Georgia’s ten most memorable plays of 2007, #5

Georgia vs. Florida, October 27:

Florida at 14:48			GA	FLA
1st and 10 at FLA 31		Percy Harvin rush for 5 yards to the Fla 36.	28	24
2nd and 5 at FLA 36		Percy Harvin rush for 21 yards to the Geo 43 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at GA 43		Brandon James rush for 10 yards to the Geo 33 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at GA 33		Tim Tebow pass incomplete to Percy Harvin.
2nd and 10 at GA 33		Andre Caldwell rush for a loss of 2 yards to the Geo 35.
3rd and 12 at GA 35		Tim Tebow pass complete to Andre Caldwell for 10 yards to the Geo 25.
4th and 2 at GA 25		Andre Caldwell rush for a loss of 3 yards to the Geo 28.

While there were a lot of plays by the defense that I enjoyed watching last year, this one’s my favorite.

(Start at the :30 mark)

When’s the last time you saw panicky play calling by Florida in a WLOCP game? The Gators were down by four, the ball’s on the Georgia 25 and it’s early in the fourth quarter. What would have been wrong with a field goal in that spot?

Then, to add to it, instead of leaving the ball in Superman’s hands – oh, I forgot, he was hurt – Meyer chooses that precise moment to try a little trickeration. Georgia’s defense proceeded to give a primer on how to defend the spread option: penetrate, block the pitch lanes, screw with the option (the play was designed to be a reverse to Harvin). End result? A three yard loss, the ball turned over on downs and a headset tossed away in disgust. It may not have been quite Spurrier-esque, but I’ll take it.

As my somewhat drunken friend said after the Georgia crowd quieted down in the glorious aftermath, “they sure blowed that play up”.

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SEC TV: Why?

Maybe it’s just the contrarian in me, but I’m not sure what the point of the SEC starting its own TV network is. Sure, the Mountain West and the Big Ten have their shiny new toys, but there’s a big difference between those two conferences and the SEC: only the latter has a national TV contract. Why give that up to migrate to pay TV? Especially when you consider that…

The league had 48 conference football games last season. All but nine were broadcast live by their current TV partners. [Emphasis added.] The SEC made $43 million from televised football last season.

Keep in mind that’s coming off of contracts that expire after this year. What do you figure the odds are that the new contracts blow past the $7 million per year each team in the Big Ten gets under their contracts?  Particularly considering that the you-know-what wants to get in the hen house, so to speak.

A number of suitors have indicated that they would be more than willing to help the SEC with its distribution issues. Atlanta-based FSN South, which also owns SportSouth, already has the infrastructure in place as it reaches 21 million homes in SEC territory.

“I will simply say that we are interested in discussing whatever TV model the SEC decides to pursue,” said Jeff Genthner, the senior vice-president of FSN South.

Slive is certainly in an enviable position – “stay tuned”, indeed.

On the other hand, the Orlando Sentinel’s Tim Stephens urges Slive to think big.  Really big.

Who refers to Vanderbilt as “the Commies”?

The New York Times’ college sports blog, The Quad, has been running down the list of D-1 schools in order of their projected rankings for 2008. The first one up involving an opponent of Georgia’s is #93 Vanderbilt.

The write up’s OK, and if you’re looking for a dash of snobby East Coast elitism, they’re more than happy to supply it:

… And unlike its fellow SEC brethren, Vanderbilt has never sacrificed its strong academic stature for athletic success –- perhaps that’s why the Commies have not had a winning season since 1982. Well, for those who may say that Vanderbilt has it all wrong, the Countdown says, Way to Go Vandy! Keep up the good work: You are a beacon of academic fortitude in an institution that seems to have forgotten the true meaning of amateur competition.

Of course, that hasn’t stopped Vandy from cashing the checks the conference sends it.

Anyway, I’m not sure you need to know more than this – Returning starters: 10 (3 offense, 7 defense). Yikes.

Conference of quarterbacks?

Take a look at this post over at RazorBloggers Network about the crop of SEC quarterbacks expected to start in 2008.

If Walking on Sunshine is right when he posts that “(h)istory has typically shown that your final record in the SEC is directly proportional to the level of experience you have at the quarterback position…” (and I think he is), it’s got the potential be a long year for every school outside of Georgia and Florida. That is not a particularly inspiring bunch, although it’s likely somebody will surprise.

I did like the homer touch, though – Casey Dick vaults to the rank of the #4 QB in the conference based on a good spring game, while Jevan Snead, who also had a stellar spring game, is relegated to #7 due to his unfortunate association with the Nuttster. It’s gonna be a fun year in the West, methinks.