If you want to complain about something…

There’s very little I disagree with in Year2’s review of Saturday’s game (although I do think Rainey had a much bigger impact on the game than he gives him credit for), and in particular this summary of the one real sin I lay at Mark Richt’s feet about how this season has played out:

… If anything, this season demonstrates that Richt waited a year too long to make changes with his defensive staff. If Todd Grantham came aboard in 2009 and the defense learned on the job then instead of now, you can make the case that Georgia would have defeated Colorado, Florida, and possibly Arkansas as well.

It’s not just that the players would have had another year in Grantham’s (and Lakatos’) system.  It’s also that the coaches would have had a full year to go after recruits better suited for what the new defensive staff wants in its players.  Even with the resulting personnel issues, it’s clear there’s been enough improvement on defense (and special teams, don’t forget) to make you wonder what Richt thought he was going to see sticking with Martinez, Jancek and Fabris last season.

In the end, if things don’t work out, Richt will have nobody to blame for that but himself.

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UPDATE: Paul’s got a laundry list of complaints that’s a worthy read.

Well, I never.

Alligator Army is having a fainting spell over Todd Grantham’s “choke” signal on the game winning field goal (h/t Boys of Old Florida).

Heaven forbid!  A coach wishing that the other team might screw up a key kick in a tight game!  Such bad manners!

By the way, on the “stay classy” front, did anyone notice that Meyer was directing a few choice Gator chomps in the direction of Georgia fans after the game?

It was a big, exciting game and shit happens… move on, you sensitive souls.

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UPDATE: Good Lord, has everyone gone batshit insane over that stupid pic?

Now, it would be understandable if Grantham thought, “Choke!” or “Miss it!” in his head. It wouldn’t even be surprising a Georgia player yelled, “Choke!” or grabbed his neck.

But for a 44-year-old college coach to be grabbing his neck when a 21-year-old is lining up for a field goal? That would be a bit much. It would be over the line — certainly not to the point of when Woody Hayes punched a Clemson player in the 1978 Gator Bowl, but excessive nonetheless.

Well, I’m relieved to hear that.  Seriously, this is the series that in the last two seasons has had Tebow prancing around in the third quarter with his towel and Gator chomp in hand and Meyer calling gratuitous time outs near game’s end.  Being on the receiving end of both, I can’t say that either bothered me overly much (and I don’t remember Schultz making a big deal out of either at the time).  If it turns out that Grantham was in fact giving the choke sign to Henry, why is that such a major faux pas by comparison?

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UPDATE #2: While we’re hyperventilating about class, dial up this clip to about the 0:27 mark and keep your eyes on Tavarres King on the sideline.

My Week Nine Mumme Poll ballot

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Auburn
• Boise State
• Missouri
• Oklahoma
• Nebraska
• Oregon
• Stanford
• TCU

COMMENTS

• Just missing the cut:  Ohio State, Utah.  Strength of schedule is hurting both teams.
• Iowa’s impressive win over Michigan State helped Arizona in my eyes.
• Hardest part of this week’s ballot was whether to rank two or three Big 12 teams in my top ten.
• The easiest part was being able to completely ignore two BCS conferences.

Sometimes you gotta say, “what the (eff).”

Who doesn’t have a moment like this now and then?

Vols Jr DL Malik Jackson’s explanation for his late hit on Stephen Garcia: “I was just like, ‘(Eff) it,’ and I hit him.”Sun Oct 31 05:43:51 via TweetDeckWes Rucker
wesrucker

SEC Power Poll, Week Nine

You could call the games of the weekend a confirmation, as the order of my power poll didn’t change.

1. Auburn. This week, Cam Newton tries his hand at punt returns.
2. Alabama. Conference-wise, the off week didn’t have much effect, but nationally, it was a very good weekend for the Tide.
3. LSU. Gary Crowton with an off week.  Imagine the possibilities.
4. Arkansas. Spotted Vandy eight points in the first quarter and still ran ’em off the field.  Yawn.
5. South Carolina. The clock strikes November.  Not putting Tennessee away until the middle of the fourth quarter doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
6. Mississippi State. It wasn’t pretty, but they won their sixth in a row.  They’ll get a bye week bounce after this weekend, to boot.
7. Florida. The Gators are a better team with Rainey and a healthy Jeff Demps.  But in years past, a Florida team with a plus-3 advantage in turnover margin in a Cocktail Party game would have crushed Georgia.
8. Georgia. These Dawgs can’t win a close game.  Still, they don’t get blown out by anyone either.
9. Kentucky. Not good enough to overcome turning the ball over a bunch.
10. Mississippi. Just a bad, bad defensive team.
11. Tennessee. Once again, they fight and they lose.
12. Vanderbilt. After the season, we’ll look back on that win over Mississippi and marvel.