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!

The Sunday Treatment: 1/12/14

It's a beautiful day in Georgia! Hope all is well out there. I was hoping by this point in January to be back up to a least 2 or 3 posts a week but that has not yet happened. Hopefully soon. A few things to cover for the week that was...

How 'Bout Them Hoop Dawgs! 

Big, big win for our Hoop Dawgs last night: 66-58 over the Tide; huge games by Mann and Gaines. Perhaps not as big an actual game as our surprising and thrilling victory over MIZZOU earlier in the week, but because it now has us at 2-0 in SEC play, this one really means a lot. Gaines and Mann are both such ballers! Throw in guys like Thorton, Williams, and Djurisic and you've got the key components for a very good basketball team. We knew going in that it would take awhile before it all came together. I think it is coming together! But as a friend of mine who really knows his basketball said last night, there are some consistency issues with some of these guys. And let's not even get started on the foul shots (although that seems to be improving), but man, what a way to start league play! The Dawgs are now 8-6 overall. 

It's the End of Lakatos, and I Feel Fine

I'm inclined to agree with Tyler over at GA Sports Blog. But I'll take it a step further. I think it is a good thing he is gone. There were deficiencies that needed to be addressed. And while I don't think he was forced out, I think the "personal reasons" thing is not entirely accurate. And he himself has said that he expects to be coaching somewhere next year. I think there's more to this story that we probably won't know, but that's cool - as long as we get someone in that can coach up these DBs and safeties, that's all I care about. 

A Final Goodbye to the 2013 UGA Football Season








National Championship Game 

That was one hell of a game. My hat's off to FSU. Great team, great game. I tip my hat to Auburn as well. They really brought it. I was honestly surprised with how well they played.

A few thoughts:

• After "Miracle on the Plains" versions I & II, many thought Auburn was a team of destiny. Monday night was a good reminder that things don't usually work out that way. College football, and life, has a way of reminding you of that.

• Winston is one amazing player. He might be bat-shit crazy, but he's incredible.

•   I still say that Jimbo Fisher is one weird dude. He's such a freak! 

  It's kind of a Catch-22 for us Dawg fans, I think. Sure as hell didn't want Auburn to win, but in terms of recruiting, a victory by a FSU team that runs a similar offense could be just as tough to overcome. There really was no good scenario. I was just glad that it was a good game. 

I'll definitely have some more thoughts later in the week. Hope everyone is having a good Sunday. 

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

• 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!
 

FWIW, Murray Might Very Well Make History Today Against the Gators

One storyline that's gotten lost over the last couple of losses is the fact that Aaron Murray is on the verge of becoming the greatest QB in SEC history in terms of passing touchdowns. He's two away from tying and three from overtaking the record for most TDs thrown by an SEC QB.

As I've mentioned a couple of times - that would be pretty poetic. Naturally, getting the W is the most important thing. In terms of the record, with our injury woes at the WR position it's probably less likely to happen, but man - it sure would be nice to see it happen.

GO DAWGS!