This one’s going to be pretty short.  Been a crazy week with a couple of curveballs so it’s going to be just the talking points so to speak that you can expect for this week.  Still no pdf as of now as I don’t really have it formatted worth anything.  I can say that once my nursery is complete there may be a small window where these things can return to their previous state, but something tells me that window is rapidly closing. So, enough about me…

The Buffalo game…

I can’t say that I’m really surprised at all by that effort.  Can fault be found in our performance?  Absolutely.  Do I think for a second that if we had been playing Missouri this week that that performance would’ve been what we’d see?  Absolutely not.  At the end of the day, if I’m picking which games get our A effort, Buffalo would’ve been pretty close to the bottom, maybe even 12^th out of 12.  Seriously.  The fact we slid a bit doesn’t bother me either, as very few teams looked scary (outside of Bama) because it was hard to get a feel for what they faced.  SC and Arkansas both struggled at least as much as we did.  At the end of the day, we worked out some kinks and put ourselves in a position to have some coaching points and come out stronger this weekend.

Things that surprised me:

• Connor Norman getting all the PT over Moore.  I was shocked to see him spend all of this time there.
• How much we played a 2-man front.  I know we rarely play a true 3-4, but Saturday we spent a TON of the day with Washington stood up as a rush DE opposite Jarvis.  Incredible positional flexibility from that formation but I don’t think we see it much against teams we feel are going to run it a lot.
• Gurley’s speed – I knew he was fast, and I knew he was an athlete, but he was explosive and coupled with his forward lean and effort and you have a pretty darn solid RB.

Things that didn’t surprise me:

• Injuries along the OL – I’ve come to expect that if we have a thin position, we’ll suffer some injuries to further that thinning.  This year’s concern area was OL, where our thinness was manifested in our complete lack of experience in the 2-deep.  Go figure that we lose 2 guys to sprained ankles and another to a chest contusion.  Hopefully Theus can go and Burnette appears to be ready as well but I don’t want another one of those “oh crap” moments when I realize we’ve got an OL down.
• Our freshmen stud RBs struggled in pass protection – it’s one of the old jokes that Richt didn’t start Moreno as a freshman because he wasn’t ready to block but you could see Saturday why it’s pretty helpful if those guys can keep Murray from getting drilled.  If a defense can say with certainty that if Gurley is in the game then a) we’re running the ball or b) if we’re passing it then he’s a liability, then we’ve got problems because they’re going to come right at him.
• The fact our fans were lackluster…it’s Buffalo and it was like 112 in the stadium.  And folks were surprised our team was flat?  I can’t recall a more G-Day like atmosphere in Sanford for a non G-Day game.

The Missouri game:

When we’re on offense -

• The weakness in the Mizzou defense is in the back 4.  They have pretty solid LBs and their DL is MUCH better than what we faced last weekend as our young pups were getting acclimated to the game.  While this makes you think we’d attack their secondary, I’m thinking Bobo is going to try and establish the run early and often with Gurley and company.  If Mizzou proves they can stop our run game, we’ll move away but so much of what we do relies on play action anyway, if we can establish something on the ground our chance go way up.  Against Buffalo, we threw it deep because they simply couldn’t cover King deep, so why not go there.  I don’t know that we can expect that kind of time this week.
• With Murray facing some pressure last weekend, I fully expect to see him scrambling some Saturday, but I’m OK with that.  I’d love to see a fair share of bootlegs to take some of the pressure off of our OL.  Murray is plenty athletic to handle it and throws well on the run.
• I expect to see us work the TE back in.  We didn’t target a TE once Saturday and that was a big spot for Murray last year.  In fact, only 4 guys caught balls and all were WRs.  As dangerous as Marshall appears to be in space, we’ll get him the ball out there at some point and he’s going to do some damage.  Back to the TE though, I think we’ll obviously keep Lynch in a fair amount as he’s a natural aid to our young OTs but we should be able to slide him out on occasion to and reward him.

When we’re on defense -

• QB James Franklin is a dangerous dual threat QB but he’s coming off offseason surgery.  He looked solid in week 1 but if our OL is thin, theirs is emaciated.  They had a rash of injuries during fall camp and are starting a true frosh and a former walk-on at the guard spots.  I fully expect our front 6 or 7 or whatever the heck we run on any given play (who knows) to be disruptive.  The Mizzou offensive scheme is all about timing and it’s one of those spread deals where they try to get matchups they want in space.  If our NG is blowing their center back into the pocket, timing is the first thing out the window.
• I’d expect after last week to see Franklin try and set the tone early with his feet but that’s a dangerous proposition with a guy coming back form injury as the UGA defense has some headhunters.  I would imagine Grantham has schemed for this game a good bit, I can only hope he’s done so knowing exactly what personnel he’d be afforded.
• I can’t wait to see Dorial Green-Beckham or whatever his long name is.  As the top WR in the country last year, he brings near TE size but explosive speed and athleticism to an already solid WR group.  If Mitchell can’t go (or being limited) and with Commings out, we don’t really have a lot of size at CB to counter, but I don’t expect a lot of man coverages anyway as we’ll have to be keeping an eye towards the line to make sure Franklin hasn’t broken contain.

Bottom Line:  Mizzou has a very solid offense although their ground game is essentially all Franklin.  They run a very effective scheme but we’re going to bring a physicality that they might not be used to.  I’m not saying that because we’re the almighty SEC, I’m saying that because there’s a reason guys like Jarvis Jones and John Jenkins are in Kiper’s and McShay’s top 6 picks for next year’s draft.

I don’t expect the crown to be that big of a deal.  I’m sorry Mizzou, I know you’re fired up, I know this game means a lot to you, but your stadium seats 70,000 people and we’re regularly walking into stadiums signficantly larger, filled with fans that absolutely hate us (Auburn, UT, SC, Bama, etc.).  I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of energy, but no more than there is in Knoxville or other Columbia.

At the end of the day, this is going to be a big game.  We step up and shut this group down, even at considerably less than full strength (yes, I don’t expect Rambo or Ogletree to play…Rambo maybe, not likely though) and we start to build a buzz about the team.  Start getting some key players back and this season starts to look pretty sporty.  That all changes if we lay an egg Saturday.

Random Thoughts:

• I loved the Samuel L Jackson voiceover on the pre-game video.  Not many schools have that going for them.  ”Commit to the G”?  I was ready.
• Not sure how many of you saw the Florida game, but if Bowling Green could hit a FG they would’ve been up int he 2nd half against as bad a UF offense as I can remember seeing.  I’m not saying it’s likely, but if they play like that the rest of the season, it’s possible they could finish 6th ahead of only UK in the East.  Seriously.
• OK, so Bama is apparently pretty good.  I think Michigan might not be the 8th best team in the country though.
• I’m having a hard time understanding why the University invests so much money in asking folks to clean up the stadium, etc. then when you’re walking out there is literally not a trashcan that isn’t overflowing.  It’s like playing jenga trying to get a powerade bottle to balance on one of those things.
• If there’s a more stubborn coach in the country than Paul Johnson, I haven’t seen him yet.
• My seats stayed in the shade all day Saturday.  From all accounts the heat in the sun was pretty much unbearable.  I was pretty comfortable but I’m sure I’ll be paying for it later in the year when I’m freezing.
• I purposefully didn’t say “Show Me” anywhere in here, but I’m betting we hear it a few thousand times Saturday.
• How nice was it being back in Athens on Saturday?  I just love every time I get the opportunity to get up there.  That’s why I was even more amazed at how angry some folks were after the game.

Until next time,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Alright guys, it’s hard to believe it’s been almost 8 months since I was staring dumbfounded at the screen trying to figure out what happened and how that first half performance devolved into that 2nd half one.  Offseasons are longer following bad bowl losses.  I think Hemingway said that originally.  Anyway, hope springs eternal and despite a couple of serious questions, we’re looking at a team as good as any in the East and only a notch behind the beasts of the west.  If things break our way, who knows…let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Given our first opponent, Buffalo, went 3-9 last year against a schedule featuring no ranked opponents I’d hope we can handle them.  As such, I’m going to use this time to go ahead and focus on us for a change.  We’ll just look at who we have, what to expect, where we’re likely to struggle and just generally go over the team.  Probably won’t be anything super new in here but at this point in the year, if you’re anything like me (and odds are you are if you’re still reading) you’re ready to consume any and all things UGA and I need to knock the cobwebs off before we hit the SEC schedule against…Missouri?  That’s going to take some getting used to.

QB – The stats Murray put up last year pretty much shattered every expectation anyone had going in.  His 35 TDs easily bested his phenomenal 24 from his first season under center.  By most every measurable, his season was a raging success, becoming the first QB since Belue (I think) to knock off UT, AU, UF and GT in the same season.  Why then did we hear so many folks clamoring for a look at backup Hutson Mason?  Easy.  Turnovers.  In addition to a few key fumbles, Murray also managed to throw 14 picks, seemingly at the worst possible time (although there’s rarely a good time for those things).  Heading into his 4th year on campus, he’s widely regarded as one of the top QBs in the SEC if not all of CFB, and it’s easy to forget he’s still yet to play his junior season.  WIth that in mind, I’d expect some improvement, even behind this shaky line.  Prediction: I don’t know that he can reasonably improve or match 34 TDs.  2,800 yards again, right at 30 TDs and cutting his INTs to 10 while completing over 60% of his passes is reasonable but I’m betting he actually plays a good bit better this year.  I just think the OL will give up a few more sacks and disrupt his game a bit.

RB – The enigma that was Isaiah Crowell is gone.  In his wake is a large cloud of pot smoke and some opportunity for a few RBs hungry to prove themselves.  You have the two true freshmen friends, explosive and wide-eyed who from everything I’ve read and heard are far more prepared for the spotlight of life as a big-time CFB player than their predecessor.  Additionally you have the unlikely hero of the Florida game, Richard Samuel, who showed that running with heart and conviction, if only for one game, can make you  a legend.  Lastly you have Ken Malcome, who got so frustrated last year he actually quit yet now has played well enough and is back in the good graces of the coaches enough to earn the start.  While the lineup would certainly be more formidable with Crowell, this group is probably a little more dependable and with Gurley and Marshall, possibly every bit as explosive.  Prediction: Gurley ends up leading the team in both yards and carries but Marshall will have enough runs to make the “who’s better” debate go on all offseason.

WR – For the 2nd straight year we lose our top WR threat although this time it’s a guy in Mitchell who only played there 1 season.  King returns and anchors the bunch, but the real danger is the depth as (despite the loss of Mitchell) there’s some legitimate skill that makes the group as deep as any in recent years.  There’s no AJ Green caliber guy, but there rarely is.  Guys like Conley and Bennett though were tremendously productive as true freshmen, so improvements aren’t unreasonable.  The guy getting the most pub in camp has been Marlon Brown, whose size and length could finally pay off although it hasn’t really panned out all that well to date.  Wooten returns to add some wiggle and the speed of Justin Scott-Wesley could really stretch the field.  I love the fact that Bennett, Brown and Conley are all big-bodied guys that can catch the ball in space as any of them could help become that safety valve that Orson Charles held down so well last year.  Prediction:  The trio of King, Bennett and Conley becomes so consistent that Mitchell doesn’t need to split much time.  King leads the team in TDs, yards and catches and finishes first team All-SEC.

I toyed around with not doing these this year but finally settled on at least one more year of them.  Let me rephrase, I finally settled on one more year of starting them.  Come early November and the arrival of my newborn, I’m not sure I’ll have the time or interest to continue them immediately.  But, like most years, with the approach of Fall, the fading of the Braves and a slight slackening of the weather, my thoughts turn to UGA football.  This year they’re just accompanied by thoughts of finishing the nursery, picking out a person’s name, etc.  So, with that said, I’m going to have to make a few changes this year.  I’m likely going to be modifying the format somewhat and making these things a little less structured.  Hopefully it will free me up to get a little more creative and not bother trying to write about how decent the 2nd string RG for Kentucky may or may not be.  We’ll see.  For Week 1, coming out Thursday morning, I’ll focus way more on UGA and our outlook positionally rather than Buffalo as honestly, they don’t matter…and if they do, we’re screwed.

With that said, I leave you with this…

There is no Plan B…

Last one of the year…

Download PDF version of the writeup here

Week 13 (SECCG)

Opponent:  LSU Tigers

Kickoff:  4:00 PM

TV: CBS

Folks, this last 10 weeks has been fun.  Let’s close it out in style.

About the GT game…­­­­­­

Simply glorious.  That game was never in doubt.  After the hiccup that was Murray’s INT on the opening drive our offense was essentially doing whatever they wanted.  Defensively we were able to slow the vaunted Paul Johnson rushing attack and allow the decidedly unvaunted Paul Johnson passing attack to debacle itself.  I’ve tried to use debacle as a verb at every opportunity since hearing Emmitt Smith use it as such.  That man is a wordsmith.

Anyway, not much transference from last week to this one as we’re going from the Yellow Jacket “defense” to one of the top defenses of the last few years in LSU.  On the other side of the ball, instead of playing a run-first, second and third offense that occasionally tries to pass, LSU brings a truly balanced attack to the game that can move the ball equally effectively either way.  Oh well, let’s do this.

LSU Offense

• The LSU offense is loaded with dynamic playmakers outside, a ton of big, athletic RBs, a solid OL and experienced depth at QB.  They’ve scored on everyone they’ve played this season with relative ease, other than the notable exception of the Bama game.  They’re stronger on the ground than through the air but they aren’t shy about throwing it if needed.  As with most balanced offenses, they’ll flip the script occasionally to surprise the defense and with a Les Miles-coached team, the surprises can come early and often.
• At QB, a pair of seniors have split duties this year in what is probably the underemphasized aspect of why I think Les Miles is the clear coach of the year in the SEC.  Jordan Jefferson gets suspended for his role in a bar fight, gives way to Jarrett Lee, returns, works his way slowly into the rotation before taking over outright and the team just kept on winning.  Jefferson has a good arm and is very mobile if necessary.  Lee hasn’t been rotating in much the last few weeks but is far more of a pocket passer that seems to have conquered his early career knack for throwing pick 6s (He threw 2 to Daryl Gamble in Baton Rouge in 2008…in my best Chris Farley voice: “You remember that Daryl? That was awesome”).
• At RB, they have a bunch of depth.  Spencer Ware was getting the bulk of the touches early in the year but since his suspension has seen his touches cut drastically.  A former HS QB, the guy is a load when he gets going.  Prior to suspension he got over 20 carries in every meaningful game.  Since then, not once.  Fellow sophomore Michael Ford is explosive and his 6.2 ypc is impressive but not quite as good as 3^rd stringer Alfred Blue’s.  You see the depth they have.  Add in FB/HB/bowling ball Kenny Hilliard and LSU sports 4 different RBs with 6 or more rushing TDs (we have none).
• LSU has churned out fast, agile WRs for years.  This year is no different as Rueben Randle has experienced a major breakout, catching 48 passes for nearly 900 yards and 8 TDs.  He’s listed at 6-4, 210 but moves like a much smaller WR, very quick in tight spaces and if you miss, he’s got plenty of speed to get yards in chunks.  RFr Odell Beckham Jr. has emerged as the top threat on the opposite side, joining Randle as the only WRs on the team with more than 14 catches on the season.  The X-factor here is former top recruit Russell Shepard.  As good a pure athlete as you’ll find, he’s struggled to find a spot as a true WR where he doesn’t seem natural.  Once the ball gets in his hands though, he’s dangerous.  Look for him on sweeps, reverses and in the Wildcat occasionally.  LSU has several big, fast TEs but they haven’t gone to them much this year.  That probably means they’re about to bust out.
• The LSU OL is big.  Not as big as ours, but who is?  The only underclassmen starter is at LT and they’re pretty deep too.  They lead the conference in sacks allowed (1 per game) and are 2^nd in the league in rushing yardage.  That tells me all I need to know about their OL.
• Bottom Line:  There’s not a lot of hidden stuff with what LSU will do if they have their way.  They are a power football team that, while capable of passing, would rather just run it right down your throat.  They have a bevy of big, talented backs that pound and gash you.  Our DL is built for that and our LBs have shown an increased ability to handle it this year too.  While LSU tends to run right at you with that weird pitch-dive thing they do, I feel good about lateral speed on sweeps and the like after watching how we handled Auburn and GT the last few weeks.  In the passing attack, Grantham has to love the options he has now with Ogletree, Jones and Washington in terms of bringing heat in passing situations.  As well as their QBs have played all year, I still like the idea of Grantham and our D versus Jefferson or Lee in obvious passing situations.  While LSU will clearly bring as good an OL as we’ve faced all year, since about week 3 we’ve been as good or better than anyone in the country in terms of getting to the QB. Since Ogletree has returned from his first quarter injury against Boise to play in the UF game, our defense has really seen everyone find their role and the results have been impressive.  It’s going to be fun watching that unit try and prove they belong in the conversation with Bama and LSU in terms of the top defenses in the conference (and thus the nation).
• Key matchup to watch when they have the ball:  LSU loves to run right at people.  They have the depth and talent to do it all game and they’ve shown (like against Bama) that if they’re facing a strong D they feel their defense is good enough that they don’t have to score a ton of points to win the game and are content to control the ball/clock and not make mistakes.  That puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our NG and the ILBs.  Jenkins has been playing really well lately and Ogletree is rapidly becoming a force.  They love doing that pitch dive a lot and the middle of our front 7 better be ready, because if they pick up yards there it could be a long night.

LSU Defense

• If it weren’t for the Alabama defense, this LSU unit might be labeled as one of the best ever in the SEC.  As it is, they’re just the 2^nd best in the conference.  It’s a very close 2^nd though.  They’re 2^nd to Bama in rushing, scoring and total defense and 3^rd in passing (behind Bama SC).  Heck, they’re nearly top 10 nationally in all those categories too despite playing the toughest schedule in the country (the SEC schedule plus offensive beasts WVU and Oregon).  Obviously they’re the best defense we’ll play all year, but the other top unit we played (SC) was a game we scored 42 in, so who knows.  Lead by longtime UT DC John Chavis, this group has become one of the more opportunistic defenses you’ll ever see.
• The LSU DL is really, really good and surprisingly young.  If Barkevious (how did that guy not go to UGA?) Mingo starts over Kendrick Adams at LE, they’ll be starting 4 sophomores along their front.  They rotate heavily across the whole group so don’t expect them to wear down much.  While they are incredibly athletic across the whole front, they aren’t particularly large at all.  In fact, they only have 1 DL listed over 300 pounds and only 2 over 290.  While that doesn’t mean they’re weak in any way (Bama certainly wasn’t able to enforce their will), it is interesting to note they could have trouble with our sheer size along the OL.
• The LSU LB corps as expected is incredibly athletic.  Given how good the DL is and how much press the secondary gets, the LB unit doesn’t get a lot of publicity but they’re as good as any we’ve faced this year.  You don’t put up numbers like they have on defense with bad LBs.  Ryan Baker, a squatty senior that reminds me of Tony Taylor after he bulked up leads the unit in tackles.
• This secondary is absolutely unreal.  Everyone knows about Tyrann Mathieu (The Honey Badger) who is listed at CB and despite his 5-9, 175 pound frame, will play all over the place, but the CB opposite him, Morris Claiborne is better and is currently the top rated CB for the 2012 NFL draft.  How active is this secondary?  All 4 are in the top 5 on the team in tackles.  In fact, the top 3 tacklers on the team are all DBs.  How much of an individual talent is Mathieu?  He leads the team in tackles.  As a CB.  Their 3^rd CB, Ron Brooks, would likely be all-conference if it wasn’t for the fact he can’t even start on his own team.  He’s good enough to be 3^rd on the team in sacks and has two pick 6s on the season.  Seriously?  The safeties are awesome too.
• Bottom Line:  Look, our offense is predicated on the ground game.  We run enough to make teams respect it and throw play action off of that.  If we can’t run against defenses that are looking pass, then it’s going to be a long, long day.  That’s why Crowell is so important against a team like LSU.  Sure you can beat the Kentuckys or Techs of the world with a guy like Brandon Harton or Carlton Thomas but against a team as stout as LSU, you need a running threat they have to really fear.  As good as LSU’s DBs are, Chavis can afford to play more man coverage than most but if they don’t think they have to commit more to the run to stop it, why would they?  I think they’ll take those extra guys and blitz us until we yield, at least early.  Our OL isn’t phenomenal in pass protection and we’ve certainly seen Murray under pressure some this year, causing more than a few of his turnovers, so until he (and our OL) prove they can stop or burn the blitz (via run or pass), if I’m Chavis, I’m bringing it early and often.  It’s going to fall to Murray (and Bobo) to pick that up and account for it.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball:  The Honey Badger versus our whole team.  That guy is as dynamic a playmaker as you’ll see on defense.  He just makes turnovers happen everywhere.  He’s like Polamalu-lite.  We haven’t turned the ball over a lot this year but we’ve put it on the ground a few times and had more than a few close ones reviewed.  Guys like Orson Charles and Murray will have to secure the ball when the Badger’s around and this year he’s as close to omnipresent on the field as you can get.

The Championship Game Overall

Look, LSU is a great football team, there’s no denying that, but the fact is the UGA team that will take the field this Saturday has proved for 10 straight weeks that they are better than everyone they’ve taken the field against too.  You can’t discount how good a team LSU is, and they’ve certainly answered every bell they’ve been given all year, but the fact is, UGA isn’t too far behind.  LSU has been dominant all season.  It just took UGA a couple of games to find themselves.

It’s a combination of things that have resulted in our increased effectiveness but there’s little doubt as to what makes our offensive tick…Aaron Murray.  In games he’s struggled, like Kentucky, our offense has looked beatable by, pretty much anyone but Kentucky at a minimum.  In games he’s played well, like Auburn, our offense has looked nearly unbeatable.  Even against Tech, without the benefit of a running game, Murray was able to drive the offense through the air at will.  Today’s college game doesn’t have to have an elite QB to be successful, but it sure helps, and right now there’s none better in the SEC.  He’s not immune to mistakes and occasionally makes an erratic throw or three but he’s improved tremendously over the last half of this season and gives us a puncher’s chance this week.

At this point, I think we know what LSU is capable of.  UGA has a much wider range of possible efforts come Saturday.  Do we get the team that destroyed Auburn or the one that struggled with Kentucky?  The scary thing is that as dominant as we were against Auburn in our 45-7 romp, LSU was our equal with a 45-10 win.  Granted their game was only 21-3 at the half compared to our 35-7 drubbing but it just goes to show you how good LSU is.  That was our best performance this year.  That was their average one.  They beat 6 SEC opponents (everyone other than Bama and MSU) by 24 and beat four of those by 30 or more, including both Tennessee and Florida (who were admittedly without their starting QBs).

Lastly, this UGA team has gotten more dangerous as the season has gone on.  The RB injuries/suspensions/etc. have made Mike Bobo get a little more creative and have forced him to challenge Murray to carry the team a little more and he’s responded.  The result is a much more diverse offense than we started the season with.  Our young WRs are no longer a bunch of starry-eyed freshmen.  If we can bring some healthy RBs to ATL, we have the real chance of having that balanced offensive attack but now with a coordinator who’s operating with a ton of confidence.  I was frustrated with Bobo earlier this season but I’ve loved what I’ve seen here lately and I can’t wait to see what happens Saturday.  Win or lose, I’m thrilled at the prospects of the next few seasons.

Positional Notes

• Crowell will likely go Saturday but given the way his year has gone and the fact it is an ankle issue, I can’t imagine he makes it the whole game.  3 good quarters would be nice.
• I can’t say enough for how well Garrison Smith played in place of Tyson last week.  He’s done a really nice job in limited opportunities this year.  He’s poised for a really big year next year.
• I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Alec Ogletree could be a terror coming after the passer and will at some point.  He and Jarvis allow us some serious flexibility that I love.
• Shawn Williams’ INT of Tevin Washington last week was a thing of beauty.  That guy plays with a ton of heart.  Now if we can keep it reined in.  We can afford dumb 15-yard penalties against Tech.  We can’t against this next bunch.
• Jarvis Jones might be my favorite Bulldog defender in a long while.  Back to Thomas Davis at least.  The guy just does his job and goes back to do it again.  Very business-like.  Add to it the fact he’s adamant that he’s returning next year despite likely being an All-American with a first round draft rating and what’s not to like?  I’m betting Lane Kiffin fired the doctor that wouldn’t clear him to play while he was at USC.

Random Thoughts

• Can you name the starting Center on the 2005 SEC Championship team?  It stumped me.  Answer at the bottom.
• So Ed Cunningham went to Washington.  I guess they didn’t take the ol’ Apple Cup (the Washington-Washington State Rivalry game) very seriously up there.  That’s the only reason I can figure he kept saying we’d probably be sitting Murray and Orson and Jarvis in like the 2^nd quarter.  Does he not realize how big that game was?  A loss in that game from sitting starters would have probably gotten Richt’s seat hotter than anything else he’s done to date.  Seriously.
• Recruiting seems to be ramping up with the conclusion of so many HS seasons.  Our top RB target (and one of the top RBs in the country) announces Tuesday and is considered to be a UGA lean.  A speedster out of NC, Keith Marshall would be an ideal addition at a position of need.  There’s a ton of top guys that we’re still on but probably the next two highest wants are another top OT (the Young kid out of FL would be ideal) and the guy who could be Jarvis’ understudy next year in Josh Harvey-Clemons out of Lowndes County.  With Florida being down and Florida State not stepping up like they had thought they would, we need to make that count.
• Everyone keeps saying that Bama is a lock for the BCS game but they fail to remember what happened back in 2007.  UGA fans darn sure do.  Basically the pollsters all stepped back and instead of moving people around based on recent wins or losses they kind of reset the whole thing on the big picture.  If Oklahoma State manhandles Oklahoma and LSU struggles with UGA or loses, I could easily see OkSt passing Bama in some measure of backlash against the SEC.  OkSt is already in front of Bama in more than 1 computer poll.  You want to see nuclear meltdown?  Tell Bama fans they are denied what they feel is their right to play for whatever national title they’re now claiming.  It’d be the worst thing to happen to them since…well, last year, when Auburn won the whole thing.
• The Kirby Smart to Ole Miss rumors are interesting.  Given how well he recruits Georgia, I’d like him to go ahead and get away from Bama.  I’d prefer he go to Texas A&M just because it’s even farther but anything that gets him out of Bama is a good thing.
• If I were a Heisman voter I don’t think I’d be real happy about having to vote in this year’s contest.  Trent Richardson is a very fine RB but he’s not really been dynamic.  I just think Ki-Jana Carter.  Everyone talks about how weak our schedule was and how we missed out on the top 3 west teams.  I think they missed out on us.  We’d probably be the 2^nd toughest team Bama played this year as they missed the only two good teams from the east and got both LSU and Arkansas at home.  Outside of a road win over a bad Penn State team their OOC games were Kent State, North Texas and Ga Southern.  That’s pathetic and I think it would be funny if it burned them.
• LSU is so good their punter has a taunting call against him…while scoring a TD.
• If this game comes down to a Blair Walsh field goal I don’t think I can watch.  For a guy who’s been so good for 3 years, what’s happened here this season is painful.  Although, if he did get that shot and knocked it through, all would easily be forgiven on my end.  Of course, LSU has some weird voodoo hex on kickers.  Ask Bama.
• So Urban Meyer is back in coaching.  That didn’t take long.  His tenure at UF (6 years) was a full 3 times longer than either of his other previous head coaching jobs.  I think he obviously does a very good job early on but I wonder if the long haul aspect of being the man isn’t something he’s geared for.  If he’s there for 4 years that might be long enough to see them off of probation but I’ll bet he wins and wins big there but I don’t see him being there a long time.  Even though it looks like they’re poised for some possibly serious NCAA sanctions, I’d still take that job over Penn State in a no-brainer.
• This is the 3^rd time we’ve faced LSU in the SECCG.  The first time (2003), they were the clear favorites and clobbered us on the way to the national title.  The second time (2005), they were the clear favorites and we clobbered them on our way to…an embarrassing loss to WVU.  Who did we open the season with in 2005?  That’s right, Boise State.  Of course we completely killed them and made their All-WAC QB cry but that was a while ago.  Here’s to repeating history.
• Trivia Answer: Ryan Schnetzer.  I completely forgot about that guy.  I had thought it was Russ Tanner but they split time and Schnetzer started and played most (if not all) of that game.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

Download the Kentucky Writeup here

Week 11

Opponent:  Kentucky Wildcats

Kickoff:  12:30 PM

TV: SEC-TV

I suppose Vegas was on to something that I wasn’t expecting…but I liked it…

About the Auburn game…­­­­­­

Wow.  I don’t know where to start on that game.  I’ve said all year that at some point the offense and defense would click together and we’d unload on someone.  I figured it would happen against UK or someone that didn’t matter all that much but man was I wrong.  What we did to Auburn was truly impressive.  The 45-7 score doesn’t truly encompass how thorough of a pounding we administered.  We attempted all of two second half passes.  We didn’t need them.

Despite seeing constant 8 and 9-man fronts, we simply ground the game out, picking up first down after first down.  After seeing a first half that produced 35 points off of 7 UGA drives, we successfully ground the game out to the tune of 4 2^nd half drives (2 scores, a fumble and the game ender).  Our first 3 drives of the half averaged over 10 plays each and nearly 6.5 minutes each.  Auburn’s 2^nd half drive chart looked considerably more humble: punt, fumble, punt, turnover on downs.  They ran 20 2^nd half plays to our 35 (again, 33 of which were running plays).  It was quite simply the most dominant performance I can recall seeing in Sanford in quite a while.  There were only 2 games that were comparable to me were the 2004 game against LSU (also a defending national champion) and the 2002 GT game (not a defending national champion).  The LSU game saw us trot out to an early 24-0 lead that got whittled to 24-10 before halftime before we pushed it to 45-10 on the strength of a great day from David Greene.  He threw 5 TD passes on only 10/19 passing.  A late LSU TD made it 45-16.  The 51-7 GT romp was a snoozer early on, 44-0 going into the 4^th quarter.  This felt like those, but even more absolute.  The domination was complete.  We simply did what we wanted to and if Richt had had a Urban Meyer type axe to grind after last year’s rowdy contest and wanted to prove a point, we could’ve score 60 easily.

Well, as awesome as the win was, it got us nothing other than bragging rights.  This week?  That’s a different story, as a hapless UK team stands between us and a trip to the SECC game.  A game that’s looking less and less like the long shot it did a few weeks ago.

UK Offense

• We’re going to keep things simple this week and do this quicker than normal. Starting QB Morgan Newton got hurt and Freshman Maxwell Smith has stepped in the last 3 weeks.  Leading the Cats to by far and away their most convincing win, a 30-13 win that sealed Houston Nutt’s fate, he’s done a decent job, but doesn’t complete a high percentage of passes and isn’t overly mobile.  The Wildcat offense is truly bad, ranking dead last in the SEC in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense.  If it wasn’t for Tennessee’s hyper anemic running game, UK would be dead last in all 4 of the major offensive categories.    La’Rod King has been the only real offensive bright spot, catching 39 balls for almost 600 yards and 7 TDs.  No one else has more than 1 and only 5 guys have TD catches.
• Bottom Line:  After struggling early to score points, it appeared that UK had found through groove with a new QB, putting up 30 against Ole Miss at home.  Then they went to Vandy and managed only 8 points.  In their SEC road games this year, they’ve yet to score more than 8 (7 vs LSU, 3 vs SC and 8 vs Vandy).  That’s awful.  They are one of the worst teams in the country in terms of protecting the QB, giving up 3 sacks per game on average.  Considering UGA leads the conference in sacks per game, I’m thinking we’re going to see a lot of running game from the Cats, trying desperately to avoid mandatory passing situations.  If they have to turn to their QB to win this game or move the ball steadily, it might get really ugly.  How ugly?  Only two teams in the country have a lower team passing efficiency.
• Key matchup to watch when they have the ball:  Ogletree is playing at a really high level all over the field, but he’s yet to really add any kind of pass rush to his game, so with that said, I want to really watch Jarvis Jones because he’s really emerged as a consistent pass rush threat in recent weeks and I’m thinking he could have a really big day.

UK Defense

• The UK defense is slightly better than their offensive counterparts.  11^th in rushing defense, 8^th in passing defense, and 10^th in both total defense and scoring defense is hardly anything to get super excited about.  The strength of the D is SEC tackles leader, LB Danny Trevathan.  They gave up 38 to Vandy last week.  They also gave up 54 to South Carolina.  They’ve struggled equally against the run and the pass.
• Bottom Line:  Usually when offense are clicking like ours is and they go up against a bad defense like this you’d expect a blowout, and there’s really nothing to indicate that won’t be the case, but in my experience, things rarely play exactly as they should on paper.  As thoroughly as we dominated Auburn in the first half, it was largely due to the fact that we were 7 for 7 on our first 7 3^rd down attempts.  When you do that against anyone you’re going to look more effective.  I’d hope against UK we won’t have to rely on a similar conversion rate for a win.  Look for us to try and establish the run early as we’ve had some issues running the ball on some teams early in games.  We take over late but I’d like to see a “We Run This State (GT 2009) level ground game out of the gate.
• Key matchup to watch when we have the ball:  Isaiah Crowell versus Danny Trevathan should be a great matchup.  Trevathan has led the SEC in tackles the last couple of years and is a tremendously athletic guy that covers a ton of ground.  Crowell, despite his considerable and obvious talents, has yet to break a long TD run in his brief career.  His long carry on the season is merely 29 yards.  Given his speed and quickness, that’s surprising.  I’m going to be watching for that big run.

The UK Game Overall

UK is not a good football team.  Just ask most anyone, including UK fans.  In conference road games this year, they’re averaging a loss of over 36 points and only putting up 6 points.  That means that on average, every one of their SEC road games has been almost as bad a beating as we gave to Auburn last weekend.  That’s not to say they aren’t capable of some level of decency.  They did pull out a win against Ole Miss and they did manage to stay within 12 of Miss State, but both of those games were at home.

This is the type of game that good teams win handily.  On paper we should completely roll but we’ve been in this position before and I can’t say it always played out the way we wanted it to.  Two years ago this same UK team beat us at home.  Granted, that wasn’t a great UGA team by any stretch but after watching some of the relatively close games we’ve played this season against clearly overmatched opponents, I’m not ready just yet to crown ourselves SEC-East champs.

With that said, Richt has a chance Saturday to do something he hasn’t done at UGA and that’s win 9 straight games.  He won 8 to open the 2002 season before the loss in Jacksonville but he’s never won 9.  Let’s go ahead and lock this thing up Saturday in convincing style.

Positional Notes

• Alright, Aaron Murray can now say he’s thrown more TDs in any given season than any QB in UGA history.  And he still has at least 3 games left, maybe 4.  Although I don’t know how many TD passes he’s going to pick up against an LSU or Bama.  He’s thrown 9 TDs in essentially his last 4 quarters (I’m not counting the 2^nd half of the last two games because he didn’t play in of them and he didn’t hardly throw the ball in the other).  With the exception of the Mississippi State and Florida games, he’s completed a pass of at least 32 yards in every contest.  Wow.  And now he’s added the scramble game back a bit…watch out.
• I continue to be amazed at how well our LBs are playing this season.
• I’m even more amazed at our WRs.  This was supposed to be a weakness this year.  Could you imagine if AJ Green has hung around for his senior year?
• Ben Jones will probably go down as one of my all-time favorite UGA linemen.
• The thing about Ogletree that’s so impressive is that he seems to have a real knack for causing fumbles.  He did it against Florida and again versus Auburn (against Rainey and Dyer no less) where he just went in for a normal tackle and managed to strip the ball.  He must have incredibly strong hands.  He certainly doesn’t look weak.

Random Thoughts

• So, if I had to guess right now, I’d say that if Arkansas beats LSU in the season finale, I’m going out on a limb and saying that the East representative would end up facing…Arkansas.  I think they’d likely hop Bama and while they might not pass LSU in the BCS, they only have to get past Bama since the 7^th 3-way tie-breaker states that the top-ranked BCS team goes unless the next of the 3 is ranked within 5 spots.  All 3 of them could be in the top 5 at that point.  Honestly, I think Bama probably has the longest shot of the 3 for the SEC title game.  The need LSU to lose and fall behind both them AND Arkansas in the BCS and I don’t see that happening.
• OK Verne, you’ve had a nice run.  While your voice is clearly synonymous with big-time SEC football, maybe it’s time to either up the preparation hours or step back from the booth.  His performances just aren’t nearly as crisp as they used to be.
• Do you think there’s any chance that if everyone holds serve and Herbstreit draws Bama in the board discussion like they had in 2007 that there’s any chance he pulls the same stunt he did with us and says he doesn’t think they deserve a shot?  Nick Saban would have someone take him out with a deer rifle…and Herbie knows it.
• Have you looked at Tennessee’s out-of-conference schedule this year?  It’s embarrassing.  Montana, Cincinnati, Buffalo and MTSU.  That’s as bad a group as I’ve ever seen from any of the typical big boys.  Given that those 4 are their only wins to date, I guess it makes sense.  They have to sweep Vandy and UK to get bowl eligible.  That ain’t a given.  If UK is ever going to beat UT, it would be this year but I think I’ve said that each of the last 5 years and it still hasn’t happened.  UK has lost 30 straight or something in that series.
• I didn’t think I could possibly get creeped out about the whole Sandusky-Penn St story any more.  Then I heard him speak in that Bob Costas interview.  Oh man that guy completely embodies creepy old man syndrome.  If he’s found guilty, they need to come up with some new punishments.

• Do you realize that if Oklahoma State loses to Oklahoma, a distinct possibility, then the likely top 2 contenders to face LSU will be 2 teams they’ve played already (Oregon and Alabama).  I would think that things would somehow be arranged so that Oklahoma would jump up to #2 to avoid that.  I really do.
• Do you realize how high-scoring the Oklahoma State-Oklahoma game is going to be?  That’s the same day as the SEC title game since the Big XII doesn’t have a title game anymore.

As always,

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

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