Georgia Will Win Big Against Mississippi State

I have had a busy ass week and have been unable to blog. But, here we are on Thursday night and I need to restate what I said two weeks ago: Georgia will win big against Mississippi State. Here are the key reasons why I believe in this statement:

1. Our offense will move the ball effectively. Last year, a lesser offense gained almost 400 yards in Starkville. The offense we have now is more proficient and unless we self-destruct, we will go over 400 yards Saturday. Whether we convert all that yardage into points will depend on better red zone execution (and better play calling.) Here are my red-zone play calling requests:
- If we are 1st and goal and line up with one tight end and one running back... throw the football.
- If we are 1st and goal and want to run the ball, then let's go two tight ends and power I formation.

I know that takes away the awesome element of surprise, but our trickiness last week resulted in 4 fails in the red zone. So despite the great urge to spread the field and line up with a single tailback and run it down their throats... let's stick to the percentages, mmmkkk?

2. Their offense is ok but not great. Relf is a streaky passer and if we can keep him out of rhythm we can make them one-dimensional. I like the way we have been playing the run this year but it sure would be nice to have Christian Robinson back for this one. We will need great linebacker play sideline to sideline to negate the MSU option game. So let's hope Gilliard, Herrera, Vasser and company are up to the task.

3. We have re-discovered our tight ends. If we continue to use them and mix in some screens to Figgins and Crowell out of the backfield, we will open up an opportunity or two to hit King or Mitchell on a long one. Look for this to happen in the third quarter.

4. We are DUE for a big day on special teams. It seems like we haven't returned a punt since Prince Miller graduated. Boykin is still without a TD return this season and I keep saying it is not a matter of if, it is only a matter of when. Also, hopefully we will have the real Blair Walsh in uniform this Saturday. It is important that we not surrender another huge play on special teams. In fact, why don't we go out there and block a punt. It has been a while since we did that.

5. We are at home and we owe MSU some payback for the game we lost in Starkville last year. Surely you have seen what Aron White had to say about how hard they took that loss last year. Well, Saturday is the time to make amends and redress those past wrongs.

I expect Georgia to win by 21 points but I think it will take a 4 quarter effort to get that done. Unlike last week, I don't see us jumping all over them early. I see it more as a gradually progressing game in which our lead grows a little each quarter and ending with the Georgia Bulldogs winning 38-17. The halftime score will be somewhere around 17-10.

Go DAWGS! GATA!

What Did I Miss from Ole Miss?

I repeatedly made the bold prediction that we would "win big", "score at least 42 points" and "win by 30+ points" against Ole Miss. As the first half unfolded, I felt pretty good about those predictions but in the second half, our red-zone offense went into a coma and the stranger wearing Blair Walsh's uniform failed on 3 field goal attempts that should have been TD's anyway. So, I fell short on the 42 to 45 points scored and on the margin of victory being at least 30 points. But, I am not here to talk about my failures... instead, I want to brag about a few things I fairly accurately foretold:

- 90+ yard TD drive in the first half.
- Aron White's first TD in 2011
- Crowell getting 130 yards rushing (he actually had 147) and I also predicted he would have 50 yards receiving - which he would have gotten all on one screen pass if Murray had not overthrown him... did you see how wide open the field was on that play? Damn!
- Georgia would approach 500 yards in offense (we had 475 yards)
- Dawgs defense will dominate the Rebel offense (held them to 34 yards rushing and 149 yards passing and 2 interceptions). Our defense held them to one TD and 3 of 14 on third down conversions. We also turned in 4 sacks. Let's hope that is a trend.

Our team did indeed dominate on both sides of the ball and while Ole Miss is a mess of a football team right now, they were playing extremely hard so it is not as if we did this against a team that had no pulse. We must solve our red-zone ineptitude if we are going to have any chance to win more SEC ball games. Kentucky is the only listless club left on the schedule. And, we also must stop giving away touchdowns via special teams. In fact, I am surprised that we are still looking for our first special teams TD. Come on Dawgs, let's take back the special teams phase of the game.

A few more positives...
- It was good to see Rambo ball-hawking and coming up with two interceptions. I believe he also had a pass break up.
- Our replacement ILB's Mike Gilliard and Emarlo Herrera led the team in tackles with 7 and 6 respectively. It will be great to get Christian Robinson and Alec Ogletree back, but it was good for these guys to get more experience. They will again have to step up against Mississippi State this week, which will prove to be a tougher assignment.
- We had only 4 penalties for 30 yards. Since the Boise game, in which we had 7 penalties, we have now had only 5, 5 and 4 in the past three games. That is a surprising and welcome trend.

Looking back, I still feel like the prediction of scoring 45 points and winning by more than 30 was not irrational. We just need to get touchdowns when in the red zone. That would do wonders for Blair Walsh's kicking percentage as well because extra points are much easier than field goals.

Up next... Georgia will win big against Mississippi State. (Oops, I did it again.)

Go DAWGS! GATA!

How Will We Score 45 on Ole Miss?

If I am wrong on this game being a huge UGA blowout, I may stop blogging! Or at a minimum, I will stop predicting how 18, 19 and 20 year olds will perform on any given Saturday. I have convinced myself that the Dawgs will score 45 points in Oxford. Here is how... (I understand that this is pure fantasy, but just play along and let's see what happens tomorrow and if I got anything right)

1st Quarter:

A well-scripted first possession mixing runs with Crowell and play-action passing. Bruce Figgins scores on a FB screen from the 20 yard line. 7 points.

A nice punt return sets us up in excellent field position. First play is a pass to Crowell out of the backfield to get inside the 10 yard line. Then we run 3 straight times with Crowell getting across on the third attempt. 14 points.

2nd Quarter:

Our defense creates a turnover in Ole Miss territory. We come out in the no huddle and after a couple of short passes and a couple of runs, we hit Tavarres King on a corner route for the TD. 21 points.

After Ole Miss mounts a drive, they flip the field and punt us deep in our own territory. We respond with a 90 yard drive on 10 plays with Crowell scoring from about 6 or 7 yards out. 28 points.

Late in the half, we start with pretty good field position with less than a minute on the clock. No huddle. Quickly strike down the middle with Orson Charles to get us to the 20 yard line. Three plays later, we are forced to kick a field goal as the half expires. 31 points.

3rd Quarter:

On our first possession we stay mostly on the ground with Crowell and Carlton Thomas even has a nice run. Then on play-action, we hit Aron White for his first TD of 2011. 38 points.

4th Quarter:

Brandon Boykin jumps an out route at midfield and returns it for a TD. 45 points.

See how easy that was. Also, notice how semi-boring the second half was. Who knows, just to keep it interesting, maybe we will score more than 45.

I believe Crowell will go for about 130 yard rushing and 50 yards receiving.
Murray will go over 200 yards passing and will complete around 24 passes to 10 different guys.

Go Dawgs! GATA!

Kiss My Ass, Kick My Ass, Kick Your Ass, Season 2, Volume 4

"What? You want me to kiss your ass? That sounds kinky. I like."

Kiss My Ass - Ahmadinejad (aka Akma-weenie-jad). The Iranian President denies the holocaust, says that 9/11 was the work of the Zionists, wants to obliterate Israel from the map and yesterday he took to the floor of the UN to preach the US about our wicked and evil country... again. (Hmmm... he sounds a lot like some whackos out in Hollyweird, but this is not about them.) Hey Shitweasel, I don't care what you think. Not now! Not ever! Why don't you go back to Tehran and continue your campaign of lies, your stench is turning New York into a sewer. But before you go... Kiss My Ass!

Kick My Ass - Philadelphia Eagle Trent Cole. If you watched the Falcons-Eagles game Sunday night, then surely you feared for the health and safety of Falcons QB Matt Ryan. The primary reason was the unstoppable pass rush of Trent Cole. This guy plays the position like a cross between a cape buffalo and a Tasmanian devil (the cartoon version). Size, strength, speed, technique. The Falcons had no answer. He collected 4 tackles for a loss, one sack and countless hurries and knockdowns. Like he did with Matt Ryan, I have no doubt that Trent Cole would Kick My Ass!

Just looking at this picture hurts my bones.

Kick Your Ass - Ahmadinejad (aka Akma-weenie-jad). For the first time in KMA, KMA, KYA history we have a double-entry. It's not because I am lazy and can't think of someone else for this role, it's just that this goat turd needs his ass kicked more than anyone I can think of right now. Bring it on Mahmoud... let's get in the octagon and go a few rounds. You won't have your fellow terrorists holding AK-47s to protect you. On behalf of the 52 Americans you held hostage for 444 days, it will be my pleasure to Kick Your Ass!

"I will fight you in the cage if I can have a knife this long."

Kicking a Rebel Bear in the Nutt

I have settled on a catch phrase for these 2011 Dawgs and it is this... These Dawgs are knockin' and you know they're coming in. It is understandable that everyone would temper their enthusiasm after the 59-0 thrashing of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. But, my enthusiasm for what I believe this Georgia team will do began in the 4th quarter of the South Carolina game. On Saturday, the Dawgs are going to woodshed the Rebel Bears. The Dawgs will jump on them early, push the accelerator to the floor and ignite the fuse under the powder keg Houston Nutt is sitting on. In 2007 the Dawgs beat Ole Miss by 32 points in Athens. Saturday, we will beat them by 32 or more points in Oxford, which will be the largest margin of victory ever for Georgia in that venue.

The Dawgs will easily eclipse 400 yards of offense and may exceed 500 yards. We will go over 200 yards rushing for the first time since the Vanderbilt game last season. I just feel that our team has been forged under pressure and heat in the first two games and is now hardened for the battle and talented enough to explode on what is a fairly miserable Ole Miss football team. Barring a barrage of turnovers, our offense will move the ball with relative ease on this Rebel defense. One thing that will make it easier for our offense will be the fact that our defense will dominate the Ole Miss offense and give our offense more chances to score than we have seen against an SEC foe in a long time. You may think I am crazy, but I will be surprised if the Dawgs win by less than 20 points but I fully expect them to win by 32 or more. For this to happen, here are the keys to the game:

- Murray must complete 66% or more of his passes with no more than 1 interception.
- Crowell must touch the ball at least 25 times.
- Georgia must convert 50% or better on 3rd and 4th down.
- The Georgia defense must hold them to 30% or less on 3rd down conversion.
- Georgia must not lose the turnover battle.
- Georgia must have more sacks than Ole Miss.
- Blair Walsh can't miss any field goals under 45 yards.

I expect the Dawgs to cash in on all of the above keys and when they do, look for the score to be around 45 - 10.

I do not advise you to attempt the Hunker Down Beer Challenge this week if you have anything to do on Saturday night.

Go DAWGS! GATA!

Hamp's Humpday Derivations

Before we get into the derivations... enjoy Galactic's live performance of "Hamp's Hump". If you have never seen Galactic play, then do yourself a favor and check them out the next time they come to a city near you. Great shows every time! Drummer Stanton Moore is fun to watch and is probably the best funk drummer on the planet.



Last Thursday I stated that the Dawgs would win big against Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss and Miss State. Nothing happened last weekend to give me cause to reconsider this prediction. The Georgia blowout of Coastal Carolina was expected and since I didn't see the game or the replay, I can't offer much other than it looks like Tavarres King is out of his slump, the defense smothered the Chanticleers but did not register a sack with 26 pass attempts, Baccari Rambo had another nice game and we avoided losing another inside linebacker.

Meanwhile, over in Nashville, Vanderbilt sledge-hammered the Ole Miss Rebels. The 'Dores led the Rebels 30-0 with less than 3 minutes to play when Ole Miss finally scored. Here is what sticks out from this game: Vandy rushed for nearly 300 yards and passed for 100. Ole Miss QB Zack Stoudt threw 5 interceptions on 26 attempts. He barely completed more than that to his own team. Quincy Carter was impressed with that performance. The Rebs also yielded over 400 yards of offense to the SIU Salukis a week ago. This is a very bad Ole Miss football team and Georgia will show them no quarter. Forget about the several narrow victories or even the losses you remember seeing in Oxford. The Dawgs are knocking and in Oxford... they are kicking the door in. If Mark Richt's seat is hot, poor Houston Nutt is sitting on a blast furnace. He may get relieved before sunset Saturday after the Dawgs flay what is left of the Rebel Bear.

Is he waving goodbye to crazy eyes?

I made the trip to Columbia to watch Navy play South Carolina. For the second consecutive week, I saw one of my Alma Maters lose to the Gamecocks late in the game by 3 points. Yet, in both cases, I was proud of my football team. Navy put a serious scare into the crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium Saturday night. The 4th quarter began with Navy leading 21-17. SC marched down with Lattimore and Jefferey to score a TD and took a 24-21 lead with about 4 minutes remaining. At that point, I guarantee you, every Gamecock fan was worried that Navy might drive the field, eat the clock and score a game-winning TD. It didn't work out that way as SC put about 17 men on defense and they all blitzed every gap and stopped Navy before midfield. Unfortunately, Navy just missed on a play-action pass to the full back that would have gone for a big gain. Still, SC held on but Navy showed that they are team that can play with almost anyone. I honestly believe that this may be the best Navy team in many years. They hung with SC even without their best running back who broke his arm the week before. I am looking forward to these Middies going on to register an excellent season. On the other hand, South Carolina showed again that their fortunes completely ride on the health of Marcus Lattimore. With him, they may easily win the SEC East. Without him, see 2009.

A word on the RV Lot at Williams-Brice. Kudos to the SC fans for welcoming a bunch of Navy guys in style. I met about 6 of my Academy buddies and one of my former roommates in the Navy who was a SC grad. We tailgated with a retired Navy Supply Officer who was also a SC grad who had a 40' RV with all the accoutrements, including the 50" flat screen tv in the side with a satellite dish. slabs of ribs came of the smoker and brats from the grill. We had a fantastic time tailgating with these fine folks before and after the game. For an off-campus stadium, the huge RV lot is one thoroughly redeeming quality.

In the Auburn v. Auburn with a Lake contest, the horse shoe in Gene Chizik's ass finally dislodged and the Auburn sans Lac finally dropped a game. It won't be their last.

The Meteor Game in the Swamp... I watched some of this game and I formed few, if any, strong opinions of either team. About all I came away with is that Rainey is fast and pretty much all of the Florida offense at this point. It is a shame that UT lost their biggest playmaker, Justin Hunter, to an ACL injury. We will see how they respond in the next couple of weeks before the Dawgs invade Tennessee to defend our Tennessee State Championship.

This is all for now.

Go Dawgs! GATA!

Dawgs WIll Roll, I'm Off to Watch the Navy Choke the Chickens

Navy is playing in Columbia, SC tomorrow and I will be there with about a dozen Navy buddies. I was a plebe in Annapolis in 1984 when Navy beat then #2 ranked South Carolina and knocked them out of the Orange Bowl and a chance at a national title. At this point in the season, the Gamecocks aren't in the national title discussion but they are ranked #10 in the land, so a Navy victory would be another colossal upset. It won't help that Navy lost their top running back last week with a broken arm, but the Navy offense is all about execution and I think they will have some rushing success in this game. However, I can't envision any chance for Navy to stop Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jefferey. There is always the chance of a SC let down after the hard fought win over the Dawgs last Saturday. On paper, however, Navy will be doing well to keep the game inside 20 points.

I am going to have a good time with friends. If Navy surprises us with shocking upset, that will be a bonus. I hope you Dawgs will be pulling for the Mids tomorrow. To do otherwise is clearly treasonous. Go NAVY, beat South Carolina. Fear the Goat!Go DAWGS! GATA!

Kiss My Ass, Kick My Ass, Kick Your Ass, Season 2, Volume 3

Kiss My Ass - Penn Wagers. Naturally, SEC Referee Penn Wagers, often recognized as the worst referee in all of college football, could occupy this slot every week either for past transgressions or as a proactive measure against future transgressions, you know, to beat the rush. The latest specific reason that lands Penn Wagers on this list is that he or one of the refs on his crew called pass interference on Jordan Love on a critical 3rd and long play in the fourth quarter, after which South Carolina drove down to score a touchdown. It really doesn't matter to me if it was or was not Wagers who threw the flag. I will hold him responsible anyway. And I will feel that yet again, we were "Wagered" which is like getting "f#cked" but much worse. This was not a horrendous call, but it could have easily been a no call. From my vantage point, there wasn't any contact before the ball arrived, but I haven't seen a replay. My point is simply this... when Penn Wagers is on the field, Georgia ain't getting any calls, ever! And for that reason, Penn Wagers can always Kiss My Ass!

How bad do you suppose it is for Coach Richt to gets this angry?
(this was from 2008 by the way)

Want to bet on whether this take-down was called?

Kick My Ass - Melvin Ingram. Any 276 pound beast that Brandon Boykin is afraid to tackle, is someone that I also will prefer to avoid... especially when he is steaming downhill at about 4.6 seconds per every 40 yards. Most assuredly, Melvin Ingram can Kick My Ass!

Can't make a shoestring tackle when the laces are taped down.

Kick Your Ass - Overzealous campus cops. This is rare, so mark it down, but I am coming to the defense of a Gator and to lots of Dawgs. As you have probably heard, Gator linebacker Dee Finley, after being stopped for driving his scooter around a barricade with a suspended license was also cited for felony resisting arrest with violence apparently because, while straddling a scooter, he turned to face an officer. The charge has since been reduced to a misdemeanor and will undoubtedly be dropped altogether soon enough. On the UGA campus, prior to the most recent off-season, we could count on countless arrests for the most minor and petty scooter violations, including, but not limited to "emerging from an alley," whatever that is, and for failure to give a middle name. At the Naval Academy, we called them Jimmy Legs, but they were not armed and were typically old and slow. If you couldn't outrun the Jimmy Legs, you deserved to be caught and punished for whatever illegality you perpetrated, like driving on campus as an underclassmen, for example. My business partner relates a story from his days at Oklahoma State in which he and some buddies were accosted by a campus policeman who stated, "All you boys do is go around stepping on your dicks with golf shoes on." That last part wasn't 100% relevant, but I like it anyway. The point is, all too often, campus police seem to go out of their way to create trouble for students and student-athletes. In this post, I propose that there be a national day of role reversal at which time all of the students and student-athletes get to spend the whole day Kicking The Asses of the campus gestapo.

These Dawgs are Knocking and I Think They're Coming In

Georgia's offense moved the ball consistently on South Carolina and did so from multiple sets involving a handful of playmakers. By the second half, the South Carolina defense had no prayer of stopping the Dawgs. The Dawgs did stop themselves several times and those issues must be eliminated. If that happens, the Dawgs offense, which has scored over 30 points in 8 of their last 10 games (over 40 in 6 of those), is poised to take us fans on a rocket ride. This potentially explosive offense coupled with continued improvement from the defense which effectively held South Carolina to 17 points will result in at least nine wins this season. After an 0-2 start, nine wins will be a welcome turn around.

Here are a few key points that fill me with optimism for our offense going forward:

- Aaron Murray has made too many mistakes in the first two games - interceptions, fumbles, holding the ball too long, etc - and he is too smart and too talented to not correct those issues in the next two weeks against Coastal Carolina and Ole Miss.

I fully expect Aaron to settle down and become more comfortable with what the offense is doing especially with the emergence of Isaiah Crowell as a guy getting the ball 25 times a game. I believe that the majority of Aaron's mistakes have resulted from him trying to do too much in his effort to lead this team by example and carry them on his shoulders. He showed last year that he knows he can throw the ball away or accept a sack instead of allowing disaster to strike. In the first two games, we have had a season's worth of disasters and I believe this will abate along with the rise of and reliance upon super-talented Isaiah Crowell.


- Speaking of Crowell... He showed just why he was so highly touted coming into the season and based on the admissions of Coaches Richt and Bobo, he will be getting 20 to 25 touches from now on. Here is my assessment of Isaiah: He is quick enough to get to the hole or the corner; powerful enough to break tackles; has the vision and shiftiness to make people miss; and has that extra gear to get gone when he is in space. Against South Carolina he had 118 yards on 16 carries for 7.4 yards per carry and 2 receptions for 40 yards. His two touchdowns are just the first of many that he will amass this season. I won't be surprised if #1 ends the season with 15 to 18 TDs.

- Orson Charles. Even when he isn't getting balls thrown to him, he attracts extra attention from the defense. South Carolina had him double-teamed on every snap and they did shut him out. But, as a result, we had 19 receptions spread out among 8 other players and none of them were Aron White. The point here is that we have guys open when Orson is doubled up and Aaron is finding them. Malcolm Mitchell is a dual threat with the speed to hit on the deep ball and the hands and route-running skill to work the short passing game. Michael Bennett has made his case for the role of "possession receiver" previously held by Kris Durham. Our receiving corps is plenty capable of putting up big numbers, especially when Tavarres King plays up to his full potential.

- Effort. I have said it before and I will say it again. These Dawgs have their backs against the wall and they know that the only way out is to give maximum effort on every outing. We saw that Saturday against South Carolina. I am expecting nothing less for the rest of the season. We will probably see a flat performance at some point, but I hope it is against a team that we can beat even while flat.

As we reflect upon the season from our 0-2 perch (can you be on a perch at 0-2?) this is what I expect over the next three weeks (assuming we don't have devastating injuries and have enough linebackers to play):

I believe we will win big in our next three ball games - Coastal Carolina, Ole Miss, and yes... Miss State. We will be better on both lines of scrimmage and Bobo will have discovered the most effective ways to use Crowell, which will open up other opportunities on offense for guys like Charles, Mitchell and even Figgins coming out of the backfield. The return of Baccari Rambo made a distinct impact in our secondary, but we have to develop some new linebackers immediately to get us through this three game stretch. By midnight on October 1st, we will have great cause for optimism for this team as we prepare for our invasion of the state of Tennessee.

Go Dawgs ! GATA!

Effort Effort Effort

I hate that we lost that game to South Carolina. I hate that Coach Mark Richt has to endure more ugly rhetoric having just missed on a huge win that would have placated the masses for the time being. I hate that Christian Robinson injured his foot and will miss 2 or 3 games. I hated the way that game felt like so many of our recent games in Jacksonville where we shoot our feet off over and over coupled with some rotten luck. I pray that we have now gotten that out of our system so we won't witness it all over again on October 29th.

Now let me tell you what I loved...

- The effort from everyone on Saturday was tremendous. From my point of view, the Dawgs played their asses off and gave one of the best efforts I have seen for 4 quarters in a long time. Sadly, we outplayed SC but our mistakes killed us. Even so, the team showed that their is much fight in them and there are some very good things coming our way this season. I am not expecting us to run the table, but we will be capable of beating any team left on our schedule and I expect us to capture some memorable wins over some, if not all, of our hated rivals - UT, UF, AU and GT. I am thankful that we have a little relief in the level of competition the next two weeks and hopefully we will improve steadily before Miss State rolls into Athens.

- The fans. Sanford Stadium was loud and raucous, as it should be. No surprise there. But, after the game when the players were heading off the field, tens of thousands of fans remained to clap our guys off the field. It was classy and impressive and I am proud of our fans that showed such enthusiastic support in recognition of the maximum effort from our players.

- Isaiah Crowell and Malcolm Mitchell are two special offensive talents and we need to keep getting them the football.

- Bruce Figgins catching the ball from the fullback position is a thing of beauty and we need more of that as well. I love that the stadium echoes the name "Bruuuuuuuce" every time he makes a big play. I hope we get to do that a lot down the stretch.

- Brandon Boykin is explosive. We already knew that. But this year, he just seems more Champ Bailey-Deoin Sanders-Devin Hester explosive. It isn't a matter of if, it is when he is going to take another kickoff back for a TD. Maybe get a pick 6 or another offensive TD. Every time he gets his hands on the ball, he is a threat.

- And the number one thing I loved about Saturday... the way the players rallied around their coach and left everything on the field in an effort to get a crucial victory. They played with intensity and a sense of urgency that we never saw last year (a little against Tennessee). They will need to continue to give that level of effort and if they do, good things will come. Just how good remains to be seen. But one thing is always true, you won't get extraordinary results without extraordinary effort.

Go Dawgs! GATA!

Charlie is Ready to GATA

Charlie is our 6 year old Westie and as you can see, when he plays defense, he gets after their asses!

Kiss My Ass, Kick My Ass, Kick Your Ass, Season 2, Volume 2

Kiss My Ass - Steve Spurrier's Discpline Policy. In Spurrier's world, if you screw up in the off-season, you just might get suspended from the team during the early summer. But even if you have been suspended 5 times, you will be reinstated the day practices start back up. Now, screw up during the season and you might get the treatment below! Yeah, Spurrier's Discipline Policy and SOS himself can both Kiss My Ass!


Kick My Ass - Herschel Walker. This one is a little too obvious, and I didn't need to see the ESPNU Special SEC Storied program on Herschel to remind me. I don't need to see his two MMA fights to remind me. I don't need to watch highlights of all of his long TD runs to remind me. But based on the fact that he kicked the ass of every one of the 2011 Georgia Bulldogs in a private workout this summer (at least all of those that weren't too much of a prima donna to get out of bed for the workout) and due to the fact that he is still 210 pounds of chiseled mass with less than 3% body fat who has a super-hero alter ego... there is no other possible outcome. Herschel Walker can Kick My Ass.


Kick Your Ass - Al Qaeda. With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 coming this Sunday, is there any doubt about whose ass needs to continue to get kicked? Osama Bin Laden, your ass is dead! Atiyah Abd al Rahman... dead! Keep coming at us, we will keep killing you and your leaders. We will never forget. As long as radical Islamic terrorists are attempting to destroy our way of life, we will continue to Kick Your Ass!


WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Gamesmanship or Insanity?

Gamesmanship or Insanity?

All this talk about the no-huddle, no-hurry, shotgun formation offense either represents a mild attempt at gamesmanship or utter insanity. If I was a coach I would do more of what works and less of what fails. Sounds pretty obvious right. And if my job was in jeopardy, I would double or triple down on the successful stuff. So the mere fact that Coach Bobo has indicated that Georgia will be sticking with its wildly unsuccessful no-huddle, no-hurry offense, to make any sense at all, must be a ruse attempting to get South Carolina to devote at least a little bit of time paying attention to it in practice and in chalk talks. But, if they must give it another shot and they must do it in this crucial game with South Carolina, please convince us that you are not insane and abandon it early enough for us to remain in the game if it proves as disastrous as it was in the Boise State game.

Update: You know when would be a really good time to work the kinks out of the no-huddle, no-hurry offense? September 17 against Coastal Carolina.

Also, the hubbub over Crowell and Branden Smith both wearing jersey #1, so they can't be on offense at the same time should be another attempt at playing coy. Surely we would want to get Branden Smith on offense if his foot is healed. This is especially true for the South Carolina game since he had the 60 yard TD run against them in 2009 and if nothing else, he would be a perfect decoy. If Crowell is an offensive weapon and because Branden Smith is potential explosive when on offense, only a buffoon would not figure out a solution to the two #1's dilemma. I can see the value in stating publicly that there is no solution, but only if you actually have a solution. In which case saying the opposite could create some doubt for the opposition. Or, in the alternative, if in fact there is no solution, then why not say "We have plans to use them both on offense at the same time despite the jersey dilemma." See how this works? Here is a video that may explain the strategy better than I can. (could not embed, damnit, but I promise the time spent going to this video will be well worth it) Do you suppose that something like this is going on in Bobo's brain? Pure battle of wits!

That is all. Thank you.

Go Dawgs! GATA!

Imagine If You Will...

Imagine If You Will... (Rod Serling voice)

... Your football team takes the field in a strange stadium away from home. The expectations are high but the wiser fans know that the football does not always bounce as expected. In this game, your defense surrenders 35 points by way of a surgical "dink and dunk" passing attack along with steadily effective running plays. Your offense cannot establish any sort of rhythm and sputters despite having many potential playmakers. At the conclusion of this disappointing contest, your fan base is convinced that your team is finished for the season and a great malaise befalls even the most optimistic observers. There is nothing but doom and despair. The apocalypse is nigh. Now imagine that everything you believe, everything that your eyes have told you, everything you have heard far and wide, are about to be turned completely upside down. You have just entered the Dawglight Zone...


I could be referring to the game Saturday in the Georgia Dome, but instead I was harkening back to an unnerving loss to a Tennessee team in 2007 that was nowhere near as consistently good as the Boise team that just beat us. And we lost in Knoxville by a score of 35-14, looking absolutely listless in the process. Yet, somehow, that Georgia team got its collective shit together and went on to win the remaining 7 games and finished ranked #2 in the country. I am not proposing that this is what will happen in 2011, but I am proposing that sometimes teams really do come together, turn the corner and reach their potential. I am not sure exactly what is the potential of this UGA squad, but all summer long I have expected that the over/under on wins would be around 9.5. And if we are to win 9 or 10 games, this would be a fantastic week to get the first one. Winning the SEC East was not and is not an unreasonable goal. It is still fully attainable. We must funnel our energy in a positive way to help this football team GATA on Saturday and get a much needed crucial victory over South Carolina and the evil one.

Hang in there Dawgs. Hang in there like a bloody tick.

Go Dawgs. GATA!

My Glass of Kool Aid is Half Full

My Glass of Kool Aid is Half Full

I am ready to look forward and stop looking back at the Boise game. But, a little more consideration of the Boise game is needed for me to look forward with a glimmer of optimism. When I left the Dome, I felt like we were doomed this coming Saturday against South Carolina. But I have started rationalizing (or perhaps irrationalizing - if that is a real verb) that there are some fixable issues and if they are fixed this week, we can beat the Gamecocks. By fixable, I am stretching and proposing that we may figure out how to pass block on 3rd down and stop the false starts (we had four).

Aaron Murray was sacked 6 times and 5 of them were on third down. Surely South Carolina will see that and plan for similar pressure. Now, the responsibility falls on our o-line and coaches to figure out how to neutralize the pressure that we know is coming from Ellis Johnson's defense. Coach Richt acknowledged that attempting some screens is an option. How about using 275 lb Bruce Figgins in Pass Pro?


I don't see him whiffing at defensive ends like we saw in the Dome. If we had played a team like Louisiana Lafayette in the opener, we may not know the severity of this problem, but based on the results in the Dome, we know where the bulkhead is leaking so hopefully we know how to patch it.

False start penalties are especially frustrating because in addition to disrupting any potential flow you may have going, adding 5 yards to the distance for a first down typically means changing the play call, possibly changing the personnel and naturally makes it harder to make a first down. These are all gimmes for the defense and in a close game against a talented opponent, we simply cannot afford these gimmes. Coach Richt mentioned that they will go to more silent counts this week and that should help the tackles. Maybe that will solve it, but another solution would be for Ben Jones to get in the ass of the culprit who can't remember the snap count. Accountability to your teammates is an effective motivator. Use it. And while we are on the subject of gimmes, remember when David Greene would draw the defense offsides at least twice a game with his cadence and hard counts? More of that please. Make the other guys screw up and give us some free yards and attractive down and distance situations. This is especially true when you know they have their ears pinned back to aggressively rush the QB. Will someone get this memo to Coaches Richt and Bobo?

Now... looking forward. We know South Carolina is good but there is reason to consider that their defense may not be as stout as the Boise defense - at least based on their first week performance. The Gamecock defense yielded 31 points to East Carolina in the first three quarters while the game was very much in doubt. ECU couldn't run the ball very successfully (28 for 85 yds) but the QB was 35/56 for 260 yards and 4 TDs. Both teams lost 4 fumbles in this game and the Gamecocks returned one for a TD and had a long punt return for a TD. Two stats I like very much... South Carolina registered zero sacks and allowed ECU to convert 9 of 19 third downs and 2 of 2 fourth downs.

I still have no idea how our defense will stop Lattimore, Garcia and Jeffery, so hopefully we can outscore them.

There is no doubt that the Dawgs have their hands full, but at least at this point, my glass is still half full. A victory over South Carolina would make our most important season goals still attainable. We need this win. I am behind this team, evidently pushing the bus. If the Kool Aid runs out, I will have to fill it up with some high ABV craft beer.

Go Dawgs! GATA!

A Handful of Positives

The Boise game is over and we lost to a better team and we showed a frustrating inability to make in-game adjustments and a baffling distrust of going back to plays that worked. But, there were a few positives that I would like to mention before moving on to the more important task of hating South Carolina and Steve Spurrier.

- We had three long touchdowns and none were nullified by a taunting or excessive celebration penalty. That is not insignificant and may be a sign that in addition to having no arrests in the off-season, we may see more personal discipline on the field. We had 7 penalties for 50 yards, which is not terrible.

- Boise State had no plays greater than 20 yards. If you have watched many Boise games in the past few years, big plays are a staple of their game. Of course, missing the NFL departees (Young and Pettis) and the Dutchman were part of the reason, but still... our corners and safeties took away the deep ball. Now, let's shore up the soft underbelly.

- Malcolm Mitchell and Brandon Boykin have jetpacks in their cleats. Now we just need to get them the football more often.

- Aaron Murray survived with his health despite being sacked 6 times and pretty much being on the run the entire night. (See how I turned the poor play of our porous offensive line into a postive? Lemons/lemonade.)

- Drew Butler averaged 47.8 yards on 5 punts.

- Third down defense. We held Boise to 4 of 12 of third down. I don't have the stats on the YTG on those conversions.

- The Nike Pro Combat Uniforms. How is this a positive? We NEVER have to see them again.

There you have it Dawgs, a handful of positives. Now stay positive and let's get after Sackerlina and make Spurrier throw his visor so often that his rotator cuff falls off.

Bad News and Good News

The bad news is that our Georgia football team was out-coached by Boise's Chris Petersen and his staff and not by just a little. The old statement about how Bear Bryant could take his'n and beat your'n and then take your'n and beat his'n could just as easily be said about Chris Petersen and what he accomplished in the Georgia Dome Saturday night. Does anyone have any doubt that if we had swapped players (or coaches) with Boise back in March that Peterson could take Aaron Murray, Orson Charles, Jarvis Jones, Brandon Boykin and the others and whip the bunch from Boise by at least two touchdowns? In reality, that Boise team is extremely well coached and execute with great precision. Once they figured out what Georgia wanted to do on offense and defense they made the necessary adjustments and never looked back. But for a few monster plays from the Georgia offense, this could have been a 28 point blowout.


The good news is that we will not play a more well-coached team the rest of this season unless somehow we face Alabama in the game that now seems so incredibly unlikely. Oh sure, some have high regard for the evil visored one, but if I was building a program today, I would choose Petersen over Spurrier. Dan Mullen looks like a fine coach and is doing great things at Mississippi State but Petersen has a few more years on his resume. Not that any of this is assurance that we won't be out-coached again, but we won't face a team as well-coached as Boise, so we've got that going for us.

Domeward Bound

I am now officially shutting down the laptop and leaving for Atlanta. No more posts before Sunday. I am predicting a Dawgs victory because to do otherwise would be unDawgly and unGawdly. Can't wait to see everyone at TweetGate.

Go DAWGS! GATA!!!!

Kiss My Ass, Kick My Ass, Kick Your Ass, Season 2, Volume 1

Welcome to Season 2 of the wildly popular and highly acclaimed feature... Kiss My Ass, Kick My Ass, Kick Your Ass in which I identify three individuals for praise or scorn.

Kiss My Ass - Craig James. Craig James is a whiny puke and I cannot, for the life of me, understand how he still has a job with ESPN or any other football media outlet. His manipulation of the events that led to the firing of the Dread Pirate Mike Leach was merely the icing on his cake of douchiness. I think we all get dumber every time he speaks during a broadcast. And, as if I needed any additional reasons, he says Boise State will beat Georgia tomorrow. Hey Craig, keep reading your Twitter feed and Kiss My Ass!


Kick My Ass - Bill Goldberg. The word is that former Dawg Bill Goldberg is getting back in the ring. (HT Senator Blutarsky) Just one look at this photo and I concede... Goldberg can Kick My Ass!

Kick Your Ass - Rep. Andre Carson. Andre Carson has nominated himself as Race Baiter in Chief with his recent asinine statement that certain members of Congress want to see black people hanging from trees. That is some real civilized rhetoric there boss. Too bad the late great Democrat Senator Robert Byrd is no longer with us to dispute your vitriol. We don't want to see you hanging from a tree, but I do want to break off a switch and whip your juvenile ass with it until you grow up.

That's right Andre, put 'em up. How big a ole boy are you, anyway? Looking like George Foreman and shit.

Jody's Boise State Review

If you have time... here is a thorough review from the reliable View from 336.

Footie Picker Weekend 9/3

My picks are in bold and gold. There is almost a statistical certainty that half of these will be right and half will be wrong. If you can determine which are which, you may be able to make some money off of these picks. Picking against the point spread.

Saturday

AUBURN 22 Utah State
SOUTHERN CAL 21 Minnesota
NOTRE DAME 10.5 S. Florida
Byu 3 OLE MISS
S. Carolina 20.5 East Carolina (in Charlotte)
OKLAHOMA 24 Tulsa
Boise State 3 Georgia (in Atlanta)
Oregon 2.5 Lsu (in Dallas)
VIRGINIA 8 William & Mary

Monday

Miami 5.5 MARYLAND