The least I could do.

After Bill Connelly was so gracious to spend time over here answering your questions about Missouri, I could hardly turn down his request for a few answers, could I?

And if Bill is still having trouble getting used to his new conference digs…

(By the way, it still feels really weird being an official conference rival of UGa. A lot of my favorite bloggers either went to the school or talk about it a lot, and I have read/enjoyed their work for years without ever thinking about how it connected to Mizzou. Every time the Senator talks about Mizzou, my first response is “Why is he talking about us? Oh, right.” I’ll get used to this eventually. Anyway.)

… maybe you should pay Rock M Nation a visit and welcome everyone there to the neighborhood.

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Georgia beat writers have lost control of Mark Richt.

From Seth Emerson’s chat, currently in progress:

12:18

Comment From Guest Did Ogletree or Rambo make the flight

12:19

Flight doesn’t leave until later this afternoon. If someone out there is able to nail down they weren’t on the flight, that would indicate they’re out, but I would caution this: I wouldn’t put anything past UGA and Grantham on this right now. I could see them flying out Rambo and Ogletree by themselves. Do I expect that? No. But it’s why I’m hesitant to jump to conclusions.  [Emphasis added.]

Mission accomplished.

At this point, if they’re playing, I kinda hope they get loaded into a car with a GA who drives ’em to Columbia to stay off the radar as long as humanly possible.

***********************************************************************************

UPDATE:

Players tweets strongly suggesting that Alec Ogletree and Bacarri Rambo are not headed to Missouri today.

— Dawgs247 (@Dawgs247) September 7, 2012

Expanded playoffs sexy talk

Elkon knows how to ring my bell.

Everything you know about Georgia-Missouri is wrong! (Okay, not everything.)

But more than you think.  At least it looks that way if you dig in to Bill Connelly’s breakdown of Saturday’s game.

Bill starts with last year’s statistical story.  And right off the bat, he’s into the unexpected.

Georgia held far more advantages over Missouri on defense last year than you may have expected, and vice versa, which flies against the “Mizzou is going to move the ball, but can they play physical defense??” meme.

Now obviously there are personnel changes which factor into the story for this season’s meeting – both teams’ offensive lines seem weaker than their 2011 counterparts, both teams have added freshman studs at skill positions and, of course… THE SUSPENSIONS – but the stats suggest this may be more of a defensive battle than we’ve thought it might be.

A couple of things about Bill’s numbers jump out at me.  Last season tells us that Missouri’s chances at success improve dramatically the more the game is played in the red zones, because the Tigers did a better job of slowing opponents’ offenses down there than did the Dawgs.  Second, it looks like it would behoove both teams to throw the ball on first down and throw it a lot on first down.  (Georgia gets a bigger advantage, but Missouri’s offense does noticeably better the more it stays out of obvious passing situations.)

Given the opposition, I don’t want to read too much into Bill’s box scoring of last week’s games*.  But one thing to note is Tavarres King’s catch rate of 75%.  His numbers across the board are what you want to see from a team’s #1 receiver.  Considering how poor his 2011 catch rate was, it would be very big for the Georgia offense if what we saw in the bowl game wasn’t a mirage and that he and Aaron Murray are developing a rapport.  King knows he has to be a more consistent receiver.  And I think Bobo’s playcalling last Saturday purposefully tried to reinforce that.  It’s definitely something to watch for tomorrow night.

[*Except for one item.  For all the complaints about how Georgia lost focus in the second quarter last week, it’s nothing compared to what Missouri turned in against SW Louisiana in the second quarter of their game, according to Bill’s S&P numbers.]

By the way, I asked Bill, who, it should be mentioned, has been generous to a fault in the time he’s spent responding to our questions, in a follow-up to rank the conditions he listed in his summary.  Here’s his answer:

“If’s” In Order (from most likely to least likely):

1. If Mizzou outdoes the Dawgs in the turnovers and special teams departments…

2. If Kendial Lawrence produces better per-touch averages than Todd Gurley…

3. If Mizzou scores touchdowns in the redzone instead of field goals…

4. If Tiger defensive backs don’t get burned deep and allow easy points…

5. If the line battle skews neutral when Missouri has the ball and toward Mizzou when Georgia has the ball… (least likely because of the OL, not the DL — still pretty optimistic about the DL)

Agree? Disagree? Spout off in the comments.

That was quick.

Looks like Todd Gurley’s made an impression on Bruce Feldman.

Georgia 23, Missouri 21: Even though the Dawgs are under .500 away from the Athens the past two seasons and missing some key players on D, look for Murray and Gurley to spark Georgia and for the Georgia pressure to rattle the Tigers.

Aaron’s had a couple of seasons to build a rep.  Sure hasn’t taken Gurley that kind of time.  And, no, I don’t remember the national press being that respectful of Crowell as soon.

Todd Grantham explains it all.

Are you worried about the defense’s less than stellar showing against Buffalo in the first half last week?  Don’t be.  Todd Grantham wants you to chill.  He’s on the mother.

“Any time you have split-safety coverage and you’re rushing four guys, there are six gaps for four guys, so it’s critical that you collapse those pockets,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. “When you collapse the pocket outside in, you constrict that area. But if you create a seam in there, a guy can get out and make some yards, because you’ve got vertical separation between the rush going one way and the receivers moving down the field.

“We’ve addressed it with the players as far as what they need to do, and we will continue to work to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Gratuitous yet at the same time necessary Samuel Jackson response follows:

How do you know when Alabama plays a cupcake opponent?

When Nick Saban has time for shit like this.

Alabama coach Nick Saban admonished Crimson Tide fans Thursday night for not selling out Saturday’s game against Western Kentucky.

The Alabama ticket office announced Thursday afternoon that fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for the game, which is in Tuscaloosa.

Speaking on his weekly hour-long radio show, Saban said, “A thousand tickets? I’ll buy them and give them away. We can’t sell out with all the games we’ve won?”

Ripping the media and the fans in the same week?  Next thing you know, we’ll be calling Saban Mr. Small Stuff.