UGA vs. Auburn: The Sunday Treatment and a Trip Around the Dawgosphere

(#15) UGA 34 - (#9) Auburn 7

Box Score

I still say Tech is UGA's biggest rival. Even though it hasn't been much a rivalry lately, I believe that because I feel that Tech is the team I hate to lose to the most, and I think that is the ultimate deciding factor. But, as I discussed yesterday with my buddy that went with me to the game who believes Auburn is our biggest rival, I could probably honestly say that I enjoy defeating Auburn the most. So...perhaps they are our biggest rival. Really, who cares...

I just know that I love beating that crowd. Especially big. It never gets old. The 2011 and 2012 beat-downs helped make up for the 2010 game and I think last night went a long way towards getting the bad taste of last year's game out of my mouth. And since the 2005 heart breaker that was also a late night game in Sanford Stadium against the wareagletigerplainsmen, we are 7-2 in this series. That's pretty great.

Where to start? Man...just such a great team performance. Chubb and Gurley. The special teams. Man - the defense! Pruitt is obviously a great DC and he obviously has a knack for stopping the Gus Bus. To me, that's as good a defensive performance we've seen from the Silver Britches in the last decade. And let's not forget about the crowd. Several players and coaches made a point to thank the crowd. I've been going to UGA games over 30 years and I can honestly say that was as good and fired up a crowd as I've ever seen. I think it was even louder and more intense than last year's games vs. SCAR and LSU.

Not all is good, however, as #3 Toddy Gurley suffered a knee injury towards the end of the night. No official word as of yet, but I don't think it looks good. Seems like he might have some ligament damage. If that's the case, I sure do hate it. Doesn't seem right. But, if that is the case, I think Gurley is the type of guy that can come back better and stronger than ever and will have the opportunity to achieve everything he deserves at the next level. Regardless, he will always be considered one of the greatest of Damn Good Dogs and will always hold a status as one of the greatest to ever put on the Silver Britches.

Anything to complain about? The officiating, for sure. Calling back that beautiful fake punt was as bad a call as we've seen all year. We still seem to have some issues with punting the ball, but all in all did okay in that respect. Our kickoff coverage was excellent although I'm still not sure why we're not putting it in the end zone every time.

Truly a great game for our Dawgs. What a night!

Let's get the pulse of the Dawg Nation and take...

A Trip Around the Dawgosphere:

• The Senator is thinking about framing Auburn's drive chart. I'd put it up on my wall. Seriously, after that first drive, we just weren't giving Auburn hardly anything. What a night for the D! 
• Bernie's pumped up. That always get me pumped up!
• Tyler's Sunday Morning Comes. Very good point about Bobo continuing to go deep just enough to put the AU defense in a tough spot. Bobo has called several great games this year but last night might have been his best.
• DawgSports' 15 Thoughts. Ditto!
• A take on that magnificent defensive performance from the Macon paper.

As I type this, it seems as if reports are surfacing that Gurley's knee injury is a season-ending one. That's terrible. I hate to hear that so damn much. Man...Also, it is now official that Muschamp will be stepping down from Florida after this season. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted although not so much for this year's edition of the WLOCP. I'll be curious to see who UF goes after. Mullen? Possibly Stoops from Kentucky? An NFL guy? We'll see...

GO DAWGS!

Breaking it Down: UGA vs. the wareagletigerplainsmen

Here we go. The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. All-time series knotted up at 54-54-8. The Dawgs come in
winners of 6 of the last 7, but AU comes in as a top-ten favorite. We all know that. And we all know this as well:

G.A.T.A.!

Contrary to what many think, Auburn is not a "brotherly" or "gentleman's" rivalry. Those SOB's turned hoses on us including feeble old people and small children back in 1986. These were not people on the field (who also got sprayed) but rather folks just minding their own business in the stands. That's Auburn.

You know what else Auburn is? Cheaters! That's just how they roll. Shady banks and seedy dog-racing track owners, pay-for-play players, etc. etc. A 10-part series of 400 page books could be written about Auburn's propensity for wanting/having to always cheat in order to get the success that they so desire. I tell you what else Abuurn Auburn is - conflicted, confused, and crazy - they don't even know what they are! Tigers, Plainsmen, War Eagles, Oh My! Of course, they make a big deal about how War Eagle is not their mascot but rather their rallying cry...alright, then. So, I guess that bird that flies around before every home game that everyone refers to as the Auburn mascot is...not their mascot? Okay...so the bird is a living, breathing, flying "rallying cry." Got it, Auburn! Got it.

To me, UGA has five legitimate rivals. And from my perspective, you've got to play a team every year for it to truly be a rivalry game. They are, in order of hatred and disdain and most importantly - who you want to lose to the least - as follows: Tech, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and South Carolina. So I've got Auburn in the middle of the pack so one might wonder, "why do you dislike them so much?" See above.

"flipmode's the greatest."

As for the game itself, I feel pretty darn good about it. Auburn runs the ball well and our defense handles the run well. The zone read stuff is a bit of a wildcard but we've had some exposure to that with Clemson, SCAR, and MIZZOU. So really, I feel that part of the game is pretty good. Naturally Auburn will put some points on the board but I truly feel that our offense can put up more. The one thing that can tip it, of course, is special teams. As we all know, we've had some major issues, and as anyone can tell you who saw Auburn play last week - they've got some real weapons and playmakers in that phase of the game. I think it's going to come down to that and turnovers.

GO DAWGS! G.A.T.A!

The Thursday Treatment and A Trip Around the Dawgosphere

Well, usually I do these things on Sundays, but I didn't do it this past Sunday. In fact, I've only posted once in the last ten days. Sorry about that. What can I say? I've been busy. But hell - we're all busy. As a part of the Dawgosphere now, it makes me truly appreciate the guys like The Senator, Bernie, Tyler, the Lady, and others who are pretty darn prolific with their posting. I tip my hat...

I attended the Appalachian St. game with my wife and daughter. We had a really nice time.It was great to see Aaron Murray break the SEC record for passing TDs. With this, and after the SEC yardage record that was already broken, there's no denying he's the greatest to ever play in the SEC. Well done, AM. You're a Damn Good Dog! It was also nice to see so many backups get some quality playing time in the 2nd half. We're set up nicely next year with Hutson Mason at QB, aren't we? The first half was pretty frustrating though, right? Oh well. It was a big win. 45-6. We'll take it... 

Lots of stuff going on this week...so why don't we take "a trip around the Dawgosphere." 

• Looking at the different teams' strengths, Tyler thinks the Dawgs have an excellent shot at winning on the Plains in a couple of days. I'm inclined to agree. 
• I vividly remember watching this one on TV as an eleven year old boy. What a game. And what a Damn Good Dog! And to hell with Auburn for pulling that crap. T. Kyle King is right - anyone who thinks that Auburn is a "gentleman's" or "brotherly" rivalry just doesn't get it!
• Lugnut over at the Grit Tree is also feeling good about Saturday. 
• What's the best UGA beat writer saying about Saturday? It's the run defense, stupid!
• The Mumme Poll, Week 11. My ballot is very similar but I had OSU instead of tOSU. 
• A very good write-up about the upcoming game over at the GottaSupport'em Blog. I like this guy's stuff - he does a good job.

I'm planning on getting at least a few more posts up before kick-off on Saturday. As I mentioned earlier, I'm feeling pretty good about this one. What does Auburn's O do best? And what does our D do best? Will we be able to score some points on this crowd? Who's currently got the momentum in this rivalry? Those are some of the important questions and the answers are looking pretty good so far to me. We'll see...