“Richt shot himself in the foot in the discipline category.”

You know, it’s fine by me that an Orlando Sentinel writer wants to measure the head coaches at Florida and Georgia and find that Mark Richt comes up a little bit short.  But it’s reasoning like this that flat out drives me up the wall:

Discipline: Advantage Meyer. Richt wasn’t going to win this with 10 player arrests since January and two unclassy logo-stomping incidents from his team last year.

Seriously, Jeremy Fowler, why do you want to go there?  First of all, I truly believe that no rational head coach wants problem kids in his program, and I don’t think Meyer or Richt are crazy in that regard.  But how do you brush over little details in Gainesville like firing AK-47s in public places and dead people’s credit cards being stolen?  I don’t see where either program has the high ground in moral superiority right now.

And as for logo stomping, how convenient of you to gloss over this moment.

Look, next time just say “I like Urban better” and save us the commentary.  You’ll come off looking better.

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The man is a genius… a genius, I tell you.

As if you needed it, Chris Low has further proof of the amazing job Stacey Searels has done this season.

… This is the fourth different combination the Bulldogs have used this season, and according to Brett Edgerton in ESPN’s Stats and Analysis department, the youngest starting five by far among the top 10 teams in the BCS standings this week. No other team in the top 10 of the BCS standings starts even one freshman in the offensive line. [Emphasis added.]

The only other Top 25 team that’s as young in the offensive line is Florida State, which also starts three freshmen and two sophomores. Minnesota starts two freshmen and two sophomores, while Boise State starts two freshmen and one sophomore.

Just a reminder – Georgia ranks second in the SEC and eighteenth nationally in sacks allowed.  And, no, you can’t give the o-line all of the credit here.  But it does deserve the lion’s share.  And compare what this bunch has been able to do compared with their 2003 counterparts.  I can’t say enough about what Searels has accomplished.

I did it… my way.

Que the strings:

In a season that largely has gone to the dogs, Tennessee head football coach Phillip Fulmer opted for a more subdued approach in his Tuesday press conference rather than the animated, defiant demeanor that followed last month following a blowout-loss to Florida.

“I’m not a dog that barks and then runs into the house. I’m going to do my job on a daily basis, or bark from inside the house,” said the Vols’ embattled coach. “I’m going to do my job and do it the right way. That’s all, there’s only so many hours and only so many things you can fix at one particular time and lay my head on the pillow at night and know I’ve done it and done it right and had a lot of success doing it.”

I’m not sure what that means, but it sure smells like a man who’s resigned to an unhappy fate.

The gold standard

If you want to know how celebrity status is measured on campus in Athens, just ask Darryl Gamble.

— Saturday, Gamble had the biggest game of his life. Monday, he was an instant star around campus. So how has life changed since he returned two interceptions for touchdowns against LSU?

“It’s been a lot more hectic. A lot more people know who I am when I’m walking to class and stuff. I guess it’s more of being a Knowshon around campus.” [Emphasis added.]

Ah, baby don’t you do it…

It’s contract negotiating time with Jacksonville again.  And it looks like Georgia is going back to its role of being the coy date.

“Every year the questions arise: Do we move back to a home-and-home series or move it back to Jacksonville,” said Frank Crumley, Georgia’s executive associate athletic director for finance and administration. “We address that every time and it’s not totally decided by us. We have discussions with (Florida officials] and the city of Jacksonville and have to present that back to our athletic board for review and approval.

“It’s still too early to tell what the sentiment is.”

Well, I’ve got some sentiment right here for you, Frank:  don’t screw this up.  As long as this is nothing but a negotiating ploy to squeeze the city, fine.  It’s certainly worked before, quite successfully as a matter of fact.  But, please, please, please, don’t take the game out of J’ville.  It just won’t have the same luster if you do.

Mumme Poll, Week 9

Fewer voters, fewer schools receiving votes.  That’s the main story this week.  As always, top five votes in parenthesis.

MUMME POLL – WEEK 9 RANKINGS

1.   Texas (50)

2.   Alabama (48)

3.   Penn State (46)

4.   Florida (35)

5.   Oklahoma (32)

6.   Georgia (21)

7.   Texas Tech (10)

8.   Southern Cal

9.   Oklahoma State

10.  Utah

11.  Boise State

12.  TCU

13.  Missouri

14.  Ohio State

15.  Florida State

16.  Tulsa

17.  LSU

18.  Minnesota

********************************************************************

COMMENTS

• For the third week in a row, Texas remains the only school that was a unanimous top five selection.
• Look, Ma, no ties!
• Southern Cal took a noticeable hit for its close game with Arizona.
• Teams receiving top five votes that didn’t appear on all of the ballots:  Southern Cal, Oklahoma State and Boise State.
• There’s a very clear consensus on the top ten teams in the country.  Utah appeared on all but six of the ballots.
• I received a lot of comments this week to the effect that this has been fun, that it’s been a good exercise to keep up with college football on a more involved level than before and that it’s forced many to hold their Bulldog favoritism in check (especially with those top five votes for the Gators).
• Most people have stopped holding their noses over Texas Tech.  If the Longhorns don’t blow out the Red Raiders this week, it will be interesting to see how the voting is affected by the result.
• Voters do seem somewhat conflicted about the mid-majors, even as they cast votes for them.  Utah and TCU face off, so some of that will clear up.
• Again, the time spent on this remains very consistent from week to week, with most of you putting your ballots together in less than 45 minutes.
• Blogs mentioning the Mumme Poll:  Hunker Down Dawg; Picture Me Rollin; The Connecticut Yankee; A Bulldog In Exile.

Finally, a public service announcement.  I thought I made this clear at the beginning, but in light of some of the e-mails I’ve received, I guess I need to reiterate something:  once you fail to vote, that’s it.  You can’t get back in the voting the next week.  I want to have a consistent, core group of folks casting ballots over the entire season.  So please don’t take a week off and expect to jump in again the following week.