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September 21, 2008

Yeah...but it was a Dry Can of Whoop Ass

The only downside to the game is that the box score doesn't reflect the magnitude of the beating.

When you look at all the individual match-ups that were won and lost, ASU only seemed to find one that they could attack. They went after Bryan Evans pretty hard. Beyond that, here are some thoughts:
  • Offensive Line - We had a non-starter at every position; yet, we put up 461 yards of total offense. I'm not really worried about the lack of a goal line push. We get Brannon Southerland back very shortly, and he'll cure our 3rd and 1 problems as a ball carrier and blocker.

  • Offensive Skill Positions - Given the youth up front, we had some occasional hole creation problems. The goal line situation when we were up 24-10 was a bit of a debacle. Otherwise, they got the job done. Oh yeah...and AJ Green = Holy Crap.

  • The Defense - Domination. The front four finally got some pressure, and the LB blitzes (which were happening more than folks wanted to admit before Sat...just not working) worked as well. If the run defense continues to hold up like this, we'll only face one passing game good enough to beat us without some semblance of balance.

  • Coaching - When UNLV beat ASU, I was worried that our guys would take them lightly. You could tell from the opening jump that Georgia was ready to play. I loved that we attacked ASU from the opening whistle. The long bomb is a low percentage play, but it showed Bobo immediately that ASU couldn't cover AJ. Late, some guys around me were bitching about the toss sweep call on 3rd and 1 that resulted in a fumble. One of our best offensive plays is the Toss Sweep and most of Moreno's best runs were off the Toss Sweep. I wasn't thrilled that we went for the FG on the goal line up 24-10, but it was the right call. It effectively ended the game. I don't think Richt makes that call in the 3rd quarter.
As for the penalties, I'm not a big conspiracy theory guy. I usually don't think that SEC refs (Penn Wagers aside) "have it out for Georgia" as much as they simply aren't very good at their jobs. Having said all that...if the Sun Devils needed a big play last night, there was a guy in stripes there to make it for them. I'm still in Tempe, and I haven't seen the replay yet. But it looked to me like the biggest calls of the night were questionable. More on that later.

Overall:
Georgia has now won 11 games in a row. During that stretch, we have won 9 of the last 10 by ten or more points. To those that question whether or not the Bulldogs have been "dominating enough," chew on that last stat for a while.

BTW -- As for the commenters here and elsewhere that insist on posting "so and so sucks." We're ranked in the Top 3. Can you please take a deep breath before posting that stuff?

PWD

49 comments:

Squarebush said...

And we have the number 3 rush defense in the nation. (Though the 85th passing D).

Next weekend is one of those cases where something's gotta give.

UGA rush D: 3rd (45.8)
Bama rush O: 14th (236.75)

Bama rush D: 8th (55.0)
UGA rush O: 35th (189.25)

UGA pass D: 85th (229.25)
Bama pass O: 105th (150.8)

Bama pass D: 47th (188.25)
UGA pass O: 29th (260.8)

Athens is going to be a nut house next weekend. It was enough that looney Bama fans were coming to town, but throw in two unbeaten top 10 teams, a night game, and now Gameday and you have a recipe for a night game unlike any other in recent years.

Anonymous said...

That wasn't a toss sweep, it was that misdirection "Florida Pitch" or whatever it is called.

Anonymous said...

Is Southerland back in for sure against bama or is it still wait and see?

Anonymous said...

It's official Gameday in Athens this Saturday. CollegeGameDay.com

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget a potential Blackout return to Athens--insanity.

Anonymous said...

it wasnt a toss sweep as the previous commenter pointed out.

Also, i thought it would be SEC officials as well, but it was a Pac-10 crew. Can someone explain that?

MY GOD I WISH I STILL LIVED IN ATHENS FOR THIS WEEK!!!!

C. Paul said...

Thank you Paul for the sanity at the end of your post. I appreciate constructive criticism and honest commentary - but the whining and whaling has taken on another level over the past few weeks.

We're undefeated, #3 in the nation, have the one of the nation's best QB's, RB's and MLB. AJ Green and Tavarres King may end up being the greatest WR combos we've ever seen and we're so deep at RB that there is a slight chance that our #3 TB (R. Samuel) should be moved to DEF where he could reek havoc like Thomas Davis.

Oh, and add to that that Gameday is coming this weekend for the UGA/Bama game and I'd say life is very, very good as a DAWG.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:01

The Pac 10 is the only conference that doesn't allow the visiting OOC opponent to bring their own crew. Their policies only allow for Pac-10 refs.

Squarebush said...

Richt: "The black jerseys are in Athens and I'm just not sure when we're going to wear them. But we will wear them this year."

I wouldn't be surprised if they did not wear them at home. Neither LSU or Florida would surprise me. I highly doubt we would wear them at Auburn.

I guess we will find out in the next day or two if it will be next week.

Of course, the team doesn't have to wear black for the fans to black the stadium out.

Anonymous said...

I was in high school the last time Gameday came to Athens.

Anybody have any idea about where they'll set up? Also, what time to get there to get close (I'm not opposed to 4 am...I have some choice words for Corso and I want to make sure he can here me.)?

Anonymous said...

I'm glad Caleb got the majority of the carries behind 'Shon last night. I would love to see Richard get some work at Sam though... he seems like a good fit.

With Southerland back, we will be unstoppable on the goaline. Aj on the fade, Know with the toss, or Brannan up the gut, what's a D coordinator to do?

Anonymous said...

Too damn many penalties!

The tripping call looked like a phantom call on the several replays I ran on the DVR. The delay of game to move back the FG was an intentional one.

Still that leaves 10 penalties. I doubt this team can win the SEC much less the BCS with that sort of play.

Throw in confusion on substitutions and etc and there is a level of sloppiness that irks me.

S.A.W.B. said...

Not only were several of the calls against us questionable, but so were the non calls - the chop block against Jarius Wynn and the no-call on several facemasks in the second half against Knowshon stand out.

I can't believe i'm happy that we'll have SEC refs again this week...

Anonymous said...

i think bobo's still learning as a play-caller: flashes of brilliance mixed in with some head-scratchers. but he's already pretty good, and he ought to get better still.

i really hope that what we saw last night was the emergence of a three-man game with stafford-moreno-green. if so, we should be able to field a completely devestating play-action offense.

Anonymous said...

Can someone please post and verify when Southerland is supposed to return? It's amazing that I cannot find that info anywhere.

PWD???

dean said...

What's all the talk about Southerland for this week. The last I heard he would pull some special team duty and that's it. Have I missed an udate on his situation?

Anonymous said...

I think the plan is still punt protection vs. Alabama and a full return against Tennessee.

My guess would be that this is the plan so he will have the bye week to really get back into the groove on the 1st team O.

Anonymous said...

No doubt, we all wanted a touchdown intead of that field goal when we were on the goal line in the 4th. I cetainly did. Pure blood lust.

But CMR absolutely made the right call. The FG made it a three possession game which at that point in the game is the death blow. Right call.

Bdavis said...

I have no idea where to do the research on this, but I'm about 95% sure that the official last night was the same one that we had in the West Virginia game in the Sugar Bowl...

Squarebush said...

Anon 1:09,

They set up on the roof of the Tate Center in '98 with the stadium as the backdrop.

Anonymous said...

it was the sugar bowl crew, fwiw. Awful, awful officiating. I actually know one of the refs and am tempted to give him a piece of my mind. Our players could have been seriously injured on a few personal foul non calls

Anonymous said...

I agree that that FG late was the right call, but I still think Knowshon got in on 3rd down. I thought so last night live and through the replays and watched it again this morning several times confirming my belief. Either way, we dominated. Great game for the Dawgs! Let's keep it rolling against Bama this week!

Kevin said...

Redcrake-
Corso deserves what you may have to say, but please don't come off as the obnoxious dawg fan that caused a decade drought of Gameday appearances. Unfortunately, I've moved out of GA and this is the first season since I went to school that I cannot attend all the games (I decided before the season to come for the Tenn game, that's looking like a bad choice now).
I will miss this gameday experience but maybe they'll come back next year. I cannot wait another 10.

Anonymous said...

Pac 10 can't compete with the SEC.Plain and simple.I want to see USC and the Gators battle this year and settle it once and for all!

Anonymous said...

Kevin,

I assure you, my comments will be reasonable and well-thought out. No "Corso is a penis" coming from me. Me at Gameday set...Loud, yes. Obnoxious, no.

Kevin said...

Redcake-
Actually, 'corso is a penis' is simple, direct, and to the point.
It only lacks originality.

Squarebush said...

Kevin,

"Corso deserves what you may have to say, but please don't come off as the obnoxious dawg fan that caused a decade drought of Gameday appearances."

...is what I am afraid of. As much as UGA fans/"fans" have been whining about ESPN lately it could get ugly. Hopefully not, but sometimes I don't have a lot of faith in UGA fans/"fans"...though more so the "fans".

Anonymous said...

Gameday crew cannot set up on top of Tate this year; too big of a set. And they won't be on the bridge. UGA has offered up the quads at either Reed or Myers Hall, but no word from espn on if they approve. They typically like the stadium in the background.

Anonymous said...

Excatly square. We can't bitch & moan about not getting enough love from espn only to act like a bunch of classless asshats when they show up for gameday. Can't have it both ways folks. I don't like corso either, but I want them to fall in love with uga. Like it or not, that shit matters.

Kevin said...

squarebush-
I'd like to say I've been a fan but I know at times i can be a "fan". However, I try to tunnel it towards people I believe are as obnoxious or more so than us. Florida, LSU, maybe Tenn. Never Auburn.

I hope the 'overserved frat boys' don't ruin Gameday's experience. I'd love to see them around next year. (Why did I choose this year to move??)

Anonymous said...

Would chanting "41-68-2" (Corso's record at IU) be considered obnoxious?

Anonymous said...

By the way, we stayed at #3 in the AP and Coaches poll.

Anonymous said...

I say give the 'blackout' a rest and let the boys earn it like they did last year. Not saying I'm not proud of where we are right now but let's put a full-on ass whoopin' to one of our ranked SEC opponents then bring on the evil Richt! As Richt said we haven't put a full good game together just yet. Many improvements each week.

Unknown said...

Did it seem like AS was keying on every move Moreno was making last night?

Kevin said...

is there a website that has corso's record for picks he's made on Gameday? Maybe just the 'game of teh week' pick? I'd love to see how accurate he actually is

Anonymous said...

Anybody got any ideas where gameday will be setting up? Due to the construction, I could see them setting up in the quad between Reed, Memorial, and Milledge Hall right to the north of the stadium. Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

anon 4:30 - read through the comments. Someone's already posted where the options are for setting up gameday.

And, fyi, coach richt has already decided when the black jerseys will be pulled out. he said last week that has been decided for sometime now and they're keeping it a secret until the week of the game. My best guess is tennessee.

Anonymous said...

Quote from Marc Weiszer's blog.....

--Fullback Brannan Southerland is on the trip, but isn’t dressed out. Coach Mark Richt has said Southerland could serve as a personal punt protector next week and be back as a fullback against Tennessee. Having him on the sideline is a nice reward for the senior.

Crane said...

blackout per times free press


http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/sep/21/georgia-wear-black-against-alabama/

ugagirl24 said...

Okay, I'm pretty nervous about Bama next week. As we all know they are HOT right now, like we were at the end of last season. They really aren't making mistakes and definitely not racking up all the penalties we are. Last night was an improvement, but we've got a long way to go. Right?

JasonC said...

RE: phantom penalty on Wynn
The replay showed that the offensive player didn't come from behind (i.e. clip) and Wynn wasn't engaged with another player. I don't know all the exact rules about a chop block (ask somebody from GT or AU), but after the replay it looked fairly clean.

The OL is improving, but we face a really good D next week that has a monster DL (365 lbs), that we will have to stop so the skill players can shine.

Anonymous said...

Richt has asked for a blackout saturday, wear black!!!

Anonymous said...

I would have liked it later in the year, but this is likely our only home night game of the year and Gameday will be here, so it makes sense.

Gooo Dawgs! Let's black em' out!

Anonymous said...

Does it matter what we think?! Do it for the Blackout for the Dawgs!!

Will said...

@ugagirl24

Remember, Bama still has John Park Wilson at QB, and while he's another year older, it's a new offensive system for him.

Don't let that 49 spot they dropped on Arky fool ya:
1. Arky really, really sucks this year.
2. They didn't look that impressive on offense in the 2nd half.

What does worry me:
1. Kick coverage. Bama has the talent to run one back.
2. Our OLine vs. Bama's Dline. Freshman center vs. nearly 400 lb. DT is not a matchup I look forward to at all.

Eric said...

Ernest @ 4:16...I don't think they were necessarily keying on every move, but rather, when your name is Knowshon, a Heisman contender, and the laws of gravity don't seem to apply, then there are probably 11 players always watching you out of the corner of their eye.

Anonymous said...

Wow, just browsing the sites and rivals spotlighted moreno's day. Anyone else see the hit tony wilson put on A State's end on the first run?!! HOLY CRAP!

http://www.rivals.com/video.asp?section=football&pkey=&vidtype=highlight&vidid=1442

Trey said...

First of all, so and so sucks. He couldn't tackle, pass, or coach his way out of a paper sack if you cut the bottom out.

Second, though I'm without a rule book in my hand, I'm pretty sure a chop block is only legal within "the box" (and no that is not a euphemism for anything untoward). I would have to go back and watch the play to see whereabouts on the field it occurred, but that's why you see players get called for chop blocks downfield, on special teams, etc. And that play was a chop block way more than the tripping call was tripping.

Third, the NCAA needs standardized, universal officials instead of each conference having their own. There are so many judgment calls in football, and each conference seems to interpret certain rules differently. This creates a disadvantage for one team... usually the team that is not from the PAthetiC 10 whose officials universally suck. Like so and so.

Anonymous said...

Realist,

So and so does not suck! You are so freakin' negative. Why can't you just trust the coaches and try to be a fan instead of a "fan."

This whining and "whaling?" has to stop! If you can't post everything positive you shouldn't be allowed to post at all!

 
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