Alright, I think it’s a day early, not sure though…

Download Boise State Writeup in pdf form

Week 1

Opponent:  Boise State Broncos

Kickoff:  8:00 PM

TV: ESPN

The long wait is over.  College football is back upon us.  Offseasons are always longer when you lose your bowl game.  When you lose your bowl game to Central Florida, it’s like it doesn’t end.  Anyway, here we are, at the dawn of a new season…just a few more days and we can put all of that behind us and focus on a new season.

The last time we opened with Boise State, we were the trendy upset pick by just about everyone looking to be edgy.  We romped them and went on to win the East and upset LSU for the SEC title.  That seems like a long, long time ago.  Since that time, Boise has gone on to win 2 BCS games and become a fixture in the top 10 of each week’s polls.  They’ve also notched wins against VT, Oregon (twice) and Oregon State.  This is a team that’s a good bit better than the last version we saw.   In 2005, our win was greeted with the predictable, Boise State just isn’t ready for bigtime football, response that proved that game was a lose-lose affair for UGA.  That type of win this year would be greeted with significantly different responses as BSU has proven themselves to be a respectable football team and program.  Heck, their program even got in NCAA trouble last year, proving they’re ready to step up to the big time.

Boise Offense

• Boise puts up stats like I did in Madden ’94 when I used the Cowboys.  They’ve got a balanced attack, equally effective on the ground as in the air.  Sure their stats benefit greatly from playing a lot of teams that would be homecoming opponents for most of the major conferences, but these guys execute game in and game out and they’re putting up consistent numbers against everyone.  They use a ton of motion and formation changes to see how the defense responds to certain things and get the matchups they want.  I’d imagine we’ll be in the nickel formation a lot with their 2 wide set being their base. They lost their OC but Petersen
• At QB, Kellen Moore has put up numbers that are really hard to wrap your head around.  In the last two seasons he’s finished 2^nd, then 1^st in passing efficiency in the NCAA.  I don’t care if it’s against scout teams in practice, his 74 TDs to 9 INTs over the last 2 years is pretty impressive.  A southpaw with a quick release, his arm isn’t super strong and he’s not the biggest guy in the world at 6-0 and under 200 pounds, but he doesn’t make many mistakes and from when I’ve watched him play, pressure doesn’t really rattle him.  He tends to throw off his back foot under pressure, which is OK because he’s able to maintain accuracy (over 70% completion in 10 games last year) but it takes a little more zip off his passes which gives DBs more time to react, which is a bigger deal against UGA than it is Wyoming.  He threw at least 2 TD passes in every game last year and throws a great deep ball.  He’s smart and has a knack for sensing the blitz.  Want proof?  He’s only been sacked 11 times in the last 2 years combined, and he’s not a super mobile guy although he has a real knack for sensing the pocket collapse.
• At RB, Sr Doug Martin is a bowling ball at 5-9, 215, rushing for over 1,200 yards last year and over 6 ypc, good for 12 TDs.  He’s a quick, shifty back but isn’t a pure speed guy.  He’s a real threat in the passing game (think screens), reeling in 28 catches for over 300 yards last year (4^th on the team in catches and yards).  He’s a model of consistency, only dropping below 6 ypc in 3 games last year (all wins).  In fact, it wasn’t Martin’s fault that they lost the game they did (Nevada), as he had his highest yardage total of the season (152 yards).  They have experienced depth too with speedy senior DJ Harper spelling Martin.
• Boise State lost far and away their top 2 WRs from last year (just like UGA), with both being drafted in the first 3 rounds.  Like UGA, those 2 guys dominated the stats sheet.  The greater than 2,100 yards receiving they had accounted for over half of the BSU passing attack last year.  The leading returning WR is Sr. Tyler Shoemaker, whose 582 yards and 18.2 ypc average also compare extremely well to UGA’s top returner (Tavares King, 504 yards, 18.7 avg).  This is one of the few positions on the whole team that isn’t senior laden, as outside of Shoemaker they don’t have a lot of proven depth.  TE Kyle Efaw caught 24 passes last year and his 5 TDs tied Shoemaker to lead returners.
• WR isn’t the only spot that BSU isn’t senior laden.  While they do project to start 2 seniors along the line, they also have a couple of sophomores slated and only return 3 of 5, which compared to the rest of the team is like wholesale turnover.  LT Nate Potter has made several All-America teams and at 6-6, 300 certainly has the size you look for.  Fellow senior, OC Thomas Byrd doesn’t however, coming in at a mere 5-11, 290 although to his credit he’s a 1^st team All-WAC player.  I’d have to think RT will be a worry for them as well as Sophomore Charles Leno has added mass to get to 295 (played at 275 last year) but at 6-3, might not have the length to contend with long edge rushers like Washington.
• Bottom Line:  If someone tells you they know exactly what’s going to happen in this game when BSU has the ball, they’re kidding either you or themselves.  BSU has only been held under 30 points 4 times in the last 2 years and only once last year (Utah).  Their stats were understandably huge.  21^st in rushing offense nationally, 6^th in passing offense, good for 2^nd in total offense and converting it to 2^nd in scoring offense.  It’s a misnomer that they are a pass-happy spread, as they run the ball a ton (Moore only had about 40 more attempts than Murray last year).  Moore is a senior QB that knows his offense, knows how to make quick decisions and can certainly frustrate a defense by recognizing schemes and finding weak spots.  Add in a strong, powerful runner and you’ve got the kind of balanced attack that allows a team to keep a D on its heels.  If BSU had either of their top 2 WRs from last year back, I’d be even more worried as they would be far more dangerous on hot routes and the like in blitz situations.  Without them, BSU might experience a bit of a learning curve getting those guys on the same page as Moore.  Watch for Martin on screens to try and take advantage of UGA’s speed.
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball:  For us, it’ll be our front 3 vs. the BSU OL.  We have a pretty big size advantage in the interior that will command a double team consistently.  I just don’t see how Byrd can block Geathers or Jenkins by himself with any consistency giving up 60 pounds.  If we can command two nearly every play, I’d imagine we’ll slow their run game considerably because we’ll be freeing someone up to make a play.  As good as Moore is, if we can make them one-dimensional, I like our chances at holding their offense in check, not shutting it down completely, just slowing it.

Boise Defense

• As impressive as their offensive stats were, their defensive numbers were even more so.  7^th nationally in rush defense, 4^th in pass defense, 2^nd in total defense, 1^st in sacks, etc.  They held over half of their opponents to half their season scoring averages or less.  They pitched 3 shutouts and held 3 other opponents to a TD or less.  They are loaded with seniors.  On paper this is a solid, solid defensive unit but it’s really hard to get a feel for how good they’ll be in the Dome.  Sure, they return a lot but it’s really hard to compare the successes of last season to what to expect against UGA and its more pro-style attack, which I don’t know that they’ve seen much of.
• The BSU DL sports 4 senior starters and is the heart of their D.  The interior tandem of Billy Winn and Chase Baker is solid with both making All-WAC teams last year.  Winn in particular is a talent and projected NFL draftee.  Crawford at DE is the only new starter on the line and is a big kid that had a good year last year after transferring from JUCO.  At the other DE spot, Shea McClellin led the team in sacks with 9.5 last year.  They did lose 1^st team All WAC DE Ryan Winterswyk, who’s trying to catch on in the NFL as a TE.
• BSU employs a 4-2-5 base with a rover a la the spur that SC played a few years back under Holtz.  I’ll list that extra DB type in with the DBs since they call him a Nickel Back, but he’ll play down in the box a good bit.  Both returning LB types are seniors (shocker).  Byron Hout and Aaron Tevis are both capable defenders with good size.  Hout managed to make All-WAC (it might be easier to list who didn’t) despite missing some time to injury.
• The secondary lost 2 starters from last year, one first team WAC guy in S Jeron Johnson who led the team in tackles) and a 2^nd team WAC CB.  The other 1^st team WAC safety returns though in George Iloka, who has tremendous size for the safety position at 6-3, 215.  I’m not sure who’s starting at the other CB spot but I’d imagine senior Jerrell Gavins will get a long look.  At 5-9, 167 he’s experienced but not going to cause any physical mismatches in BSU’s favor.
• Bottom Line:  It’s hard to say that Boise preyed on a weak schedule because while they didn’t play a schedule stacked week in and week out with offensive powerhouses, they absolutely shut down everyone they did play with the notable exception of Nevada.  They held most of their opponents to well below their season scoring and yardage averages.  In terms of scoring, they literally held every opponent to under their season average.  My guess is BSU is going to roll in and see how their front 4 fares against our OL to see if they can slow our running game without stacking the box.  Since our OL looks considerably different than last season both from a personnel and coaching standpoint and both of our RBs are fresh, I think they’ll go through a feeling out process before they put their secondary in a position for Murray to burn them.  I see no reason for them to stack the box when Murray is the only real known we have.  They stack it and King and Charles will pick them apart (hopefully).  I look for them to make us establish the run, which is exactly what we’ll be trying to do anyway as it opens up our play action.  If we aren’t able to get a push early, and we might very well not be able to against that front, look for us to hit the edge hard with Crowell and a couple of change of pace things like Smith or Mitchell (just guessing here).  I’m a fan of the bootleg and rollouts since Murray is so good on the run, so if we struggle on the ground, let’s get him moving.  Murray rolling right with Charles dragging across the formation makes me happy.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball:  Gates is tested but Burnette certainly isn’t at RG.  He’s got talent and is super bright but this is his first big-game action.  Given the strengths of BSU’s D being up the middle, I’m anxious to see how he holds up.  The fact he’s our smallest OL adds to the worry.  The thing I’m going to watch with the most curiosity though is how we use our TEs.  Given it’s likely that Charles, White and Lynch will all see the field with regularity and given how flexible Charles and White are, I hope we come up with some wrinkles for them.  Throw in Figgins at FB and you’ve got a TE party that would get a Dan Reeves draft room all hot and bothered.

The Boise Game Overall

Ah, who the heck knows?  This ain’t the same BSU team that trotted into Athens 6 years ago hoping to win.  This team expects to win.  They’ve toppled elite programs on the biggest of stages since we last tangled, so don’t expect another 48-13 win with 570 yards of offense.  This team is solid on both sides of the ball and is looking to prove it…again.

With that said, they’re solid, but I’m not convinced that they’re a top 5 team.  They simply don’t have enough to go off of.  I’ll say what’s been said about a million times already.  That VT team they beat in the opener last year lost THE NEXT WEEK to a FCS team.  VT didn’t become good again until late and based on the way they got romped by Stanford in their BCS game, I’m not so sure they ever got good, just ACC good.  The only other games BSU had to get up for were Oregon State, Nevada and Utah, and they lost one of those.  In the end they can only do what they can do, and it’s not their fault (actually it is for losing, ok, so one year they didn’t) that their bowl opponents the last few years have been TCU (twice) and Utah, other mid-majors that didn’t allow them to showcase themselves against BCS opponents.

I really do see both teams being pretty similar, and obviously Vegas does to (line of BSU by 3).  Our offenses are surprisingly similar with them having more seasoning at QB and RB but us likely having the better overall offensive talent (I’ll wager we have far more offensive guys Saturday that end up making NFL rosters than BSU).  Their defense looks great on paper but lost a chunk of their very good secondary.  I can’t get a read on them because of who they’ve played and I can’t get a read on us because it’s hard to tell how much we’ve improved in year 2 of the 3-4.  It could come down to special teams and turnovers.  If it’s special teams, I like our chances…a lot.  With Walsh, Butler and Boykin we have arguably the top kicker and punter in the country and one of the most dangerous returners in the SEC.  Considering BSU missed 2 FGs in their OT loss to Nevada, they understand as well as anyone the meaning of good special teams.  If it’s turnovers, it’ll likely favor BSU as Moore just rarely turns the ball over, and while Murray’s not turnover prone, Samuel has shown he can be.

In the end, what does this game say or define about our season?  Not much.  Ask VT, who parlayed an opening week loss to Boise into a BCS bowl berth.  Going in the other direction, a win is like getting some icing but then being told you have to go earn the cake, which in this overdone metaphor would of course be the SEC title, with the first layer being earned in Athens the following weekend against SC.  The difference between this year and 2005 is that a win over BSU would truly be seen as meaningful instead of the about-face all of the media members did in 2005, declaring BSU to be obviously not as good as we thought.  That was unfair to both teams.

Positional Notes

• Can’t wait to see Crowell….or Drew, or Mitchell, or Swann…
• Everything I’m hearing about Alec Ogletree at LB gets me excited.  Freed of some of his coverage responsibilities now, he can just flow to the ball and something tells me he’s more than capable of handling whatever coverages his MLB spot call for given his safety experience.
• Until ugasports.com put out a great article this week about his return, I had almost forgotten about the fact that Jarvis Jones was given a verdict of career-ending neck injury by the coaches at USC despite multiple other doctors disagreeing.  He’s now almost 2 years removed from that.  That’s got to be a little nerve-wracking.  You know that man just wants to hit someone

Random Thoughts

• So did anyone catch any of the replay games they had on Fox Sports South this week?  It was billed as the SEC’s great games weekend and they just aired slightly shortened versions of some of the classic games.  UGA-UT from 2001 (hobnail boot game) was one of the ones they aired.  How has FSS been sitting on these games and not airing them back to back all summer long? Of course I didn’t catch it until it was almost over.  Dang.  We won by the way.  It was awesome.
• BSU as underdog?  Please.  According to Mr. Phil Steele, BSU was a favorite in every game they played last year.  They were also a favorite in every regular season game they played in 2009.  In fact, since the 2008 road game at Oregon (which they won as an underdog) in week 3, they’ve only been the underdog twice.  Both were bowl games, and both were against TCU.  They lost the ’08 Poinsettia Bowl 17-16 but exacted revenge the following year with a 17-10 win.  In fact, they’ve been a double-digit favorite in 22 of the 27 games they’ve played in the last two seasons and were at least a 2 TD favorite in every game last year except the VT opener.  Don’t let anyone give you that whole BSU is the underdog routine.
• So Pollack has an ESPN show with former UF QB Jesse Palmer called “The Palmer and Pollack Show?”  Wow.  Watching it, it’s hard to tell which one was the 3-time all American DL.  Pollack looks like he’s lost a Billy Bennett or more in the weight department.  They should have called it “The Bachelor and The Motor.”  I give it 4 episodes before they work in a picture of Pollack and Greene playing pee-wee football together, somehow.  The show is actually pretty good, largely due to the absence of Dr. Lou, Mark May and Craig James.
• No one drew a correlation between our poor play and the decided lack of a GA Theatre in recent seasons, so I’ll be the first.  It opened in the late 70s and has been an institution ever since but suffered the fire in 2009.  We’ve been pretty crappy since.  It reopened a month or so ago.  Bring on the awesomeness.  Sorry Boise, you had no idea did you?  Thus endeth the curse of The Theatre.
• So we get Nessler and Blackledge calling the game.  Man, I can’t think of a better announcing crew.  Does Blackledge still do Taste of the Town?  I don’t think he does.  How does Wikipedia not have that covered?  I’m assuming he’d end up at the Varsity, unless he’s already done that.
• If you’re into lo-fi alt-country with feedback, generous harmonies, and a nice pedal steel, check out Futurebirds.  I’ve seen them twice recently and enjoyed the heck out of ‘em.  Good to know Athens is still cranking out the music…and one guy looks like Forest Gump when he was running back and forth across the country, which is always cool.
• Wow, so Boise State isn’t bringing their own band but will instead be using HBCU mainstay Morris Brown College.  No word if Petey Pablo will join.  Yes, that’s a Drumline reference.
• How odd is this season starting out.  We face the two highest ranked opponents for the year in weeks 1 and 2.  That’s odd.  Even odder is the fact that it’s Boise State and South Carolina.  Welcome back college football.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

I honestly can’t remember if I do these or not but I’m ready for some football, so if you want to read, feel free.

Oh, and if you’re just downloading the pdf, the links don’t work, but they should down below, man I have to work on the formatting on this…

Download Preseason Writeup in pdf

I figured the best way to get back in the groove of writing these things was to do one for us.  A UGA scouting report for the season I guess.  Haven’t done one of these on a while, so forgive the typos.

About last year…­­­­­­

Can we pretend that didn’t happen?  A rough year all around hammered home with a resoundingly listless effort (including a loss) against a Conference USA opponent isn’t exactly confidence inspiring.  So, in keeping with the format…

The Good:  Aaron Murray was all we hoped he could be as a freshman, especially once we opened up the playbook a little for him.  The defense wasn’t horrible in its transition to a 3-4.  Special teams continued to be awesome.

The Bad:  A lot.  The offense was inconsistent.  The defense struggled against the run and gave up too many points.  Worst of all was the seemingly complete lack of interest the team closed the season with.

The Interesting:  Despite the bad season, the UGA coaching staff went out and got one of the top 3 recruiting classes in the country.  It was loaded at just about every position.  Better yet, all of these guys came to campus ready to play.  You see more freshmen slotted for PT this year than in recent memory and a lot of it has to do with how good this class is.  They were dubbed the Dream Team.  Let’s see if they live up to it.

UGA Offense

• The UGA offense loses the top drafted WR in the country last year in AJ Green.  Also gone are a couple of key offense linemen, an underrated WR in Durham and the top 2 RBs on the team.  A new OL coach adds to the question marks.  With a largely unproven WR corps, a revamped OL, and all-new RBs, what can we expect to see?  A focus on the running game?  An offense that focuses on Murray?  We’re not far from finding out but right now the only real known is at QB, and it’s a really good known.
• At QB we have Aaron Murray, whose freshman season surpassed expectations despite the fact it was pretty obvious we were being overly cautious with him in early season games, particularly at SC.  Murray was just what the doctor ordered, showing an appreciation for ball protection and, as the season went on, an understanding of how to use his mobility to extend plays and find guys downfield.  He’s a heady QB and another year in the system should see an even better understanding of the offense.  The best thing about Murray is that he really seemed to have a knack for showing up in big games, not getting bothered by big games on big stages.  Backup Hutson Mason was solid in small glimpses as a true freshman and should be much better but hopefully we don’t have to see him much.
• The RB spot is weird.  If you’d said Isaiah Crowell, the top RB recruit in the country last year, would be entering the opener as 2^nd string I wouldn’t be all that surprised as neither Washaun Ealey or Caleb King had done anything to really grab the top spot for their own.  The fact that Crowell is behind Richard Samuel, returning to RB after his year-long stint at LB, makes this whole thing interesting.  The fact that BOTH Ealey and King are gone for non-football reasons is the odd part.  Samuel was an explosive back in his first incarnation at the position, he just needed large holes to make the explosions work.  His combination of size and speed are rare.  He just never was overly instinctual.  With the OL’s move to more of a drive blocking scheme and the addition of a 270-lb FB (former TE Bruce Figgins), Samuel will certainly add a considerably more physical presence than we’ve had in recent years.  Crowell is the x-factor though.  A natural athlete, with solid size, speed, vision, quickness and pretty much everything you want in a back, the only thing holding him back is likely how quickly he picks up the offense and blitz pickup in particular.  A track star in HS, he’s got the potential to be a gamebreaker whenever he touches the ball.
• Gone is all-time great AJ Green.  Gone is the solid and often spectacular (though overshadowed) Kris Durham.  The clear top returner is Tavares King, who has been very, very good in his career; he just happened to be paired with the greatest WR to ever wear a UGA uniform and didn’t get many targets.  Former top recruit Marlon Brown has been the talk of camp after apparently looking better and better.  His size makes him an intriguing guy all over the field but particularly in the redzone.  Wooten brings the wiggle to the table.  Freshman Malcolm Mitchell is likely the fastest of the bunch and could see some PT but is a relative newcomer to the position after being primarily a DB for the bulk of his HS career.  TE is a major strength for the Dawgs with Orson Charles being one of the best in the country.  A superior athlete, don’t be surprised at all to see him flex out at WR.  Same with Aron White who has always been solid.  Arthur Lynch returns after a RS and is the more traditional in-line blocker type but can certainly get his 275 pounds down the field.  Former TE Bruce Figgins (now the starting FB) allows for some interesting formational flexibility.
• The OL lost a ton of depth, and not just to the NFL.  Sturdivant gone to an injury, Strickland gave up football, Harmon transferred, etc.  The fact we still have a solid starting 5 is hard to believe.  Depth here is a major, major issue.  Starting LT Cordy Glenn will be one of the top OGs drafted next year.  At RT Justin Anderson returns from his year-long experiment at DT to take back over at his original position.  A physical freak, the new OL scheme is thought to be good for “Bean” as he struggled at times with the zone scheme of Searles.  OC Ben Jones is as good as any in the country and a good bit meaner.  Gates is solid at one OG spot after playing as a true frosh in a crowded line last year.  The only question is the other OG spot where Burnette, a former Army All-American, will be seeing his first significant time.
• Bottom Line: I have no idea what to expect from this group.  There’s serious talent everywhere, it’s just tough to stomach the fact that as of right now 2 of our starters on O were playing D at this time last year.  Despite that I feel like we can expect the O to be better just because of Murray.  He’s that good.  QBs drive everything.  Ask Manning or Brady’s foes.  Murray has the mobility to be a threat when the play breaks down.  Add in the special connection he has with Charles since their HS days and the outlook starts to brighten.  Toss in the pure talent and speed of guys like Crowell and Mitchell and the positive vibes start flowing.  
• Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball (this year): The key to the season on offense in my mind will be the play of the OL.  We’ve got a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball but without the OL clicking it’s going to be hard to use any of it.  The OL has lots of talent for sure but it’s seriously thin on the depth.  Both of our OTs would probably be better suited for OG and one of our OGs is probably better suited for OC.  That’s not to say that Glenn and Anderson can’t play OT, they’ve done it before, it’s just something we’ll have to watch.  Against top shelf pass rushers, they’ll likely need help.

UGA Defense

• The UGA defense was decent last year.  While it certainly wasn’t a return to the dominance of the 2002 and 2003 units, it did show signs of life at times and largely kept us in games.  Despite the losses of some good talent, especially in the LB corps, this year’s version is expected to be much better, if for no other reason than they should have a better feel for what the heck they’re doing in year 2 of Grantham’s 3-4.
• The UGA front 3 is solid.  I mean like over 300 pounds a man solid.  Abry Jones returns to lock down one DE spot and former NG DeAngelo Tyson kicks outside to take the other.  Undersized at NG, Tyson looks to be an ideal 3-4 DE and should blossom this season.  A year ago the thought of losing Tyson was a scary one but my how a season changes things as the 2-deep at NG looks to be a serious strength.  The arrival of manchild Jonathan Jenkins from the JUCO ranks had many penciling him in to start right away and at 6-4, 350, and with serious athleticism for a guy that size (he played some RB at JUCO), it’s easy to see why.  Someone forgot to tell Kwame Geathers that though. Kwame, who’s actually larger than Big Jon, responded by channeling his massive size and incredible football genes into an effort that resulted in him nailing down the starting spot, giving us depth and flexibility and making Todd Grantham a happy man.
• Gone are Justin Houston and his disruptive productivity.  With his departure, physical freak Cornelius Washington slides over to man that side of the formation.  His size and speed combo is certainly what you look for but the productivity hasn’t been there to date.  Taking over Houston’s spot, he should see a few more opportunities to get after the QB, which is more his speed anyway.  Taking over his old spot is USC transfer Jarvis Jones who redshirted last year after playing as a true freshman for the Trojans.  That means the guy has some game.  All accounts coming from practice point to this guy being a real playmaker and he certainly brings that serious, nasty disposition you look for in a LB.  He’s a beast.  Inside will be the always solid Christian Robinson, who seems to have really stepped into a leadership role for the D, and converted safety Alec Ogletree.  ‘Tree’ looked great last year as a true freshman but you wondered if his size would force him into a LB spot as not many guys not named Thomas Davis can play safety in the SEC at 230+ pounds. At LB, he looked natural at G-Day where he could just run to the ball and make plays.  Very excited about this guy.  While Robinson and Washington are the only returning starters, this unit has an extremely high ceiling. Incoming frosh Ray Drew, Ramik Wilson and Amarlo Herrera all look ready to contribute.
• The secondary was a bit of a concern early, especially when Brandon Boykin considered leaving early but he returns to anchor a unit that is loaded with athletes.  The fact he might be the best athlete on the team doesn’t hurt and he was solid at CB last year to boot.  Branden Smith apparently figured out how to turn his raw speed into productivity because his name has popped up a lot this camp, enough to lock down the other spot.  With Smith stepping up, that made it easier for Grantham to slide Sanders Commings over to safety, where his size is probably more suited.  While Commings played well as a CB last year, we need him more at safety with Ogletree dropping down to LB.  Shawn Williams, who saw time last year, will need to step it up but the coaches must feel pretty good about his play if they’re willing to let him and Commings be the 1s because that means returning starter Baccari Rambo will sit. I love the message that sends in terms of earning jobs but I love the depth it provides more.  Jordan Love appears to have won the nickel back spot although freshman Damian Swann has apparently earned PT as well.
• Bottom Line: Last year’s D showed glimpses of being solid but never really looked dominant.  The vaunted 3-4 we heard so much about ended up being a lot of nickel against the spreads we play each week and at times we looked slow to adjust, like when SC ran that iso run up the middle and just had Lattimore read our NG to the tune of like 300 yards and a UGA loss.  With everyone having a full year in the system, I fully expect to see marked improvement across the board.  Hopefully the game will slow down for these guys and we can see that manifested into big plays.  At times last year you felt like all the pressure was coming from Houston just being a dominant force and making things happen.  The 3-4 was going to be all about pressure and flexibility.  I’m hoping that as the players get more comfortable with understanding the concepts, we’ll open this thing up more.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball (this year): Man it’s going to be fun to watch Kwame and Jenkins in the middle.  Last year Tyson struggled as he just didn’t have the mass to play that spot essentially every snap of every game.  These two don’t have that problem but the thing is fellow players both rave about their athleticism so they should be fun to watch just wreak havoc up there.  I can’t wait to see Jarvis Jones too.  Once he was cleared by the NCAA, his Facebook quote was classic: “Stand up Bulldawg Nation, we have business to tend to.”  I told you he was serious.

General Team Notes

• Key game:  Week 2 at home against SC.  The Boise opener is obviously big but if you’re just going to win 1, the conference game is certainly the bigger fish and this game sets the season tone.
• Freshman who will have the biggest impact: Crowell.  It’s one of those talent meets opportunity deals.  He has a ton of talent and we have backed ourselves into an opportunity.  Him picking up that tiny little bulldog puppy back on Signing Day could be looked back on as a massive day for us.  He looks a LOT like Garrison Hearst in terms of skillset.  I could handle that.  I think Swann plays a good bit based off of reading between the lines and Drew will to.  This class is so loaded.
• Most Underrated Freshman: of the guys that will play, I’d have to go with Ramik Wilson, who didn’t get near the level of buzz that national guys like Drew, Crowell, Mitchell, Rome, Swann, etc. got.  He’s come in and looks ready to see LB time both inside and outside.  Wilson was one of those guys that kinda got lost in the shuffle of some of our bigger stars but he came ready to play.
• Breakout offensive player:  Lots of choices here.  I won’t go with Crowell.  Charles is hard to call a breakout, same with King.  I’ll go with Marlon Brown based on the fact he’ll have every opportunity to get some looks and his size should translate to redzone chances.  Add in the fact that Bobo said he had the best camp of any player and I’m hooked.
• Breakout defensive player: Branden Smith.  Another former 5 star, the light seems to have come on this offseason.  His career arc reminds me some of Paul Oliver (although they couldn’t have more differing skillsets for the same position) in that his first two seasons were decent, nothing spectacular but you really started hearing about them both entering their junior years.  Oliver blew up.  Here’s your chance Mr. Smith.
• Best Mustache:  Damian Swann.  In the years since VanGorder left I don’t think we’ve had any real candidates aside from Mikey Henderson’s Prince look.  Swann owns it.
• Highest drafted Bulldog next Fall: Cordy Glenn, 2^nd round.  His year at OT will only help although he’ll move back to OG at the next level.  Dark horse would be, ugh, Orson Charles.

Around the SEC (in one sentence each)

• Alabama: The darling of the media, I think their QB spot might see them drop a game or two.
• Auburn: Coming off the MNC, they lose too many weapons to be a real threat in the West.
• Arkansas:  Losing Knile Davis hurts but this team should be a real contender with an improved D.
• Florida:  I’m betting the rumors (and dreams) of Meyer’s return start before the season ends.
• Kentucky: This would be a great year for them to make a run but it won’t happen.
• LSU:  I’m not sold on their QB but man they’re loaded most everywhere else.
• Mississippi State: Caught a lot of people off guard last year but will find the loaded West tough.
• Ole Miss: Nutt doesn’t have nearly the same magic he did at Arkansas.
• South Carolina:  Garcia’s play will determine how far they go and that will scare rational SC fans.
• Tennessee: I’m thinking this will be another long year in Knoxville but they’ll surprise some folks.
• Vanderbilt:  Great school.

Random Thoughts

• Nickname of the year easily goes to Jonathan Jenkins, who will sport #6 across his considerable girth. I wish I could claim it, but “Motel 6” is awesome.  “He’ll turn your lights out for you.”
• I’m a big fan of the new UGA ad that the Chapel Bell folks created.  See it here.  Much, much better than the ones from previous years, which looked, well, not nearly as good.  Loved the inclusion of Athens as much as the school. Athens is a special place, let’s show it off.
• Now that Ohio State has gotten exposed as being completely crooked, can we cut their number of ESPN talking heads down a couple of notches?  And if we do that can we drop Desmond Howard too since he was clearly only added to bring some Michigan balance?
• Yeah, we got spiffy uniforms.  While I’m not a huge fan of the look and think Nike could’ve certainly come up with something better, I love the fact that our players, and better yet our recruits, seem to love them.  They’re for 1 game.  I can handle 1 game.  They’re kinda growing on me.  Especially after watching the promo video for them (here).  I might wear those gloves to work.
• Major kudos to the team as a whole for getting their collective act together and not having the offseason issues that have plagued us in the past.  Richt caught all kinds of grief for that in the past so hopefully he gets some of the praise for this.
• Kudos to the Braves again for making the summer interesting.  This team has some interesting pieces.  The Phillies are beyond loaded and the Brewers look a little dangerous but I like the team the Braves have.  I love the addition of Bourne at the leadoff spot.  Like the rug in the Big Lebowski, he’s really “tied the room together.”  Except replace room with lineup.  Now if Heyward would only start playing like he did last year we could be really dangerous.  It’s unreal how much good, young pitching we have.
• I’m glad that AJ and Boling both got drafted as high as they did, but Cincinnati?  Man they’re going to be bad for a while.  And they drafted a QB this year which means they’ll resist the urge to take Andrew Luck with the #1 overall pick next year.  Start the AJ free agent watch now.
• If the SEC insists on expanding, can we please cap it at 14?  If we go to 16, the schedule is going to get blown up all kinda crazy and we’ll be going something like 10 years without playing LSU or Bama…wait, why am I against this again?
• Man, am I ready for the season to get started.  One more weekend without football.  NFL preseason doesn’t even come close to counting.  I can only watch so many College Flash Classics.  Did they just run 1 season of that?  I’m thinking so because I think they only have like 3 games and I can quote them I think.  Dave Rowe isn’t even that quotable.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Looks like it’s at least the helmet that’s been going around with the wide red stripe down the middle.  Who knows what it actually looks like but my guess is the rest of this thing is silver.  We’ll find out tomorrow…

Guess it’s time to start dusting off the cobwebs and get ready for another season.  Rather than do a preseason writeup, I’ll probably just do a series of posts about what the issues we face are.  There’s plenty to talk about.

In other news, I got Word back up and running so I can go back to the way I was doing these before.  I think I put them out on Wednesday evenings.  Oh well, see you folks soon.

For the record, when I first came back here to log in, the site had expired and I couldn’t remember my password.  I really do need to post more regularly.