Here are a few tidbits to nosh on:
- When it comes to Aaron Murray, Mike Bobo ain’t satisfied. I’m glad to see that complacency isn’t settling in.
- This also heartens me: “Defensive players who are standing out, according to Grantham, include linebackers Justin Houston, Darryl Gamble and Cornelius Washington.” Any depth at outside linebacker is a very good thing.
- “For the first time since 1969, the Georgia Bulldogs are opening a football season with three of their first five games away from Sanford Stadium.”
- It doesn’t sound like college football players are particularly enamored with an extended playoff.
- Derek Dooley’s decision to be a hard ass about Bryce Brown’s request for a release is looking dumber by the moment.
- Michael Elkon notes that Stewart Mandel and Sports Illustrated don’t seem to be on the same page about the 2010 season.
- Mark Schlabach has a couple of pieces up about defenses switching to the 3-4 worth reading, with lots of quotes from Todd Grantham and Justin Houston.
- Here’s a statistically detailed look at the defensive recipe for winning the BCS national championship, from a Notre Dame blog.
Get The Picture 
“The quarterback room
has got to be the youngest room maybe in the history of college football,” CMR.
ain’t it the truth î
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btw… while reading the blueprint for winning the BCS national championship.
i now have a headache
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When I read that about the “boneheaded decision” yesterday I immediately thought about Aaron’s interception at G-day, which was one of the worst picks I’ve seen since … well since Logan Gray in Jacksonville.
Given that the No. 1 thing Aaron Murray cannot do this year is kill drives with the almost strategic dumb turnovers his predecessor manufactured … it’s more than enough to make me worry.
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Which is why I’m glad Bobo and Richt are downright grumpy about it.
What you’d really like to do with a kid who’s not getting the message about something that important is to sit him down to get the point across, but unfortunately that’s not an option this year.
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Do you worry about the supposed poor showing Murray had in the spring game?
To me, with all the talk about Florida and UGA being in similar spots regarding the QB spot, the fact that Brantley has looked very good in almost every appearance he has made, be it in spring games on in mop-up duty, makes me a lot more optimistic than I might be if the situations were reversed.
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Honestly, no.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Murray is going to make his fair share of mistakes, but his pedigree is too good and his surrounding cast is strong enough that he’ll be serviceable at worst.
Now if you want to ask me if I’m worried about depth at QB, that’s a different story. But I imagine that’s a concern you and I share right now.
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I thought Notre Dame’s formula for winning a BCS Championship was:
1) Be Notre Dame
2) Show Up
3) Win the First Two Games
4) Reach the Top 5
5) Continue to be Notre Dame
6) Stay in Top Ten for Rest Of Season Regardless of Record
7) ….
8 ) Profit
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I doubt that the move to 3-4 defenses is driven primarily by DT scarcity. You could make an argument that elite 3-4 nose tackles and talented pass rushers are equally difficult to find.
To me it’s more about getting extra speed on the field to deal with spread passing games and option running.
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Dooley will learn from Hamilton the secret of the UT cop out. They must give the NCAA some information about Alabama for which they will be forgiven of all sins.
The 3-4 scares me because of the run stopping problems. If the Nose can’t command a double team then the LB’s are toast. We will also see a steady dose of screens and draws. The one thing UGA has lacked among other things is the ability to not get suckered in on reverses, screens and misdirection plays. Our DE’s were so busy taking bad angles on the QB that they ignored their job of sealing the edge. The Ole Ball Coach will dink and dunk us to death and remember he always loved the draw play. If Garcia can get the ball off in 3 seconds we are screwed but then we would have been screwed anyway.
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That concern for stopping the run up the gut (excepting QB depth following ZM’s departure, which may not be a factor at all) is my major issue as well. The middle seems to be the Achilles Heel of this defense, and the only way to minimize or cover for it is a stud nose guard getting penetration combined with blitzing a MLB in the right hole. The draw doesn’t concern me as much as the straight on power dive since it develops with a delay.
I love the aggressive nature of the 3-4 scheme, and feel you can disguise your angle of attack until the last moment, but having only one guy with his hand on the ground inside the pads of five offensive linemen gives me the creeps. Not so scary if you are playing against PAC10 or Big 12 teams, but in the SEC and Big 11+, you will get tested in that area, and will see RB after RB until you stop it.
On the plus side, we can gamble with bringing hard charging backers on every play who will have a full-head of steam when they hit the line. Lot of Tackle For Loss potential, and disruption with turnovers that we haven’t seen in years. Do we have the right personnel? Can we win the chess matches on where to send our backers? Do the lost yardage and turnover plays offset the yardage given up on simple dive plays? Impossible to tell at this point.
I feel much more confident with the 3-4 against a Florida or Arkansas than I do against a GT A-dive, or Bama’s power running game. SC will be somewhat of a glimpse of how we will fare, but MSU and Auburn could be tougher than usual (unless Gus does us a favor and goes wide all night.)
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The way to win a MNC? Have a top 10 defense.
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This schedule has been touted as UGA’s “easy” schedule.The tagline above about being the first time since ’69 that UGA has 3 out of its first 5 games away should not be ignored. DR was a bad AD and this is only the most recent screw-up. Look at the FLA schedule: 3 out of their first 4 games and 5 out of their first 7 games are at home, with a total of 8 (count’em) home games. UGA has 6 home games. We now have a top-notch AD and we all need to get 100% behind him.
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DE not DR. Please excuse the typo.
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