Week 3
Opponent:
Kickoff: 1:00 PM
TV: PPV Only
Well, that couldn’t have been any more opposite of an offensive performance than we saw in week 1. Bad game on just about every front. We struggled all day to get in rhthym on offense and never really did. Defensively we played well enough to win but we couldn’t get stops when we needed them and yielded too many sustained drives. Even the giant bright spot that was our special teams had a mark against it with Coutu’s miss. Just an ugly day all around. Oh well, time to get back on the horse so to speak and get things done.
About the SC game
As well as things went against OSU, they went that poorly against SC. For the most part, especially considering the way they started, the OL played as well as could be expected Saturday.
I suppose Mike Bobo’s having an interesting week. After week 1, everyone was extolling the virtues of the boy-wonder OC that was bringing some new wrinkles to our offense that the players seemed to like and that after one game certainly seemed to be effective. Now Bobo gets to deal with the opposite end of the spectrum, the one where the fans start to question exactly what in the world you’re thinking roughly 1 out of every 3 plays. We probably got a little too cute in the playcalling on 3 different (key) occasions Saturday, but you can’t fault Bobo too much for trying to make a statement early.
We managed to avoid the turnovers that plagued us all of last season for the most part. The one turnover we managed was on a tipped ball. That alone should tell you that
I won’t make any comments on
WC Offense
· Let’s be honest, this is a team in
·
At QB, they’ve used two guys this season. Jr Todd Spitzer has started both games this season which makes sense as he appears to be the less accurate, less mobile of the two. So. Adam Hearns has racked up more yards in less than 75% of the attempts and has a TD/INT ratio of 2/1 on the season. Compare that to 1/3 for Spitzer. We’ll likely see them both.
· At RB, Jr Mike Malone is a preseason all-conference selection. At 5-10, 174, he’s about the size of Mikey Henderson. He’s averaging right at 4 ypc. He’s averaged 4 receptions through two games, with a 69 yd TD, so our LBs can’t go to sleep on him in the passing game.
· Aside from Malone, only one other player has more than 4 catches on the year and that’s Jr. WR Eddie Cohen with 9, none for TDs. They have 11 difference people with receptions on the season, so they spread the ball around a good bit.
· The OL averages a light 285 across the starters. With none weighing more than 300. They do start 4 upper-classmen though, although one of those transferred in and another missed all of last year with an injury. Their starting LT played TE and DL last year and checks in at 6-2, 270.
· Bottom Line: I can’t imagine these guys being able to sustain blocks too long. Look for them to use short passes and a bunch of other stuff that likely won’t work against a fast, angry defense looking to prove that last week’s missed tackles and inability to make key stops was a blip, not the norm. They will take a few shots deep though, as they’ve had a long TD pass so far (against EKU) and had another one against Bama that got called back. They’re a decent passing team, averaging 234 ypg but through two games they’re under 100 ypg on the ground.
· Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: In the interest of changing things up, let’s go with our LBs against their blockers and RBs. Our LBs struggled at times Saturday getting off blocks and missed a few tackles. Ellerbe should have a big day as should his backup,
WC Defense
· This is a first, but I’m not going into great detail on these guys. It wouldn’t be worth it for anyone involved. Did I mention that this is a team that was picked to finish last in the Southern Conference? That’s usually not a precursor to solid defenses. They play a standard 4-3 defense. There’s really not much else to say.
· Bottom Line: These guys have given up an average of more than 48 points over their first two games, only one of which was against a D-I opponent (Bama – 52). They’ve averaged giving up almost 320 ypg rushing so far and an astounding 505 yards of total offense. This is the worst defense we’ll see all year.
· Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: We got way away from the run last week. Richt wants balance, so look for us to return to the ground game some, establish it, then try and take a shot deep to get Stafford some confidence on those deep balls. Look for us to break a long one on the ground for the first time in a while too.
The WC Game Overall
By all accounts this should be a bloodbath. This is a I-AA team that went 2-9 last season including 0-7 in their conference. On this season they’re 0-2 including a loss to a I-AA team (hey, just like
Ideally, I’d like to see some solid execution from the offense (really?). I’d like to see the WRs start making some plays in space again. I’d like to see
No matter what happens, we can’t read too much into this game, good or bad. Avoid injuries, put up some solid numbers and move on to the next opponent, who happens to be a traditional SEC power. Those are the goals. Don’t read too much into the results either. If we play well, don’t anoint us as “back” and ready to take on the world. If we don’t look like world beaters, don’t break out the sackcloth and ashes.
Positional Notes
· With Kelin Johnson out, Reshad Jones will get the nod at safety this week opposite CJ Byrd. While Jones got a ton of PT against SC last week, this is the ideal game for him to get some more experience before we head into the bulk of our conference schedule, especially if Johnson is going to be out for an extended period.
· Richt stated that he would start to rotate some OL this week to keep guys fresh. Look for Tripp, Vance and Boling to see time this week. Odds are you’ll see a lot more than just those two, but I think they’re looking to try combinations during live action to get a better feel for what we may actually have. Despite what the participation chart says for the SC game, Vance did indeed log a series at LT.
· Look for the LBs to rotate more this week according to Richt.
· Kade Weston is starting to look like he’s ready to emerge as that monster inside threat we’ve lacked recently. He can collapse a pocket like no one else on our roster.
· Tripp Chandler certainly showed why he was listed as the starting TE. Very solid effort from him.
· Massaquoi certainly looks ready to have an increased role in the offense. He made an amazing grab on 3rd and 23 and generally looked solid all day.
Random Thoughts
· I think I speak for everyone when I say that the audio difficulties really set a bad tone for the game. It was surreal sitting there and watching the videos with no sound. Very weird. We only have a handful of games there each year…you’d think we’d take the proper precautions. For our west coast readers, the PA system went out about 30 minutes prior to the game and didn’t come on until…well, I honestly can’t remember when it was…I want to say it was after halftime.
· Speaking of halftime, in honor of this year’s halftime show, this week’s writeup was written to the ever so funky sounds of James Brown’s Live at the
· OK, does the loser of Michigan-ND this week have to give up football? Both of them are winless. It’s like a dream…only with a loss to Spurrier…definitely not dream like. The problem is someone has to win that game. The same thing applies to UF-UT.
· Is there anyway we can convince the folks at ESPN that whatever amount of time they’re allotting for college games clearly isn’t enough? So far, they’re 2 for 2 on screwing up the starts of our televised games, rewarding us with stellar matchups between Illinois-Missouri and a blowout finale to Boston College-NC State. It’s like they completely missed the rules changes impacting the clock and thus increasing game times back around 3.5 hours or more. They were probably covering Jimmy Clausen missing a class or some such meaninglessness.
· More ESPN griping. In rewatching the game I realized that
· Continuing the Bob Davie thoughts, that guy locks in on a thought each week. Last week it was ACLs. This week it was man-to-man coverage. It’s like he’s contractually obligated to work these things into each week’s coverage. Meanwhile his partner is busy blowing up his word-of-the-day calendar.
· Alright, continuing with this year’s Road House theme, I have another correction to make. You’d think I’d never seen this movie before. There was some miscommunication with
Have a safe weekend,
Jody
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