I'll admit I didn't think he'd show up for the media session. Seeing that tweet from Emerson, and especially later when I read more on what he said, makes me feel much better.
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Why not? Here's a couple more:
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Old dog, new trick
Coach Richt showing us older Dawgs that we can learn from past transgressions.
Richt on RB Sony Michel: "He's probably doing things Knowshon Moreno would have done if I had played him as a freshman."
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 16, 2014
Putting Gamecocks in the rearview
Ready to move forward. And I feel like we probably will be able to later today when (hopefully) the coordinators are made available to the media. Had that happened Saturday night in Columbia I think there still would have been some gnashing of teeth, but at least we would've heard from the two guys that were making the decisions and designed the gameplan.
Sure, the truth is we're not likely to hear much of anything that will stop the message boreds and the twitter from bleeding a death of rage and self-destruction. But leadership should have a face in both good times and bad. I'm fairly certain we'll hear from Bobo. Coach Pruitt evidently decides when he is and when he isn't available for the media. If he chooses not to sit in front of the cameras on Tuesday after two of his players answered questions Saturday night, that's a much bigger issue for me than why his gameplan didn't work in Columbia.
Sure, the truth is we're not likely to hear much of anything that will stop the message boreds and the twitter from bleeding a death of rage and self-destruction. But leadership should have a face in both good times and bad. I'm fairly certain we'll hear from Bobo. Coach Pruitt evidently decides when he is and when he isn't available for the media. If he chooses not to sit in front of the cameras on Tuesday after two of his players answered questions Saturday night, that's a much bigger issue for me than why his gameplan didn't work in Columbia.
A tweak versus major alterations
When it comes to sussing out the flaw in the offensive coaching mindset Saturday, Emerson nails it.
What Pruitt has weighing in his mind is more complex.
Bobo tried to outsmart himself at times, despite calling a great game in my opinion. And Richt failed to step in and overrule when necessary. But that's a tweak. That's a minor adjustment in the mindset that's between the headsets.And in the game’s biggest spots, Georgia’s coaching staff didn’t give the ball to Gurley. You do have to credit South Carolina’s defense, which successfully keyed on Gurley, especially as the game went on. And you understand Mark Richt and Mike Bobo’s desire for balance and keeping the defense honest.But sometimes that goes out the window when you have a talent like Gurley, and sometimes you can out-smart yourself. Richt, in his postgame press conference, made clear he regretted the play call on first-and-goal from the 4. Bobo probably does too, although we'll have to wait until the next time he speaks to the media to find out, as he and Pruitt again weren't available after the game.
What Pruitt has weighing in his mind is more complex.
Troy should be an opportunity to play some people and build some confidence. Tennessee's offensive line is young. South Carolina's offensive line played a great game, much better than I anticipated. And now it's painfully obvious that this defense will live and die by its pass rush.Georgia’s secondary looked like last year, players not close to open receivers, poor tackling, and just deficient in talent.Jeremy Pruitt was out-schemed by Steve Spurrier and his son, who harkened back to their 2010 win over Alabama (when Pruitt was secondary coach) and predicted in gameplanning that they could exploit the middle of the field. They did, as Georgia’s safeties and linebackers pinched the outside, and South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson (with no pass rush coming at him) had time to find receivers in the flat.
Monday, September 15, 2014
"Noon kickoffs" are the new "Williams-Brice"
Last week all we heard was how difficult it was to win on the road in Columbia. It once again proved true.
Now we have a new enemy...
Now we have a new enemy...
Georgia-Tennessee kickoff time/TV set http://t.co/w4BBSXi4dh #UGA
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 15, 2014
Troy and then the bUTtchuggers will be looking to right click, copy, paste the Mizzou game at Sanford from last season. Not so much worried about the Men of Troy AL, but I say we make it a full week of prep for Tennessee so that this doesn't happen...
Pressure
Let's be honest, after two games Georgia needs to perform better under it offensively and they need to find ways to dial it up defensively.
First, offense. Averaging 40 points a game is great. But the reality is that's only good for 9th in the conference. Four of the teams ahead of Georgia are on the schedule. So the short of it is that there's going to be more times this season when the offensive line has to man up, the quarterback has to make a play, the running backs have to get that extra yard, and the coaches have to earn that paycheck. Coach Friend needs to do some soul searching. Coach McClendon needs to walk up to Bobo and say "WTF dude? Give it to my boy." Coach Ball needs to find some street legal healing salve.
Sure, I know the sentiment is that Coach Bobo deserves some slack. I get that. Really, I do. But this has been Todd Gurley's team ever since Aaron Murray was carried off the field. He's got to get the damn football when the game is on the line, period.
Period.
Defensively, this season may live and die with how upright the opposing quarterbacks find themselves after the snap of the ball. Three games into the season (for most teams) there's still going to be some numbers inflation prior to the usual late September regression, but looking at the passing stats for the conference, there are a number of teams up there that chunk the ball around to the tune of 40 times a game. Starting with Tennessee in a couple weeks.
This secondary is better than last season. But they have to have pressure up front. If that was pleasantly obvious a couple weeks ago after the last fifteen minutes against Clemson, it's painfully obvious now.
Dylan Thomson isn't a world beater. Neither are Justin Worley, Maty Mauk, Brandon Allen or Jeff Driskel. Unless they're are given time to look like they are.
And while we're being perfectly honest, let's all take a deep breath. Losing to less talented teams is a bitter pill. But let's back away from the ledge. Lot of football left. It's a good time to take a look around and see that both the East and the West are shaping up to be feast or famine type races. We got stepped on Saturday night. Let's see how these Dawgs get themselves off the mat.
That's about as concisely as I can diagnose things right now. Feel free to elaborate and pontificate below.
First, offense. Averaging 40 points a game is great. But the reality is that's only good for 9th in the conference. Four of the teams ahead of Georgia are on the schedule. So the short of it is that there's going to be more times this season when the offensive line has to man up, the quarterback has to make a play, the running backs have to get that extra yard, and the coaches have to earn that paycheck. Coach Friend needs to do some soul searching. Coach McClendon needs to walk up to Bobo and say "WTF dude? Give it to my boy." Coach Ball needs to find some street legal healing salve.
Sure, I know the sentiment is that Coach Bobo deserves some slack. I get that. Really, I do. But this has been Todd Gurley's team ever since Aaron Murray was carried off the field. He's got to get the damn football when the game is on the line, period.
Period.
Defensively, this season may live and die with how upright the opposing quarterbacks find themselves after the snap of the ball. Three games into the season (for most teams) there's still going to be some numbers inflation prior to the usual late September regression, but looking at the passing stats for the conference, there are a number of teams up there that chunk the ball around to the tune of 40 times a game. Starting with Tennessee in a couple weeks.
This secondary is better than last season. But they have to have pressure up front. If that was pleasantly obvious a couple weeks ago after the last fifteen minutes against Clemson, it's painfully obvious now.
Dylan Thomson isn't a world beater. Neither are Justin Worley, Maty Mauk, Brandon Allen or Jeff Driskel. Unless they're are given time to look like they are.
And while we're being perfectly honest, let's all take a deep breath. Losing to less talented teams is a bitter pill. But let's back away from the ledge. Lot of football left. It's a good time to take a look around and see that both the East and the West are shaping up to be feast or famine type races. We got stepped on Saturday night. Let's see how these Dawgs get themselves off the mat.
That's about as concisely as I can diagnose things right now. Feel free to elaborate and pontificate below.
Blown calls
Nothing will come of the former. (And as Emerson points out, the OBC has reasons to complain about Saturday night's officiating too.) So the question is if anything will come of the latter.“It definitely hit the defender, and I’m going to be asking the officials what the ruling is on that,” Richt said. “I don’t know if they saw it while it happened or not. But as it deflected off the defender there was nobody in the area where the ball landed, I know that. But if the ball didn’t get hit by the defender it would have landed a lot closer to one of our eligible receivers. So I don’t know if we would have gotten called for that or not. It’s a good question.”Of course, if Georgia had just handed the ball to superstar tailback Todd Gurley on first down from the 4, the play wouldn’t be an issue. Richt said twice in his postgame news conference that he wished they had done that.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Where's Pruitt?
Funny how two of his players were available after the game but the only coach that came out was Richt. Now, I've been on the road all morning, so perhaps I've missed something. But it would've been nice to hear some more from the coaches after such a big loss.
Sunday's Thought on not feeding Gurley enough
Typing this as I sit in traffic because once again I'm bring force fed the fact that Columbia is a shithole.
Also, it's always perplexing to exit a stadium to a chorus of "F--- GEORGIA!" Among other chants that I'll save your eyes from reading. You would've thought they had won a ten dollar scratch off.
My only thought on Georgia?
It was a team effort in getting the loss. Special teams were shoddy. Defense got torched and gouged for much of the night. But when they finally stepped up and made a play and gave the offense the ball on the SC four yard line, they inexplicably couldn't get a touchdown (or any points at all).
Unbelievable.
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