Vanderbilt Preview

As Vanderbilt gets ready to come to Athens this weekend, Georgia enters the meat of their schedule.

The offense looked amazing last week, but then again, it was just Florida Atlantic.

Vanderbilt will offer more resistance than the Owls, and I don't think anyone has forgotten the fireworks after last year's Georgia/Vanderbilt game.  

The on-field altercation between Georgia Defensive Coordinator, Todd Grantham, and Vanderbilt Head Coach, James Franklin was the story, which is probably good for Georgia because that meant no one was talking about the game itself. 

Georgia had quite possibly the worst special teams game in the program's history.  Vandy returned a punt for a touchdown, blocked a Georgia punt, and Georgia missed field goals.  It is ironic, that Drew Butler, Georgia's punter last season, made the game winning play when he tackled the Vandy player that blocked the punt.

Last year is in the past, and I'm sure that nothing will happen between Franklin and Grantham this time around.

On the field, this game will be a chance for Georgia to show where it stands in the SEC.  South Carolina struggled with Vanderbilt in the opening game of the season, so a big Georgia win would help show that the Dawgs are the class of the SEC East.

Offensively, Georgia looks to be coming into their own.  My only worry is Georgia's ability to manage all of the talent, especially in the backfield.  I don't want to see a repeat of the terrible handling of the Thomas Brown, Kregg Lumpkin, Danny Ware fiasco in 2006.  Georgia would have been better if one of those guys transferred.  

Just when one guy started getting a rhythm going, here comes one of the other backs because the coaching staff wanted to keep everyone's carries equal.  To me it is very simple, Todd Gurley is the starter, he should get between 20 and 25 touches per game,   Keith Marshall is the backup and he should get about 10-15 touches per game, and Boo Malcome is the guy you give about 5-7 touches per game.  That is right, do the math.  I think Georgia should be running the ball between 35-50 times per game.  The running game is the strength of the offense, and the passing game is going to be so much better when you don't throw it 40 times per game.  

The key to Saturday's game is the fact that for the fourth consecutive week, Georgia is the more talented team.  They are also playing at home.

Vandy has some talent, and I fully expect them to play a tough game, but in the end, Georgia should win this game by about 2 touchdowns.  

This game will tell me a lot about what type of team we can expect to see from Georgia for the remainder of the season.  The top teams in this league, Alabama and LSU, dominate games like this.  See what Alabama did to Arkansas last week?  That was a road game for Alabama!  Watch and see what LSU does to Auburn this week on the Plains.  You can't play close games all season long and not lose one along the way.  Georgia is going to play some tough games over the next 6 weeks against some really good teams.  They can't afford to play around with Vanderbilt.  If this is going to be the kind of team that can reach that ultimate goal, then they need to come out and put Vanderbilt in their place on Saturday night.

Florida Atlantic Preview.....

After a big win there is nothing like coming home and paying someone 1 million dollars to let you kick the crap out of them.

Georgia is doing just that this week as they host Florida Atlantic.  The Owls are 42 point underdogs, so this is the last thing about Florida Atlantic that I will say: take the points, no way Georgia will cover.

Two weeks ago, I thought Georgia fans were crazy for being upset about the Dawgs performance against Buffalo.  I now think Georgia fans are equally as crazy for believing that the win over Missouri was a blow out that put the Tigers in their proper place in the SEC pecking order.

All I saw on social media on Sunday morning was comments about welcoming Missouri to the SEC.  I wonder if these people actually watched the game, or if they just woke up on Sunday morning, saw the score, and thought it was a good time to talk some trash.

I was extremely impressed with Missouri.  Their offense was dynamic, but erratic in the first half.  They lost their best offensive linemen and never really got going again after that, but what team (other than Alabama) could lose a starter on the offensive line and not miss a beat?

James Franklin played well, but you could tell that he isn't the most accurate passer.  I thought they should have let him get on the edge more instead of standing in the pocket and only running once the play broke down.

Defensively, Missouri was aggressive and disruptive.  The defense kept Murray and the Georgia offense on their toes for the majority of the game and there were times when it didn't look like Georgia could do anything on offense.  The motion that Missouri was using just before the snap played havoc on the offensive line, especially freshman John Theus.  Theus was just called for another false start.

For those of us that watched the game, we know that Georgia was winning by 7 points with 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter and Missouri had the ball.  No matter how the game finished, that was no blow out.

What happened in the last 7 minutes of the game will be remembered by Georgia fans for a very long time.  Jarvis Jones is an NFL star that just happens to be playing for Georgia this season.  It wasn't just the big plays he made that was so impressive, it was the fact that Jones was seemingly around the ball on every single play of the game.  The big plays at the end of the game could have changed the way this season plays out for Georgia.

Jarvis will make more big plays as this season goes along, but more importantly, once Georgia has all of its defensive weapons back, Jones will free up Georgia other stars to make big plays of their own.  Jones will be one of the top 10 picks in next April's NFL Draft, and he will be remembered in Athens for being an amazing player, even if it will only be for 2 years.

After Florida Atlantic, Georgia will enter what I believe will be the piviotal point in their season.  A home game against Vanderbilt, which will be played under the lights (7:45pm kickoff on ESPN 2), will be followed by a home game against Tennessee.  If Tennessee beats Florida this weekend, which I believe they will, this game could be an SEC East eliminator.  Georgia should have all of their players back from suspension for the first time against Tennessee, but will they play at their best against a great quarterback in Tyler Bray and his great receiver Justin Hunter?

If Georgia wins both of those home games, it will set up one of the two biggest regular season games in the SEC this season.  Georgia travels to Columbia again, but this time it will be against the South Carolina Gamecocks.  For the first time since South Carolina entered the SEC in 1992, these two teams will play each other in October.  This game is typically close and frustrating, but perhaps most of that comes from it being played so early in the season.  It is a big step to think Georgia could be South Carolina on the road, but the Dawgs have never lost three straight to South Carolina.

Georgia's season basically comes down to 4 quarters of football in Columbia, South Carolina.  A win would mean that Georgia would be on track for their best season since 2002, and could set up a date with Alabama for a trip to the National Title game.  I know it is early, but it is never too early to understand what is on the line.  Georgia has to show up every week, play its best game every week, and keep their eyes on the ultimate prize if they want to cash in on what I believe is Georgia's best team since 1982.

Georgia/Missouri Preview

After a less than stellar start to the 2012 season, Georgia faces a huge test on Saturday night as they travel to Columbia, Missouri to welcome the Missouri Tigers to the SEC.

Missouri features a spread offense that is designed to score points in a hurry.  Their quarterback, James Franklin, has a good arm and also has the ability to get out of the pocket and cause havoc with his legs.  Missouri wants to show that they are good enough to play with the best in the SEC, and they feel like a win over Georgia will immediately legitimize them in the best conference in America.

Georgia will have to overcome another week of suspensions.  Rambo, Ogletree, and Commings will all miss their second straight game due to suspensions for issues that occurred in the off season.  However, Georgia should get Malcolm Mitchell back in the secondary after he missed last week's game with a sprained ankle.

Todd Gurley announced his presence with authority last week with an amazing performance against Buffalo.  I understand who the opponent was, and it wasn't the stats that Gurley put up that impressed me the most.  What impressed me the most is the way Todd Gurley ran the football.  With his size, speed, and aggressive running, he looked like Trent Richardson in a Georgia uniform.

One of the biggest criticisms I have of Mark Richt is that it seems he is always the last person to know when Georgia has a special player.  It took him to the middle of the 2006 season to start Matthew Stafford who would later be the number 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

The biggest error in Richt's judgement came with another running back in 2007.  Georgia suffered a home loss in the second game of the 2007 season because they failed to score a single touchdown against South Carolina.  Knowshon Moreno played in that game, and he put up some good numbers.  However, in two critical situations when Georgia was in the red-zone, Moreno was on the sideline.  Richt had Thomas Brown, a more veteran player, in the game instead.  Georgia kicked field goals on both drives with a star watching from the sideline.  There is no way to know if Georgia would have scored a touchdown if Moreno was on the field.  However, I can tell you that if Georgia scored even one touchdown in that game, they would have beaten South Carolina and eventually played LSU in the SEC Championship game in 2007.  With the way the Dawgs were playing at the end of the season, Georgia would have most likely beaten LSU, and gone on to play for the National Title against Ohio State.  I know it is a lot of if's, but the line between a good season, and a magical season is very thin.

I say all of that to say only this: Todd Gurley should be on the field on Saturday night.  I know he is a freshman and he might miss a block or even fumble at a critical time, but he is a fantastic talent and it has only taken 1 game to see that.  Georgia fans have seen a season of Ken Malcome, and he is not in the same league.  Gurley should get close to 20 touches in this game, because you don't want to look back at the end of the season and ask why he was watching from the sideline.

Despite my feelings about Gurley, to me, this game comes down to one player: Aaron Murray.  Murray has been phenomenal in his first two seasons, and he will be the all time touchdown leader for Georgia before the middle of October, but he has also come up small in big moments.  Last season, he made huge mistakes against South Carolina, LSU, and Michigan State.  All three losses.  As a junior, it will be critical for Murray to finally show the poise that comes with experience and confidence.  In 2010 against Florida, Murray had a horrible first half and it was attributed to him being too excited about the game.  Of course Georgia lost that game in overtime, despite a fantastic second half by Murray.  Last week, Murray missed receivers running wide open for touchdowns on a couple of occasions, and this was again attributed to him being too excited about the game.  Murray needs to take a page out of David Greene's playbook.

In 2001 Greene was just a freshman, but he led Georgia to the "Hob-nail Boot" win in Knoxville.  In 2002, Greene threw the game winning touchdown pass to Michael Johnson at the end of the Auburn game to clinch a trip to the SEC title game for the first time in school history.  In 2003, Greene played spectacularly on the road at LSU in a losing effort.  I don't care what anyone says, but the atmosphere this Saturday night in Missouri won't be as crazy as Knoxville, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, or Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Murray needs to take his team in there, play within himself, and deliver a win against a team that Georgia is better than.

Murray hasn't been able to secure a signature win in his time as Georgia's quarterback.  In 2010, he lost on the road at South Carolina, Mississippi State, Colorado (yes Colorado), and Auburn.  Last season, Murray and the Bulldogs lost to Boise State, LSU, and Michigan State in neutral site games.  Aaron Murray's best victory away from Sanford Stadium would be a tie between beating Tennessee and Georgia Tech on the road in 2011.  Not impressive.

For Georgia to be an elite team, Aaron Murray needs to be an elite quarterback.  Beating Missouri on Saturday night wouldn't make Murray elite, but it begins to build a resume' of winning to go along with all of those touchdown passes.

I have stated that I believe this team should be either 11-1 or 12-0 and playing in the Georgia Dome at the end of the season for a chance to play for the National Title.  This is not an acceptable loss on Georgia's schedule.  I know that Missouri has a lot to play for, and I know they want to make an impression, but Georgia is more talented, even with 3 defensive stars out of the game.  Georgia's defense will not be at full strength and they will give up some points to a talented Missouri offense, but at the end of the day there is no way that Missouri's defense can stop Murray and all of the weapons that Georgia has.  (By the way, look for Jay Rome to have a big game).

Georgia 45   Missouri 31