Around the tailgate - Pruitt's defense

You can find Monday and Tuesday's Around the tailgate posts here (off season headlines) and here (the Hutson Mason era). Today we talk about the defense.

With all the defensive attrition in the secondary, how worried are you about how our defense will shape up this August?

Robert
The secondary is the only position I am worried about.  I expect us to be better on the defensive line and we have the best group of linebackers in the country.  The front being so good, should alleviate some of the pressure on the secondary, but we are going to have to have some young guys step up.  I had rather have players eager to learn, and willing to do the work, than players with entitlement issues.  

Joe Waterloo
I'm not sure worried is a strong enough word.  With our secondary so thin I think our only hope is to have our front seven put serious pressure on the QB.  Our linebackers are as good as any in the league if not the country, but it seems like our defense has lacked creativity since Van G left.  Pruitt is supposed to be a master at it, so I'm going in with high hopes, but that little voice in the back of my head can't help but keep saying "Uh Oh!"

Namaman
Defense has been the "worry" coming in to each of the last several seasons it seems.  We have plenty of weapons on offense, but you never really knew what was going to happen on the other side of the ball.  The young players in the secondary did have some flashes this past season, but with many of them going the way of the wind (or Louisville or Auburn), we will again have to work with untested players.  The biggest wild card in this equation is how the addition of Jeremy Pruitt as our DC.  I am ever hopeful that his success at Florida State last year will help inspire our no-name defense to play above themselves.  But I am also wary that we might again need to count on our offense to out gun the teams we come up against...

Son of AHD
No one in their right mind would say that the sheer physical talent on our roster has improved after the departure of 3 members of our secondary. That being said, after the classroom implosion of Trey Matthews, there was a feeling that maybe the overall maturity of our defense had improved. JHC couldn't lay off the THC to remain eligible, and Shaq got his feelings hurt that Pruitt wouldn't let him be a clown during practice. While these players are great athletes, they displayed a lack of maturity that may have been a contributing factor in their inability to understand Grantham's god-awful defensive scheme. Pruitt has a lot of experience in coaching high school boys, but he expects his players to act like men (something Richt has preached for years). So the Bulldog nation has to show a little faith in Pruitt's ability to put the best players on the field and in a position to make a play. While I think that our defense is unlikely to destroy teams like in years past (at least until Pruitt has a few years of recruiting), I do believe that they will improve substantially over the unit last year and will no longer be a liability. 

Appreciate the honest opinions. Feel free to add your own Reader down below. And come back tomorrow when we talk about how the 2014 schedule shapes up.

Around the tailgate - beginning the Hutson Mason era

One of the things I plan to do in the coming weeks is to rewatch the last three games of the season to get a better feel for what we can expect this fall from Hutson Mason. For now though I want to hear from these guys experts on how they feel about letting go of a four year starter in Murray, and handing the reins over to his backup.

For the first time since 2010 we'll start the season with a quarterback other than Aaron Murray. Since we've had a chance to see Hutson Mason in actual games other than garbage time, how do you feel about the having the fifth year senior under center?

Robert
I am pretty nervous about the QB play in the 2014 season.  As bad as I felt for Aaron Murray when he was injured in the Kentucky game, I was glad that Hutson Mason was going to see some quality action.  

Coach Richt isn’t big on playing back-ups at the QB position, unless it is against an FCS opponent and the game is waaaaaaay out of hand.  If Murray had not been injured, we may not know what we have in 2014 at the QB position.  Now that we have seen Mason, I feel pretty good, but I think it is expecting too much for him to play quality SEC opponents on the road and not make a few mistakes.  After all, Aaron Murray still made some big mistakes as a senior.  The good news about the QB position on this 2014 team, he will not need to be perfect.  Our experienced RB’s will take a lot of the pressure off. 

Joe Waterloo

Uneasy is probably the most diplommatic way to discribe how I feel about Mason at QB.  There is certainly a lot of talent around him at the skill positions to take the pressure off, but our offensive line had some key losses.  It wouldn't be as big of a deal if it didn't look like our defense is going to have some major growing pains.  I don't know how reasonable it is to expect him to lead our offense to putting up the kind of numbers Murray did last year, but that might be exactly what we need from him - especially early in the season while the defense gets it's legs under it.

AthensHomerDawg

In two and a half games plus mop up duties Hutson threw for approx. 1000 yards.  That pace over the course of a season would be similar to what Murray was able to do for our Dawgs. In the past we were known for our pro style approach mixing in some play action. Murray was comfortable with that approach but he was also very capable of running the spread, which we did. Mason is comfortable with a fast pace offense and the spread suits his game. While not possessing a Stafford like cannon for an arm he is accurate and can lead this team. He has had the reps with Conley and Bennett when they were practicing with the 2s. Look for him to familiarize himself with the rest of his receiving core this summer. He doesn't have to be the second coming of Murray. Gurley  and crew will take a lot of pressure off Mason allowing him to hone his skill set early season and be more of a veteran leader and decision maker later on. Sure there will be a bump or two in the road. But I liked what I saw at Tech when we got behind and Mason gathered himself up and started playing well. Of course there is no RB back I rather have in my backfield late in the fourth quarter other than the Gurley Man! 

Go Dawgs!

Great stuff gentlemen! And y'all come back tomorrow when we look specifically at the secondary, who we have and who we don't.

Retribution: "There's always hope..."

The internets eluded me last weekend. I blame Hurricane Arthur. Regardless, I finally got around to watching Chris Conley's Retribution and thoroughly enjoyed it. In case I'm not the last one to see it, here it is. Go wide screen and crank up the volume.

Retribution: Darkness Falls from Retribution Movie on Vimeo.

Some thoughts.

- We've been hounding Conley, and subsequently Infinite Productions and Spirit World Productions, for the final product for some time. It was well worth the wait.

- More impressive than expected in about every facet. The writing, the acting, the cameos, the humor, the direction, the production, and especially the visual effects made the film very entertaining.

- All in all it left me wanting more. And completely impressed that the young man put this thing together in such a way. Sure, he had plenty of talent and help on his side. But remembering his tweets as it was being conceived, and eventually his casting call to his fellow students to come out for a part in it, reminds me that he spent a lot of time on this and has to be pretty proud to see it through.

Lastly, the only thing disappointing is the lack of comments/feedback. I guess I expected more when I loaded it on Vimeo since I was there a few days after it went live. So if you have a moment, go give these guys some encouragement and kind words.

It's a great film, produced in a great city and on a great campus. Well done to all involved.

Help DeAngelo give back

FYI - Damn good Dawg with some damn good plans for giving back to the Statesboro community that helped him overcome the odds.

Around the tailgate - off season headlines

It's the return of some off season tailgate conversation. Each day this week I posed a question for some of my favorite tailgaters. They respond, in between sips of fortitude.

Today we look at the highlights/lowlights of the off season.

The off season has been long, but pretty active. The departures and attrition have grabbed the usual share of headlines, but I would still rate the addition of Jeremy Pruitt as the highlight thus far. How would you characterize the 2014 off season?

Robert
Jeremy Pruitt has to be the highlight of the off-season. Let me get this straight and pinch myself once more. The defensive co-ordinator for the 2013 National Championship team made a decision to come to our beloved Georgia Bulldogs and coach th same position? Not only that, it didn't cost us a ton of extra money. Extra money that I would have been happy to see AD Greg McGarity dip into the vault for. Great job by Coach Mark Richt, AD Greg McGarity, and especially Coach Friend.

While I am optimistic about what the future brings under Coach Pruitt's leadership, I hate that there were players not willing to pay the price to succeed under said leadership. Regardless, I like "no B.S." attitude and the optimism far outweighs my frustration with players not doing the right thing.

Joe Waterloo
I think the additional of Jeremy Pruitt is without question the highlight of the offseason .  But other than that it's been the typical trainwreck that us Dawg fans have become accustom to.  Maybe the loss of so many key defensive players (to things other than graduation) will end up being addition by subtraction in the long run, but in the short term of the 2014 season there's a lot of math to overcome.  Pruitt can't help but being an upgrade from Granthem, but even if he is the Nick Saban schooled rock star we are expecting it would have been much better to see him being able to salvage the damage Granthem did then to have to start fresh at so many spots.

AthensHomerDawg

It started with uncertainty and then we hired Pruitt. I'm impressed with Pruitt and I am not by myself. The departures and failings of our players can't be taken lightly.  Gee... I could free lance here but I'm not fooling anyone. Todd was not the DC we hoped he would be and some of the great recruiting gets failed to deliver.  So we rebuild and reunite? I guess so. I'm on the bus... on a Ford 150 or whatever it is we are riding! ;-)

GO DAWGS!!

Thanks gentlemen! Y'all come back tomorrow when we look at the transition under center between #11 and #14.

UPDATE:
This about sums it up...via Benjamin...

Just asking...

Bigger feat for a Bama running back: rushing for 1000 yds or having your Tuscaloosa Sheriff mugshot make the news?

Both take a significant amount of dedication.

Happy Fourth of July, Dawg!

via Bobo https://twitter.com/CoachBoboUGA/status/485037439627427840

Most looking forward to...

Checked in for golf yesterday and our starter was a gator. Ironically, he also liked to talk a lot. Also ironically, he liked to talk a lot about the spurrier era.

Plus, we had a lot of time to wait before we could tee off. It was like the perfect storm of off season douchebaggery.

Anyway, he admitted to not liking muschamp. Surprise! And he also admitted that Charley Pell was satan in jorts. Yeh, he was one of the few that could remember the '80s.

He also said he'd root for the Dawgs to win a game if I would accept a single into our foursome. I told him neither I nor Coach Richt needed his sloppy handouts. But was glad to take in the Yankee banker regardless.

Yet I digress. It all got me thinking. What are you most looking forward to this season? It's now merely days away from Hoover's shenanigans. Football season is almost close enough to smell the charcoal. And especially the bourbon. I just can't wait to get down to Jacksonville and kick a damn gator in the their tooth hole once again. 

How about you? What ya got cooking Dawg?

Yes we do.

Auburn's new helmet sticker

Was on the road yesterday, so pardon me if I'm late to the party (or the speech to kids about staying away from drugs)...but here's the new sticker Coach Garner is putting on helmets. (h/t Mac)