Other Thoughts from the UGA/Bama Game

A friend of mine( who supports another SEC team) once told me that when Georgia is winning, it just feels like they are toying with you. Like they are just stringing you along. I can assure you, no Dawg fan I know has EVER felt like that. And Saturday’s 26-23 win in OT was no different.

1. I’m curious to know if the manufacturer who makes Danell Ellerbe’s helmet is the same maker of all the other Georgia helmets. If not, we need to fix that. I swear that thing has come off about four times this year. Danell, you’ve got dreadlocks, yes, we get it. Strap that thing up and leave it on before you crack your skull!!!

2. Have you ever seen Coach Richt move so fast as when he was giving the motion to spike the ball at the end of regulation? For all you fans who asked that he “show some fire”, I think that may be all you get this year.

3. I don’t think that our dropped passes are as bad as fans think, but now that the issue is talked about, I think we harp on EVERY SINGLE ONE. Granted Tripp Chandler had a rough second half, but he caught one when it counted.

4. Speaking of Chandler’s catch, that set up what would have been the winning field goal. I’m sorry that Brandon Coutu missed it but I was relieved to see his reaction when it sailed just left. He was genuinely angry. What that tells me is that he had no doubt in his mind that he could make that, even after missing a 51 yarder earlier. Call it arrogance, call it cockiness, whatever – I want my kicker to have the kind of swagger that Brandon does.

5. Don’t take this the wrong way, because I’m really excited about Knowshon Moreno. But he had a run in the second half that ended close to the sideline where he collided with a defender – he looked like he was more interested in knocking the defender off his feet than getting the extra yards. In fact, I wasn’t sure he ever went out of bounds until he was jumping around in celebration. Coach Richt confirmed this in his press conference, saying that he could have cut back in and gained enough for the 1^st down. Hey, the guy is definitely exciting to watch, but I don’t want to see him posing for the camera or showing off.

6. Bama fans knew this, but the media got a reality check – the Trinity still includes God The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost. Nick Saban will have some work to do before he cracks that club.

7. I wonder if Tide DE Wallace Dingleberry Gilberry was able to get Matt Stafford’s phone number and home address AFTER the game since he got nowhere near him DURING the game?

8. The Dog Pile Maximus. I could really get used to it.

I Don’t Make Predictions Week 4 – With Updated Comments

(Note: I forgot to post this on Friday. So I’m posting it today and adding in some comments to prod myself)

Onto to this week’s games. Randomly selected, of course:

North Carolina @#23 USF – Are you like me? Do you get UCF and USF confused? Well, you shouldn’t anymore. USF is now ranked and a Big East PLAYA. UCF is coached by former Nerd Georgia Tech coach George O’Leary. He probably lies and says that he coaches USF.

South Florida is building something down there. They replace Louisville as a Big East powerhouse.

#20 Texas A&M @ Miami – I’m interested to see if Miami can fully recover from the beatdown they took from Oklahoma. Not that A&M is a similar measuring stick. But even if it’s easy to hate the “U”, it’s hard not to pull for Randy Shannon and what he’s trying to do.

Miami took it to A&M. That game was never in question

East Carolina @ #4 West Virginia – As if it wasn’t enough fun watching White/ Slaton run roughshod over people, now throw in Noel Devine. That dude is just a blur. I’ve seen cheetahs that aren’t that fast. I’m glad he finally found a home at such a fine educational establishment.

Ho hum. Mountaineers win again. On deck: South Florida

#3 Florida @ Ole Miss – You can bet that since Tim Tebow is now being mentioned in the Heisman race that he will be in the game until the fourth quarter, running up the stats. Then he’ll retire to the sidelines to suck face with his teammates. I think Ed Orgeron’s head may actually explode (admit it – you’d like to see that).

This game was seriously close. Give Orgeron this – he found a way to slow down the machine.

#10 Penn State @ Michigan – If you hate Michigan (and let’s face it, these are good times), you can begin watching again. Although, sometimes these seemingly lop-sided games actually produce watchable TV.

As this one did. Michigan’s win puts them back in the Big Ten hunt. Dammit.

#12 South Carolina @ #2 LSU – Remember the days when Steve Spurrier was a Florida and he used to beat opponents mercilessly? What goes around comes around. However, Spurrier won’t throw his visor because an LSU defender would probably eat it.

I gotta hand it to the Gamecocks, they did better than I thought. Most people say the score is not indicative of the game because of the rain, but it’s still closer than most people would have thought. It was nice to see Spurrier get a dose of trickery

#21 Kentucky @ Arkansas – Ah, the resurgence of Kentucky. Thanks for beating Louisville, now welcome back to your SEC slate. Your first mission, should you choose to accept it – stop Darren McFadden. And do it with that crappy defense.

This is the last stop for the Kentucky bandwagon. Better get on now.

#22 Georgia @ #16 Alabama – Aside from all the secrecy and mistrust going on, this should really be a good game. Bama doesn’t think that the Dawgs have played anyone yet, and the Dawgs aren’t ready to give up. One common opponent says Georgia is tougher. One Bama player has the hots for Matt Stafford. If Bama actually loses this game, I might feel sorry for Nick Saban. He’s the only one talking “one game at a time”. The rest of the Crimson Nation are assuming 8-0 when they play LSU. I smell UPSET!!!

And now I taste upset. Dawgs win 26-23 in OT. An OT that we handed to them. Hey a win is a win and Mark Richt is 23-3 in other school’s stadiums. Yeah, baby!

Dust, Clean Clothes, and a Fetal Pig

At some point in time, all of us put off cleaning our house, apartment, room, cave, etc. I have been in both camps. As a kid, I had a subconscious notion that I must have the messiest room in the entire world. I just didn’t care. But I was forced to clean up when we had company. When we lived in Tennessee and our relatives were still in Georgia, it was imperative that my room be clean enough that it could be inhabited by family members. To me, that meant someone could conceivably walk through the room without tripping on something. And clean clothes were hanging up. On something.
One summer I attended an honor’s school (no, seriously – I did) that specialized in several subjects. Music, Math, English and Biology. In biology, we dissected several types of animals. And even though I’m not a “science” guy, I was absolutely fascinated by this. The entire process of opening up a former living thing and seeing what’s inside was something I can remember to this day. What is a little fuzzy to me is how it came to pass that I was able to take home a fetal pig to dissect later. I mean, seriously, I don’t know if I stole it, or the professor saw my enthusiasm and figured I would schlep it out on the kitchen table at home, showing everyone how smart I was. Regardless, I took that pig, wrapped it up in a trash bag, stuffed it in my father’s 30 year old duffel bag, and took it home. I was going to revolutionize the…..dissecting industry. No one would do the kind of intelligent research that I was going to do. I might even find a cure for cancer, or at least fatty bacon.
Keep in mind this was summer. As fascinating as Biology was, I was a kid and summer duties called. Sleeping late, playing tennis and scoping the school yearbook for next year’s girlfriend prospect list…..all things that I just had to do. Because of these all important jobs, I conveniently placed my “lab work” on the back burner.
Enter my dad’s brother and his family for a trip to see us. Which of course means giving up my room and sleeping….wherever there was space. The long and short of it is that, yes, he slept next to that pig for a week and never knew. In fact, I think it was still three days AFTER they left before I threw it out.
The ribbing I took from that was endless, as it should have been. However, my uncle, who has since passed away, had a special way of teasing you. It was never mean spirited, but it was constant. It starts out with “Hey do I need to bring any slop with me next time we come up?” and then morphs into “Doctor, we need to open this pig up STAT!”. And for the record, in my family, if you’re going to make fun of someone, you’ve probably already made fun of yourself – self deprecating humor is bestowed upon the Ards very early, I think we all take a class at two years of age.
Ultimately, there is no comeback for making someone sleep next to a fetal pig. But if I was as much as a smart aleck then as now, I could have tossed a few zingers his way – “Jere, is there anything special I can make you for breakfast? Are you craving bacon?” or “Why do you smell like formaldehyde?”

Parents, there’s a reason you have to make sure your kids clean their room. You just NEV-ER know what they have up there………..

Dropped Pass Fever - Catch It!!!

Much has been made of the number of drops that the Georgia wide receivers have made. Not just this year, but really over the last few years. Some fans take out their frustration by booing our players. Some want receivers coach John Eason's head on a platter. But for all the hand wringing and worrying, there is no answer.

This sums it up best.

I Don’t Make Predictions, Week 3

Let’s just pick some games at random. Turns out, I have a few predictions after all.

*#4 West Virginia at Maryland- You will see highlights of Pat White and Steve Slaton NON STOP from Thursday night at 10pm until 7:59pm Friday evening. It's a new ESPN programming law.
*North Carolina will drub Virginia and we still won't know how good the Tarheels are. The Cavaliers are bad. Michigan bad.
*Georgia will not beat Western Carolina by more than 30 points because Richt never runs up the score, he only runs out the clock. Despite this, opposing fans will point to Alabama's 52-6 drubbing of the Catamounts as proof that the Dawgs suck.
*The Tennessee/Florida matchup will not go the way you think it will.
*Thousands of TV viewers will order whatever package has ESPNU on Saturday morning JUST to see if a football game breaks out in the Miami/FIU fight.
*The Notre Dame/ Michigan game will, despite being a total suckfest, harbor the most attention EVER for a matchup between 0-2 teams. The game will feature many injuries - broken nails, menstrual cramps, and pillow sheet burns. .
*New Hampshire is going to kill Marshall. Ok, ok, that was bad
*The Arkansas/Alabama matchup WILL go the way you think it will.
*The Louisville/Kentucky game will have the most offensive output (and least defensive resistance) EVER in a college football game by two teams. I see 1400 yards of offense total, easy.
*Bill Callahan will forget that he's in Nebraska and call USC the 'stupidest team on earth'.
*Florida State is traveling to Colorado for a DIVISION ONE FOOTBALL GAME, BROTHER! THIS AIN'T INTRA MURALS!!!

And The Second Guessing Begins

Courtesy of the Anti-Orange Page, Jim from Duluth offers his usual stellar recap of the Bulldog Hotline call in show Monday night.
It never ceases to amaze me that fans are so pompous after a loss (such as the Dawgs loss to South Carolina). If you’re one of those fans who constantly criticize a coaching staff, you probably need to evaluate what you say. Understand that I DON’T feel that coaches are above criticism. Take Virginia’s Al Groh. There’s a man who needs to be criticized. He was brought in to use his NFL type recruiting skills and turn around a Cavalier football program that has not seen excellence in sometime. For all the money UVA paid him, and all the hype about his connections to the NFL, he has done very little for that program.
But it’s easy to say that we should have done so and so in a particular game, when the coaches plan didn’t work. How many things go wrong in our own lives and hindsight turns out to be the only true vision? Now you may come back with “Yeah, but those guys get paid millions of dollars……” This is true, but chances and odds don’t change just because there’s more money at stake. College coaches are pinning their hopes on young men that are between the ages of 18 and 23. Think about the brilliant things you did when you were 19.
Back to the Bulldog Hotline. As I read through, I see a host of questions that just come out wrong. One caller basically questions the caliber of the WR corps. For the record, colleges can’t go out and recruit players mid-season. You’re stuck with who you have for a year. Second of all, you can teach every fundamental you can to a wide receiver, but he and he alone will make the catch on the field. A better question would have been, “was there a reason that we were throwing crucial throws to Mike Moore and Tony Wilson (2nd team WR’s) rather than starters Sean Bailey, Mikey Henderson and Mohamed Massaquoi?
Another popular perennial question that comes up (though disguised each time) “Why did you abandon the running game” or “Why don’t you use one running back?” Let’s be clear – Knowshon Moreno is the real deal. We already know that. But the best RB’s in the world need an OL to open up holes. Since everyone agreed at the beginning of the season that our OL was young, is it really right to place such a heavy burden on them when the game is on the line? I suspect that if the Dawgs had utilized Moreno more, and we still lost, the question would have been, “Why run the ball when you’ve got a gunslinger like Stafford?” You can’t win with some people.
Question the coach? You bet. Fans deserve that. But coaches spend there entire lives watching film and evaluating talent. The average fan, who doesn’t go to practice or know the weight room stats, is just that – the average fan. I doubt he has any suggestions a coach hasn’t already thought of.

I Don’t Make Predictions

That's right, I don't make predictions.

I just laugh when other people’s predictions go wrong. The thing is, I really haven’t decided if I truly know enough about the games to predict what will happen. But then again, the “experts” don’t either.

#15 Nebraska @ Wake Forest – I only mention this game because my brother in law is going to the game. He’s been a Cornhusker his whole life – isn’t every kid who was born and raised in SW Virginia? For me, watching Wake Forest is like watching theater. I can’t sit through the whole thing. I’m curious to see just how good the reigning ACC champs are. And are the Cornhusker fans going to sit idly by while Coach Callahan has the gall to throw more than 4 passes per game?

Miami @ #5 Oklahoma – People forget that, pre-bowl season, Oklahoma was a botched call away from a perfect season. New Hurricane coach Randy Shannan has banned all his players from owning guns. You tell me who’s been focusing more on football lately?

Duke @ Virginia – You think Duke is bad? The Cavaliers did not score a touchdown last week against Wyoming. That’s right. They play football in Wyoming. And they do it better than soon-to-be fired Coach Al Groh can teach them to do it in the Old Dominion. Tivo this game and skip through it to watch the commercials.

Alabama @ Vanderbilt – If you didn’t hate Bama before Coach Nick Satan, er, Saban got there, you sure do now. Forty nine states will be rooting for the school that keeps the SEC’s GPA’s up.

Oregon @ Michigan – remember Forest Whitakker’s character in “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”? Sean Penn’s character, Spicoli, wrecked Whittaker’s car and blamed it on the rival high school. Whitakker sent most that team out on a stretcher. I just wouldn’t want to be playing Michigan this week after last week’s embarrassment.

West Virginia Tech @ Western Kentucky – West. Virginia. Tech. Try saying it without laughing. Then change the channel.

Notre Dame @ Penn State – This time last year we called Charlie Weiss a ‘genius’. This year, he may just be called Joe Paterno’s bitch.

North Carolina @ East Carolina – If ECU wins, they take statehood from UNC.

#20 Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech – I’m sensing a trend. What’s next? A technical school in Georgia? Warrior QB and Heisman darkhorse Colt Brennan will throw for 800 yards and STILL no one in the continental US will care.

South Florida @ #17Auburn – Many pick an upset in cowtown. Truth is, it should be a really good game. As long as they don’t keep putting the camera on Auburn OC Al Borges (right). Only Dick Cheney frightens people more.

#9 Virginia Tech @ #2 LSU – The marquee matchup of the weekend. Two top defenses. Two speedy teams. And two of the most redneck fan bases outside of Florida. Ok, ok, I don’t really mean that. But seriously, Baton Rouge on a Saturday night? If nothing else, the blood alcohol content of Louisiana will go up by a tenth of a percent.

Finally,

South Carolina @ #12 Georgia – Even though Steve Spurrier is not “Steve Spurrier” anymore, he’s still a good coach. And the Gamecocks always bring an "A" game to this fight. Lotta smack talking leading up to this showdown.

Mecka-lecka-hi-mecka-hiney-ho

Quick thoughts from Saturday’s games

(Sorry, I gotta start with the Michigan/Appy State game)

*When Appalachian State’ Cory Lynch blocked Michigan’s desperation field goal in the waning minutes of the game, he ran it back to the 5 yard line, then celebrated wildly on the side lines, teammates piling on in victory. The refs, doing what they are SUPPOSED to do, threw a flag for excessive celebration. Let me just say this. Since this is now the greatest upset in college football history, there COULDN’T have been excessive celebration. The 15 yards they lost to run out the clock was meaningless. Since this is an arbitrary penalty anyway, couldn’t the refs just have gotten together and proclaimed, “There is no penalty, we’re going to let the Mountaineers revel in the fact that a I-AA beat the #5 team in the country in their own house”

*Dawgs 35-Pokes 14. It’s not that Stafford had 235 yards passing that excited me. It’s the fact that he threw to 9 different receivers. And it looks like he’s learned that taking a sack is not the end of the world.

*I’m still concerned about our kick offs. All day I watched team after team kick the ball right to the goal line, yet Coutu was putting them between the five and ten yard lines. I KNOW he’s got a stronger leg than THAT.

*Got Southerland? We do. And Shaun Chapas, too.

*If you’re wondering why the 13^th ranked team in the country didn’t get a lick of press coverage yesterday, and why ESPN felt the need not to switch over from the painful sight that was Illinois vs Missouri, it’s because we’re not flashy. Coach Richt has not been flashy since he left Florida State. Once the Dawgs are ahead, Richt simply runs the ball to eat away the clock, whereas a team like the Gators will keep running up the score.

*Something tells me the “flashy factor is about to change. College football, meet Knowshon Moreno. You two will get along great.

*Uh, I thought we were going to see Joe Cox?

*How awesome was it to watch WR Mohamed Massaquoi tackle someone like that on their botched punt?

Non-Dawg:

*Is there any doubt left that Notre Dame is the most overrated program of the last 5 years?

*Is it just me or was the score of the Auburn/Kansas State game a little closer than it should have been? Same for Texas and Arkansas State.

* I am changing my original prediction that Virginia Tech will beat LSU on Saturday. As long as Sean Glennon is their QB, that offense is mediocre.

*Dear Mr. Vol fan. There is blood in the water and the sharks are on their way.