Second Spring Scrimmage (picture)

GATA!

via

Taylor moved to end, nose locked up?

The team will scrimmage again this morning. And it appears as if the nose guard spot has been solidified well before GDay. At least in terms of the rotation.

Redshirt freshman Jonathan Taylor has been moved to defensive end. This seems to show Grantham's hand in terms of who will compete for the top nose spot this August.

Mike Thornton, who is 6-foot-1 and 289 pounds, is holding down the first-team nose guard spot with 6-4, 315-pound junior college transfer Chris Mayes behind him, but Thornton estimates that the Bulldogs playing nickel defense—not the base 3-4—about 70 percent of the time last season. Thornton can play nose or end.

Georgia also signed junior college defensive lineman Toby Johnson and Newnan defensive tackle De’Andre Johnson.

Taylor said it was a big adjustment because of the mindset of being the nose but he sees the ability to make plays at end as a pass-rusher that fits his skill set.

Taylor has told the media he's around 325-330 pounds. I'll leave that as food for thought...

Israel Troupe arrested

The charges are pretty serious, eight counts of felony fraud. Being held on $32,500 bond.

Troupe was drafted in the 31st round of the MLB draft by the Rockies in 2007. Given how his career at Georgia played out it always made me wonder if he should've gone to the pros out of high school. I don't recall his degree, but I remember he graduated a couple years ago before his last season in Athens.

Whoever the victims are I hope they're able to recover any losses. And for Troupe's sake I hope there's more to this that can exonerate him.

UPDATE:
Emerson fills in the details.

Indoor practice facility, comprehensively speaking

You can't get a more comprehensive analysis of the indoor practice facility argument than Groo's post yesterday. Take a few minutes and read it in its entirety. He's compiled all the research and addressed the topic completely.

Regardless of your gut instinct on the issue, read this and re-examine. Make sure you have facts to support your position.

Recruiting ends up being one of the biggest reasons to have an indoor facility. They’re supposedly heavy artillery in the facilities arms race, and being able to hook up a game console to the display inside your facility is all part of the package designed to impress and awe prospective players. Schools still manage to sign highly-ranked classes without such a facility, but we can’t deny the wow factor.

Even though it'll probably happen some day, I still say no. Sure, it'll be used occasionally to escape bad weather and frequently to show off to recruits with a hard on for shiny things. But more often it could be used because it's just too hot or because there's a threat of a rain.

That's weak sauce. I mean, how often do we play tackle football indoors y'all?

Busted Bracket options

We all know the feeling. Some of us better than others. You pore over the March Madness bracket for hours, days even, and perfect it just in time to click submit. The feeling of satisfaction is like a long pull from a very nice cigar as you look forward to testing your selections against others in the pool for the next three weeks. You smile as you tape it to the wall with visions of big numbers and expertly picked Cinderellas advancing game by game.

But 24-48 hours later it's over. Done. Your bracket is next to a piece of burnt toast at the bottom of the trashcan. What now?

A little KISS!

Well, as we head into the second weekend of the big dance, here are some options to satisfy your need for competitive tension; that exhilarating feeling of money being on the line, or maybe just bragging rights on display at the office water cooler.

• Drink a beer everytime Raftery screams "ONIONS!!" When you're out of beer, tequila shots.
• Try NBA basketball. Make side bets with your buddies on which player travels with the ball next, which team puts any effort whatsoever into defense, how many hours it takes to play the last two minutes.
• Did someone say ponies?!? PONIES!! Get a head start on the 2013 Derby schedule and check all 2013 Derby betting options, maybe while you're mixing a mint julip. Also, challenge your wife to see who can tie a bow tie faster.
• Didn't get a buzz from the "ONIONS!!" game. Try NASCAR. Shotgun a Coors Light for every left hand turn. If you make it to under 200 laps to go, order a pizza to celebrate.
• Then there's hockey...

Or you can just wait for next March I guess.

Ol' Ball Coach has hisself a hissy

Sounds like Spurrier missed his tee time yesterday. Poor guy.

via Josh Kendall Twitters

Hang in there SteveO. I'm sure the whole damn media conglomeration will be in attendance next spring to see Clowney. Hell, I may even go tailgate for that one.

The Michael Adams farewell tour

Did anyone else's invitation look like this?

Murray, Champ, Megatron and...Godsey?

This is quite the photo bomb from last night's Peach of an Athlete awards banquet. Stolen from our quarterback's Instagram...is it just me, or has George Godsey really aged?

Tuesday's scrimmage notes get "defensive"

Richt says the defense won the day, but we know the stats he provides are about as accurate as most 40yo's listed weight on their driver's license. In the ball park, but not an exact science. And then he hands the media the scrimmage notes which in turn are passed on for our digestion.

• Most notable, Ray Drew had quite a day. He said he just went out and played and he's pleased with his progression. I'll say! Had a couple sacks and was basically "unblockable" according to some players. 
• Granted its just a spring scrimmage, but if you can get pressure and containment from a defensive end in a base 3-4, that's a very good thing. 
• Jordan Jenkins added a couple of sacks as well.
• Also good to hear there was a scuffle or two. Evidently Hutson Mason and Amarlo Herrera had at least one disagreement. Mason also bristled a bit over some of his stats with the media, but overall seemed to enjoy being the #1 QB for the day with Murray at an awards banquet. 
• Tray Matthews continues to get a lot of praise from teammates on both sides of the ball. He and Sheldon Dawson appear to be pulling away in the secondary. And Ramik Wilson continues to solidify an inside linebacker spot.
• Speaking of inside linebacker, Ryne Rankin wasn't listed in the stats but he bragged a little about getting a pick. Good on ya!
• Offensively it looked like Chris Conley and Keith Marshall lead the charge along with Mason.

You can pore over the stats as well as a video of Mason talking about the scrimmage HERE.

I'll admit. I was pretty damned impressed with the defense when I first started reading those stats and the tweets from the media. Then you have to stop yourself and think - how much of this was the coaches pumping up the defense a little? I'm sure those stats (like any spring scrimmage) are subjective to a generous degree.

But I like the fact that Mason was upset. On one hand it tells you a little about the passion he plays with on the field. And also because that's a factual, objective point that tells you the defense was doing something right. Quite often too evidently.

CMR has lost control over NFL visitors

NFL coaches and execs are pitching tents all around Butts-Mehre these days says Emerson.

Seven different NFL head coaches have been in Athens over the past week, either meeting with Georgia draft prospects, or talking about them with Georgia coaches, or likely doing both. And of those seven head coaches, five of them hold picks in the top 10 of the first round.

No doubt Jarvis has been the talk of the town. But the wealth of talent coming from Georgia in next month's draft has brought enough eyes to go around. Not a bad idea if you're an NFL coach to be in Athens right now. And pretty good PR for the coach the resides there year round.

Can Jarvis make a good 
cheesesteak? I miss cheesesteaks. (via)