No pdf this week, had some issues…

Week 12

Opponent:  Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Kickoff:  8:00 PM

TV: ABC

Well, in a performance that wasn’t enirely unexpected, we were sloppy with the ball and managed to snag defeat from the jaws of victory.  Whatever.  The season died for many in Knoxville and it was only a matter of salvaging wins for status.  After beating Auburn you thought the corner was turned but apparently at halftime we turned back around.  Oh well, up next?  Just our bitter arch-rival with 2 weeks to prepare, bringing in a high-powered running game that requires discipline and sound tackling to handle.  Just perfect.

About the Kentucky game…­­­­­­

The Good: Pretty much everything about the first 30 minutes.  Without our most dominant player on offense we rolled up yards and points at ease.  Our thin WR corps played amazingly well and Orson Charles was a devastating weapon at TE.  Defensively we smothered an overmatched UK offense and went into halftime up big.

The Bad: The fact we had to play the last 30 minutes.  We turned the ball over 4 times in the second half and generally shot ourselves in the foot.  Much like the 3^rd quarter against GT last year we came out worse than flat.  Offensively we put our defense in horrible positions with bad turnovers and defensively we didn’t respond to any opportunities to bow our back.

The Key: Turnovers.  Plain and simple.  That kickoff fumble by Smith was a backbreaker.  It’s like Richt said, if we hold onto the ball and drive to score, we’re up 3 scores and it’s not likely that UK can bounce back.  We don’t and they do.  Ugh.

GT Offense

• Everybody and their brother knows what’s going on here.   They’re going to run the triple option at you, mix in enough wrinkles to keep you honest, then throw it up top occasionally.  They lead the country in offensive plays over 50 yards.  Don’t think of them as a 2-yards and a cloud of dust offense.  They’ll make you sell out to stop the dive, and when you do, they bust a big one on the perimeter.
• At QB, Josh Nesbitt is an ideal weapon for this offense.  Not because of his strong arm and stronger legs, more so because he’s tough as a $2 steak.  The kid can get pounded and never really show it.  He’s got a good arm but he throws against man coverage that most QBs drool for because of the offense they run.  He’s a solid pitch man and has improved in his 2^nd year running this offense.
• RBs are the core of this offense.  It starts both literally and figuratively with FB Jonathan Dwyer.  OK technically it starts with Nesbitt, but the FB dive is the first option you have to stop.  Dwyer probably leads the country in 2 yard gains but he’s also got that burst that scares the crap out of you.  Even with all those short yardage carries he’s averaging nearly 7 ypc on the year and has over 1,200 yards.  Fast and solid, he’s a perfect FB in this scheme.  Wingbacks Anthony Allen and Roddy Jones provide great results on the outside as pitch-men.  Allen, a transfer from Lousiville is actually averaging over 10 ypc.  Jones has been banged up some and was probably more dynamic last year but is a deceptive threat.   It’s not exactly reassuring when the 4^th running option went for over 200 yards against you last year.
• The GT WR position is basically one name, but if you’re going to have one guy, you might as well make him a good one.  Demaryius “Bay Bay” Thomas, the bane of spellchecks everywhere, is like Calvin Johnson lite, a big, fast WR who excels going up for the ball and taking it away.  The interesting thing there is that Paul Johnson’s offense is obviously not one that you think of great WR numbers and Chan Gailey was the NFL passing guru yet the results are similar.  Thomas benefits greatly from single coverage as secondaries have their noses in the backfield trying to find the ball…to the tune of catching a pass of 50 yards or more in 7 of 11 games this year and 35 yards are more in 9 of 11.  For the year he’s grabbed 39 passes at a 24.4 yards per reception clip.  No other player on the team has more than 6 catches on the year.
• Don’t bother looking at the GT line because their measurables mean very little.  Johnson’s offense basically asks these guys to get low and occupy somebody.  It’s like watching a Chinese fire drill at the snap, before the snap some would say.  They’re quick and well coached.  Straight up traditional blocking would get these guys blown out of most games but they know what they’re doing and do a good job of opening holes…considering GT is 2^nd nationally in rushing yards I’d say they’re doing better than good.
• Bottom Line: Let’s see, GT is 2^nd nationally in scoring offense and UGA is 75^th in scoring defense.  Awesome.  We’ve got a strong enough interior DL to stop the dive play (hopefully) and our DEs have been playing so much better lately that I’d think guys like Houston and Dobbs set up well with a guy like Wood being better suited to this game as well.  We’ll likely see Boykin get to match his considerable athletic skills against Thomas in solo coverage all day.  That leaves our LBs and Safeties to try and run the final two options and the wide stuff.  Not good.  We’ve done a pretty good job stopping the run this year but this is a different animal and we’ll have to get our best game of the year from those units to slow down an offense that has rolled a ton of folks.  Miami and Clemson had great success from athletically superior DLs disrupting the plays early but someone still has to make the tackle and that’s where we’ve struggled.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Let’s face it, odds are that Rennie Curran and Reshad Jones are heading to the NFL after this season.  If that’s the case, this game could be their legacy.  If we were to somehow figure out a way to slow this beat of an offense, they along with senior Brian Evans (who was having a great game at safety vs. GT before getting hurt last year) will need to go out on high notes.  Watch those guys.  If they are out of position, as they have been often this year, it won’t take long to figure out as the scoreboard will be quickly rolling over.

GT Defense

• The GT defense has had its moments this year.  Not nearly as solid as the offense, it has some next level talents but they’ve gotten exposed a few times, notably by big passing performances.  They gave up 31 to both Miss State and Vandy, two of the worst offenses in the SEC so there’s hope that if we can hang onto the ball (frankly a very long shot at this point) we could put some points on the board.  We’ll see.
• The star of the GT defense is junior DE Derrick Morgan, a projected top-10 pick in next fall’s NFL draft.  A pass-rushing threat on a big frame, His 17 TFLs and 12.5 sacks on the season easily make him GT’s leader in both categories and one of the more feared DEs in the ACC.  The remainders of the DEs have yet to develop into anything opposite him.  Inside, Logan Walls and Ben Anderson have started every game but haven’t really distinguished themselves.
• Jr. Brad Jefferson leads the team in tackles from his MLB spot and is flanked by 2^nd leading tackler Sedric Griffin on one side in every game.  The other spot, or Wolf LB, has seen a rotation of guys trying to develop as a playmaker.  Youngsters Steven Sylvester and Julian Burnett have largely gotten that call but neither has been dominant though both show promise.
• Jr. Morgan Burnett is as good a safety as you’ll find not named Eric Berry.  Yes I’m including Taylor Mays in that (that guy is just too big).  He’s a ball hawk, with another 4 INTs on the year so far and his 4 pass breakups lead the team.  Given Cox’ penchant for being careless with the ball in some games, Burnett could have a big day if we’re not careful.  Mario Butler and Jerrard Tarrant are a couple of physical CBs with good size.
• Bottom Line: Frankly I don’t know how you approach stopping the UGA offense.  Do you play to stop a running game that’s largely stopped itself all year and basically wait for the passing game to turn on itself?  It’s what I’d do but you’re playing with fire.  The UGA passing attack features the exact mode of attack that GT has struggled with at times, capable WRs, dangerous TEs and a QB who can complete the long ball.  Sure we turn the ball over more than most but does Tech really want to gamble that that will hold for another week?  Are they willing to risk a shot at the BCS for that?  I wouldn’t.  I imagine they’ll drop more in coverage and make us beat them on the ground.  King and Ealey have become quite the tandem here recently.  Maybe we can avoid those costly turnovers and come up with a performance to send Cox out on…a good one.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: We’ve done a great job of keeping Cox upright this year but Morgan will likely be the best pass rusher we’ve faced outside of Dunlap at Florida.  Morgan is prone to big games and making plays in bunches.  Boling and in particular Davis will have their hands full.  As good as he is rushing the passer, he’s equally adept against the run.  If we can slow him down, the rest of their DL isn’t in his class, but not many are.

The GT Game Overall

Here’s the deal with UGA.  We’re not a great football team.  That’s pretty clear.  The thing is though, we’re not nearly as bad as some of the results and by no means are we at a point where this game should be considered a foregone conclusion.  Look, if we don’t turn the ball over against UK we win by 3 TDs and come into this game on a complete high.  If we continue to turn the ball over at the rate we’ve done so far, we could lose to anyone.  Turnovers are a problem but far and away the more difficult aspect of our current turnover predicament is the fact that we can’t seem to force a turnover.  We’ve managed to jump on one fumble all year.  Just one.  That’s failure on an epic level.  We’ve managed a mere 7 INTs on the season.  Given the fact GT will likely throw it barely a dozen times, it’s unlikely we’ll force an INT.  One weakness of an option offense is typically a propensity to put it on the ground.  If we can manage to somehow win the turnover battle our chances go way, way up.  I feel confident saying if we finish -4 again we might as well not go.

This series has been about streaks.  You have to go all the way back to Tech’s 16-7 win in 1977 to find a win by either team that wasn’t part of at least a 2-year run.  Let’s change that.  A win this weekend would shatter Tech like few losses could.  For the first time in a long time many GT fans genuinely think they are going to win and not just the bluster of an excited fan.  Frankly, they should.  They’re the team with a punishing offense that’s rolled off 8 straight wins and we’re the team who just lost to Kentucky.  GT rarely comes into this game favored.  They are this year.  It’s unfamiliar territory.  For once the psychological edge in this game goes to us.  Let’s take advantage.  If you allow Paul Johnson another win, it’s more than a blip, it’s a major problem and it won’t be going anywhere soon.

I’ve thought all year that we would show up on both sides of the ball and dominate someone.  It hasn’t happened yet and it some point it has to (right?).  I’m by no means saying we win, not at all, I’m just saying that were we to pull this one out, I wouldn’t be as shocked as I imagine some around the country will be.

Positional Notes

• Richard Samuel managed to get a concussion at RB in a “thud” practice and won’t play this week.  He hasn’t had a carry in weeks so that doesn’t have a huge impact on us but it bears mentioning.
• I’d be in favor of a complete makeover of our entire kickoff coverage unit.
• Rambo apparently won’t be able to go.  That pretty well thins out our safety ranks.  Let’s pray for no injuries.
• Wooten “tha ball carrier” has some crazy concentration skills.  Great plays on both of his TDs.
• We gotta keep getting Orson Charles the ball.  That guy is just a big playmaker.

Random Thoughts

• So I saw the story about Jimmy Clausen getting punched in the face by a fan.  How much money could Notre Dame raise just by auctioning that off?
• I imagine Green is out for the year.  It’s just the way it goes for us.  Other teams’ best player’s get hurt, are questionable “at best” and play no problem.  We have guys miss multiple weeks with finger injuries.
• I don’t want to hear anymore about how much money the athletic association is making.  They have 6 home games a year and we manage to not have a technical snafu about once a year.  The clock Saturday was a new spin on an old trick.  Just disappointing that we gross $50 million per year yet can’t get something every high school stadium in American manages to get right.
• If you’re going to do student tickets as ID required, you’re going to have gaps like we had in the corners of the student section Saturday on the weekends when the students are home for break.  Sad but true.
• Tim Tebow’s last home game.  If people think UGA fans are hung up on Herschel, I can’t imagine the deification that’s about to occur when Moxon, I mean Tebow, heads on to the NFL.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Viewfrom336.com

Download UK Writeup as a PDF

Week 11

Opponent:  Kentucky Wildcats

Kickoff:  7:45 PM

TV: ESPN2

Quite possibly our most complete game of the year.  By no means perfect, in a year where we’ve looked so inconsistent so often, it looked like a dream come true.  The rest of the SEC East has fallen apart worse than we have and a win Saturday claims us outright 2^nd place in the East.  Up next is a Kentucky team that is solid, so we can’t afford to look ahead to a certain matchup with a top-10 state school to close out the season.

About the Auburn game…­­­­­­

The Good: Pretty much everything that happened in the last three quarters.  The defense played like we had hoped they might all year, holding a pretty efficient offense to 3 points over the final 45+ minutes of game time.  Despite the loss of AJ Green, the offense was able to put together some drives and we found explosiveness from a few different spots, something we had also waited all season for.  The team forced turnovers and gave away none, a novel approach to the game.

The Bad: The first quarter defense was about as bad as we’ve seen all year, which is saying something.  The first quarter offense was about the same.  The worst thing was easily the injury to AJ Green given how key he is to our offense.  The injury to Rambo was scary and his loss hurts since he was certainly appearing to be ready to make an impact.

The Key: So many keys to this game, it’s really hard to pick just one.  The most obvious one though was the fact we forced Auburn, a team that doesn’t turn the ball over much, into a few turnovers and we, a team that has been more than willing to hand out a few, held onto the ball the entire game.  It’s amazing how much better your team looks when that happens.

UK Offense

• While UK is by no means an explosive offense (8^th in the SEC in scoring, 9^th in total offense), they weren’t last year either and they managed to hang 38 on us.  They also run that damnable Wildcat offense to great effect with a guy who had a career day against us last year.  In SEC play they haven’t scored more than the 26 they put up against SC.  They are a good running team but a pretty bad passing team, especially given injuries.
• At QB, starter Mike Hartline is out after injuries sidelined him.  True freshman Morgan Newton has taken over the starting spot but hasn’t been overly, not necessarily effective, let’s say impactful.  A highly regarded HS recruit from Indiana, he’s faced as easy a run of games since Hartline’s injury as you could hope to expect.  His only TD passes came against Eastern Kentucky.  UK obviously has been trying to win in spite of him rather than because of him, as he only attempted 38 passes in the 3 SEC games he’s started (Auburn, MSU, Vandy).  He’s mobile, but isn’t a breakaway threat.  They typically run a good bit of wildcat with super-soph WR Randall Cobb taking snaps but a shoulder injury at Vandy has him listed by Coach Brooks as “questionable at best.”
• Twin speedsters Derrick Locke and Alphonso Smith make up the UK ground game.  Locke is having a solid year, averaging right at 5 ypc.  He’d have more total yards but the UK offense spreads the ground game around a good bit.  Again, Newton will get some carries at QB and I’d imagine they’ll still use the wildcat package some since Cobb’s 57 carries and 7 rushing TDs (leads the team) are simply too much a part of the offense to scrap the whole thing if he’s out.
• It should come as no surprise that Randall Cobb leads the UK team in catches, yards and TDs.  They have 4 players with 10 or more receptions and with Cobb out that drops to 3.  RB Derrick Locke is one of those 3.  JUCO transfer Chris Matthews is a big target at 6-5, 210 and he’s the big threat with Cobb out, grabbing 28 passes for 299 yards and 2 TDs.  They have a ton of guys in that 5-9 catches range and I expect to see someone in that group have their best game of the season if Cobb can’t go.
• The UK OL sports 4 seniors and a sophomore, so they have some serious seasoning along the front.  They’ve done a great job of protecting the QB this year and are 4^th in the SEC in sacks allowed.  That’s likely skewed to the fact that they run the ball a good bit more, especially with the loss of Hartline, but with a true freshman back there you’d expect to see a lot more than the 6 sacks he’s taken in 5 games.
• Bottom Line: The UK offense isn’t exactly explosive to begin with.  If Cobb can’t go they lose by far the most explosive weapon they had.  Look for heavy, heavy doses of Locke and Smith as they try to pound the ball behind their big, experienced line.  That sets up well for us as we’re far better equipped to defend the run than the pass at this point. 
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Our DL should be good enough to hang with their OL and neutralize them up front, especially if they can’t establish a passing threat.  I think the matchup to watch is going to be Locke against Curran.  Statistically speaking Curran is having a fine year but his name doesn’t seem to get called nearly as much as it was in the past couple of years.  It’s always fun to watch that guy run around and if rumors are true that he’s likely headed to the NFL after this season I’d like to see him go out with a few big performances.  He should get plenty of chances Saturday.

UK Defense

• UK is feeling the brunt of losing 7 starters from last year, all of which signed with an NFL team.  This ain’t the UK of old, that’s for sure.  They’ve struggled some in the wake of that talent void but they still have some solid players and are doing a better than expected job this season.  They aren’t great against the run (11^th in the SEC) and really struggle to get to the QB (last in the SEC) but they can play some pass defense and have a couple of real playmakers and they’ve managed to pull out some solid performances to date.
• The UK DL returned only 1 starter from last year, senior DT Corey Peters, who is having a fine season.  Jr. Ricky Lumpkin has started every game opposite him and has been steady.  The ends were a question mark coming in and to a large extent still are.  JUCO transfer DeQuin Evans came in and has put together a solid season and leads the team in TFLs and sacks.  There’s a rotating bunch to nail down the other DE spot and they’ve really struggled to get consistency.  Coming into the season they did not have a DE that had recorded a collegiate tackle.  Ouch.
• The star of the UK LB corps is MLB Micah Johnson who is a load at 6-2, 260.  He’s a prototypical big athlete that can cover ground and strike folks.  He’s leading the team in tackles in his final season.  Sr. SLB Sam Maxwell is a beast as well and his 4 INTs leads the team.  All 3 LBs are currently the top 3 on the team in tackles.
• The star of the UK defense and its secondary is Sr. CB Trevard Lindley, a GA native.  At 6-1, 180, he’s got good size and has great speed and athleticism.  He’s missed 4 games this year with a high ankle sprain but he’s back healthy now and has played the last couple of games.  UK sports a strong, deep safety group led by senior Calvin Harrison.
• Bottom Line: UK’s strength on D is against the pass, with Lindley being a CB that you’d place on a guy like AJ Green and feel at least decent about your chances.  With Green out, Lindley’s impact could be neutralized somewhat since he can’t be used as a counter for our best weapon.  We’ve got a bunch of guys like Moore, King, Troupe, etc. that can be threats but aren’t the type of guys we’ll look at on every play like Green.  Either way I see us continuing to establish this running game that’s emerged with Washaun and Caleb playing off each other.  Establish that and mix in some play action passing and you’ve got the recipe for a solid offense, even without your best player. With that said, we need King or Troupe or someone to step in and be that deep threat that Green was from the day he stepped on campus.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Watch our RBs.  I’m thinking we’re going to be running the ball a good bit and it should be readily obvious if we’re successful.  If Ealey and King have some openings out there and we can ride those two guys through a suspect UK line then we could continue to have some success putting points on the board.

The UK Game Overall

This game is huge.  Sure it means nothing in terms of the SEC title.  Sure UK isn’t one of our traditional rivals.  That doesn’t mean the game isn’t big.  In a year where we looked set on our worst performance in the Richt era, if we win this game we seal 2^nd place in the SEC east outright.  Sure the season wasn’t a roaring success but I’ve been a UGA fan too long to not take some pleasure in the fact that we were able to finish 2^nd in the division in a down year.

In the end this game could show us how well this team can refocus after a big win.  We’re not a good enough football team to just throw our helmets (whatever color) out there and expect to beat a team as solid as UK.  We can’t overlook anyone at this point.  With a tangible result on the line (2^nd in the east), we shouldn’t have any issues getting up for this one despite it being sandwiched between Auburn and Tech.  Come out, hunker down, beat Kentucky, then focus on beating a GT team and trying to disrupt their miracle season.

Positional Notes

• Our DE play has really improved.  Not sure how much you’re paying attention, but Cornelius Washington and Justin Houston are absolute nightmares in passing situations and Dobbs and Wood have been solid against the run.  It took a while but they are here.
• It seems like Tavares King just has a knack for getting open deep.  I’d love to see us take several shots to him Saturday.
• Kevin Perez and Ricardo Crawford came to Athens without some of the accolades of their fellow classmates like Stafford and Moreno and they’ll never have seen any heavy playing time as they have both announced they are graduating with a year of eligibility left, but they put their blood and sweat into the scout team and helped this team get prepared for 4 years so they deserve our gratitude.
• The OL seems to be gelling somewhat although frankly Auburn’s DL isn’t very good and UK’s is probably worse.
• With Rambo out this week is this the week that Quintin Banks steps up finally?  Without him we’re looking at a very thin safety situation.
• Christian Robinson is really coming on at LB.

Random Thoughts

• Davie and Jones have skyrocketed to my least-liked announcing tandem…and they’re back this week.  They just have zero chemistry.  Jones hasn’t learned the art of working things into the broadcast smoothly, they just come off forced, like the whole thing about coaches’ salaries.  Davie, for a former big time coach, comes across stiff and doesn’t bring a whole lot of insight that you’d expect.  Neither appears to be very quick on their feet as they showed when they were convinced that Ealey should have been marked out at the 2 on his overturned TD despite the fact every 8-year old knows that you place the ball where it was when the player stepped out.  Just hard to believe this is the best ESPN could come up with.  Can we get Ron Franklin back please?  I loved that guy.
• And another thing, Davie’s injury assessment ability is bordering on absurd.  As if his insistence that AJ had hurt his wrist wasn’t bad enough, he was locked into the fact that Rambo had hurt his shoulder despite the fact he clearly had gotten knocked out.  Which brings me to the question, why is it that no announcers ever catch onto the fact that when a guy is knocked out when he gets clobbered or clobbers someone and goes down with his arms locked out directly in front of him?  It’s so obvious and you can see it from the stands yet I’ve got Bob Davie telling me on the 10^th replay of Rambo’s head snapping to the side that it’s clear he hurt his shoulder.
• Has there ever been a worse set of cutaways to downtown Athens during one of these night ESPN games?  I guess they were trying to play up the whole eclectic town thing, but it made it look like downtown Athens was all homeless people and musicians.  Wait a minute.  It’s not right?
• Granted there had not been a whole lot to cheer about at that point but when the fire baton girl get the loudest cheer of the game you know your team isn’t playing its best.  It is pretty fun to see the student sections respond loudly to her.
• The Meyer to Notre Dame rumor just won’t die.  I wonder if he left if they’d go after Stoops again.  I suppose Kelly at Cincinnati is the guy that makes the most sense, but you know ND wants to make a splash and hiring Kelly is more like a ripple.
• Can we just not give out a Heisman this year?  Seriously.  There’s no one that seems deserving although I get the feeling that if Houston Nutt had given Dexter McCluster as many touches early in the year as he’s getting right now not only would he be in the running but they wouldn’t have struggled so much early on.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Viewfrom336.com

Download AU Writeup in pdf

Week 10

Opponent:  Auburn Tigers

Kickoff:  7:00 PM

TV: ESPN2

Alright, that went about the way you’d expect.  Nice to watch a game and not be a bundle of complete nerves just knowing it was going wrong at some point.  Now we get a team that’s struggling for consistency about as much as we are.  Should be interesting to say the least.

About the Tenn Tech game…­­­­­­

The Good: The defense completely dominated an opponent despite emptying the bench.  That was nice to see.  They had less than 100 yards of total offense.  Offensively we played about like I would’ve expected.  We ran the ball and passed the ball at will and substituted liberally.  It was pretty much an ideal game.

The Bad: Logan Gray threw an INT so we ended up losing the turnover battle…again.  That and the fact we couldn’t force a turnover were a bit disappointing.  Given the way we’ve played at times this year, that’s really nitpicky.

The Key: The interior of our DL played like I had imagined it would all year.  TT couldn’t run the ball and it had no time at all to throw it.  Their offense was never a threat because of the play of the DL.  I’d love to see that effort carried through the rest of the season.

AU Offense

• For the 2^nd consecutive year the Tigers are breaking out an innovative offense in order to shock the world.  This year it’s worked decidedly better than last.  Last year’s debacle of an offense under Tony Franklin which lasted barely half the season was a disaster early and often.  This year’s unit under Gus Malzahn has been much, much better.  While still not the most consistent group, they took the same personnel and developed a productive offense.  The “it” phrase nowadays is spread and while they do spread you out, they actually run the ball a lot more.  Look for lots of misdirection and cutbacks.
• After suffering through a miserable, injury-riddled season last year, Chris Todd has bounced back in a big way.  Completing nearly 60% of his passes, he’s got a very tidy 17 TD to 3 INT ratio.  3 INTs all year?  We’ll drop that in a half if Cox is on.  Anyway, Todd isn’t a threat to run and he doesn’t have the raw arm strength of a Mallett to burn you deep.  Skills-wise he’s very similar to Cox, just without the INTs.  Not surprisingly, his 3 lowest passing games (by more than 50 yards) were in AU’s 3 losses.  I’d be remiss not to mention the “wildcat” since Malzahn was instrumental in its development while at Arkansas with Nutt and McFadden.  Last year’s QB Kodi Burns plays some WR now but will do some wildcat stuff.  Given their considerable misdirection stuff, Burns could be effective given his passing ability but he’s been largely held in check in that role this year.
• The AU running attack always has talent.  This year is no different where Sr. Ben Tate has emerged as a real threat, rushing for over 1,100 yards already on the season.  He’s averaging over 5.5 ypc and better than 1 catch per game too.  Freshman Onterio McCalebb has added a spark as more of slasher but the infamous high ankle sprain has held him out of the last two games and he’s questionable.  Mario Fannin is a do-everything back that’s lethal out of the backfield in the passing game.  Seriously.  That guy always makes a big play when I’m watching them.  He’s also 2^nd on the team in catches and 3^rd in rush yardage so that supports my theory.
• Lanky Ga native Darvin Adams has emerged as the biggest passing game threat, with 38 catches on the season for over 600 yards and 9 TDs through 10 games.  Jr. Terrell Zachary has been the definition of a big play threat, with 4 catches of 40 or more yards, but he’s been held to 2 or fewer catches in 7 of 10 games.  Sr. Tommy Trott is a weapon who’s only caught 10 passes on the year (he pulled in 20 last year).  Again, the RBs factor into the passing game a good bit.
• The AU OL was young a few years ago and they‘re now reaping the rewards of that a bit.  With the exception of RT Andrew McCain, every OL had started multiple games entering this season.  Don’t feel bad for McCain, he’s played in 37 games so he’s no newbie.  LT Lee Ziemba is probably the best of the bunch although OC Ryan Pugh isn’t far behind.
• Bottom Line: As you’d expect of every offense ever, Auburn has been more successful against weaker defenses.  Auburn’s just got a more stark difference than most.  They’re averaging 450 yards of offense per game, but in 6 games against teams with winning records that number falls below 360 ypg.  They’ve beaten up the bad teams they’ve played, averaging 590 yards of offense per game.  We’re barely a winning record team, but we’ve certainly got a stronger pulse than Ball State or La Tech, right?  LSU’s active D held AU to 10 points.  That bad Arkansas D only gave up 23 to AU, with 20 of those coming after Arkansas carried a 34-3 lead well into the 3^rd quarter.  Their offense has had some gaudy outings, but they’ve had some eggs too.  Look for Malzahn to put pressure on our DBs (safeties in particular) with the play action passing.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Todd hasn’t turned the ball over much this year.  Well Brandon Cox hadn’t turned the ball over a whole heckuva lot his last two years coming into this game either and I think he averaged 5 INTs a game over those last two years against UGA.  I want to see Justin Houston really, really emerge.  I want to see the DTs play like they did last week, just disrupting stuff.  If our DL can control the LOS (not out of the question) like LSU did, we can have success against this team.

AU Defense

• We’ve played a considerably tougher schedule than AU has to this point.  Despite that, and despite the considerable defensive struggles we’ve had this year, I was shocked to see that our defense has put up better statistics than AU virtually across the board.  You thought our D was bad?  Auburn is 11^th in the SEC in total defense (we’re 7^th) and last in the SEC in scoring defense (we’re 10^th).  They’ve been particularly bad against the run (10^th in the SEC), which should be interesting to watch considering we can’t run the ball, which begs the question, if we do run the ball well against Auburn, does that mean we can run the ball or not?  The lack of a strong D is a bit surprising considering Chizik built his rep as a defensive coordinator.
• The star of the Tiger DL is Sr. DE Antonio Coleman, who is currently 3^rd all-time in sacks for the Tigers, a considerable feat.  His 12.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks on the season easily pace the team.  They’ve yet to develop a bookend at the other side to match his production.  The interior is manned by guys that are solid but aren’t going to be guys you have to gameplan for.
• The Tiger LB corps has been paced by a pair of juniors from Florida in Craig Stevens and Josh Byrnes.  They are currently 1-2 in tackles on the team.  Rounding out the unit is a guy with one of the better names in the conference, Eltoro Freeman.  Eltoro.  That’s great.  The bull, or maybe it’s just the toro.  I don’t speak Spanish any gooder than English.  Sorry, any more gooder.
• This is where it gets weird.  Auburn has been significantly better against the pass than the run.  That’s not the crazy part.  The crazy part is they’ve taken as many injuries at one spot (safety) as you’ll see any team take and still been prodcutive agains the pass.  It’s gotten so bad that they started a 5-9 JUCO transfer CB at safety against Furman last week that had never played safety prior to that game.  Opposite him is a true freshman, granted, one that’s started every game this year, but still, that’s how beat up they are there.  Granted, the questionable safety position is shored up considerably by a pair of fine CBs in Sr. Walter McFadden (leads the team in INTs with 4) and Neiko Thorpe (3^rd on the team in tackles), but this unit is playing well above itself given their issues and results.
• Bottom Line: If we can avoid shooting ourselves in the foot, i.e. turning the ball over deep in our own territory, we should be able to move the ball.  No one all year has shut AJ down and Auburn has yet to shut a running game down.  If we suddenly are able to run the ball then our play action becomes that much more dangerous.  Right now no one respects it.  With the major question marks AU has at safety right now I’d imagine we use our athletic TEs to stretch the seams and couple them with AJ flooding some zones to put pressure on those guys.  Heck, I don’t care if we cut Chapas loose on the FB screen play 15 times per drive, I just want to score some points and move the ball consistently.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Watch AJ.  You know we’ll throw to him several times and you know if it’s close he’s going to come down with it.  He’s so vital to our attack it’s not very fun to think about him getting hurt and missing time but missing last week might have gotten him recharged and ready to produce against an AU defense that has played for 10 straight weeks.

The AU Game Overall

This is labeled the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.  That name conjures up old black and white footage and legendary coaches roaming the sidelines.  The rivalry is close, with AU holding a 2-game advantage.  The total margin of points over the 112 meetings is less than 50 points.  By all accounts this should be a close, old fashioned slugfest.  There’s an odd underbelly to this rivalry though.  Lopsided games are more common in recent years than closely fought ones.  You’d be better served coming into this game as the underdog, playing on the road based on history.  The rivalry just doesn’t make sense.  How else can you explain UGA being a 5-pt favorite?  Seriously?  Has Vegas watched us recently?

At the end of the day though, I think this game boils down to Joe Cox.  Sure, recent years would tell us that QBs by the name of Cox (see Cox, Brandon) tend to implode in this game but you could also say that QBs by the name of Cox tend to spur on UGA wins.  Whatever, Joe Cox playing like he did in Arkansas, or even against SC, can have some success.  Joe Cox playing like he did against UT, UF, etc. could get ugly against anyone.  Getting back AJ should open the running game up even more and I think we all know how much Bobo wants to make that work.  Maybe the OL is finally gelling after early season injuries, maybe it’s the emergence of Washaun, maybe it’s all smoke and mirrors, but I saw a running game start to emerge against Florida and last week it was there in the brief moments where we were trying offensively.

After this game Saturday, one fanbase is going to feel relieved and one is going to be depressed.  Yes, that’s true of most games in the SEC but this one is different.  UGA and AU don’t usually play with this little on the line.  True, AU’s in a transition year, but they came out of the gate too fast, got expectations up, and now they’ve proceeded (with a loss to the worst UGA team of the Richt era) to come crashing back down again heading into their nightmare matchup against a resurgent, undefeated Alabama team on the prowl for a national title…again.  On the flip side, a UGA loss to another first-year SEC coach at a traditional rival would just be too bitter to take.  With the way this season’s gone for us, I’m really hoping we come out on the good side of this one.  Lord knows we need it.

Positional Notes

• Washaun just looks better and better out there.  Very decisive on his cuts and just seems to naturally find space.  His development seems to have allowed Caleb to slide into a more specific role as pass catcher, slash-type guy, which he seems perfectly suited for.
• Josh Davis’ development at OT is only going to help our depth next year.  We should be loaded at OL next year.  Of course, I thought that about this year too prior to some of the injuries.
• Montez Robinson looks like he’s coming on at rush end.  After originally being an Auburn commitment, I imagine he’d love to bust out this week.
• Charles and White at TE are going to be a fun duo to watch over the next few years.  Both of those guys are so athletic and versatile.
• Joe Cox has thrown some questionable passes this year.  I don’t know that any were as questionable as the INT Logan Gray threw against Tenn Tech.  Straight into double coverage.  Ouch.
• Branden Smith is really fast.  I mean really fast.  He’s going to be a great CB once he’s in the system for a year too.  It’s easy to forget he’s just a true freshman.  He and Boykin are going to be a great tandem next year.

Random Thoughts

• UGA-Auburn in Athens will always make me think of the blackout two years ago.  Yes I know it’s been tainted somewhat after the debacle of the Bama blackout last year, but that night was just special.  It was really, really something to watch.
• With that being said, I think this whole trend in college football is getting a little crazy.  The trend of all these uniform combinations.  They’re basically just a shill for uniform manufacturers to make money by selling yet another jersey.  Black is one of our colors so I don’t mind it too terribly much but it’s one of those things where our uniforms looked so danged good already, why mess with them, especially when you know it’s going to get labeled a gimmick.  Look, I don’t blame a school like Clemson trying out a few different uniform combinations.  They wear purple and orange.  They owe it to themselves to try and find something tolerable out of the union of those two atrocities.  At UGA we don’t.  I don’t want to turn around in 5 years and be like FSU, more recently Oregon, where you never know what the team is going to look like week to week.
• Maybe it’s just because UGA is out of it completely since oh, week 1 or thereabouts, but this year’s national title hunt is pretty boring.  At this point you know the winner of Florida-Alabama is getting in, likely even if they take a regular season loss unless it’s really ugly.  Texas is likely in barring a meltdown.  I don’t even know what happens if Texas loses one.  TCU?  Boise State?  Gulp…Georgia Tech?  I mean, I don’t know who to pull for there.  I can’t pull for Florida anymore, I just can’t.  Bama, well…
• I don’t like Florida fans because they’re generally tacky.  UT fans often come across ignorant of anything not UT.  LSU fans are just weird.  SC fans are just fun to laugh at.  AU fans are obsessed (with Bama), but one thing this Bama resurgence has shown me is that it’s really, really easy to hate Alabama.  Good grief they are an annoying lot.  I had an Auburn fan tell me once that the Alabama fanbase was by far the most obese in college football. True or not, they certainly carry around massive amounts of inflated egos, which works great with Saban.  Where did these folks crawl out from?  I haven’t seen Bama fans en masse since Gene Stallings was there yet now it seems like you can’t go to a restaurant with a game on and NOT hear “ROLL TIDE” in that oh-so-Bama drawl.  Aren’t they about due for probation so those folks can go away again?

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Viewfrom336.com

Last week was interesting…if you’re into pain and suffering, self-loathing, things like that.  I’m not, so I was miserable.  With that behind us, time to move on and see what we can salvage our of a pretty disappointing season.

The UF Game:

The Good:  Ealey getting his eyes gouges out shed light on Brandon Spikes’ general despicableness.  That’s about it.

The Bad:  Pretty much everything else.  The defense gave up another big offensive day to a team that had been struggling to put up points.  The offense showed some fight at times but has become so predictable it’s beyond sad.  Cox threw into quadruple coverage once.  AJ is a fine football player but c’mon.  4 guys?  It was just a total wreck.

The Key:  The opening drive.  We kicked off and simply watched Florida go straight down the field on us.  Just to make sure they understood exactly what we were about, we let them do it again on their second drive.  Meyer had his team focused and they came out executing on all cylinders.  Us, not so much.

The Tennessee Tech Game Overall:

AJ is out so our offense will have to find another way to score.  Look for us to try and pound the ball to try and estbalish some sense of running game.  King and Ealey still have potential to be excellent backs this year for us but we’ve yet to see consistency.  With AJ out and Wooten stepping into his role we should be looking at some opportunities for some of these other WRs to step up.  Wooten has looked good the couple of times we’ve gotten him the ball.  Hopefully Marlon Brown can have a breakout.  We really need for Cox to have a big day just from a confidence standpoint.

On defense we just need to pitch a shutout or something close to it.  We’ve got depth and against a team this overmatched we should be able to just out-athlete them.  I just don’t know what to expect.  I want some turnovers forced and some 3 and outs with regularity.

Positional Notes:

• Like I said, AJ is out so we’ll rely on others to step up.  I think Charles might have a big game.
• Boling looks OK to go.  That’s nice.
• Houston hurt his elbow and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was very limited.  That’s not terrible because I’d love to see guys like Washington and Robinson get some shots to provide a spark.  They’re the future, let’s get them ready.
• It wouldn’t shock me to see a random LB unit to start the game.  Curran and pretty much any of the 8 or so other LBs wouldn’t surprise me at all.  They just haven’t been that effective despite the incredible amount of talent there.
• Hopefully Gray gets his shot to operate the offense under normal conditions.  The couple of times he’s had the opportunity to operate the whole offense, i.e. not just the wildcat, it’s been in games so far decided as to be laughable.  Hopefully he can come in for some mop up duty and get some confidence.

Random Thoughts:

• Most of my thoughts aren’t print-worthy…still…
• I know most folks don’t care, I don’t really either, but I imagine the Indiana football team feels completely snake bit.  I mean first they had the whole Michigan game ending INT thing, then the TD overturn against Iowa.  Couple that with the fact that they’re in a turnaround year where two wins could make a huge difference in their season.  I mean, imagine that happening to Vandy when they were trying to get bowl eligible.
• OK, the season basically boils down to two games now…Auburn and GT.  Lose both of those and this season is one of the worst of the last two decades.  Win them both and it’s probably only the worst of the Richt era.  Actually, I still think we’re going to play a solid game on both sides of the ball against someone this year and win convincingly.
• Can someone tell Brandon Spikes to buckle his chin strap?  Josh Davis gets accused of “ripping Spikes’ helmet off” when it seemed clear to me it was popping off every other play.
• The winner of the LSU-Bama game still controls their own destiny, for the whole shebang too.  If LSU wins out they’ll likely be in the MNC, more than likely against Texas.  Who’s going to keep them out?  Iowa?  Boise State?  Oregon?  Not likely…at all…
• I know everyone is pretty well sold on the fact that Martinez is gone after the season, at least as DC, but I’ve yet to hear a DC name that really excites me and makes sense.  Richt’s hires typically have some connection, on some level, and I’ve yet to hear one of those that makes sense.  Tubberville of course has gotten thrown around some, but he hasn’t coordinated in a long, long time.  Not saying he couldn’t, just throwing it out there.  I don’t know who else would make sense.  I’d love to hear new ideas.  Is there any connection to Jim Haslett?  That guy coached the Steelers’ defenses of the late 90s before moving on to New Orleans and then eventual obscurity.  He’s now the head coach of a UFL team (that’s that 4-team pro league you’ve never heard of).  I’d be willing to take someone that would only be here for 2 or 3 years if they’d reestablish our defensive presence.  Any thoughts?