As a couple of commenters noted, I haven’t posted a comparison of how Todd Grantham stacks up against the three men that broke Mark Bradley’s heart by (reportedly) turning down the Georgia defensive coordinator’s job – Smart, Chavis and Foster – in a while. So because you guys asked, here goes (stats via the NCAA):
TOTAL DEFENSE
- LSU, 6th
- Georgia, 15th
- Alabama, 17th
- Virginia Tech, 46th
SCORING DEFENSE
- Alabama, 5th
- LSU, 7th
- Georgia, 23rd
- Virginia Tech, 28th
A more than credible result for the new kid on the block. Grantham is still showing up his former mentor at Virginia Tech quite well.
Of course, we’ll see what he’s got after this week. Chavis is the one who looks most impressive here, as Grantham and Smart have yet to take on Malzahn and Newton.
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UPDATE: The head coach had hoped for a shorter learning curve this season.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t. But I guess it’s pretty natural for that to happen,” Richt said. There’s always a learning curve. When something’s brand new, it takes awhile. We’ve had some very good outings defensively. I think we’ll get a whole lot better as the season rolls on, and going into next season we’ll be a whole lot better.”
Get The Picture 
Wonder if Grantham would have been looking for a job this week if he hadn’t left the ‘Boys for the Dogs.
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Thank you,
And I’m glad we got a look at it before the Auburn game.
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Not too shabby for a first year coach… especially one that followed Willie.
/still has Crompton nightmares.
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…which is why it blows my mind when you hear UGA fans claim they see no improvement over last year. Our defense is leaps and bound better than it was last year and that is in a brand new scheme with square peg players in round hole positions (in places). Not to mention we APPARENTLY have zero NFL talent on defense, which makes it all that much more impressive what CTG is doing.
/humor button off
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I should probably throw in a caveat to my statement that we have seen a lot of busted plays this year that are undoubtedly driving the short sighted frustrations, but isn’t that what we expected? I’ve seen Rambo make plays before so I know he can play. I just think he’s confused as hell right now. Overall, the D is much better than it was last year.
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Not sure about “zero NFL talent”. Justin Houston is a likely first rounder – although just a junior. Wouldn’t be surprised if Tyson and Boykin were in the league next year – if they leave early. Only 1 senior, Dent, is probably an NFL longshot. But I agree CTG has been a big improvement, and I don’t believe anyone would argue we’re loaded with D talent. We do have plenty of 4 star D recruits on the roster – makes you wonder.
I would add that CTG and CRG need to make some progress on the D recruiting front before signing day. Only two LBs and one DL are verbals so far.
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My comments were tongue in cheek. Poking fun at all the haters who think we have no talent on D. As for Dent…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/10/11/risers.sliders/index.html
Houston is a lock for the NFL next year, if not this year. And for all the crap thrown Boykin’s way, I’m a little uneasy he’ll leave after this year. I also would not be surprised to see Commings get a look in the league with his size and ball skills (WLOCP party notwithstanding), along with Tyson, Geathers, and Tree. Robinson is going to have to bulk up and Dowtin will have to find some consistency, but they could be on the radar. That doesn’t include those like Stripling (who I absolutely love for next year), who we’ve yet to really see.
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For comparison sake-
Where did UGA stand in these two categories this time last year?
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Unfortunately, the NCAA doesn’t keep the stats for each week, so all I can show you is where the Dawgs finished last season: 38th in total defense and 64th in scoring defense.
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You forgot about Ellis Johnson. Bradley had him as his first choice
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No rumor of a Richt job offer, though.
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I thought they were mad because we waited too long and didn’t snatch up Vic Koenning when we had the chance…?
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Yeah, probably should include Illinois on this, too. Just for funzies.
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Comparing TG to Willie would be a better assessment. Did you see TA&M torching Oklahoma DBs?
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We held A&M off pretty well last year too with just 3 assistants and CMR doing the D.
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Whatever John Chavis is making, LSU should immediately double it.
The way those freshmen came in and played against Bama was incredibly impressive.
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Considering Grantham has installed a brand new scheme on D, those numbers stack up just fine. The other 3 guys have been at their schools for years, and their players know the system. Grantham doesn’t have that luxury. We recruit a few more quality DBs and a big nose tackle steps up next year (hopefully Bean Anderson), our D is only going to get better.
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I hope ctg has the sense to watch defense used by tam vs. vince young(mnc yr). It is the way to slow laptop newton.
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So UGA had one Defensive TD until Saturday and then those two TDs moved the rank to 23rd in the nation?
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I could be mistaken but I think scoring defense means how many points you actually give up…
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That makes a hell of a lot more sense.
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Yea…if Scoring D was how many pts the D scored it would be like 1st place, 2nd place, 3 rd place…4th place(30 teams tied), 5th place(40 teams tied)…etc
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Eh, our stats are better but we still choked against UF
So, not much difference
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Our D choked against Fla?
Considering that Fla came into that game using a new QB rotation that had not been used before and got Rainey and Demps back. Also note that the D held strong on the first pick Murray threw that CWM D would have allowed to turn into 7 pts for the Gators.
Then consider that 1st half with 3(2 deep inside our territory) turnovers from UGA they held Fla to 21 first half pts. Then held them to 10 pts in the 2nd half. Then held them to 3 pts in OT. Trust me Meyer was wanting to get a TD on that…he did not want to put it into his kickers hands.
So yea..the D sucked…
Oh yea…
CWM last 3 years allowed over 30pts 3 times, 40 pts 2 times, and 50ts once. So yea…CTG is sucking it up down there in Fla. Not to mention in the last 2 years we have had at least 3 TOs on Off against Fla…those other 2 years the D let those games go from 20pts at half to 40pts+ at the end.
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