DAWGS SCORE 28 UNANSWERED POINTS TO VANQUISH OLE MISS 45-17

IN GENERAL

This game had a little bit of everything from falling behind, facing some adversity, catching a few breaks and forcing a few others. Offensively, Stafford was sharp and the receivers did well catching (I will talk about Tripp Chandler in my next post) and blocking down field. BUT, it was the running tandem of Thomas Brown and Knowshon Moreno that carried the day as the Dawgs rushed for 328 yards and 5 touchdowns. Brown had 180 yards on 16 carries and three of the touchdowns. Surely these Dawgs would not have gotten out into space so often without some fine blocking up front bythe O-line and down field by the receivers, and in interviews after the game, I heard Coach Richt, Brown and Moreno all give credit to the line and receivers. By the way, Chandler made some great blocks - GREAT blocks out there.

Our defense struggled to get the Ole Miss offense off of the field for 2.67 quarters. But, apparently we made some adjustments or just survived by having better depth. Either way, we need to shore up the off-tackle run defense. As far as the pass defense, it went about as expected. Seth Adams has a good arm and some talented receivers and shutting him down completely is not likely for most defenses in the league. I think it was a good outing for our d-backs to work on their skills and hopefully learn some things that will benefit us against Tennessee next Saturday. After 5 games now, it seems that we can expect our defense to yield about 14-17 points. It is up to our offense to score over 20 and we will be fine.

Being that this was a classic sandwich game between two giant road games for the Dawgs, I would say that the outcome was as good or better than anyone expected. Sure, it causes some concern for when we face the next team that wants to run right at our smallish ends, but in the end, the team kept after their asses and ran Ole Miss out of the stadium for a satisfying win.

THOMAS BROWN TOUCHDOWN CELEBRATION

I have noticed that every time Thomas Brown scores a touchdown (8 on the season) he seeks out Fernando Velasco and leaps into his enormous arms. Then the 318lb Velasco military presses 200lb Brown over is head and holds him up there for about 5 seconds. I enjoy seeing this end zone routine and hope we get to see it many more times this season.

DAWG BONES

Offense - Thomas Brown, duh. When a back rushes for 180 yards on 16 carries scoring 3 touchdowns if 50 yards, 41 yards and 4 yards, there is but one choice for the Dawg Bone. Nice game Thomas Brown!

Defense - Brandon Miller. Brandon had 6 tackles and an interception that essentially put the game on ice. But, the number one reason I am awarding him the Dawg Bone is that his play was inspired. He finally looks hungry to make plays and that should bode well for this defensive unit during the remainder of the season.

Special Teams - Brandon Coutu/Prince Miller both get Dawg Bones for their flawless execution of the onside kick. Just perfect. Way to go guys.