Marshall and week one is here!

Plus, episode 19 of 4th & 3 Dudes at the bottom, where Nama and I discuss how we think the team shapes up against last season's stats and the 2025 schedule. (Cord had a shit week and couldn’t join us. Not sure what that means for his Oregon State Beavers as they go up against Cal tomorrow night. We’ll see.)

But first, a few additional thoughts on our Dawgs as well as the weekend slate.

Special teams. I make this point in the episode below, but wanted to emphasize it a little more here. Hopefully it doesn’t happen often tomorrow, but when we line up to punt it won’t be a good time to leave your seat to go to the restroom. I’m going to play close attention to who the coaches are trusting in this phase of the game. Same for the return game.

Special teams can make or break a game, as we know. There are a lot of position battles to pay attention to tomorrow: OL, CB, Safety. Really every position has a depth chart to be chiseled out during these first two games before the trip to Knoxville. We need to include special teams in that focus for the sole purpose of flipping the field at keys moments later in the season, getting the offense in better field position with punt returns, protecting our kickers to do their job, etc etc.

The weekend looks glorious too. I'm looking forward to GA Tech at Colorado tonight. Tomorrow I'm excited to see what Fran Brown's fightin' Orangemen can do against Tennessee. Our Dawgs in the middle of the afternoon along with Bama going to Tallahassee. Tomorrow night Clemson hosts LSU in the fight for the rights to the term Death Valley. And Sunday I'll be watching both VA Tech at South Carolina and Notre Dame at Miami. I'll Monday night's tilt between TCU and North Carolina on hold and see if something better opens up.

What game(s) has you excited?

Okay, now on with show! Little longer than usual. But Nama and I are excited to talk about Georgia football again!

GDay - what I'm looking for tomorrow

First of all it will be interesting to see how many folks get turned away. With only 78,ooo seats available tomorrow and record crowds for this event thus far under Kirby’s watch, ain’t everybody gonna get a first hand look at Justin Fields arm and Holyfield’s legs.

Regardless of seating arrangements and availability, I think the first thing I want to see is how well the middle of the field is covered by our defense on passing downs.

VIA

You see, one does not just replace a player like Roquan Smith. It’s impossible. But I have great confidence that the coaches have recruited talent behind him. So I’m confident that we have someone that can blitz through the heart of the offensive protection. Afterall, the name Natrez Patrick comes to mind. And I’m confident we may have someone that can defend the field laterally from sideline to sideline.

But what made Roquan so very special was how well he defended the middle of the field in passing situations. He could cover a tight end. He could take away a slot receiver’s crossing route. And there was nary a team that would dare to throw a middle screen in front of Roquan Smith.

In other words, opposing quarterbacks had a lot to process at the line of scrimmage when they looked across and saw Roquan staring at them. Were Monty Rice and Nate McBride paying close attention? I hope so. And again, I have full confidence that the coaches have recruited the right players.

Because it’s been since before the disgraceful John Jancek linebacker coached era that we could defend that area of the field on any down that effectively. I miss Roquan a lot already. I’ll miss him a lot more if we see a lot of successful seam routes and crossing patterns.

Elijah Holyfield should have himself a day. The fans aren’t the only ones I suspect that want to see how he manages 20 or so touches in a game(like) situation.

Pass protection. Kirby says it is structured to be a quarterback’s game. As nice as it is to have a true sophomore quarterback that lead us within a breath of a National Championship, I think everyone would be thrilled if Justin Fields made some plays. Still, in a spring game it’s hard to gauge things like pass protection. However it will still be something to keep a close eye on.

And not just for the obvious reasons of seeing how the coaches rotate tackles and guards. We lost two absolutely amazing pass protection runnings backs in Chubb and Michel. Holyfield and Herrien have big shoes to fill as (probably) the only scholarship backs available tomorrow. We know Fromm can hurt teams with his arm as well as his legs if need be. And we suspect Fields will eventually be able to do the same to opposing teams’ defense. But we’ll need to have solid pass protection, and that sometimes means a small running back stepping up into the path of a blitzing monster.

Special teams are typically hard to truly evaluate, but Kirby had this to say yesterday:

“Our special teams, we think we’ve got some good competition going on, so we’ll be coming after punts, we’re going to do everything real on kickoff and kickoff return, we’re just not going to tackle live,” he said. “But everything is going to be as real as possible other than that. Same thing with punt and punt return, so we’ll be rushing them and we’ll have punt returners back there trying to return them. We’ve got great competition at punter, great competition at returner. I’d love to see some guys have some pressure on them and have to make kicks and catches.”

So perhaps we can at least see some of these punters under rushed conditions. And those are a few things I’m watching for, in addition to seeing some new guys that have supposedly stepped up big thus far, like Brenton Cox and Cade Mays. What’re you ready to see from some football in April?

Georgia vs. Alabama - could special teams tilt the balance?

Like many, I expect a pretty even matchup Monday night between Georgia and Alabama. Two complete teams with elite talent going head to head should make for an exciting game.

Not exciting like the Rose Bowl was, where dudes were scoring every time you managed a breath. But exciting as in close, and hard fought. Every yard inch will  matter. So could this one come down to special teams play?

In a word, absolutely.

VIA

The teams are pretty even in punting and place kicking, although Rodrigo puts it in the endzone more proficiently. But there is a decided Georgia advantage in both kickoff and punt return. (via cfbstats.com)

Mecole Hardman, who has been so, so close to breaking a return all season, averages 11 yards per punt return and 27 yards per kick return. Alabama's top punt returner is Trevon Diggs who averages nearly nine yards a return and their top kick returner is Henry Ruggs who averages 18 yards.

If this evolves into a plodding game of field position, there are two things that can turn things - turnovers and punt returns. I glad we have 4 on our side. Even if he doesn't break one - and good God is Mecole overdue for that one last block!! - a nice return from inside the 20 to their side of the 50 can be a HUGE play for us.

Two more days! Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing...Go Dawgs!

Even the little things are The Main Thing

It's taken a while to digest exactly what happened. It's so much more than the game itself. It's the experience and the sheer joy you feel when you see your team come out on top on that kind of stage. After a day of thinking and reflecting I still can't come up with the words. But I highly recommend you read this Tommy Tomlinson piece on his experience and why moments like what happened Monday night are so important.

As for the game itself, it was truly an instant classic. Reminiscent of game like the 2006 Rose Bowl which served as the National Championship game between Texas and USC. But this one was our own Georgia Bulldogs! Two amazing teams with amazing talent, both who clearly wanted to be there and wanted to win.

It was a game full of huge swings in momentum from sideline to sideline, as each big play seemed to be one that would finally turn the tide for good. But then there was another, and then another. And then there was another!

I had wondered a few weeks ago if time of possession would be the key factor in stopping the Oklahoma offense and giving us our best shot. I was right about being able to run the ball effectively, I just didn't take into account how effectively we would run it. Something like three drives that took less than a minute. It was the game we knew Sony and Chubb could and should have. So glad Sony got the chance to atone for that fumble and seal the deal himself. And more on that in a minute...

But there were a couple of smaller things that also became the Main Thing. I'll leave the argument of whether the decision to squib kick it to end the first half up to the Sooner fans. But the heads up play by a former reserve running back turned reserve linebacker in Tae Crowder to instinctively snag that kick and lay on it, was amazing.

Think about how easy it would be to just go out there as a kick return specialist and simply go through the motions. Special Teams coordinator Shane Beamer mostly gives credit where it is due, to Crowder, but I'm sure they had been warned to watch for an "nontraditional" kick off. Still, to be ready to go back to your days as a Harris County HS shortstop and snag that ball ended up being a game changer. It was. We had to have it!

Because with just a few ticks on the clock (and with our offensive coordinator in an elevator on the way to the locker room), we were able to call a quick out to Godwin and grab another nine yards and stop the clock with just a second left.

At this point I'm thinking, "Well, that makes Fromm's heave to the endzone a little shorter." But the coaches had another bold idea and Rodrigo took it from there. And there was never a doubt.

VIA

Another small thing I noticed that was huge was not just the blocking on that Sony Michel 27 yard touchdown trot, but actually who was blocking - reserve wide receivers and Nauta. Of course, Fromm gave his man on the outside all he could handle to give Sony the room to run. But to send out guys like Crumpton and Simmons and Blount, all with fresh legs and bodies in the second over time to lay some wood was a great call, and refreshing to see.

And now it's on to Alabama in the biggest game our Dawgs have been in since 1982. We've had games where we were playing for this chance. It just wasn't until Kirby preached to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing that we actually succeeded in getting it done.

Go Dawgs!

Sunday Thoughts on being the much, MUCH better Dawg in the fight

It’s hard to know where to start, and time is short for me this morning. But I know this - I can’t wait to rewatch this game!

Probably the best way to break down my thoughts this morning is in these three parts:

Crowd 

Loudest and involved Sanford’s crowd has been since 2013 LSU. Now as usual, a lot of that had to do with what was happening on the field, which was in a word, spectacular. And we’ll get to the coaches and the players in a minute. But whenever the crowd noise can impose its will on an opponent it’s with more than a mention.

The level of engagement matched the intensity on the field. (Well, except for the crew behind me that spent 10 minutes having everyone check under their seat for a phone that ended up being in one of their pockets. Hahaha) It was a night to remember as a fan of Georgia football.

Coaches

The score clearly indicates that MSU was out-played. But it doesn’t take much to realize that in between the lines to see that it was the Georgia coaches preparation and game plan that set the tone. From the perfect play call on our first offensive series to having an answer for everything they asked Nick Fitzgerald to do, it was quite a statement for Smart and his staff.

As amazing as the game plan and play calling were (and yes, it’s time we give Chaney a break y’all; even I can see he’s earned it) it’s the physicality and the discipline on the field that is just as nice to see.

Take this for instance:

“We play physical and we practice physical,” Bellamy said. “Sometimes you’ll be like, ‘Gosh, coach, we’re going full pads again?’ But on Saturdays it shows how physical we are and I think that’ll keep carrying over.”

We might be a long way from realizing our dreams since it’s still just September, but it’s clear something is going right in Athens with Georgia football.

Players
I think I would start with Deandre Baker. His game last night is a welcome sight considering all those years we suffered under Willie Martinez with defensive backs out of position and never, ever, ever turning to the ball to make a play (not to mention avoid the interference penalty). There were times when Fitzgerald made the right decision to throw Baker’s way, but it was never because 18 was out of position, just in single coverage.

And that interception was just a thing of beauty. The defensive front seven has earned every bit of praise and headline they’ve made, but it’s time the secondary earned some props. They held their own while Parrish was out, and now they are their own force to be reckoned with.

Offensively, anytime you can use the program’s second all time leading rusher as a lead blocker for a true freshman sensation, you’re living life right. Even though we have trouble running in between the tackles, Chaney is using the players he has to find production outside of that. On Chubb’s direct snap touchdown run, great downfield block by pulling Wynn into a hole that Jayson Stanley opened up.

Fromm had his best game thus far (and again you have to commend Chaney for putting a true freshman in good positions to make safe throws. Perhaps the experience of trying to do the same thing last year for Eason helped in that regard). He started by completing his first eight passes and ended up  4-5 for 143 yards on throws of 10+ yards. So it’s not just checking down and throwing the ball away.

And I’ll end with the execution on special teams. Nizialek (sp?) is amazing. He’s now averaging 44.5 yards per punt and the ball is up in the stratosphere forever! Blankenship wth six more kickoff and guess what? Six more touch backs. I cry tears of joy every time it happens. What a time to be alive!

And just like that it’s Tennessee week. Let’s go help the UT brass write out Butch’s pink slip!

"...somewhat impressive track record..."

So somewhat in fact that it wasn't enough for Kirby to grant Rodrigo a scholarship.

This whole thing just doesn't sit right with me. And I'll openly admit that there was a time when I might have felt differently, like the kicker had done enough to earn a full ride. But right now, not so much.

Maybe that's because he seemed to have a season that was too up and down to devote a scholarship at this point. Or maybe it's more to do with the fact that I understand this is the New Georgia Way and we must trust Kirby to run things.

Probably a good mixture of both actually.

What I do know is that I believe the elder Blankenship may have answered his own question when he added the adverb "somewhat" to his description of his son's season. Sure, Rodrigo helped win the game in Lexington back in November, kicking four field goals including the game winner. He made 77% of his attempts this past season, good for 6th in the conference. For a redshirt freshman I would mark that as something to (hopefully) build upon.

But what really puts the "somewhat" in front of the "impressive track record" for me is the 36% touchback number. Granted, special teams overall were not good this season so maybe that's just par for the course of having a special teams coach (heyoo! did I just type that?!?)

However, when a young coach is building a program and is heading into year two, I would imagine he'd have to remove the "somewhat" and at least be able to put a "damn" or two in there before he'd give up a precious scholarship.

Especially considering the run Kirby and Krew are on lately in getting top tier talent to either commit, visit, or both.

And one last thought...I can't help but wonder where Rodrigo himself lies. He seems pretty happy in Athens. I'm still a couple-few years from shelling out the benjamins for college tuition, so I won't completely throw Mr. Blankenship under the bus. But if Rodrigo were openly pandering for scholarship offers in other area codes (which I admit may still happen before next season), this parental email to the media to grab a few more headlines might carry a bit more weight.

For me, I hope he stays, competes, and has a great season. I know Rodrigo has worked hard. Be nice to see him carried off the field, maybe in Jacksonville. Or in Atlanta.

Go Dawgs y'all!

Sunday Thoughts on being seated on the short bus

Yes, the play call on 4th and short where we ignore the fact that we have the nation's best running back and toss it to the smallest kid in D1 football...that sucked.

But that's not what lost us that game.

Wow! We found new and exciting ways to get penalized! Ways I've never even heard of before!

But that's not why we can't stop gnashing our teeth.

Yes, giving up three billion yards on that screen pass on their last drive was as frustrating a play as I've ever witnessed.

But that's not what made us lose to Vanderbilt on Homecoming.

Yes, unimaginably giving precious seconds, no minutes, back in time management absolute brain farts was indescribably idiotic.

But that's not why we kicked ourselves in the balls yesterday for 60 minutes of a tackle football game with Vanderbilt University only to lose by one point.

Special. Teams.

We went into Sanford yesterday having been told that the 'Dores were as bad if not worse than we were in special teams.

And Lawd Have Mercy did we prove we're the worst there! Sure, we have found ourselves a placekicker as Rodrigo was most certainly a player of the game for us. But we can't cover kicks...we can't cover punts...we can't use half a brain and let the ball go out of bounds on a kickoff and instead decide to let the offense start on our own 2 yard line...we can't do anything special or even remotely close to Beamer Ball.

Shane Beamer can't even spell Beamer Ball.

Special Teams is why we lost yesterday. The defense gave up 171 yards, two and a half of which came on Vandy's first scoring "drive" thanks wholeheartedly to...you guessed it! Special Teams!

Yes, kids. This is what it feels like to lose to Vandy. At home. On Homecoming.

It's ugly and it pits our own fans against each other because we're all just so goddamn miserable. But what matters now is Jacksonville. What matters now is washing that stink off our backs and learning how to cover a damn kickoff. What matters now is recognizing that when the game is on the line the goddamn football needs to be in 27's hands.

Jesus. It's not rocket surgery and yes I know a coaching change comes with its inherent growing pains. But Holy Hell, did Chubb really fight all the way back from the most devastating knee injury I've ever seen to watch 16 get dragged down to the turf like a rag doll a full yard short?

Players play and coaches coach. Draw a line in the sand and let's play some damn football!

Georgia @ South Carolina - a special teams preview

As we watch to see how Hurricane Matthew might impact Saturday's game in Columbia East, and after providing you with some rays of sunshine yesterday, I thought I'd throw some cold water on y'all today.

Special teams have been a big part of Georgia's 3-2 record thus far. And it happens to be an area of the game that could give South Carolina a real boost against the Dawgs Saturday night.

We are 11th in the conference covering kickoffs and they are first in kickoff returns. AJ Turner is a freshman running back for the Gamecocks, and he happens to be second the conference in kickoff returns, averaging 28.43 yards a return. (He also had that 75 yard rushing touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage last week against A&M. The kid is electrifying.)

One thing I've noticed is that while Kirby mentions quite often that he'd like to kick the ball deeper on kickoffs, his real problem with our kickoff coverage is poor tackling. Georgia faced the conference's best last week in Evan Berry. Not much dropoff this week trying to contain Turner.

And then there's this (h/t):

This week's Sansbury Did You See That Play - Sean Kelly fakes a punt and throws it down field to Hayden Hurst for a #Gamecocks first down. pic.twitter.com/Bb89f2oX4f

— Gamecock Athletics (@GamecocksOnline) October 3, 2016

This could absolutely be the get well game the Dawgs need to end a two game skid. But in order for it to be so, discipline on special teams will have to be better than what we've seen thus far.

Kentucky, rewatched and revisited

I've had a chance to rewatch the televised version and wanted to share a couple thoughts.

First off, give the coaches and players credit for a total team effort in beating an SEC opponent soundly. I admit, the 10-3 halftime score had me a little worried even though our defense appeared in control of their depleted offense enough to control things. In what had to a monumental week of distractions, everyone focused on the task at hand and gave the fans a very welcome result for four complete quarters.

Speaking of the fans, we were definitely a subdued lot. That came through on the broadcast even more than in person. Still, the turnout was better than I expected. It was a late arriving crowd, but Sanford filled in pretty well.

The highlight was certainly Marshall's touchdown reception. For a coordinator that has struggled mightily with red zone play calling, that screen pass was the perfect selection. The blocking was perfect, especially on the edge where Malcolm Mitchell not only locked on his man long enough to set him up for THE STIFFARM OF THE CENTURY, but he also kept his position enough to force a difficult angle on another Kentucky defender.

From there Marshall took care of the rest. Great speed to turn the corner and powered through towards the pylon with nimble footwork and perfect product placement of the football (all the way down to the Georgia G showing on the endzone replay camera) for the replay officials to correct the call on the field.

The only nit to pick on the defense was some poor tackling at times. That needs to be emphasized and cleaned up the next three games especially.

Special teams. Until pooch kicks are outlawed, we will not rest easy my friend.

Lastly, the reason this post is over 24 hours late is because of this - how in the world did we not have that gamplan for Florida? I can't wrap my head around that level of egregiousness and inept game planning. Faton Bauta has taken a lot of criticism since Jacksonville, some of it carefully and appropriately worded, some of it out of Fran's mouth. However, if we utilize those simple read options with Bauta at quarterback, and allow Godwin and Michel to stretch the field laterally, the 2015 edition of the WLOCP is a different game altogether.

I'm bewildered. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that took much of the shine off of what was otherwise a great day to be a Dawg.

Sunday's thoughts on overworked uprights

via UGA Paint Line

This is going to begin where it should - the defense.

You're going to hear (and already have most likely) a lot of "well buts" in terms of how anemic Missouri's offense is as an excuse for why the defense looked good last night. Don't know about you but I find those fans' vision extremely near-sighted. We lost to Tennessee because we couldn't tackle. We beat Missouri because we did. Very well.

And that three down stop that began inside the one yard line to start the game was as big as keys to the game get. They score there and we're likely still in bed with a pillow over our heads right now.

Some other important notes on the defense:
- Couldn't help but notice that Jonathan Ledbetter and Natrez Patrick were on the field early.
- Came into the game worried a lot about the Tigers' defensive front spending the night in our offensive backfield. But Pruitt's guys were the more aggressive unit as they racked up nine tackles for loss, including four sacks.
- 42 yards rushing allowed. That's just plain sexy right there.
- My favorite play might have been Sterling Bailey's sack. Just blew up his blocker and devoured Lock for a seven yard loss.
- The only downside to the defense last night was losing Dominick Sanders for the first half of the Florida game. I thought it looked like a bad call, but heard Richt say it was the right one. I'll see if I agree when I rewatch the television version.

The offense is going to continue to take a local, regional, and national pounding for all of the inefficiency before they play again. Schottenheimer and his squad need to have some serious soul searching as they prepare for the final stretch of games. So glad we have an off week. Because although I did find the offense hard to watch at times, I think there's still some tweaks that can make this offense into what we need it to be - ground/clock control that sets up the play action game.

Look, you can't lose a playmaker like Chubb and not have to adjust. That's going to take some time. Yes, we can't afford for it to take longer than the next game on the schedule. But unless you have a second Nick Chubb on the roster (which we don't by the way, I checked) you're going to have some growing pains.
- Especially when you don't have a quarterback that can shoulder the load.
- You're going to be able to find all kinds of really hot takes about Greyson Lambert and the Georgia quarterback play today. I'm not going to beat a dead horse. I've summarized my feelings before with the fact that this is what you get when you don't recruit the position to the level that we need.
- Greyson Lambert is the quarterback at Georgia. I've wanted to see Bauta play since last season ended, but for whatever reason, that's not going to happen. So it's really time for the offensive coordinator to earn that scratch we're paying him.
- Like any quarterback, Lambert works best when he's able to set his feet. That's not always happening in the pocket. He moved outside the pocket a lot more earlier in the season. It seems like now he's being told to step in and make a throw instead of extending the play when he can.
- We saw that last night on the interception to start the game and the almost interception towards the end. The first one was tipped, but it was still a bad throw to make there.
- We have playmakers in Malcolm Mitchell and Terry Godwin that can wreak havoc in the secondary with just a couple more seconds.
- Plus, if Lambert were to roll out just a few times it would open up some of the intermediate routes that he's forcing balls into.
- You say all that and then realize that the guy still completed 72% of his passes. Which is why I think that even though most of the fingers are pointing at the guy wearing the jersey, most of the blame lies at the guy with the playchart.
- That screen pass to the stacked receivers is cute, once. Maybe twice. How long does it take to realize that we're not able to block those guys? Lucky their defensive backs didn't jump one and house it.
- Maybe Schotty was using those quick screens to slow down their edge rushers. But we have other screen passes in the playbook. I know. I've seen them.
- Sony is everything we need in a starting running back. I'm impressed with the way he runs between the tackles and gets into space. With some extra time the next two weeks I think he'll have more space to run as the line adjusts to his style and speed and he adjusts to what he's seeing.
- And that last point is key. Chubb's vision is what makes him elite. And his vision made him patient enough to let things develop. Sony's getting to the action a lot quicker. That should be something they work on a lot before Jacksonville.
- Robert suggested the key may be to have Sony split out into the slot and Keith Marshall in the backfield. I tend to agree, but mostly as a way to avoid rushing Michel to the point of exhaustion by mid-November. #1 needs 20-30 touches a game, but 70% of them can't be runs between the tackles. He's just not built for that.
- I'm sure the offensive line is banged up after these last few games. I think they're still trying to find themselves again after what Bama was able to do. And that was a great, great defense they played last night and held mostly in check. Yes, they gave up several tackles for loss (which is something we talked about leading up to the game). But only two sacks allowed is impressive against that front.

Special teams were good. No touchbacks unfortunately. But the angles and assignments on the coverage were maybe the best this season, as evidenced by Missouri's fumbled punt and that last kickoff.
- Great call putting Mitchell in as a gunner. He and Michel are our most dynamic players. He's a senior and is really leading by example on offense for a young receiving corps. Letting him do the same on special teams was something I was happy to see.
- So we know if a game later in the season comes down to a field goal, set Morgan up (if possible) in the middle where he's money. That left hash must be where I tee off every time Mrs. Bernie lets me play golf.
- Barber's punts won't stand out on the stat line, but he had three inside the 20. In a game that relies so heavily on field position, that was so important.
- Godwin looks as comfortable returning punts as Steve Spurrier does quitting on his team. Easy, smooth, and as fast as a lightning strike!

Whew. That was a lot. I know I've missed some things. We'll hit on them later in the week. I could use a nap. Go Dawgs!

Sunday's Soggy Southern Thoughts

First and most importantly, thoughts and prayers for Devon Gales. More tests being run this morning at Athens Regional. If you'd like to share some of those thoughts and prayers directly, I found their coach's contact info here:

dawson_odums@subr.edu 225-771-5989

Not a lot to say, but here's a few things to propel us into a week that is sure to be fraught with words, memes, tweets, posts, bulletin board material, and then more words.

- My initial takeaway after the first half is that Coaches Rocker and Sale are going to have a lot of asses to chew this week. I thought Southern played with a lot of intensity in the trenches and for a big span of the first thirty minutes were winning the battle at the point of attack.

- Other than that, the game went about as expected. Chubb got his yards. Michel dazzled. The reserves got plenty of time and played well. 

- Lambert picked up right where he left off against the Gamecocks. Beautiful deep pass to Mitchell that was called back.

- The kick coverage was better. I'm sure the players heard a lot about it through the week. Willie Quinn had a long of 32 yards and averaged just over 20. That shows some accountability for improving in that area after the USCe game.

- The crowd was good for a non-conference cupcake after a rainy tailgate. The Southern Band was as advertised. We had a few Jaguar fans in our section. Quiet bunch until halftime when they moved to the edge of the tunnel and recorded the show while singing and dancing.

All in all, a good warmup to a week we've been looking forward to for quite some time. Get some rest, take your vitamins. Go Dawgs!

Friday Misery - It's Tricky to not get fat

Despite spending an entire Saturday feasting on chicken, the greedy, rapacious pig turns to vats of cheese balls, bags of pork rinds, processed cheese foods, and spoonfuls of sour cream.

It should go without saying that it gets ugly...

buncha fat bastards

Auburn was fat against Jacksonville State and they needed an overtime session of deep knee bends to escape with a victory. Bret Bielema can’t keep his fat mouth closed and it’s cost him some dignity Arkansas some check marks in the win column. Ohio State is deep into the process of getting fat on all of their scheduled cupcakes and Northern Illinois nearly huskie’d them out of their pre-arranged slot in the CFBOMGPLAYOFFS™.

Sharpen your pencils Dawgs. I’ve got a question for you. What can you learn from those half-assed examples?

[crickets….]

PUT THAT PACKAGE OF DOUBLE-STUFFED OREOS DOWN…otherwise you’re going to go and attempt your tackle of Willie Quinn and get thrown off like a trigga tray.

Down...Set...JUKE!

Let me introduce y’all to somebody. He’s equal parts badass and superior technique. He’s as fluid as Walter Payton and can drop the hammer harder than Dick Butkus. He’s but a freshman, yet his talent is incomparable. He once hiked the football to himself, threw a 15 yard out, ran downfield, took the lateral with one hand while stiffarming an all-state linebacker with his other, dipped his shoulder, plowed through a safety, and scampered the remaining 76 and a half yards for the touchdown.

In the post-game locker room he interviewed himself for the local radio station and then finished his Precalculus while combing his hair. He wanted to look fresh for his high school sweetheart when they met for chocolate milkshakes at the Tast-EEE-freeze.

So stick your fat paw out there Reader and shake David-Michael Carrell’s hand.

Firm grip huh? He’ll use that same grip tomorrow to destroy your hopes and dreams with just one snap of the ball. You’ve been contemplating hard for Alabama and the Crimson Tusks ever since The Visor disengaged his headset last Saturday. You’ve been talking all week about air finger quotes The Road to Atlanta air finger quotes You’ve been message boreding since Sunday about air finger quotes The Playoff Chances air finger quotes. And you’ve been promising the little lady that “Oh sure honey, I’ll stay home from the game and paint your toenails Saturday afternoon as long as you’ll make that cheese dip for the Bama tailgate...smoochy smoochy smoochy.”

You make me sick and WIPE THOSE OREO CRUMBS AND THE GODDAMN CHEESE DIP OFF YOUR SLACK JAW SON!

Cuz while you’ve been drooling on your Dell Inspiron 500xKLps38RG21 you bought off Craigslist even though it had the missing * key, and while you’ve been blathering on and on to your neighbor over the chain link fence, gotdamn David-Michael Carrell's been practicing. He’s been watching film. He’s been carrying little Adelaide Jean-Pierre Paul’s books to class.

He’ll lay in wait for that moment when your tired ass trumbles clumsily down the steps towards the concession stand for your third refill of Coca-Cola and fifth refill of stale ass popcorn, just when you’re content that the defense has stopped the Jaguars and forced a punt, David-Michael Carrell gonna smile when the captain calls the play in huddle. Just two words….It’s Tricky.

If there’s one thing fat, lazy bastards can’t detect it’s the few moments before their own pants get pulled down. Shanked. While you’re scrambling around with your stained Wranglers around your ankles, David-Michael done somehow snapped the ball to hisowndamnself. Up in the middle of the thirty-eight Southern University fans that made the trip, several rows above the Human Jukebox himself, a loud cry rains down.

“RUN D-M C!! RUN D-M C!!”

Your cognizance catches its breath and you shake the fuzziness out your earholes where it slithers down your neck just before you manage the only words that make any damn sense in this world, the same world that’s so suddenly been turned upside down and bassakwards….

“OH. SHIT.”

On the field, where the score was somehow 17-9 in the third quarter, David-Michael Carrell has hurdled, spun around, juked, jived, bowled over, and sprinted past every single special teamer Coach Mark Richt could legally trot out onto the field to score the Jaguar’s first touchdown. The roars haven’t even begun to subside when D-M C tacks on the two point conversion out of the Wild My Adidas formation.

WTF?!?!? Tie game. All your Georgia bros in the stands suddenly are remorseful for the snickering and the taunting they did at Abuurn two weeks ago. Because the beloved Dawgs are too heading towards overtime against what they were told and were telling themselves was a vastly inferior opponent. It ain’t fun when the tables turn y’all. You suddenly wish you’d laid off the canned whipped cream you spread all over those greasy pork chops Tuesday night before you washed em all down with a two liter of cream soda. You wish you’d’ve said no to that Crisco and Cookie Crumbles Cheesecake Wednesday evening while you watched Dancing with the Stars and sipped slurped Cheerwine. No, not the slice of Crisco and Cookie Crumbles Cheesecake. The entire Crisco and Cookie Crumbles Cheesecake.

"The whole damn cheesecake? You be illin'.

Fat is lazy. Fat is crumbs on your tired ass needs to be ironed 2008 Matthew Stafford Wal-Mart jersey. Fat is bad life choices. Fat is assuming transitive properties and oh by the way and anyhoos Sakerlina’s chickens are better than Southern’s jaguars.

Fat is you today. Fat is NOT you tomorrow. Get your ass home and eat a gotdamn celery stick. Logoff the DawgVent for one friggin’ moment. Pretend you don’t want to just drop that log of Velveeta into the deep fryer at your cousin Pete’s house. Cousin Pete ain’t met David-Michael Carrell. Cousin Pete ain’t had a belt that’s fit since Quincy Carter’s last pass in Columbia SC. Cousin Pete’s “tummy tuck” doctor gave him a Nutri-Slim coupon and a pat on the back. Cousin Pete likes to talk.

You're here today because you want to listen. So here you go...

You need to walk right into Sanford Stadium tomorrow with a briefcase full of respect, straighten that business tie and take your seat. Tackle Damn Football happens whether you’re prepared or not. Tackle Damn Football is between two teams that are hungry and haven’t been fed all week. Their fans want more. Their fans NEED more. Their fans don’t WORRY ABOUT GODDAMN ALABAMA A WEEK IN F---ING ADVANCE!

Either shake David-Michael Carrell’s hand. Or watch him run right by your ass.

Now, let us pray. “Dear Lord, please don’t let the human jukebox and the longsnapper get too tricky. I repent my gluttonous ways and put my faith in Lawrence Harry Munson who always warned me to not get too big for my own damn silver britches. Amen.”

Vandy rewatch

In an effort to not belabor a seventeen point road win, some bullets:

- If there's ever been a better pair of sophomore running backs to grace one campus at the same time than Michel and Chubb, I'm forgetting their names as well as their vision, drive, speed, power, change of direction, blocking technique, versatility as a receiver, etc., etc...

- There was a lot made around me in the stands of Schotty continually running the ball in between the tackles. But, can we blame him? Chubb averaged nearly ten yards a carry. I'm anxious to see some pitches and counters too. However I also understand the desire not to show the Gamecocks anything more than we need to. And Saturday there was no need to.

- Hope the tight ends can get more involved going forward. They were targeted a few times and both Blazevich and Harris had nice catches. The more yards our running backs get they more those guys should be able to find some open space.

- The offensive line played better against the Commodores than they did against ULM.

- Remember when so much was made about freshmen receivers not seeing the field until they could block? Yeh, thankfully those days are gone. Godwin may not be very big, but he got in the way of at least three Vanderbilt defensive backs on Michel's long touchdown run.

- The wife and I nearly threw up watching the officials get paychecks for absolutely no reason. Seriously, how hard is to see Leonard Floyd's helmet being wrenched in unnatural directions?

- But she took some measure of solace seeing Richt mouth the words "That's targeting!!" when they vaulted over the line to tackle Lambert before the snap. Because she had yelled the same thing from the stands Saturday.

- I felt good not great about the defense walking away Saturday. For all the quarterback pressure and tackles for loss and interceptions, we gave up a lot of dinks and dunks. Rewatching it I feel about the same. They set their jaws in the red zone and the first string (if there is such a thing under Pruitt) did not give up a touchdown. But I keep asking myself How much of that is Vandy's offensive ineptitude?

- Not sure why teams run to Malkom Parrish's side. He's good in pass defense. He's great in meeting the ball carrier at the point of attack.

- Easy to see why Mama Jenkins was saying her son Jordan's game was good but could've been better. His momentary shock at not getting blocked (at all!) on a couple plays meant the ball carrier only lost two yards instead of three.

- Semi-sarcasm aside, if Lambert can take his offensive line out for ice cream, Floyd and Jenkins can take Mayes and Co. out for steaks and mashed potatoes and pork loins and macaroni and cheese.

- Can Collin Barber kick field goals too? I'm not joking when I say that if it weren't for Chubb, Barber would be the team MVP to this point. As we struggle to find answers at quarterback, we're going to need 32 to keep his game at this level. At some point the South Carolina or Alabama or Tennessee or Missouri games are going to drop down into field position games...much like the first quarter in Nashville.

- Davis took the blame for the uncovered pooch kick. All I'll add is that was awfully generous of him.

I'll have a post on the quarterback situation later in the week, so I'm not going to say much else about Lambert on Saturday. I understand the nervousness fans have watching him work through his progressions (although honestly, there were many times he was only watching one receiver). but I do think too much is being made about his 0-fer first half. There were some drops in there that could've been big plays and given Lambert some much needed confidence early on.

In a nutshell, weird things happen in Vanderbilt Stadium. And sometimes that includes 17 point wins that light up message boreds.

ULM rewatch - special teams

So after each game I enjoy rewatching the televised version. From our seats it’s easy to pick out safety and cornerback play. Watching the game on television it’s easier to see how the offensive and defensive lines performed. So both give a great overall picture of what was good, bad, and ugly. And after rewatching the opener against the Warhawks I decided there was enough that I missed in my initial thoughts to break this up into a post on the offense, one on the defense, and one on the special teams. Let’s start with the latter.

I’ll refrain from continuing to gush over Collin Barber. But you have to be excited about what you saw from his punting - four punts for a 43.75 average, no returns, with two punts that were beautifully angled coffin corners. And the kickoffs! Barber kicked off a total of six times and four were touchbacks. Morgan’s season average last year for touchbacks was 31%.

Ok, I’ll stop. I promised.

Because it wasn’t just Barber of course. Two blocked punts is all you need to see to realize the renewed enthusiasm for special teams. You can hear it in Richt’s statements as well to affirm that this phase of the game is being given its due attention.

Ryne Rankin was a force on kick/punt coverage. Lorenzo Carter and D’Andre Walker were rushing the punter with a focused intensity on beating the snap to the punter’s hands. Seeing it both live and on the rewatch confirmed how much we were dead set on attacking their wide splits in punt formation. When they squibbed the kickoff, our “up men” weren’t baffled. Keith Marshall sprinted ahead of Reggie Davis to make a key block on a kick return that lead to another 6-7 yards.

A lot of that points to an increase in team speed, especially when you consider in years past we wouldn’t have dreamed of using the likes of Leonard Floyd on punt teams. And team speed is better overall this year. You could see that in all phases of the game.

Maybe some of that was the opponent, sure. But there’s more attention to detail in special teams. The sideline is paying greater attention to what’s going on during fourth down plays now and not just going through the motions. Coach Ekeler body bumped Rankin so hard after a special teams tackle that Rankin tumbled to the ground.

About the only thing we didn’t see was Isaiah McKenzie on punt return. Some have made a big deal of that, mostly because he did run some routes on offense. I would suspect this was just precautionary and we’ll see more of him juking and jiving his way through a punt return sooner rather than later.

Overall I'd have to give special teams an A for Saturday. It was an easy grade to give. And almost as much of a delight as watching it play out before my eyes.

Sunday's Thoughts on lightning striking twice...somewhere.

I remember walking toward Sanford Stadium before the ASU game a few years back, right when that super cell storm came down Baxter Hill, and hearing over the loud speaker that you shouldn't come into the stadium and should seek shelter and please exit in an orderly fashion. That was cool, because the students largely ignored the announcements and the storms largely moved out.

Yesterday was just plain annoying. You wait and wait and wait for the season to get here. You cram an awesome tailgate into the few hours you've been allowed. You get to the stadium in time to hear the trumpet. And your reward is to wait out Mother Nature's obnoxiousness.

Maybe that sounds like sour grapes, especially to those of you that stayed at home. And yes, I realize that the safety for all involved was driving those important decisions.

Good. Seriously, awesome. But damn. What a craptastic way to usher in the season.

Anyway...

- Of all the storylines you may read today, all of the ones that draw all of the angles towards a good feel good story...my favorite part of Saturday was watching Collin Barber. Because he was electric. He punted with authority. And he kicked off WITH AUTHORITY!!! But he was also showing a lot of emotion. Like many other players (who were seeing the field a LOT more than Barber was) he was fully into the game. Dancing. Jumping up and down. Just flat out pumped up!
- Barber is back. I've been critical, but I should point out that he was my favorite player yesterday. Punting and kicking may not have affected the eventual outcome of the game, but seeing him fired up and executing to such a high degree was quite the relief. Like so many of his teammates, Barber got after that ass!
- Man oh man did the Warhawks have trouble with the snap of the ball. I mean it was like the football was covered in butter and the quarterback and punters were all wearing rubber gloves.
- The defense did its job, but the second intermission really helped didn't it?
- Other than that, a very vanilla defense gave up a lot of yards (as well as some points) to a bad offense. I expect a lot less vanilla next week in Nashville.
- Wow. Leonard Floyd y'all. Damn, just damn. What a beautiful freak of nature!
- Overall, defensively, I like the way we lined up with authority. Maybe watching Louisville's defense against Auburn when I got home reminded me of those years where we'd have linebackers and defensive backs (and fans...) raise their confused hands towards the sideline. But, even though we gave up some yards, the defense appeared ready and prepared.
- Plus, Pruitt was very committed to a base defense and generating a rush naturally.
- Similar analysis for the offense actually. Very plain. Every run was between the tackles with very little challenge of the edge blocking and such. Even when UL Monroe continually blitzed up the middle.
- That's all we needed. Even though we ran Chubb much more than I anticipated, Schottenheimer kept everything close to the vest.
- I thought Lambert looked good. I hesitate to use any other word to describe him, because it was UL Monroe.
- But it was abundantly clear why he was named the starter last week. He was decisive in his progressions and made very good throws. Plus, he audibled into some plays that I can't recall Ramsey doing before (albeit in a very limited scope of work). Most notably, Chubb's second touchdown run.
- My offensive MVP though would have to be Malcolm Mitchell. How could I forget how much of a difference maker he is when he's healthy? Plus, MM put on a clinic for downfield blocking. He made two, TWO, key blocks on Ramsey's screen pass to Michel that went the distance.

Overall, it was about what we expected: a dominant performance with just enough flaws for us to analyze and pore over this next week. I'm pleased enough with Lambert and very happy with what I saw from Keith Marshall, our special teams, the offensive line, the linebackers, and the receivers.

Let's exorcize some demons next week in Nashville. Go Dawgs!

Summer's most pressing questions

Spring semester classes are done. GDay and spring practices are a fairly distant memory. As we ease towards the summer months, here are the questions I have rattling around in my head.

1. Who will step up at quarterback?
Yes, why not start out with the obvious? The idea of bringing in the kid from South Bend was laughable to me. But uneasily so. After all, we are still waiting for the next starter under center to emerge. And I truly hope one does over the summer and especially into August camp. If this questions lingers into the season it could seriously hurt the team's chemistry. So if Park or Ramsey or Bauta want it now, the time has come for someone to take the reins.

2. Who will snap the ball to Bauta, Ramsey, and/or Park?
Unlike the question at quarterback, I think we have a better idea of who might start at center. Sophomore Isaiah Wynn is still in a race with some others for the starting job, but he seems to have only solidified his hold this spring. If he returns in August in the same form I would bet the coaches would like to name him the starter given his youth.

3. Who will catch the balls thrown by Bauta, Ramsey, and/or Park?
Aside from overly dramatic concern when a junior with four career catches leaves, the depth at wide receiver should come into question. Mitchell and Scott-Wesley are plenty qualified to sit atop an SEC two deep, but can they sit there for an entire season? McKenzie had a great spring expanding his role in receiving, right up until his injury at GDay. Other names to keep an on are Charlie Hegedus, Reggie Davis, and Shakenneth Williams, as well as true freshman Terry Godwin.

4. Will the run defense improve to a championship level?
Coach Pruitt's 2014 unit, except for a trip to Columbia SC, was very impressive against the run the first half of the season. Once Florida ran right through, around, and over us though all bets were off...until the bowl game. Hence the reason for the clarifier in the question; the run defense was good overall last year, but not up to SEC Championship/BCS Playoffs standards. As was pointed out in Kevin's roundtable, there may be some questions in the secondary, but the edge rush should be second to none which will only help ease the tension with the pass defense. So Pruitt just needs to find some run stoppers for first down and short distances.

5. Will Collin Barber return to 2012-13 form?
We'll especially need this early in the season as a new quarterback gains his footing and teams stack the box to slow down Chubb. Our punt game was strong until last season. I've wondered aloud about Barber's junior season. It makes me wonder, even though there are no lingering physical effects from his 2013 concussion, if he's just not over that hit on Rocky Top.

In a few months many at William Hill American football betting may be wagering on a big season for the Dawgs. Whether Georgia can live up to it may rely mostly on the answers to those questions.

What I heard (and then saw) from GDay

Wasn't going to post on the spring game as I wasn't able to attend. We actually just listened to it in the car on the way home from vacation. But then I found that my DVR had recorded it for me, so I checked the film to verify what I thought my ears had heard. Here's some thoughts.

From Coach Schotty's guys:

Faton Bauta, GDay 2015. (via GeorgiaDogs)

• The QBs. Pretty much verified where I thought we were here at the end of spring practice - a big arm and a big leader. If the big arm (Ramsey) is going to win the starting job, the big leader (Bauta) is going to make him earn it. The players have been saying for awhile that Bauta out works most everyone on the team. I don't know about you, but that's the kind of player I want under center. Time for the Ramsey to step up if he wants to be the quarterback for the University of Georgia. Being the backup makes you popular on message boreds. Being the starter requires a lot more than popularity.
• Speaking of stepping up, that's the big difference I see between the two guys right now. Bauta is quicker to react, knows where he wants to go with the ball, both more consistently and more accurately. Even on the long completion to McKenzie, Ramsey held the ball too long. It looked to me like he knew where he was going to go with it and simply held it another second to fit the ball in there. That may work in mid-April, but in a few months, not so much.
• The RBs. Not much to say here. Schotty clearly wanted to give his quarterbacks some live plays to air it out. The running plays were very vanilla, between the tackles type runs, and they didn't challenge the corners much if at all. What was great to see was how definitively Turman accelerated with the ball. His first 14 or so carries went for a total of less than 30 yards I think. Then boom! After a few seasons of piecing together this unit, I still pinch myself at the quality depth we have now.
• The OL. Solid starting five and better depth than I expected. And let's be honest, they had their hands full (figuratively and literally) with Pruitt's front seven. All around I was very pleased with what I saw. Coach Sale has made a splash recruiting. Early indications are he can coach em up too.
• The WRs. McLendon had to be busy in his first spring coaching his old position, especially after McKenzie went down. Still, they'll be a solid and diverse bunch, specifically if some of the August additions can contribute right away and JSW eventually knocks the rust off. Bonus: is a full season of a healthy Malcolm Mitchell too much to ask for Football Gods?
• The TEs. Any worries about depth at the receiver position are lessened somewhat by what we saw from the tight ends. That play-action from Bauta to Jordan Davis was music to my ears in the car. I couldn't wait to see it with my eyes. Tight ends have flourished during the Richt era, but quite frankly we've needed more from this position the last couple seasons. Some depth here can only help this offense in the fall.

From Coach Pruitt's guys:

• The LBs. You just have to start here because of the absolute embarrassment of riches Pruitt has at his disposal, especially on the outside. How long did it take you to remember that Floyd and Bellamy were in street clothes? Jordan Jenkins plays rent free in the backfield; Natrez Patrick reminds me of a young Lorenzo; and Lorenzo is making me think he was holding back during his eye-opening freshman season. The only disappointment thus far from this group is the fact that we won't be able to hear Munson's multiple attempts to pronounce Chuks Amaechi's name.
• The DL. I thought Mayes looked great, Bailey too. One of the by-products of a vanilla running offense is lots of gaps for the d-line to fill. And they stood up to that challenge for the most part, as well as pressured the quarterbacks multiple times. And at the risk of pouring on too much praise for the linebackers, that squad is only going to make the defensive front look better and better.
• The DBs. And while we're referring to symbiosis, the defensive backs stand the most to gain from a plethora of pass rushers. Bauta was forced to check down many times. Some of that was due to the pass rush around him, but it also showed the young squad in coverage was doing their job. I forget who McKenzie beat, but that almost deserves a pass as that task must be like trying to grab the leash of a lathered down greyhound rounding turn three. I really liked seeing Tramel Terry fly around and lay some licks on receivers. Malkom Parrish seems to be worthy of some of the praise he's received as well. And as we know from Signing Day, there's a lot of help coming in August. Overall, this is still a position of much youth, but it's so much more stable than a year ago, is it not?

From Coach Richt's guys:

• Special teams were....disappointing. No punt rush and we still can't get a decent punt off. No kick rush either and Morgan misses a 42 yarder. It all adds up to this - four and a half months to find someone that can punt a football into a well covered area (preferably more than 32 yards downfield) and who is going to hold place kicks for our senior kicker.

That's pretty bare bones and really nothing earth shattering. But that's the way GDay is supposed to be, right? What'd I miss?