Midweek Musings: A Smorgasbord

Red Zone Touchdowns... Did you notice how that statistic improved to perfect last week? Did you also notice that Knowshon Moreno was on the field every time? That is no coincidence. He can get in the end zone on plays that our other backs would not. Even if he doesn't get the ball, he commands much attention which opens up our other playmakers. In these last few games, we must have KM on the field when we are in the red zone. It just works.

Tailbacks... Last year, Thomas Brown and Knowshon made a great 1-2 punch and both had the ability to get in the end zone. This year, when Knowshon comes out, we have a precipitous drop in the talent/productivity at the tailback position. That includes running and blocking.

Richard Samuel is a true freshman who is barely 18 years old. He may become a great tailback in the next couple of years. He also could be a great linebacker, which is the position I thought he would play at Georgia. He is fast, tough and strong but he doesn't seem to be a fluid runner. He can still be effective in a Musa Smith style of running, but he will need a solid offensive line to gobble up yardage. Fortunately, barring continuous season-ending injuries to offensive linemen, he will have a tremendous line to run behind in the coming seasons.

Caleb King has size, speed and elusiveness. So why does he not inspire confidence when he goes in the game? Does he remind anyone else of Patrick Pass? And how did Patrick Pass have such a long NFL career?

Auburn... I will have more input about the game tomorrow, but for now I keep vacillating between being worried that they will play out of their heads... to being confident that they totally suck. I want to believe that our defense is going to nut up and play with a new level of determination. I expect our offense to be able to move the ball and score, but we can't commit costly turnovers. If our special teams make the trip, we should win, even if it is another ugly win. I just can't yet make up my mind what it is that I foresee.

Best Case Scenarios... It is not that I expect either of these scenarios to manifest, but if we win out, here are two scenarios to put us in a BCS game. (1) Florida loses to Spurrier's Cocks (or FSU) and Alabama in the SECCG. Sure they were a better team than UGA, but I suppose losing two of their last three games would move them below us in the BCS standings. This isn't going to happen, but they will be facing the best defense they have seen all season on Saturday. Perhaps it will be close. Perhaps. (2) Alabama loses to either Miss. State or Auburn and to Florida in the SECCG. This is less likely to happen because Bama losing to State or Auburn seems unlikely, though they have played with fire several times this season already.

Kentucky Coach... I am not sure which coach to attribute this to, but the timeout call right before the end of the 3rd quarter was brilliant and directly led to an easy touchdown drive. With UGA facing 4th down around our 10 yard line there was only about 15 seconds remaining in the quarter. Kentucky called a timeout to force Mimbs to punt out of his end zone into a stiff 20-30 mph wind. The result was a wobbly shanked punt that landed around the UGA 35 and bounced backwards to the UGA 29. It was a net 19 yard punt. Kentucky scored shortly thereafter. It was a brilliant call and most coaching staffs would have missed the opportunity - I assure you.