Greetings. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. Man, time kind of got away from me this month. The posting has been light in December and basically non-existent for the past few weeks. For that, I apologize. I manage a package store and obviously the Holiday season is crazy for us. It's yet another reason why I have so much respect for so many of my fellow Dawg-bloggers for being so prolific and consistent with their posting. My hats off to those folks, for sure.
I'm just basically going to combine the Treatment and Dawgosphere sections with this one:
Definitely been some Dawg news going on the past few weeks. A few suspensions have got many of us wondering about our secondary in the Gator Bowl, but I think we'll be alright. Also in that story from Emerson is news that we'll be losing Christian Lemay after this season as he plans to transfer. Can't say that I blame the young man. With Bauta coming on strong and Ramsey having the skills he does, I think Lemay wouldn't crack the top-3 once again this year. He is reportedly planning on enrolling at Jacksonville St. where he might be looking at a starting job. Speaking of Faton Bauta, he is looking more and more like a player that can really contribute. I enjoyed watching him in the closing minutes of the Kentucky game.
The Hoop Dawgs had a nice little run going there for awhile, albeit it against inferior opponents (W. Carolina, Lipscomb, Gardner-Webb, UT-Chattanooga), but that streak ended last night at the hands of a very good Colorado team. I still think our Dawgs could end up as a pretty decent team this year. We've got some serious players and some pretty good depth. I still say we're going to surprise some folks.
This probably made the rounds a few days ago but I didn't see it until an Auburn friend of mine (of all people), posted it on my FB page yesterday. When you see stuff like this, it makes you proud to be a Bulldog and that Mark Richt is our coach. Such a wonderful thing. Thought and prayers are with that young man.
After New Year's I'll be back on a more regular basis. Hope everyone has a wonderful 2014!
GO DAWGS!
December 29, 2013
December 8, 2013
The Sunday Treatment & A Trip Around the Dawgosphere: Championship Weekend Edition
Great day of college football yesterday. I savored pretty much all of it all the way to the Mountain West CG that wrapped up in the early Sunday morning hours. This is always a bittersweet time of year. It's exciting to know that bowl games are coming up, but we all know that our college football is coming to a close and we won't don't have much more until we'll have to be without it for about 9 months. Let's break down the big ones:
SECCG: Auburn vs. MIZZOU
Well, it was an entertaining game. I'll sure say that. Seems like everyone is jumping on the lack of defense meme in the SEC. Myself included! Hell, it's like A&M and MIZZOU join and we turn into the Big 12 or something. But they say that sometimes it takes a year or two for defenses to catch up with offenses. I think we'll probably see lower point totals in the SEC next year. With that said, I personally think the biggest reason why we've seen such an explosion in points-per-game is because the SEC, for whatever reason, decided to basically quit calling holding this year. You'll see a penalty or two per game for very egregious violations, but by and large, they're just not calling it anymore. I mean, come on, Auburn is basically just running the old-school Wing T set. But, if you have a legitimate passing threat, it can be tough to defend. I'll give credit where it's due - Auburn was the better team last night. And at this point, I'm inclined to agree with some others that even though FSU will probably be the overall better team, you've got to figure that there is no way that Auburn won't win it!
One other thing. The targeting rule, nationwide, has been as huge as anything. That, coupled with the aforementioned lack of holding being called in the SEC, has probably been the biggest factor. But, there are some very interesting and hard-to-defend offenses in the SEC this year: A&M w/ Johnny Football; Gus and the Delaware Wing-T; MIZZOU, USCe, and Ole Miss running various variations of the Zone Read/ Jet Sweep type stuff. They're all factors. Also, to score another one in the category of unintended consequences, wonder why we've seen all of these blown knees? Maybe because defenders are going low? There you go...
In terms of how the defenses can catch up, I don't know the game enough, defensively, to give you a good answer. But I'm sure they will.
One more thing. I think you've got to hang this loss on the MIZZOU coaching staff. What was up w/ that 3 man front. It would get ripped every time and they kept going back to it. And what was the one thing they did well all night offensively? Passing the ball. But late in the game they kept trying to run it playing right into the AU defense. To me, it looked like Pinkel et al were not quite ready for prime time.
tOSU vs. Mich. State
Pretty much everybody called it. The Buckeyes were just not that good. In fact, Ohio St. would lose by 2-4 touchdowns or possibly more to the following teams: Alabama, Auburn, Stanford, Oregon, Clemson, Missouri, South Carolina, LSU, probably Georgia, and about 5 other teams. They were exposed for exactly what they were. A fairly decent team with a very easy regular season schedule. Also, the previous bit about the MIZZOU coaching staff not being ready for prime time - ditto with the OSU staff.
The Other Stuff
I wonder if Mack Brown is squarely back on the hot seat? I'm sure he is. I really like Stanford. They're a damn good team. Same with Baylor. And you got to tip your hat to Duke. They gave it all they had. It just wasn't anywhere close to being enough. And how 'bout them Rice Owls? Their first conference championship in over 50 years. That's a good story.
And let's check the pulse of the DawgNation and take...
A Trip Around the Dawgosphere
Alright. Guess we'll find out who's going where later on tonight. As for us, I'm still pulling for a match-up vs. Michigan in the Gator Bowl. We'll see. Go DAWGS!
SECCG: Auburn vs. MIZZOU
Well, it was an entertaining game. I'll sure say that. Seems like everyone is jumping on the lack of defense meme in the SEC. Myself included! Hell, it's like A&M and MIZZOU join and we turn into the Big 12 or something. But they say that sometimes it takes a year or two for defenses to catch up with offenses. I think we'll probably see lower point totals in the SEC next year. With that said, I personally think the biggest reason why we've seen such an explosion in points-per-game is because the SEC, for whatever reason, decided to basically quit calling holding this year. You'll see a penalty or two per game for very egregious violations, but by and large, they're just not calling it anymore. I mean, come on, Auburn is basically just running the old-school Wing T set. But, if you have a legitimate passing threat, it can be tough to defend. I'll give credit where it's due - Auburn was the better team last night. And at this point, I'm inclined to agree with some others that even though FSU will probably be the overall better team, you've got to figure that there is no way that Auburn won't win it!
One other thing. The targeting rule, nationwide, has been as huge as anything. That, coupled with the aforementioned lack of holding being called in the SEC, has probably been the biggest factor. But, there are some very interesting and hard-to-defend offenses in the SEC this year: A&M w/ Johnny Football; Gus and the Delaware Wing-T; MIZZOU, USCe, and Ole Miss running various variations of the Zone Read/ Jet Sweep type stuff. They're all factors. Also, to score another one in the category of unintended consequences, wonder why we've seen all of these blown knees? Maybe because defenders are going low? There you go...
In terms of how the defenses can catch up, I don't know the game enough, defensively, to give you a good answer. But I'm sure they will.
One more thing. I think you've got to hang this loss on the MIZZOU coaching staff. What was up w/ that 3 man front. It would get ripped every time and they kept going back to it. And what was the one thing they did well all night offensively? Passing the ball. But late in the game they kept trying to run it playing right into the AU defense. To me, it looked like Pinkel et al were not quite ready for prime time.
tOSU vs. Mich. State
Pretty much everybody called it. The Buckeyes were just not that good. In fact, Ohio St. would lose by 2-4 touchdowns or possibly more to the following teams: Alabama, Auburn, Stanford, Oregon, Clemson, Missouri, South Carolina, LSU, probably Georgia, and about 5 other teams. They were exposed for exactly what they were. A fairly decent team with a very easy regular season schedule. Also, the previous bit about the MIZZOU coaching staff not being ready for prime time - ditto with the OSU staff.
The Other Stuff
I wonder if Mack Brown is squarely back on the hot seat? I'm sure he is. I really like Stanford. They're a damn good team. Same with Baylor. And you got to tip your hat to Duke. They gave it all they had. It just wasn't anywhere close to being enough. And how 'bout them Rice Owls? Their first conference championship in over 50 years. That's a good story.
And let's check the pulse of the DawgNation and take...
A Trip Around the Dawgosphere
- I've felt this way for the last seven years. Bernie's right on the money
- Over at the Grit Tree I find myself agreeing a lot of the time with CorbinDawg. Not so much with this other guy.
- To my point about the chances that Auburn has in the big one. From the Senator. Yeah, football gods, FTW - Fo Sho! Either Gus & company have been living right or, more likely, they all sold their souls to Satan.
- Tyler's thoughts on the new lack of D in the SEC.
Alright. Guess we'll find out who's going where later on tonight. As for us, I'm still pulling for a match-up vs. Michigan in the Gator Bowl. We'll see. Go DAWGS!
December 1, 2013
The Sunday Treatment & A Trip Around the Dawgsophere: THWGT Edition
DAWGS 41 - NATS 34
For me personally, it's as if the 1999 game has finally been fully exorcised. No, 2002 didn't do it. 2004 Reggie Ball? Nope. 2006 and 2009 might have finally gotten 1998 paid back. No, it wasn't until last night that I truly felt like things, in a karmic perspective, were finally set right. We ripped their hearts out and broke their noses.
The techies are in a bad way right now. I mean really bad. After enduring perhaps our most heartbreaking loss ever just a few weeks ago, I could almost feel myself feeling a little sorry for that crowd. Almost. I mean, it's Tech. So...no - not really. It seems as if most of the tech crowd is turning against CPJ. That's a shame...
What a crazy game. And after the season we've had, would you have expected anything less? After being down 20-0 and then 20-7 at halftime, it seemed as if the Golden Tornado finally had our number this year, but that just wasn't gonna happen. Todd Gurley was going to make sure that wouldn't happen. The same with Hutson Mason, Chris Conley, our O-line, the D in the 2nd half. It was a true team win, and it was absolutely beautiful. And the final play of the 2nd OT? We batted the pass DOWN. Gotta love that.
So let's check the pulse of the DawgNation and take...
A Trip Around the Dawgsophere
Five in a row. 12 out of 13. Like I said yesterday, Richt owns Tech so bad that he pays Fulton Co. property taxes! All is right for another 365.
GO DAWGS!
For me personally, it's as if the 1999 game has finally been fully exorcised. No, 2002 didn't do it. 2004 Reggie Ball? Nope. 2006 and 2009 might have finally gotten 1998 paid back. No, it wasn't until last night that I truly felt like things, in a karmic perspective, were finally set right. We ripped their hearts out and broke their noses.
The techies are in a bad way right now. I mean really bad. After enduring perhaps our most heartbreaking loss ever just a few weeks ago, I could almost feel myself feeling a little sorry for that crowd. Almost. I mean, it's Tech. So...no - not really. It seems as if most of the tech crowd is turning against CPJ. That's a shame...
What a crazy game. And after the season we've had, would you have expected anything less? After being down 20-0 and then 20-7 at halftime, it seemed as if the Golden Tornado finally had our number this year, but that just wasn't gonna happen. Todd Gurley was going to make sure that wouldn't happen. The same with Hutson Mason, Chris Conley, our O-line, the D in the 2nd half. It was a true team win, and it was absolutely beautiful. And the final play of the 2nd OT? We batted the pass DOWN. Gotta love that.
So let's check the pulse of the DawgNation and take...
A Trip Around the Dawgsophere
- Probably my favorite recurring Dawgblog post: Dawgsports' Mark Richt Victory Watch
- Tyler's Sunday Morning Comes over at Georgia Sports Blog
- Good take over at the GOTTASUPPORTEM Blog
- Seth Emerson, from the Macon paper, gives his recap.
- The Senator hasn't posted his recap yet, so be sure to visit later today.[UPDATE: "Observations from the 20: UGA-GT Edition]
- Bernie thinks it's a great day for America. Agreed!
Five in a row. 12 out of 13. Like I said yesterday, Richt owns Tech so bad that he pays Fulton Co. property taxes! All is right for another 365.
GO DAWGS!
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