Let’s hear it for Auburn’s Demond Washington, the newly minted SEC Special Teams Player of the Week.
Demond Washington’s record-setting day was honored by the SEC. Washington was named the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week after breaking Auburn’s single-game kickoff return yardage record against Georgia.
Washington, a junior from Tallassee, Ala., who transferred from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College this summer, had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the Bulldogs. It was the sixth-longest in school history.
He finished with 202 kickoff return yards, breaking the previous mark set by Tristan Davis against Arkansas last year. His 202 kick return yards and 229 total return yards were both tied for fourth most in SEC single-game history.
It’s just another challenge in Jon Fabris’ world.
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UPDATE: Here’s a clip of Washington’s TD run. Note Logan Gray’s contribution.
One day, Fabris is really going to have to explain what he’s doing. Because I don’t have a freaking clue.
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UPDATE #2: By the way, in case you’re wondering, Georgia ranks 118th nationally in kickoff return defense average.
The clusterkick made its triumphant return last Saturday.
Huddle up!
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Once again: When the fans have it figured out and you don’t, you shouldn’t be getting paid for (not) doing it. See: Directional kicking, Bryan Evans, etc.
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The mad scientist continues his diabolical schemes.
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Maybe Fabris can challenge the offense to quit scoring so much.
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Not that it really matters, but … if Richard Samuel isn’t held (see the :22-:23 second mark), that return ends at the 30 yard line.
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…are zero.
Additionally, that hit that sidelined AJ was awfully close to being a late hit, and by awfully close I mean it totally was.
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Come on. He was about six inches out of bounds and heading toward the end zone.
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Our ranking of 118th in kickoff return defense average matches our ranking in turnover margin.
Consistency, baby.
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“Note Logan Gray’s contribution.”
On his 60 yard ‘dash’ toward our end-zone, if he’s the one I am thinking about, Logan just had a bad angle: parallel to and just a little slower than that of the guy we made into Auburn’s Special Teams POW.
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You’re looking at the wrong guy. Logan is the guy getting blocked below the play. The guy up top running is walk on Chad Gloer I think.
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You are correct, sir. What the clip doesn’t show, but what I could see watching the return develop, is that LG got blocked down the field for at least fifteen yards.
Every team is a tackler short on returns because the kicker is usually pretty useless. Georgia ups the ante by adding a backup quarterback to the mix. It’s not fair to expect somebody like LG to be a factor in coverage. Yet Fabris either thinks he can be that kind of player, or else likes the challenge of playing one man short.
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The return man ran 70 yards in the same time Chad Gloer ran 55. I’d say we were actually 3 men short.
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Slow guys are the answer to the riddle wrapped inside a mystery that is the enigma of our special teams.
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Butch Rowley, Cade Holliday, Lorenzo Edwards, Moses Jenkins, James Smith…
You familiar with them?
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Nope. Heck, I’m not even familiar with who’s on this year’s special teams.
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That’s the kicker you dumb shit lol
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Check out some of the spares Florida puts on its kick coverage team sometime. Whole lot of walk-ons, fwiw.
Gray’s job is to slow the play up as a last resort, not to make a tackle. This is pretty common around CFB, fwiw.
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Yeah, it’s common for SEC teams to have their back-up QB on kickoff coverage.
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Thanks. I was wondering why our guy on top didn’t go for a shoestring. At least Logan either went for the shoestring or maybe he just worn out from the challenge of being blocked for so long that he just fell down.
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If the return guy farted Gloer couldn’t have smelled it. Unless it was one of those lingering types.
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youre an idiot.. blair walsh is the guy up top
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Gloer’s the best ST player we got out there.. 1st one down field every time
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Are you Stevie Wonder in disquise,be honest..Just asking Puffhead…Dawg..sorry..got to defend the blood.
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Chad is the 1st one down,blows up the wedge…hits 3 Tigers…
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Wrong
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Watched the replay last night and noted Walsh’s reaction (slammed his helmet down). My wife asked me about it, and I told her it was a very long story. My interpretation: He was pissed off at being asked to kick to the corner again, given his ability to put it deep.
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Heck, I told my wife that I thought Blair was playing the role of the guy chasing Demond the Ballcarrier. That’s how confused I was but no more so than the two TV announcers, I guess. All Davie could say was that the Auburn guy was fast, real fast but as Joe Torre responded when a reporter asked him decades ago when he played for the Cardinals, how it felt for Torre to set a major league record by hitting into four double plays in one game, Torre said he couldn’t have done it without Felix Millan.
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Or, he was pissed that he kicked the ball too low and too deep (like everyone wants), instead of putting it up higher and at the 10 as he is supposed to do.
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Could be. Or maybe just pissed that no one came close to tackling Demond the Ballcarrier. Or probably a combination thereof.
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Am I the only one whose butt shrinks up on every single KO?
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Kicking to the sideline from the huddle formation with walkons, backup QB’s, FB’s, and RB’s loafing on coverage…
I honestly thought we learned our lesson when it cost us the LSU game.
Anywhere else, this level of rock-headed persistence will earn you a pink slip.
Not at Georgia.
We’re one happy family.
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There’s a Jeweler in Atlanta that will refund your entire purchase (above a certain amount) if either UGA or GT return the opening kickoff of either half for a TD in the Clean Old Fashioned Hate game.
At the time they devised this promotion, I’m sure they thought it was a great idea. “There’s only 2 chances we loose!”
With our two kickoff units (return & coverage), I bet that Jeweler is sweating it now……
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This should in no way be taken as a defense of Fab’s kickoff return strategy, but opponent’s starting field position is a much, MUCH better stat for KO returns yardage.
If you kick it to the goal line and the other team winds up on the 35 there is no difference than squib kicking it to the 25…the up man returning it 10 yards (which is what goes in the stat sheet and makes you look “real good”) and the other team starting on the 35. Starting field positions after KO’s is a much better stat.
I’m more worried about the fact that we kick the ball deep and then every one of our defenders stops running at the 25 yard line. Do we not WANT to tackle the guy inside the 25? Do we think that is against the rules or something?
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Let me tell you the story about the Tortoise and the Hare…
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Why am I somehow reminded of Jed and Winstons whenever Jon goes into his let me tell you a story about directional kicking mode…
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You’ve got to know that Jon Fabris is clinically insane. He keeps doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. CMR is not far behind because he lets him keep doing it. Mark is Jon’s enabler, sad really.
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Fabris (played by Gary Busey) deftly deflects insanity allegations with motivational cliches…
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I liked it better when we were getting held to under 20 points of offense, so we wouldn’t have to witness too much of this stupidassedness.
No reason for fiction. Life with the GA Bulldawgs is funny enough without having to make shit up.
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What truly set me off was remembering earlier when they showed Walsh in pre-games hitting 60 plus yard field goals – no tee, no run up. Maddening, just maddening.
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The reason the return went for a td was that Richard Samuel was being held! Look at the replay…he’s in the upper part of the screen. He’s trying to turn around and get away from his blocker, running backwards for 20 yards while the Auburn player held on to his jersey.
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