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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > November > 14
Friday, November 14, 2008
Calling Soulja Boy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A lot of Georgia fans are convinced that no matter how bad Auburn has looked at times this season, the Tigers will play their best football so far this year against the Dawgs on Saturday.
It’s just part of the contrary nature of this always close series between two intertwined programs that recruit the same territory and hire each others’ grads as coaches. The fact that the visiting team often has the edge may favor the Bulldogs, but this is also a rivalry where the unranked team frequently pulls an upset (see Georgia’s totally unexpected domination in 2006).
On paper, this year’s matchup looks to favor the Dawgs: Georgia’s explosive offense against Auburn’s good but not great defense, and Georgia’s frequently ineffective defense against Auburn’s frequently ineffective offense. Auburn gets the edge on special teams, but you’ve got to figure that the Dawgs will show some improvement in that area this week (they could hardly be worse than last week). And Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, Mohamed Massaquoi and A.J. Green should prove too much for the Plainsmen.
But this is Georgia-Auburn, so there are no sure things.
The gut feeling is that in order to win out, the Dawgs are going to have to turn a page, like they did midseason last year. Georgia’s defensive players have talked the talk this week about getting back to basics, back to hardhitting, Dawgs D. And more importantly, about having fun.
They’re on to something there. See, that’s what I think has been missing much of this season … the fun. The swagger. The aggressive confidence. I’m not talking about a bunch of stupid personal foul or taunting penalties, either. I’m talking about the kind of swarming, lights-out defense that Hawaii saw in the bowl game and, overall, the kind of let’s-dance mentality that irritated Auburn so a year ago.
That Soulja Boy spirit.
Whether it was brought on by the lofty pre-season ranking that made them take themselves too seriously, a lack of strong on-the-field leadership, or the coaching staff having a lack of confidence in its patched-up lineup, the Dawgs have too often played tight and conservative this season.
A good portion of the blame can be laid at Richt’s door. Whereas last season he managed to get in touch with his inner Hurricane/Seminole bad boy, this year he’s reverted to Mr. Nice Guy.
We don’t need Mr. Nice Guy on the sidelines or on the field the rest of this season.
We need Soulja Boy.
