Famous Potato - Tavoy Moore

I wasn't going to post anything as far as scouting a team as bad as Idaho State. But I found this video of Tavoy Moore last night and just had to.


I don't think Justin Houston allows a TD on his watch. But if ISU is to reach the endzone, I think it comes on the feet of #10 by way of a punt/kick return.


Cue it up to about 1:05...

Hard to tell if that's legit SEC speed given the competition, but those are serious sick skills regardless.

Trailer for Mystery on the Mountain

First, a little context. The trip to Boulder wasn't just a kick in the ass. Something happened while we were there. Events unfolded. There was underwear on a railing. Bernie was a cornhole machine. King fumbled.

It was as if the Earth was off its axis while we painted the Rocky Mountains red.

Some of you are familiar with Nama's work with our tailgates. To address the mystery on the mountain, he's put together what may be his finest work to date. After all, it's not easy to deal with David going commando, Bernie at a loss for oxygenated air and a homeless guy who's H-O-R-S-E's version of Kobe Bryant.

So, this is the trailer...just to wet your appetite, and pique your curiosity.

Coming soon to a blawg near you.

Friday Headlines, from Nesbitt to Newton

Some famous potato'd headlines for your Friday.

• Nesbitt won't play Georgia until next year at the earliest. Surprise! I'm an idiot. Nesbitt's a senior, I thought he was a junior. So...Nesbitt is out for his last game against the Dawgs. That may sound like good news for Dawg fans, but the kid behind him nearly rallied his engiNerds to victory last night in Blacksburg in front of a raucous Lane Stadium crowd.
• Kris Durham recounts the play that caused his injury last Saturday. What's a little blood between friends?
• Akeem Hebron's career summed up in one Paschall piece. And another great piece on a Georgia LB, Page wonders if Akeem Dent's injury in August was actually divine ($$).
• Exile's Five Questions for tomorrow.
• Terrific post by Rex in regards to his 1980 team's evolution into brotherhood.
• Yesterday I laid some blame for the gator loss cautiously at Murray's feet. Meanwhile Lucid Idiocy was developing pictorial proof that it's not all his fault.
• And suddenly the spotlight is mighty hot in Auburn, Alabama. I don't expect CamGate to affect AwwBarn's QB depth chart in the least heading into our game next Saturday. I mean, if they've played him all season knowing of this issue why would that change going forward? If anything, I think we can expect Newton's best game to date.

I have tried all week to find something compelling about tomorrow's game to write about. I'm going because I love Georgia and love the Dawgs. I want to see Hutson Mason play some a lot and I want to see the 1980 Junkyards with gray hair.

But as for this ISU team, there ain't much compelling. However, if you just gotta go somewhere to get ready for them I did find a Bengal Blog. In fact, that's what it's called - The Bengal Blog!. Enjoy.

BREAKING: Cam Newton likes the cash dollar

Here's former MSU QB John Bond's full statement, per Kyle Veazey.

“During the 2009 football season, I was contacted by a former football teammate, who represented to me that he was speaking for the Newton camp.  He told me that Cam Newton wanted to play at Mississippi State, but that a specified payment would have to be made.  I reported the conversation to the Mississippi State Athletic Department.  I was told by the Athletic Department that Mississippi State would not respond to the overture that was made to me, and that Mississippi State would continue to recruit Cam Newton as it does any other football recruit.”

Also, here's a recap by Forde, Low and Schlabach.

King of the Deep

Nice piece by Weiszer today that looks at Tavarres King's emergence into an offensive weapon. He leads the team in yards per catch and is taking advantage of single coverage now that AJs back. 

	G	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD
Kris Durham	9	25	494	19.76	2
Tavarres King	8	21	443	21.10	3
AJ Green	5	26	407	15365	5

Durham we know is gone after this season. Green's über talent is on par with Herschel, Hearst, Knowshon...and is above other red and black early entries into professionalism such as Hastings, Geathers. Hard to imagine he'll return once the emotions of the season die down into early January.


So King's emergence into the every down, possession type receiver is going to be something to watch. His 60 yard breakaway Saturday was a thing of beauty. Later he let a down and out go right through his hands near the goalline. If memory serves, that set up Murray to Green's spectacular TD throw on 3rd down.


But next season #8 won't likely be there to draw the coverage, or bail us out.

Murray Needs a Moment

After propping the team up on many occasions this season, Aaron Murray deserved a pass (no pun intended), even after all but ending the WLOCP with an ill-advised throw. Fans have been more than willing to grant him some slack as he grows into his role.

The same goes for Coach Richt:

When you watch a quarterback and there’s something that happens big early on, like that pick the very first throw, it could send a guy into a really bad state of mind where you could just physically look at him and go, ‘This guy is shook.’ I never thought that happened in the game.

And from what little we've learned about the kid's personality, this week has to be torture...just waiting for the opportunity to play again and throw a pass that's more on target, hear the crowd cheer wildly as opposed to the collective groan of defeat, and the opposing corch taunting your own fans. 


But he also has to be eager to make the plays that define a season as well as a game.

It definitely would be nice to finish off a game. We’ve come back from games, but we haven’t had that comeback victory yet. I feel like if we change four or five plays this year, 10 at the most, it could be a totally different season from this.

I hope this kid makes the clutch play on the Plains, or the Flats. Because as much as (if not more than) anyone else he deserves that moment.

Terence Moore's Old Drawer

Bradley and Schultz are always prying at it. Hell, there was a time I was sure Bisher had simply started using it as an impromptu toilet stall. But this morning Barnhart got medieval on it, it flew open and now stoopid has gone worse than viral at the paper that once covered Dixie like the dew.

I'm not going into what I thought was a dead horse. I've steered away from it all week here in my little corner of the Dawgosphere. And I'm certainly not going to link to any of the journalism going on over there for fear my one reader may start showing up at Butts-Mehre and demanding Quincy Carter's jersey be retired.

Let's just go about our business here and pray some intern over there has enough shoulder to get that thing shut before Grizzard's Ghost puts them all on the last bus to Albuquerque.

Come to think of it....

Checks and Balances, we're talking about practice!

Was looking through Coach Richt's Idaho State Preview last night and found this interesting:

My main goal right now is today we have a lot of energy in practice and that we focus on improving. We just have done enough little things that become big things that we have to make sure we make those corrections. I actually added an extra correction period just to say, 'You go by position and you might have covered it in film and showed them during the game, but I want you to physically remind them in some form of a drill or some form of emphasis to even if you just correct one thing by segment, that's nine things that we get corrected that will hopefully get better as the season goes on.

To add the context to it, CMR was asked about reminding the team of recent FCS upsets such as James Madison and App State.  


Now, adding another period to the practices may not be Earth shattering. But it's the little things to big things that drew my eye. I don't want to read too much into it, but I immediately thought of the offensive line's inconsistency and the defense still grasping the base 3-4.


A system in which just nodding your head in the film room and showing basic understanding in practice isn't going to cut it completely...well, that's a good thing. We may be re-evaluating goals, but we're not gonna skate through doing it.


Again, maybe I'm taking some liberties with it. Follow the link and listen to his words (this is the first question, but is about 8 minutes in) yourself.

Locker Notes - Idaho State Bengals

Do the bengal tigers of Idaho subsist on potatoes alone?

• Coach Grantham - Some Benedryl might clear up that itchy throat.
• Hutson Mason - Almost time to work on the TD/pass attempt ratio.
• AJ Green - Do you prefer crinkle cut or curly? Maybe a plate of both.
• Jordan Love - He's a very intelligent guy who I think will play a lot of football for us before it's over.
• Orson Charles - Big game down in Florida. You can name your number again this Saturday. GATA.
• DeMarcus Dobbs - Pick six? Maybe two...??
• Marlon Brown - Where ya been? Looking forward to some BIG plays this Saturday.

Here's your sharpie. Now get to it.

A Giant Defensive Step Back

I could probably make an argument going into All Tel that our defense was continuing to make strides in the right directions. Walking out, you would've been able to put at least two giant holes in it.

Exhibit A

Date	Opponent	Surface	Result	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	TD	Int	Rating
09/04/10	Miami (Ohio)	Grass	W 34-12	25	17	68.0	113	4.5	2	0	132.37
09/11/10	South Fla.	Grass	W 38-14	31	18	58.1	172	5.5	2	0	125.96
09/18/10	@ Tennessee	Grass	W 31-17	23	14	60.9	167	7.3	1	0	136.21
09/25/10	Kentucky	Grass	W 48-14	35	24	68.6	248	7.1	1	1	131.81
10/02/10	@ 5 Alabama	Grass	L 6-31	31	16	51.6	202	6.5	0	2	93.44
10/09/10	12 LSU	Grass	L 29-33	24	16	66.7	154	6.4	0	1	112.24
10/16/10	21 Mississippi St.	Grass	L 7-10	39	24	61.5	210	5.4	0	1	101.64
10/30/10	+ Georgia	Grass	W 34-31	25	16	64.0	193	7.7	0	1	120.85
	Totals			233	145	62.2	1459	6.3	6	6	118.18

via cfbstats.com

Those are obviously John Brantley's passing numbers for each game this season. The one that jumps out at me is the sudden passer rating increase Saturday night. Did we not have tape on what Bama's defense did to Florida? Why couldn't we hold them under 6 yards an attempt like the other Bulldogs?

We simply weren't able to ever make the 2010 FU Gators 2.0 a one-dimensional football team. And most of that falls on the inability to contain and defend their passing attack which had until Saturday been a toothless reptile.

Exhibit B


Trey Burton had 110 yards rushing against the Dawgs. Nearly half of them came on this play.

We had done a good job containing this wrinkle in Adazzio's gameplan. Dent gets muddled by the play-fake and out of position. Incomprehensibly, Williams does to. Suddenly Corch is getting credit where it's not really due. One play takes away a good second half effort by the defense and ultimately plays a hand in forcing overtime.

In short, this wasn't the defense we saw the last two and a half games (second half in Lexington notwithstanding). Sure, this wasn't the lowly Vols and 'Dores. But we didn't play or coach to the bar that had been raised.

I hope they do once we get to the Plains.

Passing on the Run

Our offense is like one of those romantic comedies I get roped into every once in a while: predictable and doesn't make me happy/hopeful/smiling on a consistent basis.

Towards the end of the 1st quarter Saturday we were averaging 7 yards a carry to Florida's less than a half yard a carry. Ealey had started out pretty tentative, perhaps bothered by a stiff knee that had yet to loosen. King was feeling it however. He had a couple big runs already as well as a beautiful spin move in the backfield to avoid being stoned on a corner blitz.

Now to be fair, Aaron Murray would eventually go on to pass for more than 300 yards and overall the offense would score 31 points against one of the better defenses we'll see this season. But it was at that point that I wish we had committed to the run game...with one back. I keep reading (from fans...on message boreds...my name is Bernie and I have a problem) that neither Ealey nor King are the type of back that can dominate at this level. The saddest part to me is that our offensive brain trust will never let us know that for sure.

Behind a determined line, I personally think either back can move chains, score touchdowns and finish the season All-SEC. I think both Ealey and King can carry the ball more than twice the load of what they are being asked to at this point. And I think we can be the run first ask questions later type offense that generates yards as easily as I can chew gum.

But here's where that all gets lost:

• Coach Richt prefers the platoon situation in the backfield. He recruits for it because this is where he came from down in Tallahassee.
• The playcalling gets at best moderately predictable based on who is lining up behind Murray. We still hold the edge in the passing game due to all the weapons, but become disastrously easy to read as far as the running game.
• The offensive line is a schizophrenic that has gone from no meds in September to still getting the dosage right in early November.

I'll get to the defense later, but for now...let's get real. We're 4-5, three to play. Name Ealey or King the starting damn tailback of the University of Georgia and let said starter run, block and catch 75% of the snaps.

Mumme Poll - week nine

This week's ballot:

1. Oregon
2. Auburn
3. TCU
4. Alabama
5. Nebraska
6. Boise State
7. Mizzouri
8. Wisconsin
9. Oklahoma
10. Stanford

• Top three are the same as last week.
• After moving them up a spot last week, I moved Boise down two this week. I tuned in for some of their game against La Tech last Tuesday. Color me unimpressed.
• However, I am impressed with Nebraska. The freshman Martinez practically took the week off stats-wise and they beat a very good Mizzou. If the Huskers had done their job against a very pedestrian Texas team, they'd be threatening  TCU, Auburn and Oregon for the top spots. 
• I'm not solid on Wisconsin, Oklahoma or Stanford. But have them above some others that stand just outside the top ten: LSU, Arizona, Utah and Michigan State.
• Big games this week: Bama at LSU, Utah at TCU and Stanford at 'Zona.

Monday's Meatloaf - From Talleyrand to Despair and Back

I'm knee deep in my analysis of the game itself and the season as a whole. And when I say knee deep, it's really all up in my head. It started collecting there by the time my feet hit Talleyrand Avenue after the game and didn't stop until sometime along the late night tour of Redfern Village's watering holes back on St. Simons. 


Then other pressing issues took over. Like how old Kym actually is...how midgets make a living...whether or not a five dollar bill constitutes the necessity for live entertainment...how designated drivers are saving the world but wreaking havoc on power seats and mirror settings. 


And while the drive back to reality yesterday and the trick or treat chaperoning didn't allow much time to get my analysis into typeset, I do want to share with you that I met Rep. Corrine Brown's son at the game Saturday. Remarkably, his grasp of the English language was much firmer than his mom's. Yet somehow he struggled counting all the way up to third down. I did my best to help, but must have offended confused him. He disappeared after the first quarter.

So I never got a chance to gradulate him.



Today's Ingredients

• One of the (many) hot topics this week is gong to be the discussion towards moving this game away from Jacksonville. I went down that road a couple years ago and found nothing but a pity party with self-loathing on tap. I'll stand alongside the Senator. I'm lost as to what it is about the location that makes us lose this game.
• Now that I have my hindsight mirror at the ready, Quinton was indeed right. I just didn't see us getting that careless with the ball.
• I didn't get all the way through my re-watch yesterday, but was able to see Murray's first throw. The kid didn't have a great game for sure. But he didn't get a lot of help from any of his receivers (tipped balls, lazy routes, tentativeness). AJ and Durham especially looked out of sorts.
• ...except a case can certainly be made for Orson Charles' effort. And how long was Durham playing hurt? 
• Some reactions I've read: Rex is heartbroken. Kit is pleading for sanity. Big Muddy is saddened. Kyle had some immediate and cogent observations. Groo catches a breath with a deep sigh.
• Parting shots - Bubba Garcia's fried jalepenos trump Gnats' pickles. Cover charges are for places with live bands. And the GA DOT can choke on their own tar bucket.

I caught some heat for it yesterday, but why wouldn't I be proud of the way we fought back in the second half? Does it excuse the turnovers or the inability to just smother a loose ball? No, but it beats the hell out of watching the scoreboard tilt ever so unevenly while one half of AllTel empties.

Sock it to em America!

And that's just one of the topics I expect to touch on this week. My scouting report on the Vandals is understandably thin. So that should leave at least a little time to tackle the thoughts running around in my head. But before we do that, I should take my own personal bite of humble pie. I treated Florida fans poorly last week. And although I don't regret that in the least, I should give most of those saurians props for showing up, clapping vertically, and keeping your classlessness to a relative minimum.

If only your corch could do the same. 

That's all for now. I don't know about you, but I plan to get out and fire as many elected officials as possible tomorrow. And remember, if you are one of those looking for my digital endorsement tomorrow, for Heavens' sake....don't call me during dinner tonight. I might not have swindlers stuffing cash in my pockets (yet), but I do have Veto Power at the dinner table. 

Here's your fork Reader, neither hanging nor pregnant...just ready for action.

Bernie

Sunday Thoughts at the bottom of the cocktail

Just a few before the road signs turn north.

1. The game came down to turnovers of course. Plain and simple. We gave the ball up too often and when they tried to return the favor we just couldn't make the play; or tried too hard to make one.
2. I thought it was a well coached game for the most part. I wish Bobo had trusted the running game more. It may have kept some gator arms out of those throwing lanes.
3. I think Rainey just texted in another 12 yards.
4. OT seemed to me to be a great time for one of those we're gonna run it down your throat drives.
5. Can someone tell me who won the toss for OT? I admittedly did not have a good view, but I thought we won the toss. If so, why didn't we go on defense first?
5. Most of all I'm proud of the way we fought back in the second half. In that regard this team was able to do what the previous two were not.

But in the end the result was the same.