Download the pdf version here… pdf version of Colorado Writeup

Week 5

Opponent:  Colorado Buffaloes

Kickoff:  7:00 PM

TV: FSN

The nightmare continues…

About the Miss. St. game…

We just aren’t a very good football team right now.  Watching the Bama-Arkansas game right before ours I had pretty well convinced myself that we were actually a pretty decent team and that Arkansas was really good.  They might still be, but we aren’t.  We got manhandled in the 2^nd half and it was embarrassing.  There’s just not a lot to say about it.  Oh yeah, the 7 o’clock game meant my whole Saturday wasn’t ruined, which was a nice departure from the last two noon kickoffs that pretty well ended my day before it began.

The Good:  Aaron Murray was pretty much the only positive I saw.  That kid is a gamer.  I just wish the coaching staff gave him more of an opportunity by moving the pocket some, staying away from as much play action as we run and giving him some more high percentage throws like screens and quick outs to pull the coverage and rush back some.

The Bad:  A lot.  Our running game is as bad as I can remember it being.  We can’t generate any type of push on offense.  Our running backs don’t seem to be gamebreakers at all.  On defense we can’t seem to get off the field or pick up that one huge play.  Our lack of pass rush is shocking at this point.  We still have tackling issues.  There seems to be no fire at all amongst the players.  We look like we know we’re a bad football team and don’t really care, and that’s really, really sad.

The Interesting:  Play action…Figured I’d follow back up on that.  We threw a LOT more from the shotgun this week.  We called a passing play from shotgun 29 times Saturday, including penalty plays that were lost, sacks, scrambles, etc. and according to my charting, just one used play action.  Under center play calls was a different story.  Of the 10 pass plays called under center, all utilized play action.  3 ended in scrambles and Murray was 4 of 7 on the plays he actually got a pass off.  So in 2 weeks we’ve had 34 pass plays called under center and 31 of them were play action.  I’ve felt for years that it seemed like we never did straight drops but I didn’t expect it to be this stark.

CU Offense

• Colorado doesn’t sport an explosive offense but they do present a balanced attack.  On the year they are averaging just under 150 ypg rushing the ball and around 185 ypg through the air.  Their total offense ranks 86^th nationally and scoring offense ranks 96^th, so they’ve yet to really produce.  Given the high-powered offenses Hawkins ran at Boise State and the fact he’s had several years to install his system, the results are particularly surprising.
• Awesome, Colorado has a QB who can run the ball.  Where have we seen that? This guy is pretty mobile but his yardage stats get suppressed by the number of sacks he typically takes.  I don’t suppose we need to worry about that this week though.  He went down 33 times for a sack last year and through 3 games this season he’s gone down 8 times already.  A junior, he’s got considerable experience, is completing over 60% of his passes and a 4/4 TD/INT ratio.  I fully expect a career day from him rushing the ball.
• Slight (5-6, 175) Jr. Rodney Stewart has gotten the bulk of the carries on the year but isn’t averaging 4 ypc on the season.  As a team they don’t have a run of 20 yards on the year.  I will say that while we don’t seem to be able to stop people from picking up that key 2 or 3 yards on 3^rd and short we have held running games largely in check for everyone not named Lattimore and looking back at his average, he got his yardage off of that massive number of carries…coupled of course with the fact we refused to tackle him.
• Their base set is 3 WRs and their run tendencies tell you this is that spread to run offense that you see a fair amount of nowadays, the one Hawkins employed at Boise State.  They spread the ball around a lot, with 8 guys averaging a catch or more per game.  Sr. Scotty McKnight is averaging nearly 5 receptions per game.  At 5-11, 185 let’s hope he doesn’t get to run free as much as Bumphis did last weekend.  He’s their career receptions leader which has gotta be good for something at a school that produced Michael Westbrook and Rae Carruth.  I actually meant that seriously but as I was typing it I realized one of those is quite possibly best known for sucker-punching a teammate (Stephen Davis of the Redskins) and the other is best known for having his 8-month pregnant girlfriend gunned down in a drive-by.  OK, fine, Westbrook is best known for the Hail Mary from Kordell Stewart to beat Michigan but I always think of the sucker punch.
• After the MSU OL pretty much ran at will the 2^nd half last week I don’t have a lot of confidence that we’re going to just shut teams down or get a ton of pressure.  Sorry, that’s the case.  Colorado starts 4 upperclassmen along the OL with a r-Fr RT being the only blip.
• Bottom Line: This isn’t a great offense.  They scored 24 against Colorado State (who gave up 51 to Nevada and 31 to Miami, OH) and 31 to Hawaii (who gave up 28 to Army).  I’m not saying we’re a great defense by any means but we’re a huge step up from what they’ve faced.  They only managed 7 against Cal, a team that gave up 50+ to Nevada.  They aren’t a particularly good passing team but they can’t be worse than Mississippi State.  In fact they remind me a lot of MSU in their approach.  Spread the field, run the ball, pass if called for, don’t do anything great.  We’ve just got to man up.  3^rd down conversions are going to be huge.  We couldn’t get MSU off the field in the 2^nd half and it killed us.  It kept the crowd fired up and involved.   1,500 miles from home I’d rather go ahead and hush the crowd with a flurry of early game turnovers (by them), but maybe I just expect too much.  I haven’t won the lottery yet either.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: We’ve gotten blown around on short yardage plays so far so I’m going to be paying close attention to the middle of our line.  I hope to see Geathers in there some but I don’t care who it is, we’ve got to start making some plays there.

CU Defense

• CU is stout against the run, 7^th in the country, although playing the two teams currently ranked last in the FBS in rushing (Hawaii and Colorado State) certainly helps.  Their passing defense is considerably less stout, yielding over 240 yards per game.  They did manage to hold Hawaii to 13 points but this year’s Hawaii team isn’t as explosive as it has been.  They run a standard 4-3 front.
• The CU DL is pretty small.  Left DE Josh Hartigan is listed at 6-1, 225.  I’m assuming he must be some hybrid DE/LB but his backup weighs 260, so who knows.  Former UGA commit Conrad Obi is a backup DT now as a junior.
• The LBs for the Buffs rotate a good bit.  5 of the team’s top 10 tacklers are LBs.  Not much else to say about them really beyond the fact they can obviously play to be the 7^th best run defense in the country.
• The CU secondary is actually pretty solid.  They like to stick their nose in the backfield, where SS Anthony Perkins leads the team in tackles by a large margin.  2^nd in that category is another DB in FS Ray Polk. Unlike the LBs, the secondary doesn’t rotate much at all, as three guys have played all 173 snaps on the year.  The other guy only got in on 171 snaps.  CB Jalil Brown is probably the most talented of the bunch.  Both starting CBs are at least 6-1, 205.
• Bottom Line: We need to develop some identity on offense.  It’s like Bobo wants us to be a run-first bunch that allows us to key the passing game off of that but right now our OL is struggling to open up holes of any size and our RBs can’t seem to break a tackle.  That’s a horrible combination.  While I’m sure Bobo will try and establish the run early I think we need to throw it early, establish AJ as part of the gameplan, allow Durham and King to work off him and get back to the running game as we start to make them respect the pass.  It’s like the anti-play action so it’ll never happen but a fellow can dream can’t he?
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: AJ vs. Jalil Brown should be a good matchup. AJ has had some of his biggest games in opponents’ stadiums out west, Arkansas last year and Arizona State as a freshman.  After the debacle that was his offseason and the perceived distractions it’s caused, you know he wants to get out and prove himself.  With Murray’s knack for completing the deep ball, Green could have a big game.  I can’t wait to see what happens when we start running some routes underneath these vertical routes to King and Green. The TE and the Wooten/Brown stuff should be wide open as defenses stretch to cover AJ.  He really does change our offense tremendously.

The CU Game Overall

This is pointless.  The last time we played Colorado they were bringing in one of the nation’s worst offenses and defenses against a UGA team that was expected to be getting its collective stuff together.  Not so much.  We needed a certain red-headed freshman to come in and lead us to two 4^th quarter TDs to pull out a one-point win.  At the time I remember being thrilled we pulled out the win but somewhat worried at the fact we did nothing (good) on offense and played pretty bad defensively.  It’s funny because now I get the second half of that only without being thrilled at the win.

We opened things up more against MSU to the tune of 31 attempts for Murray (more when you count scrambles and sacks) but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot when we’d get into scoring range, be it a penalty pulling us back out of FG range or taking a TD off the board or whatever.  After rewatching the game, the playcalling last week wasn’t as bad as I had initially thought.  It was mostly bad because it didn’t work and that’s not really fair.  Bobo can only do so much.  Most of his running game play calls in the 2^nd half were trying to spring some stuff and surprise them, and you have to do that on occasion.  We’ve just got to do a better job of blocking up front on the OL and making things happen at the RB spot.  I don’t know who steps up to take charge of that, but at this point Dontavius Jackson has to be kicking himself.  He could’ve possible been our leading rusher this season.

I just want to see some fire.  Two weeks ago watching this team claw its way back against Arkansas I was so excited about their potential because I saw a lot of heart and effort and it gave me hope.  I saw very little of that last week.  Sure some guys were going above and beyond, namely Murray, Charles, T. King and a few others, but there just didn’t seem to be a passion to succeed and dominate.  That lack of fire certainly seemed to be hammered home in the post-game locker room audio when you could hear the players laughing in the background.  I don’t know about you but there was nothing funny about what I witnessed Saturday night.  I want effort and I want a win.  I still expect this team to improve tremendously over the course of the year between the development of Murray and the defense getting more comfortable with the new scheme.  We still face our top 4 rivals so a large chunk of the year is still in front of us.  Please get some momentum this week fellas.

Positional Notes

• Still waiting to see Geathers get some more snaps.
• Nice to see Orson Charles get a few catches although one was wiped out by penalty.
• That dump pass to Ealey (the one he fumbled on) was a great playcall.  Tough break on the fumble as he clearly got knocked silly but I’d like to see more of that to counter the inside blitz when there’s a gaping hole in the short middle of the defense.
• Our OL is massively struggling.  It only takes one guy missing his block to kill a play and right now it’s like we’re rotating who that guy is on each play.  For an upperclassmen laden group they are making a ton of mistakes.  Time to earn your money Searels.
• Whatever Ben Jones did was not cool with Dan Mullen, that’s for sure.  He was irate.  At the time I was beyond miserable so I didn’t pay much attention but rewatching it you could really tell he was mad.  Unfortunately I still don’t know what Jones did.
• I think I only saw Branden Smith on one offensive play.  Surely he’s going to get in on more than that this week.
• It’s just not Baccari Rambo’s year.  That bouncing punt could’ve only gone one direction to hit him and it absolutely did.
• Maybe last year really spoiled me, but Drew Butler just isn’t hitting them like he was last year.

Random Thoughts

• How is it that Mallett scrambles around and completely loses his head against Bama under no pressure and starts forcing throws but against us he looks like John Elway?  Don’t give me that Bama defense crap either.  Mallett threw 2 picks that I saw where he was under no pressure and didn’t throw into funky coverages, just made a bad decision.  Just one of those the week before and right now we’re a “stellar” 2-2.  Wow, I’m wishing we were 2-2.  That’s just so sad.
• I just found out a friend of mine from a few years back wrote a book.  I haven’t read it yet, but the subject matter is right up my alley and yours too if you’re reading this.  It’s called “Belue to Scott!” and well, I think the topic is pretty self-evident.  Check it out and think of the happier times… http://www.beluetoscott.com/.  With comments (positive to boot) from Tony Barnhart and Vince Dooley it’s gotta be good.
• Could you imagine how unbearable this season would be if GT was undefeated right now and cruising to another BCS game?  Not saying their losing makes our season easier to handle, it’s just nice knowing they can’t exactly gloat.
• My how the college football landscape has changed.  USC and Michigan are both undefeated and are both ranked well behind Boise State, TCU and Utah, not to mention also being behind three 1-loss teams.
• So Florida plays Bama this weekend?  That should be interesting.  Hopefully we pull out a win so I can actually try and enjoy watching the 2^nd half.  If you didn’t know, this one should go quickly.  2 of CU’s 3 games this year have been done in under 3 hours.  That’s crazy.  So anyway, Bama vs. Florida.  Saban vs. Meyer.  So much evil in one place.  Watch for lightning strikes.  What happens if those two inadvertently get into a staring contest pre-game?  The last time they met Meyer expended so much energy he ended up in the hospital so I wouldn’t be surprised if he orders a 3^rd stringer to sweep the leg and take Nicky boy out.
• Did anyone else notice that Lattimore only managed 33 yards on 14 carries against Auburn?  As bad as that was for SC, that doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture for what we can expect the rest of the season.  We made that guy look like Bo Jackson.  Not Herschel, just Bo.  Add to that the fact that Cameron Newton ran for 176 yards against a defense that we managed 61 yards against and the Auburn game is getting much scarier.  AU fans want that one really bad too as they’ve lost 4 in a row, unprecedented for that series.
• Sticking with that game, why is it we’re petrified to let Murray run the ball yet Auburn, who is clearly depending heavily on Newton, lets him go to the tune of 25 carries against SC?  Yeah, I know he outweighs Murray by about 70 pounds, but can we please unshackle the kid?  The guy can flat make plays with his feet.  I’ll continue to say that until he gets hurt at which point I will question the coaches’ logic of having him run the ball.  It’s my right as a fan.
• The ACC and Big East are a combined 2-19 against non-conference BCS opponents.  Wow.  I knew they were struggling, but that’s awful.  With that in mind, watch out for NC State to start making some noise if they get by VT (yes, the team that lost to James Madison) this weekend at home to move to 5-0.  They don’t play a currently ranked opponent the rest of the season with their toughest games being @Clemson, FSU and @UNC.  That’s still considerably tougher than whatever poo-poo platter Boise State and TCU face.
• Call it what you will but every team whose AD went through a sex scandal this offseason has struggled this year.  Granted, it’s a short list (I can only name one).  I call it the Curse of the Red Panties.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Viewfrom336.com

Download pdf version here: Mississippi State Writeup

Week 4

Opponent:  Miss. State Bulldogs

Kickoff:  7:00 PM

TV: FSN

So I thought I was having a nightmare.  Then I woke up and unless everyone had the same nightmare, we’re actually 1-2 on the season and 0-2 in the SEC.  I did some research and apparently it wasn’t a nightmare.  Crap.  I’d like to go back to sleep now and wake up in the heady days when SC was a total patsy and we could exploit Arkansas’ lack of a defense.  Oh well.  I suppose it’s time to deal with the hand we’ve dealt ourselves.  On with the season…

About the Arkansas game…

I suppose it’s a sign of the times that I actually feel better after a second straight loss than I did the week before because I actually saw some fight out of our team even though we ultimately lost the game.  I’m not one for moral victories and I absolutely abhor the fact we just lost to Arkansas and Petrino but I saw some things I can get excited about and that’s certainly worth something.  I need those somethings, otherwise it could be a really, really long week.

The Good:  More than I would’ve thought when we were down 2 TDs in the 4^th quarter.  Aaron Murray showed me a lot Saturday.  That kid can throw a better, more catchable deep ball than any QB I can remember.  He still has some pocket management issues but he’s still learning.  Tavares King looks like a guy who is ready to be a go-to receiver and Durham showed he’s already that guy.  Add back Green and safeties are going to be hesitant to load the box.  Also, the defense deserves some credit for bowing their backs and stopping Arkansas on multiple 4^th quarter drives to not only allow the offense to bring us back from 2 TDs down in the 4^th quarter but to also force yet another punt after we tied it up.  They did everything they were asked to do right up until that last Mallett drive.

The Bad:  Washaun Ealey nearly got Murray killed on multiple occasions in one of the worst pass-blocking efforts I can recall.  The playcalling was highly suspect.  Why do we not move the pocket some?  Why do we insist on running every QB drop through playaction (more on that later)?  Why do we seemingly not provide Murray with some underneath safe-routes?  Our OL play wasn’t very good at all, again.  We can’t get pressure on defense consistently, something I thought we were going to be very successful with.

The Interesting:  We finally added the Logan Gray Wild-dawg wrinkle that might actually make a defense think we could pass out of it.  We added a few little turns this week that made me see some hope for our use of that scheme.  I’m assuming Wooten was taking over the Branden Smith role in his absence.  If we can get something out of that package to generate a spark I’ll be thrilled and Saturday I finally saw a glimmer of hope.    What’s up with our play-action?  If we’re under center, we’re going to be running play action.  Saturday we had 24 pass plays called under center.  Of those, 21 were play action and the other three were 3-step drops.  In shotgun though, of our 14 attempted passing plays, only 1 used play-action.  Interesting.  With a young QB on a 5 or 7-step drop, I’d like to occasionally give him the opportunity to see the field during his drop rather than forcing him to use up the first second or more with his back to the line.  This is particularly ineffective in 3^rd and longs where no one in the stadium thinks we are going to run…at all.

MSU Offense

• The MSU offense is directed by Dan Mullen, who formerly held the position of offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer at Florida.  The offense looks a lot like the one he ran at Florida, only with Mississippi State level talent, so, essentially not nearly as effective.  There’s a lot of misdirection in the running game and getting multiple players involved, but they’ve really struggled getting any consistency through the air and thus the high-flying offense they showed in their week 1 trouncing of Memphis has been grounded to the tune of 21 points over their last two outings (Auburn and LSU).
• At QB, two different guys are seeing snaps for them.  Jr. Chris Relf is a load at 6-4, 240 and is a capable runner but looks out of sorts in the passing game, something that is a decided hindrance for a QB.  He’s completing over 55% of his passes on the season but has only thrown 1 TD and 3 INTs on the year.  Freshman Tyler Russell is another big kid at 6-5, 225 but he’s struggled since his 4 TD opener against Memphis, throwing 0 TDs and 4 INTs (3 last week at LSU) in their 2 game SEC run to date.
• They spread it around at the TB spot a good bit.   Outside of Relf, MSU sports 3 RBs with over 20 carries on the season, with all 3 averaging between 3.8 and 4.4 ypc.  None has really done anything to distinguish himself yet, just know that a lot of folks get touches, including scrappy FB Patrick Hanrahan.
• Shifty sophomore Chad Bumphis gets the bulk of the publicity after a breakout freshman season last year.  At 5-10, he’s not the biggest WR we’ll face by a long shot but he’s a great athlete and dangerous in space, a la Joe Adams last weekend.  Of the 6 WRs they have on their 2-deep, only Leon Berry is an upperclassman.  Only 1 of their top 6 stands over 6-0, Chris Smith, and he’s averaging only a catch per game.  TE is a marginal role in their offense, as it was with Meyer when he first came to Gainesville where at Utah he famously didn’t have a TE on his roster.
• The MSU OL depth chart looks faked because everyone on their entire 2-deep is listed at 300 or 305.  A little too convenient.  Senior LT Derek Sherrod is the best of the bunch by far.
• Bottom Line: This is a team that defenses load up against.  Without a true passing threat they face loaded fronts and try and deal with it.  Russell got more snaps at LSU last week after a Relf injury and it kinda blew up on them as he threw 3 INTs.  If they can develop any kind of downfield threat to open up the running game (sound familiar?) then their offense gets a lot scarier but to date they haven’t been able to do so in SEC play.  Relf is a threat on broken plays with his scrambling ability which is something we struggle with but I expect us to bring a lot of run blitzes this week to help out our NG spot, hopefully clogging his scrambling lanes.    
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: I keep waiting for that big breakout game from our OLBs, where Houston and Gamble just start disrupting stuff but to date I haven’t seen it yet.  Houston had times where he was disruptive against SC but was largely absent last week.  With the way MSU moves the ball around a good bit on the ground, our OLBs will have every chance to make plays on the ground, but the Grantham scheme promised considerable pressure on passing plays and I want to see it.

MSU Defense

• MSU’s defense is headed by Manny Diaz, a name that popped up some as a potential DC candidate in Athens last year.  A young, up and coming name in the coaching ranks, Diaz has put together a gritty bunch that has kept them in games and gets stingy in the redzone, holding LSU to 5 FGs last week (4 in the first half on the way to a 12-0 halftime score).  Despite not getting much help from their offense, this unit has kept MSU in all of their games.  They are particularly good against the pass, giving up under 150 to Auburn and under 100 to LSU.
• The MSU DL is pretty stout.  DE Pernell McPhee has the most pro potential, and at 285, he’s a load on the edge but he can get after the QB.  The former JUCO had 5 sacks last year.  They’ve got some beef inside, with JUCO James Carmon a complete mountain at 6-7, 345.
• MSU starts 3 seniors across the LB corps.  Two of them weigh 245 or more.  The most distinguished player is 6-4, 250-pound OLB K.J. Wright.
• The only upperclassman starter in the secondary is SS Charles Mitchell, who Steele had as a 3^rd team All-SEC guy.  A pair of sophomore CBs emerged ahead of their more experienced backups.  The secondary held LSU to 97 yards passing last weekend, but after watching LSU play UNC, I’m not sure that requires a whole lot.
• Bottom Line: We vacillated between being really good on offense and really bad last week.   We need consistency.  Murray doesn’t appear to be the root of the problems.  We’ve still got a ton of weapons and I’d like to see us use them.  We were forced to in the 4^th quarter, down 2 TDs and the results were good.  I want to see that sense of urgency in the 1^st quarter.  Go out there, make plays, and win a ballgame.  MSU plays tough D in Starkville, but no tougher than the one we saw in Columbia.  OK, bad example.  I think the game hinges on Murray because for whatever reason we can’t seem to get in any rhythm in our ground attack.  Hopefully having Caleb and Washaun together for the first time all season will smooth that over.  It’s going to be tough to ask Murray to work magic against a pretty stingy pass defense but he’s shown that he’s not a moron back there, which is nice.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Blitz pickup.  Murray got sacked 6 times last week and was running for his life several others.  There were several coverage sacks in there but plenty were immediate busts too.  If MSU brings pressure, we’ve got to be willing to throw it and further open the offense.  For that to work, our OL needs to play better and our RBs certainly do too.

The MSU Game Overall

Normally this would be considered a trap game.  Trap games don’t exist for 1-2 teams.  We can’t afford to overlook anyone.  We have to get it back on track.  Look, there’s no shame in losing to 2 teams currently ranked in the top 12.  There may be some shame in losing to them after this week as they could both get completely shellacked by teams from Alabama.  Anyway, when you go 0-2 in the conference you have to readjust your parameters for success and at this point, we enter a more winnable portion of our schedule where we could easily rattle off a 4 or 5-game winning streak.  A young team like ours (in the sense of learning new stuff) could really benefit from getting on a roll and getting some confidence.

It’s going to be noisy, supposedly Mississippi State is calling for a blackout (is that irony, I never can tell), we’ve got our backs under the wall, everyone has written us off…I’m excited.  I can go back to being excited about watching this team.  I’m going to take each game for what it is, a growing experience, and try to find as many positives as I can.  Looking back, it was a bit unfair for me to expect the world out of a redshirt freshman at QB (granted I think the coaches shorted him a good bit) and a defense still trying to figure out a completely new scheme.  As this team continues to grow and get key players back, they have a chance of being pretty darn good and causing some noise.  Sure, maybe the East title is lost, but we still get a shot at UF, UT, GT, AU, etc. and it starts this weekend in Starkville.  I’m surrendering none of those.  A win here against an improved MSU team with a stout defense and you build some momentum, something we sorely need.

Positional Notes

• Caleb King needs to get back on the field this week before Murray gets decapitated.
• Dowtin was sorely missed last week.  In his absence Dent and Robinson had to go the whole way.  We need him back in a bad way.
• Geathers made an impact in the short time he was in.  I have no idea why he doesn’t get more snaps at least in certain situations.
• We need to get Wooten involved more in the passing game.  Screens, passes to the flat, something to get it in his hands in space.
• Chapas’ absence filtered through the backfield as without him, Munzenmaier couldn’t take over the short yardage running plays at TB with King out.
• We went from completely healthy to banged up in a hurry.
• Remember when Orson Charles caught passes last year?  That was awesome.
• Getting back Branden Smith is big for punt return and CB depth, but I think he might have more impact in his limited offensive role.  We haven’t seen it a whole lot but there’s a reason coaches want to get that kid touches on offense.
• Speaking of punt returns, Logan Gray really showed his athleticism and guts on his few opportunities to return one (finally).  Good for him, he’s one you really root for.
• Losing Bean Anderson for the year is frustrating, but I can’t imagine how tough it is for him. That kid has had a tough career.
• I love that Ben Jones handed his captainship to Josh Davis (who will be playing in his home state).  That’s the kind of leadership move that you hope gives the team a spark.  With that said, I hope Searles gets all up in Ben’s ear about snapping the ball when a defensive guy comes across the line.  We missed that opportunity 3 or 4 times Saturday.

Random Thoughts

• As poor a game as our team had Saturday, our fans were worse.  If you were there in the 4^th quarter you know what I’m talking about.  Look, I know it was hot, but the upper deck on the north stands was about half full (not the Tech deck, the 300 level) for our entire 4^th quarter comeback.  It was an embarrassment.  Fans like to talk about how players these days act so entitled.  So do fans.  Was I happy sitting there down 2 TDs at home in the 4^th quarter?  Heck no.  But I was going to stay to support them on the off chance they remembered how to be good again.  They did and a lot of folks missed it.
• How did the announcers point out a hold that went uncalled by Orson Charles but completely ignored the blatant hold by Arkansas on Gamble that sprung Joe Adams on his long screen pass scamper?  Arkansas got away with a lot of jersey grabbing Saturday.  I saw Houston getting yanked around several times.
• Something happened over the last 9 months because our video screen now looks incredibly dated, and not in a cool vintage, retro way.  It looks like when you go in that room in your house that still has an old CRT TV (kids, those are the ones that weigh about 5 times more than it looks like they possibly could, roughly the size and weight of a safe) and you stare at the picture and try and figure out why you haven’t upgraded it yet because you have no interest in watching it the picture is so bad.  That’s our video screen for me right now.  The audio isn’t much better.  It sounds like someone has cranked the music up way too loud and blown them a bit.  Oh wait, that actually happened.
• When did the post-game call-in show become an infomercial?  They field a call about every 20 minutes.  The remainder of the time is spent on extolling the virtues of the infamous Hotel Indigo.  I think Dantzler gets paid per mention.  Granted, the calls aren’t exactly the cream of the crop but still, it’s football talk with a hall of famer.
• Auburn-Clemson was an entertaining football game and Clemson’s QB is a warrior.  Auburn is a weird team.  As good as Lattimore looked at SC, I think Dwyer at Auburn might be better.  His feet are incredibly quick for a guy that big.  He just looks explosive…and already full grown.  That should be a good game to watch this weekend and since it’s before the UGA game I know my taste for college football will not have been ruined yet.
• Anyone interested in trying their hand at adventure racing should look into the one in Macon the day of the Colorado game.  Starts at 9 AM and is over by 3, so it’s short (6 hour) and fun. Biking, trekking, paddling.  www.u-roar.org.
• College football is a fun pastime, right?  Then why do I feel like someone drug me through a meat grinder each of the last two weekends?  I look forward to this all offseason?  Oh well, it’s already a quarter of the way through.
• Has there ever been a whinier college football player than Ryan Mallett?  He’s constantly trying to talk refs into calls.  He tried multiple times to get us flagged for late hits, one of which his knee had yet to hit and he was still fighting for yards.  The other he collapsed like he’d been shot by a sniper after Gamble nudged him.  Weak.  Roll all of that up and add in that punk accent he’s got and you’ve got the recipe for a truly hated football player.  If anyone truly hated Arkansas.  They just aren’t really on anyone’s rivals list that I can think of.  Maybe Texas, but they’re way down that list too, behind TA&M, OU, Nebraska and at this point Texas Tech.
• I forgot to thank VT for actually taking one for the team 2 weeks ago by losing to James Madison, a FCS team.  That loss gave a pretty sound beating to Boise State’s MNC hopes.  Look, I know UGA is out of the national title running but if a Boise State gets in playing that schedule then college football as we know it will be handed off to the upper level mid-majors.  I’m sorry, I have no interest in having Boise State-Nevada on a Wednesday shoved down my throat by an adoring ESPN as the game of the millennium.
• Does Dan Mullen remind anyone else of that guy from Mad About You?

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Download this week’s writeup in pdf format here…download here:  Week 3 (Arkansas) Writeup

Week 3

Opponent:  Arkansas Razorbacks

Kickoff:  12:00 PM

TV: ESPN

Well, that was an absolute blast.  Misery, thy name is underachieving.  If it wasn’t for so many of our rivals playing so poorly, this past weekend would’ve been a LOT harder to take.  As it stands, we’ll just have to rally the troops and refocus because we might have an even tougher test coming into town this weekend.

About the SC game…

This was one of the more frustrating and disappointing games I can remember watching.  It’s also one of the ones that’s really hard to figure out.  So many things don’t make sense.  On one hand I have to say that with our defense electing not to tackle it was shocking to see us only allow 17 points.  Did we just bow up and I missed it?  I can’t hardly recall a big stop by us other than the fumble.

The Good:  Not much.  Aaron Murray played far more poised than I expected frankly.  It was disappointing after the fact to hear the coaches admit they shackled him.  Let’s try out trying to win games from now on instead of trying not to lose them, OK?

The Bad:  A lot…and frustratingly enough, so many of the bad things were things we had hoped would be strengths.  Just a few…tackling, after the supposed rededication to fundamentals, I certainly didn’t expect a lot of forearm shivers that a true freshman was bouncing off of.  As bad a tackling performance as we’ve put on in recent years.  Running game play calling, how did we rip off yardage seemingly at well in the boundary on our opening drive and then essentially abandon it?  Very frustrating.  Orson Charles dropping passes, tough catches, yes, but potential all-conference TEs make the catches where the pass hits you in the hands.

The Interesting:  Not a whole lot interesting as a UGA fan this weekend.  I’ll never understand how we can come out in a new wildcat formation that we’ve never shown before with Ealey at QB in the ‘gun, call a timeout because things aren’t working, and then come out of the timeout in the exact same formation.  I’m not positive, but whatever surprise factor we might have had was certainly diminished by the fact we showed the formation and then gave the opposition 5 minutes to figure out how to defend it.

Ark Offense

• Bobby Petrino knows how to put together an offense.  Add in a top flight pro QB prospect and you’ve got something.  Last year’s Razorback squad was 10^th in the country in passing, going for over 303 ypg through the air, enough to lead the SEC.  Their 37 ppg led the SEC as well.  The bulk of that unit is back this year to try and wreak havoc and frankly their prolific offense is the main reason they are ranked in the top 15 right now.
• At QB, Ryan Mallett is what makes the offense go.  Possessed of a rocket for an arm, the kid is a prototype QB. At 6-7, 240 he can stand in the pocket and throw lasers all over the field.  As good as he is, he struggled on the road last season in a big way, where his passing yards per game dropped from 327 (at home) to 223 on the road.  21 of his 30 TDs came at home last year as well.  He’s a different animal than Garcia for sure.  He’s not immobile but he’s not prone to tuck and run either.  If they give him time, he’s got the arm and accuracy to fit it into tight spaces.  He got banged up some last week after taking a shot late in that game to his ribs on his left side so keep an eye out for that.
• At RB, the Razorbacks lost Dennis Johnson for the week to an injury.  So. Knile Davis will likely get the bulk of the carries and is a solid, fast back.  Broderick Green and Ronnie Wingo, Jr. both have more size and will see playing time as well.  As in the days of McFadden and Felix Jones, they liberally substitute at the RB spot.
• WR is deep for them.  Joe Adams, Greg Childs, and Jarius Wright are all legit weapons.  Adams struggles with consistency catching the ball but is good in space when he does.  He’s got very good deep speed.  Childs is a big, physical WR but at 6-3, 217, he’s still not nearly the size of those beasts we saw in Columbus last weekend.  TE D.J. Williams is easily one of the best in the SEC.  Phil Steel lists him as 1^st team All-SEC and many others agree with him.  Standing just 6-2, he’s an elite athlete that just has a knack for getting open.
• The Arkansas OL is huge, as it should be for a team with a hog for a mascot.  They start 3 SRs and a pair of redshirt freshmen with all 5 starters weighing in excess of 300 pounds and the right side of the line tipping the scales at an average of over 325 per hog.  Their entire 2-deep doesn’t feature one guy under 300 pounds and has 6 guys at 315 or more.
• Bottom Line: Bobby Petrino likes to throw the ball.  With that group of receivers and Mallett at QB, you know he wants to throw it as much as he can, but after watching us struggle against the run last week and knowing he’s got a big, bruising OL that has to be licking their chops at the chance to run block, I wonder how much he’s going to be tempted to flip the script a bit and come out running.  I would if I were him, but if I were him, I’d have a lot of trouble sleeping at night after that whole Falcons debacle…but that’s neither here nor there. 
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Watch Justin Houston.  At the end of the day Petrino knows his best chance of winning is to do what he does best with Mallett slinging it around and if that’s the case, we’ll need pressure and to date the only guy we’ve had that has shown the ability to consistently get pressure is Justin Houston.  If we can rattle Mallett and reinforce his road woes, handling their potent offense gets a lot more doable.

Ark Defense

• As much as we struggled on D last year, Arkansas struggled as much or more.  They were especially bad against the pass, finishing 104^th in passing yardage allowed. The Joe Cox led UGA offense contributed significantly to that as he threw for over 400 yards and 5 TDs in last year’s tilt.  Looking back at last year’s numbers, they were really up and down, with the UGA game being the low point defensively.  They did manage to hold Florida to 23 points in Gainesville.  This year’s unit returns 7 starters and should be better than what we saw last year.
• The DL isn’t spectacular but it is big.  The starters inside average over 315.  Manning the two DE spots are a couple of 270-pound hosses.  DE Jake Bequette is probably the top pass rushing threat.
• Jerry Franklin leads the bunch at LB  At 6-1, 240 the bowling ball of a MLB can make plays and the ever-trustworthy Phil Steele has him as a 2^nd team All-SEC LB.  The diminutive Jerico Nelson (5-10, 214) is a playmaker too but at that size, you have to think he’s going to be a liability in coverage against our TEs.  Anthony Leon moved down from safety to man the other OLB spot and will likely match up in coverage much better than the other two.
• The secondary that got torched last year returns largely intact. I never know if that’s a plus or minus for a team.  S Rudell Crim has seen time at CB so he should be decent in coverage.  Ramon Broadway is probably the bright spot at CB but he’s no Stephon Gilmore.
• Bottom Line: This was a bad D last year and we lit them up.  I wouldn’t expect that again this year just because that was such a fluke performance for us offensively.  Arkansas has probably seen enough tape of us dropping 50 on them in their house to have this game circled all summer.  I expect them to load the box like we saw SC do last weekend and make Murray beat us.  Last weekend the coaches admittedly didn’t really allow Murray to do too much but this weekend I’m thinking their hands are forced a bit on that front.  They can’t afford another putrid outing offensively and will have to open things up with or without AJ.  Being at home hopefully makes that decision a little easier.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Orson Charles and Aron White versus their LBs.  We showed last week that even having a supposedly very good OL doesn’t just give you free reign to run the ball whenever you like, no matter the defensive front.  We’re going to have to find some matchups to exploit in the passing game and until AJ gets back our best shot might be with our super athletic TEs versus their LBs.  Both Charles and White had a TD in last year’s matchup and were able to stretch the D to the tune of 3 catches for over 80 yards so by all means let’s revisit that well.

The Ark Game Overall

Arkansas played 4 road games last year and 2 neutral site games.  Of their 4 true road games they had exactly zero wins.  They haven’t won a game in an opponent’s stadium since early October 2008 when they knocked off a then Tommy Tubberville-coached Auburn team 25-22.  In fact, that was the only win by Petrino at Arkansas at an opponent’s field, a marked difference from Richt’s road record, which has taken a pounding in recent years but is still considerably better than 1-and-whatever.

After last weekend I need a good effort from the Dawgs this weekend.  I need something I can hang my hat on.  The offense was inept last weekend and it was so conservative that it points directly to coaching and I need an effort on the field against a top-15 team that can restore something of the faith I have in this staff.  I get that AJ was out and he’s a big enough weapon to change a gameplan, but it’s not like we had no one else.  Against an offense as explosive as Arkansas, we better be able to put more than 6 points on the board.

Look, I’ve gotten fooled by watching other teams play lesser opponents, but Arkansas played ULM last weekend and struggled to put them away, leading by only a 7-0 score at the half and only a 14-0 score going into the 4^th quarter.  Heck, Mallett was still in there slinging TDs with barely 3 minutes left in the game.  This is a team that is still trying to answer some questions and convince itself it is legitimately “that” good and a win over a UGA team, even one that’s potentially reeling, would go a long way towards that goal.  For UGA, a win over a top-15 ranked team at home would mean so much in terms of stabilizing the season it’s hard to really put into words.  This game is HUGE for both teams.  Hard to believe that this is the 2^nd week I’ve said that and we’re only 3 weeks into the season.

Positional Notes

• AJ come back…soon.
• For all the preseason hype, our OL wasn’t very good this past weekend in run blocking.  We’ve got several guys in Strickland, Harmon, Burnette, etc. that need to be worked into the rotation to find out if they are gamers or not.  Strickland played some Saturday and should see the field more this week now that he’s finally healthy for long enough to contribute.  We could use the depth anyway with all of these early season noon kickoffs, we’ve got to get something going.
• The same is true on the other side of the ball where Tyson played every snap at NG until he got dinged and then Abry Jones came in.  What happened to all the Bean and Geathers talk?  It’s one thing to go with your top guy but when the other team is gashing you up the middle consistently, I’d at least consider trying someone else out.
• Bacarri Rambo has had better games and that’s all I’ll say about that.
• I’m excited about the potential of Aaron Murray.  That kid didn’t get fazed by a hostile crowd that has seen guys like Greene and Stafford (not to mention one Quincy Carter) have some of their more miserable performances.  In the cozy confines of Sanford, hopefully the coaches will give him a better opportunity to succeed this week.
• I suppose Caleb King is back this week but frankly I was shocked to see him out last weekend.  Having another RB who can run up the back of his interior OLs on 2^nd and 12 will surely result in an offensive explosion this week.  I’m sorry, that was uncalled for.

Random Thoughts

• What is it that the ESPN2 noon crew has against showing replays that are in any way timely or helpful?  I think they completely missed a booth review.  Bob Davie talks way too much and when he stops I want Mark Jones to quit trying to force things in like “my credentials.”  C’mon ESPN, no way the world-wide leader has that group as one of their top crews.
• As painful as our loss was, the UT loss was way more eye-opening.  They were up 13-3 with 3 minutes left in the first half and everything going their way.  Over the last 33 minutes of game clock they got outscored 45-0.  I had thought it was going to be a tough year for the Vols but that was brutal.
• After last weekend I need UGA to play well.  It just wasn’t an ideal weekend and frankly it messed up my day of football watching like I wasn’t prepared for.  At least GT and UT losing meant I wasn’t bombarded with those particular folks giving me grief too.  I’m fortunate enough to be mostly surrounded by UGA fans.  Yes, Auburn fandom was quietly gloating, but the FSU folks ain’t saying a word and the Florida fans who watched their game are quietly (can they be quiet?) concerned.  I know very few Bama fans and they seem to have cornered the market on all SEC obnoxiousness at the moment.
• Umm, Braves, don’t go completely into the tank.  If this UGA season keeps going south, I’m going to need you guys to pull me out of my sports bad place.
• Does the NCAA just have one guy who does all these hearings for eligibility?  Is that why it takes so long to get a response back?  Now that word has come down that we won’t get a response until Friday I’m completely certain that AJ will be cleared to play but his snaps will be limited by our staff because they just didn’t have time to have him in the gameplan.
• I can’t wait to get to Athens for a great environment to see what aspect of the gameday experience they can mess up.  The video board is always a safe bet, as is the audio, but I’m going to go with the game clock.  I’m pretty sure that thing wasn’t put together by a bunch of Swiss engineers.  It’s a miracle when it works.  The refs should just buzz in to let us know when it’s actually functioning.
• In watching the NFL this weekend, was it just me or did it seem like there were a lot more concussion-type hits where the tackler got knocked silly from his head getting hit the wrong way?  It just seemed like every game I watched had several of those instances in it where there was a guy on the ground with his arms stuck straight up after a play.  Those used to happen pretty rarely it seemed.  Maybe I just didn’t notice them back then, or maybe they used to just hop up and “brush it off.”

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Download pdf version here… South Carolina Writeup (pdf)

Week 2

Opponent:  South Carolina Gamecocks

Kickoff:  12:00 PM

TV: ESPN2

Preseason (oops, these actually count Ole Miss) games are over and all across the country teams are jumping into the meat of their schedule in a big way.  It’s a huge weekend of college football and personally, I can’t wait.  Granted, if Georgia lays an egg in the noon game the whole day is pretty well ruined, but as of right now I’ve got a full day of college football out there that’s just the carrot to my week.

About the ULL game…

If I had to draw up the perfect opener for this team, it would’ve looked an awful lot like what we saw.  The play was generally very good on both sides of the ball but not so perfect that there weren’t things to work on.  The coaches have plenty to focus on so the team can’t get too high on their own clippings.

The Good:  Against an overmatched offense, the first edition of the Grantham defense looked really good and that was without showing much of anything.  ULL wasn’t a great running team, but we don’t play many of those this year either and we looked much better against the run than I was expecting.  Giving up one run over 5 yards and none more than 8 is a stat you don’t often see.

The Bad:  As solid as Aaron Murray was in his first game action, he still had a few throws that were head-scratchers.  Of his two scrambling deep throws, one hit the WR (Gray) in the hands for a dropped TD and the other hit the safety (theirs) in the hands for a dropped INT.  While the one to Gray was certainly impressive, I was very surprised at the mistake on the other one.  He had a couple of throws that would be picked in a hearbeat against better defenses (like SC).

The Interesting:  I was surprised at how little we rotated defensively early.  I’m thinking Grantham might have settled on his rotation that he expects to see the bulk of the PT this year and he’s wanting to get those guys as many “live” reps as he can, even if it’s in base package stuff, just so they can get more comfortable.  I also thought it was interesting that we were showcasing Branden Smith enough to try and keep defenses honest.  He’s such a dynamic player (and SC knows as well as anyone) that having him out there changes the complexion of our offense.

SC Offense

• Steve Spurrier set the college world on its ear at Florida in the 90s, went to the NFL and showed it wasn’t just his QBs who became busts at the next level, and returned to the SEC at South Carolina.  It doesn’t seem that long ago the he came back but he’s been here for 6 years now and the offense that he was known for just hasn’t materialized.  He’s also yet to win 9 games, something he never failed to do at UF.  He still berates his QBs and they have some good talent at WR but this is a far more methodical offense than any of the ones he trotted out at UF (which isn’t saying a whole lot as those offenses were flat out explosive).
• At QB, the Gamecocks have the enigma that is Stephen Garcia.  A mobile kid with a solid arm, Garcia seems like target practice for Spurrier’s QB barbs.  He’s prone to some head-scratching mistakes back there and managed to get sacked 37 times last year despite his mobility.  He’s not a great decision maker but he’s probably at his best when things start to break down a bit when he’s able to scramble some and utilize his physical gifts.  He had a career year last year when Martinez decided to see if he could find an uncovered TE all night (he could).  True freshman Connor Shaw is the future of the position and has some wheels too but showed his inexperience last week when So Miss brought pressure as he struggled to close out the half.
• At RB, all the buzz is around freshman sensation Marcus Lattimore.  An ideal RB for just about any system, Lattimore brings speed, size, quickness and hands to the position and scored 2 TDs in his first action as a collegian.  They run some different formations with CB Stephon Gilmore (more on him later) at Wildcat and they have a few backs that will touch the ball, but none have near the talent of Lattimore.  He’s special, if not a little raw.
• The SC WR corps is easily the strength of the offense.  While they’ll miss Weslye Saunders at TE, especially after the game he had against UGA last year, most of their WRs are TE-sized anyway.  Alshon Jeffrey is the best of the bunch and at 6-4, 233 is a beast.  Tori Gurley, D.L. Moore and Jason Barnes all come in at 6-4 or better and will be utilized.  Their size makes true freshman Ace Sanders seem that much quicker and faster as a slot back, end-around guy at 5-7, 166.  He’s a burner.  Sr. Pat DiMarco slides out from his FB spot to take over at TE in the absence of Saunders and is a multi-use guy.
• The SC OL is big but isn’t particularly good.  Projected starting LT Jarriel King is still a question to be allowed to play.  This group will have their hands full with the pressure I’m sure Grantham is going to bring.  Last year they struggled to protect the QB (Garcia went down 37 times) which contributed to them finishing last in the SEC in rushing offense.  Based on what I saw when So. Miss brought a lot of pressure, I think we bring more pressure than I’ve seen us do in a long time and make Garcia and the youth of Lattimore beat us.
• Bottom Line: This is going to be interesting to watch for sure.  We played so poorly against SC last year defensively that I’m sure our guys are looking to prove themselves.  Look for considerable pressure on the edge with Dent and Robinson being tasked with containing QB escape routes.  We’ve yet to see any of the real pressure packages from Grantham’s 3-4 (we didn’t need them last week, most of our pressure came off of straight rush).  That means SC hasn’t either.  Garcia will have ample opportunity to throw against man coverage.  The problem (for him) will be having time to find the open guy in a hurry.  Boykin and Cuff have speed and athleticism to burn to try and match up with the size SC has on the edge.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Spurrier try and establish his running game with Lattimore to limit Garcia’s exposure to unfamiliar defensive looks.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: If Saunders was playing I’d say to watch him versus our LBs but as it stands I think one of the keys is going to be our safeties in coverage against their WRs.  If we play as much man coverage as we’ve been led to believe, we’re going to end up with some safeties matched up over their WRs.

SC Defense

• SC had a great defense last year but they struggled mightily against UGA, giving up 41 points in a shootout loss in Athens.  The 41 was the most they gave up last year by more than a TD.  Despite UGA losing the turnover battle 3-1 in that game, the Joe Cox led offense (and special teams) managed to move the ball effectively and score enough to win.  They lost a star in Eric Norwood but have some good talent coming back and will be a massive step up from what we saw last week and likely the top defense we’ll face (by a long shot) the first half of the season.
• The star of the DL is DE Cliff Matthews who has really grown into a force after coming in as an undersized DE that played some OLB before gaining weight and putting his hand on the ground.  He’s a first-team All-SEC guy.  He’s bookended by lanky Devin Taylor, who at 6-7, started 5 games last year as a redshirt freshman.  They’ve got some beef inside but no stars to speak of.  Ladi Ajiboye has experience but he also has a club on his hand recovering from injury.
• At LB, WLB Shaq Wilson is injured (hamstring, ouch), which is a big blow as he’s the best LB on the team.  Josh Dickerson has moved past Rodney Paulk at MLB, nut neither is the kind of force that Jasper Brinkley was for a few years a couple years back.  Their LB corps is a little undersized, especially with WLB Tony Straughter at 6’, 201.
• If CB Chris Culliver can go (still some NCAA issues being resolved), SC might sport the best pair of CBs we’ll face outside of Florida this year (and they could easily be better than UFs).  So. Stephon Gilmore is a special talent and has size, speed and fluidity that makes him a All-SEC defender for sure.  He started every game as a freshman and would’ve been fun to watch go up against AJ.  SS DeVonte Holloman is bigger than several of their LBs but can move well and hits like a truck after playing last year as a true freshman.  Akeem Auguste started out at CB and is still undersized but has developed into a nice FS.
• Bottom Line: The SC secondary is the strength of the D for sure although as an individual talent Cliff Matthews harkens back to some of those brutal SC DE/OLBs like Kalimba Edwards and John Abraham.  Under DC Ellis Johnson this group turned into a very solid outfit last year, but the loss of Eric Norwood can’t be understated, that guy was just a playmaker.  They’ve got some serious talent in the secondary, especially if Culliver is cleared to play, but with us looking to protect Murray and with AJ out I think it’s pretty clear that we’ll be lining up behind our experienced OL and running the ball until they stop us.  Sure we’ll pass the ball some to keep them honest but I think we play it safe a bit in obvious passing situations with draws, screens, etc.  Lots of looks at the TE, quick passes to the flats, etc.  Murray should have time to throw.  It’s how he mentally handles the pressure, not just pass rush but more the pressure of a huge SEC road game in a noisy stadium, that will determine our offensive success in this one.  He’s such a good deep ball passer that I think one of the safer throws for him are those long fades.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: This would’ve been AJ versus Gilmore as that’s one you’ll likely see on Sundays for years but with Green out (or even had he played) the key is going to be if we can establish the run.  If King and Ealey can get going and take the pressure off of Murray then the whole thing gets easier.  We’ve got the OL you want if that’s your plan, the question is can we execute.

The SC Game Overall

There are a few things that signal the start of the football season for me…SC fans convinced they are going to destroy UGA is one of those signals.  We play them earlier than every other SEC team and get treated to the special breed of confidence that is SC fandom.  Despite having one career conference title (not in the SEC), this fanbase is convinced that every year is their year.  Frankly, I admire them.  This is a fanbase that sold out their stadium when they went 0-11.  This is a team that truly loves their football program, win or lose, it’s just what they do.  In the era of “what have you done lately” approaches to teams and programs, it’s refreshing to see.

As to the game, SC certainly has the defensive backfield to load the box all day and make Murray beat them.  The loss of AJ Green sealed that.  They’ll be asking Murray if he thinks he can win this game.  Hopefully he won’t have to scramble much as he doesn’t seem to be willing to step out of bounds or slide whilst scrambling, obviously not caring about the effects of those type of plays on my emotional status.  If he starts cutting back inside against this defense, one of those safeties could clean his clock.

While the loss of Green is certainly a blow from a talent standpoint (you can’t lose the best WR in college football and not see something of a drop off), it will be interesting to see if the team rallies around themselves.  We never play particularly pretty against SC anyway, so losing our flashiest player will simply force us to play more physical, gritty, junkyard dawg football.  These games are almost always ugly, heck, even last year’s shootout, that scored more points than the previous 3 years combined (I think) wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, with turnovers, special team lapses, etc.  Losing AJ no doubt hurts, but if we get a better team out of this as a result of Tavares King stepping up or Orson Charles or Rantavious Wooten or whomever, and we pull out a win, then all the merrier.  Bring on the Gamecocks, I’m ready to win ugly.

Positional Notes

• This is a perfect week for the return of Washaun Ealey.  He had as productive an offseason as anybody on the team if reports are true.  Having him and King ready to rotate can only help.  Last year at the end of the season, those two were lethal together.  Plus it’s our first shot at seeing him wear #3.
• With all of the hubbub over Green’s absence, the return of Tavares King has been a bit underemphasized.  This kid has serious speed and was likely to be our #2 behind Green when all was said and done.  While he’s not nearly the redzone threat or quite as prone to make spider catches in the middle of the field, he can stretch a defense and will keep safeties from getting their noses too far in the UGA backfield.  Hopefully.
• I was really impressed with the play of our middle LBs this week.  Sure they weren’t exactly playing an explosive offense but they seemed to be exactly where they needed to be all day, a welcome change from recent years.  Considering Dent missed most of the Fall with an injury, he didn’t seem to have missed a beat and Dowtin and Robinson looked phenomenal.
• How about 3 INTs in the opener?  Last year it took us a while to get to 3.  Hats off to the guys for making plays when they had the chances.  Boykin’s grab was tougher than it looked and Commings’ was as good a one as you’ll see, over the shoulder, one-handed.
• I can’t recall us having this healthy a team in the entire Richt era.  I know as I typed this half our OLs suffered shoulder injuries but our two deep is mostly healthy and that just hasn’t been a hallmark of Richt teams.

Random Thoughts

• AJ is out for 4 games (as of right now) but I’m betting it gets dropped to two.  That’s what Alabama’s DL got last week.  You’ll have a hard time convincing me that his paid for trip down to Florida to hang out with agents all-expenses paid somehow merits a lighter sentence than AJ selling a jersey that he owned.  He’d have been better off stealing $1,000 from somewhere.  Look at UT, they got in a brawl that ended up with a cop in the hospital and those guys got off lighter than AJ.  What he did was dumb, don’t get me wrong, but 1/3 of the season for something he’s already repaid?  Not appropriate.
• Alright, Boise State.  I know it’s been said before but thanks Virginia Tech.  Way to take one for the team there.  Now BSU basically has to navigate a DII schedule and hope Alabama or Ohio State loses a game and they’re in the MNC game.  Really?  Have you seen their schedule?  The fact that they have 1 Tuesday and 3 Friday games should tell you all you need to know.  Their top three toughest games as of right now are home against Oregon State (easily their toughest game), home against Fresno State in late November and (I guess) @ Nevada the following week.  That’s disgusting.
• Not sure how many of you were flipping around watching any of the UF game, but they were as bad as you’ve heard.  Under 50 yards offense through 3 quarters is bad no matter who you are or who you’re playing.  I’m not calling for the upset by any means but Skip Holtz is a good coach and would love nothing more as a program builder than to knock off the mighty Gators.
• Oregon versus UT might get ugly. They were up 59-0 on New Mexico…at the half.  UT’s final score of 50-0 against a bad FCS team looked good but they were only up 20-0 at the half.  Not saying that Oregon is going to rout them but UT is scary thin on both lines of scrimmage and Oregon looked really good.
• OK, I blasted the VT uniforms last week but it turns out that on TV they weren’t bad, at least when compared to what they normally wear.  The matte black helmets looked good.  There’s not much you can do with bruise-purple and day-glow orange though.  Speaking of orange, I thought Boise State’s uniforms looked decent too because of the marginalization of their orange in their color scheme.  TCU’s spider web looking helmets looked pretty bad though and the pants looked like zubaz.  For the record, zubaz’ website has the tagline “Zubaz clothing is about style, attitude and comfort.”  Count me out for that style and attitude and I don’t think I’ve ever been that uncomfortable.
• Massive college football weekend.  It goes all day too.  Our game at noon, FSU-OK at 3:30, Michigan-Notre Dame at 3:30 (fun to find out who ESPN will be hyping this whole week as a resurgent program), Miami-tOSU at 3:40 (weird time), and PSU-Bama and Oregon-UT at 7 each.  Of course, if UGA loses I’ll likely watch none of those and sulk all night.
• Alright, first big game of the year and we get Mark Jones and Bob Davie as announcers.  Could we just pass the hat so we could get Nessler and Blackledge for every game?  I’ve got $20 ready to go in.  Years ago Davie wrote a great weekly piece for ESPN breaking down defenses but give the guy a mike and insight seems to be out the window.  As a change of pace, I really liked Mayock (I know shocker that I liked him) doing the Notre Dame-Purdue game.  That guy is all business.
• Despite his early game slip-ups with Aaron Murphy and Jason Houston, I thought Andre Ware did a pretty decent job breaking down some of the aspects of QB play.  The guy isn’t exactly a master wordsmith but I often forget he did manage to win a Heisman Trophy and is bringing a good bit more to the table than I give him credit for.  He just isn’t always able to convey it.
• Once again, a special thank you to the Braves for getting me through the summer in first place.  Sure they didn’t hold it through week 1 of the football season, but their purpose has been served.  Now if they can just make the playoffs and have all of their games fall on Sundays-Wednesdays and Fridays unless there is a crappy Thursday night game then they will have served me up the perfect season in Cox’ last year.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Alright guys, it’s time for football again, so here goes…forgive the errors…

Download Week 1 Writeup here in pdf format… or just keep reading (only without fancy pictures and formatting)…

Week 1

Opponent:  Univ. Louisiana-Lafayette

Ragin’ Cajuns

Kickoff:  12:21 PM

TV: SEC Network

Maybe I’m just getting older but the offseasons seem to be going by quicker.  Much quicker.  It doesn’t seem like long ago at all I was watching a frustratingly talented UGA team finish off a middling Big XII team in a crappy bowl.  Thank goodness the season is finally here.  I was tired of passing the offseason reading more crap about Richt being on the hot seat (he’s not) or getting emails about the latest player arrest.  Now lets get to the football…

About ULL…­­­­­­

There’s not a whole lot to say here.  A warm-bodied team to come in and play might not sound overly appetizing but after last year’s debacle of a start set the tone for a decidedly up and down season, I’ll take a lower level DI (sorry, FBS) team any day.   Louisiana-Lafayette is a Sun Belt Conference school that finished at 6-6 last year  (actually they’ve won 6 games in 4 of the past 5 seasons) including a home win over Kansas State and a 31-3 loss to LSU that was 17-3 at the half and a lot closer than LSU fans are willing to admit.  Two year ago they took a then #24 Illinois (yeah I don’t remember them being ranked either but apparently they were) to the wire in a 20-17 loss.  While hanging your hat on a win over Kansas State and a loss to Illinois isn’t exactly top shelf, it shows that this team is a notch above some of the teams we’ve seen roll into Athens for early season snoozers (Georgia Southern, Boise State, etc.).  While I don’t expect a super close game Saturday, I wouldn’t be surprised at a game closer than many think.  Heck, if we play defense like we did last year we can keep anyone in the game.

ULL Offense

• ULL runs a multiple offense with an experienced QB that spreads it around a lot to run the ball.  Offensively they were our equal last year in terms of yards (against an admittedly weaker schedule) but averaged basically a TD less per game.  They lost their top RB and pass catcher (their TE) but it won’t really matter as it’s not likely we know what the heck our defense is going to look like anyway.
• At QB, ULL returns their starter in Jr. Chris Masson.  While he won’t exactly conjure up images of Jake Delhomme (a former ULL QB great), he had a solid year last year throwing for over 2,400 yards at a 60% clip and 10 TDs to 8 INTs.  He’s a pretty good athlete too, rushing for right at 200 yards on the season last year.  Backup QB Brad McGuire will play all over the place for them…H-back, wildcat, FB, RB, QB, you name it.  He gives them some options for sure.
• At RB, ULL lost their top rusher last year and comes into this game with some question marks at this spot.  They have 4 guys competing for the carries with 3 of them being newcomers (two true frosh and a JUCO guy).  The top candidate is probably the returning guy, Jr. Julian Shankle (that sounds made up).  None of the 4 options are particularly large, with all being under 200 pounds.  When they need beef they go to their FB, Matt Desormeaux, who they’ll move out to play some TE too.  They appear to really like moving folks around.
• WR is probably the deepest unit on the team and it’s paced by senior Marlin Miller, who is the leading returning receiver in terms of catches (37).  They don’t have a WR in their top 6 that’s over 6-1.  TE is a strength for them as their top 2 receivers in terms of yards last year were both TEs (one graduated).  Jr. TE Ladarius Green is solid.  At 6-6, 230 he’s big and was athletic enough to reel in a 91-yard TD last year.  His 59 yards per game easily led the team last year.
• The ULL OL starts 3 seniors and two sophomores after losing 3 senior starters from last year.  The strength of the line is at center and RT, where they each sport 31 career starts.  The line has some bulk, especially the right side, where 6-7, 350-pound Jaron Odom mans the RG spot.
• Bottom Line: This is a team that can score some points and does some different stuff on offense, but if we’re going to be better on defense (we have to be right?) then this is the type of team we need to severely limit.  Last year they played 3 BCS schools (KSU, LSU and Nebraska).  They averaged under a TD against each, managing only a FG against the latter two combined.  Granted, those were two of the better defenses out there, but 3 points?  In a 4-game stretch late in the season against the likes of FIU, Ark St, MTSU and ULM (not exactly murderer’s row), this team managed to score 21 or less each game.  Richt is known for pulling off the gas a bit and playing 3^rd stringers and walk-ons to finish these games, giving late meaningless TDs up but I wouldn’t be surprised with a new DC and scheme if we don’t see more focus from top to bottom through the whole game, trying to make a statement.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: We got killed by some TEs last year and Ladarius Green is a good one and the H-back they sport could be interesting too because of the flexibility he provides, but I’m watching our OLBs this week.  Gamble has been a force in all the scrimmages since moving outside and Houston could easily be an All-SEC and possible All-American if he’s able to fill the DeMarcus Ware role like we’re trying to get him to do.  Either way, those guys are going to be in the backfield a lot.

ULL Defense

• They play a standard 4-3 (so 2009) which at this point seems boring and predictable.  What a difference a year makes.  They racked up some pretty putrid defensive numbers last year, with their 70^th national rank in pass defense yards/game being their best mark.  All of the other major defensive metrics saw these guys ranking in the 90s.  Where they did do well was turnovers, where they were 29^th in the country in turnovers gained, oh the glory days when we were in the top half of the country in that category.  Last year we were 118^th in turnovers gained.  Ouch.
• The fact they finished last year 99^th against the run tells me these guys aren’t super strong up front.  Add in the fact that returning players had a total of 5 sacks last year and 2.5 of those were from DBs and you’ve got the recipe for success behind a strong OL trying to break in a young QB.  One of their projected starters at DT is 5-11, 287.  That guy versus Cordy Glenn should be interesting.
• MLB Grant Fleming is the star of the defense, making 89 stops last year and coming in as a two-time all-Sun Belt selection.  He’s flanked by a pair of upperclassmen who are a bit undersized in the 210 range.
• The ULL secondary isn’t bad actually, with Dwight “Bill” Bently (I wonder what the story is there?…”we gon’ call you Bill”) probably being the best of the bunch finishing 4^th on the team in tackles and tied for the lead in INTs (3).  The two starters at CB weigh in in the low 170s.  Backup CB Melvin White might get more PT with his 6-3 size trying to match up against Green, Durham and our WR height.
• Bottom Line: Honestly this is an ideal team to start off against in terms of defense.  They aren’t strong against the run, have some undersized perimeter guys while we’re likely looking to establish the run and ease Murray into his role as head of the offense.  It’s ideal.  There’s two ways this could go down…1) we pound the ball, get a lead and ease Murray in, or 2) we come out throwing as they’re stacking the box. Honestly, I’d like to see option 2.  We know we can run the ball behind this OL (at least I hope we do).  We don’t know what we’ve got with Murray.  If he’s going to make mistakes in a game, let him do it ones we can afford it in more.  I’d rather him struggle with blitz pick up against ULL than SC.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: Watch Murray.  In his first start, heck, his first PT, we’ve got a lot riding on this kid.  No pressure.  He’s got a bevy of weapons around him that few QBs in the country can rival and he came in with all the accolades you could hope for so it’s just a matter of him doing his job.  He doesn’t have to be great, just good, for us to have a really good season.  He can scramble but I don’t think I can take it if he starts running around a bunch.  I’m sure you all remember the feeling when DJ Shockley went down against Arkansas in Athens knowing that likely meant he was out for the UF game.  He was.  So…painful…

The ULL Game Overall

Like I said earlier, I don’t expect this to be a close game, our coaching is too good with talent to match for us to have a complete meltdown but we do have a lot of questions that need answered that will probably result in a closer game than most are willing to accept.  Aaron Murray will be seeing his first collegiate action.  No one on defense will have ever played that scheme in a live game.  There will be mistakes.  If there aren’t, I’d be more scared as we’re going to have mistakes in the year.  I’d rather not burn our perfect game on ULL (that’d be you Florida).  I’d rather get those mistakes out in “coachable” situations where the penalties aren’t so severe.  I’d take an ugly win followed by a trouncing of SC than a huge win followed by a pretty loss.  Granted, I don’t know many folks who’d be happy with the latter at all.

Anyway, folks clamored endlessly for an end to the Willie era of UGA defense.  Even the staunchest UGA fan will admit the results of the 2009 UGA defense weren’t good enough.  While I’m incredibly excited about the Grantham era and its tremendous potential, I have to admit I’m a little anxious to see how it plays out.  The optimist in me sees pressure coming from all over the place and our athletes (that we’ve always had) running about wreaking havoc and making QBs head spins trying to figure out where we’re bringing pressure from.  The pessimist in me wonders what happens when they guess right and run straight into the teeth of our dropping DL and gash us for 20 or so yards.  The pessimist in me also wonders how well the 3-4 will stack up against teams that can run and pass equally well that decide they are committing to the run, somewhat neutralizing our pass rush.  Overly simplistic I know, but crazy blitz packages that confuse QBs don’t mean much if the QB is handing the ball off.  Regardless, I don’t envy opposing coordinators early in the season who are exposed to whatever blitz packages we’re bringing for the first time.  It’s going to be chaos, quite possibly on both sides of the ball as it’s going to be difficult for guys steeped in our old defense to respond immediately without a hitch, but oh, if they do.  Expect to see a lot of check down runs from ULL trying to guess right.

All in all it’s just going to be nice to have college football back and in some ways a more innocent one.  Two years ago coming in #1 wasn’t as much fun as you’d hoped it would be.  It felt like UGA was under assault from everyone.  Coming in with lower expectations, a la 2002 and far exceeding them is always fun but at some point if we’re going to be the program we all want to be, we’re going to have to be able to take those expectations on and surpass them.  We’re not far.

Positional Notes

• Player movement.  I don’t remember a year ever where we moved so many players around.  I’m sure the influx of new coaches had something to do with it but the surprising thing isn’t that so many guys moved it’s that so many guys moved that look to have a legit impact.
  • ‘Bean’ Anderson – Physically gifted like few big guys are, he just never clicked on the OL so he moved his big frame to the much-discussed nose guard spot to see if he can cause trouble along the line of scrimmage for us.  A beast of a man with incredible strength and quickness, he’s perfectly suited for the position and he developed enough early (after being out all spring) for the coaches to feel good about cross-training DeAngelo Tyson at DE.
  • Richard Samuel – The former 5-star HS recruit had the size and speed that made you drool about his potential at RB but his inability to break tackles made him look out of place so he slides over to LB where Grantham will try and harness his considerably physical gifts.  Still young as a 19-year old junior I wouldn’t be surprised if he redshirts.
  • Logan Gray – The former QB moved out to WR and has consistently made plays.  I figured we’d just see him get token snaps there as we protected him to be our backup QB but the play of Mason and his knack for making plays means he’s a legit threat to see PT.
  • Darryl Gamble – OK, not that big of a deal moving from ILB to OLB but it’s the impact he’s had.  He’s been unblockable since he moved outside. Grantham loves the outside pressure guys (he actually loves the pressure guys from anywhere) and Gamble has been an absolute boon opposite Houston where he allows us to avoid having two converted DEs (Washington and Houston) on the field trying to cover folks at the same time.
  • Justin Houston – He played LB his redshirt year in Athens but spent the last two seasons as a force at DE.  Now moving into the OLB that DeMarcus Ware made so lethal in Dallas, Houston looks to go from being an All-SEC consideration at DE to an All-American contender possibly if he has the kind of season he’s capable of.  He’ll certainly have every opportunity for the big sack totals.
• My picks for season awards – this should be interesting to look back on…
  • Breakout Offensive Player – Orson Charles.  He was good last year as a true freshman but he’s going to blow up in a big way this year.  Huge.
  • Breakout Defensive Player – Christian Robinson.  New LB coach Belin has absolutely raved over this kid’s play at ILB since he came in which tells me all I need to know.  I was really tempted to go with Brandon Wood here for some reason.  He’s perfectly suited to the 3-4 DE spot.
  • Most likely to hurt someone – Jakar Hamilton.  I’m hearing this guy is lethal, like Greg Blue when he knew where he was going.
  • Most likely to look like he’s going to get hurt – Carlton Thomas.  I know everyone seems to have a small scatback nowadays but Thomas looks particularly small.
  • Offensive MVP – AJ Green. Few WRs can demand the attention he will this year, meaning he’ll impact plays he’s not even close to.  Best offensive weapon in Athens since Herschel.  Yeah, I said it.
  • Defensive MVP – Justin Houston.  The hiring of Todd Grantham and Houston’s subsequent move to OLB might make Mr. Houston a lot of money down the road.
  • Most likely to look like a freshman – T.J. Stripling.  At 6-6, 215 the lanky OLB is going to look downright scrawny until he fills out.  Especially with all that hair.
  • Top True Freshman – Alec Ogletree.  We’re in pretty good shape at safety but he might be too good to keep off the field.
  • Top RS Freshman – Aaron Murray.  He’s certainly going to have every opportunity to put up big numbers.
  • Comeback Player of the Year – Kris Durham, I’d love to say Sturdivant but Durham will play a bigger role as WR isn’t as deep as OL.  When’s the last time you could say that?
  • Deepest Position – TE.  Charles and White could start for anyone.  Figgins is as good a blocker at TE as we’ve had since Ben Watson.  Lynch is a future star.  Heck, even our walk-on could play and I wouldn’t be mortified.
  • Thinnest Position – QB.  Aaron Murray, an untested redshirt sophomore is the clear cut starter.  Behind him is a true frosh.  Behind him?  Quite possibly a walk-on true freshman.

Random Thoughts

• I love seeing David Pollack on ESPN as one the “Experts” on their ESPNU show.  His brash nature fits in perfectly to that format and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on a bigger stage for them because of that.  Very ESPN.  Matt Stinchcomb is more of a polished guy but I think he might be too polished.  He’d fit in great with Mayock on the NFL network. How many college football people does ESPN have on staff now by the way?  It’s getting unreal.  I think I could name about 25 pretty quickly, and literally every one of them would be better than Mark May and Lou Holtz.  Of the 25, half are Ohio State and Michigan guys.  Want a fun conversation topic for your tailgate?  Who’s the worst ESPN college football “personality?”  I’d be tempted to say Mark May but that Trevor Matich guy has said some spectacularly dumb stuff.  Don’t get me started on Rod Gilmore.
• So USC finally got some punishment…after Pete Carroll left?  In 3 years when he tries to come back to NCAA after failing in the NFL (again), they should institute sanctions against him at whatever school he tries to go to (I’m guessing Notre Dame will be open again by then).  The NCAA needs to start penalizing these coaches…like, oddly enough, Lane Kiffin.
• My pick for surprise SEC team this year?  Georgia.  Seriously.  Tennessee will be surprisingly bad, which is saying something because no one is expecting much.
• The two teams with the easiest roads to the BCS title game are Boise State and Ohio State.  Could you imagine a less intriguing national title game?  I can only imagine Kirk Herbstreit for the weeks leading up to that game.
• I’m sure most of you know this but Murray flirted with wearing a glove on his throwing hand over the offseason.  He elected to stop doing it.  A big thank you to Aaron Murray.  I know Tom Brady does it when it’s freezing up in New England and Kurt Warner did it in Arizona…for some reason.  No idea there.  Not to sound all codgery and whatnot but I just didn’t like it.  I’m just now getting used to the new helmets.  Don’t make my QB wear gloves.
• How did South Carolina become the de facto opening game for the country every year?  With it being on a Thursday night how is it not an ACC school?  How is it this game is a complete bore every year too?  Every year I’m so excited to watch college football again then South Carolina treats me to a game so bad I forget why I was excited in the first place.  It’s like I finally understand why foreigners say American football is boring.
• Speaking of futball, if I so much as see a vuvuzela in Sanford stadium this year I’m going to use it as a club.
• Back to Boise.  Why is it they get so much credit for beating Oklahoma yet you rarely hear about the absolute beatdown they got in Athens in 2005?  I know Cowherd was trumpeting it but why not more?  Are they a good team?  Sure.  They’re like a good Kentucky team.  They can get up for a few games a year but when put through a full schedule they just couldn’t sustain it. That’s why it’s imperative that Virginia Tech Zabranskies them on Monday night.  If Boise St. wins that game and they’ve got a great shot at running the table.  Ugh.
• So I stumbled on the Nike Pro Combat uniforms for this season.  You’ll recall them from last year as some of the really random looking stuff that resulted in TCU having charcoal gray helmets and pants.  They also produced Florida’s white helmets (Tebow Tears White that is) that they promptly wore in the biggest SEC game in decades, #1 vs. #2 for the right to play for the national title (nice tradition there guys…basically you and TCU decided those things were meaningful enough to wear to a big game).  Anyway, this year’s group is a mix of last year’s and some new unexpected teams.  Back are Ohio State (with red helmets this year), Miami (expectedly heinous), Florida (no lie, the helmets and numbers are gator print) and VT.  The shocker to me was that Bama was one of the schools.  What can they do to Bama’s uniforms that won’t get them killed you ask?  How about pale houndstooth numbers and helmet stripe?  Seriously.  It’s like the only change you could make that wouldn’t result in a redneck fatwah being placed on Phil Knight’s head.  The WVU uniforms include a charcoal smudged helmet and numbers that’s an homage to the mining community and it actually looks really sharp.  To me anyway.   A part of me wants to laugh at something as ugly as a lizard print helmet, then I remember a red facemask on a black helmet and I wonder what Nike would come up with for UGA.  Anyway, check them for yourself here.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

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