Weekly Review: September 24th

Biggest Story of the Week: Everyone is Flawed

The talking heads on TV won’t tell you the truth, but I will. As great as this season has been so far, and it has been really entertaining, you can’t confuse great games and great teams. At this point in the season, there are no great teams in college football.

Start at the top with Alabama. They have a true freshman quarterback and suddenly, a lack of competent running backs. There is no way they go undefeated.

Louisville has a great player and a scum bag coach. No one should be crowning them after one win at home against a Florida State team that we don’t know much about.

The reality of this season is that by the end of the year, there may be a couple of great teams, but at this point, there are legitimate questions about every team in college football. No one has proven that they are good enough to play four quarters of great football week after week.

If I had to pick who I thought would be the best team by the end of the season I would go with Clemson. They have the best quarterback in the country to go along with a balanced team with weapons on offense, play makers on defense, and a manageable schedule with some big tests, but not the gauntlet that other teams have to navigate.

Even though I don’t believe anyone is great at this point, I think this season has been, and will continue to be, great. If you look ahead to the next three or four weeks, there are multiple games that you would say are “Must-See” and there are going to be more upsets due to the parity in college football.

Biggest Win of the Week: Tennessee

It had been 11 years since Tennessee beat Florida, and no one would have thought the streak was about to end as the two teams headed to the locker room at half time. Tennessee wasn’t just trailing 21-3, they looked inept on offense and they looked vulnerable on defense. I have never been a fan of Josh Dobbs, and he made me look like a genius in the first half.

Then something changed.

If you were watching the CBS broadcast, you know that Gary Danielson, who is of course the smartest person in the world (just ask him, and he will tell  you), believes that there was a pass in the third quarter where the Tennessee receiver made a great catch that turned the game around. I don’t think that turned the game around for two reasons. One, the reason it had to be a great catch was because Dobbs nearly hit the defender in the back with the pass. It was an awful pass. The second reason is because two plays after the “game-changing” play, Dobbs through a terrible interception.

As much as it might bother someone as smart as Danielson, all that changed was momentum. Dobbs hit two long passes on busted coverages, and Florida got tight. The Tennessee crowd got into the game, and the Tennessee defense dared Austin Appleby to beat them. They pinned their ears back and brought pressure for the entire second half, and Florida wasn’t able to respond.

Not to sound like a broken record, but both of these teams have serious flaws and flawed teams aren’t going to be consistent. From week to week and sometimes quarter to quarter, you aren’t going to get the same team.

Now, Tennessee is in the driver’s seat in the East. However, they travel to Georgia this week, and follow that up with games against the best two teams in the SEC, Texas A&M and Alabama. If Tennessee loses to Georgia they will lose three straight and probably drop another game this season, finishing 8-4 and probably causing Butch Jones his job. If Tennessee can win in Athens, then they probably will go 10-2 and win the East.

Either way, ending the streak of 11 straight loses to Florida was a big monkey off the back of the program.

The biggest flaw Tennessee has, and they have a few, is their head coach. He is a cliché machine, but I don’t believe he really knows what he is doing. He continues to talk about building their program. This is Butch Jones 4^th season in Knoxville! How long does he expect to get to build something? It’s smoke and mirrors. The team might win this year in spite of Jones, but he is big on talk and short on substance and Tennessee will not compete for titles on a consistent basis as long as he is the head coach.

Biggest Loss of the Week: Notre Dame

There were some serious candidates for worst loss this week. You could look to Michigan State who got blown out at home against Wisconsin. You could pick Georgia, who looked totally outmatched by Ole Miss. My runner up was LSU, who couldn’t get the offense going, yet again, and somehow managed to not be prepared to run a last-second play when the officials had spent four minutes discussing a penalty. They were the runner up because Les Miles is running out of time very quickly.

All Hail to the Victors of the dubious “honor” of worst loss of the week, and that goes to the storied golden-domers at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is quite possible the greatest college football program of all time, but for the past 10 years, they have struggled to be relevant. Somehow, they maintain their status as an Independent with their own network tv deal with NBC, but on the field they have underwhelmed for the better part of a decade.

I’m not going to pretend like the loss to Duke at home was the worst loss in the team’s history, but as a three touchdown favorite at home, the loss tied for the biggest upset of an Irish team of all time.

There have been rumors that there are issues between head coach Brian Kelly and defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. After the game, Kelly called out his players by saying it didn’t matter what they had done in the past, if you want to play for him, you better bring some fire and passion.

To me, Kelly sounded like a burnt-out teacher at the end of their rope, trying one last time to crack down on the class before they lose all control of the situation. Kelly may keep his job because I don’t know where Notre Dame would go for a head coach, but Irish Eyes aren’t smiling this season, and I don’t see this program turning things around any time soon.

The College Football Playoff if the season ended Today:

1.      Alabama

2.      Louisville

3.      Ohio State

4.      Clemson

5.      Michigan

6.      Texas A&M

7.      Wisconsin

8.      Stanford

Three Things to Watch for Next Week:

1.      Clemson/Louisville: Lamar Jackson is the star of the young season. Deshawn Watson was the returning favorite for the Heisman trophy. Clemson hasn’t managed to impress so far this season. Louisville has put themselves in the talk for a spot in the playoff with their total destruction of Florida State. Prime time in Death Valley. Next Saturday night is going to be amazing.

2.     Wisconsin/Michigan: Michigan comes into this game ranked in the Top 5, and I have no clue as to why. Jim Harbaugh has turned the perception of Michigan around with his off-field antics, but he has yet to make a statement on the field. Wisconsin has already beaten Michigan State and LSU in the young season, so they are battle-tested. Time for King of Khakis to put up, or for the love of all things holy, just shut up. I’m pulling hard for Wisconsin.

Stanford/Washington: The Pac 12 got left out of the playoff last season, in part because of attrition in the league. If I was a Pac 12 guy, I would be hoping for a Stanford win, because I think they have a better chance to make the playoff than Washington. Chris Peterson’s Huskies have quietly become a legit contender, but can they stop Christian McCaffery? This game is on Friday night, so get the weekend started with what should be a great game.

Georgia/Ole Miss Preview

Georgia’s season continues today at high noon in Oxford, Mississippi as the Dawgs take on the Rebels in what can only be described as a game where we are going to get a lot of questions answered.

A poet person might say that this season has been A Tale of Two Teams. In Athens, it has been the best of times as Georgia has managed a 3-0 start despite not playing a brand of football that has been pleasing to the eye or the blood pressure of anyone in the Bulldog Nation. In Oxford, it has been the worst of times, as Ole Miss enters this game with a 1-2 record after blowing 20+ point leads to both Florida State and Alabama in the first three weeks of the season.

Let me start by saying that it is completely ridiculous that this game is being played at noon, eastern and 11 am local time. CBS decided to take Florida and Tennessee, which makes sense, I guess. However, with all the television options the SEC has now, there is no reason this game couldn’t have had a later kickoff. My indignation is totally selfish, as I will be watching the game on delay after I get off work, so please don’t text me any results and ruin my day.

Believe it or not, this game is going to be all about Ole Miss. They are the more experienced, battle tested, and talented team coming into this game. They are at home. They have already played in two very big games this season. For a team that had hopes of winning the SEC and perhaps making the playoff, their entire season is on the line today. A 1-3 September would be near a tragedy for Ole Miss fans, not to mention the players and coaches.

I have gone back and forth on this game all week. I could see Ole Miss coming out, fired up, getting out to a two touchdown lead, and blowing Georgia away. The Rebels have the talent to do that.

I could see Ole Miss coming out, getting a lead, Georgia making a comeback, and the Rebels folding like a cheap lawn chair because that is what they have done against Florida State and Alabama.

I could see Ole Miss coming out flat and lethargic knowing their dreams for the season are all but unattainable and playing a sloppy game that leads to Georgia winning by 10.

I could see a lot of things happening, but in the end, no matter how we get there, I think Georgia is going to pick up their first loss of the season today in Oxford.

I can’t see a Hugh Freeze team coming out flat and laying an egg today at home. He is going to have his players fired up, so the early part of the game is going to be important. I think Ole Miss will come out of the gate like a cat with its tail on fire. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rebels get a two touchdown lead before half time. Then I think Georgia will get back into the game, the crowd is going to think, “here we go again,” and the players are going to get tight. The difference in the game will end up being Chad Kelly’s ability to scramble and make a big play with his legs. As good as Kelly is with his arm, and he may be the best in the conference, the X-factor is his ability to run the ball. I think Kelly makes a big play with his legs late in the game and Ole Miss wins a one possession game.

Now I need all the Georgia fans to take a deep breath. I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with your answer, and please, answer with your head, and not your heart.

Do you think Georgia is good enough to go undefeated and win the national title this season?

Ok, unless you are completely mental, the answer to that question is no. Georgia isn’t going to win the national title this year and at some point, they are going to lose, at least, one game.

Guys, Ole Miss is the best team left on Georgia’s schedule and this is a road game in the SEC. There is absolutely no shame in losing this game, and even if Georgia loses this game, they can still win the SEC East, which is probably the ceiling for Georgia this year.

Most logical Georgia fans would have taken a 10-2 season in Kirby’s first year, but when its game week, no one is ever comfortable with the idea of losing a game. So how can you be ok with a team going 10-2, but never be ok with a team losing a game?

The answer is of course that the word fan comes from the word fanatic, so logic can pretty much be thrown out the window. Before and after the season most fans are capable of some level of perspective, which allows for a more logical assessment of the season. There are going to be people who read this blog who actually believe Georgia can win the national title this year. There are going to be people who read this blog who will post negative things about Kirby Smart or Jacob Eason if Georgia loses today. Thank you for taking the time to read the blog, but you are an idiot if you do any of those things.

No matter what happens today, Georgia fans have a ton of reasons to be encouraged.

First and foremost, we have found our quarterback. Eason won the job last Saturday night, and now everyone on the team knows he is the man for the rest of the season and beyond. Eason was magnificent on third down throughout the Missouri game. He kept drive after drive going when the running game couldn’t do anything. The fourth down play to score the final touchdown reminded me a lot of the David Greene pass to Jasper Sanks in Knoxville in 2001 on the “Hob-nail boot” play. Green was a freshman playing in Mark Richt’s first season on the road in the SEC.

Another reason for optimism is that Georgia’s defense seems to have picked up where they left off last season, which means they are pretty stinking good. I was encouraged by the half-time adjustments made by the defensive coaches against Missouri. The Tiger’s offense looked completely different from the first half to the second half, and you should give Georgia’s defense the credit. You see, it’s all about how you say it. If you say Drew Lock threw three interceptions in the second half, then it seems Georgia was the beneficiary of bad quarterback play from their opponent. If you say Georgia forced three crucial turnovers in the second half, then all of a sudden the defense won the game.

For me, the most encouraging thing I have seen in the first three weeks of the season is a 180 degree change in coaching philosophy surrounding Georgia, especially on the offensive side of the ball. To set this up, please permit me a moment to look back at the previous coaching staff.

Too many times under Richt, Georgia seemed to have no “Plan B” if “Plan A” didn’t work. I’m thinking of games against Tennessee and South Carolina in 2007. Against Florida in 2008 and 2009. Against Alabama in 2008 and 2015. Against South Carolina in 2012.

In all of those games, Georgia failed to run the ball early, and Georgia lost the game. In most of those games, Georgia got blown out. The stat under Richt was dramatic. Georgia only lost four times under Richt when we had a running back run for over 100 yards. I don’t have the stat, but I would be scared to see how many times Georgia won when we had a back fail to get 100 yards.

I get it, we like to run the ball at Georgia. I am all for running the ball. Even in 2016 when some schools are throwing it all around the field, I believe in the running game. But you can’t run the ball ineffectively and not change the game plan.

Last Saturday night, Missouri decided early in the game that they were not going to allow Georgia to run the ball, and they were going to make Jacob Eason beat them. You don’t have to be a great team to take away the run or the pass from the opposing team. You have to be a great team to take away both, but Missouri stopping the running game was simple numbers. If they put 9 or 10 guys in the box, Georgia can’t run the ball. Period. If Ole Miss, Tennessee, or anyone else Georgia plays this season puts 9 guys in the box, Georgia is going to struggle running the ball.

But, last week, and moving forward, Georgia has a plan B.

If you were sitting in coaches’ meeting last week and you told Jim Cheney that he was going to call nearly 60 pass play for his true freshman quarterback in his first road game in the SEC, he would have laughed you out of the room. If you could have convinced him that you were telling the truth, he would have put down his plate of doughnuts and he would have been sweating powdered sugar because Eason throwing 60 passes would have been a sure fire recipe for failure.

But in the course of the game, it was the only logical choice, and Cheney took it. I’m not sure past Georgia teams would have won that game, because I’m not sure the coaching staff would have been willing to adapt mid-game the way Cheney did.

Georgia beat UNC by running the ball. Georgia beat Missouri by throwing the ball. Georgia beat Nicholls by the grace of God. Three wins, three different ways.

Cheney’s offensive philosophy throughout his career has adapted to his personnel and what opposing teams give him. When Drew Brees was his quarterback, Cheney threw the ball all over the field. When Cheney was at Arkansas and Tennessee coaching great running backs, Cheney ran the ball all over the field. He isn’t singularly focused on one style, he is focused on scoring points, any way he can. And let me tell you, that is, without a doubt, the greatest offensive philosophy you will ever see.

Georgia has a ceiling this season. The offensive line isn’t very good. The receivers are young. The kicking game is the equivalent of a flaming bag of crap thrown on your front porch. None of those things are going to improve dramatically throughout this season. Georgia is flawed, but so is Tennessee and so is Florida, so Georgia has as good of a shot as any to win the East.

This year isn’t the year for unreasonable expectations. That comes in 2017.

Today’s prediction: Georgia 27   Ole Miss 31

Glory, Glory

No More Quarterback Controversy

Wow.

I could stop there and everything would be said.

Georgia is undefeated after a dramatic 28-27 win on the road against a Missouri team that I underestimated.

The first half was a shoot out; the second half was a defensive struggle.

There are still questions for Georgia to answer. Is the offensive line good enough to hold up for the entire season? Is Georgia’s defensive line good enough? Can Georgia find another receiver to go along with McKenzie?

However, just before midnight on September 17, 2016, one question has been answered and it will not be asked again. Georgia has a starting quarterback in Jacob Eason.

With less than 2 minutes left in his first SEC game, Jacob Eason won the game. Missouri stopped Nick Chubb and dared Jacob Eason to beat them, and that is exactly what he did.

There will be more to say over the next couple of days, but tonight, all that needs to be said is Glory, Glory to Old Georgia!

Show Time in the Show Me State

Even though the season is only two weeks old, it feels like Georgia fans have been through a lot. The nerves leading up to the game against North Carolina were replaced by the total adulation of watching our guys come back from 10 points down in the third quarter to win the game. The abject apathy of the build up to last week’s game has been replaced by confusion, disappointment, and worry over who this team actually is following the nail biting, mind-numbing 26-24 victory over Nicholls.

Tonight, Georgia opens its 2016 SEC schedule against Missouri, and, much like two weeks ago, there are more questions than answers.

In the Richt Era, it would sometimes take an entire season to figure out who a team was. There would be great performances backed up by games when it seemed the team didn’t even understand what a football was.

Take 2004 for example. The biggest game of that season was LSU coming to Athens. LSU was the defending national champs who had beaten Georgia in Baton Rouge during the previous season, and then beaten Georgia again for the SEC title in Atlanta.

In what might have been the most impressive victory of the Richt Era, Georgia smashed LSU 45-16 between the hedges. With an experienced team, and a manageable schedule, the Dawgs were in position to challenge for a National title. Except one week later, at home, Georgia lost 19-14 to Tennessee. Georgia scored 45 points against a Nick Saban defense, only to come the next week and put up two touchdowns on a good, but not great, Tennessee team.

2007 is the best example. Georgia lost at home to South Carolina in a game where they didn’t score a touchdown. A few weeks later, Georgia traveled to Knoxville and lost to the Vols 35-7. By the end of the season, Georgia was heading to the Sugar Bowl as the #3 ranked team in the country and perhaps the hottest team in the country. Georgia would have won a national title in 2007 if they would have won either the South Carolina or Tennessee games.

2016 will have to play itself out, but I think we should focus on what we do know.

We know we have a great running back in Nick Chubb and Sony Michel is coming back this week, fully healthy.

We know we have a solid defense that seems to be picking up right where they left off last year. Georgia is rotating players just like Alabama has done in the past, which means that the defense should actually get better throughout the season as young guys get more playing time.

We know that Georgia has talent on offense, even if we haven’t seen it yet.

We know that both Lambert and Eason are going to play, because Kirby has said they will both play moving forward.

We know that if this game, or any game at this point, comes down to us needing to make a field goal I would be more comfortable taking a guy or girl out of the stands than thinking that our kicker will actually make a field goal.

Last year, Georgia beat Missouri 9-6 in what could have been the ugliest game I have ever watched. Even if Georgia gets dominated by their opponent, like the Alabama game last season, at least one team plays well. Georgia and Missouri made me not like football for 3.5 hours last season, but I don’t expect that to happen again tonight.

Missouri comes into this game 1-1, having already lost to West Virginia in week one. Missouri has a new coach, Barry Odum, who was the defensive coordinator for the past few seasons. They have a talented quarterback who can throw the ball all over the field, but their defense isn’t quite as good as it has been in the past, especially on the defensive line.

Missouri is going to run a lot of “RPO’s” or Run/Pass Options. This is where the quarterback is in the shot-gun, with a running back beside him. When the ball is snapped, the quarterback will read one defender, typically a defensive end, and either hand the ball off, or throw it quickly to one of his receivers. The reason the quarterback will have to throw it quickly is that the offensive line doesn’t know if the quarterback is going to run or pass, so they are always run blocking. So, if the quarterback were to sit in the pocket looking for a receiver downfield, he would get demolished by blitzing linebackers.

The system works for two reasons. One, your quarterback doesn’t have to do much. You answer one question, then run the play. In a pro-style offense like Georgia runs, the quarterback has a lot more to do, before and after the ball is snapped. The other reason this offense works is because it can take advantage of the defense’s over aggressiveness. It is almost impossible to get pressure on the quarterback because the offense is based on primarily short passes. So your linebackers who love to get sacks (Lorenzo Carter) have to accept that they aren’t going to get to the quarterback, because rushing hard up-field at the quarterback will only open more holes for either the running back or a receiver who is catching a ball  yards from the line of scrimmage.

The second reason the system works is because your cornerbacks can’t go straight into their drop each play because they have to worry about a quick pass being thrown in their direction. If a cornerback gets too aggressive, you will see the quarterback make a quick throw that ends up with the receiver streaking down the sideline for a score because the one cornerback on that side of the field played the run rather than the pass, and there was no safety helping.

The key for Georgia defensively tonight will be one very simple concept: discipline. Against North Carolina, Georgia was excellent at being disciplined, but in the third quarter, they lost contain on two running plays in a row, and it cost them a touchdown. Georgia will have to do a great job of playing assignment football, which requires guys like Carter and Sanders to be more disciplined and less focused on making plays.

Offensively, nothing really changes. All I have heard this week is that Georgia’s offensive line is a big problem, because they didn’t play well against Nicholls. I am going to chose not to worry about the offensive line, and I’ll tell you why. If the line is truly as bad as it looked last week, then Georgia is going to lose 4 or 5 games this season. The reality is that the line might not be the best in the nation, but they are far better than they showed last week, and I’m sure they have heard a lot about what they need to do better in practice this week.

I think Eason will start, and I hope Lambert doesn’t play. Nothing against Lambert, but I think the longer Eason is on the sideline at crunch time, the more it’s going to be in his head that the coaches don’t trust him with the game on the line. Eason needs to be our quarterback, and we have to take the good with the bad. The only way he gets better at the end of the game, is by, you know, playing at the end of the game.

Look for Georgia to have more success passing the ball the next two weeks than they have for the first two weeks of the season. I would expect Georgia to get more receivers involved, especially the tight ends because Missouri’s secondary is average at best.

This will be the third time Georgia has traveled to Missouri since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012. In 2012, Georgia won by three touchdowns on a night where Jarvis Jones simply took over the game and became a star. In 2014, with Todd Gurley suspended, Nick Chubb ran the ball over 30 times for nearly 200 yards in his coming out party as Georgia defeated the Tigers 30-0.

Georgia has never lost in Columbia. The two previous games have been breakout performances by great players. Tonight, I’m predicting another breakout performance from the one player who the entire Bulldog Nation has been wanting to see a breakout performance.

Georgia is going to blow Missouri out of the water tonight, and while Chubb will get his (150 yards and two touchdowns) and Sony will get his (100 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown) the story will be Jacob Eason who will finally get his (over 300 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception).

Coming off that pathetic performance last week, we are going to get the best Georgia team we have tonight. This team is going to look a little Jekyll and Hyde this season, tonight we get to good one.

Georgia 42      Missouri  16

Go Dawgs

Nick Chubb Returns and Carries Georgia to Victory

What a night in Atlanta.

Let’s start in the only place to start. Nick Chubb is absolutely amazing. It was less than 10 months ago that he sat on the sideline in Neyland Stadium with his knee taped up, and tears in his eyes. He dried those tears, worked his tail off, and tonight, he is the reason Georgia beat North Carolina and started the Kirby Smart Era with a win.

I don’t want to be a victim of the moment, but there aren’t enough words to describe how much I love Nick Chubb. Two years ago tonight, Georgia opened their season with a big win over Clemson in Sanford Stadium on a night where Nick Chubb was the third running back for Georgia. He trucked a couple of defenders that night, but the story was Todd Gurley and Sony Michel. Tonight, the story is a young man who has done nothing but represent himself, his family, and his university with the utmost class in his three years in Athens.

32 carries. 222 yards. 2 touchdowns.

I am tearing up thinking about how much I admire that young man. His humility is so uncommon with the modern athlete, his work ethic is commendable, and his talent is unbelievable. Enjoy the pleasure of watching Nick Chubb for the rest of this season, and I hope he gets drafted as high as possible next April, because no one deserves it more than Nick Chubb.

Ok, now for the rest of the game.

I thought Georgia looked like the superior team in the first half. Defensively we were flying to the ball and making plays. Offensively, we were running with authority.

The second half kickoff was a bit of a letdown, but the real concern came on Georgia’s next offensive possession. Georgia was so unbalanced offensively, they made an average defense look great against a great running back. No one can run when the opposing defense knows you have no interest in passing.

After Georgia fell behind 10 points, it was telling that the coaches chose to go with Eason. Kirby deserves a ton of credit for making that decision, because I wouldn’t have done it. Down 10, biggest drive of the game, and you give the ball to a freshman. If he throws a pick on that drive, Georgia loses.

That drive needs to be remembered by Georgia fans, not only because our coach made a brave choice, but because Jacob Eason showed you why he isn’t the starter on that drive. The TV coverage did a great job of showing a missed check-down early in the drive, but the bigger issue was the decision to twice throw deep on third down into double coverage. Both times, UNC bailed Eason out by committing pass interference, but both of those throws were terrible decisions. Tonight it worked out, who knows if it will work out next time.

After the penalties, Georgia scored the touchdown, then got the safety on UNC’s next possession. Then we got to see why Jacob Eason will be the starting quarterback for Georgia very soon. Eason was poised and effective leading Georgia down the field for an eventual field goal to take the lead for good. The long pass down the sideline to McKenzie was the best pass from a Georgia player since Todd Gurley threw a touchdown against Vanderbilt in October of 2014, and I’m not kidding. As good as that throw was, the most encouraging thing I saw out of Eason tonight was on a throw into the flat to Brendon Douglas for about a 9 yard gain. The touch that Eason put on that pass was better than the touch Matt Stafford had in his sophomore season at Georgia, let alone his first game as a freshman. Eason can throw it a mile, but to truly be effective, he has to know when to take a little off, and it seems like he understands that, and has the ability to do it.

Eason will need to continue to grow and develop over the next couple of weeks, but I hope he can win the job by the time Georgia goes to Oxford at the end of the month. The two quarterback thing is ok, but at the end of the day, there needs to be a guy, and that guy needs to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the guy.

There were some big concerns tonight. Georgia got no pass rush for almost all of the game. Maybe it was a scheme thing against the spread offense, but it was concerning for me that the UNC quarterback could have sat down and had a sandwich in the backfield and still had time to complete a pass.

The penalties have to stop. The first game of the season is often a bit sloppy, but we can’t commit the stupid penalties all year and expect to win. Honestly, the penalties would have cost us more tonight, but UNC managed to commit more stupid penalties than Georgia.

The kicking game is a total dumpster fire. I officially take back everything I ever said about Marshall Morgan. He looks like Kevin Butler compared to the jokers we have kicking this year. Even the kicks we made looked like balloons deflating as they flew through the air. And why in the world can’t we find a guy who can kick the ball through the end zone on the kickoff? We didn’t return any kickoffs tonight, but they ran one back for a touchdown. Kirby said he was nervous about special teams, and I can’t believe he has slept for the past month of practice if that is how they have looked.

I love Isaiah McKenzie, but if he doesn’t learn how to put his hand in the air for a fair catch, I wouldn’t let him return punts anymore. He is either going to turn the ball over, or get killed.

It was a terrible decision by Kirby to burn a timeout early in the second half trying to draw UNC offside on a play where you had to run Lambert into the game just to try a hard count, because Eason hasn’t worked on a hard count in practice. It just made no sense.

It was great to get a win, but we have a long way to go. No one is more aware of that than Coach Smart. But when you look around the country tonight, not too many teams had a better first game than Georgia. I don’t care where we are ranked, that will take care of itself as the season progresses, but Georgia looked far better than any other team in the SEC East.

Tonight was the first win for Georgia in the Dome since New Year’s Eve 2006 when Georgia beat Virginia Tech in the CFA Bowl. We had lost three straight in the Dome. Hopefully we started a new streak tonight.

Enjoy the rest of the night and the rest of the weekend. The world is better when Georgia wins, so let’s enjoy a long weekend and what should be a fun, stress-free homecoming for Kirby next Saturday between the hedges.

Glory, Glory

North Carolina Preview

It has been a long, long offseason. We have seen a great coach leave town. We have seen a beloved Dawg return home to unite the Bulldog Nation. We have seen over 100K turn out for 93K Day. We have seen a top 10 recruiting class brought in by a new coaching staff, something that has not been done in the modern SEC. We have seen the return of our star running back, and the injury to our other star running back. We have had players dismissed from the team. We have had transfers late into fall practice. We have heard about quarterback battles until we are ready to jump off the 600 level of Sanford Stadium. We have speculated, prognosticated, and analyzed every single aspect of the coming season, and I am happy to say that we are finally ready to stop all the noise and just play some football!

Here, finally, is your preview of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: Georgia v. North Carolina

These early season matchups between two good teams are such a coin flip. Anyone who tells you with any degree of certainty what will happen on Saturday is either a fool or a troll.

Georgia has a completely new coaching staff. North Carolina lost a ton off of their offense from last season. North Carolina brings back a lot on defense, but their defense was pretty bad in 2015, so that might not be a good thing. Georgia has a senior quarterback that no one actually wants to watch play quarterback tonight. North Carolina has a great running back that didn’t show up in the big games last year. Georgia has a running back coming off a knee injury, and another running back who may or may not actually play on Saturday.

So, as I begin this preview let me start by simply saying, I’m just guessing here people.

With that said, here is what I think is going to happen on Saturday.

Georgia is going to run the ball all over North Carolina. While there has been a lot of talk surrounding the quarterback position, if Nick Chubb is healthy and ready to be Nick Chubb tonight against a soft North Carolina defense, it won’t matter who is at quarterback. I could take a snap and hand the ball off.

First bold prediction of the year: Georgia will run for more than 300 yards on Saturday, with Chubb going north of 150. I think he could break 200, but if Georgia gets a lead, they may rest him late in the game. I think Sony will get about 10 carries, but the breakout star of the game will be freshman running back Elijah Holyfield who will go for more than 100 yards.

North Carolina allowed nearly 1300 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns in their last three games in 2015. They averaged allowing 247 yards rushing for the season and opposing running backs averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

The common thing you will hear from talking heads is that North Carolina is going to stack the box and make either Grayson Lambert or Jacob Eason beat them, but they can’t stop the run. You don’t think they stacked the box in those last three games last season? You can put as many bad players as you want near the line of scrimmage and it won’t change anything.

Unless North Carolina has improved exponentially, they won’t be able to stop Georgia’s running game, which means Georgia will be able to use either quarterback off of play action, giving them plenty of time to make decisions and one on one coverage to throw into.

I was obviously surprised to hear that Georgia was going to start Lambert. I think we should all trust in Kirby until he gives us a reason not to, but these are the types of decisions that coordinators don’t have to make, but ultimately define head coaches. If Lambert plays terribly, then you go to Eason who brings the team back but just short of victory, Kirby looks bad. If Lambert plays well, then you insert Eason so he can get some reps, Eason throws a pick, then Lambert comes back and plays poorly, and Georgia loses, Kirby looks bad. Kirby could also look like a genius if Georgia wins, Lambert is solid, you get Eason some reps, and we are talking about a cupcake home game against Nicholls State next Saturday.

My biggest concern with starting Lambert is that when Eason gets in the game, he is going to force the issue trying to “Wow” the coaching staff and prove that he should be the starter. This will most likely lead to him making some bad decisions, which will lead to more Grayson Lambert, and I was done with Grayson Lambert last year.

I have an expression I use sometimes at work, “missing in the right direction.” Jacob Eason struggling on the job and getting better throughout the season is building towards something. Any mistake Lambert makes is just a waste, because everyone knows Eason is going to be the starter sooner rather than later, so what are we waiting for? Does Georgia have to have a season  like we did in 2006 when the team lost to Tennessee and Vanderbilt in back to back weeks, before Matt Stafford became the starter? Let’s hope not.

On the other side of the ball, North Carolina should be effective to a certain extent running the ball against Georgia. I think Georgia’s defense is going to be a great strength for this team, but I think it’s going to take some time for everyone to gel. Carolina will feature running back Elijah Hood who ran for over 100 yards 6 times in 2015. To hear local radio guys in Athens tell it, new Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky could be the second coming of Tim Tebow, but in reality, he is going to take some time to come into his own.

Kirby has emphasized creating turnovers defensively and I think Dominick Sanders will continue his ball-hawking ways with an interception at some point in the game, and when he gets a pick he is always looking to score.

The biggest question mark for the Dawgs is going to be the special teams. Kirby is on record as saying that special teams scare the heck out of him right now, because he doesn’t have any proven guys kicking or punting. Don’t be surprised to see Georgia miss a field goal or two, because this is going to be an issue all season long.

At the end of the day, Georgia is more talented than North Carolina. I would expect a close game in the first half, with Georgia’s defense making some good adjustments in the second half and the running game of the Dawgs’ wearing down the Carolina defense in the fourth quarter. It might not be the prettiest game Georgia plays this year, but it will be a win, and that is all that matters.

Georgia 27    North Carolina 16

Enjoy the greatest opening weekend of college football in history, and just remember, it will be over before you know it, so enjoy it while you can.

Glory, Glory

National Preview

While I love writing this blog, I don’t particularly love trying to predict everything that will happen in a season. More often than not I feel I have a pretty good idea about teams in the SEC and to a certain extent, the ACC, but I depend too much on the talking heads on TV for what is going on in the Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12.

Despite that, here are my sure to be wrong national predictions, including my picks for the college football playoff and the New Year’s Six games. Hope you enjoy.

ACC:

Everyone is talking about how Florida State and Clemson are the teams to beat in the ACC, and I am very confused as to how FSU is even in the conversation. Sure FSU has a great running back and a solid defense, but they are going to start a red-shirt freshman at quarterback. I’ve heard multiple pundits point this fact out and then go on to say that Jamies Winston was a red-shirt freshman the year FSU won the national title. What does that have to do with anything?

For me, the ACC is all about Clemson. Sure they have some pieces to replace on defense, but their offense is going to be so good that they will simply outscore most of the opponents they face. Their schedule is very manageable, although I do see them struggling in the first game of the season on the road at Auburn. I think they will win, but it’s going to be a 7 or 10 point game. Watson is a great quarterback and he will be in the Heisman discussion all season, but don’t sleep on the Tigers ability to run the football with a stable of very good running backs.

I think Clemson wins the Atlantic and goes on to beat Miami in the ACC title game.

Big 10:

It is a three team race in the Big 10. Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State are head and shoulders better than the rest of the conference and they all play in the same division. So whoever wins the Big 10 East will most likely win the Big 10. I think each team will take at least one loss, but in the end, I think Ohio State beats Michigan at the end of the season to win the East and goes on to beat Wisconsin in the Big 10 title game.

Big 12:

There is no conference in America with more question marks than the Big 12. Oklahoma has been terrible under Bob Stoops when they come into a season with big expectations. The Sooners are the prohibitive favorites, but they have non-conference games against Houston to open the season and Ohio State in Week 3. TCU has to replace a lot of key players on offense, which means they will be reverting back to their roots by depending almost solely on their defense to win games. Baylor turned into a dumpster fire this offseason and lost their head coach in Art Briles. Although they still have some talent, I don’t see how they could compete with everything they have had going on.

That just leaves Texas. The team that the entire conference was built around has turned into an after-thought since Mack Brown left a few years ago. Charlie Strong is on the hottest seat in America, and the Longhorns will be tested right off the bat with a home game against Notre Dame this Sunday. If Texas can manage to win that game, they could get some momentum heading into the meat of their schedule, but if they lose to the Irish, the season could get out of hand very quickly. My guess is the latter will happen and Strong will be gone by season’s end.

I have no clue what to expect from the Big 12, so I’ll take TCU just because I don’t trust Big Game Bob.

Pac 12:

Again, I would not pretend to be a Pac 12 expert, but I love Stanford. All of the talking heads talk about parity in the Pac 12, but to me that translates to a lot of good teams but no great team. I don’t think Stanford is a great team, but they have a great player. I think the Trees will drop two games this season, but the Pac 12 is going to beat up each other so I think that will be enough for Stanford to win the North and then beat either USC or UCLA in the Pac 12 title game.

SEC:

Last season, Les Miles was on the verge of being fired. This year, I think the Tigers are going to win the SEC. They host Alabama on November 5^th in a game that will determine the division. I think LSU may drop a game somewhere along the way, but as long as they beat the Tide in Death Valley, they will hold the tie breaker and play in Atlanta. I assume Alabama will be good, but in reality, they have to take a step back. If any other team in America was replacing their quarterback, their running back, and their defensive coordinator, they would never be chosen to be number one in the preseason, but Alabama has earned that respect from everyone across the nation. I think this season is going to be like 2010 when Bama was good, but not great.

The East is tricky. For some reason everyone is expecting Tennessee to not only win the division, but compete for the college football playoff. Sure they have a lot of talent, and the media loves Josh Dobbs because he is an amazing kid, but he’s not a great quarterback. By definition you can’t be a great quarterback and not be able to throw the ball well, and for all his athleticism, he doesn’t throw the ball well. On top of that, he often makes questionable decisions when he does throw from the pocket. Tennessee has to play Alabama, like they do each year, they go on the road to A&M and they have to travel to Athens. They could win the East, but this is the same team that gave up leads in the fourth quarter to Florida and Oklahoma last season. I think Georgia sneaks in and wins the East, which says more about the East than it does about Georgia. Georgia has an incredibly easy back half of the schedule, and if they can beat Tennessee in Athens, they should play in Atlanta.

College Football Playoff:

(1)    Clemson v. (4) Stanford

(2)    Ohio State v. (3) LSU

New Year’s Six Bowl Games:

Peach: National Semifinal

Fiesta: National Semifinal

Cotton: Alabama v. Oklahoma

Rose: Michigan v. USC

Sugar: Georgia v. TCU

Orange: FSU v. Houston

Well now you know what won’t happen! The season kicks off tonight and even though there isn’t a marquee game, I think its worth watching Tennessee v. App State and Vandy v. South Carolina to get a look at three of Georgia’s opponents this season. Not to mention, we have been waiting a long time for the start of the season, we might as well enjoy it, because it will be over before we know it.