Mel Kiper ♥ Knowshon Moreno.

There’s somebody at ESPN who’s not ignoring the kid.

James(Atlanta, GA): Mel, even though Moreno had a great year last year, could he be moving himself up in the draft even more with his performances thus far? He already has 6 touchdowns going into the third game.

Mel Kiper: He’s a great back. He’s a third year sophomore so he’s draft eligible. He’s the best RB in any class. He’s ahead of Wells, McCoy and the very average group of senior RBs. If he comes out, he has a chance to be right up there with Stafford, Sanchez, Maualuga, Laurinaitis. Georgia could have two of the first 3-5 players drafted.

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Chip Towers goes fishin’.

Traffic must be down at the AJ-C’s website, as he throws out some mighty stinky bait today.

It’s hard to draw many conclusions off of two games whether they come against a pair of Top 10 teams or a couple of Sisters of the Poor. But early returns on Georgia’s defense after games against Georgia Southern and Central Michigan don’t offer any evidence that coach Willie Martinez’s unit is going to be anything more than average this season.

It’s hard to draw conclusions, all right, but he gives it his finest Mark Twain try.

They know it when they see it.

The two dudes from the Pac-10 defending the asinine unsportsmanlike conduct penalty call on Jake Locker last Saturday, Dave Cutaia and Larry Farina, certainly know from experience what constitutes bad officiating.

… The game referee, Farina, was in charge of the worst-officiated Pac-10 game of the ‘07 season: Oregon State-Washington, in which the officials lost control, fights broke out, players were ejected and Yvenson Bernard’s knee was clearly, obviously down before he fumbled at the goalline.

Everyone saw it, and yet Farina and his gang missed it — missed it so badly they were banned from working any bowl games in 2007.

And then there’s Cutaia, the Pac-10’s coordinator of officials who defended the Locker call. He was only the lead ref for the Oregon-Oklahoma game.

Cutaia and his crew bungled that game like no game has ever been bungled — so badly the Pac-10 apologized to Oklahoma and Cutaia was suspended for a game by the league.

Cutaia said Monday that it seemed “pretty cut and dried” that the penalty should have been called on Locker…

Contempt –  that’s what makes Pac-10 officiating so special.  Every conference will have its share of bad calls and arrogant officiating.  But no other conference cares less about it.

Let’s hope these guys don’t impact the Arizona State game in any meaningful way.

(h/t The Wizard of Odds)

Steele’s early season SEC projections

He’s got Auburn and an 8-0 Florida playing in the SECCG.

He’s actually bumped Georgia up a game, to 7-1, since his preseason projections had the Dawgs losing in Baton Rouge.  [Ed. note:  Steele revised the page after this post appeared and now shows Georgia going 6-2 in the conference.]

Given the way each has looked coming out of the gate, would Vandy losing to Mississippi State constitute an upset or not?

Pun of the day

Check out the header on this piece about South Carolina’s offense at Gogamecocks.com.  The article itself is a good read, as well.

Gary Danielson thinks he knows Steve Spurrier.

Here’s a bold quote from Barnhart’s blog today:

“This may be THE game of Steve Spurrier’s coaching era at South Carolina. If you look at Spurrier’s history, he is not one to stress or go back to fundamentals for a big game. He tends to search for something to pull out of his hat…”

Wednesday thoughts on Saturday’s game

• What’s the biggest difference going into this year’s game with South Carolina from last year’s?  I’d argue that it’s Mike Bobo’s confidence in his ability to call a game.  Last year he played into Tyrone Nix’ hands by letting Stafford throw the ball a season high 45 times.  I feel pretty good about saying that ain’t gonna happen this year.
• And the second biggest difference?  Matt Stafford trusts Stacey Searels.
• I get the feeling that the Georgia defensive linemen are pretty happy about the fact that they won’t be seeing a spread offense this week.  “They’ll get in the ‘I’ and we like that,” Lomax said.
• While I think the d-line is in store for happier times this week in defending against the pass – both for scheme reasons and also because the South Carolina offensive line hasn’t exactly been a brick wall so far in pass protection – I am a little concerned about how Evans and Miller hold up after watching a few of their breakdowns against Central Michigan.  A master at creating matchups to exploit, Spurrier feasted on Evans last year.
• As to McKinley’s status, Spurrier had this to say about it at his presser yesterday:  “Kenny was not able to do anything yesterday. He probably won’t do anything today. I’d say he’s doubtful. When you severely pull a hamstring like he did, it’s usually a two to three-week deal.” Sorry, but I’m not ready to buy it yet.  If you’ll recall, last year he got Emanuel Cook back on the field after an appendectomy.  McKinley is by far their best offensive playmaker and he wants to play; if he can walk, he suits up.
• Also from the presser:  “We have to stop the run like always. That’s the gameplan every week. You can’t let Knowshon (Moreno) run all up and down the field. We have to get a bunch of guys up there and our defensive backs have to cover.” No surprise there.  But Bobo has a lot of ways to open things up for Moreno – four receiver sets, Moreno/King backfield sets (that came out in the CMU game), Moreno in the slot.  I’d like to see what Jasper Brinkley can do when he has to account for Moreno moving laterally with the ball.
• Lost in the disappointment of last year’s game is the fact that Martinez did a good job for most of the game holding the SC (can I say that?) offense in check.  The Dawgs outgained the ‘Cocks.  South Carolina only managed to convert one of eleven third down opportunities.
• If Georgia is faced with a fourth and two on the South Carolina 33, I hope someone has a better play to call than the one we saw last year.
• Getting Munzenmaier, Dewberry and Weston back can’t hurt.  Having Southerland back would be even better, though, after watching Georgia’s goal line offense last week.