Grab that plate and dig in.
- Bruce Feldman was granted access to West Virginia’s preparation for the LSU game. The result is a must-read.
- Dan Mullen’s observations from yesterday’s teleconference are about what you’d expect.
- Keith Marshall is one of Georgia’s top recruiting targets. Check out what he did with a botched snap.
- Trent Richardson raced Jeff Demps when they were in high school. You can guess who won.
- The NCAA is looking strongly at multi-year scholarships, but it’s hard to say how much of a difference that will make: “The process for nonrenewal of an annual grant probably would look just like the process for terminating a four-year grant…” Sounds like Nick Saban will just have to work a little harder, that’s all.
- Nice look at how coverage technique by Georgia’s secondary has changed under Lakatos.
- Five players from Georgia’s 2010 recruiting class are now gone. The silver lining: “All it’s gonna do is allow us to sign a full boat of recruits again, which will be a very positive thing if we bring in the right guys,” Richt said.
- Bill Connelly ponders Moneyball and college football. Michael Elkon is appreciative.
- Georgia 38, Mississippi State 21.
Get The Picture 
I gotta say, I don’t fret too much about the departures. I know some of them might have been trouble makers, but some of them like Malcome just want a better opportunity, and you can’t blame them for that. Especially if Carlton Thomas is turning it on a little bit (or being utilized properly). Hopefully this helps our coaches evaluate talent a little bit better. If the Dream Team is any indication, maybe they already are.
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Also… hey, recruits! We’ve got lots of space!
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Malcome was buried on the depth chart as was Hamilton. Would have been nice to have Bruce Benedict or any number of OL though.
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Now we just need to get on a good run and in a good bowl; we’ve got slots to fill and we really must show recruits the (near) future looks bright.
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Ol’ Boo. This is one reason why it hurt to lose Caleb King. The others: Caleb was a hard worker (just not in the classroom) and was liked/respected by the team, depth, etc.
I had a debate at the time of King’s departure with some of the people (SPQR15?) that thought Boo was going to just step right up in the absence of #3 and #4. Not so quick. Buried on the depth chart behind walk-ons and not ever really “getting it,” Boo wasn’t seeing the field anytime soon barring outright emergency. I don’t know where people were getting all that Boo optimism.
Then the coaches moved Samuel over. Whoops. Bad sign for Boo. Now this, which has been coming for a while. At this point I guess it doesn’t really even matter. I like TNDawg’s point that we’ve lost some weight, some of it unproductive, but it would be kind of nice to have those OLs back.
I hope Boo finds more success somewhere else. I also hope #1 stays healthy.
How can we be so scary thin at so many positions?
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Two reasons: more attrition than the coaches expected and a 2010 recruiting class that’s turning into a smoking crater.
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CMR spoke as if he’d really like Malcome to stay. Whereas he doesn’t comment much about the others who leave. So I’m not sure Malcome has proven to be a poor recruit.
I don’t take these departures as a reflection of a well run program. We need to recruit better. We need to develop players better. We need to retain players better. And we need more depth at all positions. Go ahead and add these to CMR’s lengthy ‘do list’.
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You’re right. Boo hasn’t proven to be a poor recruit yet. On the other hand, he hasn’t proven to be a very good one either.
I totally agree with your 2nd paragraph. Roster management. We’ve been struggling with it for a while at certain positions, most infamously on the o-line. Richt has yet to resolve this and the other problem is it takes a long time/recruiting cycles to address the problem. Comparing our depth at Georgia to that of top tier programs, you see a huge drop off after our first string.
That ol’ to-do list… I wonder how many tasks will be crossed off.
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You’re wrong. You need to REPLACE better. You need to run off those that do not contribute and get those that do contribute to take their places. I know. I am the all time expert at this.
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The Feldman piece on West Virginia was fascinating. I’d love to see a piece like that on Georgia’s preparation for a big game. I’ve read some about the new technology in the B-M building for film, etc. I’d like to see how that process is streamlined at Georgia, and also how they go about the rest of their business.
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They have a grad assistant named Cashdollar … given the Holgorsen’s penchant for the casino’s, I expect that WVU will be the first team to ever lose a GA on Black 22.
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Loved the Keith Marshall clip! How awesome would it be to have a running back tandem of Crowell and Marshall?!
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I’m with you H-town, kept his cool, used his head, blew thru the line then nice speed to get there! Wow – we could use all of those things. Oh, and no chest bumps, no cart wheels, no shooting off flares to say “hey, look what I did!” Just actually trots back to the sidelines…it’s as if this clip is from 1987 or something…that was my favorite part of the clip.
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Absolutely! And he’s been quoted as preferring to be part of a tandem with Crowell, since it would cut down on the general wear and tear of a long SEC season. And with Boo leaving there’s even more need for tailbacks.
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psshh…that ain’t nothing but the ol’ tip drill…
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Yeah, right. Hey, how about this one: Boykin does it again!
“psshh…that ain’t nothing but the ol’ 100-yard kickoff return drill…”
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haha..I wish
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If Richt stays, we’re gonna get Marshall. Why do you think no one slipped into that #4 jersey yet?
We’ve got a shot to go on a run for a few years, but we need more big uglies.
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Ha. That is funny!
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Skeptic, I continue to wonder why you invest so much time into something that obviously doesn’t make you happy.
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On top of that. In 2 years, AM will be a senior, with Mitchel and Crowell as Juniors. Plus they will have a lot of Junior-Senior talent on the D. If they can get a good functional offensive line, this team will be a steam roller.
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That secondary coverage video was super fun. You can really see improvements there. My question is: why would we ever want to play the man in the first place? What is the advantage of that technique? Why wouldn’t you always want to play the ball? Why is this just now happening???? And we wonder why we were near last in turnover margin.
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Just some wild speculation, but do you think Richt might be a little more eager to help these kids out the door then in years past? It’s like an ethical way of doing what the other guys are doing. If these kids aren’t going to get playing time and it’s their idea to transfer anyways, you think Richt is begging for them to stay? Another 2011 recruiting class sure would do wonders for this program.
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market inefficiencies being exploited = oversigning and roster management
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I heard Saban explain his pregame prep once. He holds a Coaches only meeting and they discuss every single possibility that can happen in a game. And every coach takes notes and understands what should be happening at all times. Who’s starting, whos 2nd string, who plays in goal line, when do they go for 2. Direction of the wind, when will an onside kick would be used. At what point in the game(score wise) will thay play 3rd teamers and walkons. How many snaps will some player play. When do they use timeouts. Which cleats they will use, he even had a count of number of times players slip before they change the cleats. It was amazing the detail that he discussed and planned for. So every coach was on the same page.
I would love to see a similar story regarding UGAs prep.
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I think the box score of the LSU-WVU game is priceless. A win is what matters at the end of the day. Not how many yards or how many third down conversions. The ability to will it to happen is what UGA has lacked for the last few years. They have the talent. They have the coaches. It is all about getting everyone in sync.
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I continue to get a chuckle of how everybody else’s “roster management” is unethical, but Richt’s is.
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Really, so letting a kid transfer when they decide they want to is unethical and “strongly suggesting” that they defer enrollment or go somewhere else is above reproach. I chuckle at your chuckle and your tenuous grasp of reality.
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Ditto.
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Thanks for the chuckle. I needed one today.
I didn’t imply that Richt did anything wrong. Nor do I think that Saban has.
In one of the links above, the author was not fretting about the attrition because the Dawgs would be able to sign a full class.
Also, Richt is quoted as saying Pollack is the most decorated athlete in Georgia history. That made Herschel chuckle.
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Pollack is UGA’s only other 3 time All-American… besides Herschel. Pollack may not eclipse Herschel, but he is definitely in the pantheon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pollack#College_career
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Gotcha
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Did you know that he and David Greene played Pee Wee football together? I think I heard Uncle Verne mention it once.
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His name is Julio Jones Julio Jones Julio Jones
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How is Richt’s unconditional release of a player who is wishing to leave unethical?
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What a night in MLB. Way to go Os and Rays!
And Braves, could tell in July you guys would not make it. When you loose a bet to your high school football coach on the Braves and have to run until you drop…well, you change teams, move on, and hope they get the hell beat out of them from then on.
Buck Showalter, man, you can damn sure manage a game and start building back a great franchise.
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Baseball? Isn’t that the sport that fills up the time between spring football camp and regular season in September?
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A friend of mine and I have a simple saying when we see something like what Keith Marshall did “better than you!”
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