50 State Tour

I am sure some of you have seen ESPN's and their 50 states in 50 days, where CFB Live is doing a daily look at College football in each state.

Right now the polls at ESPN.com are very tight. UGA's 1980 squad leads Tech's 1956 team by 8% as the best team ever in the state. Dooley currently leads Dodd by 2% as the best coach in state history.

You can vote at the website below. We need the Dawg Nation to step up and out vote the Nerd Herd!! I believe GA will appear on the show on July 27th…

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/polls?pCat=46&sCat=562

Hello from Orlando...

Well, here we are just two days away from the last game of the season. I love bowl season, but at the same time, I hate this time of year. We now have to wait nine months for the next game. Yes, I am one of those nuts that enjoys reading about our recruiting class and I enjoy the G-Day game, but the rest of the year my wife has to put up with me talking about what went wrong the season before...and there will be a lot to moan and groan about this off season. I don't know how long it is going to take to get over the Tech loss...maybe by the end of next November??

A quick analysis of the Capital One Bowl:

We have all heard about Javon Ringer. Yes, he is a work horse, but he is The MSU offense, so as long as our D can contain him then it should be a good day. Paul Westerdawg on the Georgia Sports Blog did some research that shows that Ringer failed to go over 91 yards against MSU's 5 "quality" opponents (including Wisconsin and Iowa).

Overall, MSU's offense is average and their Defense is not much better. I doubt that they have faced an opponent with the balance that we have. So, I believe that if our offense plays the way that it is capable of playing then we should be fine, and that it will be a very enjoyable Capital One Bowl.

PREDICTION:
UGA 38 - MSU 17

Go Dawgs!
TD

The History of Jan Kemp

ESPN's Pat Forde discusses the lasting impact that Jan Kemp had on college athletics.

Quick notes...

Did anyone see the turnout (or lack there of) for the ACC Championship game?? Each year has been pretty low, but this has to be the worst to date.


Georgia has 4 1st Teamers on Phil Steele's All-SEC Team. Knowshon, Green, Curran, and Mimbs were all on the 1st Team. Stafford, Massaquoi, Jones, and Boling were named to the 2nd Team. Atkins and Allen were named to the 3rd Team.


Here is a little info to put Georgia's "disappointing" season in perspective. Prior to Coach Richt, UGA had 22 9+ win seasons (with twelve 10+ win seasons). This year was Coach Richt's 7th straight season with atleast 9 wins. A bowl win will give UGA six 10 win seasons under CMR. That says a lot about how CMR has raised the bar of excellence at UGA.

Moreno All-American

For the first time since 2005 (Greg Blue and Max Jean-Gilles), UGA has a 1st team All-American. Knowshon, along with Shonn Greene of Iowa were selected as the two 1st team RB's for the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) AA team. Knowshon is the 1st UGA RB to be named to the team since Garrison Hearst in 1992.

Knowshon has averaged nearly six yards per carry en route to a 1,338-yard rushing season through 12 games making him just the second player in Georgia history to record more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons (Herschel Walker, 1980-83). Moreno, who also has 27 receptions for 329 yards and he has scored 17 touchdowns his season, the most by a Bulldog since Garrison Hearst’s 21 in 1992. Moreno leads the SEC in scoring with 102 points and rushing with an average of 111.5 yards per game. He is currently seventh in UGA history with 2,672 yards rushing in only two seasons.

Bowl Picture

The Capital One Bowl will be waiting until Sunday to announce the teams that they will be inviting to Orlando. However, it looks like it will be UGA - MSU. The Capital One almost always selects an SEC East team, and that leaves UGA. However, there is the slight possibility that Ole Miss could be invited since they finished within one game of Georgia. The most likely scenario though has them going to the Cotton Bowl, USC(e) going to the Outback, and LSU going to the Chick-fil-a Bowl.

Dawgs in the Draft

Here is a great article from David Hale and the Bulldog Blog. He interviewed Todd McShay to get some insight on UGA's draft eligible players.

http://dawg-extra.blogspot.com/2008/12/dawgs-in-draft.html

UGA-GIT Breakdown

Every year about this time I realize how important this game is and how big a rival Tech truly is for us. The thought of losing to the Nerds is absolutely unbearable! Just knowing how bad they want to beat the Dawg's makes it that much bigger. It is almost laughable how infatuated they are with UGA, if you ask 10 nerds what they would rather do, beat UGA or win the ACC, I guarantee that 8 out of every 10 would say beating UGA. That is CRAZY! Of course we haven't lost 7 in a row to them so who am I to judge!

Okay, on to the game. Leading up to this game all of the talk has been focused on our Defense against Tech's Offense. Rightfully so too, given how Georgia's D has played the last 5 games. However, I have to say that I am glad that there has been so much talk about our defense. If this doesn't motivate them then I do not know what will. Tech's Triple Option has been well documented this year. They are in the top 5 in rushing offense in year one of the CPJ administration. It is scary to think what he will be able to do when he has "his guys" running this offense. They employ a cut blocking system that is very controversial and is very near illegal. It is a very touchy subject for CPJ, which makes you think he knows that it is a borderline technique. At the end of the day it is going to come down to one thing, assignments! UGA has to play smart, disciplined football. I know, scary thought huh? However, I think that our guys are very capable of playing a solid game. They have had 2 weeks to study and prepare for Tech's gimmick offense, and just as importantly they have had two weeks to get healthy.

Something that has not been discussed a lot this week is how UGA's offense will fare against Tech's defense. Our offensive line has to be motivated, because as usual the media is saying that they cannot handle the opponent's D-line. Yes, Tech's D-line is very experienced and very talented. The whole group very well may play on Sundays. However, we have a very talented line that at this point is no longer inexperienced. They have given up very few sacks this year, however, #7 has a lot to do with that. UGA's WR corp should have a solid advantage against Tech's patched up secondary.

So, what does it all mean??? Everyone knows that Tech is motivated. They hate us, and the inability to beat UGA is probably what got Gailey fired. Paul Johnson is a heck of motivator and he has this group of players believing that they can play with anybody. After seeing the UM game you have to believe that our guys will be ready. Our guys know what this streak means, and no one on this team wants to be the group that lets it end. Tech will get their yards on the ground, however, at the end of the day I believe it will come down to the big 3 (or 4). Stafford, Moreno, Green, and MoMass (and Curran) will lead the Dawgs to victory, making Coach Richt 12-2 after a bye week.

UPDATE: The weather! This has already been pretty much over analyzed by everyone at this point. Everyone has an opinion on who it will help and who it will hurt. My opinion for what it is worth is that it will hurt Tech. They have been prone to fumbling the ball this year, and it is my guess that a wet slippery ball will not help the tossing, etc. that they will attempt to do tomorrow.

It will be a close hard fought game as usual, but when it is over, the Dawg Nation will be chanting 8 in a Row!

UGA 34 - Tech 17

Tech takes out the U

By now everyone has heard about Tech's stellar victory on the Flats last night. 470+ yards rushing and 40+ points with most of the damage coming before halftime.

So, what does this mean to the Dawgs?? Well, who knows, but my first thought was oh sh_t. After a little more time to digest the dominating victory I think the win by Tech last night was a good thing. Sound crazy??? Yeah, I love to see Tech lose, but by dominating The U like they did last night it had to open up the eyes of our players and coaches. If they didn't know before last night then they should now. Georgia cannot win this game just by showing up Saturday. This is not Gailey's Jackets anymore. No, this team has a little bit of, I hate to say it, "Swagger". They live to TRY to Beat Georgia, after all their fight song says To Hell with Georgia no matter who they are playing.

Flashback to 2007...

Dawgs look to make it 8 in row over the Nerds...

The Dawgs began preparations today for the regular season finale. They began the week by reviewing game tape of Saturday's win against Auburn. Good thing too, there are plenty of things that they need work on if they expect to extend their domination over the North Avenue Trade School.

The defense needs to get back to the basics over the next two weeks. If they don't begin to tackle better, then Dwyer and Co. could have a huge day on the ground. The penalties are another matter unto themselves entirely. I do not believe for one minute that our defense will lose any intensity by being more mindful of the number of penalties. There have been some who have claimed that our defense began its' downward slide when they began trying to reduce their penalties.

Don't Go Dawgs!

As some of you may have heard, some diehard fans have created a website to try and convince Moreno and Stafford to return for one more year.

It is http://www.dontgodogs.com/, you can check it out and sign the guest book.

Dawgs Make it 3 in a Row over Tigers!

Alright, so it was not pretty...again. But we won...again. We are 9-2 and now have a bye week to prep for GTI. I saw plenty of areas that need some work today (didn't we all?). The defense, though they held AU to only 13 points there were still WAY too many missed tackles and WAY too many penalties. The lack of discipline is very disturbing.

However, you have to believe that AU probably played one of their best games of the year today. They were motivated for numerous reasons; their coaches job, their pride (two thumpings in a row by the Dawgs), and for bowl eligibility. There are over 20 kids on that roster from GA that would have loved nothing more to beat their "hometown" team.

I am disgusted by the number of penalties. I am sickened by the poor tackling. However, considering the many obstacles the team has faced this year I am somewhat pleased to be at 9-2 with a shot to finish 11-2 for the second straight year. Some of you will disagree and talk about it being a disappointing season and I can definitely understand why.

Well, that is all for now. It has been a long day on the Plains after leaving out at 6 AM this morning. It was a successful trip. Bring on Tech and let's make it 8 in '08!

UGA - AU Breakdown

Alright, here we go, the last SEC game of the season. It is coming a couple weeks earlier than we had all hoped at the beginning of the season. However, we can still finish with an 11-2 record which in just about any other season (about any other program) would be considered a success.

At this point in the season both teams have been discussed and analyzed to exhaustion. So let me say this. Auburn's offense, to put it nicely sucks. There is no way, if our offense "clicks" Saturday that AU can hang with the Dawgs.

So, the main question is can the Dawg's D contain Cody Burns?? A week after UK's Randall Cobb had his way with our defense, we now face a more experienced mobile QB. The defense held a players only meeting to declare "enough is enough", time to step up and play. Good, my only question is why they waited until Game 11 to decide they had had enough!?!?!

Auburn, as always has a solid defense. However, if their offense cannot sustain drives then they will get worn down by our offense.

My prediction, Georgia goes over 30 for the 4th straight meeting to win by double digits.

UGA 34 - AU 17

Football in Alabama...

Here is an article about a shooting in Alabama this past Saturday after the Bama/LSU game.

Wow, those folks just never fail to amaze me...

Georgia - Auburn Game Time Set

The UGA-AU game will be played at 12:30 and will be televised on Raycom Sports.

Time to go Willie Mo...

Here is a quote from Corvey Irvin in today's Athens Banner Herald:

"It ain't like you haven't practiced for it," defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said. "We practiced for that all week. We were prepared for it, but we couldn't stop it. We had missed tackles and missed assignments. We weren't very focused today."

Okay, not very focused?!?! I have now heard that excuse from someone on our defense after each of their meltdowns this season. I can MAYBE understand it once, but for them to time and again come out "not focused" is a joke and that responsibility rests squarely on Willie Martinez's shoulders.

Dawgs Escape a Shootout in Lexington

First things first. The Dawgs won! We are 8-2, CMR now has 80 wins through almost 8 seasons, and the offense played great!

However, the Defense flat out stunk! UK came in averaging 16 ppg in SEC play and yet they hung 38 on the Dawgs! We have now given up 41, 38, 49, and 38 in 4 out of our first 6 SEC games this year. We are near the bottom of the SEC and in the middle of the NCAA in every defensive statistical category, except Rush YPG (even though the best teams have ran the ball with ease against us). I have defended Willie Martinez throughout the last 4 seasons, but I can no longer. Our offense came out today and played with passion, marching the ball down the field on it's first two drives. On the other side of the ball our defense played without emotion, played out of position, and missed tackles. There is no excuse for UK to put up 38 points on this defense. Our defense has always been a perceived strength for CMR coached teams, yet this year it has become a liability. In Willie's first few seasons the Dawgs would have about one defensive meltdown per season, this year we have had 4, with 3 games to go.

I am very pleased with the win, and I am glad that our guys were able to come out on top in a tough game after being embarrassed last week in Jacksonville. Yet this team is lacking a killer instinct on defense. I know we have 3 games to go this year, however I can't help but look forward to next season. If we expect to compete for an SECCG next season then some serious changes are going to have to be made on the defensive side of the ball.

UGA - UK Breakdown

Alright, I am back...sort of. First let me say that I hope that the team has done a better job forgetting about the UF game than I have, if not then we are in trouble!

I trust that our guys don't want to let UF beat them two weeks in a row, so hopefully they show up for the game and show up on time (not in the 2nd half like they have been known to do).

As for the game itself, let me start by saying that if the team that pounded LSU shows up then they will not have a problem. However, seeing as how that team has only shown up once this year I have to admit I am a little nervous.

UGA's offense should be able to move the ball against the Wildcat D. Yes, UK has a fairly solid defense, but we saw what a dynamic offense can do against them when UF put up 100+ pts on them two weeks ago. I believe that Knowshon will show up and possibly have the game of his life after the way he was called out this week in the local media. (I would like to point out that I raised the topic first here on this blog before the AJC or Rivals wrote about it!). Anyways, if he can get off early then we will be able to control the game.

UK's offense is anemic. It has averaged about 16 ppg against BCS opponents this season. That is just not going to get it done. Of course, if UGA turns the ball over like it did against UF then that is a different story. The UK offense is not set-up to come from behind, so if UGA can get out front early it could very well spell trouble for the Wildcats.

The bottom line:
UGA is going to come out hungry to erase last weeks performance. I expect Knowshon to carry the ball 25+ times after all of the discussion this week about him taking himself out of the game at inopportune times.

Final score: UGA 34 - UK 17

A few thoughts about the Saturday massacre...

Well, after a little over 48 hours to digest the game now known as the World's Largest Crap Yourself Party I will share a few thoughts.

First, let's address the onside kick. One word, STUPID! I thought at the time it showed desperation, and I still think now it showed desperation. At the time UGA was down by 4 (7-3), and our Defense had done a good job of containing UF. Once we attempted and failed the onside kick Florida could smell blood in the water. By attempting the kick, it showed a total lack of confidence in our players and our team by CMR.

Next, the red-zone issues. I am going to give Blair Walsh a pass for now because the FG's don't really matter at this point. We needed TDs not FGs. I felt that each time UGA got inside the red-zone they turned to gimmicks instead of using our talent! We have a plethora of WRs that we can line up (MoMass, Green, Harris, Moore, etc) that all have heighth advantages over the UF secondary. So, line them up and take 3 shots at the end zone. I would much prefer this than to see Stafford try to run.

What about Moreno?? Something that I had noticed throughout the season is that KM often takes himself out of the game after 2-3 runs. I understand him needing to catch some air, however, when we have marched the ball down to the opponents 20 yard line that is not the time to take yourself out of the game. I wish he had the same attitude of another notable UGA RB that often said, "the ball ain't heavy".

Finally (for now), the defense. Okay, I know the Offense consistently put them in a bad position, however, they still made way too many mistakes and still lack the discipline necessary to win against top competition. Also, there were numerous times where our players were out of position and didn't know where they were supposed to be, which led to big plays and blown assignments.

So, where does this leave us?? This team still has the ability to finish 11-2, albeit the most disappointing 11-2 season UGA has ever had (is that possible?). UGA's goal(s) now should be to extend our win streak over Tech to 8 straight, have another 10+ win season, finish in the top 10, and play in the best bowl game possible (Capital One, Cotton, or Outback).