Water'd Down Bye Weeks......

.......are like pitchers of beer at the St. Simons bowling alley.

All's quiet in Butts-Mehre this weekend. The players are huddling with family and friends for a change and the coaches are surely huddling with future players they hope will choose to wear silver britches. The only sound coming from the building is a dryer full of wet laundry someone left running. Let's see if we can sort through it.

Let's start with some recruitin'. As other schools in the southeast dabble in coaching changes some recruits who had previously committed are beginning to stretch their neck back out. It has been reported this week that J.K. Jay of Greenville, SC is willing to look at UGA in case Clemson doesn't retain their current staff. CMR and Coach Searels jumped at the opportunity and will be entertaining the young behemoth this weekend. If Jay were to switch commits (and it looks like we are the only other school he may look at as he has spurned opportunities to visit floriduh and bamma) it would add to what is shaping up to be a stellar O Line class. Jay would join Chris Burnette (no relation), Austin Long and Dallas Lee as UGA commits and we have our interest in a couple others who are also on ESPN's 150 Watch List.

Speaking of Clemson, there are rumors that the head job is Dabo's to lose. Swinney took over when Tommy Bowden played some Steve Miller Band and took the money and run. There is evidently a lot of support from the athletic director for Dabo, but to hire him would be putting the ADs neck on the line. If Terry Don Phillips doesn't get his way, then Bobby Johnson will be given a chance to turn the job down. I don't know much about Dabo, but I do know that the Tigers need a coach that forces his players to get tough. They laid down in the Georgia Dome after the first two snaps. Bobby Johnson would not allow that.

More coaching news:

• Muschamp is off the market. He is the newest assistant to become the trendy Head Coach Elect. Pretty good deal for both sides.


• Auburn is evidently a house divided. There is a growing public feeling that Tuberville should be gone. Privately there is much deserved support for the man still growing into his ears. This decision will come down to money ....what else? Both sides may like to part ways. If they can agree on a dollar amount it may actually happen. The wild card will be the bamma game. If Auburn pulls the unimaginable upset and makes it seven straight against the tide, then Tommy could do whatever suits him.


• Rocky Top has zeroed in on Cincinnati's Brian Kelly. A host of others have said no thanks. Kelly has at least lent an ear. I checked the Bearcats schedule and they don't end until Dec 6th. And they are also in the running for winning some conference called the Big East ....?? If these two suitors end up being a match, it could get a little awkward. Alas! BDB has a solution: Since the vowels aren't bowlin', maybe Philmer would lead Cincinnati in their bowl game as their interim coach while Kelly moved into Knoxville's premier trailer park.

This and That:

Myron Rolle's 36 game streak as a starting safety will come to a close in the early evening Saturday in College Park, Maryland. If you're asking if this is another Seminole to be suspended, then you don't know this young man very well. I've followed this kid since he was a 5 star recruit out of New Jersey. Rolle will spend most of his day in Alabama interviewing to become a Rhodes Scholarship recipient. Rolle, a junior, should finish up around 6pm, quickly board a plane and catch up with his teammates by halftime. Rolle arrived at FSU after a recruiting battle that this blawgger had hoped would end with the future neurosurgeon as a Dawg. He enrolled at FSU a semester early and has already graduated. If things go well Saturday he will have an interesting choice to make: FSU, NFL or Oxford. All three could do a LOT worse.

Well, Knowshon and Stafford aren't in the running for a Rhodes Scholarship, but there are a lot of Dawg fans interested in where they'll be in August '09. SO interested, that a website has recently been created to "aid" them in turning their back on millions of dollars. Don't Go Dawgs even allows visitors to sign a guest book where you can implore our stars to ignore the opportunity to embrace financial security for them and their families. This blawgger prefers to leave this site alone.

Why, you ask? First of all, I doubt Stafford and Moreno will take the time to read and consider the thoughts and musings of Joe Fan before they pull the trigger. Secondly, as much as people make of greedy players leaving school early to grab a bag of cash, they should .......with all due respect ...... look in the mirror.

I would love to see both 7 and 24 return next year. And as a player it would have to be tempting. An experienced O line; AJ Green in his sophomore season; those 20 or so players on crutches and rehabbing in the training room return to the sideline in a uniform. I also pay attention to those pesky graduation reports the NCAA puts out each year. And I know both of these young men are close to finishing their degrees. But I'm not so greedy that I feel they should be given some guilt trip and should feel obligated to stay on campus. This is an opportunity for these players to provide for themselves and their loved ones. It could be there next year. It may not.

And one thing we know for sure is that the NFL will institute a Rookie Salary Cap after this next draft. To put that in perspective, it could mean a difference of not just 7 figures, but possibly 8 figures difference in guaranteed money once their contracts are worked out. That is a factor that will definitely be on Stafford and Moreno's mind in the coming months. Of course they are both competitive. Maybe they will also consider the bad taste Jacksonville left a couple of weeks ago, the lack of a championship, an opportunity to do something special next year.

Whatever their decision, life as a Georgia fan will continue on and we will all wish them well, as a Dawg or as a pro athlete.


This week's trivia is brought to you by a Miranda's Homebrew - as smooth as the surface of the reused bottle. Who is the only team currently in the ACC or SEC to have an all-time losing record to Wake Forest? Winning comment receives a bottle of Liquid Paper.

There's much more to discuss I know. But the bye week has a tendency to water things down some. My State of the BullDawg Nation will be ready for print by Monday. And of course we'll take a closer look at this team of insects that completely obliterated Miami last night. I knew a hurricane could not sustain its forceful winds this far inland, but holy crap!! Various beat writers reported that some Dawgs would be watching the game on ESPN hoping to glean some insight. After that impressive display I just hope they come back to campus next week.

Stay warm. Be a good neighbor. And as always, wear clean socks.

Bernie

Stop me if you've heard this one......

......Georgia plays down to the level of a weaker opponent and escapes with a win.

With the exception of two blow out losses and a couple other games, that has been the story of this season. South Carolina, Tennessee, Vandy, Kentucky and now AwwBarn. The WarBird fans I spoke to and overheard before the game all seemed assured that this game would be over before Uga woke up from his first afternoon nap.

And escapes may not be the verb of choice come to think of it. Houdini escaped. And when he did it was to loud cheers and applause. Harrison Ford escaped and evaded in The Fugitive. And in so doing raked in millions of cash. The Dawgs performed well enough to draw praise for another win at the end of a LONG road trip. But applause was superseded by an entire Dawg Nation drawing its collective breath; a breath that had been held in tight for nearly three hours.

Offensively I thought we did about as well as expected except for putting points on the board. The line opened up holes a plenty for Knowshon and when they weren't there he did his own Houdini act and opened one up for himself. Seriously, he looked like Nama avoiding traffic barrels trying to get us to Opelika Saturday morning. The man moves that surburban like he runs on the intramural field .....like a gazelle. Back on Pat Dye Field, it didn't take long for the Tiger safeties to start cheatin' up and that's where we struggled. Up in section 105 the wind was brutal. Down on the field it was much worse and even more unpredictable. Bobo and Stafford seemed determined to burn the undermanned secondary, but just couldn't hit a long one. If they had the Auburn fans' predictions may have come to fruition.

Defensively we were certainly improved. The tackling was better, but I wouldn't grade these Dawgs out with a B until they can consistently stop an opponent (especially and inferior one) at will. The D played with an intensity that was lacking in previous games, I thought. Although it still looked as if we were out of position and meandering at times. I know that the D fell well short of some lofty goals they set for themselves and there are many of us that still wonder (11 games into the season) how good this defense really is. But when you go on the road in this conference and hold the home team to 13 points, I guess ya done yer job! We have two weeks to prepare for the jackets' option. Pass the Wheaties.

Two areas that BDB grades as fat F's are special teams and penalties. Fabris refers to them as his kick teams, not as special. Observers could certainly agree with that reasoning after seeing Knox flagged for roughing the punter on one end of the play and Miller allowing the ball to bounce off of his chest at the other end. I guess it could have been worse. The ball could have pelted a lineman in the back of the helmet like a Walsh field goal attempt.

All kidding aside - the penalties are a mockery of this program, its attitude and its discipline. There's no excuse, none. Perhaps a better, more thorough assessment will follow later this week in Bernie's State of the Dawg Nation Address. Right now I'm just too disgusted.

On a lighter note, Jordan-Hare was impressive. I found myself finding different parts of the field where so many moments in Bulldog history have been born. I could see Tra Battle soaring into the endzone back in 2006. Michael Johnson gathering in Greene's pass. Craig tackled a yard short on fourth and three in college football's first overtime game. But there were other things to behold. The stadium has a very nice video board. And seeing Tiger fly from just above us to the 50 yard line was as impressive as advertised. 

With that, let's get to this week's shout-outs:

• David McElroy for his quick thinking .........at a time that necessitated it.
• AJ Green for climbing an invisible ladder and grabbing that ball as if it was ......well, as if it was the game winning catch. Here's your SEC Freshman of the Week.
• Moreno for another outstanding performance. Hard to believe that was Knowshon's first TD reception. Even harder to believe what our record would be without him.
• Tim for the fourth quarter passes to the box. It was COLD on the plains.
• Navigon and IPhone for their technological advances in avoiding construction barrels and I-85 delays. If only I'd brought an extra pair of shorts.
• And Tiger the WarEagle for not .......releasing his bowels on my Georgia cap. 

Congrats to the Namaman again for correctly posting the answer to last week's trivia. He

knew that John Heisman coached at Clemson in between stops at Auburn and North Avenue. He goes home with a case of Kosher wieners and a dozen eggs. Not sure what he may do with those. Perhaps Allen Randall, Cord Trammell and Chris "Moosehead" Miranda can give him an idea. These emailers sent in their answers which were also correct. They scored a book of the 100 best tailgatin' recipes. Page 78 is autographed by Mr. California HamDog himself, Jeremy Matteson. What a treasure!

Have a great week readers. Set your scouting TiVos for Thursday evening as the wrambled wrecks try to survive a hurricane on the flats. Tickets still available......

Bernie

Let's all meet at Toomer's ....

....for lemonade and toilet paper.

I'd like to start by apologizing for my recent poor attitude. Given up all of these touchdowns has made my head spin and my blood boil. To make myself feel better, I broke down and finally read the AIG Prospectus that came in the mail two weeks ago. In short, I now feel much, much better about what happens on the gridiron......

This week the players have come to Martinez's defense, have had a players only meeting and have decided they need to have more fun on the field. I hope that more fun translates into more sacks, TFLs and other general pain and discomfort for our remaining opponents. CMR busted out some stats of his own and produced the little nugget that our opponents have enjoyed some nice field position as of late due to offensive miscues and breakdowns in teams that are (less than) special. He agreed however, that it would be nice to force some FGs instead of missing tackles that lead to TDs. Of course, I paraphrase.....

But what could be more fun than a Brad Lester fumble after getting slobberknockered by the Liberian Linebacker?!?!? According to Curran's Facebook, he has gotten more birthday wishes this week than all of BDB readers combined in all their years on Earth. This blawgger hopes his wish(es) comes true.

Lester on the other hand did his embattled coach no favors this week by promising, ensuring or maybe just suggesting that the War Kittens would win their final two games to make the season a little brighter. Word from the plains is that O line coach and former UGA lineman Hugh Nall ran out of duct tape sometime Tuesday night.

Auburn wide receiver Rod Smith meanwhile stated that he didn't like the fact that our team danced on the sidelines last year while our scrubs were cleaning up at the end of the game. Note to Nama: make sure and pack extra tissues, this young man needs to dry his eyes.

For more complete coverage of the whining on the plains, follow this link to Paul Westerdawg's blog. But a word of caution: if you are one of those wierd Michael Jackson fans, you may be offended. If not, you will laugh heartily!!

Yes, things at Auburn are a little chaotic. Many outsiders believe it all started on a runway outside Louisville back in 2003. There Auburn officials (baaaah!) were in tow as Lowder met with Bobby Petrino, hoping to oust Coach Tuberville. The meeting was as infamous as the one in Havana between Michael and Fredo. "I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart!" Back in Auburn, the PR backlash was immense, the explanations as clear as mud. End result - Tuberville survived and beat hated Bama. Lowder's jet was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.

But a closer look says the chaos starts with some confusion deep within Auburn's storied history. Over 86,000 plainsmen enter Jordan-Hare stadium each Saturday and see an eagle named Tiger fly around the stadium, they scream "War Damn Eagle", they watch a student dressed as a tiger mascot named Aubie lead them in cheers, and then they cheer on a team with Tigers as their surname. Talk about making your head spin! As long as it makes sense to them....

The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry has been well documented as a CLOSE one. Auburn leads the overall series by three games and although the series has been alive and well since 1892, the -total points scored tilt only slightly in the Dawgs favor, 1730 - 1685. Indeed these two teams are like cousins that can sit together at the Thanksgiving table nicely ("Please pass the gravy."), but in the yard when the annual family football game starts they act more like the bloods and the crips. It gets ugly ..........and dramatic!

A few cases in point:

1986 Georgia wins the game 20-16 at Jordan-Hare and kicks Auburn out of the top ten. As Georgia fans soaked in the excitement and rushed the field to congratulate their players, Auburn turns on the hoses and the fans begin to soak in the freezing cold air. The UGA infirmary extended their operating hours the next week in order to cure all the happy sniffles!

1996 Ten years later, Georgia found themselves down three TDs and Uga V in a foul mood. Robert Baker nearly lost his manhood and the players followed their mascot's lead to force the SEC's first overtime game on a long bomb from Bobo to Corey Allen. The Dawgs prevailed 56-49.

1997 Georgia was riding high after beating Florida and carried a 7-1 record 'tween the hedges,

coming off a bye week to boot. Auburn smiled and laid a haymaker from the opening kick and then held us out at arm's length until the buzzer sounded. Big bully! Auburn 45, UGA 34. OUCH!

2002 Auburn was within a breath of spoiling the Dawgs' chances at an SEC title when Greene hit Michael Johnson on 70XTakeoff. "Touchdown, My God, touchdown!"

2005 Facing 4th and 14 from their own 35 with a little over two minutes left, Auburn appeared to be on the ropes. Brandon Cox hits Devin Aromashodu who evades our three deep umbrella. After running the clock down, the tigers kick a FG with 6 ticks left and escape the Hedges with a win.

Whether on or off the field the two programs remain connected in many familiar, somewhat awkward ways.

• Joel Eaves was a former Auburn basketball coach who later became the UGA Athletic Director who made one its most important hires - Vincent Dooley. On the eve of Georgia's National Championship game against Notre Dame, Dooley was being courted to return to Auburn as head coach and Athletic Director. Dooley eventually said no of course and was given complete control as UGA's AD, a job he had shared prior to Auburn calling.


• Pat Dye was a two time All American lineman for the Dawgs in '59 and '60 under Coach Butts before later becoming Auburn's head coach. After 2005, he can also take credit as an inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame.


• Since the matchup historically takes place late in the season, the winner often earns a trip to Atlanta; or back in the old days the game would sometimes decide who won the conference outright.


• Coaches Richt and Tuberville even coached together this summer in the UnderArmour Bowl while visiting troops in Iraq. Their team won 14-12.

And the similarities don't end with our coaches' summer plans as both teams' seasons have been downers, albeit on different levels. In fact, if Dawg fans think this season has been disappointing for them, Auburn fans would gladly pick that bone. Preseason rankings had the Dawg fans barking across the southeast and the nation. Auburn meanwhile was predicted by many to win the SEC West. The were coming off a dramatic win in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl over Clemson, they had a new OC with a brand new shiny spread system and a head coach with a reputation for steadiness. A month into the season however, the wheels were coming off.

The ax fell on OC Tony Franklin early after he reportedly alienated other coaches and continued to use Todd as his starting QB over the perceived better spread offense fit of Burns. Tuberville immediately felt the heat under his seat.

I think Tuberville is a great coach. I'd be surprised if he is not the head coach at Auburn next year. But he is going through coordinators like they're pieces of gum. Some have left on their own volition, ie. Muschamp. Others have been shown the door suddenly, ie. Franklin and Borges. A defensive Tuberville began making excuses quickly after Franklin's car left the parking lot:

"Al (Borges, former OC, twice removed) was with us four years. That's a pretty long time," Tuberville said. "And he did good. If we wanted to stay and keep doing that, Al knows the offense. That's not the reason I made that change. I made the change because I wanted to do something different because of recruiting. We were just getting hammered in terms of getting wide receivers."

- courtesy of The Birmingham News

Now, I understand bringing in certain coaches to help with recruiting. I also understand changing offensive philosophies, although I thought Auburn was doing a pretty good job under Borges. But what I don't get is bringing in a new OC and offensive system just to land a few wide receivers? They're a dime a dozen.

AJ Green has made a big difference in our offense this season. If we hadn't signed him back in February, it surely would have hurt. But I don't see CMR firing Bobo and bringing in a gunslinging WAC coordinator to help land next year's big time 5 star WR. Am I off base here? This kind of soap opera madness seems way below the caliber of coaching that ol' Big Ears is known for.

Tomorrow's game on paper has the Dawgs cruising to victory. But most of us realize we left our cruise control in the desert. The visiting team usually does well in this series which bodes well for us, but the war tigers are due for a game where their offense doesn't stink up the place. Remember, this is the team that beat the other dogs in the conference 3-2. But I think our defense rallies to support their coach. This Dawg defense is falling well short of Junkyard status, but I believe there is talent there. Time to step up and make good. Otherwise it could be a long bye week leading up to Tech.

Dawgs 24

plainwarcateagles 9

Before we get to this week's trivia, would like to officially welcome my favorite buzzzzz fan to the BDB fold. Chris Miranda once helped Bernie close down Peppino's in downtown Athens (yeh....THAT long ago) only to threaten his knowledge of SEC football. Luckily brother Jim intervened .......... I think. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll hear much from Chris in the COMMENTS section, as I quote:

To quote Coach Boone, "I don't scratch my head unless it itches". If you invite me to dinner, I don't show up with a Wendy's bag and if you invite me to read your blog I don't show up trying to irritate a bunch of Dawg fans.

Nevertheless, Chris assures us he will read BDB in the weeks leading up to the Georgia/ga tech game even though it will likely just "piss" him off. Thanks Chris, you're a helluva engineer!! Trivia this week brought to you by American International Group, Trust us, Seriously. The next two teams that the Dawgs play were once coached by the legendary John Heisman. He coached at Auburn from 1895-99 and Georgia Tech from 1904-19. Where did Heisman coach in between these two stops?

Meet you all back here Tuesday when we'll all take a deep breath heading into the bye week. Enjoy your weekend. Don't get hosed....

Bernie

CatNapped

"Are you mad Daddy?" Conner is my six year old that always seems in tune with others' emotions and feelings. Of course after six years together, she knows when Daddy is mad. So the question was almost rhetorical.

"Yes Honey. Daddy's mad." I answered anyway. After all the Dawgs had just given up another rushing TD and subsequently were ruining my afternoon. Luckily Conner pretty much left it at that, cuz I don't know how you explain to a six year old that the defensive ends need to play off the block and extend the option attack towards the sideline. 

Fortunately Stafford, Moreno, Green, MoMass and Dobbs were not done playing. We've wondered if #7 had provided fans with his moment yet as a bulldog QB, like those who've taken snaps before him in red and black. Certainly, Stafford was not lacking for a moment as he left Lexington as he stumbled, side-stepped and rolled his way to the right flat and then lofted a beautiful pass to Green, who used every bit of his 6 foot 4 inch frame to gather in the toss. Jenn noticed that there were four defenders in the area of Green. I noticed at least two of them were drawn close to Knowshon at the front corner of the end zone. I was glad to see Moreno get 25 touches, including 22 carries and 3 TDs. Maybe Green makes the catch anyway if Knowshon is on the sideline, but it was clear that his presence created a little more space for Stafford to make the throw.

As beautiful as that play was, it was Demarcus Dobbs second INT of the season that saved our dog-like dairy-aires. Sure Stafford's talent is talked about in circles both local and national; Green is thought of as one of the best young receivers in the land; but it is Dobbs' play that you can vote for as the Pontiac Game Changer on ESPN's website. You'll remember Dobbs from his 78 yard PickSix against Central Michigan back in September. Once he finally crossed into the end zone that late summer afternoon you may have thought that his feat would be his most memorable as a Dawg. Turns out he had something more dramatic in mind.

Without Dobb's two cast-laden arms reaching up and corralling the Cobb screen pass into his

body as he fell to the Commonwealth bluegrass, we'd all be storming Butts-Mehre this week asking for Martinez to do the admirable thing and pull a Fulmer (ie. step-down for the good of the program).  Instead we will just accost him through blogs, sports talk radio and while standing aside the water fountains this week. I guess the good news is the D made some adjustments, they just seemed a little late. I watched some defensive lowlights last night and it

is pretty clear that our D-ends are continuing to pass rush in the third quarter when the Wildcats really have no interest in passing. Battle tries to turn the corner on a tackle and Dixon uses that gap to find enough room to run into the end zone early in the fourth quarter. Kentucky 31, Dawgs 28 at that point. And why would they pass the ball at all when they had amassed a lion share of rushing yards between Cobb and Dixon? I was surprised Sunday morning when my eyes told me they had bothered to throw the ball 20 times.

Good D's stop the run first and then play the pass. I realize our coaches likely had not seen much option from KenYucky on film leading into the game. But we refused to commit extra support to stopping the run, even as they passed 200 yards on the ground. Cobb is a freshman. Force him to beat us through the air.

Do I feel better this week than last? Certainly. But the win in Lexington did nothing to assuage my fears for this defense's leadership. It will not be an easy week for Coach Martinez. Surely we can give Auburn more of a fight than Tennessee Martin. But in case you haven't noticed, the bugs from the flats have a dynamic offense when it is clicking. We get a bye week before the Tech game. We'll need all of it to figure out a way to stop Johnson's attack.

Shout-outs!

• First and foremost, Dobbs for representin' the big man in dramatic fashion.
• Ainsley for following a five goal performance last weekend with another five goal effort on Saturday in the Big Green Machine's last game of the season.
• Dave Archer for asking the question that was on all of the viewers' minds Saturday during the game, "Where is AJ Bryant?"  ........uh ......he ran out of eligibility last year big guy ....?? Archer then asked the more relevant question, "Where is AJ Green?" Green promptly responded by hauling in a big catch, his first of the game.
• Adam Wynn for making the trek the the SEC's northern most destination. Adam is BDB's first Follower and took it upon himself to cover the game. He reports that the Dawgs won, traffic was bad, air was cold, but he had a great time. Keep up the great work Adam. Catch a nap in between classes........
• Tim Nama for scoring Bernie a ticket to the Auburn game.
• Shaun Chapas on his first TD as a Dawg on a play that rests near and dear in every Dawg fan's heart.
• Rennie Curran - Happy Birthday!! Keep bringing the hammer!

So we set our sights on the War Eagles. Personally, this will be my first trip to Auburn. If the visiting team wins (please note I said if), is it frowned upon to take a roll of toilet paper to Toomer's? On Friday we'll take a closer look at this Schizophrenic SEC team that can't decide whether they are eagles or tigers. We'll also evaluate some of the PR spin Tuberville has given the media related to his staff changes as of late. It has lead to a challenging season for Coach Tubs......

I haven't seen any film, but from the score updates it looked as if the SkyHawks of the Ohio Valley Conference gave Auburn all they could handle for more than three quarters. They trailed by a TD going into the 4th. Hopefully theAU starters got no rest. Of course they just have to turn on the projector to get pumped up for this week's game. Last year we blacked out the stadium to welcome them and then made sure they were black and blue before they left. I'm sure they will be reminiscent of that this week in preparations.

Reader Rants! Some topics BDB is offering up for discussion this week include:

• What's bigger - Terry Bowden's mouth or Tommy Tuberville's ears? Most would say Bowden's mouth as it is rarely closed. But have you seen the size of those skin frisbees on the side of Tuberville's head? Whoa Man! At least they balance each other out.. 
• Does Bobby Lowder let Tuberville carve the turkey when they celebrate Thanksgiving together? It would only be fair after the infamous runway meeting to oust ol' Big Ears. 
• Are 6 scholarship O linemen enough to sustain us against Auburn?
• Why can 3 down linemen produce more of a pass rush than four?
• So you want Martinez gone. Well ....he ain't gonna get gone. At least CMR is not gonna push him out. And as Marc Weiszer reports, the head coach is rather defensive of his defense. Chip Towers has a similar report, but includes a brief transcript of the call in show. Reading between the lines I would say the coaches' assessment is that some players have not stepped up and that injuries have hurt.
• Would YOU keep Martinez? This season's stats have proven that we are regressing defensively. I would argue that something needs to happen going into these last couple of games and certainly next season. Can CMR convince Martinez to better utilize his talent, change schemes, grow a pair?
• And lastly, what is your source for Dawg info, stats, gossip? I mentioned last week I listen to a lot of 680 The Fan. Now that Chuck Oliver is there they undoubtedly have the best college football coverage on radio. When it comes to printed word, is there anyone out there that actually prefers the AJC to the Athens Banner Herald? And when it comes to the cyber word, do you prefer the rumor mill/smash talk of the DawgVent or do you click more often on ESPN.com?

My sources you ask? I just ask Jennifer. She tells me what should be done, how it should be done and why it should have been done yesterday.

Cord Trammell and Chris Nama both connected from way down town on last week's trivia. They both knew that Dickie Lyons had a rather weird dream about his fiance', simple battery and Matthew Stafford over the summer. For an account of the fantasy, click on the freak's name - - Dickie Lyons. For their hard work these gentlemen will both receive the DVD version of this YouTube classic - tastin' Old Crow! Perhaps they can use it to help them grow out of their

bourbon snobbery..... And given Cordgeous' streak of trivia wins he has agreed to continue on this season without the crutches that have gotten him this far. But he sends this warning: Never go against a sicilian when death is on the line!!

Peace be with you BDB brethren. I hope your week is "orange free"!!

Bernie

Cheer up Dawg fans.....

....we scored twice as many points against Florida than KenYucky did. Wahoo!

Moreno and Richt voted absentee in my poll this week. They both did their best to reassure me and other concerned fans that there is no cause behind my concern. I stand (er....sit) here today, unconvinced. #24 is our best threat on the ground and is one of our best assests in the passing game, receiving for one but mostly as a blocker. When he gains a sizable chunk of yards to get us within a breath of the end zone Saturday and then goes to the sideline to give the "rotation" a rep, that's unacceptable. King has proven he's a good backup. Samuel has proven he can avoid the allusive redshirt. Neither of those two options are going to put a defense into a matchup problem. Moreno draws attention....unless he's on the sideline. He needs to regain his breath in the huddle or a coach needs to get in his facemask and tell him he didn't do those mat drills for nuttin'.

So it's hogwash to me that he needs a breather. Using my previous example, Moreno should bounce back up after that long run and get back in the huddle so Bobo can call his number again. Then we are able to stuff it down the lizards throats and score a TD instead of settling for a missed FG. CLANK!!

One last point on this issue: last year Knowshon knew touches! He got over thirty-something in Jacksonville. This year....uhh...not so much. As usual, Chip Towers was one step ahead of me; he explores this issue and provides a more popular poll on ajc.com, here.

Too lazy to click today? Here's my favorite snippet:

On the game’s second series, Moreno had just gained 25 yards to get the Bulldogs down to the Florida 9 when he decided to leave the game. Freshman Caleb King came in and whiffed on a pass block, allowing Matthew Stafford to be sacked for a six-yard loss. Stafford lost five more yards on the next play and Georgia was forced to settle for a field goal try. It missed.

Whew! I'm sweatin' already. Time to simmer down.

Scrap that! One more topic to rant about this Friday. I'll start by comin' clean. I've gone from a Martinez Hatemonger to one of his supporters at the beginning of this season. I was turned around by the stats that had his Ds among the tops in the land every year. "Well, move over Dawgs Discouraged with their Defense! I'm climbin' back on board." I'm tired of bending, breaking and downright gettin' gashed! We got to get back to manning up, bringing the heat and flat out knocking guys outta their boots.

I listen to a lot of 680thefan. And someone made the point on air this week of comparing BVG to Sweet Willie. VanGorder's intensity could make 17 year olds die to play for him. Now kids come to UGA cuz they wanna play for CMR. That's great.

But on D we need some intensity. And I just don't see it. Sure we have our moments when we go up against a Hawaii or Okie State of last year. But consistently it's just not there. I wanna see our D knock someone in the teeth, dictate the tempo and overall wreck havoc on the opposing linemen. Instead, we see a defense that reacts to what is going on and tries to contain the action within the first down markers and the end zones. Boo - Hiss!

Stay tuned with that one BDB readers. I'll agree that our preseason expectations were a bit lofty for our team's caliber. But with another loss (say to GA Tech for instance) things could get ugly with a capital UGH! CMR will always stand by ol' Willie, but it'll be interesting when he begins to feel some pressure into doing something in the off-season. By pressure I mean a big $$ booster, by public opinion or both. And by something I mean anything from firing/hiring to having Willie change his philosophy somewhat north of a tweak.

Speaking of GA Tech, BDB has at least two new ramblin' wreck readers. To make sure they have stayed on board after that North Avenue Trade School comment last week, I need to run a system test. Please stand by: Stop me if you've heard this one. A guy calls the Tech ticket office and someone picks up right away. "I need 4 together for this Saturday's game." the gentleman says. Ticket Office employee: "No problem sir, we have 4 together." Tech fan: "Great! When does the game start?" Employee: "Well....when would you like it to start?"

BA dump BUMP! If I know this reader like I think I do, he'll be redder than the visitors' section at Grant Field two days after Turkey Day every odd year.

But this week it's the Wildkitties. You know, Rich Brooks has done a great job at this school renowned for its basketball tradition. It took him a while to convince everyone that you could put 11 players on the field at one time, instead of the five they had been using. But once he did, they've not just beaten some teams, they've put some butts in seats.

Two more stops on this tour of manic-depression for the Dawgs. Jury's still out on whether we can survive this LONG trip with just one loss. KenYucky's a solid team and they know that the Dawgs can be beat. Many of these cats were around the last time we ventured into Lexington. In 2006 we thought the hardest part of the trip would be convincing the home team to use the oblong ball instead of the round one. Turns out the hardest part was putting more points on the board than the home team. OUCH!

Call me crazy (You CRAZY Bernie!!), but I'd be more worried about this game had we not just had our jock straps handed to us. We've heard this week about there still being things to play for this season. I think the people who still believe our SEC hopes are alive are not paying attention to the machine in the corner of the room that has the flat line............BEEEEEEEEP!

But there are still New Year's Day festivities on the table. Not a bad set of scraps either once those big boys (you know...Bama and Florida) finish eating. Capital, Cotton, Outback are all there for the taking if we can take care of the kittens, war tigers and the bees. Granted that if is a little bigger this week than last. But we're the better team, we have more talent, we're angry and we should be focused. I think we fight through the bluegrass and bring back a win.

Dawgs 34

felines 17

News and Notes:

• About the only person who hasn't announced publicly that they are NOT interested in the Tennessee job is Fulmer
• Raise your hand if you voted for Pedro!
• Bud Foster can really coach a defense
• The LSU/Bama game has been postponed while they search for a location that can hold Saban's ego. It seems his head done swoll'd up since he last coached in Death Valley
• And this week's rumor mill produces this: Fulmer wants a brighter shade of orange and puts feelers out for the Clemson job

This week's trivia brought to you by PlayStation. Without that and NCAA Football, I don't know that I ever would've worked through my frustrations after last week's loss in Jacksonville. TAKE THAT URBAN! HOW DO YA LIKE THAT TIMEOUT? Some final stats from my own version of a Jacksonville beat down: Tebow 9-23 for 108 and 3 INTs; Knowshon 25 carries for 117yds plus 3 receptions for 92 yards, 3 total TDs.

Who had a dream about Matthew Stafford this summer that ended with #7 punching him in the nose and telling him, "You don't hit women."?

Have a great weekend everyone. Don't forget to stop by the online store and purchase your BDB slippers and robes to get ready for the holiday season and those frigid winter nights.

Bernie

"You won....but at least my wife has teeth."

A rich (and largely edited) sampling of a conversation overheard as we tucked our tails and ran for the exits. You want another? Ok.

"I don't know if I'll ever come back to Jacksonville again. EVER!"

Yeh, it was that bad, maybe worse. I think I was right about two things: 1) red pants would've been a bad decision and 2) Blair Walsh was a big factor. Of course, those missed field goals seemed to loom large as I visited the mens room at halftime. But turns out we were just on the first step of a spiraling, disastrous descent into a nightmare that still lingers today.

I feel a deepening need to get real honest. Might as well start with this: it's not a great feeling watching your team get outmanned and outplayed. It makes it much worse when you realize you're also getting outcoached. Then it gets really stark when you remember this is the second time this season this has happened. The only redeeming factor is that against the reptiles you can never get outclassed. I wasn't in the stadium at the time, but later heard that Urban called a couple timeouts to prolong the misery of the fans who had stayed to watch the 5th quarter. That's clASSy!

For those of you who came here for the rosy disposition, with wins over Kentucky and Auburn we can establish ourselves as the clear cut 3rd best team in the SEC. The rest of you probably already realize that we're at least a step closer to the 8th best team as we are the first. In the first half of the Bama game and the second half of the game Saturday we gave up 9 TDs. NINE!! Who in the world ever said Martinez coaches pretty well against this offense? Probably the same guy who said we'd win by a field goal. IDIOT!

In other news, Fulmer and UT have "mutually agreed" that it is not in the University's best interest for him to come back next year as head coach. In a completely unrelated story, Cracker Barrel announced more than 60 restaurant closings in the Knoxville area. 

Other thoughts, some of which may actually be coherent:

Knowshon was a Knon-factor; his fault or Bobo's? Good question. I'll vote for both

• a breakfast stromboli makes interesting cuisine from an airport food court


• the Redcoats came to play; not many others in red and black did


• on a jumbotron in Alltel, Tebow's knee is so huge you can actually tell what yard line it landed on


• Traffic cops outside the stadium do ............. a remarkable job of keeping the order


• Jean short wearing cousin Bill makes a good bloody mary


• it's time for Gary Stokan, the Atlanta Sports Council and the GA Dome to factor into the mix for the GA/fla game every other year


• brush back tosses in cornhole are not really effective


• now that Philyup Fulmer has stepped down, did anyone feel the Earth shake?

Another thing that concerns me is seeing Knowshon take himself out of the game. The first couple of times I dismissed it for the most part. But it seems to happen more and more. CMR commented on it a couple of weeks ago and said that it was #24's decision. I don't mind King getting some carries, but there's times you really want Moreno in the game and it seems like those times are the ones where he jogs to the sideline. What do you think? Have you noticed? Do you think it is a cause for concern or is this blawgger just overreacting?

For the second time this season it is time to dish out some suspensions. After the last loss BDB's suspensions helped propel the Dawgs to a 4 game win streak, including a solid victory over the bye week. This Saturday is stop 3 on a magical mystery tour. And the last time we were in Lexington we left limping. Let's hope these suspensions send a clear signal that here at BDB, we expect competitive games, if not just wins.

1. CMR
2. Stafford. Three picks was 3 too many
3. SEC - your officiating is a joke
4. roughly 70,000 florida fans for annoying me
5. myself for attempting to help direct traffic

And lastly, congratulations to Cord Trammell and Chris Nama for answering the trivia question correctly. They somehow knew that Baccari Rambo simulated the play of Tebow during practice last week. They also knew that the team was touting him for Heisman by the end of the week. Turns out all of that was just to renew the junior gator's repeat bid as the trophy's candidate. But it was enough to earn these BDB readers a sack full of Krystals. Enjoy!

Bernie