Catfish and Cornbread

Farewell

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:37:00 +0000

Our final post is the same as our first post. It was fun. Thanks.

The next great Dawg?

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:30:00 +0000

2011 Carver prospect Isaiah Crowell...

Todd Grantham on Defending Blocking Schemes

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:43:00 +0000

This is from the week prior to the Denver-Dallas game in October.

More later this weekend on the impact of the 3-4 scheme that we're likely going to see from a Grantham defense.

Gaines' Buzzer Beater

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:47:00 +0000

The Hawks apparently can't beat Lebron, so I guess this is the next best thing.

Credit: ScoutVision

I wouldn't normally agree with anything that comes out of Reggie Miller's mouth, but I do here.

Yata's postgame interview (UGA mention by David Aldridge):
Credit TNTSports and Utah Jazz:

Mark Fox, Travis Leslie, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:50:00 +0000

Go to Stegeman tonight to watch Coach Fox go for his second straight home win over a ranked team. We play #23 Ole Miss at 8pm.

We have hit a grand slam in the Fox hire. He is coaching circles around almost everyone he has faced. The only two games this year where Fox's team didn't dictate the tempo of the game was UAB and Missouri. He has imposed his will on this team and program. As soon as we have more Thompkins and Leslie level players on campus, Fox will win big...let's hope we give him what he needs to lock him up long term. We are going to be a thorn in the side of a lot of more talented SEC teams this season.

And it's worth going just to see the second coming of Reggie Tinch. Watching the Travis Leslie dunk on Cousins from Kentucky just doesn't get old. My favorite part is the smile that Fox has on his face...

Check out Conner Nolte's blog Passer's Remorse. Here's a video he shot prior to the georgia tech win...

Yata gets the call to The Show

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:08:00 +0000

No words necessary.

Credit: nbadleague on You Tube

By the way - Yata's first game in Utah: 21 minutes, 3 points, 5 assists.

It just hit me.....

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:57:00 +0000

....how disappointing the 2009 Georgia football season was. There were alot of bad moments this year - heartbreaking losses at home to LSU and Kentucky, getting smoked (again) by Florida, watching the UGA defense give up about 800 yards passing in the span of 8 days to South Carolina and Arkansas, etc, etc. But sitting at work and listening to a pre-game show is a pretty terrible feeling. A Macarena blaring over the Sanford Stadium loudspeakers circa 1996 type feeling.

I can only hope the team feels better about what they have to do today. I'm not sure the coaching staff has faced a bigger challenge this year than the task at hand in Shreveport, and it has nothing to do with X's and O's. The motivators on the UGA staff will have their hands full. Maybe talent just wins today, and if it does, UGA fans should feel good about that. But I'm not sure that these seniors, some of whom have seen UGA play in 2 Sugar Bowls, a Chick-Fil-A Bowl and another New Year's Day Bowl during their careers, can be excused for being a little lethargic today.

Happy Holidays from C&C

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:02:00 +0000

This holiday, may there be bass under all your lily pads...

UGA fans getting greedy

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:50:00 +0000

As the news and rumors swirled on Rivals' UGASports.com last night after their interview a potential new Defensive Coordinator hire, the message boards went crazy, mostly full of folks flying off the handle that UGA would dare give its coveted defensive coordinator position to someone other than Brian Van Gorder, Kirby Smart, or whoever the best Defensive Coordinator is alive today.

All of a sudden, the coordinator position has become much like a vacant head coaching position at Georgia, Alabama, Florida or any other big-time program, where every fan feels like they are entitled to the best candidate out there. As if every coordinator in America is somehow dreaming of coming to work for Mark Richt in Athens.

Reality check: I don't think D1 FBS coordinators really go around dreaming of bigger and better coordinator positions. I'd guess most would just as soon stay where they are, barring any major differences in salary potential (which certainly do exist.)

UGA fans would be better served by simply remaining happy that a change is being made. Whoever it ends up being, whether its a "flashy" name or not, just be happy that you're going to see a different scheme, a different attitude, and in all likelihood, a different result starting in 2010. If your biggest concern is whether or not the announcement of a new Defensive Coordinator at UGA puts a scare into your Tennessee and Florida co-workers, or if the news makes the scroll on the bottom of ESPN, you might need to re-think why you are a UGA fan. Just be POSITIVE about it. We are moving in a different direction on defense, and as long as that direction is different than what we've seen over the last 3 years, that's really all that matters.

Greatest sideline interview ever?

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:13:00 +0000

Current A&M Defensive Coordinator and former Georgia and Alabama coach Joe Kines at halftime of the 2006 Independence Bowl. Don't expect us to be successful at running the inside trap on the Aggies.

SEC Championship Game ... Classy Gator edition.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:35:00 +0000

Don't know about y'all, but I'll be pulling hard for Bama. For your entertainment, please enjoy the interview with former Florida Gator Cris Collinsworth. Stay classy.

video: terezowens

Changes Announced

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Richt announces that Martinez, Fabris and Jancek will all be let go. The next few weeks will be interesting....it has been a while since we've been through this process. It will be interesting to see if other shoes will drop, as new hires are announced.

Good luck to all 3 in their future endeavors. Their resumes are top of class thanks to their time spent in Athens, and all 3 will have good jobs elsewhere in very short order.

One Rumor Shut Down.....

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:51:00 +0000

....Tommy Tuberville was on 790 the Zone this morning, and squelched any rumors that he'd be the Defensive Coordinator at Georgia, or anywhere else for that matter. Paraphrasing, Tuberville mentioned that he'd been a DC before, and that it was "too much work" (among other reasons.)

Later in the interview, he indicated that he expects to be a head coach again very soon, perhaps as early as 2010. He mentioned the ACC in particular as a possible destination, which seeing how Virginia is the only ACC school with an opening, that may be where he is leaning. I couldn't see him at Maryland (if that job ends up coming open.)

More importantly, it looks highly doubtful that he'll be the next DC in Athens, assuming that an opening eventually exists for that job.

Back To Normal

noreply@blogger.com (RB Dawg) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:34:00 +0000

Last week, I ripped Coach Richt and his staff for not taking accountability for the things gone wrong. Well, after the GT game, CMR was back to his normal self as he took responsibility and I wanted to pass this quote along...

“I think that as I look back I’ve never had a season where the turnover ration was just so poor,” Richt said. “I think if you just take that one thing and make it just break even, we’d probably win two or three more games without changing one thing. But you can’t do that, and there’s definitely some things we need to correct. But I think everything is correctable. I think it’s a season of self-inflicted wounds, and that’s my responsibility to make sure we do better.”

That is quite a refreshing quote coming after last night's victory. Now it is time to wait and see what Richt plans to do to correct our problems. The program is in good hands with lots of young talent all over the place - I have confidence in Richt to make the necessary adjustments to get us back in contention for championships in the very near future. It's gonna be an interesting off-season.

ACC Championship Shirts on Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

h/t: dallasga6

Russ comes off bench to lead Georgia.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:40:00 +0000

Tip of the hat to Russ, like his predecessor Otto, coming off the bench and leading the Dawgs to victory. You made VII proud.

Russ courtesy of georgiadogs.com

Georgia is now 8-1 versus tech in the Richt era and 60-36-5 overall against tech.

Georgia dominates tech...again.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:34:00 +0000

Player of the game: Center Ben Jones

Ealey and King combined for 38 carries for 349 yards. An average of 9.1 yards per carry behind Jones and the rest of the oline. We continuously gashed them right up the middle.

Honorable Mention: Clint Boling, Cordy Glenn, Chris Davis, Josh Davis and Shaun Chapas. And throw in Washaun Ealey and Caleb King.

Rumors Flying...

noreply@blogger.com (RB Dawg) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Rumors are flying that Willie is stepping down after tonight's game. My guess is he informed the team of this before the game and delivered some sort of a "Win 1 for the Gipper" speech. At least that would explain the inspired effort the Dawgs are showing so far tonight.

The big rumor flying around the world wide web is Tuberville as our next DC. I have seen it a few times now. And, I heard it as a serious possibility last week from a source very close to the Athletic Board. I was told that it was far from a done deal, but that it was a very real possibility for a few reasons... Tuberville and Richt are close friends, TT is content to cash his big check from the AU buyout, his wife has connections to Athens, etc.

It sounds too good to be true. But, if we can hire TT as our DC... We can turn things around quickly - there is certainly no shortage of young talent in Athens right now...

Baby Headhunter

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Everyone grew up playing with that kid who you would count down the line during tackling drills to make sure you didn't have to run against him. Remember how after counting, some people would conveniently have to tie their shoes and somehow wouldn't end up having to be matched up against him. Our guy was always Brent McEwen. He's also the former walk-on LB who started the fight in '93 in the JV game against Tech. This kid is the second coming...

video: BEEMASSP

Mark Richt Then and Now

noreply@blogger.com (RB Dawg) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Some quotes from Mark Richt regarding the controversial running play on the goal line at the end of the game...

"I knew it was the wrong call. I took away 1 or more opportunities for us to score"

"It was just the wrong thing to do, period"

"I did not help the team get into position to win the game. If someone doesn't make a block or drops a throw, that's easier to take"

"Once it jumped out of my mouth, there was no turning back. It jumped out a little quick. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but it was too late"

"I was just praying we would knock it in so we wouldn't look so dumb"

"I definitely made a mistake at the end of the game. It was a foolish call"

"I blew it"

The problem is all of those quotes are from November 2001 after we let the clock run out following a Jasper Sanks run (with 0 timeouts left) as we lost to Auburn in Richt's 1st year as coach. I am sure everyone that is reading this blog remembers that game - I sure as hell do. In fact, believe it or not, that is when I became such a fan of CMR. Obviously, I didn't like the play-call and poor clock management that resulted in a loss. But, it was refreshing to hear our new Head Coach man-up and accept the blame for the loss. In contrast, here is what we heard after the loss to Kentucky in reference to the controversial toss sweep on the goal line in the closing minutes....

When explaining the failure of the play, Richt said it was because Ealey started going downhill too fast and went on to say, "Why? I don't know. I'm sure it had to something with the guy being a true freshman"

"It's part of our offense. Toss sweep all year long. … I'd have to look at the film but the back certainly looked too close to the quarterback on the pitch. I don't know if it was by alignment or the track he took. It looked like he was downhill more than he should have. But the toss sweep is a pretty fundamental play. We've run it many times, so I'm not going to sit here and try to second guess that."

From offensive coordinator Mike Bobo: "That's our bread-and-butter play, the toss sweep. Earlier we were on the goalline and they had kind of crammed everybody inside on a third-and-1 when we had to settle for the field goal, and we talked about next time in that situation we were going to run the toss sweep outside. It looked like he was a little tight."

Doesn't sound like the coaches are exactly taking any responsibility for the failures of the play. If you ask me, they are throwing Washaun Ealey under the bus. And, yes - from what I saw, #24 was not in a good position to receive a pitch. But, this defensive "us against the world" stance has been a recurring theme from CMR all season long. Earlier in the season, CMR began feeling the heat and lashed out with the infamous "in the arena" quote.....

“If you’re a leader or a player and you are brave enough to be in the arena, there’s going to be people outside the arena that want to throw things at you and say things about you. But there’s honor in being in the arena, and a lot of people don’t understand it because they’ve never been in there.”

Compare that to another 2001 quote when he was catching heat after the Jasper Sanks play-call vs. Auburn...

"I don't care if people get upset. That just means they care enough about the program to get upset. Now, if someone wants to get nasty, they just need to realize they're just bringing down the thing they love. Prospects don't want to get into all that"

Say what you want about Coach Richt - everyone has their opinions. I love him as our HC and I don't want to see him leave Athens anytime soon - he has earned the right to have a chance to fix the current problems. But, something has changed over the last few seasons and he needs to go back to the drawing board. Our staff needs a major overhaul/shakeup as soon as the Tech-Geek game is over. I don't know if it is discipline, scheme, work ethic, strength and conditioning, lack of accountability, evaluation of talent or all of the above. But, something has got to change.

While I was looking up the quotes from the 2001 Auburn game, I found an interesting quote from one of the players. This is from Terrance Edwards after Richt took all the responsibility for the Auburn loss...

"Right now, he's taking all the blame. That's the type of person Coach Richt is. That's what everyone in the Georgia family likes about him. He'll take responsibility for his mistakes"

For all I know, today's players would agree with Edwards and I hope that they feel the same way towards our staff. But, as a fan, it seems like Richt is more concerned with staying loyal to his veteran senior players and to his coaching staff than he is to the entire UGA football program right now.

Random monday

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:07:00 +0000

Uga VII ... rest in peace.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:50:00 +0000

See also:
R.I.P Uga VII ... Pitchfork Nation
Uga VII Has Died ... GSB
Uga VII dies ... AJC

Willie in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (RB Dawg) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:07:00 +0000

For the 1st time all year long, I think that Willie might be back as our DC next year. Check out this quote from Coach Richt when asked about the defense after the AU game......

"I think the thing that I really would have liked to have seen was what kind of defense would we have played all year long if we weren't constantly turning the ball over deep in our territory or throwing the pick six or having the kickoff returned for a touchdown. All of those things can deflate the energy of a team. So I think if we could magically take away all the very, very short fields we put them in, it would have been interesting to see how it all stacked up. But right this minute, they're playing very well."

As a good friend pointed out to me, it would have been nice to hear Richt say something along the lines of "I would like to see how different this season would have been if we had played with this discipline all year long." Instead, what I hear is a HC that is laying the groundwork for his talking points for the press conference in which he announces that there will not be any staff changes for 2010. I hope I am wrong and I hope I am reading into this too much - this is just a bad feeling that I have right now.

But, just for argument's sake, let's follow Richt's logic for a minute. If it isn't the fault of the defense, then the blame lies on the offense or special teams.... Who will be held accountable for those 2 phases of the game???? Someone is not doing their job somewhere. Either the D is not performing because they run bad schemes or because they are not being coached up OR the offense is screwing the defense over and over with turnovers and terrible time of possession OR our special teams continually give up huge momentum-killing returns OR A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THE ABOVE. Regardless, something needs to change somewhere - we are giving up way too many points right now to contend for any type of championship.

Georgia 31, Auburn 24

noreply@blogger.com (JJ) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:58:00 +0000

Player of the Game: Bacarri Rambo

3 tackles, 2 pass break-ups, including the game-saving hit

Honorable Mention: RB Washaun Ealey, RB Caleb King, WR Israel Troupe

Photo Credit: ugasports.com

Rambo Injury Update

Bigs shine in Fox debut.

noreply@blogger.com (Bop) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:07:00 +0000

Georgia - 67 New Orleans - 59
The game was decided by our post players. Howard Thompkins III was dominant .... 25 pts 12 rebs 3 blocks 1 asst 1 steal. Chris Barnes was active all night on the glass .... 8 pts 11 rebs 2 blocks. Jeremy Price was 5-5 from the field and ended up with a dozen points. All of our post players looked stronger and Trey was noticeably quicker.

Fox

Man, am I glad to have Coach Mark Fox in Athens. He just seems to get it. Whatever 'it' is, he gets 'it' and he has 'it'. He's done everything this program needed since his arrival.

We will definitely struggle scoring at times this year. We just don't have many true weapons on the offensive end outside of Howard Thompkins III. Of course, Leslie only played briefly after early foul trouble, so the baby Josh Smith was not a factor tonight.

Our strength is undoubtedly our front court. We should not be out rebounded in many games this year. Trey is a special player and Fox is going to showcase him. Reminds me of when Shareef Abdur-Rahim was at Cal. The big difference is we don't have an Ed Gray on our roster.

HT3

Boy, were we spoiled for 8 straight years with good point guards in Gaines and Wright. I was surprised at how much time Vincent Williams got at pg tonight. He and Ware pretty much split the time equally. Mayfield is a good looking specimen. Anyaorah looked better than I expected and was really active when he was in there.

Should be a fun season. We will win games that people expect us to lose. 16 wins is what I'm thinking. We are young and have a coach that the players seem to enjoy playing for. I fully expect Fox to take this program to another level and win big in Athens.