Two-team race in the East: It’s Georgia and South Carolina in the Eastern Division, and neither would be classified as a great football team right now. The Bulldogs just barely survived at Vanderbilt in a 33-28 win despite a glut of personal foul penalties, not being able to finish drives on offense and a total meltdown on special teams. The Gamecocks held on to win 14-12 at Mississippi State, and while their defense is playing its best football, there are real issues on offense. Star running back Marcus Lattimore suffered a sprained knee in the game, and the Gamecocks will know more about the severity of his injury on Monday. If he’s out for a few weeks, this is a very beatable football team. Both teams have their warts, but they’re also two games ahead of everybody else in the East. Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all have three SEC losses.
Anybody who says they wouldn’t have taken that immediately after the South Carolina loss is a damned liar.
The only stats that ever matter: Ws & Ls.
I’ll take a bye week & the real possibility of 6-2 , thank you very much.
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Agree, Seth. All that counts is that W column.
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Tnank you for pointing out what is important. Winning the games.
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Odd…cause when we post good stats and L everyone says that. Yet when we suck and W everyone bitches about our stats….
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Senator, my patience is thin after watching what only could be described as a poorly coached team last night. Have we even practised a “jail break” punt blocking sceme? To my thinking, this continues to be a team who only wins because we have superior talent most weeks.
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I’m pretty sure every team wins because they have superior talent. The exception being Wake Forest.
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I disagree. The less talented team wins often, really.
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If you could only have one or the other (great coaching or great talent), I’d take the coaching. I’m old. I’ve seen good coaches win everywhere they went. Prep ball is the laboratory that proves this. French Johnson won at huge at Rockmart in the 50’s, at Marietta in the 60’s and at Chamblee in the 70’s. He couldn’t recruit talent. He just knew how to use what was in the pantry. Coach Cronic at East Coweta and LaGrange..same story..and there are many more. It’s much the same in the NCAA. That is why coaches like Saban are in demand. They will fix your program …and fast. “Coaching is everything” is a cliche, but it has a lot of truth to it. The mark of a great coach is that his teams are always ready to play at THEIR best level, regardless of the opponent..
I really, really, hope CMR wins out. I want him to remain as UGA’s coach. But he needs to find the spark….I think it might be found it Grantham the same way Dooley found it in Erk Russell….If these Dogs are going to ever exhibit championship quality, IT WILL BE AGAINST THE gators! If not, then it’s just not in them.
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Right now, all I can say is, “whatever works”. It’s more than they could do last season.
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Lol – this is true, I’ll give you that. However, when you continually screw around with less talented teams, sooner or later you get a year like last year where all the breaks go against you. Will I take a W – obviously. Will I take 6 more just like it – obviously. But I’m with Senator when you talked about what you would like to see and what, hopefully McGarity would like to see: A competent team that competes every week during the whole game. I think we are better on that front than last year. But I have a nagging suspicion it has been against a weak schedule. The only two quality opponents we faced, we came nowhere close albeit in two totally different ways. But I do see improvement (some)….I just hope it is enough, and continues this year and next.
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Lost against SC by 3 pts. It was very close.
(The hell of it is if we’d beaten them we’d need one win right now out of our last 3 remaining conference games – to clinch the East.)
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@”At the end of the day, it’s a win,” Murray said. “It’s pretty ugly whatever it is, but it’s a win. We have a lot to work on pretty much.” — AB-H, 10/16/11
If there hadn’t been a date attached to this little ditty, I wouldn’t have known which of the last 5 games he was talking about.
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Time, time…
October 2011 S M T W T F S
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GATA
@MummePoll
Silver lining time http://t.co/HOaOiqS4 published 10 hours ago
That was such an ugly win… http://t.co/t14ld8b7 published 22 hours ago
It don’t get more surreal than that. At least I hope so. published 22 hours ago
I hope they destroy all records of this game afterwards. published 23 hours ago
Richard Samuel IV, 9.7 ypc. It’s a magical night. published 23 hours ago
Blog Stats
8,357,233 hits
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Lets get Crowell and Ogletree healthy and reset in 2 weeks.
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And Cornelius Washington acquitted, Kolton Houston reinstated, etc.
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I get the feeling we are in a race to decide who gets to be totally disemboweled by Alabama/LSU. The prize for winning the East is going to be a Beat Down of Epic proportions.
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Well, yeah…there’s that. Won’t disagree there.
But I’d still rather have the very slight chance to win the SECCG than watch the corpse of Stephen Garcia get hammered again.
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Or a UGA Team playing with a chip on their shoulders like Vandy did last night. If it comes to that game, all players pull on their pants the same way and what each does is up to them pulling together as a team. These Dawgs are not only capable , but some will have special memories of a couple years ago in Athens with ESPN. Ain’t gon’ never forget.
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Tru dat
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Let’s worry about that when the time comes.
Right now, I just want to see ’em do something about 3-18.
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Hear! Hear! 3-18 is what matters now. I hope the players feel the indignity in that record. The games against the Gators, Aubies and Tech will write the script of this season. Win those games against two peer programs and an in-state rival and I’d be ecstatic given the disembowlment I witnessed against Boise.
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Yes, one game at a time, Senator. That is the formula.
As I pointed out earlier this week, I expected some let downs.
Georgia, despite what some our fans may think, are a very young football team. We were missing our most productive wide receiver and our most productive rusher. To not take this into consideration when assessing last night’s game is beyond foolish.
Bottom line……5-2 and in still in the hunt.
BTW, Senator, don’t look now, but the sky is falling ……..again. Please, for your own safety, put on your hard hat.
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“We were missing our most productive wide receiver and our most productive rusher. To not take this into consideration when assessing last night’s game is beyond foolish.”
Too bad neither of those guys plays defense, kicks field goals, or blocks punt rushers, which are the main things people are so sick about today.
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C’mon, Turd, even you can understand how missing those players affects the offense……… which in turn affects the defense. With those guys starting maybe we don’t kick field goals or have to punt.
I never said anything about special teams play though. So with that in mind, feel free to bitch and moan without fear of me contradicting you. In fact, Turd, I agree that we need to place some importance on what seems to be a very real problem in that area of performance.
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Offense wasn’t the issue – 33 points manufactured almost solely by the offense against a good D with only one turnover. Not too shabby.
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This is UGA’s year, Senator. Can’t you just FEEL it?
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Ask me in two weeks. 😉
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Senator, not wanting to be an energy vampire but I must respectfully disagree with your premise that the SEC East is now a 2 team race. Last season USCe won the East with an SEC record of 5-3. If Florida wins all its remaining SEC games (which would include beating UGA and USCe) the Gators would be 5-3 in the SEC and have the tiebreak over UGA and USCe. All that it would take for Florida to win the SEC East at that point is for UGA to lose to Auburn and USCe to lose to Arky. The Gators ain’t dead yet and you can bet Mus-chump is telling them just that to get them ready for the WLOCP.
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Lotta ifs there, Mayor. Especially for a team on a three-game losing streak with an offense in the toilet.
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Yeah, but their offense was in an even bigger toilet last season, but then came out and put up 400+ yards on us…
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Everything I said above about how the Gators could still win the East is basically what happened last season for the ‘Cocks to win the East. So, yes there are a lot of “ifs” but those “ifs” happen sometimes.
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Florida never had a two-game division lead last year that SC had to overcome.
And SC didn’t have to overtake two teams in order to win the division.
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I’ve got an idea. You worry about fair catches and we’ll worry about the Dawgs. Mmmkay?
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You still have a better chance of winning the game if your in it, let’s get there and worry about if we can win it or not then.
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Let’s just get there first and then worry about what happens in the Dome then. You just never know what may happen in the next month and a half. Ask S. Carolina fans.
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Is it just me, or is anyone else in utter amazement that I was calling for Carlton Thomas to get in the game last night. Richard Samuel, the “fourth”, might be the worst running back in college football. He looks like he’s running in quick-sand. I’ve truly never seen anything like it and if I see it again, I think my head’s going to explode. Isaiah better toughen up, quick!
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I also was calling for Thomas to return, but because he has run so well lately. As for RS4, I think he’s fast, he just isn’t explosive. And he doesn’t get very much after the first contact.
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Could we just shorten his name to “Fo”?
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Who would have ever thought those words would be uttered by anyone?
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I guess that just goes to show that things can improve.
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Shades of 2007. The Dawgs are 5-2 after a too-close-for-comfort win over Vandy in Nashville and heading into a bye week before Florida.
Once again it’s time for the Dawgs to regroup and get ready for the stretch run. GO DAWGS!
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Another similarity to 2007 – a postgame skirmish in which GA coaches were pissed under murky curcumstances ….
Let’s hope history repeats ….
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Another similarity… sophomore QB and freshman RB
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I have not seen it mentioned anywhere how thin UGA is. Vandy’s starters could always play with anyone and they have always been tough and well coached. Their disadvantage is lack of depth. So, face them at their home when you are banged up and missing some guys and you can expect a tough game. If you play in the SEC and you are on the road it is wise to expect every game to be a tough game. The silver linings? The play of Bennett, Brown and Ray Drew.
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Hope this is a wake up for the team. We still have issues on D.
We need to change up who is playing special teams. And coaching S.T.
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Any weekend we win and Tech loses is a success Bulldog Nation!
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Speaking of the All Cupcake Conference…The SEC East looks like the ACC. Maybe the close geographical proximity of the east to the ACC is causing this….SC is too close to Clempson, UGA to Clempson and GT,
FL to Fl State. Maybe there is some kind of immunization…I’m ascared!
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I still say that if Franklin was smart he would have known Bama was a loss. He knew he had us at home the next week. Why not say skrew preparing for Bama. Worst case he had was the 52-7 showing Bama put on Ole Miss. He could then spend 2 weeks preparing for us. Knowing that losing ugly to Bama aint gonna piss neone off, but beating a beatable UGA team would be huge.
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Lost in all the furror is the fact that T King and M Brown finally stepped up and played like SEC receivers.
CMR benched Mitchell for the Vandy game before the game was even over in Knoxville. It is all about Florida and it has been since last week.
I think we are headed into Jax on a winning streak, with an attitude, with starters returning to the lineup.
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Shhhh!!
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It is okay that our special teams give up almost a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and brought Vandy back into the game. It is okay that our special teams give up a block punt inside the red zone which could have given Vandy a chance to win with no time on the clock.
Guess that is okay since we won.
But I recall another game earlier where the special teams gave up another score in game. That is okay. We lost.
Now how many points have the special teams yielded this year. CMR I think your special teams are lacking a little coaching and appear to be major issue on the field of play. Down the road I do not see teams with the records like the last 5 we have played. Take a que from your AD, it is important how you finish.
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Once again the South Carolina Gamecocks were subject to awful play calling. There have been numerous suggestions as to why the South Carolina Football Team has under performed but none have been more consistent than the pitiful play calling.
As I watched the first quarter of the South Carolina vs Mississippi State Football Game I wondered if I was at a 10 year old’s flee flicker game. Does Spurrier have any idea what it is to play the game of football?
Let me make a suggestion. Lattimore dive right, Lattimore dive left, Lattimore sweep, Lattimore off tackle right, Lattimore off tackle left. Damiere Byrd sweep, Wilds right, Wilds left. Put in Ellington or whoever else but just run the ball from a running formation.
Let Shaw be the QB. He gets to run when he is trouble. He gets to throw the ball BUT STOP THE DOWN THE FIELD PASSES until he can make them(or our receivers can catch them) like in the third and forth quarter. THROW short, middle range passes.
STOP with the hurky Jurky Play Calling S***. Play frigin football. The team can never get into a rhythym. The BS plays allow the opponent to stay in the game.
THINK FIRST AND TEN, THINK FIRST AND TEN THINK FIRST AND TEN etc etc etc First and ten builds momentum, it demoralizes the opponents defense, it is football. Sure Joe Namath looked great in superbowl 3 with an 80 yd pass but he won one superbowl. The Packers play football, the Steelers play football ,Alabama plays football, LSU plays football l, Auburn plays football. Georgia plays football. Why can’t South Carolina play football? Sh*tty play calling that’s why.
This is a low blow but let the cards fall where they may. Lattimore is hurt b/c of sh*tty play calling. He should never have been the blocker HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN RUNNING THE BALL.
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Mr. Keith – you seem to be under the impression this is a gamecock board. It’s not. We’re really not interested in sackerlIna fans opinions of their coach. Besides, we already know he sucks. Thanks.
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Not only that, SC isn’t through getting it’s butt kicked. They are just not a good football team, but sometimes the best team doesn’t win. I think SC loses 2-3 more games before the season is over. And that was before ML was injured. Losing couldn’t happen to a more deserving group….well there are the cheaters on The Plains, and the Always Lowest Class SEC group in Florida, but the Cock fans are getting up there. Even Foolmer, Cheetzik, and Urbie may have kicked Garcia off before SC did.
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Will there be anyone left standing, when the season ends that is undefeated? Alabama and LSU are playing each other in a few weeks. One of them will be walking away with a win one with a loss. I guess the question after that game, will there be anyone walking at all? The way those teams play defense and the hits those guys are putting on opposing offenses. There may not be anyone left to play anymore games!
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