HERE IS JODY'S PREVIEW OF WESTERN CAROLINA

Week 3

Opponent: Western Carolina Catamounts

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. Stafford had time to throw during most drops. He was hurried some and sacked a few times, but the OL played better than I could have thought they were capable of after 1 quarter. The problem was that when they did manage to block, it wasn’t a guarantee that Stafford was going to be on target and if he was on target there certainly wasn’t a guarantee that the WRs were going to catch it. That’s a recipe for ineffectiveness. The running game certainly had its moments, but time and time again Jasper Brinkley plugged holes as quickly as they would open and we couldn’t sustain anything.

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 Stafford has progressed from last season. When he struggled with accuracy last season, he was good for several turnovers. Now he knows the offense better and despite scuffling pretty much all day we were still in the game until the end because we hadn’t given them any short field situations. On the flip side of that we didn’t force any turnovers and only have one on the season.

I won’t make any comments on Stafford beyond what’s already been said. Honestly, on 2^nd viewing he was much better than I had remembered. Frankly I don’t know enough about the offense to know when he’s making the right decisions. It kills me to hear announcers (ahem…that means you Bob Davie) saying things about him not going to an open man when they have absolutely no idea what the progression reads are. If the first receiver your QB looks at has man coverage and a step on his defender, that’s where the QB is going, regardless of what his other receivers are or are not doing. It’s obvious he was having some problems with accuracy and didn’t seem as comfortable as he has recently, but it wasn’t a complete turnover-fest like we saw at times last season. I think the fact he stepped up and took the blame for the loss in the media speaks volumes to his development as a leader.

WC Offense

· Let’s be honest, this is a team in Western Carolina that both the coaches and media picked to finish last in the Southern Conference. For those of you new to football, that’s not good. Over their last 11 games (all losses) going back to week 3 of last season, they’ve averaged under 12 points a game, only two of which were against 1-A (I’m not using the new designations) opponents (UF last season and Bama in this year’s opener).

·

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, Washington, who plays a ton anyway.

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 Michigan). If Michigan hadn’t lost to App St already, I might be tempted to say something like anything can happen or some other such coachspeak. I don’t think that’s necessary this time. Coming off our loss, we need to come out and establish some confidence on both sides of the ball. Richt is too nice of a guy to run up the score, but I look for him to try and make a point polishing as many of the rough edges as he can against live competition.

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 Stafford on point like week 1. I’d LOVE to see him connect on a deep ball and don’t really care if it’s to a WR, RB or TE…just hit one, it’s been a while. I’d like to see Moreno or Brown break a long one. I’d like to see some holes for our RBs. I’d like to see a lot of 3-and-outs for their offense. I want us to create turnovers, with our young CBs or Reshad Jones taking in a few picks. I want to see Dewberry get involved and start making some plays. That’s a pretty long laundry list of things I want to see, and it would work for any game, but I think this week they’re feasible.

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. Washington has deservedly gotten a good bit of PT at MLB, but look for more of Dent and Gamble this week.

· 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 3^rd 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 Olympia, Paris, 1971. That explains the extreme levels of funkiness this week.

· 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 Moreno’s 50-yard jaunt occurred in the middle of a 3-way split screen thing with another game and a NASCAR race. What the heck is that all about? That’s absolutely ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Bob Davie saying folks are starting to compare Moreno to Herschel. Has anyone heard that or is that Bob just making assumptions again (like Notre Dame being relevant anymore)? I can’t imagine anyone making that comparison. Walker was a giant that was all speed and power. Moreno is smaller and shiftier. Garrison Hearst maybe, but not Walker.

· 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 Chad last week on what exactly the role was that the gentleman in question played. Other loyal reader Maxwell Penn (the legend himself) was the first (of a surprising number) to point out that Locke’s dad was NOT a bad guy and in fact was the owner that hired Dalton to clean up the Double Deuce. I also dropped the ball on the obvious Dalton-Tanneyhill reference. Not sure if next week will be another Swayze movie or if we’ll go in an entirely new direction.

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

SLOWLY HE EMERGES FROM THE AFTERMATH OF A LOSS

I could say that I have hidden under the bed for the past three days afraid of what lay in the wake of losing to South Carolina. Or maybe I could say that I was kidnapped by Gamecock fans and waterboarded and made to do naked pyramids with other detainees. But truthfully, from the moment that the game ended, I have been on the go without a break. Had a 7:00 am flight out of Atlanta to Philadelphia Sunday morning. Had to be in Atlantic City from Sunday to Tuesday afternoon. I am now in Philadelphia and will fly home Wednesday morning. I have worked 12 hour days and frankly, I was not in the mood to read about the game and it's aftermath. Now, I have my nerve up and will try to get caught up.

At this point, the low points of the game have been beaten to death around the Dawgosphere and I don't feel like echoing all of the other guys since it is time to move forward. Before we do, I will simply add the following...I hope that the SC defense is better than we thought or it means that our offense is not as potent as we thought after the OSU game. Obviously the dropped passes in the second half were the killer. But, we were off a beat in every phase of the game and I have a hunch that most of that was directly caused by SC having better-than-advertised talent, an excellent defensive game plan and good execution. I think the rest was caused by our youth and inexperience and a little bit of blame goes to a slight case of overconfidence.

Having been in the Garden State since shortly after the game, I have not had the opportunity to watch the replay so I only know what I saw from Section 127, Row 53, Seat 13. Anyway, I only want to give out one Game Ball...

GAME BALL

Knowshon Moreno - My only game ball from the SC game goes to Knowshon Moreno for his hustle on every play he was on the field. Although he had a few good runs and was right there on the wheel route for what should have been a huge TD had the ball been on target, I was most impressed with his hustle. He was running to the huddle, from the huddle, bouncing up from tackles and just overall hustling the way you are supposed to but players just don't do any more. I like that. A LOT. He gets a game ball!

FOOTIE PICKER - WEEK 2

This season, I am in a pool with some friends in which we pick a number of games (against the line) each week. I thought I would share my picks here, but do not have time to give any rationale - so assume I broke these games down in Kyle King fashion...

Nebraska covers -8 vs Wake Forest - Nope
Virginia covers -17 vs Duke - Nope
Oklahoma covers -10.5 vs Miami - Yep
Alabama covers -3.5 vs Vandy - Yep
Colorado State covers +14 vs California - Yep
BC covers -14 vs NC State - Yep
Oregon covers +8.5 vs Michigan - Yep
Boise State covers -2.5 vs Washington - Nope
Georgia covers -5.5 vs South Carolina - Nope
Ole Miss covers +6 vs Missouri - Nope
Penn State covers -17.5 vs Notre Dame (poor Jimmy Clausen) - Yep
Tennessee covers -11 vs Southern Miss - Yep
Auburn covers -7 vs South Florida - Nope
LSU covers -12.5 vs Va Tech - Yep

And that is how I picked them this week. Last week I was 7-7. So not too good.

NAVY CAN'T HANG WITH RUTGERS, LOSING 41-24

While I did not expect Navy to pull an upset tonight, I was disappointed in the two interceptions thrown in the end zone that killed two Navy drives when points were imminent. Despite those gaffes, Navy kept it competitive when they could have folded being down 17 at the half. With how Rutgers is playing, that is an accomplishment.

I thought it was dumb for Schiano to keep Ray Rice in the game into the late minutes when Rutgers scored their final touchdown. I certainly did not view it as running up the score, but just an unwarranted risk to his star player who had already achieved over 150 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. I suspect he did it to pad Rice's stats for his Heisman candidacy. Still a dumb decision. Remember Alabama's Tyrone Prothro? (Actually, this is a great little video and it does not show the gruesome injury. But, note that the score was 31-3 in the 4th quarter.)

GEORGIA WILL BEAT SOUTH CAROLINA AND HERE IS WHY...

Spurrier this, Spurrier that, Dawgs hate Spurrier, Spurrier hates Dawgs, blah blah blah. This game is not about Steve Spurrier. Mark Richt is not scared of Steve Spurrier. CMR has a 2-1 edge on SOS as a head coach. As an offensive coordinator at FSU, CMR had a 5-3-1 record against Spurrier's Gators. CMR's Dawgs are 5-1 against South Carolina with a current 5 game winning streak. The whole Spurriercentric focus on this game is being run into the ground and is not the key to the game. This game will be close because it is always close. It was close long before Spurrier got to Columbia. It will continue to be close as long as it is the SEC opener for both of these teams with all of the dreams and hopes still intact for both teams and their respective fans.

The Georgia players will not have or need any additional motivation to beat the Gamecocks because SOS is their coach. They will have all the motivation they need because it is the SEC opener. We fans, on the other hand, we have tons of extra motivation because it is the Evil Visor on the other sideline. This point notwithstanding, here are the keys to the game for Georgia...

OFFENSE
1. Many are expecting us to try to establish the run early on. I think our game plan will be balanced early on as it was against OSU. Our quick passing game may not be as effective against the speed on SC's defense, but it still helps develop a rhythm for the QB and receivers and also softens the middle for our backs Thomas Brown and Knowshon Moreno. If SC plans to crowd the line to stop the run and limit the effectiveness of screens and quick slants, then we should have success going over the top a time or two. If SC gives our receivers a small cushion, then look for quick hitters and if our play makers can make the first man miss, we will keep the chains moving. Naturally, I expect SC will mix it up between press coverage and zone. That leads to the first true key of the game... Matthew Stafford's reads and checks. The coaches praised his recognition last week and if he is able to make the right calls most of the time again this week, we will score enough points to win.

2. Last week, our receivers did a great job catching the ball. Let's hope it is contagious and that this trend continues. The second key... no dropped passes on third downs.

3. Also last week, our receivers did a great job aggressively blocking down field. With the quickness into the hole that was shown last week by Brown and Moreno, our green offensive line will not necessarily have to hold there blocks as long as we would like. Once our backs get into space, the third key... aggressive blocking by our receivers will make the difference in gaining yards in chunks against SC.

DEFENSE
1. Against OSU's athletic QB Bobby Reid, we had 5 sacks and multiple pressures. He was under relentless pressure all night. Our smallish ends are tremendously quick and if they are able to pressure Blake Mitchell as effectively as they did Reid, SC will not score enough points to win. The first key for our defensive ends... G.A.T.A.

2. Our linebackers had a great game against OSU. They played with speed and aggression. Spurrier will try to scheme us such that this aggression is used against us by runnning misdirections and counters hoping our guys will over pursue - a problem we have had in the past. The second key... playing fast but under control.

3. Against OSU, our defense got schooled a couple of times in the first half by their talented and experienced offense which scored 14 points by intermission. However, we seemed to turn up the intensity in the second half and took away everything they tried to do. This will be a key again Saturday... making necessary half-time adjustment.

SPECIAL TEAMS
1. Coutu vs Succop. This game features two of the best kickers in the country. Neither had a shot at a field goal last week. However, last year, Coutu made 3 long field goals against the Gamecocks from 42, 46 and 46 yards. While I certainly hope that we are able to get in the end zone when we are deep in the red zone, I am comforted by the prospect of reaching for long field goals when necessary. The first special teams key... Coutu kicking long field goals and not short field goals.

2. Mikey Henderson. I said it last week and I will say it again and again, it is not a question of "if" it is a matter of "when." Second key... we need "when" this weekend.

Okay, there are some exceedingly obvious keys to the game. They are not novel our revolutionary, but if the Dawgs follow my keys to the game, we will extend our streak to 6 straight.

My prediction is GEORGIA 27 - S. CAROLINA 20.

HDD TOP 20

Not so fast, my friend. I do not intend to create a Top 20 until after 4 weeks of football. To do otherwise is utter futility and can lead to extreme embarrassment. It could also be because I am being lazy, but really it is a matter of principle. I will however name the Top several teams in no particular order... Florida, USC, West Virginia, LSU, Oklahoma, Wisconsin. As I did last year, I will probably rank the reigning National Champs #1 until they lose, if they lose. With Florida, I know they are loaded with talent and will be well coached, so they will have another great season. They will not remain unbeaten for 14 games, but they will hold my top spot until somebody knocks them off the pedestal.

One more note, here is my explanation from last year for doing only a TOP 20...

I remember back in the good old days, before ESPN dictated the media presentation of college football to the masses, when we had only a "Top 20" not a "Top 25." In that spirit, I present my "Top 20" and therefore I will not be burdened with choosing 5 more teams that none of you really care about anyway.

Tell me it really matters.

A NEW BREED OF MULLET: The Tim TeMullet
Only in Gainesville!

If this Tim TeMullet doesn't say P-A-R-T-Y in the back, then nothing ever will. Note Tebow's #15 colored onto the cheek. I am not sure if the tattoo on the arm is to honor Tebow with the nickname "t-bone" but it may as well. I would have capitalized the T and B, but that is just me.

Sadly, this photo does not go low enough to confirm jean shorts, but circumstantial evidence would weigh heavily in favor of that denim not reaching this Gator's calves.

Sometimes you just have to step back and be awed.

HERE IS JODY'S PREVIEW OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAME

Thanks Jody...

Week 2

Opponent: South Carolina Gamecocks

Kickoff: 5:45 PM

TV: ESPN2

We handled an obviously dangerous opponent in a trap game against a team considered on the rise and we did so easily. Not bad for week 1 given our considerable questions on both sides of the ball. We shut down a solid offense and played as we should have against a bad D. This week…Spurrier…enough said.

About the OSU game

The biggest question going into Saturday was how would our OL respond given their youth, relative inexperience and new OL coach. We answered the question relatively well (only 2 sacks, controlled the clock but didn’t run effectively), but we’re hardly out of the woods on the OL front. Keep in mind we were facing one of the weaker DLs we’ll face although they will end up being pretty good in terms of QB pressure but they’ll likely struggle against the run. Because of that, our gameplan took a lot of pressure off the OL by utilizing quick passes and a power running game. We’ll be facing a whole different animal this weekend, but considering how they handled their first test, I honestly feel better than I thought I would.

OSU was a team that had protected the QB pretty well in 2006. With essentially the same OL, we managed 11 TFLs and 5 sacks (over a quarter of the number they gave up in the entire 2006 season). Given that probably our number 2 question mark this season was DE production, it was nice to see our DEs pull in a few sacks and more than a few tackles behind the LOS.

Our offensive gameplan was clearly to pound it at them, mix the pass in and keep their offense off the field. It worked. We won the possession battle, holding the ball for over 36 minutes. When Richt came to Athens, he always pointed out that time of possession wasn’t a big stat for him and we often lost that battle. With that being said, if you can hold the ball 12 minutes more than your opponents, it can’t be all bad.

SC Offense

· Any Spurrier coached offense is going to be dangerous. He’s a master schemer and does a great job getting his team prepared to attack whatever they’re up against. He’s got a rep for slinging it around 100 times a game but he’s actually very balanced run/pass (as most successful offenses are). I think he took the shutout last year as a personal offense, so he’s looking for revenge.

· At QB, USC trots out a 5^th year senior with a penchant for skipping classes in LaGrange native Blake Mitchell. Mitchell sat the opener due to University policy on class attendance but will return for another shot at UGA. He’s a streaky passer and has struggled in his biggest rivalry games, throwing a mere 1 TD to 8 INTs against UGA and Clemson over his sophomore and junior seasons. He’s not immobile, but his runs will be pure adlib, we won’t see many called QB draws. For his career, he’s got a better than 61% completion percentage and 28 TDs to 21 INTs. Decent numbers, but not spectacular. He also wears quite possible the largest facemask in football…it’s a good 6” from his face. Behind him they have a pair of inexperienced guys in Chris Smelley (questionable due to a shoulder) and Tommy Beecher. Both looked good in week 1, completing over 70% each, but neither is a real threat to unseat Mitchell at this point.

· The SC RBs are very good. They are a different type of RB than we faced in week 1, where speed and shiftiness were the descriptors. Mike Davis and Cory Boyd are both much more physical backs. Davis, a Junior, is 5-9, 212 and has been extremely consistent, averaging right at 4.7 yards each of his first two seasons. He’s not a big breakaway threat. In 100 carries last season, his long was 25 yards, but he’s going to bring toughness and is generally consistent. In 261 career carries he’s yet to fumble. The more dynamic back in their rotation is Senior Cory Boyd. Boyd has averaged 5.0 ypc each of the last two seasons he played (bookending the 2005 season where he was suspended). Boyd made the infamous “back like cooked crack” quote on national TV last season after returning from suspension. He’s also a threat out of the backfield receiving the ball, hauling in 35 catches each of his last two seasons for over 10ypc. He was 3^rd on the team in receptions in 2005. At 6-1, 214, he’s got good size and won’t shy away from contact, but he’s fast enough to hurt you a couple of different ways. He’s got great body lean and always seems to move the pile. True freshman Brian Maddox is the future star but they’ll likely rely on Davis and Boyd for the bulk of their attack Saturday.

· The Gamecocks are faced with the daunting task of replacing all-everything WR Sidney Rice who took his game (and his 70+ receptions and nearly 1,100 receiving yards) to the NFL. Rice was a big, fast, physical WR that dominated in the redzone but excelled in space as well. SC doesn’t really have a WR that replaces Rice (hard to do that anyway), but the WRs they return are more the size that Spurrier featured in his prolific UF offenses of the 90s. Jr. Kenny McKinley is a burner and his stats last season actually compared very favorably to Rice, as he had nearly 900 receiving yards and averaged over 17 ypc although he’s not the same redzone threat. His 5 TD grabs was tops among returning players. He started off 2007 on the right foot, with 6 catches and a TD in week 1. A slew of complimentary WRs fills out their depth chart but none has really done anything to separate themselves yet. SC does have a pair of fine TEs, with senior Andy Boyd being a newfound target and backup Jared Cook (former WR) being a threat as well. Boyd pulled in 3 grabs for 48 yards and a TD in week 1, nearly eclipsing his career output. Cook is a very good athlete, snagging 2 catches as well last week and averaging 17 ypc. Spurrier spreads the ball around much more now than he did in the past, getting WRs, RBs, TEs, etc. involved in the passing game.

· The SC OL is in a bit of flux after losing 3 starters from last year’s unit, losing a guy to academic issues and relying on a converted DL to start the opener. Basically, this group has some solid size, but is limited on experience and is still trying to gel. Justin Sorenson is a mountain of an OT at 6-7, 325…it should be fun watching him go against Howard…fun in a, “wow, look how much bigger he is than Howard” kind of way. Starting RG James Thompson still has some academic issues, so Lemuel Jeanpierre (the converted DL) got the nod there in week 1 but played so poorly Spurrier has inserted massive R-Fr Kevin Young for his first career action. OC William Brown is the most experienced of the group, with 3 letters. Across the front, they average well over 300 pounds, mostly because of Sorenson and Young. Their two-deep has guys named Lemuel, Gurminder and Hutch…first names.

· Bottom Line: This group is dangerous if for no other reason than the man calling the plays. Spurrier is a brilliant tactician and he hates UGA more than your average GT fan (which is considerable). Their OL is no better than ours in terms of experience or talent, so the key for them will be to keep Mitchell upright and give him time. They have solid skill position guys and will likely look to attack us somewhat similarly to the way we went after OSU. While they won’t be able to just line it up and run straight at our interior like we showed we could against OSU, I do think they’ll use short drops and screens to slow our pass rush and prevent heavy pressure on Mitchell. Look for them to use the TE a good bit as well as they have 2 good ones and OSU was able to be effective using theirs. Also look for Boyd to split out as a WR from the backfield.

· Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: Can we pressure Mitchell? We had incredible success getting after Reid last week and usually when we got pressure it was in bunches. If we can have similar success this week against a less mobile QB (although Reid refused to run), we could be in really good shape. Their considerable talents at RB and TE will put some strain on our LBs, who played really, really well Saturday.

SC Defense

· SC returns several key members of a defense that finished towards the bottom of the pack in the SEC last season. They sported the SEC’s 9^th ranked total defense (9^th in rushing and 8^th in passing). They were slightly better in terms of scoring defense, ranking 6^th in that category. They are a year more experienced though, although the secondary took a few hits. The SC defense always seems to come prepared to play us, even when they are outmatched, so I fully expect a war this Saturday as they aren’t exactly outmatched this go ‘round.

· Along the DL, SC will start squatty sophomore Eric Norwood at one end. He’s 6-0, 260 but manages to get in the backfield regularly, recording 7 sacks and 2 other TFLs last season, good enough for freshman All-American honors despite never starting until last week. Opposite him will be a pair of guys listed as co-starters in freshman Travian Robertson and other squatty senior Ryan Brown. Look for Robertson to get in on passing situations for sure although he played most of the snaps Saturday against the run-oriented ULL team. Spurrier hinted that he wasn’t pleased with the DE play Saturday and he could opt to rotate in either of two more true freshmen for significant playing time, both of whom were recruited heavily by UGA, Cliff Matthews and Clifton Geathers. At DT, a pair of juniors get the nod in Marque Hall and Nathan Pepper. Both have good size. Hall is returning this season from an injury suffered in the UGA game last year. Backups inside are a JUCO transfer and a true frosh, so depth is a concern.

· The strength of the SC D is the LB corps. They are deep here and will likely play several solid options throughout the game. MLB Jasper Brinkley is one of the best players in the league. He’s a hoss at 6-2, 260. Last year he had more than double the tackles of SC’s #2. His brother Casper (SC has the best names in CFB) moves from his DE spot to WLB. Both of them transferred in from JUCO last year and had a big impact on the SC D. Rodney Paulk is listed as the starter at SLB and at 6-0, 220, he’s the runt of the litter. Spurrier has hinted that Jr Dustin Lindsey might get some more PT and even start at SLB after not playing all of last season due to academic issues. This unit is deep, big, fast and experienced.

· Like the first two levels of the SC D, the secondary is going through some changes after week 1. The two corners remain the same in undersized, feisty So. Captain Munnerlyn and Jr. former WR Carlos Thomas. You might remember Munnerlyn as the guy who mugged Massaquoi at the goal line last season and didn’t get called for it. The changes occur at safety where Sr Brandon Isaac moves over from SS to FS and So Darian Stewart moves over from the backup spot at FS to man the SS spot (got that?). Isaac missed last season due to a shoulder injury. Stewart played in every game last season but only managed 7 tackles.

· Bottom Line: This defense is a step up from the one we faced last week. They don’t have a dominant defensive line that would really scare me, but they are an SEC DL and that’s scary enough. Jasper Brinkley is already on his way to dominating tackles totals again this year despite a bum ankle and I fully expect him to be all over the field. They have some serious speed at CB, making those bubble screens we threw so often last week both a little more likely to get picked and a little less effective if the blocks aren’t executed properly. Stafford’s arm strength doesn’t lend itself to those getting picked often, but if they’re already breaking, there’s no pass that can’t get snagged.

· Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: You might as well pencil some variation of this in all year…watch our OL to see if they are able to open holes for our RBs and protect Stafford. That’s the key…it’s always the key, but even more so this year. Stafford has grown up a lot and appears more comfortable. The WRs are catching the ball. Our RBs are running hard and making folks miss. It basically boils down to how well our OL can block. At times on Saturday they struggled mightily.

The SC Game Overall

Any time we play Spurrier I get worried. He wants to beat us more than any team on his schedule every year. He hates UGA going way back to his playing days. Add on top of that the fact that we shut them out last year and he’s going to really be focused this week (not that he wouldn’t otherwise, but still). It’s obvious the shutout bothered him significantly because he mentioned several times this offseason that it really wasn’t a shutout as they were inside the 5 twice and just didn’t get it in. Hey Steve, that still counts.

Many SC fans are quick to point out how much Stafford struggled last year in Columbia, throwing 3 INTs (while discounting the fact it was his first significant time and it was in a very hostile environment). What they don’t seem to remember is how their seasoned, veteran QB nearly turned the ball over as often, fumbling twice. I think they’ll be surprised by the improvements in Stafford’s game since the last time they saw him. He really took off in the final 3 games of the season last year and what we saw Saturday seemed to be an even further progression. He wasn’t asked to throw downfield much, but he was in control of the offense and made all the right decisions…something that didn’t always happen last year. Maybe it’s that he and Bobo have a connection, maybe it’s just that he’s making the natural progression, maybe he’s Neo and he’s starting to believe.

As for the mode of attack this week, I think you’ll see some similarities in that we’ll continue to use screen passes and short quick drops to avoid protection issues. I don’t think we’ll run it as much as we did last week, but we’ll still key everything off the run, which opens our play action. The 2:1 run to pass ratio was skewed because of Richt’s decision to kill the clock in the 4^th quarter. 3^rd down conversions will be big as always…we were very good there last week. Our rushing game had its moments, but we were largely ineffective in terms of getting consistent holes for our RBs to run through. If we struggle again in terms of run blocking, our offensive success will come down to Stafford and company being able to pick up 3^rd and longs. Of course, that goes back to protection (it’s a vicious cycle). In their opener, they struggled with numerous missed tackles. Given the speed of guys like Henderson, Moreno and Wilson, consistent missed tackles can translate into chunks of yards.

On defense, Spurrier will employee a similar attack. Our defense got surprising pressure Saturday. 5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss lead the SEC despite the higher level of competition that we faced versus what most teams did. We’ll try and get pressure without blitzing, as we always do, allowing our LBs and safeties to be in better position to defend the run as well as their backs and TEs in pass coverage. Spurrier’s offenses have always hinged on smart play by his QBs (which explains why he rotates them so freely). I can’t imagine Mitchell not starting on Saturday (Spurrier won’t announce until Thursday), but I suppose I could imagine him not finishing…Spurrier has yanked many a QB, many more talented than Mitchell, and he wants this game in a bad way. OSU rarely went deep yet we still managed to pressure their QB, mostly with multiple hats on the poor kid. If Spurrier feels confident enough in his protection to go with some deeper or slower developing routes, it will be interesting to see what happens.

No matter what you think, expect a battle. Under Richt, the average score in this series is 18-10. That’s a LOW scoring output and is indicative of how hard these games have been over the years. Last year’s 18-0 game wasn’t really sealed until late although our 3 turnovers certainly aided keeping them in the game, just like theirs aided keeping them out. If everything clicks and we continue to win the turnover battle we should win, but that’s by no means a given, especially with so many questions up front.

Positional Notes

· With Lumpkin out with a broken thumb, it means Knowshon will get that many more touches and after Saturday, I think we can all agree that’s probably a good thing. He brought an energy and intensity to the field that I can’t remember seeing in a while. He reminds me a LOT of Cadillac Williams and not just because of the number (24). He’s quick, strong, not overly big, and just runs really hard. He makes folks miss and has the speed to hurt them once he gets past the first level. He’s going to be fun to watch for a while. While losing Lumpkin hurts, he wasn’t the starter and Moreno was already cutting into his carries. Barring an injury, we’ll be fine at RB Saturday.

· “Bean” Anderson appears headed to redshirt after not dressing on Saturday. That’s a little surprising given his extra year of seasoning in prep school and the fact that Boling and Anderson are both seeing time as true frosh.

· Sturdivant looks like he’s got the athleticism and feet you look for, but he’s got a ways to go before we can count LT as a strength.

· The WRs need a big pat on the back, as they played nearly flawlessly. Downfield blocking was impressive across the board. Only one drop that I can recall and it was on a quite sharply thrown ball. This group is fast and not afraid to mix it up. Tony Wilson in particular looked great. Henderson showed his speed and shiftiness on those quick screens. Bailey looked better than ever and really could be in for the breakout we all hoped for.

· We get back Chandler to start at TE this week which should help some in blocking. Figgins and Ward will continue to get snaps though.

· Outside of Lumpkin we’re pretty healthy…it’s kinda nice.

· Marcus Howard will wear #17 this week in honor of Antavious Coates, whose 4^th career ACL injury has ended his career before it really got started. You may remember that Michael Johnson wore #4 a few years ago to honor Kentrell Curry for a similar reason. I love that stuff.

Random Thoughts

· I’ve gotta say, I didn’t think I would, but I loved the pregame videos this year. Not for everyone I know, but I enjoyed them. Very professional and well paced. Couple of comments though… How can the Munson video (which could use some polishing) not have the Stafford to Massaquoi TD pass in the GT game? That was the play of the year. Also, the pregame video about it being Saturday in Athens was solid. Does Tech have a video talking about it being Thursday? Just curious.

· The ESPN crew pretty well fumbled several things during their broadcast. Did you catch the image of Mikey Henderson amongst the OL in place of Haverkamp? They also made the comment that Thomas Brown missed all of last season. How do you make that mistake? The same crew will be doing the game this week so hopefully they’ll be more together.

· It was weird seeing the Dawg Walk line take a couple of turns before it got to the road so it could meander around the construction for the new Tate Center expansion. That’s gonna be UNREAL when they get done with it.

· Not sure if you heard or not, but Michigan got beat last week. Get this, it was by a DIAA team from Boone, NC. That was sarcastic as I’m sure you didn’t miss all 523 stories on that this week. Between that and Notre Dame being god-awful, I was frankly shocked we got any mention at all in recap shows. I’m tired of ND. If they’re good, it’s big news, if they’re bad, they cover it incessantly. Just let Charlie Weiss eat in peace and at the end of the season watch the administration squirm as they try to explain the difference in Ty Willingham’s first two seasons and Weiss’. For the record, they’ll end up being eerily similar only Weiss came out with a massive contract and a hotshot QB recruit that looks like an emu (Jimmy Clausen).

· Apparently the new kickoff rules didn’t affect the SC-ULL game. SC’s star kicker/punter Ryan Succop had 4 of his 5 kickoffs go for touchbacks. That’s impressive. Coutu has a strong leg, connecting on 3 FGs of 40 yards or more in last season’s contest (and he has a career long of 58 I believe), but as expected, we went for the directional approach and aside from one return it worked well. As has become the norm for us, we almost took a punt all the way back. Don’t look for that to happen this week though as SC does that weird punt style that leads to punts that aren’t easily returnable.

· I’m a Braves fan, those of you that know me know that’s the case, but I almost wish the Braves would just hold a press conference and say they’re removing themselves from the pennant race. I think it would be classier and it would allow me to stop getting my hopes up every time they win (increasingly rare these days). This is actually just a reverse psychology ploy. I’m so tired of the Braves toying with my emotions.

· Kudos to longtime writeup reader Chad McDaniel who pointed out that Locke’s dad from Lost (and the guy who looked just like T. Boone Pickens) was also one of the bad guys in Roadhouse that worked at the Double Deuce. How did I not make THAT connection? The tagline for that movie apparently was “The dancing’s over. Now it gets dirty.” They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore. I apologize to you all as that was a much funnier correlation. Chad always does that to me. After getting such good feedback on the comparison, I thought of doing another one this week. I had a few ideas but ultimately bailed on them… 1) No one looked like a character from Lost. 2) Spurrier just looks too common and this is a PG column so I couldn’t get REALLY creative. 3) I couldn’t find a good picture of George Rogers that I thought most folks would recognize (has there ever been a less recognizable major college figure in the South?). I was going to pair him with Tyrone Biggums from the Chappelle Show…yeah, that guy. 4) While Blake Mitchell does look like Jar Jar Binks, that comparison has already been made (a lot). Still applies though.

Have a safe weekend,

Jody

ANOTHER VIDEO MONTAGE OF OSU GAME

This is a great 7 minute montage from a field-level camera which provides a much different view than you normally see. Check it out and freeze the video at the 6:26 mark to see Thomas Brown freight train #6 at the goal line. #6 was also the player that lost his jock on one of Knowshon's first spin moves - which you can also see in this montage.


Two things I love that happened on the Bruce Figgins TD: (1) Stafford carried out a great play fake and hid the ball well - which you can see from this angle; and (2) MoMass blocked his man into the hedges, which opened the way for Big Bruce to bowl into the end zone. Those little things make big differences in execution and I hope we can expect to see that consistently from this group. If so, the SECCG is a real possibility.

GAME BALLS - OSU EDITION

Offense - There are many good choices after the outstanding performances turned in across the board, but my game ball goes to SEAN BAILEY. In his first game back from an ACL injury, he led all receivers (UGA and OSU) with 87 yards on 5 catches. He made two clutch circus grabs on third down that sustained drives in critical parts of the game. On his biggest play, he broke the first tackle, tight- roped 47 yards down the sideline before getting caught inside the 10 yard line.

Defense - Again, there were many great performances from which to choose, but my game ball goes to KELIN JOHNSON for his inspired leadership both during the game and throughout the entire pre-season. He had 5 tackles, one key pass break up and an interception returned for 41 yards. His leadership contributed to a successful night for our entire defensive backfield which held OSU to under 200 yards passing and one touchdown while not yielding any big plays to a big play offense.

Special Teams - BRIAN MIMBS. Brian did not know he would be starting at punter until a few days before the game and wasn't even sure he would get all of the punts for Georgia. This shows what good competition will do for the job as he averaged 42.4 yards on 5 punts. His longest was 51 yards. One was inside the 20 and another should have been downed at the one foot line if Thomas Brown had ever played shortstop because the ball hopped right between his legs and into the end zone. Most importantly, on the night, not one of Mimbs' punts were returned by OSU.

Wild Card - This is a ball that goes to a player that did something special even if he did not have the most significant performance of the game. This ball is going to GENO ATKINS rotating in at defensive tackle. Geno made only 3 tackles, but all three were behind the line of scrimmage. In fact, his three tackles for losses resulted in negative 10 yards for the OSU offense. Another way to consider it is that each time Geno tackled their guy, they were 10 feet behind the line. Way to G.A.T.A. Geno!

DAWGS WIN DESPITE OMINOUS FORECAST OF MARK MAY (this will be a recurring them in 2007 - as always)



I was in Athens Friday through Sunday and had one of the most fun football weekends in memory,thanks to Andrew Rothschild, Parker Swift, Tom Lacy and others.

Here is my first impression of the first half...
We popped OSU in the mouth hard several times early on and they kept coming and went into half time only trailing 21-14. We had played mistake-free football with the exception of one dropped pass and were tenacious on defense. But the OSU offense kept coming and their playmakers, Bowman, Reid, Savage and Pettigrew responded in the first half. Watching the video above reinforces this point. Going into the half, it was clear that we had to play another great half to win this game.

In this video, you can see the second half highlights.



Our defense stepped up big time in the second half and the pressure generated by our speedy ends kept Reid out of synch the rest of the game. We had 5 sacks from 6 different players (Howard, Battle, Lomax, Ellerbe, Allen and Atkins.) Kelin Johnson made two nice plays - one to separate Bowman from the ball on a potential first down grab and an interception with a long return. It would be hard to find fault with anything done by our defense in the second half. Credit to Coach Willie Martinez and the players for shutting out the reputedly potent OSU offense in the second half.

Offensively, we scored 2 touchdowns to put the game out of reach and could have scored more in the fourth quarter if OSU had not diagnosed or half back dive after the 10th consecutive time we ran the play. Consequently, the score did not get gaudy, but it was all Dawgs in the second half and the romp was on. Moreno, Bailey, Moore, Henderson and Figgins all made plays. Stafford was efficient and surgical in his passing. The o-line was effective and showed lots of promise. I was most impressed with the downfield blocking by our receivers - notably MoMass and Tony Wilson.

Altogether, the effort level in all phases of the game was superb. The execution was sharp for an opener and the players were having fun. I hope they can keep those three factors amped up all season.