DAWGS PUT AWAY PESKY WESTERN CAROLINA 45-16

After starting sloppy, the Georgia offense scored almost every time we had the ball in the final 3 quarters. The defense was only good in the first half - not great. The second half was better for the defense which basically made WC go backwards most of the third quarter. It was a workmanlike performance, but not particularly inspiring. Overall, we did not look like a team ready to go beat Alabama on the road. But, as I always do, I will trust that our coaching staff will get them ready and we will give Bama a fight.

Speaking of Bama, I just watched the Bama-Arkansas replay on CSS. Arkansas made a ton of mistakes in the first 40 minutes of the game that lead to the large Alabama lead. JP Wilson was making nice throws to wide open receivers. Which makes me wonder, were they open because they are fast and great route runners or was the Arkansas defensive backfield blowing coverage over and over. Probably a little of both. For certain, DJ Hall is a great receiver and we will have a tough time containing him for 4 quarters.

The Bama defense did not look like an immovable force, but they will probably be as good or better than the Gamecock defense. Of course, they were charged with the task of stopping the two best running backs in the conference. We will have to execute and catch the damn ball to score enough points to win. Alabama showed tremendous character to recover from blowing a 21 point lead and surrendering 28 consecutive points before scoring the final 10 points of the game to win in dramatic fashion. No doubt that game will have a draining effect, which could be more than enough to make me feel confident that we would beat them - if it was going to be in Athens. But, since we will be in their house, I expect that Alabama will have sufficient determination and momentum to make it extremely difficult for us. I will come back around Wednesday or Thursday to make my formal prediction. In the meantime, I hope that we can get a few guys healthy (Johnson, Evans, Ward) and have a great week of practice.

I will award my game balls for the Western Carolina game after watching the replay Monday night.