Eason to start?

Lot's of reports that he's been working with the ones and will start. Still think Kirby won't officially say, but I'd guess with it being widely reported, Eason will be listed as the starter when the game notes are released.
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Changes coming at QB?

Yesterday, Dean Legge, whom I think is usually one of the more level headed analysts of Georgia inside baseball, issued what can only be described as a thrown sucker in the dirt missive. In his 'What We are Hearing' post, he sounds like he's personally insulted by the decision to start Lambert and stay with him

That’s not at all what happened. Schottenheimer was “in love” with Lambert’s brain, many have said. Schottenheimer wanted Lambert - perhaps before he ever stepped on campus… which didn’t happen until the middle of July. 

It is a compelling read, but be careful. Legge pulls no punches as to what he thinks is happening, and it is a lot of conjecture.

The one question I had after reading the article is would UGA make a change at QB, especially considering we have Florida next. I'm not going to argue that a change is needed. I'm not at practice, I don't see what the coaches (or media) see, and frankly, the coaches are better poised due to experience to make those decisions than I am. They also have more skin in the game.

Inserting Ramsey in as starter at Georgia-Florida seems...far fetched...knowing how Mark Richt views things. Still, it would be an interesting story, considering where Ramsey is from and all that. Is the upside higher than the downside?

Then we get this from practice yesterday:

Perhaps it’s a product of the bye week, but Georgia’s quarterbacks did not follow the assumed depth chart during drills.

Who knows if that means anything? I'm never one to make a lost season argument, but could there be a save the season argument? Perhaps there is an upside to putting Ramsey in, consequences be damned.
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Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.

Hey, a narrative is a narrative...

With a stout Florida defense awaiting, the first Dawgs win without the benefit of scoring a touchdown in 20 years wasn’t very comforting — that old coach-player bromide “A win is a win” to the contrary.

It's almost like Missouri's defense wasn't there. I'm not saying all is well, but I feel like I'm the only one saying anything about how well their defense played.

Then you flip the script and backhand compliment the defense because

However, before we get too excited about that, it should be noted that Mizzou has the third-worst offense in the country.

And UGA's defense did exactly what we should do to that offense.

Missouri's SEC offensive stats

09/26/15	@ Kentucky	Grass	L 13-21	111	227	68	338	4.97
10/03/15	South Carolina	Turf	W 24-10	163	136	70	299	4.27
10/10/15	13 Florida	Turf	L 3-21	106	151	65	257	3.95
10/17/15	@ Georgia	Grass	L 6-9	21	143	48	164	3.42

Better than Florida did against them. And Florida didn't have to defend a 2 foot field on the second play of the game. 

Nothing about this game means we'll do better than 3-2 the rest of the way, but before we storm the practice fields with our own personal ideas about how to fix stuff, let's make sure we get our narrative right.

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Is 'merely good' enough?

That's the question you should be asking if you are willing to look at Mark Richt, in his face at a function, and say I want you to lose your job. Is 'merely good' enough?

Don't use atrocious.
Don't use embarrassing.
For heaven's sake, please don't use mediocrity.

Merely good.

No amount of selective parsing of statistics will change the total wins, winning seasons, SEC championships, SEC championship appearances, or wins over Tech, Tennessee, Auburn, and even Florida.

And I'm not making the we can't chance being another Tennessee argument. To me, discussions like Westerdawg's yesterday are more about us as Georgia fans than about Mark Richt (or more accurately what Mark Richt has done as a coach for Georgia's program).

And if you read Westerdawg's post, that is what he's saying:

I'm bummed to say it, but if the program moves on without him.  Then I'm fine with it.  If he wins the SEC East this year, and stays around. I'm fine with that too.  But my patience has worn beyond thin.

But if we are going to have the discussion, we have to call it what it is: We as a fanbase are not satisfied with good. We demand something we've only had twice in our existence. Once with The Gold Standard in college running backs. Once with our current coach.

And we demand it now.

So let's call it what it is and stop using terms that'll somehow justify our approach. Be forward and say we no longer accept just winning. We have to win titles or else.
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Why I don't leave games early

A bit cornball, but here it is:

It was sobering to hear that. For me, my first SEC game was an edifying, thrilling experience. But for these very lucky players and the fans who adore them, it was just another Saturday, and they get to do it all over again week after week.

This past Saturday, I had three former students come into town for the game. One is an Alabama fan. He gets it. One is a Texas fan that now lives in Chicago. The other is a Southern Cal fan that lives in LA. While both of them understand the passion, the Longhorn and the Trojan wanted to experience a live and up close SEC game day.

Think about that. Both of those programs have won national titles in the Mark Richt era. Both have seen their teams win national championships as students. Both have lived through a season without suffering a loss. Both felt like they were missing something if they didn't experience a game day done right at Georgia.

I've been lucky to get to do some cool stuff in my life. I've ridden in a limo with one of the Baldwin brothers. I've hung out with rock bands. I've chatted foreign policy with Edmund Muskie and Václav Havel. I have three awesome children and the love of a woman who loves sports and drinks good bourbon on the rocks. I am blessed beyond compare.

Outside of my wedding day and the day each my children were born, there is nothing that compares to how I feel when the University of Georgia takes the field (the same is true for all sports, actually). Words hardly describe it.

So that is why I stay until the end of games. Even blowouts in the rain. It is my thing. If you want to leave, that's cool. Don't expect me to understand. I don't expect you to understand why I stay.
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Dawgs in the Polls

Dawgs fall one spot to 10th in the AP. Notre Dame and all.

Dawgs stay the same in the coaches' poll. 

In reality, none of this matters. Just though y'all should know where UGA is ranked.
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Saturday Down South clickbait

If that is your thing....

At the risk of sounding like an old man with a blog, so much of what you read now is really just throwing stuff against the wall to get clicks. While I don't doubt the courage of this particular author's conviction, because a lot of people are in love with Tennessee, there is a certain amount of 'we have to work something wacky into the post' in this....

6. VANDY KNOCKS OFF GEORGIA … AGAIN
Vanderbilt has done it before. Just ask South Carolina and Georgia. They’ll do it again. The Commodores throw a monkey wrench into the early SEC East race with a Week-2 beating of Georgia in Nashville. Unranked Vanderbilt knocked off No. 16 Georgia in 2006, and then did it again for good measure to the No. 15-ranked Bulldogs in 2013. The Commodores punched the No. 6 and No. 24-ranked Gamecocks in the gut in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The Bulldogs get stung (sunk?) again this year.

Well, yeah, they did do it before. They also won a bowl game before. I'm not doubting Georgia's ability to lose a game they shouldn't, but throw out the 'it happened before' stuff.

Anyway. There is that.
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Picture Day is August 15th

If that is your thing.

Get there early if you want one of the tickets to see Coach Richt or 'Que.' The first 150 in line will get them, beginning at 10:30am.

You'll have a chance to meet players and coaches from a multitude of sports, including hoops, soccer, and softball.
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Camp opens today

Things I'm thinking about:

• When will the starting QB be named? For the record, I don't think it'll happen before Vandy, honestly.
• What is the over under on the number of 'SEC ready' defensive players Jeremy Pruitt thinks he has on his roster? I'm going with 2.5.
• Who else will step up at RB? In other words, is Keith Marshall really back?
• How the WRs are progressing. The more we have any deep threat, the more likely we are to rely less on a young QB to do hard things.
• When will I grow tired of the media whining about the lack of information about the QB race? I know it is their jobs, but this isn't new territory. Mark Richt has been a closed book on personnel for a number of years.

I'm sure there'll be more. For now, I'm glad actual football is going on. Here's to a safe, well run training camp.

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Golson in the mix at UGA?

Interesting...

Everett Golson certainly brings some experience to the table, but the article notes his spotty academic record. What it didn't talk about was his game performances, which went from pretty good to down right horrifying (for a more expansive treatment, see his game against Arizona State, where I'm pretty sure he just turned the ball over again).

Still, I can see him transferring. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly didn't exactly mince words about his play during the season. Even if he's the starter this fall, which it appears he would be, he may have to have a spectacular season to keep from getting the hook at any given time.

I guess South Carolina makes more sense because they have a younger QB stepping in to the starting role. The upside for UGA is that there is a new offensive coordinator, and less guess work about what our offense will be like, considering our RB situation.

Though after playing for Kelly, I'd have to say playing for Richt over Spurrier would be a nice change, too.

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Rob Sale named UGA OL coach

Welcome to #DawgNation Coach Rob Sale | Offensive Line #GoDawgs #UGAFamily pic.twitter.com/8Y8jgFm6O0
— Georgia Football (@FootballUGA) January 10, 2015

Exceptional hire. His staff bio.
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UGA Alumni Association Kentucky Game Watch Parties

If you aren't headed to Lexington this week, your area UGA Alumni Association Chapter is likely having a watch party.

Check out the full list here.
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The Georgia Way

Last night, I saw the discussion Dan Wolken was having on Twitter about Georgia and started several times to write something about the issues being further up and more ingraned than simply 'Mark Richt is too good a guy to win it all.'

It's just a weird vibe around UGA. Almost like the school would feel guilty acting like a real football power.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 3, 2014

Thankfully, Blutarsky took the time to write something that hit the nail on the head:

What they’re unwilling to give any hard thought to is how to win doing things the right way.  Whether that’s out of a sense of guilt, as Wolken surmises, or because it’s too hard to make the effort, I can’t say.  But it’s clear, and not just to me.

The one thing I'd add is that 'the right way' isn't a binary decision. There are plenty of things that are the right way, that frankly it feels we are afraid to do as an athletic department. This isn't a fire Richt or even a fire McGarity sentiment. This is a view that the decision makers view success in a different way than the rest of us do. Which is why Blutarsky sums his post up with

Because if the folks in Butts-Mehre are anything these days, it’s comfortable.

And as long as there is plenty of money and butts in seats, I don't see that changing.
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Bovada Odds has Georgia moving on up

Odds courtesy of Bovada.

Alabama                                   8/1                     6/1

Mississippi State                       7/1                    13/2

Florida State                             6/1                     7/1

Mississippi                               15/2                   15/2

Oregon                                     14/1                   15/2

Georgia                                    14/1                    8/1

Michigan State                          15/2                   9/1

Ohio State                                14/1                   10/1

I guess going on the road and winning with your fourth string TB means something to bettors.

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Death by a thousand cuts: Georgia's defense

That is the only way I can explain why the whole thing about our defense not being good is a thing. Because when you look at the stats, there is nothing in them, besides the points per game, that make me freak out, and that isn't terrible. We are thoroughly average.

And while the ppg thing isn't great, the Dawgs don't suck at any one thing.

More importantly, the Dawgs are doing very well in a few key places:

• 12th in the nation in opponent 3rd down conversion.
• Georgia is only one of two teams in the nation that hasn't given up any plays longer than 40 yards. More importantly, we've only give up two rushing plays of more than 20 yards, and none more than 30 yards. 
• Even the ppg stat is a significant improvement over last year's 29ppg (granting we still have a couple of teams that are in the top 15 in scoring). We are at 21ppg. After game five we were giving up 26ppg last year. 
• The Dawgs are only giving up 112 yards per game rushing, which is good for 5th in the conference and 26th in the nation.

The negatives about this is we are giving a lot of 10-20 yard plays, both rushing and passing.

Those rushing stats have also factored into something else important: Georgia is 5th in the conference, 38th in the nation in opponent red zone attempts. Teams aren't getting into the red zone, and teams aren't scoring from outside the red zone.

The downside is that if teams get into the red zone, they are scoring at an 80% clip, with 2/3 of those becoming touchdowns. Even in the red zone, the defense is strong, only giving up 6 completions on 17 attempts. Regretfully, four of those are for TDs. 

And that is the bigger problem for Georgia's defense. We are bend, but don't break. Then we run out of field. Throw in the four rushing TDs we've given up, opponents are scoring touch downs on about one of every four plays from inside our red zone. This is reflected in our S&P defensive ratings being ranked 52nd. 

Not sure what there is to be said about this, but just something I've noticed as we are nearly half way though the season.

One last thing: we are abysmal, last in the nation, defending the pass when teams are 3rd and 4-6 yards. The line: 11-15, 9 of those for first downs, a 243.60 passer rating, and 5 of our 7 passing plays allowing 30+ yards. We've also given up 3 of our seven passing TDs in this situation. In all other third down situations, we are average or better. Again, not sure what I can take away from that, but it is something to think about going forward when we see 3rd down and 5.

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All stats are from cfbstats.com

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UPDATE: Blutarsky has one answer I've been pondering:

Basically, this is VanGorder ball, without the All-American players. BVG’s defense worked, like all great defenses do, because it could consistently generate a four-man pass rush. That’s not something the current defense is capable of providing.

Add in the ability of, or lack thereof, the safeties/CBs to defend seams when an ILB releases a quick receiver in zone coverage, then we are on to something.

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Happy Homecoming

Pour a little out for your homies that can't be with us today.
Go Dawgs!
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Uga is still nation's top mascot

Hardly news, but official.
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UGA Alumni Association South Carolina game watch parties

List of all official alumni group watching parties for the South Carolina game.

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Conditioning and substitution

Whether you consider Georgia's conditioning vis-à-vis Clemson's conditioning a bug or a feature of the win Saturday, there is little doubt conditioning was a factor. But is that something we'd expect to see the rest of the season?

It looks like Pruitt wants it that way:

“He asks us if we’re tired, he asks us if we need a blow,” Herrera said. “If we’re tired, we’re going to say send them in. It’s good. You have to get those young guys in anyway because they’re going to play next year.”

One of the ongoing complaints about Grantham was is reliance on a few guys, especially in the linebacker corp. I wasn't surprised to see Ramik go out on the field as early as he did (he was there the first defensive snap), for example. I also wasn't surprised to see Tim Kimbrough get in the game in important situations. The often overlooked part of strength and conditioning is wear and tear.

Clearly it takes a more than a one game sample size to demonstrate the value of S&C, but I have to ask all those that discount the win due to 'Clemson being out of shape' this: Even if teams catch up to Georgia's conditioning, and they surely will, do our future opponents have the depth we have in the defensive front seven and RB? Yes, there are other places on the field that matter, but our strengths lie in those two places (as well as our offensive line, at lease from the small sample size of one game).

What is even more important, at least on the defensive front, is that conditioning means everything when you

Pruitt is a little pleased with Ramik
(photo courtesy of Jim Hipple)

are being asked to play how Jeremy Pruitt wants you to play:

“Ramik Wilson, he played like a guy that hadn’t practiced for two weeks,” Pruitt said. “He knows that. He knows he’s got to get better and get in better condition so he can play at a high level all the time.”

Several folks have noted that if Tim Kimbrough is good enough to get significant minutes from Ramik Wilson, our defense has potential to be really good. I think we saw some of that Saturday night. As a bonus, unless Clemson was extraordinarily out of shape (I don't think they were), we have the depth and conditioning to be defensively physical on the front for a full game.
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"Tap the brakes"

I had a horrifying thought this morning: It would be so...us...to beat Clemson and South Carolina, then lose to Troy. Not that I think it'll happen that way, but still.

I'm glad Pruitt and Richt are on the mother:

“When you watch the film there's just so much to correct,” Richt said. “We've got to get better in a lot of areas or we're going to be exposed. We know it's just one game. It was a great emotional day, we were at home, we fed off the crowd and we finished strong. It was good but that was just a start.”

and

"For the first game, it's a starting point," Pruitt said, adding later: "We're not satisfied with how we played defensively at all. We gave up 21 points. We very easily could have given up more than that. ... We played better and executed a little better in the second half. But still, when you look at the second half, we're nowhere near where we need to be."

It is almost like they are reading the message boards....

In all seriousness, both coaches referencing the game tape makes me think film study has been less rah rah and more focus on weaknesses. When you consider that, on top of the in game adjustments Bobo and Friend made in blocking schemes and the wholesale changes in punt return and coverage approaches, I would be hard pressed to find a team in the nation that has had a full coaching and game plan philosophy change, absent a full staff change.
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