Be careful what you wish for…

From CBS Sportsline:

… Tennessee came from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Vanderbilt and remain in control of its own destiny in the SEC’s Eastern Division. That’s good for LSU, if you didn’t know, because as long as the Vols are on their way to the SEC Championship Game, that means Georgia is not. And it’s probably better for the Tigers to stay away from the red-hot Bulldogs, or at least that’s what I gathered from the reaction of LSU athletic director Skip Bertman, who was noticeably excited here in the press box when he heard the Vols had stormed back and won.

You might want to dial back on the excitement, Skip.  Your team just gave up 466 yards to the 90th ranked team in the country in total offense (Ole Miss moved up seven slots in the eleventh week of the season  – which is statistically significant – thanks to LSU).

Tennessee is ranked 59th right now in total offense.  The Vols are number 67 in total defense, which doesn’t sound too impressive – except Ole Miss is ranked #96.

None of which is to say that Georgia isn’t playing some impressive football right now.  It’s just that LSU may not be.

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Look at me!

This week’s AP Poll is out – congrats to the Dawgs, who check in at #6.  But that’s not what this post is about.

We’ve got a voter who wants a little attention.

… Northern Iowa, the top-ranked team in the Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA), received one point from the media panel, a 25th-place vote from Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Chronicle.

For the record, Northern Iowa has a win over a D-1 team this year.  It defeated Iowa State 24-13.  But here’s the rest of NI’s schedule:   Mankato State, South Dakota State, Drake, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Western Illinois, Youngstown State, Missouri State, Indiana State and Southern Utah.  That’s Sagarin’s 152nd ranked schedule.

Here’s Ratto’s complete ballot.  Basically, he’s suggesting that NI would be the fourth best team in the SEC, the fifth best in the ACC, the fifth best in the Big XII, the fourth best in the Pac-10… well, you get the picture.

That’s not to say that NI couldn’t upset an upper tier team on a given Saturday.  But to suggest that a 1AA team could compete in a BCS conference on a week to week basis and finish in the upper part of the conference is a joke.  So, thanks for playing, Mr. Ratto – you’ve had your “Spurrier voted for Duke” moment.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I can’t wait to hear how A. J. Harmon’s trip to Clemmins yesterday went.

Money well spent

Now the obvious conclusion that the outside observer would draw from this and this (h/t DawgsOnline) is that Nick Saban has never met a principle he wouldn’t cast aside for a win.

But did you ever stop to think that maybe all it means is that ‘Bama has an incompetent SID? If he hasn’t thought it yet, I bet Saban will.

It’s been a long fall from that exhilarating win over Arky, hasn’t it, Tide fans? As Pulpwood said, “8 and 0, my ass.”

There’s no truth to the rumors that brick orders are up in Tuscaloosa. Yet. We may be one Tuberville smirk away from that, though.

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UPDATE: I have to admit I didn’t think of this possibility.

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UPDATE #2: “It was what it was.” (h/t From The Bleachers)

Dawg day afternoon

Outgained. Held to 99 yards passing. -3 in turnover margin. 24 points scored against the SEC’s 3rd ranked team in points scored (38.3 ppg coming in). Down 10-0 in the second quarter.

All of which is not exactly a formula for success for a Georgia team that’s been bludgeoning teams with a barrage of scoring and offense in recent weeks.

Did I mention that Georgia won and covered the spread?

The Dawgs won behind a running game that let them control the clock (almost a 10 minute differential in TOP) and move the chains (9 of 15 on third down conversions) , superior special teams play and a defensive front seven that completely dominated UK in the second half with four sacks that led to the ‘Cats only having 2 rushing yards in that half of play.

This is turning out to be a good little team this season.

A few specific observations from the 35 yard line:

• You get so caught up in what a nifty, elusive runner Moreno is that sometimes you fail to notice how physical he is. He finished one ten yard run with a solid hit on the defender that elicited a respectful “whoa” from the Sanford Stadium crowd.
• Speaking of the crowd, UK’s offensive line had a hard time adjusting to the crowd noise and had a couple of false start penalties assessed as a result. Not bad for a 12:30 start.
• Rennie Curran. 13 tackles. 12 solo stops. He’s to the defense what Moreno’s been to the offense this year. When Rafael Little got on the team bus to go back to Lexington, he probably checked to make sure that Rennie wasn’t in the seat next to him.
• Brian Mimbs had another quietly solid game. He averaged 39 yards per punt, put two inside the twenty (and could have had a third if the gunner had turned around sooner) and only had one returned for two yards.

9-2 going into the Tech game. At worst, co-champs of the SEC East. Not bad at all. Sure, it’s a shame one or two plays couldn’t have gone Georgia’s way in the South Carolina game. Can you imagine what the buildup for the SECCG would be today if the Dawgs had escaped with a win in that one? Of course, before the second half of the Vandy game most of us were beginning to wonder what it would be like to watch ’em play in the Music City Bowl this year, so it’s not worth getting too worked up over spilt milk at this point in time.

Besides, with the win yesterday, Georgia eliminated Florida’s hopes of getting back to Atlanta. Take your petty pleasures where you can, Dawg fans.