The Effort Was There, Now We Need Results

What a tough game for a Georgia fan to watch. Saturday's 45-42 defeat at the hands of the South Carolina Gamecocks may be one of the most gut wrenching games I have seen at Georgia. There have been bad losses and close losses, but this is one game where I felt the team played pretty well, yet still ended up on the losing side. There are not many times can you say that 3 plays in a game make the difference between a loss and a blowout victory. The effort put forth by the team on Saturday was such a seismic difference from week 1 that I felt Georgia just deserved to win. But that didn't happen.

So let's start with what went wrong:

• Three turnovers lead to three touchdowns (including 2 defensive scores). Couple this with the fake punt and that is how the Dawgs lost the game. We can't lose the turnover battle. This felt a lot like a game from the 2009 season, in that respect.
• The passing game was almost non-existent in the first half. Murray was constantly on the run and receivers were not getting open. As a matter of fact, I think there were only two completions to receivers the entire first half. The interception was horrible, with Murray throwing it directly into a blanketed man. Murray's numbers look pretty good this year, but he has not been up to par with last season.
• The offensive line is still not providing proper protection. I know the play that ended with Clowney causing the Murray fumble was a screen, but you at least need to try and block a little bit. Justin Anderson still looks lost on pass coverage.
  
• The running game may have had a nice day, but why are we running out of the shotgun on 3rd and 1?!?
• Jordon Love's pass interference may be the play that cost the Dawgs the game. We got good pressure and it was a bad pass from Garcia. There was no need to hop on the guy's back. It gave Carolina new life and Lattimore scored just a few plays later.
• What is up with Walsh? The chip shot field goal he missed ended up being the difference in the final score!
• No receptions for Orson Charles. REALLY?!?
  

On the flip side, this game was filled with a ton of positives:

• Brandon Boykin is the best player we have right now. Solid on defense, makes things happen on offense, and is just amazing on kick offs.
• Rambo and Cummings had great games. It made me feel that we really missed Rambo against Boise. Garcia was basically a non-factor with the exception of the touchdown to Jeffrey.
• The receivers showed up in the second half and looked like they may be a good bunch. I said it last week and I'll say it again, Malcolm Mitchell should be starting.
• The defense overall played a hell of a game. Lattimore racked a ton of yards on a few carries in the 4th, but other than that the Dawgs did a much better job tackling him than they did last year. Garcia was held in check and we even got some sacks. It is a shame when a defensive effort like that was wasted with turnovers. If you take out the fake punt, the defense allowed 335 yards. Pretty damn good against a team with a senior quarterback and All-Americans at receiver and running back.
• The coaching was better. Definitely not perfect. Allowing the fake punt was all on the coaches. I mean, it was Spurrier after all.
• Michael Bennett has good hands. He may be the slot guy we are looking for.
• Marlon Brown and TK have talent, we just need to get them the ball.
• Isaiah Crowell showed on Saturday why he was the #1 running back recruit in the country. 158 total yards on just 18 touches and two scores. We have to get him the ball 25 times a game. His running on Saturday reminded me a lot of Knowshon Moreno. A number of times he got hit right at the line of scrimmage, but somehow ended up with a 3 yard gain. And if you watch the game, look for a play in the first half when a SC defender blows him up about 10 yards into a carry, he shrugs it off and picks up another 15 or so. The kid is that good, we just need to use him. (added video)

At the end of the day, this game should have been a victory. The team I saw on Saturday looked nothing like the one we saw in the Dome last week. If they cut just a few of the mistakes, they could begin to play great football. We should get an easy win on Saturday against Coastal Carolina and it would not surprise me to see us follow that with four more wins. The talent is there.

GO DAWGS!!!

At one point, we all fall

Image courtesy of the AJC

"Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He is going to fight and he is going to lose. But what makes him a man is at the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. This game is not over, this battle is not over." - Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights

I find this quote amazingly appropriate for the game this weekend. The irony is it appeared on the television screen spoken by Kyle Chandler, who attended the University of Georgia before becoming an actor.

GATA! Let's go Dawgs!

Quick Hits

- The special on Herschel Walker on ESPN last night was pretty awesome. I had never heard the story about his difficulties with bullying in middle school and how he chose to transform himself. Pretty moving stuff. And watching the highlights again, I can honestly say there has never been another running back since Herschel that had the combination of speed and strength he had. The dude was just amazing.

- Everyone is frustrated. The fans, the players, the media, and Mark Richt. Coach Richt asked the reporters if they wanted to see him blow up and start throwing things. My first response was, hell yes.

- The Dawgs will be an underdog at home this weekend. That is a very rare occurrence (I believe I read this is only the 3rd or 4th time since 2000). That is pretty amazing.

- Going into last year, Mark Richt had only lost 4 non-conference games in his first 9 seasons at Georgia. He has now lost 3 of his last 6. That's not good.

- South Carolina is a good football team, but they are not unbeatable. East Carolina had them on the ropes last week. If the Dawgs can find a way to keep the score low, I think we win. My god, a man can hope.

- I predicted a loss last week with the caveat that we would win this week. Despite the poor performance against Boise State, my feelings remain the same.

Georgia 30, South Carolina 24

Thoughts on South Carolina

We knew it was going to be a tough game with AJ out of the lineup. At times the offense looked good, but only getting 6 points off three trips to the red zone killed us. But that's not the really story of this game.

Following the game, many people were quick to jump online and immediately blame the defense. Yes, the tackling was bad, but Lattimore is the real deal and sometimes, good players make good plays. Overall, I felt the defense actually played pretty well. Before you jump down my throat, let me explain.

On the legs of Lattimore, South Carolina moved the ball down the field fairly easy today. The defensive gameplan was pretty dead on, the execution was what killed us. It began in the first quarter with arguably the most important play in the entire game. Georgia forced Carolina into a 3rd and long, but a 21 yard draw by Lattimore kept the Gamecocks on the field. they would keep the ball for the first 8 minutes of the game and ended the drive with a touchdown. At that point, are defense was already beat down.

From that point on, the Georgia defense was able to hold its won pretty well. Yes, Carolina did score again, but if you were to tell me after the opening drive that Carolina would only score twice more the entire game, I would be pretty happy. the defense stood strong through much of the second half, holding Carolina to only a field goal. Justin Houston continued to be a beast, notching three sacks and forcing a fumble. What hurt the Georgia defense all day was not the scheme as much in the fact they were on the field for most of the game. The Georgia offense only had the ball 8 times in the game and four of those ended in three and outs. With a tired defense, that is just inexcusable.

Onto the offense, where I really have to question the lack of creativity in the play calling. I know we had a redshirt freshman making his first road start, but in my eyes Aaron Murray looked up to the challenge. He threw the ball well and did not make the mistakes he made in week 1. The problem was, we once again failed to force our wide receivers into action. With AJ out, clearly we don't have that great deep threat, but three passes beyond fifteen yards is not going to get the job done.

Ealey looked good running the ball, especially in the first half. I know Caleb was nursing an ankle injury, but I would have at least liked to see him on the field. He is a different type of runner than Ealey and maybe that change in style would have opened up the run game a little more. the Ealey fumble really killed the game for us. I felt we had the momentum swinging our way, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Overall, this was a bad game but there are a number of good things to take away. I think the defense will only to continue to improve. Coach Grantham's system was solid, now we just need to crank up the execution. Aaron Murray is going to be a great quarterback. He looked poised on the road and will only continue to get better. This is only one loss and at least it happened early. With a pass heavy Arkansas team coming to town, hopefully the defense can continue to get pressure and maybe force some bad throws from Mallet.

We've got ten games to go in the '10 season. Let's not panic. A 17-6 loss on the road to Carolina is bad, but we were still within a touchdown with the ball with about 7 minutes left in the game.

And hey, things could be worse. At least we lost to a talented team. Can't say the same for Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech.

GO DAWGS!!!

About tomorrow...

South Carolina has talent, there is no denying it. But every year is supposed to be "the year" in Columbia and it continues to not happen. Georgia has lost to the Gamecocks 3 times in the last 10 years, the last time being in 2007 and I just don't see that number changing this week. Georgia has better depth and while the SC offense looks improved from last, the defense does not. Eric Noorwood is gone and they will be without their leading tackler.

Depsite the absence of AJ Green, we get Washaun and TK back to help an offense that could have easily scored 60 last week (we did nothing butrun the ball up the middle with the fullback the entire 4th quarter). It should be quite a battle, but the best special teams in the country will be the difference.

Georgia 27, South Carolina 21

GO DAWGS!!!

Suck it up, there's a game to play

We've had our day to analyze, complain, and then over analyze the AJ Green situation. No matter what happens with the NCAA appeal, the fact of the matter is that the kid will not be playing in Columbia in 2 days. And suddenly, every ounce of confidence that Georgia fans had heading into the South Carolina game seems to have left along with AJ's Independence Bowl jersey. If I have one message for Georgia fans today, it is GET OVER IT.

I know AJ Green is an amazing talent but how quickly you forget that he had no part in the victory over Georgia Tech last fall. Georgia has recruited the receiving position well in recent years and there is absolutely no reason to suspect that the guys we will have on the field won't be able to get it done.

Marlon Brown was a 5 star recruit from the state of Tennessee who is considered a fantastic blocker and started to show some of the talents he has last week. Kris Durham is a fifth year senior who looked great last week. Rantavious Wooten has shown sparks of brilliance, including hauling in two TD passes in Green's absence against against Kentucky last year. He was nursing a knee injury and only played sparingly against ULL. And lastly, Tavarres King (who is still only a sophomore) has shown the ability to get open down the field. This group of receivers looks pretty good to me without including our amazing group of tight ends into the equation as well.

For now, we need to forget about AJ. We need to remember that we are Georgia and they are South Carolina, a team that Georgia holds 46-14 advantage against. A team Mark Richt has lost two twice in 9 years and a team we beat last year with no answer for Stephen Garcia's roll out passes to the tight end. If Georgia loses the game this weekend, it will not be because of the absence of AJ Green, but rather the lack of focus needed to be an opponent that we have owned historically.

Chicken in the Fryer

The Dawgs take on the Gamecocks in Columbia this week:

There's Nothing Like ACC Football...

You gotta have something to bank on when you try to talk smack...

As mentioned before, I am currently in law school in Columbia. The Southern Mississippi/SC game was in fact the first opportunity I have had to attend a game in Williams-Brice Stadium. I approached it more as a dry run for next weekend's game, scouting out our opponent for the Dawgs...

As a tailgating note, if I had to describe the tailgating scene around Columbia in one word, here's what I'd pick: Jacksonville. I did have a great time tailgating with some SC fraternity friends and associated coeds. But at the end of the day, Columbia is inundated with railroad tracks and warehouses, and Williams-Brice is surrounded by acres of asphalt. Michael Adams, be aware: while North Campus may occasionally get sullied, at least Sanford Stadium isn't located in the Crock-Pot of the South, surrounded by cotton warehouses, CSX tracks, and more warehouses. Hopefully we'll be able to fully reclaim North Campus under some sort of regulated, registered system within the next few seasons.

Also, I think this was the first time I had ever seen people watching a college baseball highlight reel at a football tailgate. If SC won anything beyond a baseball title (ie a SEC football Championship), I'm pretty sure that the entire city of Columbia would implode and the entire universe collapse on itself. Maybe even if they added a few 10-win seasons to their record book...

Strange resemblance to Alltel Stadium...

While the game, score-wise, appears lopsided for the Gamecocks, they ran a majority of the game out of the shotgun formation, with multiple receivers spread wide. Obviously SC did not want to give away any major new wrinkles to their playbook (or throw too many loops at Connor Shaw), but I feel like the one fundamental thing that they needed to do and perform against Southern Miss, they fell short. South Carolina needed to dominate at the line of scrimmage and run the ball; while they did rack up 237 rushing yards, they lost on time of possession to Southern Miss (28:57-31:03).

82 out of the 237 yards came from Florida-esque QB runs up the middle, and additionally 52 extra yards came on one scamper by an SC RB. If SC can't run the ball down the throats of a mediocre Conference USA opponent primarily through their running backs and control the time of possession, I would be a little worried if I was Spurrier.

Sure, the Connor Shaw and Stephen Garcia song and dance needed to split some snaps and spread it out, and we all know that Southern Mississippi was ranked #109 in pass defense last year. But with a new zone blocking line scheme in Columbia, a relatively inexperienced offensive line, and a new backfield rotation, the more live running reps for SC, the better. Ask Scott Lakatos what he knows about South Carolina's passing attack.

He knows that Bojangles is across the street...

I will say though that there is somewhat of a buzz starting to build in Columbia for the UGA game next Saturday.

While the UGA-SC game is still not sold out (go ahead and buy your ticket; Columbia is a short drive from GA), I had a die-hard SC student tell me that his rival list ranked as: 1) Tennessee 2) UGA 3) Osama Bin Laden 4) Clemson. Evidently IPTAY holding the lead in the overall series by 27 games ranks behind hunting international terrorists...

Get ready, it's college football season. Enjoy the ride.

Quick Reaction to South Carolina's Victory over Ole Miss

In the 15 minutes since South Carolina defeated Ole Miss, I have heard the announcers on ESPN say repeatedly that South Carolina "almost beat Georgia" and that they are for real. The Dawgs did win that game, so if South Carolina is for real, shouldn't they be giving more credit to the Dawgs?

Thoughts on South Carolina

That was one of the most painful, gut wrenching, exciting, competitive, and all out strange games I have ever witnessed. Georgia and South Carolina put up a 78 points and the game still comes down to the final seconds. While there were plenty of things that were completely wrong with this game, the most important thing was right and that was the final score. We're back to 1-1, 1-0 in the SEC and all of our major goals are still in front of us.

Let's start with the things that went bad. Two turnovers in the first quarter led to 14 Carolina points and more importantly left the defense on the field for almost the entire quarter. While Branden Smith did have a nice return later in the game, for now he needs to be taken off of the return team. On the fumble return, the ball was kicked about 5 yards into the end zone and despite making the same mistake against OSU, he still brought it out. He is playing both offense and defense and I think that is enough for a freshman to handle.

Penalties were also once again a major problem for the Dawgs. While I think the call against Reshad was completely crap, most of the other penalties were the proper calls. After looking much more disciplined last week, the Dawgs fell back into some bad habits from last season.


But of all the things that went wrong last night, I think the biggest problem was coaching. The defense played fairly well but I did not see an adjustment to the South Carolina passing attack after they threw nearly 20 times in the first quarter. I know that the zone is designed to prevent long plays, but Carolina essentially ran short outs and passes to the tight end unchallenged all night. When the opposing team throw 53 passes, your linebacker should not have 15 tackles (as Rennie Curran did). We also failed to get any type of pressure from our defensive ends. It will be very nice to have Justin Houston back next week at Arkansas (and we need him more than ever with the announcement that Rod Battle will now miss the remainder of the season with a knew injury).

For the second week in a row, I also am left wondering what Mike Bobo is doing with the offense. Richard Samuel was running the ball great, but for some reason he disappeared for nearly an entire quarter. Then, we finally get Logan Gray in the game for a grand total of one play. And once again, Marlon Brown and Rontavious Wooten went unused (other than appearing on two plays after the Joe Cox sack and fumble that put the Dawgs at second and 30). Another thing that really bugs me is how we handle short yardage situations. In the past, it was a no brainer that we would turn around and hand the ball to the fullback. Last night on a second and 1, we run a stretch play with Carlton Thomas that loses 3 yards. Chapas has some ability, lets use him.

For all the things that are wrong, the Dawgs did a lot of things right in this game. Brandon Boykin, often overshadowed by highly touted Branden Smith, made a name for himself with the huge TD return for the toughdown, another 50 yard return, and a big interception. If Boykin can keep this play up, we may forget the loss of Asher Allen quicker than I thought. Branden Smith also had a nice game after his horrible fumble early in the game. The 61 yard run was a thing of beauty and he may be one of the fastest players in the SEC already. It should be a fun next few years watching this guy mature.

Joe Cox and Richard Samuel also played much better this week than they did against Oklahoma State. Samuel ran hard all night, breaking tackles and learning from the mistakes he made in week 1. He scored his first rushing touchdown of the season and I have a feeling we may see a lot more this season. Now, we just need to keep his running consistent throughout the game. Cox also came back strong, putting up some nice numbers. The interception was horrible and even he admitted to seeing Norwood. AJ Green had a phenomenal night and saved Cox's tail on a couple of occassions. Any person who thinks AJ Green is not the best receiver in the country should watch the replay of those catches he made last night.

While Boykin's play was amazing, a lot of credit also needs to go to Georgia's other MVP of the night, Rennie Curran. With South Carolina throwing short passes all night, Curran had 15 tackles, repeatedly preventing short gains from turning into big plays. And for the second year in a row, Rennie came up with a huge play to prevent a South Carolina touchdown. This guy played his heart out last night. I can't imagine what our defense would be like without him right now.

This was one of those games that hopefully teaches the team a lot about themselves. They have now faced two tough games, one a loss and one a win. If the Dawgs can take what has worked the last two weeks and cut down on the turnovers, the results should turn out in our favor in Fayetteville next week.





GO DAWGS!!!

If I Ever Get Back To Georgia, I'm Gonna Nail My Feet To The Ground: South Carolina Preview

It’s Saturday, in Athens!!! The Dawgs return home after a tough loss on the road at Oklahoma State to face Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Plenty has been written this week about what went wrong in Stillwater, but the time for second guessing is over. This Saturday night, it is time to tee it up Between the Hedges for the first time in 2009.

Who Are These Guys?

Now in his fifth season in Columbia, Steve Spurrier leads South Carolina back to Athens. Georgia won a defensive struggle last season 14-7, and the all time record sits at 45-14-2 in favor of the Dawgs (What a rivalry!).

Thursday Night Pros, much like Boise State. Last week Georgia faced an opponent in Oklahoma State known primarily for its powerful offense. This week, the Dawgs will face a team that in many ways is the opposite. The defense, lead by linebacker Eric Norwood, shined in the Gamecocks’ 7-3 win over N.C. State, allowing only 133 yards of total offense. Norwood had two sacks and was a force disrupting Wolfpack QB Russell Wilson, who couldn’t test South Carolina’s young, talented defensive backfield.

As good as the defense was last week, the South Carolina offense struggled. QB Stephen Garcia, continuing a theme from last year, struggled, completing 13 of 22 passes for 148 yards. Garcia also threw a key interception that led to N.C. State’s only score of the game. Garcia’s targets aren’t as reliable as former WR Kenny McKinley and former TE Jared Cook as this year’s stable is very young with freshmen WRs Alshon Jeffrey and Tori Gurley. WR Moe Brown, who scored the lone TD against Georgia last year, is the veteran of the group.

Against N.C. State, RB Brian Maddox led the rushing attack, running for 66 yards and a touchdown, but averaging just under 3 yards a carry. The offense totaled only 256 yards of offense. Spurrier also had a tough time replacing kicker Ryan Succop (now in the NFL). New kicker Spencer Lanning missed a chip shot 27 yarder and a botched snap on another attempt cost Carolina at least 6 points.

All in all, it was an ugly game against a bad team for the Gamecocks last week. The defense was strong but Garcia remains unproven as a quarterback in the SEC and will need help from his running game if the Cocks hope to have better success against a Georgia D that held Zac Robinson under 200 yards passing last week.

Expect to see the Gamecocks use Jarvis Giles a little more at running back on Saturday. He’s young, but he’s South Carolina’s future at the position. Also expect to see the use of the Wildcat formation with true freshman CB Stephon Gilmore taking the snaps. Gilmore won a starting CB position three days into fall camp and the Gamecocks want to showcase him on both sides of the ball. He leads a young defensive backfield that features some talent but was untested last Thursday night.

What are the Dawgs going to do?

The Dawgs come home licking some major wounds left by the loss at Oklahoma State. After an impressive 80-yard drive to open the game, the Georgia offense went cold and could only muster a field goal the rest of the way. To get the offense back on track, I expect Georgia to come out with a more traditional look on its opening drive this week. Look for a heavy dose of rushing from the combination of Richard Samuel and either Caleb King or Carlton Thomas. Also look for the return of screen passes to the backs and quick outs to the receivers early in the game to help Cox get into a throwing rhythm. Also expect to see the debut of Marlon Brown and Rontavious Wooten at receiver.

On defense, look for the Dawgs to try and bring more pressure on Garcia this week than they did against Oklahoma State. Garcia has proven to be erratic under pressure and does not have the weapons around him that Zac Robinson did last week. Despite the roughing call against Reshad Jones last week, I also expect the safeties to continue to play tough and hit receivers coming over the middle. If the defense is to regain its swagger from years past, it must get strong play from the linebackers and safeties to keep the gains short.

On special teams, it doesn’t look like there will be much change this year on kickoff coverage philosophy as Georgia continued to corner kick the football and give up big returns. In the return game, hopefully Branden Smith has shaken off his first game jitters and will be willing to take a knee. Blair Walsh had a tremendous game last week and if the offense struggles again, his leg may be the difference between a win and a loss.

What is going to happen?

The recent history between Georgia and South Carolina reads almost like a book. The two teams play a close game that is ultimately decided by a mistake made by one team in the second half. Rankings, previous years, and star power matter little in the outcome. The offenses for both teams played horribly in their respective openers, so expect another low scoring affair between these two. I expect that the Georgia offense will not play quite as bad as it did against Oklahoma State and that the South Carolina defense will not fair quite as well as it did against N.C. State (At least I hope). This means that Georgia will score more points than the 10 points it put up in Stillwater last week. The only question is whether Carolina can find a way to create turnovers and help its offense. This game will be close, but I like the Dawgs at home to put the game out of reach in the 4th quarter.

Georgia 24, South Carolina 13 and hopefully a lot of this...

SEC Weekend Games of Interest: The "Thank God Football is Back" Edition

Thanks for joining Bubba ‘N Earl for the first week of NCAA Football, it’s so awesome to be back. Like most of you, I’ve spent most of the summer waiting for this week to come. We were pretty successful with our preview picks last season and hope to continue the glory in 2009. I have two ground rules: 1) If your team is playing a 1-AA team, they will be made fun of and not much will be written. 2) If you are not a charter member of the SEC and have never played in an SEC Title game (That means you South Carolina), you get a funny nick name: The Southern University of Carolina (SUC) sounds good for now (Thanks to AUMaverick for coming up with that one).

Here is what is happening this week in your neck of the woods:

South Carolina at North Carolina State: It’s Thursday Night Football and there is Techno music in the stands, South Cackalacky should be comfortable…. This is ACC Country.

This is just as bad as the Techno Dance of the ACC

The OBC takes his squad to Raleigh to face what looks to be N.C. State’s best team under Tom O’Brien. Both squads are looking to make a statement early and the Gamecocks ended up steam rolling the Wolfpack in the 2008 season opener. In my mind, these are two teams moving in completely different directions and I expect N.C. State to be a solid contender in the ACC. South Carolina seems to be pretty average and lacking an identity at this point. Its QB Stephen Garcia can be a good player, but is very inconsistent and Spurrier just isn’t the same coach he was at Florida. Look for SUC to be hurt by their lack of depth on the defensive line and I see a sophomore All-ACC QB Russell Wilson leading the Fighting Tom O’Brien’s to a 27-17 victory.

Kentucky vs. Miami of Ohio: Kentucky keeps improving under the Rich Brooks/Joker Phillips tandem but its 2008 season was plagued by poor QB play. The Wildcats have outstanding young receivers (no UGA fan needs any more proof that Randall Cobb is a playmaker) and what may be the best defensive backfield in the league led by senior corner Trevard Lindley. However, Kentucky needs second year starting QB Mike Hartline to show some progress against the Miami North RedHawks, especially with rivals Louisville, Florida and Alabama looming in consecutive weeks.

No point behind this picture, Just looks like Hockey season at UK is Awesome

To be honest, I know very little about Miami of Ohio in regards to their current football team. The RedHawks are breaking in a new Head Coach in Mike Haywood and he probably wishes his job had included Ben Rothlisberger. Look for Kentucky to overpower in this one and win in a somewhat modest fashion, 30-10.

Western Kentucky at Tennessee: The biggest question in this game isn’t whether Lane Kiffin will win his first game as UT Head Coach, but will the stadium be full. Not much to be said about this game. Expect a heavy dose of freshman Brice Brown and high percentage passing to build Jonathan Crompton’s confidence.

Dad, What's a Tampa 2? Can I get it on my Shoes?

Tennessee wins 37-7, expect to hear about it too.

Jackson State at Mississippi State: Jackson Sate looks to be the perfect game to kick off the Dan Mullen experience in Starkville and the cowbells should be active. We have all season to talk about the former Florida Offensive Coordinator and we won't know exactly what to expect from them until we see the on-field product. The western Bulldogs still haven’t named a starting QB and senior Tyson Lee and sophomore Chris Relf could split playing time in the new spread system.

One thing is for sure in this game and that is workhorse RB Anthony Dixon. Sylvester Croom didn’t leave the cupboard completely bare as far as the defense is concerned either. MSU rolls in this one, 38-10.

Charleston Southern at Florida: No comment. The Gators roll and I don’t even want to predict a score, it will be that bad. Charleston Southern was founded as a Baptist college in 1964 and the University's mission is “promoting academic excellence in a Christian environment". Tim Tebow should feel at home and I heard he will lead a Bible study after the game with the entire CSU team while not having sex with the Charleston Southern cheerleaders.

Seriously, rules should state that if a prominent Bull Gator pays enough money, he gets to play in this one.

Louisiana Tech at Auburn: La. Tech pulled an early season upset last year by defeating Mississippi State and Derek Dooley will have his Bulldogs ready to do it again on the Plains.

Auburn is coming off a much scrutinized offseason and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered in this game. Can Chris Todd be the man at QB? Will the fast paced Gus Malzahn offense work with the same personnel that failed last year? How will the defense respond with Gene Chizik back in town?

Opening week gets a little tougher than the Tigers would like as La. Tech is no pushover, returning its top QB and RB from last season as well as a very strong defensive line from an 8-5 bowl winning team. Derek Dooly will keep his team close, but Gene Chizik needs to prove something in his first game and I like Auburn to pull this one out, 24-14.

Missouri State at Arkansas: This won’t be close and the Ryan Mallet era gets off to a roaring start for the Razorbacks. The best thing about Missouri State playing Arkansas is it provides an opportunity for BNE’s first Random Pop Culture Factoid of the Week. Actor John Goodman is an alumnus of what was then Southwest Missouri State University, where he was a football player. Here’s to you Walter Sobchak.

Western Carolina at Vanderbilt: Back in spring of 2005, my brother and I went to a UGA baseball game where the Diamond Dawgs were playing the Catamounts of Western Carolina. We sat in right field with Streit and BFR and couldn’t figure out what a Catamount was at the time (It’s a mountain cat by the way). My brother, Joel, took the liberty to ask the right fielder this same perplexing question and upon him ignoring us, various other insults were hurled his way.

Meet #4 Steven Strausbaugh

Ironically, WCU won the game that day. Don’t expect them to have the same luck in Nashville on Saturday as the Commodores roll 31-14 behind newly named starting QB Larry Smith.

Alabama vs. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University: The premier southern football game of the week marks the return of Alabama (and Virginia Tech for that matter) to the Georgia Dome. There is no doubt that the Crimson Tide will be stout on defense and the same can be said about the Va. Tech Hokies. The biggest question for both squads is how their individual offenses will handle this big time match up. With Va. Tech’s Daniel Evans out, Bama has the edge at tailback with the physical Mark Ingram, while the Hokies have the more experienced QB in Tyrod Taylor.

Looking at this game, the biggest clincher for me is Alabama breaking in three new starters on the offensive line. I think new Tide QB Greg McElroy has the tools to be a solid SEC starter, but it will be tough with a swarming Va. Tech defense putting constant pressure on him. Just like when Nick Saban had all of last summer to game plan for Clemson, Frank Beamer and Bud Foster have planned all summer to face a first timer behind center. Look for some big plays from WR Julio Jones to keep Bama in a low scoring affair. In the end, the Hokies leave Atlanta with a 17-14 win.

Louisiana State at Washington: This should be a good early test for the Bayou Bengals as they have to travel cross country and officially start the Steve Sarkisian era for the Huskies. LSU is a favorite to challenge for the SEC West this year with a lot of young talent. A lot of pressure is on the shoulders of sophomore QB Jordan Jefferson and traveling across the country is always tough for a young starting QB. Ultimately, it will most likely be a tough year for Washington, but I think they have the guy that can bring them back in Sarkisian. Washington’s QB Jake Locker is a physical specimen and a darn fine player. I expect an energized UDub team to push LSU and LSU to respond with a tougher than expected 37-24 victory.

Ole Miss at Memphis: I’m not super high on Ole Miss this season and expect them to finish around 8-4. That being said, this is a very talented Rebel squad led by Houston Nutt and Jevan Snead.

"Let me just have a piece of that SEC West Title"

Memphis is coming off a 6-7 season that saw it lose to South Florida in a bowl game. The strength of Tommy West’s squad (Side Note: Can anyone else believe that Tommy West is still a head coach?) will be its offense. The Tigers return its top passer and rusher from 2008 and this should be a good test for Ole Miss to start its season, especially on the road. I always like that the Rebels play Memphis every season and if past seasons are any indication, plenty of points will be tossed around. Ultimately, Ole Miss should out-athlete their opponent and I see a score in the range of 45-21. If Houston Nutt’s bunch is going to turn some heads in the SEC this season, they need an early defensive statement here.

That does it for this week. Enjoy a Makers Mark and Coke this weekend with your College Football this weekend. Go Dawgs!

Spurrier: Teacher; Kiffin: Student

As many of you follow SEC football religiously, you've probably read about or even heard the audio from SOS dressing down Junior yesterday while waiting for an elevator at the SEC meetings in Destin. While the situation is truly funny and Spurrier taught Junior a lesson in just how to talk trash in the SEC, I'm glad our coach isn't involved in any of this. It just serves as another example of just how lucky we are to have Mark Richt as our head coach. Of course, if every coach in the SEC were like Richt, these meetings would be very boring...and the SEC meetings are usually far from boring.

"Mark, I just told him to go to his room and wait until I called for him."

God bless Georgia, God bless Coach Richt, and God bless the other SEC coaches being very entertaining.

We're close to 100 days left...

Streit's Bowl Picks: SEC Edition

The bowl season is almost halfway over and now the real bowls can begin. The SEC has sent 8 teams to bowls for the 2008-2009 season (the only guys missing out are Mississippi State, Auburn, Arkansas, and Tennessee). Below are my picks for all of the SEC games, including Georgia's match up with Michigan State, leading up to the BCS Championship. I will preview that game in a later post.

Music City Bowl - Boston College vs. Vanderbilt

Vandy finally qualified for a bowl game for the first time in 26 years and they get to travel to... Nashville. That's right, they get to stay home and play Boston College in their home town. Vanderbilt was everyones early season darling, jumping out to a 5-0 start and a top 15 ranking. But, the Commodores soon returned to Earth and lost 6 of their final 7 games (including an embarrassing loss to Duke). Boston College was not expected to compete for the ACC Championship in their first year PMR (Post Matt Ryan). The Eagles ended the regular season strong, winning their final 4 games before falling to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship. Boston College improved during the season while Vandy seemed to get worse.

Boston College 37, Vanderbilt 13

Chick-Fil-A Bowl - LSU vs. Georgia Tech

As much as the Georgia defense was a disappointment this season, LSU's defense was worse. LSU allowed 31 points in each of its final 3 games to the likes of Troy, Ole Miss, and Arkansas. Lesticles does not have a solid option at QB with Jarrett Lee continuing to throw touchdowns to the wrong team and Jordan Jefferson still a year away from being ready to take the reins. Receiver Brandon LeFell and RB Charles Scott are big time players, but the lack of a QB hurts the Bayou Bengals. Georgia Tech has become a media darling this season with Paul Johnson's triple option attack working better than most thought it would. ACC player of the year Jonathan Dwyer, Roddy Jones, and Josh Nesbitt will be a tough task for the LSU defense. most people are picking Tech to win this one, but I think there will be an upset.

LSU 31, Georgia Tech 27

Outback Bowl - South Carolina vs. Iowa

Steve Spurrier's Palmetto State chickens finished an up and down 2008 season with a loss to rival Clemson and a 7-5 record. Outside of WR Kenny McKinley (who missed part of the season with injury) Carolina never found a true identity on offense. The strength of the SC team is their defense led by linebackers Eric Noorwood and Jasper Brinkley. The 'Cocks will be without leading tackler Emanuel Cook, who has been suspended by Coach Steve Spurrier. The Carolina defense ranked 11th in the nation, one spot ahead of the Iowa Hawkeyes. For Iowa, the game plan is all about defense and running back Shonn Greene. Greene beat out Knowshon Moreno and Javon Ringer for the Doak Walker Award by putting up big time numbers for the 8-4 Hawkeyes. The edge in this game goes to Iowa because of their ability to pull a major upset (of then #2 Penn State).

Iowa 20, South Carolina 14

Cotton Bowl - Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech

Houston Nutt surprised a lot of people in his first season in Oxford by winning eight games. I was not one of those people. With Texas transfer Jevan Snead under center and a new attitude on the sideline, I expected the Ole Miss program to have a strong 2008. Jevan Snead and WR/HB Dexter McCluster lead an explosive Mississippi offense. The question is, will they be able to keep up with Mike Leach's Red Raiders? Graham Harrel and Michael Crabtree lead the Texas Tech offense that scored 535 points this season. This team reached as high as #2 in the rankings and also gave one of the most memorable moments of 2008:

Texas Tech 45, Ole Miss 38

Liberty Bowl - Kentucky vs. East Carolina

Kentucky gave Georgia a scare this season when it finally found its QB of the future in Randall Cobb. The 'Cats were riddled with injuries this year, and after a 4-0 start lost 6 of their last 8 games. East Carolina also started the the season with some big wins, dropping Virginia Tech and West Virginia in consecutive weeks. But, disappointing losses to NC State, Houston, and Virginia derailed their BCS dreams. The Pirates recovered and won the Conference USA Championship by beating Tulsa. Even with ECU's impressive wins, I think Kentucky has a chance to pull the upset.

Kentucky 27, East Carolina 21

Sugar Bowl - Utah vs. Alabama

Another non-BCS school gets to take on the SEC in the Sugar Bowl. This sucks and I expect to see a similar story to play out as the one that happened last year. Nick Saban will have the Crimson Tide ready for the Utes and I expect the defense to have a field day. The Tide offense, while not explosive, will do enough between the running of Glenn Coffee, the passing of JPW, and the receiving of Julio Jones to put up 40 points. Without consensus All-America OL Andre Smith, suspended for violation of team rules, Alabama will need to get the ball out of the backfield a little quicker than usual. Don't look for that to cause Saban too many headaches in the game planning. Utah still runs a variation of the offense left by Urban Meyer, so look for them to use a similar scheme to that which was used by Florida in the SEC Championship. This game won't be as ugly as Georgia's destruction of Hawaii was, but another easy win for 'Bama none the less.

Alabama 45, Utah 24

Capital One Bowl - Georgia vs. Michigan State

At this point, we all know the big story line of this game is the match up between Knowshon Moreno and Javon Ringer. Both backs had great seasons and were finalists for the Doak Walker Award. The Dawgs were a preseason #1 team that underachieved and lost big games while the Spartans were a middle of the pack Big 10 team who is hoping to get to 10 wins for the first time since Nick Saban left for LSU. Rather than carry on about statistics, I'm just going to give my opinion on this game: Georgia should win rather easily. Georgia's offense boasts several top-tier college players: in addition to Knowshon Moreno, consider the fact that Matt Stafford and the combination of AJ Green and Mohammed Massaquoi have become one of the best QB/WR combos in the country. While Georgia may have struggled on D over the last few games, the offense has not. We are the better team and we should win. Ringer is a good back, but he averages only 4.2 yards a carry vs. 5.9 for Knowshon. If we step up and make tackles (yes, that is a big IF), we should stop Ringer in his tracks. And despite our struggles on D, we still ranked 28th in the country on total defense while Michigan State was 61st. I'm picking the Dawgs to pick up their 10th win of the season.

Georgia's 2009 New Year's Resolution: TACKLE BETTER!

Georgia 45, Michigan State 28

I'm headed to Orlando in the morning to cheer on the Dawgs. I'll be back next week with my National Championship Game preview as well as a season wrap up for Georgia.


GO DAWGS!!!

UGA Preview: ACC Edition

Well, as the Dawgs roll into ACC country, er, Williams-Brice Stadium this Saturday, it’s not like they’ll be facing some mighty team or anything (Wow, Vandy has a winning streak going against the Cocks, something the Dawgs can’t claim)…

Really? What kind of respectable SEC team has this kind of artwork? I guess being a charter member of the ACC is never too far away from your heart...

The Head Ball Coach has announced that he will play both Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher against the Dawgs on Saturday. No surprise here…it’s the HBC…and both Smelley and Beecher have been suspect in the first two Cackalacky games. Don’t be surprised to see three quarterbacks play, including some designated plays for Stephen Garcia. There’s no Danny Wuerffel in the group or Terry Dean for that matter.

Stephen Garcia's entire college future rode on this very putt.

Kenny McKinley’s injury looms large for South Carolina. Wide receivers are important in HBC’s offense, especially when he doesn’t have many. McKinley is one of the best wide receivers in the SEC. He might go, but will be extremely limited if he does. Watch out for Jared Cook (#84). He’ll be the Cocks leading target (I won’t make the joke) even if McKinley plays banged up. HBC likes to move him around the field, lining up in the slot as well as outside. Cook caught 8 passes for 111 yards against Vandy.

There's something she likes about Jared Cook.

South Carolina’s defense has been a strength against the Dawgs for a long time. It completely fell apart last season after the loss of LB Jasper Brinkley to injury. They couldn’t stop the run and Darren McFadden is still dreaming of playing their defense again. However, because South Carolina plays Georgia so early in the season, injuries and depth issues usually aren’t as big of a concern for the Cocks as they are later in the year (when they face Florida and Tennessee).

However, against the Dawgs last year, South Carolina’s defense was dominant, holding the Dawgs to 4 field goals. Jasper Brinkley (the thinner version) had a great day in Athens. It was the first and last time I’ve seen Mike Bobo forget about his game plan. The Dawgs threw the ball 44 times on a day when Knowshon Moreno had over 100 yards on just 14 carries. Ever since that day, Coach Bobo has stuck with his game plan, even when losing the game. Look for the Dawgs to stick to their guns in Columbia on Saturday.

Don't forget, Dawg fans, never forget

The Cocks have many good players on defense that can keep their team in games, but too many of them are playing out of position this year, including a bulked up Jasper Brinkley. Eric Norwood, a converted defensive end playing both linebacker and defensive end this year, is another example of the Cocks trying to get many of their best players on the field at the same time. This has created heavier linebackers at South Carolina, which usually results in slower linebackers. Look for Knowshon to have a field day.

Many Dawg teams have struggled in Columbia, but don’t look for this one to. The Cocks are a bit down on themselves after the Vandy loss, and the Dawgs couldn’t be riding any higher coming into town. Revenge will be on the Dawgs' minds. Let’s hope it gets ugly in Columbia. I think it will.

Prediction: Georgia 38, South Carolina 13

Let's end with an old school pic...

5 Things You May or May Not Have Known About Columbia & South Cacalacky

1. It's in the middle of the state. Carolinians decided that the best way to protect their capital was to make it as inconvenient as possible from anything else. You are hours away from anything you could consider cool or fun. Upon it's formation and declaration as capital of the state, it was seen as a great advantage to be located in the center of the state. Well, not so much anymore! Buyers remorse was universally felt almost immediately.

2. Most of the city was destroyed by fires set by Sherman during the Civil War. That never gets talked about much outside South Carolina. Why? Because no one was sad to see it burned to the ground. In fact, many rejoiced! Others thought, "Why re-build? We can move to Charleston!"

3. It wasn't until the early 1900's that Columbia finally had a paved street. Since then, they now have three. Congrats.

4. The construction of Williams-Brice Stadium was partially funded with federal dollars by the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal Era. Yes, we can blame the gubmint (you a sum bitch, FDR) for the monstrosity that is the home of the cocks. Guess that gubmint planning might explain why it's in the middle of a warehouse district.

5. The unofficial nickname of Williams-Brice is the "cockpit." Really? Is this true? A pit of cocks? I can't even make fun of that, it makes fun of itself so much.

It's just like my first trip to Columbia when the crowd chanted, "Who let the cocks out?!"

Or the fact that their mascot, Cocky, makes a grand entrance before the game by coming out of his "magic box" (their words, not mine). There's about 75 potential jokes in that one sentence.

Do you people know what you're saying? Maybe that's your defense mechanism. You say utterly ridiculous phrases that are so humorous already, that our brains become frozen as if we were simultaneously having a million ice cream headaches, and thus we are unable to further mock you.

He's not exactly Burt Reynolds, but something special in his own right.

Who's South Carolina's QB Tonight? Jenkins?

That storied South Cackalacky program is playing the Tom O'Briens tonight in the first nationally televised game of the season.

We all know they won't be playing in the LAST nationally televised game of the season. And neither will the purple tops.