Early impressions of some teams are starting to crystallize. Others remain somewhat of a mystery. Welcome to the first quarter of the season.
- Alabama. Can I have a mulligan on my “Alabama won’t run the table” call? If the Tide loses a regular season game, it’ll be because they screwed up, not because another team took it to them.
- South Carolina. I don’t think the ‘Cocks can beat Alabama, but based on what I’ve seen so far, they’ve got a good chance with Florida.
- Florida. The secondary has been great. So have the special teams. Run defense is good. The offense is… ordinary. They’ve done a decent job adjusting their power game, but nobody respects the option with Brantley running it and the passing game isn’t anything special. The Gators are good enough to win this year’s version of the East, but not much more.
- LSU. Setting a field goal record in a game where they go +4 in turnover margin tells you a lot about where the Tigers are at right now. Getting outgained by a struggling Mississippi State offense tells you even more.
- Auburn. Yes, Clemson’s coaches are that dumb. But I give Ted Roof and Gus Malzahn credit for making adjustments in a game where they could have gotten buried.
- Arkansas. World-class passing game, mediocre running game and a secondary that even Georgia exposed add up to sixth-best right now. I don’t think the Hogs will mount a serious threat to Alabama, but that Auburn game sure could be interesting.
- Kentucky. You know that kid who stayed out of everybody’s way when there was a big fight? That’s Kentucky. Let’s see how the ‘Cats do this week with Florida.
- Georgia. Can’t say the slow start is a huge surprise, especially given the absence of A.J. Green. But a loss in Starkvegas this Saturday means the wheels are coming off the wagon.
- Mississippi State. The hardest call this week was whether to rank these Bulldogs ahead of the Vols or vice versa. I gave them the tiniest of nods because I think their defense is slightly better than Tennessee’s. But I reserve the right to change my mind.
- Tennessee. Passion – which these Vols are playing with – will only take you so far. They just don’t have the horses to hang in there with decent teams for a full sixty minutes.
- Vanderbilt. My apologies, Commodores. I’ll doubt you no more.
- Ole Miss. The last time Vanderbilt scored 28 points on an SEC team? November 15, 2008, in a 31-24 win against Kentucky. Houston, you have a problem.
Get The Picture 
As much as I hate to say this, I’m more sick of Gamecock fan than Gator fan right now. They are more obnoxious than Tech. I hope the Gators demolish them.
LikeLike
Just so everyone is aware just how far this program has fallen, UGA is now +1 at the Wynn for Saturday.
That should tell you all you need to know about what the public realizes about our coaching that many here seem to be slow to figure out.
If anyone could find out the last time UGA was the underdog against a Mississippi school, it would be appreciated.
LikeLike
I think that figure should be blown up and pasted in the locker room for all the players to view. Tomorrow is promised to no one and the last thing we want is for this bunch to waltz into Starkville with the impression that a W is a foregone conclusion.
I’m confident our Dawgs will gel at some point in the process and I think that begins this week.
I hope and pray that Caleb is back for this one. To be forced to suffer through any more of WE’s pass blocking would be too much to bear.
Go Dawgs.
LikeLike
Per Ray Goff circa 1995: “We never have set the woods on fire in Oxford”
ugh
LikeLike
To further elaborate, it’s obvious that we will lose by at least two touchdowns in Starkville.
And we should be at the bottom of the power poll, below even Ole Miss.
I dare anyone to prove me wrong.
LikeLike
Is that a “dare” or a “double dawg dare”?
And how exactly would we prove you wrong, sport?
LikeLike
Why would anyone copy a person’s fake name on a blog and continue posting things under said name?
It is not that hard to come up with your own moniker.
LikeLike
My apologies. He’s been banned.
I’m not sure why the asshole quota has risen lately here. Is it something I’ve done?
LikeLike
No, it is nothing you have done.
Losing games you told everybody at work we would win tends to make assholes gape.
Stand Firm, it could get worse.
The Boo Birds are circling.
LikeLike
Fire Senator Blutarsky! Clearly the product isn’t what it was in 2005. 😉
LikeLike
You alright, I learned it from watch you!
LikeLike
Now that’s…
LikeLike
This is by far the most entertaining bit I ever saw from the Lawrence Welk show. Plus, he was dead serious with his comment. He actually thought it was a gospel number. Where do you come up with this stuff, DIF?
LikeLike
Are you serious? Or are you “trolling” for responses? Dogs will win the next 3 by 14 points or more each. This is starting to get silly.
LikeLike
He’s been banned for posting under a variety of other people’s monikers.
LikeLike
Line is +1.5 right now. I’m sorry, but I’ll take that all day.
LikeLike
UGa is still UGa she will bounce back in spite of Vegas:
Robert Roy MacGregor: Perhaps you’d like to wager a sum for her maintenance.
LikeLike
UGA is a girl? I call BS on that AHD.
LikeLike
I’m not sold on AU, even at #5. If they’re “that high”, it’s based on talent/potential. But, they aren’t deep or experienced enough.
The defense is still a work in progress with a pitiful secondary. There’s no depth in the secondary – especially at LB. The defense was exposed Saturday night as vulnerable to plays that take advantage of their agression.
The OL has holes. The QB isn’t a terrific passer and the staff seems to think making him focus on passing is a good idea. The trickeration plays don’t work against fast defensive fronts.
I still think AU falls to USC, UGA, SPUAT, and maybe someone else.
LikeLike
And, don’t forget, the relative mediocrity of the middle of the conference right now.
LikeLike
Exactly.
I think the saving grace of the SEC’s national reputation has been the BCS champ games of late.
We’re an average conference with wild outliers as champions.
LikeLike
I love that you guys call ‘Bama the SPUAT. That makes me laugh every time.
LikeLike
AU played a very physical game against Clemson. That’s more that I can say for UGA. The Dawgs are soft and until that changes, the slide will continue. Based on performance up to this point, UGA should be ranked 10 or 11 in the power poll.
LikeLike
I agree that AU played a physical game (eventually).
I didn’t get to watch the UGA Arky or SC games closely enough to get a feel for the team effort.
But, it seems to me that UGA might just have had too much change in the offseason. New D, New DC, New QB.
Maybe we’re basing some of our expectations on the team’s performance on the dregs of Stafford and Co’s success. I get the impression that everyone is expecting more than what actually appears to be there (at least this early in the year). I think it’s the same with AU in their recovery from 3 years of terrible recruiting – people expect more than they should.
UGA has some future shining stars, but they just need some more polishing.
LikeLike
Ward,
We are Georgia fans, expecting more than we rationally should is part of the bloodline, apparently.
LikeLike
I thought AU turned the Clemson-AU game around with hitting. You can make up for a lot of deficiencies in talent with a team that really hits. Not wanting to be negative but that is one of UGA’s problems right now.
LikeLike
Was it UGA’s coach that said his players were afraid to hit somebody/feel some pain/something along those lines?
…or was it GTs?
You make a good point, though. Knocking the stuffin’ outta somebody is quite the deterrent toward additional aggression.
LikeLike
Do it enough and the receivers get alligator arms and the backs start tiptoeing through the line. People start thinking more about getting hit than doing their jobs.
LikeLike
Well, yeah I went there. My youngest is a Freshman Finace major and we already covered “Land Ethic” (me a Science/Engineering side..him way on the other side of campus) deal…. but it all made for a great Father/Son about the game.
Don’t Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow –
You might succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt –
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.
– Unknown –
yeah we are gonna spank Miss State in a big way!
LikeLike
This is good advice not only for football but for life as well.
LikeLike
It’s easy to grin
When your ship has come in
And you’ve got the stock market beat
But the man worthwhile
Is the man who can smile,
When his pants are too tight in the seat
LikeLike
Terrific rhyming and outstanding underlying moral.
LikeLike
I’m about as big a homer as anyone, but how you can rank Georgia above Vandy & even Tennessee right now is beyond me.
Vols are playing w/ more passion to win than Georgia has in 2 years. And Vandy just knocked off Ole Miss in Oxford. That’s more than we’ve done….as the SEC East standings show.
Probably why Vegas has Miss State favored over Georgia.
LikeLike
“What’s the matter……ain’t you got no pride”?
From a Frank Orgel half time High School game speech. Yeah… but still it applies. Dawgs by 14 over the pretend Dogs in Mississippi. Next Saturday.
Book it! I’m banking on Bulldog pride. We win this.
just sayin’
LikeLike
Ole Miss also lost to Jacksonville State. I think a lot of teams are going to win in Oxford this year.
And was it the Vols’ “passion” that led to them giving up 45 straight points at home?
We didn’t look great against Mallet, but we didn’t give up 45 straight points either.
LikeLike
Will: I’ll give you the horrendous loss against Oregon – a top 5 team mind you, who’s scoring a point per minute of football played btw. But for a team so depleted they sure played Florida close until the 4th quarter. They most definitely looked better than the UGA squad i’ve seen up close & personal for 3 weeks.
And i didn’t include Ole Miss btw. I said Vandy & Tennessee.
LikeLike
I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that there are a lot of crummy teams that are going to use “hey, we hung with Florida for a while!” as a battle cry this year.
Newsflash: Florida kinda sucks.
LikeLike
Yardage total for LSU had way more to do with field position than the offense. They punted one time all night and never struggled to move the ball. State was never in that game whatsoever.
They did struggle punching it in, but we’re still saying it’s a step in the right direction.
LikeLike
What does it say about the program when we are debating whether or not we will beat the bizarro bulldogs? Sad.
I do think the dawgs will pull one out this saturday if they play up to the talent level. If they go in flat, they will lose. DM is a very good OC. He has tape on how to move the ball on the ground and through the air. I’m worried that the O won’t be able to keep up. The S&C program is the first thing that needs to change, then the o-staff.
Having said that, I’ll be cheering on the dawgs this Saturday. I’ve just lost confidence in some of our coaches, not the players.
LikeLike
“Getting outgained by a struggling Mississippi State offense tells you even more.”
This is why looking at the stats and not watching the game can get you in trouble. LSU had 5 picks, and four of them were returned nicely. We always had a short field, so yes, we could put points on the board at the end of almost every drive without gaining much in the way of offensive yardage. Meanwhile, MSU has a long field on each drive, and as the lead gets larger, your defense (correctly) is more worried about giving up points than yardage or TOP. I’ll take a 22 point victory over MSU anyday, after that goal line stand situation last year, and this MSU team might be better… but you’ll see that first hand this Saturday.
LikeLike
I watched the game. The stats were merely a confirmation of what I saw. Your offense averaged less than five yards per touch and barely six yards per pass attempt. Despite the huge edge in turnover margin, LSU only ran 55 plays on offense. And that’s even with being relatively decent on third down conversions.
I do agree with you that MSU looks better on defense this year. But I wouldn’t exactly call LSU an offensive dynamo right now.
LikeLike
When Chris Low put us up there at # 2 and you ran over there to come print it here, I said no way.
I saw comments like why not # 2.
Now, here we are 2 SEC games into the season like 2006, like 2007, like 2008, like 2009, like 2010 – and our season is over.
# 8 in The SEC.
Did anyone forget that Georgia is the # 11 College Football Program in 1-A Wins All-Time ?
After the 2005 season, we are 10-11 vs SEC East teams when there only was 1 opponent for us I point out and are # 2 in the Fulmer Cup Standings after 2005 season as well named the All-Time Fulmer Cup Standings which began after the 2005 season.
After playing a LOUSY Arky Defense Saturday (and Louisiana Lafayette), we are # 8 in The SEC and have the # 81 Total Offense. But, Chris Low of ESPN can only muster as EXCUSE that we don’t have 1 guy. Mike Bobo would have faked the ball to AJ Green with his job on the line as it most assuredly was on 3rd and 4 looking at a 67-yard field goal with 1:04 left in a tie game at HOME.
We are NOT in this situation because of any 1 guy. Coach Richt FIRED his entire Defensive Staff except the recruiting coordinator who brings us all these arrests / suspensions, and then said he would prominently be involved in this Offensive Staff.
After this now over season too, we lose 15 seniors and 4-5 juniors so please do not bring that weak B.S. that with a freshman QB and new Defensive Scheme that we will be great in 2011.
Where is our 2010 Signing Class on Offense in-state ? Where is it 2011 ? Buck Belue is right even when he removed his post of 9/17 from the Internet ? His post today is because he spent all day Saturday thinking about his post of 9/17 and then removed it. Waited 3 days and put up his post today. Put back up your post from 9/17 Buck and then that explains why you said what you did today that everything is just fine with the play-calling by a coach paid big bucks who complains that the player paid nothing doesn’t throw the ball quickly enough for him.
Uh, no everything is not right with the play-calling or we would have some recruits in here 2010 or 2011 on offense who would do what you want done Mike Bobo.
By the way, it is NOT a college player Chris Low who is PAID $ 3 million dollars a year. So, you too, can quit with the EXCUSES that it is a player.
Hey Bobo, Aaron Murray is the ONLY BRIGHT SPOT on your offense.
LikeLike