Georgia-Florida week is here!

I will make this post pretty quick and to the point. UGA will not win this game Saturday, unless....

1. UGA can come together as a cohesive unit and play as such for 60 full minutes.
2. UGA rushes for more than 150 yards.
3. UGA wins the turnover battle.
4. UGA scores with every opportunity to do so.
5. UGA's defense plays disciplined, sound football on every snap.
6. UGA remembers the humiliation they felt as Urban Meyer called 2 timeouts with a minute or less left on the clock of a "blowout" game simply to teach them a lesson about celebrating a touchdown. (This will go down as one of the most classless things a D-1 coach has ever done, in my opinion. Coach Meyer's ego must be the size of a cruise ship.) Every "child" who throws a temper tantrum needs to be dealt with accordingly. Coach Meyer acted childish and needs to be dealt with accordingly.
7. UGA gets the ball in the hands of its playmakers and allows them the opportunity to make plays.
8. UGA plays "all in". In other words, don't play "scared", play to win the game. If they lose this game, the season is not lost. If they win this game, they can turn it into a completely different season.
9. Coach Bobo and Martinez coach up to their potential as they have shown in the past. Willie, bring back the defense we saw against Hawaii.
10. UGA holds their heads high, proud to wear the red and black, regardless of the outcome.

Now, will they need to do all 10 of these? No. Will they need to, at least do half of them? Probably. Will the outcome of this game affect my mood? Very likely. Will I ever stop cheering for the UGA Bulldogs? No chance!!

Guys, go out, give it your all and make yourselves, the university and your families proud of you. True fans are here today and we will be here Sunday after the game. There is a very real opportunity to dethrone the #1 Florida Gators on Saturday. At this point, the struggles UGA has had against them is all in the fans' minds. You play your best games when you are the under"dawgs" and no one expects you to excel. Recently the rivalry has drawn closer and is almost always competitive. Both teams are very talented and have good coaches. Go play the game, have fun and leave it all on the field. That's all anyone can ask.

All of this to say - GATA!

Go DAWGS!

A Vandy win is music to any UGA fan's ears

Well they did it! UGA went out and played a relatively good game against another D-1, SEC opponent. I know it was "only" Vanderbilt, but how many times in recent memory have we been able to say "only" Vanderbilt? Not many. The truth is, Vandy always plays the Dawgs tough, regardless of the talent differential. Let's face it - Vanderbilt is one of those "sneaky" teams that rise up to bite people when they are least expected to do so, and it could have been the Dawgs' time on Saturday, but thankfully it wasn't. The team needed that and so did the fans.

Even though the game was on TV up here (on NBC), I kept to my new "perspective" and watched bits-and-pieces of the game while helping to clean the house. My job is relegated to the bathrooms...Go figure. I can make 2-3 bathrooms last for the entirety of the house cleaning exercise like nobody's business. It's a gift, really. Anyway, I had the game on the TVs throughout the house so I could hear it while scrubbing and maybe take a glance if I heard any amazing plays worthy of instant replay. There are only a few things worth stopping whatever you're doing to watch, (unless your cleaning the toilet, and then EVERYTHING is worth stopping for)and one of those things involves A.J. Green catching (and running with) the football. The guy is just better than anyone else on the field. He, at his young age is simply the best player on the field on any given Saturday. Poetry in motion.

A couple of things I do get tired of seeing, however are Michael Moore (a.k.a. Ocho Dos) missing a needed catch and Bryan Evans trailing a long pass play. No offense guys, but you two are senior leaders. Can you try to set a good example for the younger players? Are you just trying to illustrate how NOT to do things? I'm sure these are quality young men, but if UGA expects to win games, it is becoming very apparent that they will need to do so with little to no help from the aforementioned duo. Another thing I get tired of seeing is the abysmal running game from this team. A supposed strength in the preseason has become excellent at protecting the QB while non-existent in run blocking through most games. It was nice to see some progress late in the game, when they needed to use clock, so maybe there's more improvement to come. They'll need it down the stretch.

With a week off before the WLOCP, the team can certainly use the rest. Coach Richt is taking his mandatory furlough and there's little doubt that going into a bye week, fresh off of a win is a good thing for everyone. I like the fact that Mike Bobo was on the sideline. There seems to be some merit to having him down there in the action with the young team. The defense played well, even if it was against a pretty mediocre offense. This off week comes at a good time and hopefully the team will be energized to put forth a good effort against the Gators. They don't appear to be as invincible as many might think, and perhaps the Dawgs finally found themselves in a sluggish, albeit convincing and relaxing victory against "only" Vanderbilt.

A little perspective from a friend and fellow Dawg fan

I recently got an e-mail from a friend of mine that I met up here in North Carolina. He is a UGA alum and actually was the person who turned me onto the local UGA Bulldog Alumni chapter and urged me to join them for game viewing on Saturdays.

As I listened to the Tennessee game on XM last weekend, I had an epiphany regarding the Bulldogs football team and my seeming ability to equate their success with my happiness. I decided then to step back across "the line" I had apparently crossed, gain some perspective and realize what is truly important. The e-mail my friend sent me today, with no prompting or knowledge of my thoughts from this weekend let me know that I was definitely on the right track.

"Do you ever sit back and wonder where the line is between entitlement and fandom? At what point do we, fans, have the right to ask our coaches hard questions that hold them accountable---and at what point do we fans need to realize that we are not entitled to anything when it comes to our coaches answering our questions and we aren’t owed a damn thing.

I’ve come to this crossroads this year with the Dawgs. I am as die hard of a Dawg as there is. I am passionate, as informed as I can be for living out of state, and root for the Dawgs through thick and thin. Almost like a marriage---in good times and bad, for better and for worse. I live by the saying of “I’m bulldog born and bulldog bred. And when I die, by God, I’ll be bulldog dead.” So, on one hand, when the Dawgs are doing things on the field that even I, a complete nobody with no college football playing and/or coaching experience, can see—I become frustrated and confused. This leads me into asking questions—questions that I’d like answered by the man, the buck stops here man, the coach, the head coach.

But then I remember that I am just a fan. And this is just a game. And when I think about being passionate, am I more passionate about the Dawgs and getting the answers that I feel I deserve than I am about my family, my community, or my country? In the grand scheme of things, if I die and the Dawgs have not won another National Championship, will my life be unfulfilled?

I’m sure this line between entitlement and fandom is different for each of us. But I wonder how many of us have overstepped our bounds this year and crossed over from fandom to entitlement---and done so wrongly. Are we really entitled to get answers? If so, where is that line? Are we putting too much emphasis on things that are fleeting? If so, how do we get back to the land of sanity—where we care more about our family, community, and country than we do about offensive and defensive schemes?

I’m not sure about where to draw my line…but I’m sure I’ve crossed it this year and am pulling myself back as I type."

Folks, from my thoughts to his hands, this pretty much sums it up for me...thanks, Jason!

My hope is that UGA will right the ship this weekend against a Vanderbilt team that seems to have reverted back to the Vandy of old. The players need a good win to lessen the sour taste the last two weeks have provided. The coaches could probably use the break from the fans and media demanding answers for questions which really have no answers, at least none that would satisfy either side of the argument. If I was a betting man, I would bet UGA beats Vandy this weekend by a couple of touchdowns. I'll be happy if they do, but I'll still love 'em if they don't.

I will continue to post on this blog, because I do love the Bulldogs, but if my posts lack a little of the "pinpoint accuracy" of someone who actually watched the game, it's because I was probably outside playing catch with my sons or driving my wife around the neighborhood on the golf cart.

Mr. Kiffin...can I have your autograph?

I stated early in the season that I figured Lane Kiffin’s team was going to sneak up and beat someone that they were not supposed to beat. I feared that “signature” win would be against my beloved Bulldogs. Well, it happened. Not only did the tick-infested hounds from Obknoxiousville win the game, they dominated the game. There is no reason that Jonathan Crompton, as inept as he has looked prior to this game, should have looked like an All-American on Saturday. I was out and about with the family during the game since, to my knowledge, it was not being played on television up here and was listening to the Volunteer feed on XM. The commentators were in disbelief at how well he was playing. One of my Vol friends sent me an excerpt from a previously unpublished and apparently unabridged dictionary giving the definition of the word “InCrompetence” a few days prior to the game. He was certain that the Dawgs were going to go into Neyland Stadium and come away with a victory. I was cautiously optimistic at the time. That may be the final time I will be optimistic about any game this year.

This coaching staff is now at a crossroad. We have heard Coach Richt many times in the past state that he’s not sure how good his teams are, and that he can really tell by how well they handle adversity. Well coach, it’s your turn. How well will you handle the adversity of underachieving with talent that 98% of the schools in the nation would die to have? The current situation has not snuck up on anyone. If people (me) chose to stick their (my) head in the sand for the past couple of seasons in denial that this crossroad was coming, shame on them (me)!!

The crossroad is here and we, as a program stand in the middle with some tough decisions to make. Does the head coach continue on this same path of mediocre expectations for our coordinators, thus ensuring mediocre performance from a far-from-mediocre talent pool? Or does he make some inevitable tough decisions and make a change or two at the end of the year? I don’t expect any changes to happen during the season, so for anyone expecting that, you will likely be disappointed. Unless the coordinators come forth and offer themselves as a supreme sacrifice, we will have to endure the remainder of this season and hope for the best. Only time will tell.

I love my Dawgs! I love the players and up until Saturday, when they appeared to simply give up, I loved their effort. I will always support them. That’s just the way I am wired, I guess. It’s time for the team to come together and reach an agreement that they are going to play the rest of the season as if their lives depended on it. The coaches need to coach as if their livelihoods depend on it (and hopefully, for a couple of them it will) and we fans need to get behind them and support them like our happiness depends on it. Sadly, for many fans it does.

Final thought....is the turmoil down in Tallahassee clouding the judgment of our head coach? Would he rather be coaching somewhere other than Athens, Georgia?

Only time will tell...

Excessive celebration... No. Excessive inconsistencies...YES!

The call on A.J. Green was terrible! No argument, there. It did not cost us the game, but it did change the game to the point where it made it easier for LSU to come back because it fueled their hope while at the same time, dampening ours. To go from sheer elation to total amazement and confusion was just too much to ask our young men to overcome. The LSU team had the opposite happen to them. They went from bitter disappointment when A.J. made the TD catch to jubilation knowing that we would have to kickoff to them from our 15 yard line, which would, based on our previous kicks put them, at worst on their own 40 or better. It would have made more sense to kick it out of bounds at that point, but hindsight is what it is.

The fact remains that if Joe Cox had been “on his game” in the 1st half, we might have been able to get up on them early, as our defense was playing very well. Joe was missing his receivers by a step or two the entire 1st half. He was just off on his timing. So much for us putting together a “complete game”. The O-line was giving him time to throw, but he just could not connect. Also, as good as our O-line was at pass blocking, they were about as bad at run blocking. It’s hard to have a good day passing when you can’t run, and vise-versa. I have been as staunch a supporter of Richard Samuel as anyone, but I think it’s time we put him on the defensive side of the ball and let him be what he is...a linebacker. I have never seen a more rigid running back in my life. He has no ability to shed tacklers or out maneuver anyone. He is constantly tripped up at the line of scrimmage trying to simply navigate the terrain there. There was one play, in particular, I believe it was the same play he ran for 80 yards against Arkansas, where the hole was there, but he tripped on someone’s leg or something because he just fell face first like someone threw a broom stick into the spokes of his bicycle. It’s no wonder we didn’t see him in the 2nd half. By the way, did anyone else notice how Washaun Ealey runs like Knowshon? Good vision, good feet and that burst through the crease? Caleb nor Richard has shown that this year. That was refreshing to see, and I believe it’s what sparked our comeback and near-win.

If we can ever put the pieces of this puzzle together, we can be scary good. When the offense clicks, the defense sucks, and when the offense sucks, the defense clicks. Our special teams, aside from Drew Butler and Blair Walsh (for the most part) are horrendous. Maybe a trip to Knoxville will help cure our ills. It is well-publicized that we have a better road record than home record. Tennessee has already lost 2 games in Knoxville and not looked very good doing it. Their offense is not playing well despite being a pretty good running team, but their defense is. Old man Monte Kiffin has proven, once again that you might not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but an old dog can teach some new ones a few. I figured before the season started that Tennessee was going to knock off a team they weren’t supposed to. I just hope that team is not my beloved Dawgs.

If we sulk around in practice all week, blaming the officials for the LSU loss and feeling sorry for ourselves, we will lose. I would prefer to think that we come out pissed off that we allowed LSU to win “our game”. It’s a sure bet that “Diddy” Kiffin will have the defense dialed-up to stop A.J. Green, so let’s get some other folks involved this week, while making sure A.J. gets “his”. I’m just afraid that we will attempt to go to A.J. one too many times and that the surface-to-surface missile, otherwise known as Eric Berry will try to decapitate him. We can ill-afford to lose A.J. at this stage of the season. Let’s let Orson Charles (sans the celebrations) play a bigger role. I don’t care who it is, or whose redshirt we need to “burn” to win this game, let’s just win it!! This is not your older brother’s Tennessee. They are vulnerable. They are ripe for the plucking. We cannot allow them to make their statement this year using UGA as the piñata.

Deep down, this game scares me to death. However, with all of our success over the past 8 years and the fact that I still believe in our coaching staff and roster full of high quality recruits I have to believe that we will, at some point in the season pull it together and become what we are capable of becoming. What better week than this one?!

UGA by 10.