I'm still sick and feel like crap.
Check DawgBone.net for articles about the game and what not.
pwd
December 31, 2006
Great win for the Dawgs vs Hokies
James Brown: Love Power Peace
Long time Georgia Sports Blog readers know that I used to (and still occassionally do) put together Munson Mixes that combine Larry's voice over with music tracks. One of my favorites was the 2002 Season Highlight Mix.
It was James Brown Live in Paris 1971 from the Love Power Peace Tour. The two songs were Let the Brother Rap and Ain't it Funky Now. Begger found an actual Paris performance from James Brown on Youtube (same tour). It's below. It doesn't have any Munson voice over, but it's so damn good, I wanted to share it.
The Love Power Peace album is the best James Brown concert recording that I've ever heard. You can still buy the CD from Amazon.
Some thoughts on the Peach Bowl soon. I'm pretty heavily medicated right now.
PWD
December 29, 2006
Georgia vs. Clemson Hoops - Recap
Not much positive to say about this one. In a word - Regression. The AP recap is already up as is the box score. If you're looking for "what went wrong," you can probably start with the 26 UGA turnovers vs. the 11 Clemson turnovers. Particularly maddening was the 4+ times that our guards had the ball stolen from them from behind while walking the court up.
On the positive side:
-- Woodbury continues to improve by leaps and bounds. His stat line 14 points on 5-9 shooting including 4-6 from beyond the arc. He only turned the ball over once. Unfortunately, his 4 fouls limited him to 21 minutes.
-- Takais Brown was unstoppable under the basket. He put in 27 minutes, probably his longest stint of the year, while shooting 6-8 from the field for 13 points but only two rebounds.
-- Other than free shooting, Clemson is a good team. We didn't lose to a bunch of tomato cans.
The negatives are too long to list. But to sum up....our leading rebounders were Stukes and Gaines who combined for 15 of our 33 boards. Unfortunately, they also led the team with 14 combined turnovers and 3 of 15 shooting from the field. Our guard play was wretched.
The good news...our 5 best players are Stukes, Gaines, Mercer, Takais and Woodbury, and those 5 could play with lots of folks. Only, I'm not sure if those 5 get on the court at the same time b/c it's such an odd lineup.
It's a long season. Plenty of time for improvement.
PWD
December 28, 2006
Some Chick-Fil-A Highlights
The first article on VT's special teams is the one I'm most interested in. This year we had 3 punts blocked. The bowl game will likely be too close to withstand a blocked punt by either team.
Dawgs Get ready for VT's Kick Blocking Expertise -- AJC
Hokies put heat on Punters - ABH
Danny Ware may go pro - AJC
Dawgs turn up the noise - AJC
Thin Up Front - Ugasports.com
Dawgs visit Scottish Rite - AJC
Beamer: The Force behind the Hokies - DawgPost.com
Stafford's Best is Yet to Come - ABH
Bowl critical to Moses Draft Stock - SI.com
And in sucky Tech news, West Virginia's superstar RB, Steve Slaton, has injured his thigh. Damn. I want him and Pat White healthy for a New Years Day beat down of the Yellow Jackets. He'll play, but he's a little gimpy.
Also, don't miss DawgPost.com's Year in Pictures. My favorite is this one from the UK game:
Matt Stafford
PWD
Dawgs vs Clemson tonight in hoops
Tipoff time is 7:00 pm EST on Fox Sports. Some quick headlines:
-- Sundiata Gaines will play -- AJC
-- Dawgs present reality check for Clemson - AJC
-- Dawgs excited to get Gaines Back -- ABH
PWD
Tech "Men"
This sort of stuff writes itself. Interestingly, I think they are getting ready for their frat's social. Everyone just assumes they are prepping for game day.
PWD
December 27, 2006
Georgia Sports Blog at the Movies: We are Marshall
Matthew McConaughey gives a pep talk in "We are Marshall"
I saw We Are Marshall tonight. In a word.....Excellence. This isn't a cheesy sports movie. It's a well written, well produced story of human triumph. As you probably already know, the movie tells the story of how Marshall University, The City of Huntington and the football team rebuilt from the ashes of the Nov. 1970 plane crash that killed 75 people.
On board the plane were all but 4 varsity football players, all but one coach and many of the school and town's most prominent citizens/boosters. I had concerns about Matthew McConaughey being the lead character, but he does a solid job.
My advice. Take a box of tissue you with you. The "paint fumes factor" in this one is off the charts. A real tear jerker / feel good story. It gets the Georgia Sports Blog's full endorsement. The movie trailer (2:30 minutes) and other links of interest are below.
Links of interest:
December 26, 2006
Final Peach Bowl Ticket Note
Prices for tickets on Stubhub.com have come way down. If you're interested in picking up tickets for the game, now's the time. Check out the inventory here.
PWD
You've Been Croomed
Croom at practice. Image: Bulldogblitz.com
No idea how I missed this, but there's a new term on these here Internets.
"Croomed" (v.) - To lose your job as a head football coach upon being defeated by Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom.Rusty Hampton of the Clarion Ledger appears to have coined the term in November. The fellas at Hail Dear 'Ole State turned me on to it. Sly Croom has recorded 9 wins over the past three seasons at MSU. Per Hail State, here is how his opponents have faired:
- Coaches Croomed
Florida - Ron Zook
Murray State - Joe Pannunzio
Alabama - Mike Shula
Tulane (2 times) - Chris Scelfo (a year later)
UAB - Watson Brown
Night of living croomed
UK - Rich Brooks
OM - Ed Orgeron
Jacksonville State - Jack Crowe (Div I-AA)
PWD
Chick-Fil-A Bowl Articles
Unfortunately, this is not Jeff Jarrett. (Image: AJC)
-- Seth Watts is suspended for the game. Given Watts limited role, the biggest problem is the loss of a warm body. It is what it is. The AJC also has the story.
-- The Macon Telegraph talks with RB coach Tony Ball about getting ready to face his former employer in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. Some funny back and forth with Beamer about Ball and his playbook.
-- Bobo's turn to take the heat. The AJC talks about our new play caller.
-- Early last week, Carter Strickland (who I threw under the bus recently) wrote an exceptional piece on Tra Battle. It's a really heart warming piece.
-- The Banner-Herald talks about Moses as he tries for a Big Finish to his career at Georgia.
-- The Roanoke, Va. paper has a nice profile of assistant strength coach Keith Gray. Gray is from a long line of Hokie fans.
Unrelated...but check out the Huntsville Times for an interview with Bama's Joe Kines about the Oklahoma State option. Since we open the season with the Pokes next year, you might be interested in the article. The Independence Bowl airs on Dec. 28th at 3:30 pm.
ht-dawgbone.net for the reminder on this pic.
PWD
Coaching Carousel News
Alabama Coaching Search:
-- Finebaum is still pushing Saban. Although Saban has all but said, "Are you people deaf AND stupid? I don't want the Bama job." Personally, I think Finebaum is pushing the coach that he knows Bama can't land so that he can complain even more about whoever they do hire.
-- Joe Kines says his next move will be "to heaven." The new coach at Bama will either retain him, he'll move into an admin role in Tuscaloosa, or he'll retire. He's not moving again.
UAB:
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-- Callaway has named four assistants to his coaching staff. First, he announced Will Friend as his OL coach. Friend played OL at Bama in the mid-90s, and he served two years as a graduate assistant coaching OL under Callaway at UGA. He spent the last two seasons at Gardner-Webb. He also coached OL at Tuscaloosa high school.
-- Callaway's LB coach is Tyson Summers. Summers was also a graduate assistant at Georgia in 2005 helping out the DBs. He coached linebackers under Van Gorder at Georgia Southern in 2006. Summers spent time as a HS coach at his alma mater, Tift County, along with other small college stops.
-- Steve Davenport will coach an undetermined offensive position. He played and coached at Georgia Tech. He also coached at Decatur HS (State Coach of the Year), Redan (assistant) and Rockdale HS. He gives the staff excellent connections across the Atlanta recruiting area.
-- Corey Barlow will coach cornerbacks for the Blazers. Barlow was an All-SEC performer under Pat Dye when Callaway was also at AU. He's coming over from Rhode Island, but that's not what's interesting about his resume. He coached for 4 years at Morehouse, and he spent two years coaching Southside HS in ATL.
It looks to me that Callaway is bringing on a young staff with deep recruiting ties in Atlanta, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. It's a bunch of no-names, but it's guys tailor made to bust tail on the regional recruiting trails while making a name for themselves surrounded by SEC and ACC powerhouses. Smart move.
PWD
December 25, 2006
R.I.P. -- James Brown
James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.Brown wasn't just the hardest working man in show business. He was a dawg fan. Rest in Peace JB.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital over the weekend and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
PWD
December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas from the Georgia Sports Blog
(Image: This is not Dawgnoxious)
Ho. Ho. Ho. Thanks for making 2006 a blast for me. I'm constantly amazed at the number of people that visit (1.6 million page views and counting). Special thanks to Dawgnoxious for his ongoing help in keeping things fresh around here and keeping me (mostly) out of prison. Please keep dropping by!
Merry Christmas!
Paul Westerdawg
Georgia Sports Blog
(image: Amazon.com)
Randy Moss Video Parody
The same guy who did the Ron Mexico Video put this together. Merry Christmas everybody.
PWD
December 23, 2006
Hoops: GT recap
Image: georgiadogs.com
There are no moral victories in sports, but tonight's outcome was one I can live with. Georgia lost to Tech 78-69. The team was without point guard Sundiata Gaines due to injury. Mike Mercer is a solid player, but he's not a point guard. The box score showed 18 turnovers for the Dawgs. It felt like 30. Mercer had 7 turnovers, but it seemed like a dozen.
Pre-game, I said the keys to the game were Turnover/Pace, Free Throw Shooting and Three Point Shooting. Georgia never got past point #1. Tech dictated the tempo and pace of the game to us, and that was that.
We are what I thought we were going into the game. We're a 7 to 9 win SEC team that likes to run, struggles with the half court offense, but has a chance to go dancing. I still feel that way. Tech is talented, and they've got a big season ahead of them. We need to get Gaines healthy, and we need to become more disciplined in our decision making.
Most of our problems can be fixed with coaching and time.
More articles:
-- Tech wins - AP/ESPN
-- Young Leads Jackets - AJC
-- Jackets Evolve at UGA's Expense - Mark Bradley
PWD
December 22, 2006
Scouting GT: View from the Enemy
Nathan Fowler, AOL's GT Fanhouse Blogger, and I swapped articles/scouting reports on our teams for tonight's game. Below is Nathan's take on the Yellow Jackets and the Game.
- - - - - - -
By Nathan Fowler
Georgia Tech is an extremely young team still, playing 3 freshman and a sophmore heavily. The two McDonald's All-American freshman are the focus of the hype coming into this season, and while they have struggled at times - they have both lived up to their repuations for the most part. Unlike the Georgia Team that fell apart in the Stegamausoleum last year in a flurry of turnovers and self-inflicted destruction, this team actually has a real PG.
Image: RamblinWreck.com
Crittenton is perfectly in the mold of previous GT, big, physical and with a scoring bent. He still turns the ball too much, though a lot of it is trying to make flashy plays he really doesn't need (of his 9 TO's against Centenary, at least half were on crazy alley-oop attempts). Thaddeus Young has filled the hole at small forward well, and has fought through his knee problems early in the year to show his all court game the past two times out. He can score from anywhere, handles the ball well and is a strong rebounder and defender.
Other than the two big freshman, Lewis Clinch is the biggest difference in this team. He was hurt early in the year last season and didn't really get going until the ACC season was in full swing. I've heard a lot of Georgia fans claiming he was overrated coming out of high school, and Mike Mercer is the better player, but Clinch is destroying that notion right now. He's leading GT at 17ppg (in only 24 minutes per) and is shooting 57% from the field and 49% from 3. He shot 50% from 3 during ACC play last year, so it's not some fluke that he's shooting this well.
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This Georgia Tech team as a whole can score and rebound with the best of them. Despite having played a brutal schedule to this point (UCLA, Memphis, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Penn State and Miami all from "high major" leagues and only Penn State was at home) Tech is still offensive rebounding more than half of their missed shots. This is a remarkable statistic, and says a lot about Jeremis Smith and his attitude around the rim.
Ken Pomeroy has Tech as the 11th most efficient offense in the country (Georgia is 18th for comparison) and the team is shooting 40% from 3 for the season. While the half court offense looks ungainly at times, and despite the turnover numbers, Tech is putting points up on the board in big bunches.
Defensively is where the problems have been, as Tech has really struggled to contain dribble penetration and has no defensive shot blocking presence. This is a not a good situation to be in facing a Georgia team who's strength is in their guards, so I'm expecting a high scoring shootout type affair in the Thriller Dome.
Overall though, this is a very talented and good GT team who has only played 5 games at home and put a couple of thousand miles on their bodies before they even really began their college careers. Certainly as the season goes on I expect us to improve even more, and I think in front of what will be a flatout mean crowd at the AMC tonight they should be able to do enough on the glass and in transition to beat a (surprising to me) much improved Georgia team.
I think UGA v. GT will become a much better basketball rivalry in the near future, both programs are vastly upgrading their talent levels.
Nathan Fowler
AOL Fanhouse
My UGA vs. GT Pre-game Thoughts
Nathan Fowler over at AOL's GT Fanhouse asked for my pre-game thoughts. It's broken into two parts. First, some quick comments on the game. The second is some thoughts on our team. It was written primarily for a Tech audience. Much of you already know.
PWD
Basketball Quick Hitters
How am I going to stop Georgia? (Image: AJC)
"Tech has lost six straight to Georgia in football, six of the past 10 in men's basketball, 27 of 29 in women's basketball and two years ago got gut-punched by the baseball Dogs to be knocked out of the NCAAs — at Tech!" -- AJC
Pre-game articles:
-- Josh Kendall has his UGA vs. GT preview.
-- Hair raising season for Dawgs - ABH
-- Rivalry Revelry - ABH
-- Stukes can't miss - AJC
-- Dogs have upper hand in rivalry - AJC
Also, SI.com's Seth Davis has put together a Christmas article suggesting how to fill the missing pieces for a variety of power teams. Nice props hear for Georgia's Sundiata Gaines. He suggests that LSU's team would be complete with a guy like Gaines running the point.
Over on ESPN.com, Andy Katz has us at #15 on his Power 16. The composite Power 16 has us on the bubble.
PWD
December 21, 2006
Knife Wielding Maniacs Attack UGA Mascots (allegedly)
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Georgia was giving the Jacksonville Dolphins a 93-77 pounding Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum when the teens allegedly ran from their seats to the court floor and -- according to a university police report -- attacked the two mascots.Where to begin with this story?
Georgia students Tyler Martin, dressed as Spike, and Trey Dunn, dressed as Hairy Dawg, were knocked to the hardwood floor. In the process, the tangle of teens and mascots took down three young girls who had just finished performing in the halftime show.
A university police officer says the 18-year-olds smelled of alcohol and were carrying small knives. Breathalyzer tests showed both had blood-alcohol levels of 0.12 percent.
First off, UGA has announced a 2 year ban from Campus for these two alleged idiots. The state's legal system is still sorting out a more formal punishment. Personally, I think attacking Hairy Dawg with a knife should get you thrown out of the state...after your 30 year jail sentence is over.
Now, as for Spike. I pity the person inside the Spike uniform. I do. But if someone where to mysteriously kidnap his empty inflatable, annoying costume and throw it into a wood chipper, I wouldn't shed a tear. Or as LiquidCourage said, "If they had just taken out Spike, the crowd would've cheered."
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Personally, I use Hitman: Professional Killers, Inc. they "provide permanent solutions to common problems. " Clearly
May their punishment be swift and brutal.
PWD
ok - they had the knives on them. They weren't really using them.
Reggie Ball ineligible for Gator Bowl
Image: Jim Hipple
According to the AJC, Reggie Ball (Sr.) and Kenny Scott (Sr.) have both been declared academically ineligible for the Gator Bowl. Both players are ineligible by NCAA and Georgia Tech standards. Per the AJC:
NCAA rules require seniors to pass at least six hours in the fall semester to be eligible for a bowl. Tech rules require seniors to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average to play, according to the athletics department Web site. Gailey, citing federal privacy laws, wouldn't say how Ball fell short but said he was ineligible under NCAA and Tech rules.I'm sorry, but what? You didn't realize that your starting quarterback and cornerback were struggling to pass only six credit hours worth of classes and maintain a 2.0? Come again? In 2003, GT announced new procedures designed to ensure that a repeat of Flunkgate wouldn't happen.
"We would have probably been able to look at some things to help them a little bit better down toward the end of the semester if we realized they were in this situation," Gailey said.
I guess they didn't put those procedures through AutoCAD for the benefit of all the rocket scientists on the team. On the flip side, Reggie will have more time to get ready for The Draft. Unfortunately, Gailey probably thinks Reggie still has another
Gailey will start Taylor Bennett in the ultimate damned if you do damned if you don't scenario. If Bennett bombs and proves that Reggie really was the best QB on campus, then where is the optimism at QB for next year? The fan base's four year whipping boy -- Reggie Ball -- won't be around to blame when things go badly. On the other hand, if Tech wins behind a solid game by Bennett, then the Tech faithful (sic) has to wonder why Gailey didn't make the switch sooner.
pwd
See also:
GT loses QB for Gator -- AP
I'll Take: Least Damaging Suspension in History for 1,000 - Alex -- AOL
Hoops: UGA vs. Tech -- By the Numbers
Stats thru 12/17/06 (in other words, they don't include GT's beat down of Centenary or our clobbering of Jacksonville). Teams are ranked against all 325 Div. I basketball programs.
| Stat | UGA (NCAA Rank) | GT (NCAA Rank) |
| Scoring Offense | 91.6 (2) | 83.7 (15) |
| Scoring Defense | 64.1 (96) | 73.7 (255) |
| Scoring Margin | 27.5 (3) | 10.0 (73) |
| FG Percentage | 59.9 (3) | 50.6 (17) |
| FG % Defense | 41.2 (94) | 46.4 (265) |
| Free Throw % | 62.2 (288) | 64.5 (246) |
| 3 pt. percentage | 43.4 (8) | 38.6 (66) |
| Rebounding Margin | 11.0 (7) | 6.4 (44) |
| Assists / Game | 18.8 (10) | 15.4 (90) |
| Steals / Game | 11.9 (5) | 9.3 (33) |
| Turnovers / Game | 17.0 (223) | 16.6 (183) |
Thoughts on the stats:
- -- Tech has played a much tougher schedule to date. They've already completed games against UCLA (L), Memphis (W), Penn State (W), Miami (L) and Vandy (L). On the other hand, UGA has only played two "brand name" teams in Gonzaga (W) and Wake Forest (W). This throws the side by side stats way off.
-- Some things do jump off the page that remain relevant despite the quality of opposition. First, GT wants to run as much as UGA does. They are long and athletic, and their ability to change the game via steals and pressure is comparable to ours.
-- Both teams turn the ball over way, way, way too much.
-- Neither team is reliable from the free throw line. This is a big win for Georgia as it will be uncommon for us to play teams who shoots as poorly as we do from the charity stripe.
-- Georgia is deadly from beyond the arc. Our three point shooting continues to rise. After the Jacksonville game, Levi Stukes has upped his season average to 63% from 3 point land.
-- Two years ago, I don't believe that UGA could've scored 91 points if they were playing in an abandon gym with the entire team on the court using 5 basketballs at once shooting non-stop for 3 hours against thin air. To average 90+ on the season is incredible. Granted, we've played more than our fair share of tomato cans, cupcakes, hypenated colleges and orphanages. However, we hung 87 on Wake Forest and 96 on Gonzaga so the scoring average isn't a total fluke.
PWD
What's the Frequency Bobo?
Apparently, Mark Richt has named Michael Stipe as our new offensive coordinator. Image: DawgPost.com. I'm not saying. I'm just saying.
PWD
December 20, 2006
Site News: Upgraded to the New Blogger
Blogger.com, the Google owned service that powers this site, finally finished their upgrade. With the new functionality comes the ability for me to "label" posts. Anyone familiar with blogs powered by Word Press and other similar services are familiar with how this works.
I assume that I'll be able to incorporate the labels/tags into my side bar. But I'll figure that out later. I'm going to try and re-tag some of my articles over the past month or so. I doubt I'll go back beyond that.
Some of the labels you'll see will be:
- UGA
GT
recruiting
SEC
ACC
humor
national
basketball
football
Hoops: Dawgs Win vs. Jacksonville. Gaines Injured
Stukes scored a career high 27 vs. Jacksonville (image: georgiadogs.com)
The Georgia Bulldog basketball team beat the Jacksonville Dolphins 93-77 last night. However, the win was costly as our starting point guard Sundiata Gaines injured his right ankle. He's uncertain for Friday Night's game vs. Georgia Tech.
From the AJC's Chip Towers:
[Gaines'] status for Friday night's game at Georgia Tech is uncertain.
"I don't know; it's day to day," said Gaines, in a walking boot but without crutches. "It will probably be a game-time decision. I'll pretty much have to get as much treatment as possible to try to get back. It's frustrating, but as a player on this team, I have to encourage everybody."
Gaines came in averaging 9.8 points per game and leading the Bulldogs in rebounding (5.4), assists (5.1) and steals (3.5). He earned SEC honors this week for his performance in Saturday's 96-83 win over No. 16 Gonzaga, scoring 21 points with eight rebounds, five assists and six steals.
Some highlights from the Box Score:
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-- Mike Mercer played point guard in Gaines absence. He had a career high 11 assists along with 21 points. Unfortunately, he also had 6 turnovers. (Image: OnlineAthens.com)
-- Woodbury had 15 points, 7 rebound and 3 blocks.
-- The Bulldogs shot 82% from the free throw line in the first half, but only 42% in the second half. We have to improve from the charity stripe.
-- The Dawgs outrebounded the 'Fins 30-21, but we were beaten on the offense boards 9 to 16.
-- UGA had 12 blocks, 8 steals and 21 assists, but we had 22 turnovers.
More Articles on the Game:
- Dawgs Cruise Past Dolphins - Georgiadogs.com
Win Proves Costly - AJC
Interview with Terrance Woodbury - Dawgpost.com
Stukes Leads UGA to Victory - AP
Dawg Slam Another Foe - OnlineAthens
Also of note, Wisconsin comes to Athens on Sunday, Dec. 31st at 1:00 pm (EST). The Badgers are now ranked #4 in the AP Poll, and they could be ranked as high as #3 when they come to Athens.
To the best of my knowledge, this will be the highest ranked non-conference team that UGA has played in Athens since the #1 ranked UNC Tarheels came to town in '97 with Vince Carter and Antwan Jamison. That was one of the best/loudest crowds that I've ever seen in Athens. The Dawgs had a chance to win it in regulation, but Jumaine Jones missed a jumper from around 10-12 feet. We later lost in overtime. Georgiadogs.com still has great seats available for the showdown with the Badgers. Make sure you come out for that one.
PWD
Tech's Broken offense
Finger pointing never solved anything.
A guy claiming to be a former GT player under O'Leary talks about the Chan Gailey / Patrick Nix offense. He refuses to accept that it's all Reggie Ball's fault. It's coaching.
It's an interesting take.
PWD
December 19, 2006
Coach Bobo Named Offensive Coordinator and other Football Headlines
It's official. We've got a new OC. (Image: Georgiadogs.com)
From Georgiadogs.com official press release:
University of Georgia quarterback coach Mike Bobo will be promoted to offensive coordinator according to an announcement Tuesday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.
Bobo will succeed Neil Callaway who Sunday was named head coach at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Richt had turned over play-calling duties to Bobo in Georgia's last regular season game, a 15-12 victory over Georgia Tech, and said he would also call the plays in the Dec. 30 Chick-fil-A Bowl game.
In Other News:
Our current players provide scouting reports on all the redshirting freshmen. David Ching has the story in the Columbus-Ledger. Ray Gant's comments on Kiante Tripp, Brandon Woods and Demarcus Dobbs are the best. Gant on Dobbs:
"Great upside. A little quiet, needs to get more of a football mentality, a little more toughness. He has it, but he's a nice guy too, though. When he gets some of that j