Recruits in Athens this weekend

It's a huge recruiting weekend for the Dawgs. Show up early at the Dawg Walk (approximately 6:00 pm) and be loud all night.

DawgPost.com's list of recruits visiting
UGAsports.com's list of recruits visiting

The most interesting kid to me is Vince Vance of Georgia Military College. The AJC talked about Vance's transcripts arriving in Athens about 3 weeks ago for evaluation. The fact that a 6'8" 285 lb juco offensive lineman is making an unofficial visit after his transcript arrived in Athens is a very good sign.

Georgia has 3 senior offensive tackles on scholarship right now. Arguably John Miller, Chris Davis and Josh Davis could play OT at Georgia one day. However, Miller has the shoulder problem that seems to plague UGA offensive line recruits. Josh Davis is reportedly nowhere near ready to contribute next year, and Chris Davis may play guard.

Combine those three kids with the fact that Kiante Tripp is redshirting along the defensive line, Clifton Geathers is playing defensive end at Hargrave and Justin Anderson projects as a guard, and you have deep concerns for next year's offensive line.

A Juco like Vance would be an enormous pickup for the Dawgs.


Recruiting Kiante Tripp (in red) to move from DL to OL wouldn't hurt either. Image: AJC

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Best way to settle your nerves about the WRs....

Other than a stiff drink, the best way to settle your nerves about the WRs is to check "The Cover Two." Jmac and The Realist have a quick photo essay that might help calm your nerves.

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Jeff Schultz's lucid comment

Our newest, bestest buddy, and big toe

I actually agree with some of the Snarky Jeff Schultz column when he says,

"I will grant you that I missed the last few issues of the New England Journal of Medicine. (Still working my way through the swimsuit issue.) But since when do rehabs from ankle injuries elevate somebody’s skill level?"

Personally, I don't see Joe T as the savior of the offense by virtue of a great talent infusion. I don't think the offense needs a talent infusion. It needs someone to step up and make the types of plays they are capable of making.

-- Dan Inman for all his flaws as a pass blocker is a very capable run blocker.
-- Mo Mass for all his drops this year showed last year that he's capable of making big plays at WR.
-- Chester Adams showed in the first three games that he has solid ability. Since his bout with stomach ulcers, his play has gone south. If he's healthy, he can make more plays on offense.

We need guys like that to just step up and make the sorts of plays they are capable of making. If they do, our running game will open up by virtue of better blocking, and our passing game will open up by virtue of the return of our most consistent WR from last year.

If they do step up, the defense is good enough to make the game close at the end and give us a shot.

If Joe T can will the players around him to snap out of their funks, then start him. If he can't do that...then we're in big trouble on Saturday. Sigh..if we only had JD Stokley.

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Coutu out for UT. Maybe longer...

Damn. Just damn. Coutu is out for the UT game. When your place kicker is your best, most reliable weapon offensively and he's not in the game. That's a problem. More from UgaSports, DawgPost.com and David Ching.

Damn.

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Spirit Fingers!

SI On Campus plays 20 Questions with UGA Cheerleader Christine Conley.

Interview Highlight: #5. Best place you can take me on a date: Some sort of sporting event and then to get ice cream.

Christine, have you ever thought about being a blog intern?

Dawgnoxious,
Recruiting Coordinator
Georgia Sports Blog

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Search for an Intern Begins

The Georgia Sports Blog is about to launch a search for an intern. The idea is a blatant rip-off of the two steps beyond genius idea of the BurntOrangeNation guys. Our program will be very similar to what they cooked up. More info soon.

If you're an exceptional writer with a great imagination, a passion for the Dawgs and a college student, this will be right up your alley. You would have the opportunity to write for a broad audience of sports fans, develop a book of clips that showcase your creativity and gain experience in building an e-audience.

For more Information:
decaturdawg (at) hotmail dot com

Basically, Dawgnoxious and I are looking for help with the workload as our jobs are ramping back up in a big way. More details on the program tonight or this weekend. But I can guarantee you that this isn't a joke.


About the Georgia Sports Blog:
The Georgia Sports Blog specializes in content, commentary and comedy about the Georgia Bulldogs and our SEC/ACC rivals. With more than 85,000 visitors and 170,000 page views in September, the site is the largest independent blog devoted to the Dawgs. In terms of traffic, the Georgia Sports Blog is one of the Top 5-10 independent, single team focused college football blogs on the Internet.

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Couple of Quick Stories of Interest today

It will be a light day of posting, but here's the most interesting articles today that I've seen.

Mo Mass working on his hands -- DawgPost.com

Mike Adams on Academics -- AJC

UGA: Pretender or Contender -- ABH

As Sexy as it Gets -- David Ching

Check DawgBone.net for other stories.

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Blog Poll for Week 6

The latest national blog poll is out. Georgia slips one spot to #12 on the overall ballot. That's right where I have the dawgs as well.

Here's my blog poll ballot.
1 Ohio State
2 Auburn
3 Southern Cal
4 Florida
5 West Virginia
6 Michigan
7 Texas
8 Louisville
9 Louisiana State
10 Tennessee
11 Oregon
12 Georgia
13 Notre Dame
14 Clemson
15 Georgia Tech
16 Oklahoma
17 Virginia Tech
18 Cal
19 Iowa
20 Nebraska
21 Texas Tech
22 Florida State
23 Boston College
24 Boise State
25 Rutgers

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FAMILY FRIENDLY ZONES SHRINK AGAIN!!

I'm extremely pleased to let you know that the North Campus Area close to the Arch has been liberated from the Family Friendly Zone! Traditional Tailgates can return to this PRIME real estate for enjoying the late start for the Tennessee game.

HOWEVER -- It is absolutely CRITICAL if you tailgate in this area that you bring extra garbage bags to police/clean your area. The family friendly movement from Adams was always about litter. It was never really about booze. If you tailgate over there show respect for the area, and clean up after yourself. It's not hard.

Here's the official map from UGA with the Family Friendly Zones Marked in Blue. As you can see, UGA has cut the size of the North Campus Area by 60%+ due to the lack of demand for booze free tailgate areas. This gives the prime area near the Arch back to mainstream tailgates where a stiff drink is enjoyed responsibly...or whatever. The Brooks Mall area remains the same size as it was for the CU game. The official press release is below.



Redcoats to Appear with Fans at Family-Friendly Areas
Fans Can Follow the Redcoats Through Campus to the
Dawg Walk Before the Tennessee Game

Source: UGA Press Release

ATHENS, Ga., Oct. 3, 2006— Before the Tennessee game, fans will have the opportunity to follow the Redcoats through campus from the North Campus family-friendly area to the Dawg Walk.

A group of Redcoats will arrive at the Arch at approximately 4:30 p.m. and will perform at the North Campus family-friendly area for 20 minutes before they make their way through campus to fire up fans at the Dawg Walk. The Dawg Walk starts one hour, 45 minutes before the kickoff of every game. It begins at the entrance of the Tate Center parking lot off Lumpkin Street and proceeds into the stadium.

At each of the family-friendly areas on North and South Campus, fans of all ages will be able to meet UGA student-athletes, as well as enjoy sports-themed games, a variety of inflatable play structures, caricature artists, face painters and more. Fans and families are encouraged to set up their tailgates in the area, as long as they are alcohol-free.

The North Campus area is located on the back portion of the North Campus quadrangle in front of the Old College building. This area has been condensed in size to accommodate other tailgates on the front portion bordering Broad Street.

“We have said from the beginning of this process that we would evaluate this plan as the season progresses,” said George Stafford, associate vice president of auxiliary and administrative services. “We established this area in response to many fans’ requests in years past to preserve an area of campus for families. While many have enjoyed the activities, we feel that the areas can be more concentrated and still preserve an area for families.”

At the North Campus location, fans will be able to meet athletes from the UGA soccer team from 5 – 6 p.m. In addition, 10 members of the UGA cheerleading squad will be there from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. to rally fans. Kick off against Tennessee is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

The South Campus family-friendly area is located on the front portion of D.W. Brooks Mall in front of the Miller Plant Sciences Building. At this location, the defending SEC Eastern Division Champion Georgia Bulldog softball team will greet fans from 5 – 6 p.m. Members of the UGA cheerleading squad will be there from 4:45 to 5:15 p.m.

For an up-to-date season schedule of UGA team appearances and maps that show the exact location of the zones, fans can visit the “family-friendly zones” page at www.gamedaygameplan.com. In addition to details about the family-friendly zone team appearance schedules, the website provides information on recent changes implemented by the University of Georgia to enhance the gameday experience, improve safety and preserve the beauty of the UGA campus.

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About the Student Blackout

Update: This was written in 2006. Not 2007. My opinion on the 2007 blackout is different because the senior asked us to do it. It wasn't a student body thing.


Have at it. Someone emailed me and said that 1,300 students are participating in a "blackout" for the game. They are wearing all black for whatever reason.

If that's your thing have at it. Personally, I saw the stadium for UK 2003 or whatever when we did a blackout for Dooley. It looked like I was in Columbia. Not Athens. And it seems like a very Gamecock thing to do. Since when did they ever have a good idea?

A Red Out would've made a helluva a lot more sense.

But whatever floats your boat. I'm in Red Pants and a white or black shirt b/c that's what's lucky for me. If you go in all black, that's cool. But this blog isn't backing anything so Gamecockish beyond simply making you aware that this option is out there.

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Fulmer Donut Fark

From the Sooner Fark Board.

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hat tip - dawgrun.com

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Where My Ninjas At?

Mike Leach reminds me of the Old Ball Coach, except snarkier and without all the hardware. And Coach Fran is his bitch. If Mike Leach told Coach Fran to wear a sundress and answer to the name "Doris", Coach Fran would have little choice. How bad was it? Leach pours rhetorical salt in the sucking chest wound that is Coach Fran's A&M tenure (record: 20-20).

Leach is in Coach Fran's head, and he even goes so far as to taunt A&M's vaunted corp of cadets in attendance at each Aggie game.

"How come they get to pretend they are soldiers? The thing is, they aren't in the military. I ought to have Mike's Pirate School. The freshmen, all they get is the bandana. When you're a senior, you get the sword and skull and crossbones. For homework, we'll work pirate maneuvers and stuff like that."

[Photo courtesy of Mike Leach's Mom]

According to ESPN, there were a few folks in pirate regalia at Kyle Field Saturday.

Arrrrr, matey, methinks ye might have gone too far! So, for the benefit of Texas Tech's Oct 7 opponent Missouri, the Georgia Sports Blog staff has broken down game film and would like to offer a can't miss blueprint for neutralizing Mike Leach's swashbuckling offense.

Georgia Sports Blog's faithful readers know pirate kryptonite by any other name --the ninja. Ironically, ninjas have a nemesis--no, not pirates--agents from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms. There's a certain analytical symmetry: ninja beats pirate, ATF agent beats ninja, pirate beats ATF agent. In fact, a little game we like to play this season is a variation on rock, paper, scissors called Ninja, Pirate, ATF.

[Photo: Things we know about Ninjas: (1) they are prone to flip out and kill people, (2) they'll kick a pirate's ass, (3) they are not invinceable]

Clearly, the answer to neutralizing Mike's Pirate threat is to counterattack with Ninjas. To wit, we give a preview of the fully-illustrated "How to beat Texas Tech", soon to be available exclusively from Georgia Sports Blog for a low low price.


Photo: the dreaded "Ninja Blitz" defense

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Checking in with the Enemy: Georgia Tech

Who woulda thunk it? Image: RamblinWreck.com

The Yellow Jackets are 4-1/2-0, and they control their fortune in the ACC Coastal division. Nix/Gailey *finally* wised up and realized that they have one of the most dominating players in college football on their team in Calvin Johnson. Against VT, Reggie Ball completed 9 passes and six of them went to Calvin.

GT fans should be giddy; although not all are. Everyone else in their division already has a loss, and GT holds the tie breaker with VT now. They have games remaining against:

• Maryland (home) - Gailey has faired very well vs. Fridge in ATL. Plus, Maryland is very slow, and they struggled to beat FIU 14-10 this week.
  
• Clemson (Road) - Your typical GT vs. CU game with a 7 point or less finish
  
• Miami (home) - a team in turmoil that can't throw well enough to take advantage of GT's mediocre secondary.
  
• NCSU (road) - they rarely lose at State.
  
• UNC (road) - Bunting is all but gone. UNC may only have 1 Div I-A win by this time.
  
• Duke (home) - Duke lost to a horrible UVA team 37-0.
  
• Georgia (road) - Another team that needs to work on its passing game to take advantage of GT's secondary.

Even though Gailey/Ball/Nix are usually good for at least one catastrophically stupid loss to a research triangle team, they STILL have the heavy inside track on the ACC's Coastal Division. As long as Calvin stays healthy, they should have the best GT record since since at least '00 if not '98 in an ACC that is horribly watered down and weak this year. That said, they do need to figure out a pass defense that is ranked 11th in the ACC.

VT still has games remaining against Clemson (home) and Miami (road) further strengthening GT's chances at a trip to Jacksonville for the ACC title game. A Tech vs. Clemson rematch in Jacksonville looms...especially since CU doesn't play Miami this year while BC still has Miami, VT and FSU.

More on GT:
-- Nathan at AOL's GT site, is up in arms with GT being listed behind VT in the Coaches' Poll. Fair enough.

-- Things looking up for GT -- AJC

-- The Tech Bandwagon Jumpers -- Goldentornado.net

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Georgia vs. Ole Miss Thoughts

Lumpkin in Action: Image: DawgPost.com

An ugly game to be sure, but another win. Some quick thoughts.

Overall:
On the DawgPost.com message board last week, I said that Richt wouldn't try and cram the ball down Ole Miss' throats like Wake Forest did b/c we needed to show that we can throw it. We had to come out and try and throw it to iron out our passing game. So the "lack of commitment to the running game" line doesn't bother me on this one.

What bothers me is the complete inability to move the ball through the air against even a sub-par team.


Pass Defense: A
Georgia surrendered 87 yards in the air to Ole Miss, and 49 of it came on a single broken play. Shaeffer went 6 of 15 on the night, and he was hurried all night. A slower QB is sacked on 3-4 more times on the night. Ole Miss tried to use the TE drag that Colorado used successful against UGA, but they only hit the TE twice.

Rush Defense: B
UGA gave up almost 160 yards on the ground. Sure, Green-Ellis had 135 yards rushing. However, the UGA defense got tighter and tighter after the first two drives in which he netted 50 of those yards. Our rushing defense is currently ranked 32nd nationally and 4th in the SEC. Granted, we've played a bunch of tomato cans, but it's not like we're getting gashed nearly as bad as folks are making out.

Overall Defense:
Georgia's defense on the season has given up only 3 TDs in 5 games. We have the #1 scoring defense in the country, the #5 pass defense, #6 total defense and #32 run defense. As I've said, we've played chumps so far, but the defense has done all that could possibly be asked of them to win games.


Special Teams: D
They kept saying on the radio that it was our first blocked punt since '99, but I could've sworn that Ely-Kelso got one blocked against LSU in the SEC title gamein '03. Either way, it was bad. That's not something systematic of a Mark Richt team so I'm disregarding it.


Pass Offense: F-
Joe Cox came onto the field and looked like the Joe Cox of the spring game, WKU and his own nightmares...not the Cox of the Colorado game. Stafford showed better touch, better audiblizing (sp?) at the line, and he was at the wheel for both scoring drives. Yet, it was only 2 drives.

The WRs continue their Ron Garvin meets Roberto Duran meets Mason Union Local 413 impression. With the exception of the fourth quarter against Colorado, the Georgia passing game this year has looked worse than any UGA passing game since the 1995 team after Bobo went down and before Hines Ward took over. Georgia ranks 90th in the nation in passing offense.

You want to know what causes all these drops? GRAVITY. When you don't catch the ball, it falls right to the ground. It's not the QB rotation. It's not the velocity. It's just WRs not making plays.


Rushing Offense: B-
I will grant you that our OL isn't blocking well. At all. However, I would counter that argument with "When you don't catch the ball, why WOULDN'T the defense put 8-9 in the box and dare you to pass?" I would. Given the number of men in the box, I'd say we ran the ball ok vs. Ole Miss. The only caveat is the previously mentioned Aunt Nellie Factor. Anyone could run it against those guys on the ground.


Other articles of note:
-- Photos from the Game -- DawgPost.com
-- A new slogan for 2006 -- David Ching
-- Unbeaten. Not Perfect -- ABH

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Dixie in The Grove

Since the game was brutal to watch, I'll just start with the best part about the trip. Hearing Dixie played in The Grove by the Rebel band.

Some thoughts from the weekend a little later.


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