SEC Championship Writeup

Sorry guys, life happened.  I’m now the (significantly less rested) proud father of a 6-week old baby girl.  It’s been an interesting 6 weeks but in case you haven’t done the math in your head, she’s undefeated.  With that out of the way, I’ve been meaning to get back to this place but either couldn’t or just really didn’t want to.  This won’t be a long one, but I’ll just kinda fire off the cuff a bit about what I think…this explains the general scattered feel for this one.  I’m holding her while writing so that’s new…

Thoughts when Bama’s on offense:
  • It’s no secret that Bama wants to run the ball.  Why wouldn’t they?  They have the reigning Outland trophy winner switching from LT to center in Barrett Jones.  They have the top guard in the upcoming draft in Warmack.  Both OTs are top shelf talents.  It’s a line built to maul people and they do it well.  You throw in a couple of stout RBs and you’re looking at an offense that’s ideally suited to run a pro-style, ball control, offense.  With all that said, they seem to be throwing the ball more this year and after the breakout performance in the BCS CG last year, I can see why.  AJ McCarron is ideally suited to take the reins of that offense as he’s a guy that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, is accurate and while he might not have the big arm and ideal measurables, he also doesn’t come with the ego associated with those and as such is perfectly content to be a facilitator.  The fact he’s able to lead last minute game-winning TD drives at LSU certainly helps.
  • The inevitable AJ McCarron-Aaron Murray comparisons have been all over the place and it’s not really fair for a couple of reasons.  1) the QBs don’t square off in a passing competition…football’s a team game. 2) While the 2011 UGA defense was solid, the 2011 Alabama defense was one of the better ones in recent history.  I have every bit of confidence that Bama would’ve been just as successful with Murray under center last year but I’m not entirely sure the opposite could be said.  McCarron just isn’t asked to do as much as Murray, as the UGA ground game wasn’t nearly as consistent last year and Murray had to throw it a lot.  Obviously McCarron is a very solid QB and his game-winning drive against LSU coupled with his efforts in last year’s BCS championship show him to be very good under pressure (a valid question of Murray at this point), but you have to wonder if UGA can slow the Bama ground game if McCarron can execute against a top secondary.
  • Both teams sport balanced offenses, making it very difficult for a team to key on one thing so it’s going to be equally as important for us to slow their ground game as it is for us to get after McCarron.  With the loss of their best deep threat, I’m thinking Bama’s going to have a little more difficult time throwing the ball.  For all the talk of Murray struggling in big games, against the top two pass defenses Bama played this year (Michigan at 2 and LSU at 20), McCarron completed barely 50% of his passes.  Granted he didn’t have to throw against Michigan, but the fact remains that UGA’s 9th ranked passing defense presents a significant challenge.  If you can make a balanced team one dimensional, you have a chance.
  • Who stands to make some money here: Generally speaking when they have the ball, the guys who stand to benefit the most are the Alabama OTs.  Jarvis Jones is nearly a lock to be a top 5 pick in the NFL draft.  What better way to prove your value as a NFL OT than to have a big game against an elite pass rusher?  Fluker and Kouandjio are both large, athletic guys that could easily have long NFL careers and with a big night their stocks could soar.  When he’s been healthy Jarvis has been a complete terror but at times this year it was obvious that he wasn’t able to play at a high level due to various nagging injuries.  He’ll have every opportunity to make huge plays Saturday but his stock is already pretty darn high.  Bama’s OT’s probably acknowledge the challenge, and subsequent opportunity, that they’ve been given.
  • Matchup to watch:  Obviously Jarvis versus the Bama OTs is going to be a marquee matchup but another big one is Bama’s OC Barrett Jones going up against Big John Jenkins inside.  If he’s able to handle Jenkins by himself I think their running game will be just fine.  If Jenkins is able to get a push and force them to double that’s likely not something they’ve had to do much at all this year and might throw them off some.  As good as Jones is, Jenkins presents such a tough matchup for any center by himself.  After having undersized OL (they’re all undersized to him) diving at his feet for 2 weeks, he’s likely to hug Jones first but my guess is he’s ready to take out some frustration.

When UGA has the ball:

  • It’s no secret that Aaron Murray is the main cog in the UGA offense.  Unlike McCarron, Murray is asked to do a lot more.  While both teams sport a stout running attack, UGA’s less experienced line and more vertical play-calling see a lot more pressure put on Murray to be the main man in the offense.
  • While Murray’s importance to the offense is hard to overstate, his play isn’t necessarily the best predictor of a UGA win.  That would likely fall on the biggest question mark on the UGA team, the OL.  If our OL plays well, opens holes consistently for Gurshall and gives Murray a reasonable amount of time to throw, I like our chances of putting some points on the board.  I’m not talking about gashing them on the ground like we did against GT and Auburn or Murray having time to count to 10 back there, just a good solid effort and Bama can be scored on.  LSU and TA&M both had success moving and scoring.  LSU hasn’t been a particularly good passing team and their OL has had to be completely reworked due to injury.  Throw out A&M, Manzeil was unconscious.  Look at what LSU did.  We’ve got some talent outside, specifically Mitchell, that can pressure the Bama corners.  If Murray has enough time to set consistently, I like his chances at moving the ball and we’ve done a great job all year of punching it in versus past years where we settled.
  • Everyone wants to talk about how Murray performed against SC and UF and how that bodes ill for how he’ll play against Bama, but that’s only half true.  SC has probably the top pass rushing tandem in the country.  They’re going to stress and defeat the majority of OTs they face.  Bama doesn’t present that challenge.  While an excellent defense, Bama, like UF, pressures via scheme and just plays very sound defense.  While Murray struggled in the first half against UF, two of his INTs were tipped and one was easily the worst pass he’s ever thrown.  Murray has tremendous experience and is known for being voracious in his preparation.  If the OL can give him time and he’s able to trust them, he should have success Saturday.
  • We can’t afford any drops.  Last year in this game Malcolm Mitchell dropped a sure-fire TD that would’ve put us up 10-0 early and allowed us to not waste the onside kick/early momentum grab.
  • Who stands to make some money here: Aaron Murray.  The only two legit knocks on Murray are his height (can’t change that) and his ability to perform in big games.  This is certainly a massive opportunity to do something about the latter.  He stands to make a ton of money if he can prove he has the ability to rise to the occasion and somehow go on a two game winning streak here.  That’s not to say that he’ll immediately declare himself for the draft but it would certainly be far more understandable than if he lost this one.
  • Key to the game: As much as I talked about Murray above, I think the key to the game is how well we’re able to run the ball.  So much of what we do on offense is predicated on the threat of the run.  If we can’t make them at least respect the run then we could be in some serious trouble.  If we could somehow make them commit to stopping the run and start stacking the box, then that plays right into our hands.  If I were a DC of a top shelf unit like Bama, I’d certainly be more inclined to making Murray beat me given his track record.  With that said, if Murray does have a light click on and plays to his potential, that’s an easy way to get down in a hurry.
Overall Thoughts
  • I hope this doesn’t come down to a FG.
  • I hope we come out emotional and focused but I don’t want to see the personal foul penalties that marred the UF game (Mitchell, Gurley, I’m looking at you guys).  Bama’s too good a football team to gift them 15 yards a clip.  Watch Jarvis and do what he does.
  • The much ballyhooed arrogance of Bama fans is something that UGA fans don’t get to see all that often but their run since 2009 has pushed them into another level.  I’m pretty sure when Spurrier quipped that they could compete with some NFL teams there was probably some serious agreement from the Bama faithful and debates about whether they could win a division or not.

Random Thoughts

  • So it took a year to kick in but whatever Auburn fan offered at halftime of the 2010 Iron Bowl to give up winning any more SEC games if they could just win that one and take the title has suddenly realized there was a one year delay on the payback.
  • When Arkansas lost to La-Monroe in the first few weeks of the season I thought there was no way they’d be considered the 3rd least dumpster-firish of the upper level SEC programs.  UT and AU produced epic suck seasons that just couldn’t be anticipated.
  • With that said, a fun pre-SECCG conversation for your tailgate is “Which open SEC job is the best”? A lot goes into it but that’s what makes it a fun debate.  I’m inclined to say UT but if Bray and the two good WRs leave then UT won’t have a ton to build around immediately and expectations aren’t going to stay suppressed for long.  WHile Auburn is appealing, they have a ton of baggage in terms of impending NCAA investigations, booster control issues and the whole Alabama’s little stepcousin complex.  I’m surprised to say that Arkansas might be the most stable of all of them.
  • So Missouri has got to be wondering what the heck they walked into.  They faced 4 teams that were ranked #7 or better (including #1 at the time Alabama) and the tag along they brought with them from the Big XII ended up being ranked 9th when they played.  5 top 9 teams in one season is tough yet they were a 2nd half collapse against Syracuse away from being bowl eligible.  Granted they only beat UK and UT this year but they were close in several games and should get better as they tap the SEC resources.  I wonder it Mizzou and A&M chanted SEC at each other in their season finale?
  • Why does the AP allow Ohio State to be included in their voting?  It just justifies them being allowed to flaunt their undefeatedness even more.  I love the fact that ESPN’s BCS guru came out and said that Ohio State would likely be no better than #5 in the BCS currently even though they were undefeated.
  • Has a conference championship game ever been more underwhelming than the upcoming ACC one?  With FSU coming off a pounding from Florida at home and GT getting drilled and actually finishing about 3rd in the division, it’ll be a miracle if that stadium is close to half full.  Neither team has sported a ton of fan support this year anyway.
  • Seriously, if UCLA loses to Stanford and Kent State knocks off Northern Illinois then a team that lost by 33 to Kentucky will be playing a BCS bowl.  Wow.  We thought we got shafted in 2007 when we got stuck playing Hawaii.  Kent State is having a nice little season but losing by that much to Kentucky?  Pretty sure this wasn’t what they had in mind when they created the BCS.
Until next time,
Have a safe weekend,
Jody
Posted under 2008 Season by jody on Friday 30 November 2012 at 12:50 am

SC Writeup

Old school pdf version here:  Click to download

The UT game:

  • Roller coaster of a game that one.  As good as the offense was, it wasn’t perfect.  Plenty of things to focus on from a offensive coaching standpoint…turnovers, execution of the running game in game-ending situations, a few guys making key catches (looking at you Wooten), etc.  On defense there’s a few more options to coach ‘em up on.
  • It was pretty clear that our defensive staff made the decision that UT’s big play WRs, Hunter and Patterson, were not going to be the reason we got beat.  We put a lot of focus on them and basically said if UT was going to have success on offense, they were going to have to do so with the ground game and through the air to the TEs and RBs.  Ainge did that and did it well.  The UT coaches schemed well and had several plays that put us in tough situations, namely throwing to backs in the flats and TEs down the seam.
  • Most troubling from that game was our defense’s struggle with the running game of UT.  I think we saw an evolving team, as the UT OL was easily the best unit we’ve faced and might end up as the best we’ll see all year.  I look forward to seeing that UT OL against the Bama defense.  UT has given up 2 sacks all year.
  • I felt like we’d score on UT but I never envisioned 51 points.  On the flip side, I never suspected we’d ever give up 44.  All in all, the game served as a nice wake up call for a defense that was getting back some key personnel.  Alec Ogletree was a half step away from making some huge plays.  Rambo gave up a long pass that he mistimed a jump on.  As small as those things seem, I believe they’ll play slightly faster this week having finally gotten some live action PT.  The results could be huge.
  • Is it possible for an offense to score too fast?  Short answer, no.  Can’t ever hurt to put 7 on the board, no matter how long it takes, otherwise no one would ever want to run a kickoff back for a score.  It is, however, possible for an offense to hurt its defense.  Quick scores coupled with poorly timed turnovers mean that the defense gets back on the field early, often and in bad spots.  While your defense would ideally bow its back and yield FGs instead of TDs, that doesn’t always happen.  The UGA offense gave UT 7 pts Saturday plus 2 incredibly short fields to score from.  We can’t afford to give SC the ball a bunch Saturday but if we do, we need the D to step up.
When SC has the ball:
  • You’d have a hard time coming up with a team that’s more opposite of UT than SC.  Whereas UT had a big-armed QB, 2 future NFL WRs, a strong OL and very little on the ground, SC, well, doesn’t.  At QB they have the effective Conner Shaw, although he’s more dangerous on the ground.  At WR they don’t have the Alshon Jeffrey or Sydney Rice they’ve had in recent years.  Their OL has struggled mightily at times this season, but they do have one of the top talents in college football in Marcus Lattimore.
  • Coming off injury, SC has clearly tried to not rely on Lattimore as much, but it’s obvious he’s their bell cow.  After averaging over 23 carries per game as a Sophomore on the heels of 20.7 per game as a freshman, the fact that the kid has never finished a season healthy seems to have curtailed Spurrier’s usage of the star somewhat, dropping back to 18.4 per game.  Lattimore has saved his best performances for UGA, averaging 32 carries for 179 yards in his 2 games against the Dawgs.  The last time we faced him in Columbia, he simply embarrassed our defense, particularly Rambo, shedding tackles on the way to his national coming out party.  While he’s had solid stats to date this year, he doesn’t appear to have the same explosion he had before his injury where he was one of the more dangerous workhorses in college football.  
  • While Shaw has been highly efficient at QB, completing 89.7% of his passes (35/39) the last 2 weeks against SEC opponents, on the season he hasn’t been overly dynamic, only throwing 5 TD passes.  Granted, he missed one game entirely and missed parts of the opener, but a clearcut Spurrier QB of a top-10 team that’s played in over 3 games should have more than that.  Shaw’s a tough, gritty runner and accurate on short-to-medium passes, making pretty good decisions.  I’m anxious to see if he can take the pounding against our defense as he runs it enough to be assured of getting hit at some point and his shoulder took a pounding at Vandy in the opener.
  • I’m thinking you’ll see our safeties much closer to the line this week, daring Spurrier to throw (I can’t believe I just typed that) and trying to contain the SC ground game (which includes the dangerous Shaw).  It’s hard to believe that this week will be a tougher challenge for our CBs, but it may very well be as they won’t be afforded the same consistent safety help they were last week.
  • Look for SC to grind out Lattimore and test our defensive front early and often.  After the success UT had against us, I fully expect to see more than our share of zone reads although John Jenkins makes that play much, mugh tougher to run.
  • This ain’t your uncle’s Spurrier WR corps.  The SC 2-deep has 4 of their 6 WRs listed under 5-10.  Granted he had a Travis McGriff or a Jacquez Green occasionally, but 4 of 6? Never.
  • Look for a big game from: Alec Ogletree.  He missed last year’s game injured and would’ve been a huge help in slowing the ground game, particularly late.  Ogletree is a great player attacking the line of scrimmage and in coverage and this game could be a real opportunity for him to have the kind of game that starts to get the national guys buzzing, a la Jarvis in the other Columbia.
  • Key to the game:  Obviously stopping Lattimore is huge but I think the key to the game is going to be how well our secondary handles the passing game.  Spurrier has always been known as a passing game genius and will have a few tricks up his sleeve.   With our D so keyed on Lattimore, I’d expect we see him take some shots down field against the favorable coverages Shaw is likely to see, if for no other reason than to peel our safeties back.  We’ve struggled some with big plays down field so far and Patterson flat dropped a TD pass last week.
When UGA has the ball:
  • The UGA offense presents an interesting decision for most opposing defenses.  I’m betting SC doesn’t have much of a decision to make.  Murray’s numbers against SC the last 2 years don’t look horrible…66% completions, avg of 220 yards, a total of 4 TDs and 1 INT.  Looking deeper, you realize why your average SC fan is, right or wrong, not that worried about Murray.  In the 2011 game, Murray also lost a fumble.  The INT and the fumble were both returned for TDs…yep, you remember now.  If I’m SC, I’m bringing heat and making Murray prove he can protect the ball and beat me, especially with his top WR target out for the year.
  • SC is easily the top defense we’ll play this season but we don’t know yet if they’re the juggernaut they’ve been in recent years.  A new DC and a slate of offenses that aren’t lighting anyone on fire means we don’t know yet how good this defense is.  The loss of Gilmore at CB and the lack of a talent like Norwood or Brinkley in the LB corps means this group is heavily front loaded and relies on pressure up front.  If we can get our RBs to the 2nd level, I like our chances for big plays.  The problem, of course, is getting them there.
  • The DE tandem of Jadaveon Clowney and Devin Taylor is as feared as any in the league.  Considering LSU boasts 2 projected top 10 picks at that position, that tells you how highly regarded these two are.  Clowney is still young and learning, but he’s a prototype DE that is athletic enough at 260 pounds to play OLB in certain packages.  As well as our OL has played this year, look for us to keep TEs and backs in on passing downs to give Murray as good of a chance as we can.  I’d be surprised if we see any of the 5-wide sets we saw against UT last week.
  • Against a pretty bad schedule, they’ve managed some very sound rushing D numbers but have pass numbers very comparable to ours and it’s safe to say our passing attack is easily the stoutest they’ll have faced.  I’d expect us to throw to open up the run, as Bobo can’t afford to coddle Murray and call plays away from potential mistakes.  As stout as our ground game has been this year, I don’t see us having anywhere near the success we’ve had to date against this group.  If we do, this group might be really special.  I mean, the fact we’ve scored 40+ in every game this season means they’re pretty darn special already but SC is a notch above what we’ve faced.
  • Look for a big game from: Malcolm Mitchell.  With more snaps on offense on the heels of Bennett’s injury, the dynamic Mitchell should get every opportunity to make plays all over the field.  His speed stretches the field sideways as well as vertically and he might very well have the best hands on the team.  I expect TK and Marlon to play well as they’re seniors going through solid years already and Conley looked awesome in the limited exposure he’s had but Mitchell has a chance to breakout this week.
  • The Key to the game is: Protect Murray.  I think Gurley and Marshall are solid enough RBs and the OL is blocking well enough on pulls, etc. that they’ll be able to get some yards.  Nothing like they have so far, but c’mon, that’s been insane.  We need to give Murray some time when we do pass so that he’s not forced into bad decisions.  If we know nothing else about Murray, we know that if he has a turnover, it’s going to be catastrophic.  Give him a bit of time though and I’m confident that he’ll find the right guy and execute.  If pre-snap you see Clowney lined up across from Theus and the TE is on the opposite side of the formation, cross your fingers and pray that the RB sees it too.  There aren’t too many OTs out there, much less freshmen, that I’d feel good about in that situation.
The Game Overall:
I actually love the fact that we struggled on defense last week.  I expect them to come out and play with a lot of fire.  I’d imagine they’ve been told all week about how soft they were, how much UT ran all over them, what SC will do to them if they don’t show up, etc.  I expect we’ll see a very solid effort.  I think we match up well with them to have a good defensive effort as Ogletree gives us a whole different level of defensive playmaker in the middle that we didn’t have last year.  I expected us to struggle somewhat last week, as the Vandy game was too solid of a performance all around to reproduce in back-to-back weeks.  A return to that effort again this week should have nice results though.
When you look at both teams you don’t see a whole lot to differentiate them from each other.  Both teams have solid defenses.  Both teams have excellent running backs.  UGA probably has the better WR corps but the loss of Bennett muddies the waters some.  UGA has the more experienced QB but one that’s looking to prove to the country that he can win the big game.  He’ll be given every opportunity this weekend.  He has a chance to silence a lot of critics.  If he has a big game Saturday, and comes out with a win, you’ll start hearing a couple of things.  1) Murray’s name mentioned on Heisman ballots and 2) UGA mentioned seriously as title contenders.  Come out of that game with a loss and regardless of the season to date, the questions about Murray’s ability in big games will become that much louder and continue to hound him.  With that said, I don’t get the line of thinking that Murray needs to show people he can win the big one.  Doesn’t Shaw also?
Both teams are playing for huge, huge stakes.  Whichever team wins will lay claim to the biggest win of the year among the top teams in the country.  FSU’s win over Clemson is currently the top win by any of the top teams, but this early, a decisive win over a top 6 team (which will likely fall to the 11-12 range) would be a serious mark on the resume.  With the emergence of Florida and the development of UT, coupled with the remaining west opponents, I don’t think the loser of this game is out of the running for the East by a long shot.  Of course, based on the game we see Saturday when we find out a little more about these two teams, we might realize one just isn’t that good.

UGA Positional Thoughts:

  • Big props to the OL last week.  Watching Gates and Andrews pull last week and seeing Lee do it the week before gets me excited about the future.  Any time you have a RB get two 75-yard runs basically untouched, your OL is doing some good things.
  • I have to confess I haven’t understood the lack of involvement Chris Conley has had to date.  I get that we’re deep at WR and he’s one of many but it seems like he’s gotten far fewer chances this year but produces when he’s out there.  With Bennett out, I wouln’t be shocked if Conley isn’t our 4th WR with a 100-yd game soon.
  • Merritt Hall looks like a beast.  Some of those blocks he had Saturday were just textbook.
  • We have got to figure out a way to defend the pooch kick.  Seriously, our up backs might be getting a lot of touches the rest of the year if that’s the best we can handle them.  Of course, we showed we aren’t exactly solid in handling the deep ones.  As mature as Gurley has looked from scrimmage and on a couple of returns, trying to field one on a dead run towards the sideline a yard in-bounds at the 1 isn’t ideal.  I’d imagine they went over that with him…surely.
  • Marshall Morgan clearly suffers from lack of focus.  You can’t hit 2 from 50+ in crucial situations and then miss 3 XPs without it being a focus deal.
  • Amarlo Herrera got bumped up to start Saturday opposite ‘Tree.  He’s the ideal guy to play SC as he has the bulk to deal with Lattimore.He’s been a rock this year.
  • While Rambo and Ogletree were steps away from making huge plays all night, Sanders Commings took full advantage of his first game back at CB to look really, really good out there.  Between him, Smith and Swann, we have some talent at CB right now.
  • I think it was pretty obvious Jarvis Jones was (is?) still dealing with his groin injury.  It was most obvious when Patterson ran right around him to score his TD…yep, the one with the blatant block in the back.  Sure, that was a WR and Jarvis is an OLB, but Patterson didn’t even get touched and Jones had an angle.

Random Thoughts:

  • Talk about the haves and have-nots.  The SEC currently has 14 teams.  Only 1 team (TA&M) has a Win and a Loss.  Every other team is either undefeated or completely defeated.  This is most obvious in the East where there are 3 teams at 3-0 and 4 teams at 0-2.
  • OK, so I have no idea what to make of WVU.  Any time your QB has more TDs (8) than incompletions (6) then you’ve had a pretty good day.  Doing that against a ranked team makes it even harder to believe.  I really wish they weren’t playing Texas at the same time our game’s going on.  I’m not convinced Texas is all that great but I’m betting they put up more of a defensive challenge than Baylor did.
  • We’re going to find out a lot more about the top 10 this week.  If LSU loses badly, they might take a huge tumble as their body of work to date has been pretty bad with the exception of the win over Washington.  I’m really curious to see how UF’s QB responds to that LSU D.  That game might be another 12-10 LSU-Auburn game.
  • I don’t know if you saw some of the hihglights from the TA&M-Arkansas debacle, but that TA&M freshman QB had a couple of plays that looked like Bo Jackson from Tecmo Bowl (small window of time for folks that will get that reference) where he ran completely around folks.
  • I’m going to go ahead and call it.  Lou Holtz will pick SC to win Saturday.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him pick against SC or Notre Dame.  I haven’t noticed his same loyalty to Arkansas or Minnesota though.  I can’t imagine anyone picking Arkansas right now…of course, they do play Auburn this weekend.
  • GT in 2 weeks manages to go from me thinking they might not lose until they meet us in Athens to making me wonder if they’ll win another one before they face us.  Losing to Middle Tennessee State by 3 TDs does that to your thinking.
  • Gurley and Marshall remind me of that Arkansas backfield that had McFadden and Jones.  Those guys were just explosive.  The key difference is that Gurley and Marshall have a QB and a balanced offense.  Arkansas didn’t.  That was the offense that really started the Wildcat.
  • As for our 40 point streak, it’s not likely to continue as Columbia, SC hasn’t been home to offensive explosions from us.  We’ve scroed 40 in Columbia 1 time, hitting 40 on the nose back in 1894.  You can’t make that up.  The closest we’ve come in recent years was 34 way back in 1982.  We haven’t scored more than 24 since 1988 though and in the Richt era we’ve yet so score more than 20 over there.  Athens is a different story as we’ve put up 42 and 41 points in our last two there versus SC.  With a win Saturday, SC can close to within 30 in the all-time series, currently trailing 46-16-2.

Until next time,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Posted under 2008 Season by jody on Wednesday 3 October 2012 at 11:58 pm

UT Writeup

OK, per usual, couple of thoughts on Vandy first, then UT…

  • Umm, I can’t recall our offense ever looking so balanced.  Maybe 1992?  I’m anxious to see how they perform against some of these better defenses they’re going to face later though.
  • Rome appeared to get more meaningful PT against Vandy than he had to date.  I’m thinking that goes up even more with Lynch’s easy drop on his only target.  With as well as so many guys are playing, you have to make the most of your chances and on the season Lynch has a clear drop and a fumble in only  handful of targets.
  • Vasser is playing better than I had imagined he could.  I loved his comment about the progression under Grantham.  Year 1 was learning where he was supposed to be.  Year 2 was learning where everyone else was supposed to be and understanding how his role was supported by the rest of the D.  This year he said everything has slowed down enough and he feels comfortable enough that he’s able to focus on the details of playing LB.  The results are clearly working.
  • How the heck did Vandy leave Jarvis Jones, the best pass rusher in the country, completely unblocked on a 4th down passing situation?
  • Maybe the most impressive thing about that whole performance Saturday was the fact that we did it only causeing 1 turnover.  It wasn’t like one of those games where Vandy couldn’t do anything right and kept giving us a short field to work with…no, we just flat beat them up on both sides of the ball and dominated series after series.  Nice effort.

When UT has the ball:

  • Tyler Bray is as good a QB as we’ll face all year.  Strong arm, quick release, accurate, tall…he’s got a lot of traits you look for in a top level QB.  One of the only issues he has is decision making.  Both on and off the field he sometimes doesn’t think everything through.  Todd McShay had a great stat from Bray’s effort against UF.  When UF brought 4 or less, Bray completed 62% of his passes but when UF blitzed a man and brought 5 or more, that rate dropped to 30%.
  • Bray’s skill set pairs well with the 2 stud WRs UT sports.  Both guys will play in the NFL, and likely it will be next year.  Justin Hunter is a long, lanky AJ Green type guy that has shown no ill effects from his ACL tear last year at Florida.  Cordarelle Patterson was considered a UGA lean for a long time last year but might have made the right call going to UT as he’d be one of a bevy of weapons in Athens for his likely 1 season versus being one of only two guys in K’ville with the departure of Da’Rick Rogers.  Patterson has speed to burn and isn’t afraid to get physical with his considerable size.  Both of these guys accentuate Bray’s positives.
  • UT doesn’t sport a very strong run game.  Raijon Neal leads in rushing but is averaging a mere 4.5 ypc (less than half of Gurley’s avg…just sayin’) and if you drop the two cupcakes they’ve played, his stats get worse (drops to 3.11 ypc in those games).
  • The UT OL is large but pass blocks better than they do run block.  Look for lots of false starts as they struggled with that a lot against Florida…at home.  They’ve only given up 2 sacks all year but that’s probably a function of Bray’s quick release more than it is their ability to stop the rush.  That’s further supported by Bray’s 30% rate on blitzes.
  • UT is dangerous on offense when you boil it down.  They can strike quick and deep with those two weapons outside.  UGA has struggled this year giving up big plays and even in our most solid performance of the year against Vandy last week we gave up some passing yards in chunks.  Bray is at a whole other level than Rodgers.  If we give him room he’ll torch us.  I fully expect us to bring heat early and often.  At the same time, I expect UT to try and neutralize our rush with passes into the flats, draws, etc. to keep us guessing.  They’ve shown very little effectiveness in the run game and with all of our guys finally getting back, I expect to see a different level of defensive effort.  Ogletree returning at ILB should greatly improve our running defense, which wasn’t bad to begin with.  The big plays we gave up against Missouri should be rectified by the fact we’ve added 4 starters back since that game.
  • I’m excited about the flexibility the reutrn of Rambo adds to the team also.  With him back, we can slide Commings over to CB again.  This allowed Mitchell to spend more time on offense which is good because he struggled at CB last week and is clearly an impact guy on offense.  Rambo coming back is huge versus the pass though.
  • Look for a big game from: Jarvis Jones.  I know it’s a cop out but that guy is having a special year.  He’s one of those rare players that just seems to be around the ball every play.  He’s going to cause some havoc getting after Bray and forcing him into a bad throw or two.  He showed in Missouri that he’s also capable of making plays in coverage.  Look for Grantham to have some fun bringing guys from all over and making Bray think his way down the field.
  • Key to the game:  Early heat.  If we bring stuff early and don’t get to Bray and he gets a little rhythm going, it could feed his considerable confidence.  This will only be his 4th start outside of the state of Tennessee and one of those was UK, with another being a UT-filled GA dome.  This is UT’s first game in an opponent’s stadium this year.  Expect some chaos.  This will be a hostile environment similar to the one Bray saw in Gainesville last year where he barely completed 50% of his passes.  I expect to see a lot of pressure early but how often it gets there and disrupts the play is the key.
When UGA has the ball:
  • UT isn’t nearly as daunting on defense as they are on offense.  In their 3 games against FBS opponents, they’re giving up an average of 28 ppg.  Keep in mind that one of those teams was Akron and another was an NCSt team that only managed 10 pts against the other FBS team they played (UConn).  They’ve begun to switch to a 3-4 a la Saban, which makes sense as new DC Sal Sunseri came from Saban’s staff last year.  UT just doesn’t have the horses right now to be effective and they’re working through some of the issues in converting from a 4-3 to a 3-4.
  • Florida wore UT down and used a combination of a solid ground game and the fact that Driskel could extend plays with his feet to find guys down field to ultimately put 37 points on the board.  That was with a QB that hasn’t really done much at all prior to that.  With Murrays’ considerable experience, I expect to see him continue his high level of play as UT struggles to get after the QB, ranking in the 90s nationally in sacks and in the 80s in tackles for loss.
  • The days of UT having dynamic playmakers in the secondary, fierce linebackers roaming everywhere and NFL DLs lined up waiting to play are long gone.  The talent level just isn’t the same as it once was.  Sunseri is a hard-nosed no nonsense kind of guy but he’s probably a year or two from getting the results Dooley wants.  Last week’s effort against Akron was better but they still gave up big plays, evidence that their guys are still trying to figure out where to be, who to cover, etc.  If UGA has shown anything this year it’s the ability to strike a lot of different ways and for big yardage.  I think we lead the country in plays of either 20 or 25 yards or more.  That’s impressive.
  • I can’t wait to see Gurley and Marshall against an SEC defense.  They may not be the UT defenses of the 90s but they’re a step up from Vandy.   Those two have cleared every hurdle that’s been laid before them so far but I want to see how they respond to a little adversity.  UT has considerably more size along the front than we’ve faced to date so I want to see how our OL and RBs respond.  I think we’ll find a little less space to gallop, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
  • Look for a big game from: Todd Gurley.  Gillislee at Florida rushed 18 times with a better than 6 ypc avg against UT, and that was without much threat of a pass.  Gurley is more suited to the pounding of a bigger SEC defense than Marshall and could be poised for a breakout game in his first CBS action.  His stiff arm last weekend on that TD run was a thing of absolute beauty.  He’s got great balance and his lower half is already so developed that he’s able to sustain impacts and keep going.  He’s special but I want to see it Saturday.
  • Key to the game:  Aaron Murray staying calm early.  I have no reason to expect he won’t, as the guy is playing with considerably more, well, everything, this year.  When he’s struggled, it’s usually out of the gate early and he typically settles in.  If he comes out and connects early like he did last week and is able to keep those safeties peeled back, then the running game explodes and Bobo has the full playbook at his fingertips.  Murray’s ability to pick up blitzes could be key.

Random Thoughts

  • OK, so the only team that presents a hurdle of any significance for FSU the remainder of the season is Florida, who could very well finish 3rd in their division (and are currently ranked as such).  Yes they still have to play Miami and VT on the road but neither one of those teams are currently ranked.  FSU knows they’re going to be on the outside looking in at whoever wins the SEC and Oregon (although they still have a pretty tough slate left in a pretty good Pac 10), so expect to see them put up numbers as much as they can.  They could also very likely get passed by one of the remaining unbeaten Big XII teams (KSU, WVU and UT).  I expect FSU will run up some gaudy stats from here on out…and it might not matter.
  • The NFL has always been something for me to watch on Sundays.  I enjoy seeing the game played at such a high level.  I’m a Falcons fan but their wins and losses register far lower on my impact scale than UGA.  Regardless, watching these replacement refs has taken whatever joy I took from watching the NFL.  As much as they struggled with adding replay years ago but it messed with the flow of the game, you’d think they’d have gotten this ref strike handled in week 1.  It’s embarrassing.
  • With that being said, I’d love to be lead counsel in the negotiations for the Ref’s union.  Talkin’ about bargaining from a position of power…wow.
  • I can’t wait to see that 4th quarter video with AC/DC playing about the Chapel Bell when the crowd has reason to be excited and amped.  To date all the home games have been laughers by that point, but there’s no doubt that it would get a different response in the right environment.  I’ve been pretty critical in the past of some of the quality of videos that we’ve seen and the general inflexibility and unwillingness to update but they’ve stepped it up this year with highlights of most recent games, etc.  Top notch.  I loved the Missouri highlights pre game and hope to see a Vandy montage this week.  There’s certainly plenty of clips to pick from.
  • We are currently 14th in the SEC in net punting.  It took me a while to wrap my head around that.  First off, I had kinda sorta forgotten that the SEC now had 14 teams.  Then I realized we were dead last.  Nowhere to go but up I guess.
  • I don’t know if you saw the clip of John L. Smith referring to his team as “the state of Alabama football team” or not.  It was pretty sad.  You may recall he’s the coach of Arkansas…not Alabama.  Might explain that 52 point drubbing they took to Bama though.
  • While the home slate isn’t exactly a list of the top games to see in CFB this year, it looks like we’re going to have the best weather year in a while.  Yeah, the opener was scorching, but I was in the shade the whole time.  These last two games have been absolutely pristine and Saturday looks no different.
  • So, with a baby girl on the way any week now, if these things stop showing up, wish me luck.

Until next time…

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Posted under 2008 Season by jody on Thursday 27 September 2012 at 12:55 am

Vandy Writeup

Alright, a quarter of the season (hard to believe that) is gone and we’ve managed to get to this point unscathed, roughly as expected.  It’s interesting to look at how we’ve gotten here.  Preseason I felt like we had a very solid team at QB and WR, ultimately would have a solid RB stable once they got some experience and I was pretty concerned about our OL.  Frankly, we’ve exceeded each of those expectations.  Our defensive inconsistencies are where it’s been an interesting road so far.  We’ve had a singular performance from Jarvis Jones that matches any defensive effort I can remember and outside of that I can’t say any of the other personnel groupings have outperformed expectations.  That’s not fair, Shawn Williams has probably been all we expected.  Abry Jones as well.  Granted, when expectations are that high it’s hard to exceed them but we’ve given up too many big plays in each of the 3 games for me to feel as good as I hoped I would at this point about our D. Maybe when we add back two of our best defenders next week we’ll see our A effort.

It’s strange to be in this position though.  Folks clamoring for Bobo to get the boot are left in a position where they have to acknowledge the fact that no UGA team ever has scored 40 or more in each of the 3 opening weeks.  Not many expected the offense to be the reason we’ve been climbing the polls.  They’re way ahead of schedule as Gurley looks like an upperclassman and the OL has benefited greatly from Murray’s (and let’s face it, Bobo’s) ability to get us into the right plays. The beauty of this situation is that as we hit the meat of the schedule, the D should start to play markedly better and the O can use all of the confidence they’ve built in the opening weeks to produce what could be a pretty potent football team if everything clicks.  We can only hope.  Now, on to Vandy.

First, quick points from FAU:

  • I don’t know that Murray’s ever looked as sharp as he did Saturday.  Honestly, I wasn’t that upset at the pick on his final attempt either, as he’s the kind of kid that will gnaw at, making him practice that much harder in the coming weeks.
  • I’m sure it’s not a record or even close to have two true freshmen get 100 yards rushing in the same game but somehow I highly doubt it’s been done on so few carries (10 each) before.  That’s truly remarkable.  I still think Marshall is getting acclimated to the extra weight up top but that move he put on the DB on that naked pitch thing we ran showed what he’s capable of.
  • Justin Scott-Wesley can cover some ground in a hurry.  I don’t want to read too much into one play but while he looks insanely fast, he doesn’t look particularly fluid in terms of trying to make folks miss.  I’d imagine he’d be a great target on a reverse though or as a decoy on a reverse.
  • You got the feeling we could run at will last week or pass at will if we wanted.  To the tune of over 700 yards of offense with over 12 minutes left in the game and our 2nd string offense already in.  I mean, the last time we went over 700 yards was, well, never.
When Vandy has the ball:
  • James Franklin’s attempts at subterfuge this year extend to starting another QB last week and not having their normal starter play a single snap.  Now, the fact that the normal starter, Jordan Rodgers, has been completely ineffective this year has something to do with it I’m sure.  I’m not convinced who we’ll see this week but I don’t know that it matters.  Rodgers is mobile, as is last week’s starter Austyn Carta-Samuels.  The new guy appears to be a touch more accurate, but most folks are against Presbyterian.  I expect we’ll see both unless the starter is on fire.  I don’t expect to see that unless Jarvis Jones breaks out a lighter and adds it to the arsenal.
  • Vandy always has several smallish, quick RBs that are indistinguishable.  I imagine they will again.
  • Their OL is a little small and will likely struggle with John Jenkins (most do, don’t feel bad Vandy).
  • They have a pair of big WRs that have between the two of them caught almost 75% of the team’s completions this year, meaning they don’t spread it around a whole heckuva lot.
  • I expect to see our defense play with a lot more fire this week.  It’s no secret that Grantham wasn’t exactly pleased with Franklin last year and I’m betting he’s privately (or likely not very privately) had this one circled.  He probably took full advantage of the blown assignments and resultant big plays to grill his boys and expects solid play.  In theory, we should be able to maul Vandy but last year we eeked out a win in a game where we won the turnover battle 4-1 and Vandy’s best QB went 4-19 for less than 50 yards.
  • As explosive as Malcolm Mitchell is and as much potential as he has at CB, Saturday we saw the fact that he’s still learning the positions.  In zone coverages against some combo routes you could see he was having to think too much on who to follow/release/etc.  He’s more at home in man coverage, where he can utilize his superior athleticism to it’s fullest extent.  The problem with that is if you start topping your hand to man, a mobile QB will start running at that spot behind a fly route.  Obviously it’s early, and he’s still learning but it’s pretty clear he’s an unfinished product.
  • At the end of the day though, Vandy is averaging 13 ppg against the two FBS teams (SC and NW) they’ve faced this year.  That’s not good.
  • Look for a Big Game from: Cornelius Washington.  The guy is built to wreak havoc and he’s played well this year, it’s just been lost in all of the Jarvis talk.  With defenses focusing on Jarvis, I expect big Cornelius (Soul Train) to get more opportunities one on one and that could result in a big day for him.
  • Key to the Game:  Keep Vandy from getting into a rhythm. The defense has struggled giving up a few big plays to date but I’m more worried about the potential of the Vandy offense getting into a confident rhythm picking up several first downs.  I want 3 and outs and general confusion from the Vandy offense.
When UGA has the ball:
  • Vandy did a very solid job against SC on defense, easily playing well enough to win if their offense had contributed anything.  They admittedly received a large boost from the fact that Connor Shaw was limited, but they were the ones who limited, hitting him early and often, exposing a poor SC OL.
  • I’ve been very impressed with our run game and how Bobo has managed to balance it not only with the passing attack but also with the various running game weapons we have.  Adding little wrinkles like the Pistol formation or Malcolm Mitchell and going back to old staples like the TE tells me that Bobo is feeling very comfortable with what he has right now.  Against SC, Vandy got exposed by Lattimore on a few runs that weren’t the “break a few tackles and rumble through the 2nd level” type plays but were rather the “run through that large gap, make one guy miss and house it” type that Todd Gurley has brought back with style.
  • Speaking of Gurley, as talented as Isaiah Crowell was, he had a carry of 30 yards or more last year exactly zero times (got close, but never got to 30, check the stats).  Gurley has gone for 38 or more in ever game this season.  Crowell had everything you wanted in a breakaway back but couldn’t manage to pull it off.  Gurley has done so with ease.
  • What I love about our passing attack is that we’ve established multiple guys that are legitimate threats but we’ve done so without running a ton of 4 and 5 WR sets.  We just run a lot of base packages, rely on our balance and trust Murray to get us into the right play.  We’ve shown the ability to be explosive from base formations on the ground and through the air.
  • I’m really anxious to see our OL against a DL with a pulse again.  Missouri was able to get some pressure on us.  While Vandy won’t rank in the top half of the SEC’s DLs, they did manage to put a hurt on Shaw (mostly on QB runs, but they still pressured him a lot).  I’m excited that Beard was playing well enough going into last week to have earned playing time before the injury to Lee.  If the light comes on for him and he’s able to add vital depth if not start, then our line, easily the weak point of the offense, starts to look better and more capable of weathering a long season, particularly helpful given that we’ve already lost 3 OL to ankle sprains through 3 weeks.
  • You can’t help but be excited to see Malcolm Mitchell split out wide.  He’s going to be the ultimate deep threat/decoy all season whenever we want to use him.  He’s just so suited to that role.
  • Given the number of screen passes we ran when Bobo was a senior, I’m surprised that we don’t see more of them, or rather that we don’t see more of them executed properly.  We hit the one to King at Missouri and went a long way (should have been a score).  Other than that, I can’t think of one we’ve connected on successfully.  With speed like Gurley and Marshall possess, there’s some tremendous potential there and it seems like it’s been a while (Crowell against SC maybe?) since we had one that busted big.
  • Look for a Big Game from:  Aaron Murray.  He’s clicking right now and I honestly feel like he’s starting to get to the next level in terms of confidence and ability to read the defense and translate that into effective plays.  I’m hoping we see that continued growth this weekend, as he could easily produce a 275 yd, 65% completion, 3 TD ho hum kind of day that gets overlooked if Gurley/Marhsall have big days.  Make no mistake about it, they feed off of each other but it’s Murray’s ability to get us into the right play that puts the whole team at an advantage.
  • Key to the game:  Turnovers obviously as that’s an equalizer but I’m more concerned with seeing us continue to finish drives.  One of the reasons we struggled in Nashville last year was the fact that we attempted 6 FGs (and only converted 4 in Walsh’s season of discontent).  We’ve done a great job of going ahead and scoring TDs this season but I’m hoping we continue with that against a defense that caused us some trouble last year.

Random Thoughts:

  • I had this conversation with my dad during the game, but the removal of the incidental facemask penalty has resulted in a situation where a defender has no reason to let go when they’ve grasped the mask.  It almost resulted in Murray’s head getting snapped off last week.  It’s almost like they need a flagrant version of that foul, maybe sit the person out a play or something.
  • So Jarvis Jones is now #1 on Kiper’s Big Board?  Wow.  Impressive.  That makes me even more excited about what he can do the rest of the year.  With more big performances like the one from week 2, that’s going to be a very, very wealthy man soon.
  • Speaking of ESPN love, Murray currently resides at #1 on their Heisman predictor.  It’s funny because in the experts’ poll he doesn’t crack the top 10, gaining only 1 5th place vote.  Their predictor thing is a balance of remaining schedule, past results, etc. all weighted in.  He’s on pace for 36 TDs/8 INTs in the 12-game regular season, so who knows.  Both are the level of improvement we were hoping to see out of him.
  • If FSU beats Clemson this weekend go ahead and pencil them in to the title game.  I think by the end of the season when they face UF, the Gators will be struggling as they don’t have a ton of depth and still have a tough gauntlet of games coming up, with FSU being 1 of 4 teams currently ranked in the top 7 that they still have to face.
  • Based on what I saw in Auburn last week, this weekend’s game could be a very, very tough one for the Fighting Chiziks.  The great equalizer though is Mettenberger, who has yet to have to really do anything.  With that defense and ground attack he won’t have to do much but eventually he’ll face a team that stacks the box and can play some D behind it.  I don’t know that it will be this weekend but it’ll happen at some point.
  • So, anybody still lumping Arkansas into that group of SEC-West teams we don’t have to face?  Auburn could very well finish last in that division, but it’s pretty clear that the drop from Bama-LSU to the rest is pretty large.
  • Speaking of teams in the SEC that suck, a big thanks to Arkansas and Kentucky for losing to FCS schools and besmirching the league.  Kentucky is going to finish 3rd in their state and that 10-7 win over UT to end the season seems like a long, long time ago.
  • I love night games in Sanford, but man, that was a long day for a glorified scrimmage.
  • I thought the SEC refs were bad, then I saw that Monday Night Football game.  It’s like the NFL had no contingency if their refs went on strike.  Reviewing plays to see if a pass was tipped when it was tipped 5′ in front of the WR?  It’s just basic stuff that they can’t seem to get right.  Roger Goodell doesn’t seem to be the type to handle mistakes all that well.  I’m betting he wants to punch a few people.

Until next time,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Posted under 2008 Season by jody on Thursday 20 September 2012 at 1:05 am

FAU Writeup

OK, I can honestly say I thought we’d win that game.  I can’t honestly say I felt like we’d win by 3 TDs.  I was impressed by Missouri’s fight and spirit early and I think we got their best punch, unfortunately for them it was a 4-round fight and not just 3.  Our superior athleticism, size and general talent level coupled with a clearly improved strength and conditioning program really manifested itself in the 4th quarter as we were able to enforce out will on both sides of the ball.  It felt good.  Like 2002/3 kinda good.

Points from the game:

  • Jarvis Jones is a complete stud and is rapidly shooting up my list of favorite players to don the red and black.  Do yourself a favor and read the great story on ugasports.com (it’s free) that’s an interview with Jones about playing hurt and being a leader.  Man crush.  The fact that guy put on that kind of performance with an injured groin makes me feel bad for opposing OLs once he gets healthy.  All of the concerns of week 1 about our lethargy on defense have seemingly been wiped away.  Add a couple more potential all-Americans and the concerns lessen even more.
  • I get some of the frustration with Aaron Murray as he missed a couple of passes, but folks have to remember no QB in the country is perfect.  ESPN currently has Murray 2nd on their Heisman predictor.  The two knocks I’ve heard consistently are that he’s flustered early and can’t win the big game.  At about 7:30 Saturday night, you’d have a hard time finding anyone that would say that game wasn’t a big one.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s a TEAM effort that wins or loses games.  Murray’s played well enough to win several games that we didn’t and has played poorly in a few we’ve won.  Now, as to the settling down thing, I think of our guys make a few grabs on those drops, we’re probably not having this conversation at all.  The INT was tough because with our insistence on running play action, Murray has about 1/2 second to make that read and it’s largely dependent on the predication that the LB has taken at least a step up.  He didn’t.  The pass to the FB that was missed is tough too as it hit him in the hands.  Yes, it wasn’t ideal, but I assure you if you ask any of the guys on the team if that catch should’ve been made they’d answer affirmatively.  Is the kid perfect?  Nope, but he’s as close as this conference has right now and there aren’t many in the country playing at a higher level.  The two TDs to Marlon Brown were as good a throws as you’ll see at this level.
  • Speaking of…Marlon Brown looked like a different guy completely.  Reminded me a bit of Michael Johnson against Auburn in that he was just so clutch out of seemingly nowhere.  Just think if he hadn’t dropped two easy ones.  Along those lines, I’m thinking whatever nagging injury Michael Bennett was going through was causing him some lack of focus (talk to him Jarvis).  His drops were highly uncharacteristic.  Back to Brown, it’s nice to see the guy who was getting so much talk in the offseason actually live up to it.
  • My concerns about Mitchell at CB in his opening game were realized early when he got thrown on a couple times right out of the gate.  I figured it would take him some time to get acclimated to the speed of the game out there at a new spot.  My hopes for him at the position were realized shortly thereafter as he showed really, really good break on the ball and some surprising physicality.  Might need to get someone to talk to him about celebrating over an opponent he’s drilled though.  That’s not ideal.  Especially when they’ve already picked up a first down.
  • I’d like to think that Bobo was feeling out Missouri and the coaches’ gameplan was to keep it close, stay basic and open it up when we needed to.  When you think back, every time we needed a score to answer, we did so with relative ease, I’d just like to see us do that to start games so we can close things out a little quicker.  I guess it all boils down to execution though.  If we execute what gets called, I feel like we’ve got a puncher’s chance against anyone.
  • Gurley is legit.
  • Marshall Morgan is going to make things interesting.  Don’t assume anything.  Get your popcorn ready.
  • I’m thinking John Theus’ ankle was impacting his lateral mobility.  He tweaked his left ankle and that’s his push off leg to kick out and seal the edge and he didn’t seem capable of kicking out and anchoring.  I can safely say that Jadaveon Clowney had to have been licking his chops watching that performance though.  I’m thinking we’re going to see considerable improvement out of our young OT though as the season goes along.  We’re going to need it.
When FAU has the ball:
  • They’ve not done much this year.  They won their opener 7-3.  Over Wagner.  Wagner has moved on to 0-2 after falling to mighty Georgetown.  FAU is bad on offense but they somehow have a big senior QB who has completed almost 80% of his passes, hasn’t thrown an INT and has accounted for all of the FAU TDs on the season.  As bad as they are (a notch behind Buffalo even), it wouldn’t shock me to see them move the ball a little and score 14-17 points again due to a combination of lack of focus/scheme and liberal substitutions late.  I don’t expect our A effort Saturday and I don’t expect we’ll need it.  I think we’ll see the last opportunity for several guys on the fringe of contributing on D to audition and make an impression.  As Commings and Vasser get back this week and we add ‘Tree and Rambo at some point, it’s going to be harder and harder for some of these guys to get an opportunity so I’m hoping our reserves come in with some fire in their belly.
  • If Rambo doesn’t go, I think we’ll see Commings at safety alongside Williams.  He’s got the size and has played there before and honestly, with the play of Swann, Mitchell and Smith, we have some skill at CB right now and the more Commings can provide some schematic flexibility, the more dangerous we become.  Just another toy in Grantham’s toy box.
  • Look for a big game from: Jordan Jenkins.  As he starts to get a feel for the speed of big time football, he’s got a chance to position himself as the heir to Jarvis’ playmaker spot.  He was on the field in key moments last week but is still young enough to need the seasoning and will likely play more than the starters.
When UGA has the ball:
  • FAU is coached by Nebraska HC Bo Pelini’s brother Carl.  That sounds like I just made it up.  Anyway, given his brother’s status as a defensive guru, I’m thinking Carl probably is cut from similar cloth.  I’d expect that we’ll score more than MTSU’s 31 from last week though.
  • Gurley has shown a considerable knack for breaking the big one.  I want to see Marshall get one this week.  He hasn’t shown the same suddenness that Gurley has, but I think he’s still working through the added weight and getting used to carrying that.  He’s got some serious wheels and I think we get him open this week.
  • The main thing I’m hoping to see this week is improved OL play.  Pelini will likely bring some interesting looks but out young OL should have the athleticism and discipline to handle them.  Should.  Protect Murray.  Open holes for the RBs.  Should be a big day.  I think we hit 40 for the 3rd straight game.
  • As good as our WRs have generally looked, I’d like to see more snaps from Conley.  Great hands and size but he’s not seeing the field a lot.  Our rotation seems pretty set with King, Bennett, Brown and Wooten.  Not bad, but Conley can help.  We saw it last year.
  • Look for a big game from:  Tavares King.  He toasted the Buffalo secondary several times but only got the one long TD to show for it.  I’m thinking he’ll have a couple of shots this week and Bobo would love nothing more than to establish King as an even more legit downfield threat (a la Mitchell) going into the meat of the SEC schedule.  Anything to help peel those safeties back and open up a little more running room.  

Random Thoughts:

  • So, Todd McShay has 4 UGA defenders in the top 29 of his NFL draft for next year (Jones at 4, Jenkins at 5, Ogletree at 22 and Shawn Williams at 29).  That’s pretty darn impressive and reminiscent of the talent level of those 2002-2003 Dawg Ds that featured future first rd picks like Pollack, Sullivan, Davis, Thurman, Johnson, etc.  What might be most impressive is Ogletree at 22.  Consider for a second that he didn’t move to LB until after his true freshman year, missed nearly half of last year with an injury and hasn’t played at all this year due to suspension.  So he’s managed to earn that high of a rating in about 8 games?  Impressive…and scary for opponents when this D gets that kind of talent added back.  Ogletree also happens to sport one of the smaller helmets ever relative to body size.  Seriously, watch him.
  • When’s the last time Uf and UT entered their early season matchup undefeated to as little fanfare as they are this week?  No one really has them in the top 2 in the east.  UF looks pedestrian at best on offense.  No one knows what to make of UT at all yet.  They have no running game but a QB that can sling it and some serious talent at WR but can they stop anyone on offense?  I’m not entirely sure we’re going to know much more about either team even after this game unless one team really clocks the other one but I honestly don’t see it.  Sadly, one of those two teams is going to be in the top 15 after this weekend.
  • Um, Auburn?  They’re 0-2 and facing the team that just beat #8 Arkansas.  Granted, Tyler Wilson missed the 2nd half, but the reason he did was because he got rocked.  Down goes Frazier?  Vegas ain’t buying it, installing AU as a 17-pt favorite.  That should be interesting.  What’s really surprised me is how bad they’ve been on defense.  Van Gorder hasn’t had the impression I (and a ton of others) were expecting.
  • I have to say I’m pretty surprised that GT is going to roll (apparently) with the hive helmet deal for the whole season.  In talking to the GT grad I work with, he didn’t seem pleased by it but acknowledged that given how often they change the shade of yellow and the uniform in general, it wasn’t like they were putting Bama in plaid or something.  Good point.
  • Bama still looks pretty beastly, but what’s probably scaring me most about them is that it appears their offense has finally started to play at a high enough level that they can afford to take some chances on D (if they wanted to).  They have the best OL in college football, a bevy of bruising backs and those things aren’t really knew.  That passing attack and their willingness to use it is new though.  They really are a balanced team.  I think the debacle in that first matchup with LSU last year forced Saban to at least prepare his offense to open it up some.  Having an OL like that certainly helps.
  • I’ve always sort of been against SEC expansion in the back of my mind because I think it starts to endanger some of the traditional matchups if we continue the expansion to 14.  I’m hoping we stay here.  The only positive I saw was the decreased likelihood that we’d have to endure a Penn Wagers refereed game.  The problem here is that I’m assuming whatever jackleg they hire as the new group (which I’m assuming they’ve done for this year obviously) would be an improvement over Wagers.  While I think I’m pretty safe in that assumption, the SEC office hasn’t actually done a whole lot in the past to make me feel all warm and fuzzy about that.
  • Speaking of officiating, they might want to go over with the boys what a horse collar tackle is.  The only way that Missouri DB was bringing Gurley down on his scamper out of the shadow of our goal line was a perfectly executed horse collar tackle.  That’s one of those “go ahead and tackle the WR and take the pass interference call when you’re beat, at least you don’t give up the TD” deals for the last defender.  How the crew missed it I don’t know.  Probably the same way they missed Blake Sailors’ clear halo violation.

Until next time,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Posted under 2008 Season by jody on Wednesday 12 September 2012 at 11:33 pm

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