The luckiest man in the world

If this rumor is true, then Les Miles really is.

“Basically, there are two ways to play like a bad team.”

Bill Connelly’s review of the Georgia-Colorado game is a must read, regardless of how you feel about the program right now.

As a summary of where things stand, his conclusion is spot on:

… Firing a coach is the most dangerous thing you can do as a college football program. Almost all of the dominant programs from the past decade are just 50-50 when it comes to home-run hires. Oklahoma got Bob Stoops because John Blake was terrible. Florida got Urban Meyer because the Ron Zook Experiment was a failure. Alabama threw money at Nick Saban to fix the problems Mike Shula could not. Jim Tressel won the title John Cooper couldn’t (though one would still have to call the Cooper era a success). The vultures are circling Richt, and if Georgia continues to lose this year, patience might not win out. Every losing coach can say that success is right around the corner, but for Georgia that seems true. If Aaron Murray matures, the backs stop fumbling when they sniff the end zone, and the defense continues to marinate in the new scheme, then things should turn around — with Richt or with somebody else.

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Please drive responsibly.

This is somewhat cringe-worthy:

There’s a public service ad on the radio as part of the “Booze it and Lose it” campaign against drunk driving that the govenor’s highway safety department has that includes Derek Dooley. It opens with him saying “An easy way to lose is to make a mistake late in the game.”

And no, that’s not on the same level as Mr. I-Don’t-Know-How-These-Red-Panties-Landed-In-My-Lap’s, but still…

Be careful what you wish for…

Omigawd!  Rumor alert!

If Georgia fires football coach Mark Richt and comes hard after Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, would the Longhorns let him go? Maybe not.

A Texas source said over the weekend that UT might encourage Mack Brown to retire, that the ‘Horns might be ready to commence with the Muschamp era. Not because of any dissatisfaction of Brown, but because of a belief in Muschamp. That’s the extent of Texas’ devotion to Muschamp, who is in his third year as the UT defensive coordinator and has been designated Brown’s successor.

First off, I doubt the folks running UT’s athletic department are that insane.  So, is the feeling that Coach Boom MF would bolt for redder pastures at his alma mater?  Mebbe.

… But it would make perfect sense for Muschamp to go to Georgia job, which is a great job and a great fit for Muschamp. Muschamp, 39, grew up in Rome, Ga., and was a walkon safety at Georgia before entering coaching. Muschamp was a successful defensive coordinator at LSU and Auburn, so his SEC roots run deep.

Well, maybe not too deep.

… If Muschamp wants the Texas job, he still could take the Georgia job. Go to Georgia, do well and Texas will come calling when Brown decides to quit. Muschamp is incredibly popular in Texas, which is why some think he should be elevated at Brown’s expense.

I cannot even begin to fathom the level of Dawgnation angst that scenario would create if it were to play out.  Our fan base would make Tennessee’s reaction to Kiffin’s departure look like a slight shrug of the shoulders.

(h/t EDSBS)

When you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Paul is encouraged by what he heard on Richt’s show last night.  Not crazy, just encouraged.

… Don’t get me wrong…he still has to beat UT or we move into DEFCON 1 PANIC.  But for one night, I finally heard most of what I wanted him to say about the big picture stuff.  Get us tougher, and many other things will fix themselves.

Toughness is good; more toughness would certainly help.  But the other thing that needs to happen is that Richt needs to quit coaching like he’s afraid to lose.

So, here’s my suggestion on a good place to start, Coach – that first Tennessee punt from the middle of the field, as you start to send Logan Gray out to field it, stop, call him back and send in A.J. Green instead.  You need to start a fire and he’s the most combustible talent you’ve got.

Slo-mo train wreck

One of the frustrating things about how I watched the Colorado game was that it was impossible to see how Georgia’s last offensive play broke down.  Via The Original Blawger, here it is in all its glory:

You’ve got an up-the-gut running play that sends the tight end on the right side out, I guess to block downfield.  That leaves Josh Davis in no man’s land; he delays his block on the blitzing LB just long enough to make sure he can’t get in position to keep him out of the backfield.  Top it off with a fumbled hand-off and voilà! – instant loss.

All of that after a time out, if I’m not mistaken.

Tuesday morning buffet

It’s flea flickin’ good.

• Ohio State blogger tries to debunk the SEC speed myth without really discussing, you know… speed.
• Chip Kelly gets spanked for his halftime comment about the officiating in the Stanford game (which I thought was kinda funny, to be honest).
• “We have always been ‘SC,’ ” Adler said, “and we were there first.”
• What Joshua at Oversigning.com sees as a feature about Mark Richt many Dawg fans see as a bug.
• It’s not often you see one liberal commentator tear into another about elitism/snobbery and college athletics, but Jonathan Chait does a good job with it.
• So much for that “we’re doing the same things we were doing when we were winning” approach from Mark Richt.
• Tell me the last line of the first paragraph of this post doesn’t make you laugh out loud.
• Here’s a giant “Oops!” from John Blake’s lawyers.  As a general rule, it’s not a good thing when your lawyers have to do online damage control.
• Mark Richt wasn’t happy about Vance Cuff’s penalty spree Saturday night, but had limited options:

Gary in Buckhead thinks we’re playing Pogo football – we have met the enemy, and he is us, and can’t understand why our defense gets run over the first drive every game? Also, what about a guy with 3 personal fouls?
CMR – Cuff had those 3 penalties. (he named Cuff only because it was already well known) I’d love to get him out of the game. But we had B. Smith who had a concussion and was out the rest of the game. We could yank him out for a play or two but at that moment the best chance we had was him out there playing CB. CMR wanted to yank him out there but wasn’t comfortable enough with anyone else at that spot.

Rogers Redding, master of irony

You have to be impressed with the level of sheer chutzpah it takes to say something like this:

… On the Barnhart and Durham radio show Monday, SEC coordinator of officials Rogers Redding said “several players on both teams had their helmets off” on the play, which ended with a penalty on Tennessee for having 13 players on the field. Allowed to run one more play because of the infraction, LSU scored from 1 yard out to win, 16-14.

“We’re always going to allow that immediate, initial, spontaneous burst of emotion,” Redding said. “These are teenagers that are playing a game that is very emotional.

“It would be so technical and so over-officiating to have called anything like that at the very end of the game.”

I guess next time A.J. should just yank his helmet off.

Best of all, as John Pennington notes, four of the officials on the field calling the LSU-Tennessee game were members of the Curles crew that was suspended last season.

Eat or be eaten.

One of these stats is likely to give this Saturday:

Georgia is last in the SEC in pass efficiency defense at 144.2. Opposing QBs have completed 57.8 percent of their passes for 965 yards and seven TDs. … Tennessee has given up a SEC-high 19 sacks this season.

If Georgia can’t get a consistent pass rush going, don’t be surprised if Matt Simms goes Beyond Crompton.

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UPDATE: If Georgia can’t rush the passer on Saturday, it’ll never be able to.