Ok...let's be honest here. We're better than Vanderbilt, and it's not an insignificant talent gap. Other than a couple of DBs, I'm not sure that there's a starter for Vanderbilt that would beat out his peer at UGA.
That's not to say they can't play football. They most certainly can. It's also not to say that they don't play smart and relentlessly pursue victory. They do. Vanderbilt wins by not turning the ball over, not committing stupid penalties, playing solid special teams, and forcing you to cough it up. They lose when they don't do those things well.
Their offense is bad, and their defense is ok. We should win this game by 14+ points. But we won't. We rarely ever come into a Vanderbilt game with a big bowl of pissed off. We rarely come into any 12:30 pm home start firing on all cylinders, and we rarely sweep the leg in a game like this.
Quinton McDawg and I were talking on Sunday, and he said something along the lines of...."We are better. We should win." That about sums up my analysis as well. What else is there to say really.
If we let these guys hang around and keep their legs under them, we're going to have a painfully long afternoon. But if we finally act like a Top 10 team, this could be the confidence inspiring, swagger inducing kick in the pants that the team needs.
I'm expecting a W. Beyond that ... who knows.
See Also:
-- Focusing on the East - ABH
-- It's all about the East - AJC
-- Dogs win, but don't cover - AJC
-- Thursday Practice Notes - TotalUGA.com
-- Vandy needs to find an offense - Tennessean
-- UGA Midseason Report - AJC
-- Underclassmen Tea Leaves - ABH
-- Dores seeking 4th SEC Win of the Year - Tennessean
-- Adams rewarded for waiting in the wings - Tennessean
PWD
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11 comments:
this is going to be an easy win
you guys and most other uga fans really dissapoint me in how fickle and apprehensive you can be before games
i read so many people saying we were going to get dominated by tennesee, when i was saying all along they would be no problem for us... where are all of those people now?
ye of little faith
(btw, my name is navid and i'm a current student and fan of uga football since i was 5 years old... about '92 onwards... to go ahead and counteract anybody discrediting me for being an "anon")
1st, Navid? Interesting.
2nd, I don't think it's a bad thing to worry about your team. If you always expect the worst, you're always pleasantly surprised when something good happens. Alternately, if you always think the good is what's bound to happen, you're more often than not sullen at the end of the day.
blackertai, i totally understand where you're coming from...
but i really believe vandy doesn't have a chance against us... if you look at the stats (i believe they're in the bottom of the league in both offense and defense, 10-12th range for both categories), and if you compound it with the fact that they don't have a physical/athletic advantage over us in any part of the field, i don't think this game will be close
sure we've tended to underperform this year, and sure the 12:30 start time isn't doing us any favors, but if this score is within 14, color me surprised...
in fact, i don't know the line for this game (as i would never bet on the dawgs) but objectively i would give the 14
maybe i'm optimistic
Sweep the leg? Don't we have enough penalties? I'm all down with no mercy, no pain in this dojo, and all that but I don't think we need to sweep the leg.
To the first poster, were you saying the same things about "easy wins" over Vandy last year and the year before last? I'm sure you were....you sound like the type...and then I'm sure you bitched relentlessly when it didn't happen. We may have "dominated" UT statistically, but it was anybody's game going to the 4th quarter at 20-14. Vandy's not 5-1 and ranked #22 because they back down when they get punched in the mouth. I hope we win handily, but I too expect it to be a bit of a struggle.
Off the Vandy topic, Aaron Murray broke his leg last night:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/shared-blogs/ajc/cfbrecruit/entries/2008/10/17/ugabound_qb_aar_2.html
Sure would be nice if we put Vandy out of it's misery during the first quarter. But then again, I'm gonna be on a football field myself and I'll have to Tivo it.
Where have you gone, Pulpwood Smith?/
Bulldog Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
I remember reading something after Vandy beat Auburn that said it was the first time in 30+ years that Vandy had beaten Auburn. It pissed me off because I think we have lost to them at least 3-4 times in the past 20 years. We tend to help them out and keep them in the game.
Realize that b/c of the East/West divisional rotatation, Auburn and Vandy don't play every year. In fact, for half of those 30+ years, since the conference split into divisions, they only play twice every 6 years.
to anon 6:47
actually no, i wasn't saying the same things about vandy last year or 2006
last year, after we had just gotten shellacked by tennessee and were in what i think was like a 5 or 6 game sec east losing streak, i certainly wasn't in a position of absolute confidence going into vandy
and in 2006 we looked like absolute balls in mid season
this year we don't... and i think we'll coast
thanks for playing though
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