The Relative Awfulness of the Oklahoma State Defense

Conventional wisdom says Oklahoma State had a rotten defense last year.  Just how bad was it?  I looked at OSU's final stats rankings and compared them with the defenses we saw last year.  None of these comparisons are good for the Pokes.

• In total defense, OSU ranked 94 out of 120.  The only opponent we faced last year with worse numbers was Central Michigan (#105) who we scored 56 on.  
• In rushing defense, OSU was a more respectable 52nd.  Of our opponents last year, only Auburn and Kentucky were worse at 55th and 57th respectively.
• In scoring defense, they were 77th, ahead of only Central Michigan at 90th.

So, we should walk all over these guys right?  Those stats aren't bad, they're atrocious.  Georgia fans want Willie's head and he finished 22nd in total defense last year.  Imagine if we finished 94th.  It's simple then, Oklahoma State can't play defense.  Right?

Those defensive stats only show a confined, distinct measurement without context.  The actual picture is broader.  In factoring those terrible defensive stats, remember that OSU played the #2, #3, #4, #7, and #8 total offense last year.  They faced six of the top 10 scoring offenses.  They could have been Bama '92 and still given up big numbers just based on the offenses they played.  The best total offense we faced last year was UF at #15.  In fact, we only played two teams better than #50 last year, UF and Central Michigan.

So, those stats need a control.  How well did OSU's defense do when compared with their opponents' average yards gained?  Only three teams outperformed their season total offense average against the Pokes by more than 30 yards.  Texas Tech exceeded their average by 98 yards, Oregon by 80, and Texas A&M by 62.  Everyone else was right at or slightly below their season average.  Okie State held three other teams to more than 30 yards under their season average (Washington State, Houston, and Baylor).  In other words, the Pokes weren't awful last year.  They were just average.

All of this doesn't mean much because it is based on last year's numbers.  It's just that I've seen a bunch of folks assuming we will be able to score at will against OSU because of those awful rankings and it just isn't that simple.  

Bill Young is taking over the OSU defense this year after spending 2008 at Miami (who finished 26th in total defense last year and 56th in scoring defense).  Young is probably best known as John Cooper's defensive coordinator at Ohio State from 1988-1995.  He's confident is his crew, but with only six starters returning, the mediocrity of last year's play, and the installation of a new defensive scheme, I don't think the Pokes are going to be much improved from last year's average, but not awful, efforts on September 5th.  I still say we get our points, but it might not be quite as easy as some presume.

Quinton

Richt on the Oklahoma Airwaves

Coach Richt gave this interview to an Oklahoma radio station this week.  He talks about last year, Oklahoma State, and his future at UGA.  Richt is his usual trash talking self, saying he "respects" Oklahoma State and their offense was a "big concern."  You tell 'em coach, Kiffin-style!

Quinton

It's Gordon Beckham's World...

We just live in it. Best sports quote in a long time. And yes. It's a real quote. That's certainly one way to woo hot women.


Separately -- Gordo is now hitting .258 with 3 HRs and 18 RBI in 30 games. He peaked at .278 about a week ago, but he cooled a little since then. The guy he replaced at third base, Josh Fields, only has 6 HRs and 26 RBI in 65 games...with 2 HRs and 3 RBI coming while playing 1B after Gordo took his original spot.

PWD

Dawgs 13th Commit: Explosive DE

Brandon Burrows committed to the Dawgs yesterday.  The 6'4" 230 lb defensive end had offers from Florida, Oklahoma, Clemson and NC State.  You had me at Florida offer.  The upside -- explosion and work ethic.  The downside -- both knees have been injured, and he's currently rehabbing an ACL. 

Boss Bailey (ACL) and Kedric Golston (Car Accident) were both highly recruited kids who suffered catastrophic injuries early in their SR years.  Both worked out.  My guess is that he redshirts in Year 1 to get bigger and shore up his rehab.  Then we see a 6'4" 250 lb kid at rush end trying to work his way up the depth chart in 2011.

Good luck to Burrows during his rehab.

PWD

The Fever: Are You Catching It?

So, last year at this time, I had bought about five season previews, had devoured them, and couldn't wait for the season to start.  I felt like a dog with a treat at the end of my snout, awaiting my master's slight signal to flip it into my jaws.  The possibilities were boundless and I felt a feast at hand.

This year feels different.  Not necessarily the opposite of last year's frothing, but just much, much more restrained and sheepish.  Maybe it's because we really have no clue what this team will look like (the spring, after all, gave virtually no insights due to injuries) or maybe it's just that the hangover from last year still persists.  I'm just suffereing from an unjustified malaise, a resigned, stoic stare.  Am I alone?

There's a lot to look forward to: the nonconference schedule, Washuan and the freshmen, the underdog role, the renewed hate, the new faces we've been waiting to see perform.  My malaise to the coming season will break soon.  My copy of Phil Steele beckons.  Camp opens in less than a month.  We'll be rolling out some season previews shortly.  

In the meantime, I ask:  Are you as fired up as usual?  

Quinton

Basketball Schedule: UGA to play UAB

The Georgia men's basketball schedule continues to evolve as the Birmingham News reports that UAB is set to begin a home and home with Georgia starting in the upcoming 2009-2010 season. The first game will be played at Bartow Arena, and the second game will be played in 2010-2011 at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Blazers will play Georgia, Virginia, Cincy and Butler in 2009 along with their regular CUSA slate. They are consistently in the RPI 50-100 range so this is a quality mid-major game without being a Ben Hur game.

The existing 2009-2010 Georgia Basketball schedule so far:

Home:
Georgia Tech
New Orleans (Billy Humphrey's return)
UNC-Asheville

Away:
St. John's (Big East Challenge in Madison Square Garden)
Missouri
Virginia Tech
UAB

Neutral:
Illinois

PWD

Some football headlines

I was beginning to get the shakes it had been so long since anything interesting was said about the football team not involving finances or recruiting.

• Joe Cox -- David Hale has a profile of Cox up on his site. I may have said this already, but I'm coming around on Joe. I think it was Buck Belue who said Joe is probably the #3 QB in the SEC right now. Hard to disagree on that one. The only other viable candidate for #3 QB is Jefferson at LSU. If you've got one of the Top 3-4 QBs in the SEC and a veteran OL, you should be looking at 10 wins. Not a rebuilding year.
  
  
• #2 in the East - Dennis Dodd has us as second in the East behind the Gators (ht - Bill). I have to take issue with his selection of South Carolina at #3. Who is a playmaker for the Gamecocks? Their QB is a headcase who committed about 11 turnovers in the loss to Iowa which is the same number of times he's been arrested. Name a WR...Moe Brown? Yeah...he's fast, but those hands aren't sponsored by Palmolive. Cook is gone. Three of their top 4 DBs are gone, and so is Brinkley. You've basically got Norwood (a DE playing linebacker) and a bunch of maybes. They look like the least talented Gamecock squad since 1999, and Spurrier is almost a decade removed from being a genius. I'm thinking we beat this group about like we beat that '99 crew 24-9. My pecking order is:
  1. UF
  2. UGA
  3. UT - that defense can stop AU, SC, UK and VU.
  4. SC
  5. UK
  6. Vandy
  
  
• SEC West - I'm with Blutarsky in that I don't know who to pick in the West. I just know it's not Nutt. He's at his best when the least is expected. Worst front runner ever. I'm really leaning towards LSU because they added Chavis and removed the 10 points per game in turnovers from the pre-Jefferson QB Collection.
  
  
• Recommended Reading - Bulldog Illustrated recommends some non-UGA SEC Blogs. To his list, I would add RockyTopTalk, RollBamaRoll, AL.com/Sports (great aggregation of Bama and AU news), and the Joe Cribbs Car Wash.
  
  
• The Top 10 Games of '09 - Bruce Feldman list his Top 10 games, and the Dawgs aren't in there. I'd obviously remove the USC vs. ND selection in favor of UGA vs. Ok State. Something special is going to happen in that game. One of those two teams is going to start a pretty interesting season on Sept. 5th.

PWD

Trey Thompkins continues to make progress

(Updated: 6:15 am ET) Trey Thompkins's work with the U19 Team USA squad really looks promising so far. Against Greece on Monday, he scored 22 points on 10 of 14 shooting. And this morning eastern time, Trey again lead the US with 14 points and 9 rebounds in a big 82-61 victory over Puerto Rico.

After five official games in New Zealand, Trey is the leading scorer for the Team USA squad. He's averaging 12.8 points in only 15.4 minutes while pulling down 5.6 rebounds per game. Through five games he only has one turnover. His minutes are down a bit because he got in foul trouble in Game 2, and Coach Dixon (Pitt) is giving everyone lots of minutes to keep the players fresh for the daily tourney grind.

More importantly, there's this quote:

“I decided today that I was going to be very, very aggressive. I heard that Greece liked to bump and bang, well I decided that I was going to be the guy that initiated it first and they were going to have to throw punches back,” said Thompkins.

Oh...and this one...

"Well I’ll be honest with you. Coach Dixon and everyone ran us [into] the floor when we were in training. So we’re definitely ready for that second half of defense, and that was his most important objective, second half of defense. He wasn’t so much worried about our offense because we have a bunch of dynamic scorers, so he just banged on the second half of defense."

If you asked those close to the basketball program what are the three biggest concerns about Trey, I'm pretty sure you'd hear conditioning, toughness and defense. It sounds like he's making big progress on all three fronts.

I know...I know...you're thinking...we're USA. We *should* be killing these other teams. True, but Team USA U19 hasn't won this event (which is held every four years) since 1991. In 2003, we didn't even medal.

With the win over Puerto Rico, the Team USA is assured of advancing to the quarter-finals, and they are guaranteed the top seed regardless of the outcome of their game tomorrow night vs Lithuania.

PWD

Hoops Schedule: UGA vs. UNC-Asheville

More of Mark Fox's schedule is beginning to take shape for the 2009-2010 Georgia Basketball season. The latest mid-major addition is the UNC-Asheville Bulldogs at home on Tuesday, Nov. 24th at 7:00 pm. (ht - macdaddy)

UNC-Asheville went 15-16 overall on the season last year and finished with an RPI of 200. This year, they return 4 of their top 5 scorers and 4 of their top 5 rebounders. The #1 guy in both categories appears to be gone.

They will have played Tennessee and Charlotte before our game so they should have their act together when they roll into Athens. Incidentally, they face Kentucky after us. Those four games combined with returning the bulk of their talent should give them an RPI in the 150-200 range next year.

Also, Coach Ed Biedenbach of UNC-Asheville was an assistant coach at Georgia for Hugh Durham from 1981-1989.

The existing 2009-2010 Georgia Basketball schedule so far:

Home:
Georgia Tech
New Orleans (Billy Humphrey's return)
UNC-Asheville

Away:
St. John's (Big East Challenge in Madison Square Garden)
Missouri
Virginia Tech

Neutral:
Illinois

You won't find many SEC or ACC schools playing five BCS schools in a year. In fact, last year Kentucky lead all SEC and ACC teams by playing six non-conference BCS conference members. Most SEC and ACC schools played 2-4 such opponents. UGA faced four of them.

Plus, rumblings indicate that one or two quality mid-majors (RPI 50-100 caliber programs) will still be added to the slate. It'll be a manageable schedule that the computers will like. The trick to basketball scheduling is to avoid the sub-300 RPI teams that Felton booked extensively.

I still think it's an NIT team at best, but that would definitely be an improvement over all but 4 days of the past two years.

PWD

A Dawgly Black Sheep Passes

On June 20th, retired Marine Col. Kenneth L. Reusser (age 89), passed away in Portland, Oregon. The former Georgia Bulldog football player and wrestler was a two time winner of the Navy Cross for bravery in World War II and the Korean War. He earned his second Navy Cross as a member of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, nicknamed the "Black Sheep Squadron."

The Washington Post profiled Reusser as part of their July 4th coverage. His obit is an incredible read. His life is the sort that Dan Magill typically writes about in his series of articles I call "Bill Brasky Eat Your Heart Out."

BTW -- I'm not selling this big enough. Let me mention that...he ran out of ammo mid-flight so he chased a Japanese recon plane for 100 miles and then rammed him in mid-air from the rear to knock him out of the sky. That's why you should be reading this.

If you have a minute, give his story a read.

PWD

ht -- Eric T.

Official UGA Deck Parking Passes on Sale

From UGA Communications:

Season-Long Parking Pass
Parking Services will once again offer a season-long parking permit at multiple locations on campus.   Parking permits will guarantee you a space in the parking deck you have chosen. No more rushing to beat the crowds.

Season parking permits will be sold on a first come, first served basis regardless of point status within the Athletic Department's giving system. Permits in selective decks will sell out quickly.

Pricing
2009 SEASON PARKING PERMIT
$120.00 ($20 per game for 6 home games)
plus shipping & handling

Click to buy.

(This isn't a sponsored link of mine. Although, it would be cooler if it were)

Reporters returning back from vacation

The beat writers and columnists are starting to return to work today after pre-SEC meetings hiatus/vacations. Tony Barnhart gets things started today by just talking about random tidbits. My favorite:

The SEC has now won 179 national championships in various sports since its founding in 1933. But 63 of those championships, over one-third, have come since 2000....
...The SEC sponsors 20 men's and women's sports. In 10 of those sports the SEC either won the national championship or was the national runner-up during the 2008-2009 academic year.

PWD

Happy 4th of July

On behalf of Quinton, Dawgnoxious and myself, I want to salute the men and women serving the country this Fourth of July. Seen above are 1st Lt Jason Gwinn (Class of '00), 2nd Lt Jonathan Rue (Class of '04). Rue is the one with the 'stache. He allegedly is a reader of the site, and for that we owe him a second thank you.

They are standing on a MRAP (mine resistant, ambush protected vehicle) before going on a patrol. You can click on the picture to enlarge and get a wallpaper sized version. The photo was sent in by Matt B.

Thanks fellas,


The Georgia Sports Blog Team

UGA vs. Michigan in 2010/2011?

Michigan fans react to this post.

Despite the rumors swirling around about a potential two game series between UGA and Michigan, we heard earlier this afternoon from a pretty good source that there's nothing to it. Certainly not now anyway. The rumor originated from the Michigan campus newspaper.

Additionally, Bill King the AJC fan blogger debunks the rumor via applying common sense to the situation; although, he made no indication of actually calling the athletic department and asking.

The original rumor had UGA traveling to the Big House in 2010 to open the season. King pointed out that UGA already has a season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette in 2010. However, that's not such a big problem according to the Athens Banner-Herald (05/18/09):

"Georgia would play Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 4, 2010 in the season opener, but that might be moved to a November date to accommodate another opponent the Bulldogs might add, [Arthur] Johnson said."

The real issues are these (some Bill outlined and some he didn't):
1. Georgia absolutely will not play a schedule with only five home games. To play a game at Michigan in 2010 (and the series would have to start there due to the UM schedule), UGA would only have 5 home games. For financial and political reasons that will never, ever, ever happen. Nor should it.

2. To avoid having only 5 home games, we would have to cancel the road game at Colorado in 2010 or move it. It would be extremely difficult to move that game given Colorado's schedule. So we'd have to buy the game out. Thereby reducing the financial incentive of playing Michigan in the first place. I would glady swap two games with Michigan for one game with Colorado. Or we could move the UF game out of Jax (kidding).

2. UGA's 2011 schedule is full. We've already moved the App State game once. I guess we could move it again. But we just booked NMSU so I'm doubting that we're about to move that one. That leaves the Louisville game. Pushing the first game in that series (home in 2011) out makes no sense because 2012-2014 is when the schedule turns more difficult with Bama and LSU returning to the rotation. So we'd have to cancel the series likely. Do you think that Georgia is going to pay the cancellation fees to end one game with Colorado and two games with Louisville just to play Michigan? That seems pretty expensive.

3. Michigan has only played three games in the Deep South during the regular season since the Great Depression. Those games include:

Chapel Hill - '65
Duke - '68
S. Carolina - '85

In my opinion, they aren't coming down here in September. You can pretty well forget that. Since 1922, Michigan hasn't traveled to the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missisippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia, Texas or Oklahoma. During those years, schools from almost all of those states have played games in Ann Arbor without a return trip. Including Georgia (1957 and 1965).

I would be shocked out of my chair if this happened. Thrilled. But shocked.

Brian Cook, leading Michgan blogger, doesn't think it'll happen either; although, some of his details are wrong about UGA's scheduling issues.

PWD

Trey Thompkins update from New Zealand

Howard "Trey" Thompkins III is in New Zealand with Team USA's U19 team, and things are going well. The team played an international friendly upon arrival in New Zealand against Croatia and won 97-68. 

Trey had seven points and seven rebounds in the game.  Team USA Head Mentor Jamie Dixon (head coach at Pitt) said this about the team so far:

"I would say the thing that really stands out (about the USA team) is how different guys have impacted throughout and how it has changed constantly. I had a couple of people who have been through this who said that. Even just in practices from one day to the next, guys would change, different guys would step up and I think really that's going to be our strength. The strength of this team is we have 12 players top to bottom, that might be our advantage over some other teams.

"John Shurna today played really well today and he didn't play as much in our last scrimmage. Tyshawn Taylor played really well, so we've had different guys. Seth Curry has been our leading scorer, so has Howard Thompkins, but today I don't think they were and so we had different guys today. I think that again will be our strength and we've really stressed that as well through these 10 days, that we're going need all 12 guys to win every game and I think the guys are seeing that as well."

To learn that Trey is one of the leading scorers for a team like this through the practice sessions is promising. It'll be interesting to see how he performs as they get into more serious international play.

PWD