Don’t forget to wash your hands afterwards.

Saw this mentioned in yesterday’s comments and finally found video confirmation:

That is so not cool, bro.

#5 for MSU is one Nickoe Whitley, identified on the Mississippi State official website as the son of Mr. and Mrs. Nickoe Whitley.  No word yet on whether they’re appalled.

Here we go again.

I can understand why he was celebrating, but damn, son.

https://twitter.com/#!/ajcuga/status/120524847968301058

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UPDATE:  Richt announces a minimum two-game suspension for Washington, beginning this Saturday against Tennessee.

(Don’t laugh.) Why not Georgia?

EAST	CONF	OVR
#12 Florida	2-1	4-1
#10 South Carolina	2-1	4-1
Georgia	2-1	3-2
Vanderbilt	1-1	3-1
Tennessee	0-1	3-1
Kentucky	0-2	2-3

Gary Danielson had folks a-Twitterin’ last night with his comment towards the end of the UA-UF game that Georgia was now in the driver’s seat in the SEC East.

By that, I don’t think he was calling the Dawgs a mortal lock – their loss to South Carolina makes that mathematically impossible at the moment – but simply stating that most of the factors in play favor Georgia.  Let’s look at a few of those.

• State of the East.  Quite frankly, it sucks.  At the moment, there doesn’t appear to be a complete team in the division.  The East appears to stack up as unfavorably against the West this season as it did last year.  Except there’s one team in the East that’s 2-0 against the SEC West right now.  (Georgia was 0-3 against the West in 2010.)  And the two teams it’s now tied with each already have one Western loss.  All of which leads us to…
• The remaining schedule.  Take a look at Marc Weiszer’s post on this.  Is there a game left on Georgia’s schedule that looks unwinnable?  Maybe you can say the same thing about South Carolina’s, but that game in Fayetteville seems insurmountable from here.  (And historically, SC has a very tough time in Knoxville, too.)  Florida goes to LSU, Auburn and South Carolina; there’s at least one more loss in there, likely more than one.  Tennessee has the Alabama, LSU and Arkansas trifecta to face.  The conventional wisdom before the season started pointed to the South Carolina-Florida game as the deciding game in the East, but from here, it’s starting to look like that may fall to the one in Jacksonville.
• Defense.  If there’s one thing about SEC football, it’s that if you can play defense, you have a chance.  And right now, there are two teams in the East playing superb defense:  Florida and Georgia are tied for seventh nationally in total defense.  South Carolina sits at a quite respectable 24th.
• Offense.  Okay, Georgia’s not exactly tearing it up here, ranked 52nd in total offense.  The good news is that nobody else in the East is, either.  The Gators are, strangely enough, tied with the Dawgs in this category as well.  Tennessee is a decent 33rd, but some of that is due to playing the softest schedule of any of the East contenders.  South Carolina, with the best running back and best wideout in the division, is an anemic 78th.
• Quarterbacks.  Aaron Murray may make you pull your hair out on occasion, but the Dawgs are still second in the conference and 26th in the nation in passing efficiency.  Florida just lost its starting quarterback.  South Carolina (115th in passing efficiency) never had one.  And we’ll have to wait and see how Tyler Bray faces up to Georgia, Alabama and LSU without Justin Hunter.

In short, the East is a mess and the Dawgs are right in it now.  Georgia’s chances to win the division may not be pretty, but at least they’re not crazy any more.

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UPDATE:  Barrett Sallee asks the same question.

View from the 35: Old friend, you’ve been missed.

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment for you, but at some time during the second quarter, I noticed the return of a curious sensation.  I found myself anticipating the defense getting back on the field.  It’s been a long time since I felt that way.  Damn, have I missed that.

I’m not giving in to any illusions of greatness, but I will admit that the element of hope has crept its way back into my withered heart.  After what we’ve suffered through in the previous two seasons, that’s as good a place as any to start.

On to the game observations:

• That first Cornelius Washington sack was positively Pollack-esque – efficient, yet powerfully brutal.
• Even better, Washington showed signs of playing the option properly.  He did a good job on several occasions of not overplaying the quarterback and holding contain on the read option.
• Not to be outdone on the highlight tape was John Jenkins.  If you’ve been hoping that the defensive tackles would do more to make their presence known, then yesterday was your day.
• Blair Walsh has the shanks.  If the root of the problem is the same one that troubled Kevin Costner’s character in Tin Cup, then there’s a young lady out there who needs to step up and do the right thing by her man.
• Brandon Boykin’s catch and take off on his first punt return was one of the most electrifying things I’ve seen this season.
• Even without 344-Fullback, Bruce Figgins had a fabulous day.  He’s a devastating blocker.
• Given that, if you’re going to sit on a second-half lead, Mike Bobo, why not just play out of the I-formation the whole time?
• Richard Samuel has mastered the art of turning a big hole in the defensive line into a two-yard gain.
• My favorite play call of the day was the decision to give Carlton Thomas the ball for his touchdown run after he threw himself into a pass block the play before.  You’ve got to throw a good Dawg a bone now and then.
• I could be wrong about this, but Todd Grantham seems to be enjoying his job.  A lot.
• All three of those Murray picks were awful, but the third one was especially so.
• That being said, there were a few occasions when Murray’s receivers weren’t doing him any favors, either.
• You could see what was coming on the first TD pass to Charles simply based on pre-snap alignment.  For once, I was happy that Bobo was predictable.
• Justin Anderson may look bad when he gets beat on the pass rush, but at least he’s polite enough to help Aaron Murray to his feet after he gets knocked down.
• The secondary continues to improve noticeably week-to-week.  Chad Bumphis is one of the better wideouts in the conference and he was a non-factor.  Next step:  hold on to the ball for the pick.
• Though the third time was the charm for Sanders Commings, as that pick was a huge momentum turner.  It was set up by the MSU wideout sensing Rambo coming in to apply a kill shot.
• Say what you will about his passing skills, but Chris Relf is one tough son of a gun.  He took some painful shots, but shook them off and kept on playing.  He’s pretty good with the read option, too.  He just doesn’t have the offensive line to make that pay off.
• I know I sound like a broken record about Amarlo Herrera, but he continued his solid play yesterday.  He sure doesn’t look like a true freshman out there.
• I couldn’t tell whether Crowell stayed in bounds on the touchdown run that wasn’t, but, man, can he make some cuts.  He may not be where he needs to in terms of stamina, but that’s three straight 100-yard performances he’s notched against SEC opponents.
• And a little love for the officiating crew:  guys, you sucked out there.  If it wasn’t painfully obvious, you didn’t see it.  Perhaps a visit to the optometrist  is in order.