Clarity that comes from an asskicking

After this week’s whipping at the hands of Boise State, Pat Hill has seen enough to proclaim

“This Boise State team is the real deal. … I hope they can make it to the big dance because they deserve it in my mind,” Hill said. “I feel I can say that. We’ve played against some pretty darn good football teams in my time. Never have we been manhandled like that.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s reminiscent of something Utah’s Kyle Whittingham said after his team was destroyed by TCU a couple of weeks ago.

“This TCU team is easily, hands down, the best team we’ve played since I’ve been here. That includes Alabama.”

Maybe it’s just a case of sticking together.  Maybe it’s simply that Boise and TCU do a better job of focusing on key mid-major opponents than the big boys do.  Or maybe they really are that good.  It would be interesting to see one of them crack the top two and make the title game against Oregon or Auburn, that’s for sure.

33 Comments

Filed under It's Not Easy Being A Mid-Major

33 responses to “Clarity that comes from an asskicking

  1. Castleberry

    I can’t lie. I did a 180 on Boise St. after hearing about next year’s opener. I’d love to see them win it all – then let the Dawgs have another crack at beating a defending national champ.

    Still, I would be curious to know how many of their regular season opponents are sought after homecoming matchups…

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  2. Jordan Rowe

    Nothing I +1 model couldn’t handle.

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  3. Scorpio Jones, III

    For all the folks who have whined about McGarity’s scheduling “process”, I would strongly suggest you read every line written about Boysee for the next six months.

    South Carolina and Boysee back to back. I hope McGarity’s decision is based on a sense of optimisim I will come to agree with. Right now my response is a very qualified Gulp.

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    • merk

      First off…lets not start this “Boysee” crap…its gay.
      2nd McGarity basically got UGA 1.2million for playing one game. Then he gets an extra home game in 2012. It was a deal for the money and the marketing that comes with the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game.
      As far as can we beat Boise…yes, but if we don’t show up we can get beat down too.

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  4. Biggus Rickus

    That’s the problem with last year’s bowl pairings. If TCU and Boise had played one of the other conference champs and won, lost close, or gotten thumped we’d have a much better idea about them.

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    • Scorpio Jones, III

      I agree, but I have a pretty good idea about how we stack up with Boysee.

      And it does nothing to assuage my continuing sense of impending doom.

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  5. Mayor of Dawgtown

    This sets CMR up for either a hero’s welcome back to the top or a ticket out of Athens. Opening up 0-2 next season will lose the confidence of the team and the interest of the fanbase. Opening 2-0 and the Dawgs will be the favorite to win the SEC East. I hope CMR can pull it off. I also think this means with absolute certainty that CMR will not be asked to leave at the conclusion of this season so all speculation about that should come to a halt, thank goodness. The hot seat meme was getting more than a bit tiring.

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    • JBJ

      I don’t see any way CMR does not come back. There are only two things that would cause him to be let go this year:

      1. GT beats the pants off of us next Saturday at home at night.
      2. He pulls a Damon Evans maneuver.

      If he does start 0-2 next year, then I see very little chance he would be let go at that point. He will be given the remainder of the year to produce something. Then the apologists will come out and say how he had down years on the recruiting trail, there were suspensions, we had key injuries, there are no suitable coaches available to hire, .

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      • Mayor of Dawgtown

        He won’t be let go after this year even if UGA loses to Tech next week. The buyout is too big plus the powers that be at UGA have apparently decided to keep him at least for 2011. Hence the Chick-Fil-A deal. CMR ain’t pulling a DE on us. He’s not that kind of guy. I agree he won’t get canned after the first 2 games next year if he loses both. It would be after the season. An 0-2 start probably means another year like ’10 and that , apologists notwithstanding, would be the last straw.

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  6. JBJ

    Oregon and Auburn have a couple of tough games ahead of them (Zona, OregState, Bama, SoCar). Boise has one tough game (Nevada) and TCU has one cakewalk (New Mexico).

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  7. Ausdawg85

    BCS godfathers should (continue to) flip the bird at us all and bybreaking their own rules and put BSU v. TCU in a bowl…then we’ll all stand around wondering (still).

    Chick-Fil-A game is a huge boost for us, no matter the opponent. Would you it rather be Ohio St? Va Tech? I like our odds vs. Boise, but it will not be the same as a few years ago. Great test for CTG out of the gates.

    Yet why do I think Darth Visor is smiling wide somewhere? Lattimore gonna run us to death (again).

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    • MhpDawg

      * If he is still the coach at USC east. A win against Auburn and a BCS bowl game would be the pinnacle for the Cocks. I think he walks away if that happens.

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  8. W Cobb Dawg

    Chik-fil-a vs. Boise is a terrific deal for UGA. Opportunity for CMR to redeem himself on first day of season. Boise flys across country. Dawgs have 60,000 fans present. National TV audience. espn hype. Dawgs keep other sec teams out of ATL area – our recruiting backyard.

    McGarity was near-genius for working this deal. But he’ll probably be sweating like a cucumber in a womens prison until final seconds tick off in a Dawgs win.

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    • Scorpio Jones, III

      “cucumber in a womens prison”

      You been watching that coach vid on Youtube?

      Merk….how’d that display on your Gaydar?

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  9. The Original Cynical in Athens

    TCU and Boise are just that good. In case nobody is watching, UF, UGA, USC, Texas, Penn St and Miami all suck this year.

    There are only so many great players out there, and a lot of school that traditionally have those players do not have them right now. Guess who does? Boise St and TCU. I know it’s so difficult for SEC fans to get their heads out of their provincial asses sometimes, but those two teams are very, very good, and deserve to play for the highest prize.

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  10. I hate being called an apologist, a Richt Phille, or whatever; But, I am very glad that he will be back for 1 more year & I do think that It will be his last year. No way that next year’s team will be even as talented as this years. . If the record is better it will be because the D has finally caught up with the O. Defenses win championships even with the Offenses we see today. I have enjoyed watching the Dawg’s Offense for the last 10 years & I will enjoy it again next year . G.A.T.A.

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  11. shane#1

    Cynic in Athens rightly points out that Boise is a very good team. I honestly don’t know if they could hang in the SEC. I have no doubt that Boise could be very good in the Big 12 North, or the Big East, or even possibly the ACC. So lets play some what-ifs. Suppose that Boise is left out of the BCS and a 5 loss Big East team goes to the Orange Bowl. Boise would rightfuly cry foul and demand changes to the BCS system. Would conference alignment with BCS bowls be changed? Would the Presidents of the BCS Schools agree to such changes, or merely go back to the old system? Does a Big East sans VT, Miami, and Boston College deserve a BCS bowl? If not, what happens to WV? My idea would be to add another BCS bowl game for the likes of Boise State. I do not believe that any conference would give up that big BCS bowl payday. I do think some kind of plus one system is coming and it will be because TV demands a playoff. We all know that TV money runs CFB.

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  12. Bulldog Joe

    Well, you can’t say the Dawgs are Chikin’.

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  13. Bryant Denny

    Boise and TCU (and Oregon) are good, but no way they hang in the SEC.

    I do think they are good enough – for one game – to hang with anyone in the country. Put them in the SEC for a season and they are on par with Arkansas or Miss State.

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    • Man, I don’t know how you can lump Oregon in there as a one game wonder which couldn’t hold up in the SEC. Especially given how they blew UT out in the second half of their game.

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      • Bryant Denny

        Well, at that point, UT was not playing well at all.

        I just don’t see how they could handle the pounding of the SEC week after week.

        Plus, traveling all the way from Oregon four times per year would wear them out. 🙂

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