Chanticleer Liveblog

Last week's chicken was mucho unsavory. I'm thinking we see better results today.

Breakout season...on hold

I've been hard on Marlon Brown. Still, like many I had high hopes this season. Page gives us good reason to put those hopes on the back burner, for now.

Junior receiver Marlon Brown has yet to make the impact on offense he expected to make this season.

The lack of production – four catches and 34 yards in two games – is not due to the same things that held Brown back his first two seasons at Georgia.

His confidence is better than ever. His knowledge of the playbook is sound. It’s his ankle that’s holding him back. He sprained the ankle toward the end of fall camp, and the joint has been slow to fully recover.

“It hurts,” Brown said. “It’s very painful to run and cut. It’s painful to be a receiver pretty much. It’s just hard to be a receiver with a bad ankle.”

I don't think Brown has always had his head in the game. That was probably a little too easy to do with AJ Green on campus. But everything points to a difference in focus for him this season. Maybe the best is yet to come.

Munson in stable condition

Lot of rumors about the legendary voice of the Georgia Bulldogs today. Here's what we actually know:

SEC Today - 9/16/11

Preview of the weekend slate.

Friday Misery, chapter 2: chicken flavored cupcake

Forget the hug this week, I just need a win. And any win will do. Blowout. One-point. Overtime. The last time our beloved Dawgs outscored an opponent was the day I turned 39 (again). As nice as it was to use the engiNerds to gain bowl eligibility, I had no idea I would still be waiting on the next win nearly 10 months later.


There have been no combinations of rituals and clean pairs of underwear that have helped us out of this miserable streak. But it ends tomorrow...I think. It'll basically amount to a bloodletting.


Right?


Daybreak
There's nothing better than taking the family to Sanford on an almost Fall Saturday. The lone drawback is my family consists of all women...and me. Granted two of the women are elementary age, but still...it's in their DNA to make men wait. Of course, this isn't going to be an issue with me when they start dating. I'll enjoy my time with the pimpled puberty survivor while they're upstairs changing outfits and primping. Endlessly. All while I sit there, cleaning my gun...slowly.


But on gameday Saturdays I'm ready to GET!! I'm awake by 5 or so anyway with nothing to do but ponder depth charts and last second tailgating tweaks. If it's just me and the guys I simply mosey on out the door. But tomorrow I'll force myself to lie there. Staring at the ceiling, I'll wait. Tick tock. Tick tock. Every 30 seconds or so I'll turn to the clock to see if an hour has passed yet.


WHY WON'T THE CLOCK TURN?!? IT'S BEEN A WEEK SINCE I'VE BEEN TO ATHENS, CAN'T WE JUST GO ALREADY?!?


The Crowd
What's worse for attendance than an 0-2 start to the season? Having a stale cupcake as the third course. Don't get me wrong, Coastal is just what the win column ordered. But there's enough tension in the Dawg Nation right now to bend a steak knife into a bowtie. Tomorrow quite simply, can't help things.


There's just no way to equal the excitement and energy of 92k fans on their feet pressing their voices against every twig in the hedges. You just can't do it with a 1:00 kick against a herd of kittens. Of course, we weren't able to equal it last week against a bitter conference foe...so, whatevs.


But I keep getting this picture in my head of me and the family getting to our seats, the stadium is not close to full, but that's okay because it's early yet. Then the minutes tick by and still only 50-60 thousand inside. My heart starts to pump harder, noticeably. My hands start to clench. Where is everyone? It's time to tee it up and I'm going to be able to hear my daughters' voices echo off the north side of the stadium. My teeth clench as I see thousands of people wandering around on the bridge.


Then I glance at the visiting section and it's full of chanticleers. They've been playing football for less than a decade and I can hear their fans over our own. Then my oldest will probably ask for the 10th time in 20 minutes if she can have cotton candy and I'll be distracted, but only momentarily.


The Anti-Kernkraft Sentiment
I don't want to hear this song ever again in Sanford. Ever. Period. Perhaps last week was simply our punishment for laughing hysterically at others who delight in the opportunity to "sing" it and jump up and down together while their team takes a breather on the sideline opposite Duke University's tackle football team. Perhaps last week was an aberration...or a prank played by some pre-nuclear physics dungeon master major at North Avenue.


Whatever it was, I hope it is just that - was, past tense. Done. Gone. We're Georgia. GEORGIA!...BULLDOGS!! We don't sing the Budweiser song and we don't act like 12 year old girls at a Justin Beaver concert during stoppages in play.


That's about all that's appropriate for me to be miserable about right now. I mean, it's the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Which is either a french man who's always in tune with his choral friends...or it's a rooster that uses a bidet. Maybe vice versa, I don't know. At least McGarity is picking up the tab. Sometimes you just gotta buy your way out of a losing streak. 


They don't always come free of charge like they did last week for the South Crackolina GameChickens. Ugh.

Interchangeable Beefcakes

Jenkins is catching up to Geathers. That's not to say Geathers is slowing down; it's just that the  big JUCO transfer has just about reached the peak of the learning curve.

They lined up side by side. Jenkins was an end, Geathers was at the nose and DeAngelo Tyson was at the other end.

That lineup came on one series in the fourth quarter inside the Georgia 5-yard line. Jenkins tackled tailback Marcus Lattimore for a one yard loss, his only tackle of the game and first as a Bulldog.

“I was fortunate to get one stop on that play and I tried to get another,” said the 6-foot-3, 342-pound Jenkins, who is backing up Geathers. “It was successful for the most part. It was an experiment.”

Jenkins was mostly pleased with his play in his first SEC game.

“Those are some big guys, but I felt like I was able to do my job,” Jenkins said. “There’s always room for improvement, but for my first SEC game I felt like I was able to do my job.”

Kwame set the bar high for Jenkins the last couple months. Now Jenkins is pushing the d-ends harder. 


Gotta love some competition for reps!

SEC Today - 9/15/11

In-depth preview of tonight's game between LSU and MSU in Starkville.

SEC Video: Countdown to Kickoff - Coastal Carolina

More Coastal observation points

I'll have more tomorrow in my misery post about why this cupcake is so critical, every bite. But here's a couple more things (in addition to OL rotation, performance) I'll be looking for.

• Reads to me like Williams will not only move from S to the "Mo" spot at ILB, but he'll also start alongside Gilliard. However, I'll be paying close attention to what happens in subsequent downs, especially third downs. Last week Sulek was the steady call on 3rd down plays. If Gilliard and Herrera have progressed this week it'll be good to see them factor in on 3rd and longs as well.
• Richt is hinting that not only will Boykin get more offensive looks, but he'll get some different type looks. Pass routes, inside runs. Does Bobo call his number against Coastal Carolina? Additionally, does he use this game to test Branden Smith's foot...or save that for Oxford?
• Many fans have been anxious to see TJ Stripling again. Stripling was injured in Boulder, a devastating knee injury that normally takes a good year to recover from and rehabilitate back to normal. Most of what I've seen has pointed to him being about 80-90% in August. If we see him Saturday it will be a good indication of how far his progress has actually come.
• Does Boo see the field? You're probably thinking he should. But...I think we'll see a lot of Crowell. I think the coaches want to see how frequently he can tote it. Samuel has been hobbled a bit this week, but should practice today I think. Then we'll see Thomas who had a great camp according to Richt. Malcome can be a punishing change of pace back, but he consistently finds the bottom of the depth chart due to injuries and maybe other reasons.
• Receiving drops. King had some against BSU. Shortly after his TD against SC, Wooten had a bad one as well. There shouldn't be any pressure Saturday. A good time for Murray to develop some trust with a lot of his wideouts.
• Ray Drew...ministering to the weak.
• Lastly, lots of TE work. If we can lose White to a knee sprain this week and hardly bat an eyelash due to the position's depth...well, we should be using them a LOT more in the offense.

The opponent should end up being just a lot of kittens this week. But a steady road test awaits before a difficult opponent when we return to Athens. Preparation is key to getting things back on track.

Dawgs' thin red line

With injuries and attrition, Georgia isn't really expected to redshirt any freshman offensive linemen. So with Coastal Carolina next, one of the interesting storylines for Saturday will be if Watts Dantzler and David Andrews get onto the field.


Actually, the question might be how much they get on the field.

Saturday isn't the most intriguing game in Bulldogs lore as Coastal Carolina makes its first visit to Sanford Stadium, but Georgia coaches have a decision regarding what to do up front. Gates should return after missing last week's 45-42 loss to South Carolina, so will the Bulldogs use just six or give others a chance?

Waiting in the wings are freshman center David Andrews, redshirt sophomore tackle Austin Long and freshman tackle Watts Dantzler, who played last year at Dalton High.

"That's something we have to talk about as a staff," offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. "We would like to play more guys, but you've got to have continuity. We've got six guys who we feel comfortable playing right now, and I saw those guys who played get better from week one to week two.

"Offensive line is a little bit different than backup receiver or backup running back. You might throw one in for a series, but you usually don't do a lot of subbing."

Redshirt sophomore Austin Long might also get some snaps. But given the struggles with protection so far this season it will be interesting to see how the coaches juggle continuity and game experience.