One thing about Tony Barnhart – he tends to be pretty level-headed about handing out criticism of a program or coach as it relates to on-field performance, often to the point of blandness.
… Here is the reality. While the offensive line lost tackle Trinton Sturdivant for the second straight year, Stacy Searels’ group has underachieved based on the talent at hand. The running backs may have been high in the recruiting services coming out of high school, but they look pretty average to me.
Georgia should never average less than 100 yards rushing per game. Never. That is simply unacceptable.
**–The defense can’t rush the passer. It can’t cover receivers. Other than linebacker Rennie Curran and tackle Jeff Owens, I don’t see a whole lot of passion out there. It’s easy to blame the coaching and there is no question that Willie Martinez has some work to do. Steve Spurrier basically exposed this defense when he threw the ball 53 times against the Bulldogs on Sept. 12. Spurrier is among the best at detecting weaknesses on a defense. And there are a bunch of them on this defense.
So this is where Georgia is, in my opinion. The Bulldogs are a very average team that played very poorly last Saturday in Knoxville. They have a chance to have a decent season. They also have a chance to have a bad season.
His conclusion is just as unflattering.
… When you’re 3-3 and the fundamentals on the team are this bad, everything is on the table. And after this season is over, everything should be on the table for Georgia. And it looks like some tough decisions are going to have to be made.
For Barnhart, that’s a diatribe.
And while you’re surfing the AJ-C sports page, take a gander at Chip Towers’ look at Georgia’s defensive recruiting. It’s pretty sobering as well.
… it’s clear that some very good prospects are playing very bad defense for Georgia.
Neither one of those pieces are what I’d call Mark Bradley-esque fishing exercises. Unfortunately.
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UPDATE: And Bill King gives us the trifecta when he pulls out the long knife on something else that’s driven me batty the last two seasons.
Apparently, unless your father is threatening to transfer you elsewhere, as was the case when D.J. Shockley was backing up David Greene, Richt is loathe to provide guaranteed, scripted playing time for his backup quarterback.
Ow.
Get The Picture 
Sounds fair. Methinks the players don’t have confidence in the coaching staff either.
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CMR has made it clear that Logan Gray is simply not going to play QB at UGA. Why he is still there, and not practicing at WR or S is beyond me.
Murray has been hurt, but I think we will see him get a bunch of snaps this season.
How depressing is it that we have the best WR in the country and nobody to throw it to him?
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Oh we should be used to it. We have not put together a complete team in years. We have the #1 QB in NFL draft but the OL is young/hurt and the WR’s can’t catch a cold. Same with the best RB in 28 years marginal OL. We finally think we have the OL but we can’t tell because the RB’s are average. We get an O that can score so our D goes away. In the old days we couldn’t score but our D wouldn’t let anybody else score. That’s what the “Georgia Way” really means. We do it the hard way.
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Wow. Truth hurts and it is getting LOUDER and LOUDER as more people pick it up.
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Global War on Marks (GWOMs) Crisis of the Day (COD) piece, “Duck, You Suckers!” 14 October 2009:
UGA Coaches’ office space in Butts-Mehre underground bunker, Green Zone, Athens
1600 Coaches’ General Quarters Drill:
This afternoon the UGA coaching staff is currently taking on heavy incoming rocket and mortar fire from enemy correspondents who used to be friendlies, Tommy Bunkerbuster Barnhardt, Mark Tank Bradley and Bill Sidewinder King.
Head Coach Mark, while concerned about incoming fire from former friendlies but still just a little shy of pointing or giving any fingers, convenes a meeting in which Mark (played by Ron Livingston) meets with compradre WM (played by Milton), the other Mark and Easom (played by the Two Bob’s) and Damon (played by Lumbergh) to smoke out who the next psycho in the bunker is going to be. Meanwhile, Lane is still stuck in the perpetual endless gridlock circle that is I-285 in the All-Vol Hummer with Checkerboard spinners trying to penetrate downtown Atlanta to harvest future NFLers.
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Sorry to go off-topic but do you have or have you seen a clip of Richt gathering the team prior to the 4th quarter? I’m told there was a number of guys that appeared to ignore him. I’d be interested to dig that up. Thanks for all you do.
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Sorry, I erased that horror from the DVR as soon as the final whistle blew.
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Check ESPN360. I’d do it now but my connection at the moment is too slow.
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Saying ‘Willie Martinez has some work to do’ is like telling a garbageman in Hiroshima he has a little cleanup job to do.
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So how do we feel about the Paul Finebaum article now?
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And just yesterday Derek was flaming me on this board for suggesting that UGA had as many talented players as Alabama on defense.
Even in down years, we should have a top 20 defense. In the good years, we should have a top 5 defense. Is is a sad day when I am just hoping we can play to the level of Ole Miss.
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Talent has nothing to do with letting an invalid drive his team down the field by running the same, exact play 4 straight times with no defender within 10 yards of a WR.
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Hi. I really have no Dawg (ha ha) in this fight. But:
Actually, yes. They are. The only reason why the AJC’s sports page operates the way it does is to make angry Georgia fans show up en masse. That’s why they don’t do any legitimate scoops- for example, why the SEC still hasn’t addressed the illegal hit on Caleb King. They instead waste their time with Florida/Tech-fellating and various concern trolling of Georgia. Witness the impotent Barnhart’s “Durr, Troy put up points on Georgia, therefore Auburn is awesome!” columns from last year. Pure horse hockey to the objective observer, but enough to make Georgia fans get enraged and visit AJC.com.
Here’s the bottom line: The AJC is in such dire straits that they willingly published an advertorial of a racist podunk bar and had the reporter take pictures of it. The AJC is in such dire straits that they’re moving out of their old office in Five Points and disgracefully setting up shop in some strip mall in Dunwoody. The AJC, as you Georgia fans should know, is in such dire straits that their sports desk has resorted to concern trolling Georgia fans 24/7…and that’s it. They barely sent a reporter to the last Falcons game. They never cover the Hawks…who were a second-round NBA playoff team last year. No, they’d rather spend their resources letting hacks like Mark Bradley and Jeff Schultz post laughably sourced diatribes against UGA. And they still, for whatever reason, have a discredited buffoon like Big Ton Barnhart on the payroll. What does that idiot contribute, I ask?
These are lean times for the AJC. Within six months, you’re going to see a huge shakeup in the sports desk, and I dare say some of Georgia’s tormentors will not live to see the final trip up MARTA to Dunwoody Station. They will not be missed.
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I should also make note of the near constant race bating that goes on at AJC.com. Just last week, the AJC put up a poll inquiring about readers’ take on “Georgia dancing on the sidelines.” I think it’s pretty clear what the brain trust down at the AJC really means by that.
Barnhart is a legendary racist. I’m not sure about Schultz or Bradley…then again, all I know is that they do what their daddy tells them to do. So I’m guessing they just go with the flow. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the SEC’s targeting of Georgia is rooted strictly in old-fashioned racism. That the AJC is willingly playing along is another nail in their rancid coffin.
Enjoy the trip to Dunwoody, guys. But not all of you.
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So . . Objective Observer, how do you really feel?
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I’m sorry, what was that?
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Where are the SEC refs when you need them. I’d say UGA is getting piled on and we need to see those flags fly.
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