Treon Harris has the "it" factor

Nabulsi did a nice Q&A with Landon Watnick of InsideTheGators.com. Here's what he said about Florida's new starter under center.

"Harris cannot turn over the ball and needs to play within himself. That's what first-year offensive coordinator Kurt Roper wants to see from the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Harris, a quick, elusive freshman who can extend plays and do damage with his feet. Since he arrived at UF in only June, Harris hasn't had as much time to absorb Roper's playbook as his other fellow quarterbacks. While he has a strong arm, Harris isn't an incredibly accurate passer. But what separates him from the rest of Florida's signal callers are his knack for making plays and the "it" factor - what Florida coaches and players describe as Harris' cool, collected demeanor in the pocket. Sometimes Harris tries to extend plays too much, but as a dual threat he opens up plenty of opportunities for his tailbacks in the zone read. Roper affirmed Tuesday that he doesn't plan on scaling back the playbook for Harris, who's still learning some aspects of this offense. Although the freshman doesn't have nearly as much experience at Driskel, he's certainly an improvement. It really couldn't get any worse at quarterback previously." 

Like I said yesterday, even if Harris does "play within himself", there's a lot being placed on this guy's shoulders. Get after him early and often before he finds a rhythm.

New Everbank video board

You remember these guys?

Yesterday Jason sent this pic taken from his helicopter. He thought y'all might like to see the new digs around Everbank.

Pretty cool. Can't thank those guys enough for what they do for our country. Go Dawgs!

Gator Hate check, 3 days

Steven Orr Spurrier.

“Why is it that during recruiting season they sign all the great players, but when it comes time to play the game, we have all the great players? I don’t understand that. What happens to them?” (via LostLettermen)

He went 1-2 against Georgia as a player. Ever since that last beatdown he took in 1966 as a senior (a game in which Florida was considered a favorite and one week after Spurrier kicked the winning field goal against Auburn to all but seal the deal for him being awarded the Heisman) he's had it out for Georgia. And he turned the whole series around in 1990 when he took over the reins down in Gainesville and he hasn't let up on Georgia since.

It's an ironic and symbiotic relationship - He HATES us and We HATE him. Now, maybe if he'd've only thrown two picks against us back in 1966 he wouldn't hate us as much. But we'd still hate him more. Because he'll always be the head gator; the one to blame for their ceaseless idiotic pompousness.

NCAA: "Please keep your seat Mr. Gurley"

From confidence to concern to impatience to kicked in the balls.

Georgia star running back Todd Gurley will serve two more games as part of his suspension for accepting more than $3,000 in cash from multiple memorabilia dealers for his autograph, the NCAA announced Wednesday morning.

That means the Bulldogs won’t have Gurley for Saturday’s game against Florida in Jacksonville and next week’s game at Kentucky.
It also almost certainly ends any chances Gurley had to contend for the Heisman Trophy.
The NCAA said Gurley took money from “multiple individuals” for autographed memorabilia and other items over two years.
Gurley must repay a portion of the money to a charity of his choice and complete 40 hours of community service.

He will be eligible to play Nov. 15 against Auburn.

As far as the discrepancy in the UGA and NCAA findings, my guess is the NCAA went with supposition instead of the facts that UGA actually uncovered. But that's just a dangerous and unsubstantiated guess. We'll likely never know the full details. However, UGA was extremely confident. It just turned out to be overly so.

I also don't expect much promptness in the appeal that UGA is making on Gurley's behalf.

There's a lot to process. And my time is short right now. But I'll close this with one thought on Todd Gurley's future. I wouldn't blame him at all if he just said goodbye. Repaying the money is a huge burden for any college athlete, especially a guy that comes from basically nothing and isn't allowed to make money anyway. And the 40 hours community service is just an extra slap in the face (unless he's allowed to do that in place of the monetary restitution).

I don't know Todd Gurley personally. From what little I do know of him I don't believe he's the kind of guy to just walk away from his team. Sure, it'd make all the sense in the world to not risk injury by continuing to play under a conglomeration of bullshit such as the NCAA. He's months from making millions of dollars because he's an exceptional talent.

However, all indications are he's an exceptional teammate as well. There has to be a load on his mind. I don't know of anyone that would blame him if he protected himself professionally at this point in his life since no one around him could do that for him as an amateur.

Lot of responsibility (pressure) being put on Treon Harris' shoulders

The young man is quickly becoming one of the keys to the game. And his teammates seem eager to see what he can do as the starter.

"He has ability just to make plays,” senior center Max Garcia said. “When he is in the

pocket, if someone is coming in from the left side, he'll scramble right and throw the ball 30 yards down the field. I really like that about him.

“He has this good pocket awareness, and he adds a really strong arm, too. He makes tons of plays in practice, unbelievable plays. I'm like, 'Man, this guy is a special player.' I really just want to see him transition what he does on the practice field to the game because he can make those plays and give us that excitement."

For the record, Harris has appeared in three games this season, going 12/18 for 263 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He's also rushed for 51 yards on 15 attempts and has one touchdown on the ground.

If he makes some plays early (especially with his arm) it would be a huge confidence boost for a struggling team desperate for anything positive after three endless weeks of nothing but negative. One the other hand, if Pruitt's defense takes charge early, it'd be a helluva downer.

One way or the other, we should know by the end of the first half if Harris was a band-aid or a healing salve.

Hating Florida is our most important hobby, episode six

My parents used to visit St. Simons every year. Dad had a conference down there and he'd take the family for a mini-vacation. Recently the folks re-visited SSI after a couple decades away. When they returned I asked them how they liked it. Not surprisingly they didn't want to leave.

I can relate. If I could live anywhere on Earth it'd be in Athens GA. Next, it would be St. Simons Island. So when it comes to GA/fla weekend, I always prefer to stay there for these reasons: 1) Dawg friendly 2) beautiful coastal town 3) it's in Georgia where I prefer my hard earned dollars to go.

And each year before I leave for the coast, I always make this plea on behalf of everyone who enjoys St. Simons as much as I do, but mostly for everyone who lives there - clean up your trash. Don't act like you wear jorts and date your sister. It'll be a much better experience for everyone if you all just manage you own waste.

Unlike this guy...

Tebow can't heal what ails that guy.

Now, if you are heading to the beach on Friday to get your drink on, here's some late breaking news from a SSI resident.

Bulldog fans who stop in St. Simons to celebrate on Friday prior to the Georgia-Florida football game should be aware that the traditional site for tailgating will be unsafe due to high afternoon tides, and festivities instead will take place near the Coast Guard station.

Ample parking, as well as live radio broadcasts from 103Q and 104.0 The Wave, will be available near the station, just a little farther up the beach. High tide will peak at 3 p.m.

The following day, fans are invited to join UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, units of the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach, at the seventh annual St. Simons Island Beach Sweep. The clean up will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 1, with volunteers meeting at the Coast Guard station beach boardwalk.

Held in partnership with Keep Brunswick-Golden Isles Beautiful, Glynn County, Green Scene of Coastal Georgia, Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce and Georgia’s Coastal Resources Division of DNR, volunteers will pick up cans, plastic foam coolers, cigarette butts and other litter left behind by tailgaters.

In 2013, county workers and volunteers collected over 21,000 pounds of litter from St. Simons beaches, parks and parking lots during the three-day weekend.

Tailgaters are being urged to leave their plastic foam coolers at home, as they can easily break apart and enter the ocean. To support this message, Parker’s convenience stores on St. Simons Island will sell special 100 percent recyclable UGA-themed coolers. From October 30-November 1, they are offering to switch these out for free in exchange for fans’ undamaged foam coolers, while supplies last.   (h/t Buddy)

So, who would you rather look like this weekend: the guy cleaning up the trash..or the guy about to get taken out with it?

Humpday Hilarity hates gators that laugh too damn much

"So...So...so then urbin Meyers called hisself a timeout jus' ta needle dem dogs some mor'!!!..."

"N' then he did it agin!!!!"

Champ - the best Dawg of my generation

Suppose it's debatable between him and #19, but on the day of his retirement from the game of football that's my fair and honest assessment. Damn Good Dawg.

Gator Hate Check, 4 days

Yesterday I gave you one to temper the enthusiasm. The idea being that even when Georgia has the better team, is favored to win, and all things seem to be going our way, they can turn against us just as quickly.

Well today, let's just remember a time when we beat their ass real good!

courtesy of Dawg19

Recently the wife stumbled on a stat that left her dumbfounded. Against Florida in 1981 Herschel had 47 carries. "FORTY-seven carries? In one GAME?" Then last night as we re-watched the 1980 game on SEC Network she just turned to me and said, "The ball ain't heavy."

Nope. Go Dawgs!

Emmert winks at UGA, and FSU (??)

As Weiszer reports, NCAA President Mark Emmert is happy with the way UGA is handling their amateurism bidness.

“From the facts that we know today, publicly, Georgia’s behavior has been commendable,” Emmert said in an interview with the Associated Press Monday. “They, apparently, saw something that concerned them, and they dealt with it directly and their athletic department seems to have handled that very, very appropriately based on what we know today.”

Then he may just take a veiled shot at the House that Jameis is running amok through.

Meanwhile, Florida State has continued to play Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jameis Winston even after he was also accused of receiving improper benefits for autographs. Playing ineligible players could mean a school having to vacate wins.

“When a school has information about inappropriate behavior that might render a student-athlete ineligible, then they’re under an obligation to respond,” Emmert said. “If it turns out later that they did know and did have facts that demonstrated that someone was ineligible and they played them anyway, then sure those wins can be vacated and that’s happened many times.” 

If I were an FSU alum, I'd be checking my faith in the admin's leadership about now.

But since I'm a Dawg, I'll just say thanks for the compliment Mark. Can we get our dude back already?!?