The WWL picks up the 7:45 slot for the Tech game.
- Bloviation for the Dawgnation
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“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
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Get The Picture · Bloviation for the Dawgnation
Get The Picture 
Not sure how much it will be looked at as a big game, but I really believe that Coach Richt may be coaching for his job in that one.
The one unpardonable sin for a UGA coach is losing to Gtu. Coming as the caboose to a 5-7 season would likely spell the end of Coach Richt’s tenure in Athens.
I have appreciated the way that the team fought back during the season, but a lot of the endemic problems are not going to go away, no matter what assistants are fired.
The two most troubling things I saw all day were Tavarres King arguing with Coach Richt and none of our offensive linemen wailing on Fairley after the hit to the back of Murray. Those two instances displayed the lack of respect for the head coach and the lack of unity within the program. I could not believe that someone did not punch Fairley in the throat after that hit. The lack of reaction was worse than the offense.
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I think you misread that one. Richt was getting on King for talking smickety-smack. (He did the same thing to Tavarres during the Florida game when he high-stepped into the endzone for a TD. ) Seeing how Ealey and others still find it within themselves to weauxf all over the field, flags be damned, I wasn’t unhappy for the little chit-chat.
Do what? We were still trying to win the friggin game. Getting into a personal foul-off/3Q brawl with the Barn AT Auburn WITH those refs WITH the game within one score would have been dumb.
That said, once there was no real point, score-wise, the team retaliated.
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And I’ll say, regardless of the logistics, that a loss to an undermanned/crappy Tech team at home to cap off a 5-7 season wouldn’t give McG much reason to keep Richt around.
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I disagree. I don’t think you can make the argument that a new AD will have a quick trigger finger on his 10 year tenured coach after himself only being on the job for < 3 months.
McGarrity will have the flexibility next year tho if performance isn't up to snuff, since undoubtedly alumni ticket cutoffs drop and give him a reason to examine whether the fanbase has given up on the current coaching staff.
It sounds odd, but I'm more optimistic looking ahead at this point of the season than I was last season.
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Richt contract is through 2012..new D staff just got here. That was a big part of our misfortune—->the defense. Tech doesn’t look look smooth … but they won the ACC last year for goodness sakes. We will beat them and go to a bowl and gear up or next year. Nobody is gonna get fired so let go of the blood lust!
just sayin’
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Going 5-7 with this talent is indefensible, IMO. If Richt isn’t canned then there’s no more wiggle room.
I don’t think it’ll come to it, though. Trek blows. Team cares at all and they’ll win easily.
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Not sure I see the “with this talent” part. Murray. Green, Houston, two kickers, and maybe a TE. Something to build around, but not much else that stands out to me.
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That’s still more talent than Tech is going to throw out there in about 2 weeks.
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True dat, but we need to measure ourselves against better than that program. ACC has always been weak, but this year the ACC and Big Least are just horrible (lending credibility to the TCU, Boise State arguments about AQ.)
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Agreed. Everyone gets one more year. To me, it still comes down to the defense. I think Grantham has made progress, but we still suck at defense. Any defense at all this year, and we’re playing in the SECCG.
That said, it’s all still on the head coach’s lap, and I think Richt will get it right in 2011.
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The biggest problem on defense seems to be the lack of dominate inside players on the line. I think this is most clearly demonstrated on the TD pass where Ogletree hesitated and let the guy run past him into the middle of the endzone. If the middle is clogged the linebackers have a better responsibilities on the edge and the safeties can concentrate more on coverage rather than having to step up as much. Get better fits to the system and another offseason of practice and understanding in the system and the D should be solid.
While I do have serious concerns about the playcalling and the offense without AJ, the fact of the matter is that while the Bobo seems to have a Jekyll and Hyde thing going the pure numbers are pretty dang good.
S&C anecdotally seems to be an issue but that becomes really hard to quantify.
The only loss that really concerns me is Colorado, every other loss was, in my mind, justifiable in a year of defensive transition.
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It ain’t just TKing – I have noticed OCharles routinely now does a show-time first-down signal after big catches (the old Michael Irvin move) – the same one that got him flagged for 15 in a game last year (I think it was against LSU).
I can’t believe he’s that stupid and undisciplined, but whatever . . . it seems the refs are bending over backwards to let our celebration-type moves go unpenalized since they cost us the LSU game with the flag on AJ.
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McGarity has already said Richt will be back next year.
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We were going to keep Damon, too.
$hit happens.
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You really see Richt doing anything to embarrass himself or the program?
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Losing to Tech this season would be an embarrassment to the program…
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Ridiculous comparisons happen, too.
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Going to be cold.
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Is this one actually on ESPN, or will it be on The Ocho? We’re getting dangerously close to Pam Ward territory lately.
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Since Northwestern is already bowl-eligible, I say let’s welcome her in for our quest for bowl eligibility.
She…is…better…than…Bob…Davie.
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She could beat up Bob Davie AND Mark Jones.
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I don’t care if we score 100 points in a win against Tech, if we don’t get a new offensive coordinator for next year then we are going to keep experiencing head scratching losses. Even if our D becomes super dominant.
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Muck,
the problems aren’t limited to the OC. Replacing slingblade doesn’t catapult us to Atlanta. And besides, it isn’t going to happen.
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+100 for slingblade. Hahahahaha.
I gotta hope its at least 50/50. He did fire Willie last year after all.
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I think replacing Bobo at this point would do more damage next season than keeping him. Please, lets break in a new offensive system so that one season after our defense struggles to learn a new scheme (and doesn’t have the proper personnel to execute it) we can put our offense (which has been performing pretty well as of late) in potentially the same boat.
You want to see improvement in our game? Preventing Auburn from scoring touchdowns on 5 straight possessions is a great place to start. Keeping focused so that we don’t have a blown assignment and watch some other receiver catch a pass wide open and stride into the in-zone without a bulldog in sight in every other game is another great place. Special teams keeping their heads up so they stop fake punts and onside kicks is another avenue that would really help us out at this point.
If our offense scores 31 points and can’t win a game I don’t think you can just blame head-scratching losses on them alone. There’s plenty of shame to go around, and instead of creating some severe discombobulation on the offensive side of the ball I’d rather see our players and coaches get focused and learn how to win again.
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I’m not buying it. A new playcaller doesn’t mean a totally revamped Offense. It’s not the same order of magnitude as a switch for 4-3 to 3-4.
Okie St. brought in a new offensive coordinator in the offseason and don’t seem to be hurting from the transition.
Bama brought in McElwain after Saban’s 1st year, and that worked out pretty well for them didn’t it?
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You mean so we can continue to be a half assed program where wither our O or our D sucks and chokes away 2-4 games a year?
Offense is faster to adapt to than defense. Get a real OC in there, and you’ll see benefits right off the bat.
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Hey, a night game in Athens this year!
That night we’re gonna party (in the rain) like its 1996.
“Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaag Boooooooooy!”
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Should be good for making a last-ditch effort at landing a few high-profile recruits. Unless we lose, of course.
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CMR will be back next year irrespective of the outcome of the Tech game. I do think that the level of the bar for 2011 modifies somewhat if we lose. In other words, with a Tech loss slight improvement (6-8 wins)probably doesn’t allow CMR to come back in 2012. He probably has to win 9+ in 2012 if Tech wins.
With respect to Bobo I’d say a few things: One I think that the criticism is a little overblown. We are scoring points which is in the job description. Scoring 30+ and losing to UF and Auburn isn’t good but its not Bobo’s fault. Second, I think that CMR is more involved in play choices than he was earlier in the year and last year. It seems that he’s having a lot more discussion with Mike than before. Does this mean that he jettisons Bobo because he felt he HAD to get more involved or does he see any failures as a joint responsibility? Third, I don’t see how anyone could have “coached up” a redshirt freshman better than Murray has been. I know that the kid deserves credit for himself, but someone is working the strings and he’s been very, very good. Fourth, one of the criticisms that I think is not justified is the idea that the offense is stubbornly trying to be balanced rather than playing to its strengths. That needs to be analyzed a little more closely IMHO. Any offensive coach in Georgia’s situation is going to have the debate of “do we need to be who we are or do we need to continue to try to be who we want to be?” We are a vertical passing team. We want to be a balanced team. We want it because its what we need to be to be succussful over the long haul. If we go with who we are, the adjustments that the defenses will make to counter it will strip the remainder of our identity away. Anyone recall what happened when Zeier complianed until we went with who we were rather than what we wanted to be? It wasn’t pretty. It was a train wreck. I understand that it would appear at first blush and to the untrained eye that we should just chunk it to AJ and the rest and give up on the running game. I agree with the coaches that this would be disasterous.
Finally, I would say that the results notwithstanding, this is a much better football team than the 2009 version. The 2009 team was a remakably flawed team that still had some inkling of how to win games (mentality inherited from their forebearers). The 2010 version is much more structurally sound, but they haven’t been able to learn how to win. The expectation of winning has been eroded over the last two years and it has shown. Playing good football doesn’t always translate into winning football games. In that way we are somewhat like when CMR was in the beginning. Back in 2001 we were talented enough but hadn’t learned what it takes to win and we lost games that we probably should not have. In the spring of 2002, CMR did what it took to alter that mentality. I think we should give him next spring to do the same. We have enough bodies along the lines and at the RB position to use all necessary force to toughen this team up for 2011. If we are still a “soft” football team in 2011, then I’ll give up too, but I’m guessing that won’t be the case.
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well you get a +1 for length of post. I n.eed to reread it
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Paragraphs, Bro, paragraphs.
We are not close to the same type of team as 2001 – our regular season record that year was 8-3, and we won road games, including at Tennessee.
When you say this year’s team is “much better” than last year’s, honestly I also find that to be a howler. This is far and away the worst team Coach Richt has fielded.
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Just as a start look at:
Turnovers
Turnovers forced
Kickoff coverage
Passer efficiency
Scoring defense
Rushing defense
Def. Pass efficiency vs. 09
Penalties
I think you’ll find significant improvement.
The one area, albeit not an insignificant one, is 3rd down eff. On defense. However with that exception I think you’ll find a statistical improvement almost everywhere.
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There’s more to having a great offense than JUST racking up stats and even points.
Ball control? Non existent. Controlling the ball on offense and dominating time of possession helps the defense.
Not disappearing for entire halves or quarters. We needed SOME points, ANY points in the 2nd quarter vs. Auburn. We got nothing. Going 21-7 in the 1st quarter is great. Going 42-10 in the last 3 is a disaster.
Bobo has always shown a facility at pumping up his stats against bad defenses and in shootouts. But anyone who has been watching our team for the last 5 years knows that we are fatally flawed at offense, just as we had been at defense.
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The “flaw” is that we have rarely been able to run the ball when we want to. When we have (see: UF ’08, Tech ’09) the results have been pretty good. When we haven’t it can get ugly. The idea that the run is to be abandoned and than continuing to try is a blind attempt at balance for the sake of balance is what I dispute. The majority of problem is the O-line which has been incredibly inconsistent and sometimes just gets whipped badly. Fairley was throwing Boling around like a rag doll. The issue in my mind isn’t one of strategy, its preparation. CMR has been too gun shy on the injury front to get the guys on both sides of the line to play mean. When that changes the strategy will all of a sudden appear sound. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to have a special back.
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What, exactly do you want us to do, Muck? I tell everyone in my organization that if they complain about something, offer a solution. “Hire a competent OC” is not an answer. Name one. Name one OC that you want. Now, you probably can. But it’s way more complicated than the defense. We could all name 10 guys last year we wanted more than Willie.
McElwain looks dumb this year because he won’t hand the ball to the Heisman Trophy winner. Spurrier looks dumb often. Greg Davis looks dumb w/o Colt McCoy running his offense. It’s just hard for me to look at another team and say, “That’s the guy I want.” Offense is much more fluid than defense.
You want Malzahn? He looks great w/ Cam. With Chris Todd? Not so much. And he makes boneheaded calls, too. He called a pass on 3rd and 3 on Saturday early and we sacked Cam. What was he thinking? Balance, I guess.
It’s just hard for me to say that we need a new OC when we’re scoring enough points to win. We put up 31 in Jax and lost. We put up 31 in Auburn and lost. We put up, what, 27 in Boulder and lost. Every OC has brain farts. It’s the nature of offense. There was a time we could win a game with defense. That no longer seems to be the case. (BTW, I think CTG will get us there.)
There’s not a single OC in our league that we could get that I want, and I’m assuming we couldn’t get McElwain. Is there a guy in the ACC you want? Is there a guy in the Big 10 you want? Is there a guy in the Big 12 you want? You want the Okie State guy? You want the Oregon guy and go to all spread like the Ducks? You think that will work in the SEC?
I, personally, like our system. And we coach up QBs better than most. Us, the real USC, and Stanford are about the last teams on the planet that actually teach their QBs to make reads and calls at the line. It’s just hard for me to pinpoint a coach or system that I want us to go with other than what we’ve got. Bobo had a rough stretch at the beginning of the year by not letting Aaron let it all hang out, but who knows if Aaron was ready. Maybe he was doing him a favor. But, knowing our RSFr QB is 4 TD’s away w/ 2 games left of tying our all-time record for TDs in a season tells me that the guy calling the plays and coaching the QBs is doing alright.
Yes, it’s about wins. No, it’s not all about stats. But I just think it’s not as simple as we fans sometimes think it is. And I’d even disagree w/ the Senator. I don’t think Bobo’s ever thinking about balance, nor is any OC. I think he’s thinking, “What will work here?” He didn’t run Smith out of the Wilddawg for kicks and giggles. He ran it because he thought it would work. I thought if Branden trusted his speed to the outside it would have worked. I just think transitioning Aaron at this point is stupid, and I really can’t think of something else I want us to run or someone else I want to steering the ship.
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Who cares about the x’s and o’s and lets focus on a full day of tech hating, post turkey day tailgating with all your good friends. The chance to set everything right in the world for another 365 by beating those low down dirty, no good, mouth breathing, WoW playing nerds.
Go Dawgs!
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While I was impressed with Tech’s new QB’s play Saturday, he wasn’t world-beater impressive.
Murray, on the other hand, is world-beater impressive.
I’m calling a blowout.
BIG blowout.
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Oh I’m the Rambling schmeck from Georgia Tech,
And a helluva blogineer, Hey!
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