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... 

A Personal Take on the Appalachian St. Game

About to take my ladies to the Classic City, so I'll be brief. Sorry for the light posting lately - it's been one of those weeks. Like the Senator, I really don't have anything for this one other than hoping to see the things he mentioned - Murray breaking the record, everyone staying healthy, and getting some of our backups some good playing time.

For me, the coolest storyline today is a personal one. One of my good friends is a UGA grad and he was looking for some tickets for Saturday's game to take his son to that I was able to help him get. Here's the back story: his parents met and became an item back in the day when they were both students at Appalachian State (and I had both of these fine folks as teachers in high school - they were two of my favorite teachers. Both just fine, fine people). My friend's son is named Boone in honor of the town where App. State is located. This will be the young man's first UGA game. Against the school where his grandparents met and fell in love. Pretty cool story, I think.

Let's have a great day between the hedges. GO DAWGS!

My Mumme Poll Ballot, Week 10

It's time for the Mumme Poll, the best poll in college football. This poll utilizes approval voting where voters vote for their top 10 teams without ranking with the exception of the top team. Here's my top 10 for this week: 

Alabama*

Florida State

Oregon

Ohio State

Stanford

Missouri

Clemson

Oklahoma

Fresno State

Baylor

*tiebreaker

Explanation: I switched 'Bama back to #1 after having FSU there for the last two weeks. I just feel like they're the best and would beat FSU in a head-to-head. I’ve still got Fresno St. in there – GO DAWGS! I decided to put LSU in over Auburn. Like a lots of folks, I’m just not sure how good the wareagletigerplainsmen really are. The last spot was tough. Thought about Okie St. and Michigan St. but decided, begrudgingly, to go with Baylor again. I don’t think they’re legit, but we will soon find out about that.

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

UGA 23 - UF 20. What a win! That's three in a row vs. the Gators, 4 of the last 7, and puts us at a 5-5 tie over the last decade in the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (WLOCP). You can say what you will about any number of things: no points in the 2nd half, some seriously frustrating offensive play-calling, and some other real head-scratchers (how you gonna have 12 men on the field coming out of a TO?!), but you know what - who gives a sh*t? We won the dang thing, and it was a big, big win.

Looking at the numbers, here were the biggest things that stuck out to me on offense:

• UGA on 3rd downs: well north of 50% at 7 out of 12. That was simply huge, and obviously a heck of a lot better than last year's numbers (1 out of 11). 
•  Even though he came in with two wins against the reptiles, it was nice to see Aaron Murray finally have that killer performance that we've all been waiting to see:16 out of 25 (64%) for 258 yards with a TD and no INTs. Averaging 10 yards per throw with an impressive 163.89 QB rating.
• MVP of the game? Who was our leading rusher, receiver and scorer? No doubt about it: Todd Gurley. We most likely don't win without him. He's a DGD and one of the greatest players in college football right now.

• It was nice having Bennett back, wasn't it? All five of his catches were very important.

I was very proud of our defense. They rose to the occasion. For starters, it was their best scoring performance all season - lowest amount given up all year, even a point better than North Texas. Just as impressive - it was their 2nd best yardage performance of the season as well (North Texas). Also of note, the last three games have been three of the D's best with each week getting better than the previous. Sure, Florida's offense is pretty anemic, but still, a really good defensive performance for the Dawgs. And how about Garrison Smith? It was nice to see him really break out and have the type of game he did.

Special teams? They didn't cost us any points so we'll give them good marks as well.

And now for our Sunday tradition:

A Trip Around the Dawgosphere 

• Tyler over at GA Sports Blog: Sunday Morning Comes
• I'm thinking that the Senator was feeling pretty good last night: 3 in a row!
• Marc Weiszer over at the Athens paper does a good write-up about things especially the high emotions that were running.
• Seth Emerson, my favorite UGA beat writer, does his usual great job of summing things up. He mentions some hard truths, doesn't sugar coat, and keeps it real as always.
• The Mark Richt Victory Watch over at Dawgsports

And let's take a look at what the Gators are saying:

• Alligator Army: "Gators die hard in wild Cocktail Party"
• Gator Country's takes

So...our Dawgs are now 5-3 and still have a very faint glimmer of hope in the SEC east. A few questions: When might we see Conley on the field again? Will Gurley have to miss the 1st half of the App. State game? Will Aaron Murray finally break the SEC passing TD mark next week (he's now at 113 - one ties and two takes it)? How good, really, is Auburn?

So far I think 2013 is still a pretty good year. Wins against South Carolina, UT, LSU, and Florida. That's awesome! Where might we be without all of those injuries? Hell, who knows. But it doesn't matter. There's still so much to play for. If we could add AU and GT to the list of teams we've defeated this year and 2013 will go down as a great year. Let's continue to get healthy and play a good game against Appalachian State.

GO DAWGS! 

UGA vs. UF: Breakin' It Down

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one having trouble with this one. Both Bernie and Tyler have apparently had the same issues. What is there to say? What can you say? It's Florida. Just win, baby! For the record, I disagree with Tyler - I don't think it's going to be an ugly suck-fest. I just gotta feeling...

A few thoughts:

• Regarding D - I'm thinking they've got them boys up to speed or have greatly simplified the playbook. One or the other. I think our defense will do okay. 
• Regarding the O: I think having Gurley back is going to make a big, big difference. That's how good of a player he is, and how dependent upon a good, dominant TB that a Bobo-coordinated, Richt-coached offense is. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, but that's just how it is. 
• Following up on offense, are Rumph and Davis ready to be legit downfield threats? If they're not, then that's trouble. Also, is Woot ready to be the Woot of the UT game? Again, if not, and that's going to cause some problems. 
• Can we get Quayvon back involved with this offense again. Please! 
• Surely we've got the special teams fixed up. But then again, we've been saying that all season long, right? My Lord! Surely we've got it worked out. If not, then....well, changes will have to be made. 
• The potential Scary Wildcard? Corbindawg over at The Grit Tree is all over that: 

  If there is one weakness that the Georgia defense has, it is containing a mobile quarterback (it was hard narrowing it down to one).

 I guess we'll see what we see. Honestly, I feel good about this one. I think we'll get it done.

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!

It's a Celebration!

It's a Celebration!