Round ball update

So the Hoop Dawgs eventually pulled away in their home opener last Friday against Jacksonville, but then really under performed Monday night against Youngstown State, losing the game 68-56. Of course we're still without forward Donte Williams, who is evidently serving a suspension for running into trouble this summer.

So all in all, it's too early to speculate on what the loss means for the 2012-13 season. However we should know plenty more about this team soon enough as teams like Indiana, UCLA or Georgetown, and the annual clash with Georgia Tech loom large in the next few weeks. Is a bid in the NCAA Tournament 2013 a possibility? Definitely so. But to get there some of these questions that are buzzing around are going to have to be answered sooner rather than later.

• Can Fox coach his way through his own schedule upgrade? 
• The level of competition has risen, will the team's chemistry and ability rise as well?
• Speaking of team chemistry, will the trip to Italy this summer pay dividends?
• Specifically, when adversity hits the Dawgs square in the nose will they stay together and fight through it quickly and without dissension?
• Can Nemi, Florveus and Williams hold their own on the boards?
• Can newcomer Kenny Gaines help provide a consistent outside shot that we lacked down the stretch last season?

The stretch run

Was reading some sportsbook reviews at SportsBettingWorld.com and realized we're getting down to the end of football season. That makes me a little sad. We enter into it with such haste and excitement. And then we blink and it's gone. College basketball even started Friday night in Athens. And although it's way too early to even think about the NCAA Tournament, soon that will be all we have to look forward to. We'll close the bowl season, gear up for the Super Bowl and then football will be done. Gone. Over.

So I plan to cherish every moment that I can. We often make fun of all the bowls these days, with their outlandish names and their strange locales. But for me it's the cherry on top of the season full of delicious ice cream. And if that's the case for you as well, we're down to our last couple of bites to what has been a great season thus far.

If the Dawgs can finish the month the way we have started the month, I might spend all of December dancing like the infinitely drunk Ron Swanson. These last two regular season contests and then the date with Bama (most assuredly) set the table for the month of December leading up to the bowl game, wherever that may be. Like Swanson advises when bowling - "Straight down the middle. No hook, no spin, no fuss. Anything more and this becomes figure skating."

I don't know exactly what the future holds for this team, but I do know that it's been a fun ride getting here. I'm hoping the best is yet to come.

Go Dawgs!

It takes two...to stand nearly as tall as Herschel

I haven't grown tired of the "Gurshall" stuff. I think it's pretty cool actually. They're both very gifted players and seem to be just as great at being human beings. However, with all of our scientific advances in DNA and cloning, I'm still surprised that 30 years after the Goalline Stalker exited Sanford it still takes two to match his production, as Emerson lays out in this piece with the help of the UGA SID's office.

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After 10 games, Gurley has 973 rushing yards, which already ranks third all-time for a Georgia freshman. It's actually second all time for a true freshman, as Knowshon Moreno's 1,334-yard season in 2007 came after a redshirt year. 

Walker's freshman record seems safe: Gurley would need a lot of yards to catch Walker, who had 1,616 yards as a freshman in 1980. 

But if you combine Gurley with freshman teammate Keith Marshall, then "Gurshall" have 1,598 yards, which is just 18 yards away from Herschel. The pair have already passed Herschel's touchdown total (15) from his freshman year. Gurley has 11 and Marshall has six.

Regardless, ultimately only championships matter. So in that category "Gurshall" has a ways to go...but they also have plenty of time to get there.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/11/12/2274440/gurshall-set-to-pass-herschel.html#storylink=c

Bigger role(s) for Conley

Of course I knew his role would be expanding on the field with the injuries to Brown and Bennett. But I wasn't aware the dude was bad, and nationwide:

Conley has a larger role for the Georgia offense as the top slot receiver now that Marlon Brown and Michael Bennett are lost with torn ACLs, but the sophomore already had plenty on his plate.

Not only does he represent the Southeastern Conference on that 31-person NCAA advisory committee, but he’s the only player on the 24-person NCAA Football Issues Committee, which is designed to recommend policies and procedures in the best interest of student-athletes like the new kickoff and loss-of-helmet rules that took effect this season.

“He always has been very impressive and is someone that certainly exemplifies everything that a University of Georgia student-athlete would like to become,” said Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity, also is in his first year on the football issues committee. “By going to practice and passing these young kids in the hallway, you learn to know who they are but you learn much more about them when they are involved. …He’s very popular, he’s very involved and he really gets the big picture.”

And if you didn't catch that earlier reference, here's a bearded melody for your morning coffee.

Aaron Murray: historical icon

For you trivial buffs, comes this little nugget:

Between the years 1983 and 2010 no Georgia quarterback was able to do something Aaron Murray has done each of the past two seasons - beat Tennessee, Florida and Auburn in the same season. (h/t Dawg19) 

Bulldog Hotline Redux - Auburn

Not a whole lot of substance last night on an abbreviated version of the call in show. But I did catch this:

Evan from Madison Co. wants to know if he saw Auburn giving up as the game wore on. Richt says the staff just finished watching the tape and he didn’t see any sign of that. Saw them playing “hard as heck”. We just executed really well. Hopes we can continue to play this well defensively. But didn’t see any signs of Auburn players giving up.

So basically the team isn't following the fans' lead.

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Who was the Jarvis Jones' scapegoat?

It was a rough week to be a grad assistant. Tommy Tuberville bitch slapped his special teams coordinator Saturday following a penalty. And then excused it away as simple sideline management. But even before that, Lane Kiffin fired the graduate asst. that maliciously deflated footballs to give his team a competitive edge against Oregon.

Which got me thinking...has KiffyBaby found a scapegoat for cutting loose the best player in America? Because these stats have to be making him sick to his stomach.

Jarvis Jones' 2012 stats

And as tbia pointed out the other day, this after missing two complete games.

(Just for kicks and giggles, remember to route all thank you cards to Kiffin through Knoxville. I hear they might be looking for a Peaches and Herb moment once Gruden turns them down.)

Sunday Thoughts - Auburn

Heading to Atlanta!

Not where we thought we'd be a few weeks ago. Which makes it even sweeter!

- Now that I've watched them for a full 60 minutes, Auburn is probably worse than I thought.
- With that said, I hope they give the guy a second term.
- Bobo had Murray carving up their secondary early and often. Haven't seen the official stats but I think he connected on his first 10 passes. And everyone got in on the action, from Conley and the wide outs to both tight ends. Great birthday performance for Murray.
- And as expected, Gurshall went off too. They easily went over 200 yards yet again. The line opened up the holes and our tailbacks took advantage.
- Speaking of which, offensive line did a great job, even without their leader Burnette. Murray got hit once and had to go out briefly, but overall great protection and superb run blocking.
- Auburn never really threatened to score after their first drive. It was a complete game by the defense. Grantham really has his unit hitting on all cylinders.
- Jarvis with his standard couple of sacks and another great game by Ogletree. He and Rambo seemed to be everywhere the ball carrier was.
- And perhaps most importantly, a great game for the special teams. Kicks and coverage were outstanding!
- All in all, it was the game we both expected and hoped for on the plains. Much more barking than towel waving. Go Dawgs!

Was hoping Bama would keep steam rolling through to Atlanta, but A&M just would not cooperate. The Tide is vulnerable to a good offense and an attacking defense. I'm eager to see how we stack up against the conference's elite team.

But first there's Southern and Tech. Neither of which should be taken lightly. Just ask Nick Saban about the former and North Carolina about the latter.

So ready yourselves Dawg fans. The stretch run is here. Let's get after it!

136 bones...with room for more

A picture is sometimes worth more than a thousand words. But we'll start with just four letters - GATA!

Auburn's dumpster fire - what to look for

The key question for Auburn today is this: do the players truly believe in their coaches? Chizik (and staff) has been a dead man walking for about a month. Unless I'm mistaken though, it wasn't until this week that "real" rumors started to circulate about an actual search to replace him. (And kudos btw to the Auburn brass for not conducting said search in the dark of night on a Louisville tarmac.)

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- So, do the Auburn players actually try and win the game? They're completely out-matched. Seriously, it's amazing how far they've fallen talent-wise in just two years. The only way they win this game is if they are completely invested in it. Which is a tall task for a 2-7 (0-6) SEC team.
- Actually, the only way Auburn wins this game is if we let them win it. Georgia's biggest key is to come out quick and take the crowd out of it. Once the Auburn fans are sitting on their hands, their team will follow suit.
- Auburn's run defense is terrible. Can Gurley get the 143 yards he needs to eclipse 1000 yards for the season? And I'd really like to see Keith Marshall get back into September form with a couple big runs. Tonight he should be able to get to that second level that he's missed the last few games. Once he gets into that amount of space, he's almost as good as gone.
- Get well on special teams. We've made some baby steps in PATs, kickoff coverage, punt coverage as well as our return game. But it's still an uneasy feeling whenever we prepare for any kind of kick. Time to nail these down before the stretch run towards the finish line.
- Protect the football. Again...protect the football.

Other than that, I'll be looking for expressions of sheer agony on the faces of Chizik and Trooper. It's the kind of thing that should stir quite well into my glass of bourbon.

Go Dawgs!