Watched the replay yesterday. Again, nothing earth shattering to report, but I did miss some things live that I caught on the broadcast that I wanted to mention.
- Aron White had a terrific game, both catching the ball and blocking. Orson Charles better watch his back as the starter.
- Chapas continues to get his blocking mojo back. He looks almost 100% recovered from his injury.
- Somebody needs to be cleaning up the pitch man on the option behind Justin Houston’s good work.
- Aaron Murray hit receivers in stride several times, something we didn’t see much of last year.
- Vanderbilt’s Casey Hayward is an impressive cornerback.
- I don’t have much of a problem with the two reversed calls, but A.J. got screwed on the TD catch that was waved off.
- Dave Neal’s “heh,heh,heh” on the last replay of A.J.’s toast-the-safety touchdown catch and run was priceless.
Get The Picture 
Congratulations on the win, Dawgs. Glad to see a little momentum head yall’s way.
Wow, funny how a couple of weeks change everything.
I think you guys will beat UF, but will get hammered by Aubarn. [However, I am holding out some slim hope that CTG’s 3-4 will be a fertile testing ground for some ideas Saban might have for slowing down Newton.]
Should be interesting to watch.
Have a good day,
BD
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I don’t think Auburn can play enough defense to really hammer anyone, but I’d certainly pick them to win a tight one against Georgia right now.
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I think they hammered Arkansas! 🙂
They really only need to break your serve (i.e. turnover or make you punt) a couple of times a game.
This makes me sad.
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Great offenses, no matter how good can’t be counted on like a great defense can, even the best have off days, witness the fact that Auburn scored only 17 points against Mississippi State earlier this year. Hopefully they’ll be off and we’ll be on but I think we got about a 1 in 5 shot in that game.
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Bryant Denny: altho not as intense as the Iron Bowl, UGA-AU is rivalry enough that records and prior performance often don’t matter. Each team has come into the game a real underdog and found a way to win. So much so that I look forward to the AU game more in years like this one (or, say, 1986 or 2006) that I did in, say, 1997 (when they embarrassed us in Athens following our upset of UF) and 1980 (I just knew they’d find a way to ruin everything, but we escaped). At any rate, it’s a good year when UGA and UA both beat the Tiggers!
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The UGA-AUB rivalry lost a lot of intensity when we split into divisions IMO some of those 80’s clashes were vicious and I hated Auburn almost as bad as Florida back then today I still hate Florida but Auburn is more of a fun game with great competition that you always want to win but don’t really wish them ill will as bad outside of your game. I too pull for Bama against them but that’s because I have some Bama family.
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They certainly messed up 1971 for us. That may have been CVD’s best non-Herschel team and it did not win the SEC championship because of a lone loss to Auburn. A win in that game and UGA might have been the MNC that season, too.
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Watched the game agian yesterday, and one thing I want to know is how the hell did Murray get up from that huge helmet to helmet hit. The slow mo look really violent. Also, how did the refs miss that personal foul? I heard it and I know everyone in the stadium heard that shot.
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They weren’t calling ANYTHING on Vandy. Green was interfered with at least twice without call. If it was a judgement call they gave Vandy the benefit of the doubt pretty much all day. It was amazing that Murray seemed totally unfazed by that hit though.
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They probably let it slide because it was unintentional. Murray spun around right into the oncoming defender. I thought they usually called that stuff anyway.
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Yep. Noticed that too. There were a couple of nice takedowns by Vandy’s O line. I know holding isn’t called that much but they were pretty blatant. AJ did get mugged a couple of times.
Murray continues to impress. He would have easily had 300 yards if not for the drops.
Durham and King are going to give defenses something else to have to think about besides AJ.
The defensive intensity seems to have increased the last couple of weeks. I know it was Vanderbilt and Tennessee but it’s not like we’ve been killing either one the past few years. It looks (and we’ll know more next week) like the defense is starting to click a little which means less thinking and playing faster. They were much more physical than at the start of the year.
Ealey ran well but the verdict is still out considering how bad Vandy is against the run. Being aggressive with the play calling is helping to open up the run game.
The Dawgs may not run the table (although I think they will have a legitimate shot at doing so) but if they continue to play like they have the last couple of weeks they will be somone you really don’t want to play.
How about the kickoff coverage? Belin has improved that and the play of the linebackers significantly. Nice to see and bodes well for the future.
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So far it looks like Belin is worth every last penny they’re paying him.
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Yeah and its a hell of a shame that Rennie Curran was stuck Martinez/Jancek, DGD.
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Re: A.J.’s stolen touchdown–
I wish the refs would finally just give superman the benefit of the doubt and call it a touchdown, and let the review overturn it if there’s sufficient evidence. They’ve screwed him out of TD’s multiple times in his career; you’d think they’d learn…
(On the other hand, they gave Aub the benefit of the doubt on all the calls in their game)
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It does appear that SEC officials have a tendency to protect high ranked teams. I guess it’ll be nice when we get back there (which we will) but I’d rather see them get the calls right.
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They will not protect us. Ever.
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If we were undefeated, they absolutely would protect us.
There are 18 million reasons they would do it in order to get two teams in a BCS bowl.
Look at these game-changing incorrect calls in the past season and a half:
Auburn vs. Arkansas 2010;
Alabama vs. LSU 2009;
Alabama vs. Tennessee 2009;
Florida vs. Arkansas 2009; and
LSU vs. Georgia 2009.
In every case, the game was changed to give the undefeated team the advantage, both on the field and in the replay booth.
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So you think you think Penn Wagers and Co. get a piece of that 18 million? If what you’re saying is correct they’d have to be, otherwise why risk prison? We’ve been getting screwed by refs my whole life no matter what we were ranked and it’s just increased to the tenth power since the celebration.
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Look at who the crews were for those games.
You will see it was not always Penn Wages’ crew.
This directive comes from the SEC office.
They also ignore penalties on an overmatched team in order to keep the games reasonably close for their TV advertisers.
This has been the case for a very long time.
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That’s an awful lot of people to keep quiet about something like that.
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The Mafia was kept secret for a very long time and it had a whole lot more people involved than the SEC office and SEC refs. All it would take to expose this corrupt system of game-fixing would be a legitimate government investigation that turns up just one stool pigeon. Put some of those assholes in front of a grand jury under threat of prosecution for perjury and see what happens. Penn Wagers would be singing his head off. He would roll over on Slive so fast you would not believe it.
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I hadn’t bought into the conspiracy theory about the SEC refs and the higher ranked team, but Auburn got every call the other night. Arkansas got royally screwed a couple of times.
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It’s hard not to believe at this point and yet they continue to operate as if no one is watching.
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Hell the SEC might as well write it down, it has become so obvious. Until you lose you are protected, once you lose all bets are off. The UF game should be the best called game in years since neither one of us is worth a damn and the SEC just doesn’t care.
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Ha! +1
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Not quite. There is still the anti-UGA bias. Since the game means nothing the refs will feel free to screw the Dawgs at will.
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One thing about the overturned fumble call (the incompletion) and the rule governing incompletions that bothers me is what the hell constitutes a “football move.” It seems to me that possessing the ball, turning and trying to transfer the ball to your outside hand is a “football move.” I guess my point is that it’s a crappy rule relying too heavily on the judgement of cheats and idiots.
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AM wasn’t hitting WR in stride the first part of the season but has put that behind him. He’s growing up fast. I hope he doesn’t get hit like that helmet to helmet to many times though.
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+1 on Aron White, the ball he caught reaching behind him with his hands and never breaking stride was mighty fine.
All this discussion about “winning the East” and whether we can beat Auburn and Florida is freaking me totally out.
This is clearly a better Kentucky team than the one that beat us at home last year….apparently some of us think we are still in the 80’s.
Please, let’s deal with Pat Dye’s Amen Corner when we get to it.
In the meantime can we forget about anybody but Kentucky?
Please.
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They look about the same as last year to me, perhaps a little better offensively and a little worse defensively. Which balances out to mediocre. If they beat Gerogia they probably go 7-5. If not, they probably go 6-6. I’m not writing them off, but if Georgia’s last two games are indicative of the turnaround I’m hoping for, this game shouldn’t be that close. If, however, Georgia reverts back to Colorado form, God help us.
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We’ve definitely looked better lately, but we’ve yet to see if this improved play is portable. We need to put together a consistent game on both sides of the ball on the road to win this game, and the jury is still very much out on that.
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Cobb —wheel route. If I were Kentucky I would go to it time and time again until UGA stopped it. Hope CTG has got a plan. The D may be growing up.
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You can only run that play a few times in a game and expect it to work. I assume Kentucky will score some points, but if the Georgia offense doesn’t stop itself, I don’t think they’ll score enough to keep pace. If Georgia puts the ball on the ground two or three times though, they’ll probably lose.
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I’m very concerned about Cobb (and possibly Locke) taking short passes in the flats all day long, with a wheel route thrown in here and there until Georgia proves they can defend it.
I’m hoping they defend both well, and the Dawgs crack 40 and hold the opposition below 20 for the third week in a row.
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I’m not even thinking about this game not being close. I hope that I’m wrong and we smoke them Saturday night.
The good news is that Kentucky’s D has looked like a sieve against the run a good part of the season being 11th in the conference in rushing D (though that statistic is likely not indicative of anything with respect to our game this Saturday since they’ve played Auburn, Florida, and South Carolina). They’re a respectable 6th in passing D though outside of Garcia and Newton they haven’t played anyone that is overly threatening in the passing game. They’re 10th in the conference in opponent’s third down conversion percentage (though I’m not going to crow too loudly about that since the Dawgs are 11th).
What worries me though is that we haven’t faced a team this good on offense in some time. Hartline has been solid if not spectacular. Locke (if he plays) and Cobb are number 2 and 3, respectively, in the conference in all purpose yards and Locke is first in rushing yards per game and third in total rushing yards on the season (behind Newton and Ridley who have each played one more game). Kentucky doesn’t give up many sacks either having a conference best of less than one sack per game allowed.
Certainly, stats don’t mean a whole lot after the first kick, but I guess that my point is that Georgia and Kentucky over this season are pretty even statistically. Our last two games have skewed our statistics favorably. Kentucky’s games against Florida (especially) and Auburn have possibly skewed their statistics negatively. So I’m going to walk into Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday evening ready for a hard fought game. GATA boys.
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By “not that close” I meant a 10-14 point final spread. I’m not expecting to run them out of of the stadium.
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+1000
We can talk about UF after the Kentucky game. Cobb on the wheel route worries the crap out of me.
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Throw in the naked boot or a zone read QB keeper and I break into a cold sweat.
Our defenders follow the flow of the O-line regardless of the ball (or “irregardless” as they say at the Vent).
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From what I’ve seen from Kentucky’s defense, I don’t believe they will defend our bootleg or wheel route very well. either.
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+1.
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We were ranked #1 two years ago and the refs had no problem screwing us then, either.
SEC officiating is bad to the point of criminality. What we’ve seen the last few years- the one sided calls, the phantom “celebration” penalties, the no-calls on flagrant fouls-have gotten so out of control that someone should be demanding an audience with the head of the NCAA. Obviously the SEC isn’t going to do shit about it.
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Our new AD needs to put together a tape of all the really obvious blown calls and no-calls from just this year and, after the season is over, have a meeting with Slive (lawyers included) to discuss this. I do not know that the NCAA can or would do anything. The SEC controls the refs. If this really is a conspiracy and the SEC is fixing games the Justice Department should get involved and prosecute the offenders.
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Upon further review, the first quarter still concerns me about where we are. Vandy was fresh, and made some big pass plays deep in the secondary. We have multiple offensive and coaching errors. If this happens against better competition (pretty much everybody other than Idaho St. from here on) we are in big trouble.
I like the improvements over the past couple of weeks, but UT and Vandy played really, really poorly against us. First order of business is Kentucky AND continued improvement in ALL phases of the game.
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We are the only 3-4 team in the country with fans crazy enough to think that they can win the division. We are a maybe 6-6 team that is one slip at UK or GT away from finishing 4-8. The Red and Black glasses must be beer goggles.
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I would agree with that assessment if they’d eked out wins the last two weeks. The blowouts make me think this team might be as good as we all hoped coming into the season and that the four-game losing streak was an anomaly. This Saturday will go a long way to proving or disproving that assessment. But to act like there’s no reason for optimism is as silly as assuming they’re going to win out.
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That’s the most accurate assessment of this team that I’ve seen. Dawgs are definitely underachievers. The coaches will do just enough to warrant a return for another chance next season. With that in mind, expect a win at uk and at least one win over fl, aub or gtu. So 6-6 and a bowl win in Birmingham is all but guaranteed.
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Well… somebody has to win it.
South Carolina can (and should) win it in Gainesville on Nov. 13, but South Carolina doesn’t exactly have a history of success going down the stretch in November. They should win at Vandy this week, but crazy things could happen on Oct. 30th. I wouldn’t automatically assume that Tennessee game is a win. Then they play Arky, who could beat them, and a trip to Gainesville. It would take Sakerlina losing two of those to get Georgia back in it, but that is not the most implausible scenario.
Is Kentucky going to win it? Not likely. Florida? Georgia has as good a shot as they do. So the only team more likely to win it than Georgia has never done it before, and has a history of blowing it down the stretch. Why is that so far-fetched?
For all the talk about Auburn… let’s revisit this season.
1) 17-14 win @ Miss. State… Auburn didn’t score in the 2nd half.
2) 27-24 OT win vs. Clemson (3-3… only win of note versus Maryland)…Clemson just missed winning TD in OT & missed subsequent field goal.
3) 35-27 win vs. Sakerlina…Sakerlina led 27-21 going into the 4th & committed 4 turnovers in the final quarter (the first fumble on the SoCar 26 after a Wes Byrum missed field goal).
4) 37-34 win @ Kentucky… Auburn scored 6 points in the second half & all but let Kentucky back in the game.
5) 65-43 win vs. Arkansas… Mallett went down & they gave up 332 yards passing & 4 TD’s to the backup in 3 quarters. They were given two TD’s by poor officiating, including the one that broke Arky’s back when the score was 44-43 and Auburn showed no signs of being able to stop them. Two subsequent turnovers made the score appear much worse than it really was. Auburn was outgained by 96 yards, was +3 (+1 referee f-up) in turnovers, and they had them at home without their starting quarterback.
Is it likely that Georgia will win @ Auburn? No. But, they are not the giants that Florida was in 2008 or Alabama was in 2009 either.
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I think I’ll move my mood from shell-shocked to cautiously optimistic. Let’s not book the Westin just yet.
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I never thought I would say this about a CMR team, but damn, 7 and 5 would look good this year. South Carolina seems to falter in the second half every year. I was wondering if it was a combination of lack of depth and conditioning. The OBC has been taking it easy on his guys in fall camp because he can’t afford to get anyone hurt. The same lack of depth forces his starters to play extra minutes in tough games increasing the chance of injury to his key people and wearing out his starters, especially on D. Kind of like the Dawgs in 2008. Look at what happened to the OBC’s rushing attack after Lattimore was hurt. I haven’t heard much about USCe’s depth this year, but lack of depth has certainly hurt them in the past. The Dawgs have the misfortune to play them early every year, when they are fresh. Would that the new AD reschedules them for later in the season.
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