Red October (By JeromeFromDecatur)

(30 penalty yards? Acceptable risk. Exit Visitor Sideline. At my command.)

Several days later as talking heads and message board pundits scold and blovate on a touchdown celebration and the Decline of Western Civilization, I kept hearing a distinct voice rattling in the back of my head. Have heard it since Saturday afternoon around four o’clock. Only while watching the game’s replay on Florida’s Sun Sport Network did I realize the voice in my head was the ex-Soviet sub commander (with an Irish brogue) Captain Marko Ramius.

Ramius once sandwiched between two super powers wanting his scalp, consoled himself with history and the fact that when Cortez reached the new world, “…he burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated.” Ramius, who hopefully caught the game while relaxing in a fishing cabin in Montana or Maine, was surely smiling on Saturday.

As I watched Trinton Sturdivant wiggle and wag his head and Joe Cox beat his chest, I thought back to those Spanish soldiers from so long ago as walls of flames licked the night sky, turning to ash their only way home. It’s not hard to think of what those Spanish soldiers said. I imagine it was similar to what I and so many of Georgia people were saying Saturday as our team came sashaying onto the field—“Oh sh*t. This sh*t is on.” Except the soldiers said it in Spanish, which, of course, probably sounds a lot better.

Watching the Gator replay, I was able to finally make out that voice in the back of my head when color commentator, former Florida defensive back Barry Ackerman, reacted to the celebration. Ackermann, who played on Spurrier’s first team at Florida, immediately said how Spurrier preached how the Gators had to believe they could beat Georgia. Ackermann got nostalgic about how beating Georgia was Psychological. He suggested Richt was doing something similar. The comparison—an unintentional slip—was telling.

Spurrier would go on to spend the next decade doing this whole ship burning thing, conducting blunt and brutal Psy-Ops against college football and targeting UGA with particular menace. Each year after the WLOCP, Georgia fans were disgusted. We were outraged. We were surprised. We complained. And while we spoke of class, Florida spoke of victory.

At the end of the broadcast when it was clear a Florida defeat was imminent, Ackerman changed his tune. He offered the requisite Broadcast-Speak of congratulating Georgia, but then he went on to recall the “celebration” from the fist touchdown. He said he felt both “disgusted” and “surprised.”

Both of those emotions are accurate. Only one of them is relevant.

See Also
-- Gator Fans of the Week - DeepSouthSports
-- A Beautiful Sight - Dawgsonline

JeromeFromDecatur

Recruiting and housekeeping

First off, the Dawgs got two big commitments today from Dontavius Jackson (RB, Heard County HS) and Sanders Commings (ATH/DB/WR, Westside Augusta HS). As Dean Legge from Scout.com pointed out today, the Jackson commitment gives the Dawgs a commit at every position except QB, Fullback and Offensive Tackle.

We have a roster and commitment list full of fullbacks, H-backs and TEs so no issues there, and we've got plenty of young QBs in Stafford, Cox and Gray.

Offensive tackle remains a huge open priority for the recruiting class. It basically looks like this group has a Cordy Glenn sized hole in it. Glenn is listed at 6'6" and 315 lbs by Rivals.com, and I have it on very knowledgeable authority that he could be larger in both respects. Good bigger not fat bigger.

I don't generally do a lot of recruiting coverage, but Glenn was described to me as (paraphrase) "bright, qualified and hard working with exceptional quickness and strength. He is exactly what the Georgia program's offensive line needs." When you get such a glowing endorsement from a legitimately knowledgeable source on the topic, it gets your attention.

I don't care about recruiting rankings, which is a legitimate thing to say when your team's class is ranked in the Top 2-4 by virtually every service of note. I don't care about stars beyond simply a frame of reference for talking about recruits over beers. As a fan, I judge recruiting classes based on questions like:

-- Did you sign kids that the programs at your level and up desperately wanted?
-- Are those kids spread across positions of need?

There are always exceptions like Tony Gilbert, Randy McMichael, Thomas Davis, etc. Guys that no one wanted that turn into All-Conference beasts, and guys like Jasper Sanks and Mudcat Elmore that don't turn into the well hyped studs from their billing. However, if you load up on a class full of "sleepers" you'll generally find yourself with a program that's asleep.

The 2008 signing class is currently loaded with kids who our peer schools badly wanted. There are a couple of "tweeners" and kids that I'm not sure have an actual position in the existing Georgia scheme in this class (more on that post-signing day), but overall it looks like a high quality group.

We still need an offensive tackle or two to lock this thing down. Then all we need to do is play with the fire from the Cocktail Party during all the big rivalry games. Hell, we'd never lose. ;)

(oh....the other thing. I got rid of the juke box on the blog. No one was using it, and it was just slowing the page load)

PWD

2008 Defense: A Look Ahead

As if you needed another reason to smile this week. Next year, we return 9 of 11 defensive starters from the Florida game. With that in mind, let's look at a possible 2008 line-up.

Buck DE: J. Wynn (SR) - Wynn, a junior college all-american at defensive end, was *finally* moved back to his natural position of DE for the Florida Game. Lots of candidates to back him up here including Battle, Dobbs, Lemon, Woods, etc. Prediction: Upgrade in size and strength in '08.

RUSH DE: R. Battle (JR) - Moving Battle over from Buck to Rush would give us 40 more pounds over Howard. We'd lose a step in pursuit, but we'd improve vs. the run. Lomax will be a senior next year, but he's mostly a pass rush specialist. Prediction: Upgrade vs. the Run. Downgrade vs. the Pass.

DT: Owens (Sr) - He has been slowed by ankle problems this year, but he has a world of ability. Corvey Irvin as a SR backup is also nice. Prediction: Upgrade in experience.

DT: Atkins (JR) or Weston (Jr) - Either way, a solid veteran group. Prediction: Upgrade in experience as we field the most experienced and talented group of DTs in memory. There's probably not a Jonathan Sullivan, Richard Seymour or Glenn Dorsey in that group, but there's more than enough SEC Caliber DTs to make it tough to run on the interior DL.

Overall DL Thoughts: The Martinez/Van Gorder defensive scheme from the past few years demands a front four that can get a consistent pass rush without having to send two blitzers per play. We haven't been deep enough, big enough, experienced enough or talented enough the past two years to provide the stable front four the scheme requires. The size, depth and experience challenges should be gone next year.


SLB: Dent (So.) or Ellerbe (Sr.) - Ellerbe played some SAM linebacker vs. Florida for the first time. Much of that came while Georgia was in its 3-3-5 look. Dent has out played B. Miller in my opinion already this year. Prediction: Upgrade in speed and ability regardless of which direction we go vs. Brandon Miller.

MLB: Ellerbe (Sr.) or Washington (Sr.) - I think Ellerbe's starting spot will be determined by Dent and Washington. In other words, if we want the best 3 LBs on the field, we already know that Ellerbe is one of them. Upgrade in experience if its Washington here. Upgrade in speed and experience if its Ellerbe here.

WLB: Curran (So.) - Against Florida, Rennie had the best game for a Georgia Weakside Linebacker since Tony Taylor left. If he stays healthy, he should hold onto the 1st team job and enter next season with six starts under his belt. Upgrade in experience.

Overall LB Thoughts: This group needs to show week to week consistency for the rest of 2007. The only consistent performer so far has been Ellerbe; although, the group took a quantum leap forward in the Florida game. Gamble, Dewberry and White could all become quality players, but at least two of those three needs a lot of work. The talent is there in '08 to improve the LB corp dramatically.


WC: Prince Miller (Jr) or Bryan Evans (Jr) - I'm not up to speed on the injury situation. Is Bryan Evans hurt because it seems like Miller gets clowned quite a bit in coverage and his tackling is a bit suspect. Either way, we return depth here. Push or Upgrade (I say Push b/c Prince won't get any bigger)

SC: Asher Allen (Jr) - Allen has played better and better each week. Upgrade in experience. My only concern is depth. I'm not sure who his back-up would be. Remarcus Brown is basically buried on the depth chart right now.

S: CJ Byrd (Sr) - I'm expecting some sort of three safety rotation where Quinton Banks backs up both Jones and Byrd. We lose experience and leadership from Kelin Johnson, but we're replacing him with another fifth year senior. It's probably a push.

S: R. Jones (So.) - With a year of experience under his belt, I think he makes the proper play on the first quarter deep ball near the end zone vs. the Gators next year. That first TD was simply a rookie play. He has the speed and size to be a monster safety. Upgrade in experience.

Overall DB Thoughts: UGA cornerbacks have typically blossomed late in their sophomore seasons. The junior year has been the payoff year. That was true for Wansley, Bryant, Thorton, Minter, Jennings, Oliver, etc. Martinez has subbed safeties more liberally this year than he has in any year that I can remember except '03 when he utilized Greg Blue off the bench for Jones and Davis. In other words, the backups aren't as green as normal.

In Sum:
Not only do we return 9 of 11 starters from the Florida Game. But we return 18 of 22 players on the defensive two-deep. Only Brandon Miller and Thomas Flowers are seniors among the back-ups.

The future looks bright.

See Also:
-- 2007 UGA Depth Chart - Georgiadogs.com
-- We game planned energy and Xs and Os - Get the Picture


PWD

A final, final word on The Celebration

I keep wanting to say that I'm finished with this story, but it keeps lingering. My favorite article so far is Tony Barnhart's article about The Celebration with current and former coaches. All the former coaches interviewed LOVED the move including Pat Dye, Terry Bowden, Danny Ford and others.

On the parody front, the folks over at CSTV have published the letter that Mark Richt should have written to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, and Senator Blutarsky has been covering this story like his own personal Watergate.

The new CSS show "Dawg Report" with Buck Belue, Matt Stinchcomb and Matt Stewart saw a great point come to light. Stewart asked, "How is this any different than a baseball manager throwing a tantrum on the field in an effort to get thrown from the game and motivate his team?" I liked that analogy.

Personally, I keep coming back to the single most important point. We won. Gators lost. Amen.

Speaking of winning and enjoying the fruits of our victory, the Georgia Sports Blog store just got some new stuff in. They've got two more designs for Victory T-Shirts. One in Red and one in white. I still can't believe that they don't have Moreno Jerseys, but what are you gonna do?


Click to learn more.



Click to learn more.

PWD

CBS on the Florida Game

Some interesting comments railing on Florida's safeties. Also solid comments on Richt going after the Gators from the jump.

PWD

Georgia vs Florida Wallpaper: 2007

The Pork Whisperer (aka Iron Chef Turducken) took the following pics during the UGA vs. UF game. Click to enlarge for Wallpaper sized version.











Thanks for sending the pics!

PWD

Troy QB listed as doubtful, but....

But he insists he will play. David Ching has the news about Omar Haugabook, Troy QB. Per Ching:

Haugabook would be replaced by the combination of Tanner Jones and Jamie Hampton if he can't go, but Haugabook is hard to replace. He's second on the team with 420 rushing yards and has a team-high eight rushing touchdowns and is passing for 260 yards per game, with 12 TDs and 11 ints. Jones and Hampton are a combined 6-for-19 for 69 yards and one touchdown.

Ching also has some recap notes from interviews with players about UF and Troy.

The Dothan Eagle's blogger talks with Omar about the injury and his expectation of playing vs. Georgia. Yesterday, I posted a bit on Haugabook's importance to the team, and some info on their general stats.

See Also:
-- Troy Trojans vs. Georgia Bulldogs Tickets - Stubhub


PWD

SEC Power Poll Ballot

Every week this ballot gets harder and harder. So, LSU crushes Mississippi State, who beats Auburn, who beats Florida, who crushed Tennessee, who crushed Georgia, who beat Alabama, who crushed Tennessee, who beat South Carolina, who beat Kentucky, who beat LSU. The conference is exciting, but volatile.

1. LSU - The Tigers are still the class of the conference. Now they head to Tuscaloosa for the most anticipated game of the season. The Tigers will likely be without their back up QB, Ryan Perriloux, as he ran into some, uh, trouble in afterhours Baton Rouge.
   
2. Auburn - Tubs always starts slow and finishes hard. The Aubs aren't an offensive powerhouse, they only scored 17 against Ole Miss, but they have a defense that should keep them in every game they have left.
   
3. Georgia - Who was that coaching the Dawgs? Whoever he was, he squeezed the best game of the year out of the Dawgs, who now have an outside shot at Atlanta.
4. Alabama - Can Nick Saban pull this off? He's had two weeks to prepare for a signature win. Bama isn't as talented as LSU, but this is a game Bama can win, but John Parker Wilson must stand tall in the face of what will be relentless pressure from LSU's D-line.
5. Tennessee - Fulmer keeps redeeming himself after embarrassments. Like Georgia, the Vols are capable of winning their last three and heading to Atlanta with the tiebreaker. But, also like Georgia, they are probably not consistent enough to win out.
   
6. Florida - Got ambushed in a game they normally dominate. Tebow wasn't himself, but Timmy didn't give up 42. Their defensive problems continue. The Gators need to get well this weekend (not likely) and unleash Timmy on Shiny Pants.
7. South Carolina - The Cocks looked like they were in for a UGA-style stomping in Knoxville, but woke up and climbed back in the game. If not for a well timed false start, Shiny Pants could have pulled another improbable win.
8. Kentucky - The Cats haven't been the same since the LSU game. They look like their old self, capable of scoring, but unable to stop anybody.
9. Arkansas - Ate a cupcake. DMac only gets 61 yards, but 4 TDs. This weeks game against the Cocks should match the excitement of the Auburn game, meaning as fun as watching two cinder blocks thrown at each other repeatedly until they turn to powder.
   
10. Mississippi State - Don't look now but State is making plans to party in the blinking and cacophonous casinos of Shreveport or Memphis in December. Yeah, Mississippi State.
11. Vanderbilt - Vandy only plays tight games. This must make Vandy fans both unsatisfied in victory and demoralized in defeat. But hey, you've got that SAT score going for you.
    
12. Ole Miss - Do I really have to explain this one? It's only going to get worse after the Oge suspended his best defender.
    

Quinton

A little more on the celebration thing

Chip Towers is expecting Coach Richt to receive a fine and/or a reprimand of some sort from the Southeastern Conference. I'm also expecting something along those lines. Frankly, I'd be shocked if Richt wasn't fined, and it'll be worth every penny.

(Image: Just after "Camera Incident" that drew the second flag. Photo by IronChefTurducken. Click to enlarge.)

If Mike Adams wanted to finally get some fans on his side, he'd match the fine to the charity of Richt's choice. He would then publicly back his coach in writing to the SEC. He could be polite and civil about it, but he should back his guy.

Around the Blogosphere:
-- UgaMummra has put The Celebration to music. Instant classic.

-- Senator Blutarsky has a series of articles on Class and The Celebration. I find myself in near total agreement with everything he says. In one of his articles, he points to Spurrier's smart ass comments on the situation.

-- Mark Schlabach gives the whole incident some historical perspective without coming down or endorsing the situation. On the other end of the spectrum, one blogger called it the most classless moment in college football history. Now, there's some OMG! HYPERBOLE!11!!1! Personally, I'm a fan of Woody Hayes punch on the Clemson kid or the GT 222-0 score against Cumberland for the most classless ever moment, but I'm open to other nominations.

See Also:
-- Stomp the Yard - Kyle King
-- When the Going Gets Tough - Doug Gillett
-- A tech fan with no concept of what class really is - StingTalk

PWD

New Cocktail Party Song

John Radcliff, AOL Fanhouse Blogger, is today's King of the Universe for putting this together. He has written a song called...

Do the Jorts Fit Better
With a Bulldog's Foot in Your Ass?

God Bless the Cyberwebs.

PWD

Georgia vs. Auburn to Kickoff at 3:30 pm

Image: AJC

Breaking -- Dean Legge of DawgPost.com says we're playing the Tigers on CBS at 3:30 pm on Nov. 10th. SECSports.com confirms it.

Other Nov. 10 SEC games on TV:
Florida at South Carolina (ESPN, 7:45 p.m.)
Arkansas at Tennessee (LF Sports, 12:30 p.m EST)
Alabama at Mississippi State (LF Sports, 12:30 pm EST)

See Also:
Georgia vs. Auburn Tickets - Stubhub.com

PWD

Troy is Next: What You Need to Know

The "Men" of Troy enjoy a slip n slide for SI.com (ht - begger and EDSBS)

So what do we need to know about these guys? It all starts with the obvious (Per georgiadogs.com): The Bulldogs and the Trojans share two common opponents. Georgia beat Oklahoma State 35-14 in the season opener and Troy topped the Cowboys 41-23 two weeks later. The Trojans dropped a 59-31 decision to Florida.

Secondly, no discussion of Troy is complete without mentioning the uber gay photo shoot above. All your gays belong to them.*

The Troy offense is lead by Omar Haugabook a senior quarterback who has a nice arm and can run very well. Luckily for Georgia, Haugabook hurt his hamstring on Saturday vs. Arkansas State, and he was pulled from the game in the fourth quarter. He is averaging 50 yards per game rushing (8 TDs) and 260 yards passing per game (12 TDs and 11 INTs). Against the Gators, Omar was 29 of 52 for 283 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT with two more rushing TDs. Granted, much of those stats came in the second half when UF was substituting pretty liberally after starting off up 49-7 at the half.

Overall, the team has a Top 25 ranked offense and their QB (when healthy) is one of the least sacked quarterbacks in America. If he's slowed to become one dimensional, it would greatly help from a scheme standpoint.

On defense, they stone cold can't stop the run. Oklahoma State ran for 241 yards against these guys while getting torched. They are ranked 101st in the nation in run defense surrendering more than 200 yards per game on the ground. Via the air, they are much more accomplished as they rank 7th in the nation in pass defense. In terms of special teams, the only thing that sticks out statistically is an exceptional punt return game.

This is a game where the recipe is simple. Feed it to Knowshon, get up early, sub often, stay healthy and get out of there with a win. When OSU imploded at Troy, they had 3 lost fumbles, two INTs and an unconverted fourth down. Protect the ball and we win an ugly homecoming game against a team with more talent than any of us want to admit.

See Also:
-- Troy's Team Stats - NCAA.org
-- Dawgs change practice schedule for Troy Week - DawgPost.com

Related Merchandise:
-- Tickets: Troy at Georgia starting at slightly over face value - Stubhub

PWD

*not that there's anything wrong with that.

It's A Celebration!

(Image: DawgPost.com)

There are times when one is exposed to the pure Hobbesian environment, where the laws of the jungle, not the law of man or God, rule supreme. As an example, it is thought that if one enters prison, the smartest strategic action to establish oneself on the right side of the foodchain is to fight someone the first day simply to show the other inmates that you are not to be trifled with. And the more frenzied the beating the better. Far better to be thought of as crazed than considered polite and vulnerable. Show everybody you are crazy and they are less likely to try you.

Mark Richt, polite and kind, acted like the latest inmate to arrive Saturday. As you all know, Richt ordered his players to incur a celebration penalty after Georgia's first score. Knowshon dove over the goal line for the game's first score and the entire team came out on the field to jump up and down, give the Gator chomp, and dance, dance, dance! The celebration was unprecedented, drawing considerable criticism. It was shocking, bold, and just what the Dawgs needed to set the tone in a series that has come to represent fear and sad defeat to the Bulldog Nation.

It was not the most polite or "classy" action, for sure, but it was necessary. Just as the prisoner needs to establish his willingness for ruthlessness, the Dawgs had to show that they were ready to fight. This willingness has at times seemed absent in Jacksonville. The Dawgs either got rolled by Shiny Pants or got all the bad breaks against Zook or Meyer. The defeats were either noncompetitive or excruciating and heartbreaking. The celebration announced that the Dawgs were here to fight, openly and unabashedly. But frankly, I think the celebration was more about Georgia, not Florida.

Our prisoner doesn't just fight to scare other inmates, he fights to show himself he can, girding himself for the long sentence ahead. It was meant to get the Gators off their game, but more to get into Georgia's head. It was calling the Gators out for a fight and inspire some confidence. Confidence that the Dawgs have left back home on most trips to Jacksonville. It's hard to play shy after that kind of spectacle.

Other than a single terrible throw by Stafford, the team played its best ball of the year Saturday. The Dawgs played like it meant something. And it meant more than they will know. Finally, the Gators have to refer to series history, class, jean shorts, or anything else we had to resort to when the scoreboard cruelly trumped all arguments.

As for class, I can certainly understand some of the criticism. We aren't accustomed to Mark Richt letting his team loose. The celebration was brash, ballsy, and on some level, crass. These aren't words commonly used to describe Richt. But, when you've been dominated in a series by being flat, tight, and error prone, why not do something dramatic to loosen your players up? It's out of character, but it was a change that Richt felt he needed to avoid another inevitable loss.

And I really don't want to hear about class from a team who runs reverse passes when they are up by 24 in the fourth quarter. Go hit Stafford while he's kneeling.

Quinton

Rubbing it in...

Click to View or Buy

Some of my favorite lines after the game were:
-- "Vandy called. They said welcome to the cellar."
-- "Honk if you sacked Tebow."
-- "Our kicker has more tackles than Tebow had rushing yards."
-- "Hey look, Willie bought a VCR."

List your best lines below.

What a game. Some pics:
-- AJC photo gallery 1
-- AJC photo gallery 2
-- DawgPost.com gallery

More headlines and comments later.

PWD

VICTORY !!!

(Image: AP)

I can't do much better than this picture. Congrats, Coach. You earned it today. More tomorrow.

Quinton

The Doh-nuts

More bad news for the basketball program: Takais Brown has been dismissed from the basketball program. Last month, Brown and two other players were suspended for multiple games because of class absences. One can only speculate that the suspensions weren't enough to get Takais's attention.

So it looks like we'll be relying on Bliss, Jackson (who is suspended for the better part of the nonconference schedule), Singleton, and freshmen in the middle, where Brown's suspension leaves a huge, gaping hole. Jeremy Price and Jeremy Jacob will need to provide immediate quality depth, if not start. A promising season is already falling apart.

Our troubles have even reached The Onion, who exaggerates our troubles and sums up our midnight madness practice: "Georgia: With the majority of its players suspended for poor classroom attendance, disobeying team rules, armed robbery, attempted rape, and arson, thousands of students gather to watch ball boy Terence Payson shoot left-handed lay ups for two hours."

Quinton

Slate.com Calls Charlie Weis "The Worst Football Coach in the Universe"

This is one of the most spectacularly blistering pieces you'll read from Slate.com. My favorite paragraphs:

Weis' Fighting Irish now stand at 1-7. This record is only the faintest indicator of just how awful Notre Dame is. They have lost nine of their last 10 games, by an average of 24 points. None has been close. While Notre Dame has suffered very few injuries, three of its opponents have had to play the Irish without their starting quarterbacks. Two of those teams, USC and Michigan, nonetheless beat Notre Dame by a larger margin than either has beaten any other opponent so far this year. Notre Dame's lone win came against UCLA, which had been forced to use its third-string quarterback, a walk-on. In that game, Notre Dame compiled just 140 yards of offense, but won with the help of seven Bruin turnovers, five of them hand-delivered courtesy of the hapless walk-on signal-caller.

Just how bad is Notre Dame? Of the 119 teams in Division I-A, ND is 119th in total offense, 119th in rushing offense, 112th in passing offense, and 118th in scoring. If Notre Dame had doubled its scoring output, it would still rank 108th. If it doubled its rushing output (currently 34 yards a game), it would barely eke out Duke for 118th place.

Notre Dame homer blog Blue Gray Sky has its lengthy retort. In reality, we won't know how bad Weis really is until next year when he has four recruiting classes of his very own to drive into the pavement. But right now...the stats are overwhelming. As my brother said, "every time you hear another Notre Dame stat that can't blows your mind with its awfulness, you hear another stat the next day that tops it."

PWD

When you've lost 15 of 17...

You look for good omen's every where. So I saw the biggest rainbow of my life over the bridge on A1A over Amelia Island Thursday night at dusk. That's either a good omen for football, or this weekend will be very gay.





PWD

Where's the Mute Button?

CSTV asks why Georgia ladies are the hottest co-eds in the country. I can't disagree with any of this, but drunk college girls are best enjoyed on mute.

BTW -- we're here in Jax. Posting will be random.

PWD

Reason #62,451 Why I Hate the Gators

If I really wanted to nitpick, I would point out that this particular logo has virtually no success against the Dawgs. It's the script Gators logo that's the mark of the Beast. I *wish* the Gators would've busted out their throwback uniforms in Jacksonville last year instead of against the Tide in G'ville.

Totally unrelated, but Terrence Moore has his bi-yearly article that I agree with. He basically says that it's time to stop making excuses about the location, the bye-week, the injuries, etc and just win the damn game. The streak is mind bogglingly ridiculous.

See Also:
-- Wanna be a Bull Gator? - EDSBS
-- Keep the game in Jax - Tony Barnhart
-- 5 Things: Florida Edition - DawgSports
-- God is a Bulldog: Lewis Grizzard - Anti-Orange Page
-- The rare open date - Chip Towers "blog"
-- The Open Date issue - Chip Towers full article

PWD

Stay Classy LSU

Warning. Barely safe for work. But funny in a guy humor sort of way.

Daddy didn't hug me enough.

PWD

ABH Podcast discusses the Cocktail Party

Listen as sports editor John Kaltefleiter talks with Michael DiRosso of the Athens Banner Herald, University of Florida beat writer for the Jacksonville Times Union, about Saturday's matchup.



PWD

Will Caleb King Play?

It's the will he or won't he question of the week. The articles...

-- David Ching interviews Coach Ball - Ching
-- King's debut may not be delayed - ABH
-- Will he play? - UGAsports.com ($)
-- King will travel - Columbus Ledger
-- Is it Caleb time? - AJC

Obviously, if Moreno goes down and the game is close, they pretty much have to play him. But what about the other dozen scenarios that could unfold? I'm with Senator Blutarsky on this one...do they think that he's ready or are they sweating Thomas Brown's rehab diagnosis?

From reading Coach Ball's comments, it sounds like they're making sure that Caleb is mentally ready to do more than catch toss sweeps. The best news of all...Caleb King has only been on the scout team for two or three weeks this season. So he *should* have a basic working knowledge of more than just a few plays.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with this on Sunday.

PWD

Thoughts on the Cocktail party

Image: Josh Massey

My confidence in the team and program is pretty low. Sure, I'm looking forward to this weekend's tailgate and festivities, but the game...entirely different story.

The pluses:
1. Martinez has actually kept Meyer's squad in check the past 2 years allowing only 2 offensive TDs each year.
2. We can catch the ball from time to time, and the Gator pass defense is average at best.
3. Florida can be beaten. See AU and LSU.
4. Knowshon Moreno

The minuses:
1. This isn't the '05-'06 UF offense. Tebow and Harvin are sick.
2. We haven't caught the ball consistently for any extended period this year.
3. We don't have LSU or AU's defense. Not by a long shot.
4. UF's run defense is pretty damn good.

I'm generally a sunshine pumper or at worse a realist. I rarely go into my dark cave of pessimism. But let's look at facts. In 2007, we have struggled with teams that have equal or lesser talent. The Gators are most certainly more talented than the Bulldogs, and you'll have to make one helluva argument that they aren't better coached right now.

My expectation:
Everyone loses football games some times, and it's completely unfair to hold this team accountable for what happened during 15 of the past 17 games in the series. It wouldn't kill me to lose the game, and honestly a win wouldn't totally shock me. Not this season when the entire college football world is upside down. But I do have an expectation or two...

My expectation is that the team compete.
I expect 60 minutes of balls out effort.
I expect UF to know they played UGA at the end.
I expect us to not play dead when it gets tough.
I expect us to not cross the Florida line and wet our britches.

I'm still showing up. I'm still giving 100% as a fan. I'll scream my lungs out win or lose, and I'm not leaving early no matter what. But I'm not excited about the real possibility of driving all the way down there to get the hell kicked out of us and have us look like we don't belong on the same field as them.

We are in Year Seven of this coaching regime. There are talent gaps that are legitimate and they are real, and regardless of how they came to be (a topic for a different post) they aren't going to change over night.

But talent gaps don't explain away what happened in Knoxville. And despite the complete lack of a transitive property in football (Just because A beat B and B beats C doesn't necessarily mean that A beats C), talent gaps alone don't explain how a team we beat (Alabama) could dominate a team (UT) that made our guys look like a novice JV Squad.


The gameday cure for my lack of confidence

I'm discouraged and worried about this game, but I'm not flying the white flag of surrender or giving up hope. I hope our team plays in a way that we can all be proud of. That's all I expect and want at this point. I want progress. Because the last two seasons haven't been about progress. They've been about week to week survival and working to not blow ourselves up followed by inexplicable moments of giddiness and then more buffoonery.

Some consistent upwardly mobile progress would be really nice at this point. Win or lose.

Go Dawgs.

See Also:
-- Moreno's example provides inspiration - ABH
-- WLOCP: Tale of the Tape - Get the Picture
-- Dawgs Brace for Tebow - Macon Telegraph

PWD