the end of 2006 and the latter half of last year, and those bandwagon hoppers will be scrambling to climb back aboard, throwing superlatives around like championship confetti.
And at that time those of us who were along for the entire ride should tell them to kiss Uga VII’s stubby tail.
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Big ain’t the word for it!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Game Day” is coming to town for the first time in 10 years. Mark Richt has called for another Blackout as Georgia and Alabama both bring Top 10 rankings to their game in Sanford Stadium. Tickets are going for as much as $600.
This is big. Aw, big ain’t the word for it, as Deputy Fife would say.
This is REALLY big.
Biggest home game ever? Well, that remains to be seen, but the 2008 edition of Georgia-Alabama will have to go some to match what took place on Oct. 2, 1976, when the No. 6 Bulldogs under Vince Dooley met Bear Bryant’s No. 10 Crimson Tide Between the Hedges.
It was one of the toughest tickets ever in Athens. Folks camped out overnight on the old tracks, and my Dad, who almost always could find a way into a game, wound up watching it from the bridge (which you could do back then) with, as he put it, “the drunks and the hippies.” The next year, Dad bought season tickets so that wouldn’t happen again. Me, I was in the seats under the overhang that I’d bought the year before and which I still have to this day.
From pre-game through to the end, it was the loudest I ever heard a Sanford crowd before they enclosed the one end of the stadium.
The 1976 Dawgs may not have had black jerseys, but they had their own motivational tool … shaved heads, with pretty much the entire team and coaching staff (including Dooley) bald by the end of the SEC championship season.
This was the second year of Erk Russell’s revived Junkyard Dawg defense, and they kept Alabama, coming off five straight SEC titles, in check the entire game, stopping one first-half drive with an interception and recovering a fumble to set up Georgia’s final scoring drive in the second half. Jeff Lewis finished the day with eight unassisted tackles.
On offense, the Bulldogs were running the veer option using tailback Kevin McLee and two quarterbacks, Matt Robinson (the passer) and Ray Goff (the runner), behind a massive veteran line that included Mike “Moonpie” Wilson and Joel “Cowboy” Parrish. The line was so good that when Robinson misread a signal from the sideline and ran an option into the strong side of the Tide defense instead of the weak side as intended, he still ended up in the end zone. Another 72-yard drive by the Dawgs in the first half resulted in no points when a fake field goal play failed. In the second half, Goff engineered a classic 10-play, 5 minute Dooleyball drive for another score. Robinson passed to Ulysses Norris for the third TD, as the Dawgs blanked the Tide 21-0. The Junkyard Dawgs had held the Tide to just 49 yards rushing. The Bear offered no excuses. “We lost to a superior football team today,” he said graciously after the game before going off to chomp on some Golden Flake potato chips.
The Georgia win set off a post-game scene in Athens that hasn’t been matched since, not even when the goalposts were torn down in the Donnan era. Dooley calls it “the biggest celebration that ever took place in Georgia football history.” The partying grew so intense that Milledge Avenue, home of many of the fraternities and sororities, had to be closed down by police because students were dancing in the street and stopping cars to shake hands with the drivers. The celebration continued on into the next week and legend has it that some classes had to be canceled.
So Georgia-Alabama 2008 has a lot to live up to. On paper, it looks like the ingredients are all there to produce another game for the ages.
Who knows, maybe they’ll even have to close Milledge Avenue again Saturday night!
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There goes … Larry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The news that Larry Munson is hanging up his headphones isn’t really surprising (though perhaps the timing is) considering his age and health, but it’s a day the Bulldog Nation long had hoped to put off.
We all have favorite Munson memories, mostly those unforgettable calls of big plays collected on various VHS and DVD compilations over the years. They became catch phrases (“My God, a freshman,” “Look at the sugar falling out of the sky”) beloved by all who wear red and black. The 2001 “hobnail boot” call in Knoxville might be the most beloved of all. It became so legendary that the ability to imitate it seems to be a requirement for a job at ESPN these days.
But as a friend was pointing out a little while ago while we were discussing the retirement news, Munson in his heyday wasn’t just about referring to the Bulldogs as “we” or turning a colorful phrase. He was a first-rate radio announcer, able to provide all the pertinent information on the progress of the game while painting a verbal picture of the action and capturing the excitement. He was the best at that, an old-time radio man. The new generation of TV-bred announcers doesn’t come close. And, frankly, neither did the tired Munson of the past few seasons, though there was still the occasional burst of the Munson of old.
The famous calls are fun to recall, but perhaps my favorite Munson memory is of the last time I saw him in person. It was after a game in Athens back early in this decade and I was walking back to our parking lot with my Dad, my son and one of my brothers. We were just crossing Lumpkin Street when here came Larry, chugging up the hill faster than just about anyone else making the trek. My brother called out, “Hey, Larry,” and Munson raised his hand, not slowing down a beat, leaving us in his wake.
That’s how I choose to remember Munson. A full-speed-ahead legend.
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A prime-time win
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The work by Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit on Saturday night’s nationally televised ABC prime-time coverage of the win over Arizona State was a refreshing change from the muddled work CBS’ SEC coverage has been exhibiting lately.
They started out playing it pretty evenly, giving plenty of props to the Sun Devils’ Rudy Carpenter, but once the Dawgs took control of the game on the field, the ABC duo made no attempt to hide how impressed they were with Georgia. At times, the commentary couldn’t have been more positive if they’d been getting their paychecks from the same place as Scott Howard and Eric Zeier on radio.
Said Musburger after Knowshon Moreno went airborne for the Dawgs’ first touchdown: “That’s a Heisman run.” The ABC duo continually touted Matt Stafford’s arm and NFL potential, and were awestruck by the work of freshman receiver A.J. Green. After his touchdown catch, Musburger declared Green to be a candidate for the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the top college football wide receiver. And by midway through the fourth quarter, having already chalked up the Tempe game as a Georgia win, Herbstreit was saying flatly that with Georgia’s schedule if the Dawgs go undefeated, there’s no way they won’t be playing for the national championship.
It wasn’t all unquestioning praise, however, which gave the generally gee-whiz tone of the coverage that much more credibility. At the end of the game, Herbstreit noted correctly that the Dawgs still have some things to work on, including the running game inside the 5-yard line and kickoff coverage.
But considering the lack of respect the Bulldogs had been getting nationally so far this season, especially from ABC subsidiary ESPN, and the resulting poll slippage, it was great to watch a game where the coverage clearly made the case for Georgia’s ranking as one of this season’s elite teams.
That it was in prime time and aired across the country was icing on the cake.
BULLDOG BITES: The Dawgs’ offense continued to show off its big-play capability, but that 10-play, 91-yard first touchdown drive provided a heartening display of ball control. The rejiggered line definitely was improved over the South Carolina game, though the Dawgs looked better in the passing game than running, especially, as Herbstreit noted, the short running game. Twice, the Dawgs couldn’t punch it in from the 1, though they made no attempt to conserve the clock on that last drive at the end, which was a good thing. Calling time to score style points would have been tacky and needy-looking. Also, the pass-protection pocket did collapse early a couple of times, resulting in one sack of Stafford, so there’s still plenty of work in general to do on the line. … The Georgia defense looked really good most of the night. They played a bit too loose on that first ASU drive of the second half (what is it about Georgia and its slow starts after halftime?), with clearly blown coverage by the secondary on the touchdown, but sacking Carpenter four times, completely shutting down the Sun Devils’ running game and keeping ASU’s passing game way below its usual output showed Georgia’s defense to be the real thing. … Stafford looked sharp much of the night zipping balls to Green and Co., but he continues to be off-target much of the time on the really long passes downfield. I know the long ball is tempting when your QB has a howitzer for an arm, but I wish Mike Bobo would be more selective in those deep calls. … A.J. Green was spectacular in the first half, the way he went up for the ball and made circus catches. He’s going to win some big games down the road. … The kickoff coverage issues Herbstreit mentioned are Georgia’s longest-standing uncorrected problem. This week, the kicks generally were better (with the exception of one that went out of bounds), for the most part hitting between the 5 and the goal line, but the coverage was porous, regularly leaving seams for the return man to hit. Former Georgia kicker Kevin Butler thinks the problem is that the coverage team is letting itself get locked up with blockers rather than moving to the ball. Whatever it is, regularly letting the other team begin a drive near its own 40 is far from ideal. And while on the subject of special teams, Georgia had to burn some timeouts because of special teams problems, one on a punt (apparently because the coach didn’t think we were going to get the kick off in time) and another couple because the Dawgs didn’t have the right personnel on the field for field goal tries. Mark Richt needs to light a fire under special teams coach John Fabris. … The penalty situation is getting dire for Georgia. ASU got three first downs via penalties and Georgia stymied one of its own drives with numerous flags. As the level of competition increases, that’s going to become a bigger problem. That said, a few of Saturday night’s calls were ultra picky at best (particularly a roughing-the-passer flag) and flat-out questionable in some cases. At the same time, the officials missed quite a few clips, blocks in the back and too many holds to count.
ALSO NOTED: As of this writing, it hasn’t been made official yet that ESPN’s “Game Day” crew is coming to Athens, but Herbstreit seemed to think it was a done deal. Speaking of next week’s game against Alabama during the fourth quarter, he said, “I’ll be there in the morning [on Saturday].” … Former Georgia great Matt Stinchcomb is developing quite nicely as a broadcaster in his work on the Georgia Football Radio Network’s post-game show. He’s articulate and knowledgeable. … I really like the wry humor Richt displays in those brief on-field TV interviews.
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Uga VII knows what a poll is for
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For whatever reason, this week in the beauty pageant that currently passes for national college football rankings the Dawgs have been relegated to Miss Congeniality status, found not to be quite as appealing as some other contestants who have bigger … numbers.
Whatever.
No. 2 or No. 3 doesn’t matter that much right now except in terms of pride. Once teams are well into conference play (and the BCS rankings begin, along with their computer component), strength of schedule tends to mean a bit more than flashy scoreboard totals, even to the seemingly easily dazzled coaches and media types voting in the polls.
Now, if Georgia wins its way through the treacherous Arizona State-Alabama-Tennessee-Vandy-LSU portion of the schedule and approaches the Florida game unbeaten and still No. 3 in the polls, then might be the time for the Bulldog Nation to start fretting a bit about those softer schedules that Southern Cal and Oklahoma play. (Ohio State, with a loss and cushy Big 10 opposition, shouldn’t even merit inclusion in the conversation any more.)
It’s also been kind of a weird week in that the Dawgs are traveling farther than they have in years to play on the road against a nonconference foe we don’t have any history with. We’re used to hosting these folks in Athens rather than hitting the road for a game like this, but we better get used to it. That’s what it takes to schedule a school that doesn’t have a directional name to play these days. I’m glad to hear Uga VII and the pep band are making the trip, and let’s hope the 10,000 or so Georgia fans expected to be at the game in Arizona make their presence known loudly.
As for the game against the Sun Devils, most Georgia fans I’ve talked to this week are cautiously confident the Dawgs can keep still another flashy quarterback with big passing stats under control with primarily the nickel defense. Of course, it was a not so flashy quarterback with not so flashy numbers who shredded the Georgia defense for most of the fourth quarter last week on South Carolina drives that thankfully were snuffed out eventually. So Georgia’s defense needs to play at a higher level in Tempe or we could end up in a shootout.
As for the offense, if the reconstituted line can play more cohesively, open a few more holes and protect a bit better, and the suddenly reappearing trend of dropped passes can be eliminated, Stafford, Moreno & Co. should be able to put the needed number of points on the board.
Whether it will be enough to impress the beauty pageant judges is another matter.
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Winning the hard way … in the SEC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Did the Georgia team that limped out of Columbia with an SEC win Saturday look like a potential national champion?
Well, yes and no.
It was a typically ugly, low-scoring Bulldogs-Gamecocks game that certainly didn’t see UGA firing on all cylinders, either offensively or defensively. Georgia’s offense, in particular, never could seem to get into rhythm. But if an SEC team is going to win the national title while playing in a conference that is much tougher top to bottom than the Pac 10, Big 10 or Big 12, it’s going to have ugly wins and even have to have a bit of luck here and there. Georgia reached that benchmark Saturday.
It was an SEC victory (no small accomplishment on any day) against a team that may have underperformed offensively to date despite having Steve Spurrier as its coach but which boasts one of the best defensive fronts in the nation. The South Carolina defense is probably as tough as any we’ll face this season.
That said, the Dawgs certainly aren’t yet playing at the level they’re going to have to reach and sustain in order to take home that crystal football at the end of the season.
The main problem areas: too many penalties, including those that stymied Georgia drives (like an illegal snap on third-and-goal at the 1-yard line) and those penalties that gave the Cocks first downs (six Carolina drives Saturday were extended by flags thrown on the Dawgs). As Coach Richt said after the game, that shows a lack of discipline as a team and “sooner or later it’s gonna bite us.” … Last year’s S.C. game bugaboo, dropped passes, returned, with Tripp Chandler muffing two on third-down plays and Kris Durham bobbling a TD throw. … The past two games have shown the Georgia defense pretty much incapable of putting pressure on a quarterback without blitzing. The down linemen just aren’t getting any traction. That was the case against Central Michigan and, as Richt said, in this game “nothing changed.” … The Dawgs’ run-blocking and pass protection continue to be spotty. Knowshon Moreno was stuffed too many times. After gaining eight yards on first down on a fourth-quarter drive (when all they had to do was get another first down to ice the game), the Dawgs couldn’t get those last two yards. And Matthew Stafford was sacked four times. It was particularly disturbing to see two of those sacks come on almost identical corner blitzes. … Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo couldn’t resist trying (unsuccessfully) for a big strike downfield when what he needed to do was eat clock. I thought he’d outgrown that.
So, it was a win, and an SEC win at that. But as Moreno said after the game, the Dawgs have “got a lot of stuff to work on.”
BULLDOG BITES: Among the good things about the game, Georgia allowed just 18 rushing yards and came up with a couple of key turnovers that sealed the win. … Moreno had a 32-yard punt return, though the resulting drive faltered. I wouldn’t want to see him back there on a regular basis because of the injury potential, but it’s a nice weapon to have in the arsenal. … You gotta love seeing Stafford scamper for big runs on those QB keepers. Unfortunately, we went to that well one time too often. It’s also great seeing Stafford throwing blocks for Moreno. It’s a team thing that will pay off down the road. … Drew Butler’s attempt at a pooch punt likely would have been more successful if it wasn’t his first time ever on the field as a Bulldog. Why didn’t they use him in one of the earlier games? … You got the feeling CBS’ Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson have never seen a football player cramp up before, the way they were carrying on when that happened to Stafford in the fourth quarter. … That 50-yard pass to MoMass thrown off the back foot by a scrambling Stafford may have been caught out of bounds, but it was graphic evidence of what a phenomenal arm he has. And the 39-yard pass to A.J. Green was a big-time catch of a big-time throw. … A 77-yard punt? Wow, that could have been a game-clincher had it not been followed by Georgia lapsing into loose zone coverage that allowed S.C. to come zipping back down the field. Thank goodness they choked. … I’d love to hear Coach Fab’s rationale for those ridiculously short kickoffs he favors. Kick coverage obviously isn’t one of our strengths, so why not just stick it in the end zone?
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Smack time again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re still in that silly season when the delusional fans of the Gamecocks talk smack. This happens every year until one of two things ends it: Either Georgia makes South Carolina look pathetic (remember the shut-out?), or in years when the Gamecocks eke out a win (as last year), the Cocks then proceed to fall apart in the latter half of the season (again, as happened last year).
The 2007 UGA-SC game wasn’t exactly a peak performance from either team. South Carolina’s defense was pretty good, but their offense stunk. Georgia’s defense was pretty good but was let down by its offense, which easily could have won the game but kept shooting itself in the foot with things like dropped touchdown passes. After stumbling around another couple of games, the Dawgs got better. WAY better, becoming the hottest team in the country. After making a brief climb up the polls, Steve Spurrier’s team collapsed.
Which made many a fan of other schools smile, because let’s face it, no one outside of the fandom of his current employer can stand Steve Spurrier. Yes, he’s a great offensive coach, or at least he was in his heyday at Florida. But he’s also smug, arrogant and petty.
Witness last year’s post-game belittling of the Dawgs (whom he’s never forgiven for humiliating him in his senior year at UF) on Spurrier’s TV show. “It wasn’t like they were some big, powerful team,” Spurrier said.
Yeah, no one’s ever accused Spurrier of being classy.
But the fact is, South Carolina is the program found wanting these days, the occasional big win notwithstanding. Of the Dawgs’ two losses last year, the one that rankled the most wasn’t the whipping in Knoxville. We just got flat-out beat that day, no excuses. What didn’t go down well was the fact that we gave away the game to a mediocre South Carolina with sloppy play.
Even though the Steve Spurrier of today is more like Spurrier Lite, he still engenders a lot of hatred in the Bulldog Nation. So on top of all the other reasons Georgia needs to win convincingly Saturday, pouring a little salt in the wounds on the no longer invincible Ole Ball Coach would make it that much more satisfying.
Speaking of jerks who’ve coached South Carolina, you’ve got to wonder how long ESPN can continue to damage its credibility by providing a venue for the pedestrian analysis, amateurish delivery and transparent biases of Lou Holtz. It’s ridiculous enough that Holtz always picks his former teams to win, no matter who they’re playing or how badly they’re doing, and that he sprays the desk with spittle as he slurs through another mushmouth meandering. But, like Spurrier, he seems to have a particular hatred for UGA that shows up in almost every comment he makes about the Dawgs.
Last week, as ESPN showed a replay of defensive end Demarcus Dobbs rambling for an unlikely touchdown after his interception, Holtz couldn’t resist getting in another petty dig: “I thought they had a lot of speed at Georgia.”
It’s way past time for ESPN to shove the old has-been into retirement.
And while on the subject of ESPN: They erred in claiming that the reason they didn’t show Knowshon Moreno’s leap over a Central Michigan defender last Saturday was because FSN hadn’t given them that clip. ESPN had the clip and in fact included a brief portion of it, without mention, in one of those montages of plays they show in the outtro to a commercial.
Bottom line: ESPN blew it. Just like the day they hired Lou Holtz.
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Doing it with style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Without getting into the debate over whether “style points” are necessary for a team playing at the elite level of BCS football, the Dawgs certainly notched a few Saturday in their last prep session before beginning the SEC exams next week in Columbia.
Some of what was learned: Georgia’s big-strike offense definitely benefits from the fact that Knowshon Moreno has at least a few drops of Kryptonian blood in him. … Matthew Stafford and Mohamed Massaquoi as a passing tandem is becoming something really special. … In addition to MoMass, Georgia’s incredibly deep receiving corps in general is looking the sharpest this early in the season in quite some time. … While known for its big plays, this offense is capable of grinding out a 99-yard scoring drive, in this case one that got kicked into gear when Stafford took off on 3rd and 9 at the Georgia 1 and ran 23 yards for a first down.
On the defensive side, we learned a 266-pound defensive end can return an interception 78 yards for a touchdown, just barely, if he’s accompanied by a convoy of teammates urging him on. … With Jeff Owens out for the year and Willie Martinez limiting the Dawgs to mostly vanilla defensive schemes in a nonconference game, the down linemen aren’t able to put much pressure on a QB without the help of a blitz. … And Georgia’s defense hasn’t quite figured out how to keep its focus for a full four quarters of play, faltering at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. On the Chippewas’ first touchdown, a bad scheme or blown coverage left the receiver uncovered on a fade route. And while most of Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour’s passing yardage came in the dinks and dunks that are typical of a spread offense with no running game, sloppy tackling on Georgia’s part allowed some of those throws to gain more yardage than they should have.
We also learned Georgia’s biggest weakness appears to be in the kickoff game, where some drastic improvement is needed. Between pooch kicks that didn’t even make it to the 20-yard line and one kick out of bounds (which now lets the other team start at the 40) and coverage that remains suspect, Georgia too often let the Chipps begin their drives with great field position, with their average start on the 33-yard line and their worst on the 22. It was even worse when Asher Allen was penalized for unwisely taking his helmet off during the understandable celebration that followed Demarcus Dobbs’ touchdown and Georgia had to kick off from its 15. Walsh pooched it again and Central Michigan returned the kick 28 yards to the Georgia 40, leading to their first score.That won’t cut it in SEC play, as Coach Richt acknowledged to the Associated Press after the game. Some of it was coverage, Richt said, but “a lot of it was hang time. You’ve got to give guys a chance to get down in coverage.” Richt said walk-on Jamie Lindley might get a chance to try kickoffs.
MORE GOOD STUFF: Georgia was 9 for 12 on third-down conversions. … Those swing passes to Moreno continue to be extremely productive. One of these days he’s going to break one all the way. … Moreno’s backups continue to impress, with Caleb King doing a nice job of reading his holes, and Richard Samuel showing a lot of power. With Samuel running hard, Georgia’s last fourth-quarter drive probably would have added another TD to the score if not for a bobbled snap that resulted in a Joe Cox fumble. Cox looked good otherwise, though, with some sharp passing. … Moreno showed heads-up play jumping on what looked like a fumble in the end zone, though on review it was ruled the receiver was down before the ball came out. … Before the game, Georgia honored quite a few of its students for national championships, including the gymnastics, equestrian and men’s tennis teams and our three-time champion majorettes.
NOT SO GOOD: Still too many penalties (nine), including a couple of offsides calls on the defensive front and false starts on the offense. … While the Dawgs looked extremely sharp on most of their drives, the offensive line at times didn’t assert itself, most notably when it took three tries to punch it in from the 1-yard line.
FUN STUFF: Moreno was again the ringleader in getting the Dawgs up and dancing on the sideline (along with many fans in the stands) after the Dobbs score. Replacing last year’s Soulja Boy was Young Jeezy’s “Put On.” I’m not sure how long that one will last once Damon Evans gets a look at the lyrics, though. … Best laugh of the day came during WNGC’s “Fifth Quarter Show” when a caller noted Vince Dooley’s birthday was last week and then added that Barbara Dooley’s is coming up this next week. Kevin Butler’s comment: “Wow, a Dooley stalker.”
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Time for the D to step up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Saturday the Dawgs face another high-octane spread offense led by a non-BCS conference quarterback with incredibly gaudy statistics that have Georgia’s players comparing him with Heisman winner Tim Tebow.
Good, I’m glad the UGA coaches have made sure Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour has the Bulldogs’ attention. There’s always the danger of not taking these early games against a team from a lesser conference seriously enough.
Last time Georgia tangled with one of these statistical supermen, he wound up sitting slackjawed on the sideline as his team was completely demolished by a relentless Dawg rush in the Sugar Bowl.
Something tells me LeFevour, who ran for over a thousand yards last season in addition to passing for more than 3,600 yards, might be a bit tougher to handle than the more highly publicized Colt Brennan, who pretty much just stood back there and slung the ball on every play.
I don’t have any doubt Georgia can score on Central Michigan, but it would be nice (especially considering how slippery it is up there near the top of the polls) not to get into a shootout with these guys. As Coach Richt said after last week’s game, Georgia’s down linemen will need to do a better job of bringing pressure against a veteran quarterback this week. Because of the heat and humidity, some of the Dawgs defense appeared to check out early during the Georgia Southern game. Here’s a chance for them to make up for it and live up to their preseason billing by shutting down the Chippewas’ Mr. Everything decisively for an entire four quarters.
BETWEEN THE HEDGES: Nicest thing about walking into the stadium for last week’s season opener in Athens was finding the price of something actually had gone down! The game programs, which had been going for $6 in recent years, are now just $5. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has taken over UGA program sales, which had been slipping, and my brother Jon, who’s involved in the FCA, tells me the organization will get some of the proceeds that it plans to apply to scholarships for athletic camps. With all the new faces showing up in the lineup, a program comes in handy, and now there’s more reason to buy one. … One change at Sanford Stadium wasn’t an improvement. Instead of following up the increasingly popular “Saturday Night’s Alright” video highlights reel (which the crowd has really started getting into) with the usual classy “Baba O’Riley” kickoff lead-in, they went for a forgettably generic heavy-metal approach that pretty much dissipated the excitement. “Baba” instead was used in abbreviated form before the fourth quarter. Not a good move. … Fans driving home after the game now have a choice of UGA call-in programs. The WSB-led Georgia Bulldog Radio Network has incorporated a “Dog Talk” feature into the post-game show, leading Athens affiliate WNGC (106.1 FM) to cut out early and move up the start of its traditional “Fifth Quarter Show” with David Johnston and UGA kicking legend Kevin Butler. Flipping back and forth between the two during the first week, I found the somewhat more loose-cannon comments by Butler more entertaining, but it’s nice to be able to switch from one to the other during the many commercial breaks.
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