Gameday - battle tested or battle weary?

I think it's the former. And that is something we know these pansies from the midwest are not, having blitzed through a slate of games my daughter's flag football team could manage.

Anyway, here's some thoughts as I hit the road for Athens:

• Can we have the old Quayvon back? We caught a nice glimpse, but then he all but disappeared. I think there's more than has been alluded to (couple missed assignments against North Texas, Hall playing more consistently). There could be more there, regardless it'd be nice to see him in there even more than we saw last week. As much as I like me some Merritt Hall, Quayvon is a difference maker there and seals the edge so well on those basic pitch runs to the tailback.
• Speaking of basic plays, does Bobo dumb things down dial things back today offensively? He's got more younger players taking the field than he has in a while. Plus, there has to be a concerted effort to keep Missouri's offense off the field. And then if need be, can the offense switch gears fast enough if it becomes yet another shoot out?
• And speaking of concerted efforts, can we play as a whole team today? Can the special teams, offense and defense rise together to greet this very occasion with similar levels of intensity, focus and sheer will? I really want to see more pressure on Franklin, and I think that's where we see the difference in the schedules pay off for Georgia as opposed to the team with all the cupcake icing around their mouth.

Our offensive and defensive lines have been grinding things out for over a month. Most games are won in the trenches. I like our chances right there.

Go Dawgs!

Friday Misery - the legend of Gary Robin Tinkel

From Bleakipedia:

Despite having a girl's name, Gary Robin Tinkel is an American football coach and part-time drunk. He has escaped unemployment both easily and miraculously at the same time since being hired by the University of Missouri in 2001. He has also pissed away jobs as a fry cook (twice), coach and burrito food truck entrepreneur in Toledo, which is both a city and a university. Before upgrading to cognac as his drink of choice, he slammed cheap beer as a recreational hobby while an assistant in Washington, which is the captial of our democratic goverment [redacted by your local congressman], a state in the northwest, and a university.

Early Years - Tickel was born on tapioca day at the local Akron hospital. Throughout his primary education experience he maintained a solid C average and ate a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich for lunch. Every day. All of them. He lived with his family on Erie Lake Lane in a modest house on land derelict of any trees, yet under constant shade. Weird.

While in college at Kent State, Tinkel laid all kinds of women with low self-esteem and suspect eating habits while sharing bedrooms with the likes of Nick Saban, Jack Lambert and the actor that portrayed Snuffeupagus on Sesame Street. He also received his first ever grade of B in "English 102", but it was widely speculated he had copied an essay on the desegregation of the South from the football team's third string tight end. The case went before a student judiciary committee for review, but was thrown out when it was confirmed that Tinkel himself was the third string tight end.

Red red wine make you feel so fine.

Another strange anecdote from Tinkel's days at Kent State includes a squirrel, a six pack of Rolling Rock, a block of Velveeta cheese, and LeBron James' grandfather. During a trial involving his tempestuous relationship with Chrissy Hynde all evidence of the fat, drunk, and confused squirrel in the pants of LeBron James' grandfather was sealed by Hon. Judge Reginald James III, LeBron's great uncle. A month later Tinkel received his bachelor's degree in inconsequential physics with a minor in processed cheese, both canned and otherwise packaged.

Coaching Career - Tinkel brought the MACdaddy back to the ACTion in middle American tackle football. He did this with three parts false bravado, two parts Pepe Lopez tequila and a generous dash of Aqua Velva. He walked away from Toledo (both the city and the University) having added one conference championship, three western division titles, and four under the table DUIs. "I havth had many sutcthesses herrrrre at ToLEEEdo. Not the leesh of whitch is being able to walk a yellows line after Takeeya Toosdays," Tickel proclaimed in his now infamous closing press conference, just before mistakenly boarding a Greyhound bus bound for Syracuse NY.

But eventually he stumbled his way into the midwest and it was in Columbia, Missouri that Tinkel really started to come into his own, both as a coach and a slurrer of speech. In Columbia he's compiled an impressive record that has made him the second winningest coach in Mizzou history, a feat that is sure to stand for probably a whole decade. Entering the 2013 season Tinkel has even more SEC wins (2) as he does BIG 12 titles (0). Additionally, he hosts a weekly podcast from his basement where he drinks Courvoisier while reading Hemingway against a backdrop loop of the "Big M of the Midwest" playing the Tigers' fight song.

Personal - Stammering his way through the tricky chorus of "HIT IT! HOORAY! HURRAH!" and picking up wins against average college football teams isn't all Tinkel has been able to accomplish during his tenure at the University of Missouri. He's also an accomplished drinker of red wine, skilled at having dinner with friends, proficient at forgetting a good third of the alphabet during a field sobriety test, pleading guilty to these offenses, and surrendering large portions of his salary. Just last year he added significantly to his resume by impregnating a younger woman out of wedlock and divorcing one within it. All of this while managing to keep both his team and podcast afloat.

In other words, Gary Robin Tinkel is the midwest's twenty-third most interesting man. 

From Wikipedia:

Mark Richt - Awesome dude.

The point of all that you ask? Tomorrow on one sideline you'll have a man still chasing his own demons. On the other...a Grown Man Football Coach that'll chew your ass up and then throw a benji with your name marked on it in the collection plate the next morning.

Tigers..."show me" your cute stripes...
Missouri is the "Show Me" state. And while we're at the part of the post where we address relatively obscure facts, remember that their college tackle football team is also an actual SEC tackle football team now. This isn't the back end of a home and home. It's a get there early and hunker down SEC East showdown. Georgia might be in the driver's seat for the East title this early, but Pinkel is reaching for the steering wheel. And we've just addressed what happens when he drives.

I haven't written much this week about prepping for these Tigers. I intended to because this REALLY IS a big game. They haven't played anybody except for Sisters of the Poor and Vanderbilt. And their defense is circumspect to say the least. However, their offense is quite dangerous and should've been given more attention in the days leading up to this week's kickoff. I apologize for not adding the necessary weight to this contest. I will punish myself with bourbon, profusely and aggressively.

On the other hand, they're still paper tigers that are just begging to be punched in the mouth. Once that happens they'll be exposed again as a johnny come lately wannabe legitimate SEC contender pretender.

Look, just do your part. Be even LOUDer than you are PROUD. Raise up the code RED and they'll show their cute stripes before they turn tail and run. Jenkins with VELOCIRAPT their ass. JJ Green will name his number. Murray will do Murray type things as cool as the other side of the pillow. Richt will tell an official he'll pray for his sorry effin' ass in church Sunday. Marshall Morgan will boot a kickoff through the uprights and the back judges will confusingly raise their arms and award Georgia four points. Scott Howard will give Eric Zeier a fistbump. 'Marlo Herrera will devastate a little running back on a draw play causing a fumble. Mrs. Bernie will punch me in the chest and scream "BOO-YAH!!". Quayvon Hicks will slap a bitch down trying to come and block a punt. Jay Rome hurdles TWO safeties after catching a seam route for six. Stadium cups will be refilled and GEORGIA DAMN BULLDOGS WILL JUST GO ON ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF BEING GEORGIA DAMN BULLDOGS!!

And Pinkel will Tinkel his pants.

Hunker down y'all. See ya in Athens.

How far are we from Tennessee's game of musical chairs?

Yesterday, Tyler pointed out the strife between Univ. of Tennessee Athletics and the "Pride of the Southland Band". Although there are many details involved, the basics of the argument center on how much the actual band is used as opposed to a more modern NFL type approach of using prepared, "canned" music blasted through their PA system. It's worth keeping an eye on how this plays out because it could have an impact on decisions UGA makes in the future.

And I'm not painting our own gameday experience into an orange checkerboard endzone here. But having experienced the difference recently, and having read the details at the heart of this disagreement, I can see the potential for a similar controversy at Sanford one day.

Because it all comes down to money. Always. Well, money and a splash of tradition and another splash of emotion. Once the emotions die down in Knoxville I would suspect a decision on the gameday music selection to center on the traditions that they have in place and the money they have on hand. Tennessee used a very generous portion of piped in music and noise last Saturday. As we sat in the sun and the water supply literally ran dry, the speakers positioned directly across the stadium continuously blasted unrelenting noise and harsh non-traditional music into our ears. It became more than obnoxious and very difficult to bear. A lot like Columbia actually, but less dying chicken noises.

And before you say to yourself, "Good, that's the way visitors to Sanford should feel while watching their team play our Dawgs!", understand that there were a lot more Tennessee fans enduring the same conditions than Georgia fans. Which is why we should pay such close attention to the side the Vol alumni take in this rift between the marching band and the athletic department.

It's also worth pointing out that the financial situation is much different at Tennessee, something Tyler alludes to. While new AD Dave Hart is struggling to overcome the poor financial and personnel decisions made by his predecessor, Georgia enjoys operating in the black. Well into it...to the point that alumni and fans have actively wondered why more money isn't being spent on facilities and coaching contracts. But as Tyler also points out, more and more athletic directors are going to be looking at how many empty seats there are each Saturday and what changes can be made to the overall experience to get people past the gates. Sometimes that can be seen as the new Sanford Stadium refillable stadium cups and updated menu options at concession stands. Other times it might be showing highlights of other games on the videoboard instead of more sponsored messages followed by listed scores from around the nation. In short, as close to your own living room experience as possible.

Having the Redcoats there to play the music my ears have grown accustomed to the last couple decades is something that I have taken for granted. I'll go ahead and admit that. Now that I can see change swirling in the air I feel even older, more stuck in my ways. If Tennessee decides it's cost effective to reduce the amount of live music and performances in favor of cued canned music at the touch of a button...well, it won't impact me until my next trip to Knoxville.

But meanwhile in Athens there is a watchful eye to what is going on around the rest of the nation and more specifically the SEC. The Redcoats are given an operating budget each year and have to make decisions based on costs of producing their end of the gameday experience (from the Dawg Walk to pregame to halftime to the post game celebrating), how many nights are spent at away games, how many members can attend each road game and which ones will have a fully functional band playing Glory, Glory. Make no mistake, I want the band to be heard loud and clear on the road, something I missed greatly last weekend in Knoxville as we only took the smallest of representative Redcoats. But I also want a well defined and stated presence at home, where we've spent years cultivating a deep rooted, tradition rich experience that I think resonates with alumni, students and fans of all ages.

I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm glad Mr. Sisk was honored at halftime in Neyland for his $16 million donation to fight tooth decay in eastern Tennessee. That's a noble cause. But of course I would've rather heard the Redcoats play while I sat there miserably hot and dying of thirst. But at what cost could we have expanded to a larger version of the Redcoats? The entire band? As an alumni at a certain cutoff point in the Hartman Fund, are you willing to give up your seat and try your luck at market value for your away tickets? These are all decisions that we entrust our Athletic Director and band directors to make. I hope they can continue to work in unison, with great respect to what the vast majority of fans want both on the road and especially in Sanford Stadium.

Make no mistake that this eventual decision that UT faces will take place within its own athletic department. But I'll be ready to voice my opinion here in Georgia when the day of opportunity arises. After all, I already have a record for exercising my rights and announcing my distaste for mimicking amateurish North Avenue traditions in my beloved Sanford Stadium.

Glory, Glory to ol' Georgia!

"Legends are forever."

I thought this letter was as good as it gets when I read it a couple weeks ago.

I was wrong.

Wherefore art thou Jarvis Jones?

I'd be happy to make the trip back out to ColaWest if we could take #29 with us.

Things in the secondary and the defense as a whole would look a lot better in someone can step into the role Jones played last year. That guy was all over the field attacking the ball and laying wood. If he had somehow returned for his final season I bet James Franklin would be finding a reason not to make the trip tomorrow.

Pass happy offenses - another look behind and ahead

A few weeks back I wondered if perhaps we'd seen the worst of it when it comes to defending against elite arms. Well, I went back and updated the spreadsheet I used, and to put it plainly...we ain't out of the woods just yet. (In parentheses I've noted the change in completion percentage and QB rating.)

	comp %	yards	TD	INT	rating
Boyd, Clemson	66 (+5)	1449	14	2	182.22 (+33)
Shaw, S. Carolina	68.8 (+4)	927	7	0	173.92 (+7)
Thompson, N. Texas	68 (-3)	1346	8	5	139.49 (-10)
Mettenberger, LSU	68.2 (+3)	1738	15	2	190.12 (-15)
Worley, Tenn	55.8 (-6)	940	9	6	121.54 (-20)
Franklin, Missouri	67.9 (+1)	1407	13	3	160.18 (+5)
Carta-Samuels, Vandy	66.1 (+8)	1561	10	6	152.05 (+14)
Driskel, Florida	70.9	444	2	2	143.45
Murphy, Florida	72.2	530	5	1	181.52
Bryant, App State	72.0 (+5)	900	6	2	170.3 (+32)
Marshall, Auburn	59.2 (-2)	902	4	4	126.64 (-18)
Smith, Kentucky	57.9 (+1)	634	4	1	158.5 (-4)
Lee, GA Tech	44.7 (-11)	625	7	4	133.69 (-85)

via cfbstats.com

Further impressions and other notes:

• Given Florida's change at quarterback after Driskel's injury I just added in Murphy's numbers for comparison purposes. Could've done the same thing for Kentucky, but looks like Max Smith will only miss the one game, and he's really their best option under center.
• Other than a pretty significant upswing for Florida in Tyler Murphy and a huge drop for Vad Lee on The Flats (bless his heart), things have remained relatively steady. 
• The next two QB's we face have only improved the last couple games. Oh joy!
• Looking at the SEC passing offense rankings, Missouri is fourth and Vandy is fifth. Catch our breath a bit, then we have Florida at 11th, Auburn at 12th and Kentucky at 10th.
• The longer I look at that chart the more it appears Georgia's pass coverage has two more weeks of a trial by fire before getting any type of relief from the other side of the line of scrimmage. Murphy has definitely been a statistical upgrade in Gainesville, but from what I've seen he is not on the level of what we've already faced as far as a murderers row of pure passers - Boyd, Shaw, Mettenberger, Worley). 
• Nick Marshall averages 5.42 yards per carry, and 7.5 per pass attempt. After a scare Saturday night, will he be around by the time we visit The Plains? I admit I haven't seen him play much thus far, but given his numbers on the season he reminds me of a young quarterback that is much quicker to trust his feet than what he's seeing downfield.

And again, just because:

Murray, Georgia    64.9 (-7)    1534    14    3    176.87 (-18)

Can't you hear me knocking!

Slow going today folks. Ears ringing. Eyes bleary. But still smiling wide.

Great time at The Georgia Theater with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit last night. I can say with confidence that it was the first time I was sober in that place. Ever. But that didn't detract from a great show at all.

And when the encore concluded with this Stone cover...well, I don't mind so much using the coffee as a crutch this morning.

If you're a fan of great music you're past due to check Isbell out. You won't be disappointed.

Info on the Georgia-Florida Golf Classic

Not too early to start talking about the Georgia-Florida trip...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 8, 2013

Former stars highlight 34^th annual Georgia-Florida Golf Classic

JEKYLL ISLAND, GA – The 34^th annual Georgia-Florida Golf Classic will feature 18 former ‘Dawgs and Gators serving as the event’s official celebrities. The Classic will be held on Jekyll Island’s three 18-hole golf courses, October 30-November 1.

Nine alums from each school will play in the tournament and lead his alma mater to bragging rights.  Celebrity players include Georgia’s Rodney Hampton, Keith Henderson, Brandon Tolbert, Willie McClendon, Daryll “DJ” Jones, Matt Storm, Jimmy Orr, Russ Tanner, Marcus Stroud and Terin Smith. 

Representing Florida is Terry LeCount, Tate Casey, Travis Taylor, , Johnny Rutledge, Reggie McGrew, Terence Barber, Willie Jackson, Lito Sheppard, Jevon Kearse and Alex Willis.  Celebrity appearances are subject to change.

“Who knew the Georgia-Florida Golf Classic would become such a tradition when we started it 34 years ago,” stated Johnny Paulk, PGA Professional and event founder and director. “It’s a great way to celebrate the traditions and school spirit which make the game so special.”

Among the 18 celebrity players, 10 played in the NFL and four, Hampton, Henderson, Orr and Taylor, played on Super Bowl championship teams.

“Preparations have been underway for some time as we welcome big crowds to Jekyll Island during Georgia-Florida week,” declared Jones Hooks, Executive Director with the Jekyll Island Authority and UGA alum. “Old friends and new come together to enjoy this awesome event, the beautiful weather and the tradition of this great rivalry.”

Golfers can register to play with a celebrity and help earn bragging rights for their team. Following Friday’s final round, The Georgia-Florida Golf Classic FanFest, presented by SouthernPigskin.com, will take place at the Jekyll Island Golf Club.  The public is encouraged to attend and meet the celebrity players.

The Classic is a Golden Isles’ tradition during Georgia-Florida week.  It features two rounds of golf, and Wednesday and Thursday night events.  Registration is $275 per person, but teams of three can play with a Georgia or Florida celebrity for $300 per person.  Net proceeds from the event benefit the Jekyll Island Foundation and supports the conservation, preservation and education efforts on Jekyll Island.

For more information and to register, please visit www.jekyllisland.com.

About Jekyll Island: Jekyll Island is a barrier island on Georgia’s coast, located midway between Jacksonville and Savannah.  Accessible just minutes from Interstate 95, Jekyll Island offers guests a variety of amenities, including 8 miles of beach, four golf courses, a 250-acre Historic Landmark District, water park, 20 miles of bike paths and an array of lodging options.

Owned by the state of Georgia and managed by the Jekyll Island Authority, Jekyll Island’s development is limited to not more than 35 percent of its available land area, creating a pristine, natural environment stocked with colorful wildlife and endless exploration opportunities.  This unique aspect of Jekyll Island serves to preserve the critical barrier island ecosystem, as well as provides guests with a unique escape from the crowds and complications of other beach resort destinations.  For more information, visit www.jekyllisland.com or call 1-877-4JEKYLL.

About the Jekyll Island Foundation: The Jekyll Island Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3 operating exclusively for charitable and educational purposes to support the work of the Jekyll Island Authority.  Stewardship includes preservation, conservation, and the interpretation of historic and natural sites. The Foundation also offers participatory opportunities in planned giving, private donation, corporate support and philanthropic foundation support. For more information, visit www.jekyllislandfoundation.org or call (912) 635-4402.

Murray's legs divide the Gray Sea

First, sit back and enjoy reliving this moment.

Second, I just love that Mrs. Bernie was overjoyed that Murray switched the ball to his left arm once he reached the third level. Fumbles scare the beejesus out of my better half.

But most importantly, what an incredible run that was birthed by a wide open field. At live speed I thought it was a designed run. It also could've been just an easy read for Murray to make, or coaches could've pointed out to him that the field might open up for him like that at specific times. Frankly, I don't care the situation prior. When he splits that defense in half your heart goes from third to fifth gear in a hurry. Then it's all GOSHDARNITSCOREPLEASESCOREPLEASESCORE!!!!

I know it's Wednesday and we're closer to taking on our next SEC opponent than we are from our last SEC win, but I just needed to get this out. Because as we near the end of this guy's career, this will be one play we come back to over and over again to remember him with once he's gone.

Damn Good Dawg!!

Morgan kicks the weight off his shoulders

Given how things turned out Saturday evening, I found a quote in this piece by Paschall pretty telling of the journey Marshall Morgan has been on in his brief yet evolving career at Georgia.

Within an instant of drilling a 42-yard field goal to clinch Georgia's 34-31 overtime win at Tennessee last weekend, Bulldogs kicker Marshall Morgan found himself under a sea of teammates.

"I was trying to get them off me," a smiling Morgan said Tuesday. "That was a lot of weight, and I've got asthma."

I know the guy has kicked plenty of field goals that were much longer (one of which was earlier in the game), but that one in overtime was undeniably the biggest of his career. Especially considering the one he clanked off the upright in the third quarter seemed to be a huge momentum shift.

A lot of pressure on the one to win it. And he drilled it!

Humpday Hilarity - Little Johnny's bitch

Teacher asks the kids in class: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Little Johnny: "I wanna be a billionaire, have a beautiful bitch on my arm, give her a Ferrari worth a million bucks, an apartment in Copacabana, a mansion in Paris, a jet to travel the world, a 200-foot yacht, and I want to make love to her three times a day."

The teacher, shocked with the bad behavior of the child, decides not to give importance to what he said and continues the lesson .

And you, Nancy?"

"I wanna be Little Johnny's bitch."

In a unique twist, Grantham blames Bobo

It's hard defending the down and distance when your own offense is so damn good.

“Because our offense is so explosive — South Carolina went for it on fourth-and-2 — I think we’re going to see a lot of fourth downs because people feel like they’ve got to keep the ball,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “We obviously didn’t play the one flip play very good, but we’ll learn from it and move on.”

In all seriousness, the officials made things much easier for Tennessee on the flip play Grantham refers to, which came after a "rare" penalty on the defense for delay of game. Richt addressed that by putting this week's referees on notice:

“I don’t know why they call it ‘Delay of game,’” Richt said, “but the rule is if you make any movement that’s not a normal defensive alignment or shift or something like that. If it looks like you’re trying to get somebody to jump offsides, if they jump offsides, it’s on the defense. I’ve never really seen that happen before, and it was pretty crucial, obviously. …

“We’ve learned a lesson, can’t do it. I know the team we’re about to play (in Missouri), they shift a lot on defense, and I think they’re trying to get people to jump offsides when they shift. Hopefully, we’ll get that same benefit.”

But back to the fourth down conversions, giving up 60% on the season leaves a lot of room for improvement. And that will be a hard row to hoe considering the defense is not performing any better on third downs. A lot of that may be youthful inexperience. Certainly a lot is just flat out confidence.

Which means there's a lot of room for Grantham to start earning that $825K/year.

Garrison Smith getting after it

via WardStudio.com

From his Twitter:

"I can get another car but not another life #Blessed"

 Glad to hear he's okay. And to see his always mature and upbeat outlook is intact as well.

 Damn Good Dawg!

The tailback spot, where the glass is half empty

While I won't feed into rumors and innuendo, at times I can enjoy being pessimistic have the ability to be hypothetical.

So what if Gurley has a setback, or worse, misses the rest of the season? Well, while the message boreds would likely enjoy unprecedented traffic and Richt's staff would not enjoy a fever pitch of fan furor, we'd be left with three freshmen and two walk-ons. Plain and simple.

• JJ Green. Wasn't even recruited at tailback. Has a good burst and isn't afraid to take the hit. Still developing as a pass protector and in terms of letting blocks set up in front of him. Pass catching skills still a bit of a question mark out of the backfield, and certainly not at the level we were seeing from Marshall before the injury in Knoxville. Still, a lot of potential as a difference maker at this position.
• Brendan Douglas. This time last year seemed to be cast into the role of blocking back for Coach Johnson on North Avenue. Bobo saves him and he quickly made a name for himself as a bruiser of a runner. Good speed to go along with willingness to give out punishing hits. Still developing as a blocking back and as a receiver out of the backfield.
• AJ Turman. All we truly know is that he's behind Green and Douglas developmentally and that he's barely hanging on to his redshirt.
• Brandon Harton and Kyle Karempelis. Walk-ons that know the system but aren't going to force linebackers to step forward in anticipation instead of backwards into passing routes.

Let's call a spade a spade, this would not be an enjoyable scenario. Until Marshall went down, defenses had to respect our ability to run the football at every down and distance. With this depth chart Murray would lose some room to work the secondary as every remaining team on the schedule breathed a sigh of relief at not having to face Todd Gurley.

Thank goodness we were able to recruit the running back position aggressively the last couple years. We've seen enough from Green and Douglas to know that they have the ability to get us into short yardage situations on second and third downs. Can they continue to do that consistently with two studs nursing injuries?

What's more, can they do more in the passing game, both as protectors and as receivers? Coach Bobo has gone from an embarrassment of riches to having to simplify the playbook on some level to keep up with unprecedented production, both in terms of Georgia and the SEC as a whole. Trusting that one of them isn't going to incidentally release a blitzing linebacker would go a long way to keeping things on par with expectations. Not to mention out of necessity.

The tailback spot, where the glass is half full

There have been rumors running around about Gurley's injury being more serious than suspected. Coupled with the Keith Marshall injury it leaves us feeling exposed back there, despite the fact that we had a true freshman go for over a hundred. (My God, can you imagine what Marshall could've done Saturday with a full complement of carries? Makes me sad all over.)

But I have trouble believing anything about Gurley missing more than the Missouri game. Coach Richt is not one to play games and/or be untruthful when it comes to a player's status week to week. I haven't rewatched the televised version of the Tennessee game yet, so I'm not sure how much coverage this got, but Gurley was a very active sideline participant. So if something is more serious than originally anticipated, it's likely because it's been re-aggravated somehow or wasn't treated appropriately in the first place. Considering he hasn't been seen wearing a boot, I suppose the former is possible. But again it would require Richt to be evasive on the subject. And I especially have trouble believing the latter would happen given the much earned respectability Dr. Courson and his staff have achieved.

via WardStudio

Anyway, moving on to where we are. You have to like the idea of JJ Green and Brendan Douglas getting all of the reps this week. Sure we'd love to have both Gurley and Marshall in there going full tilt. But that's why they call this game tackle football and it's also why we've been preparing these freshmen for just this occasion. They've already shown what they can do; they're both powerful runners that came in ready to follow the blocks. I like Green's versatility on all downs/distances and I like Douglas' knack for taking on all comers. They clearly have great attitudes (and why not considering both were looking at possible redshirts a couple months ago and Douglas was being forced into a fullback type role on the Flats until Bobo rescued him just before Signing Day) and will benefit this week from learning to pick up the blitz schemes without a couple sophomores ahead of them on the depth chart.

If both can develop their complete game, we should be fine against Missouri this Saturday and will be great once Gurley is 100% for Vanderbilt. If Gurley's ready to go this weekend, even better.

So...I'm not worried. After all, even though Murray's run was the offensive play that stands out the most, I thought Douglas had the critical play against Tennessee when we needed it most. On third and four no one covered Douglas out of the backfield and Murray slipped it to him for a big gain (Google couldn't find me the video unfortunately, but hopefully you recall the play I'm referring to). After missing a couple of passes earlier on, Douglas made an easy catch and turned it into a big gain to help set up the tying score that forced overtime.

That's clutch. And that's what we got from both freshmen Saturday. We'll get it again in a few days.

John Jancek lost a bet...

Looks like Mike Bobo did a good job.

h/t AHD

Sunday thoughts on getting the hell out of Knoxville

On a day when even the head coach was injured (cut his finger sitting down for the post game presser)...on a day when the training table saw nearly as many silver britches as the bench...on a day when Tennessee played their best game of the season...it's just good to get up and get out.

Seriously, seeing the team come over and console Keith Marshall (who was quickly on his way to a really big day) was one of the saddest moments I've experienced as a Dawg fan. Hope all of our Dawgs have quick and successful recoveries.

Onto the game, there were two tweets that I saw that summed things up best. First, Ching gives major props where they're due:

"Give Murray etc. credit. Absolutely nothing went right for them today and they found a way to win. This one's gonna hurt longterm, though"

And then I liked this quote that Streit passed along:

Murray on his long run: "There was a split-second where I was like, 'Slide'. But then I said screw it, let's go for it." #MurrayForHeismen

You can't ask more from your quarterback than to do what Murray has done to win these last two games.

As for my first trip to Knoxvegas, great atmosphere. Had a spectacular time seeing familiar faces against a less familiar backdrop, as well as meeting new Dawg fans from all around. The Vol fans were submissively cautious pregame, very, very loud during, and grateful afterwards.

That's about all I can manage from my phone this morning. Gonna be a hard week. Made a little easier with a win. But difficult nonetheless. 

Go Dawgs!