There’s something interesting tucked into this piece about Marlon Brown.
… But his play against Missouri showed off the improvements Brown made during offseason work with Georgia’s new conditioning staff, particularly speed and flexibility coach Sherman Armstrong.
“Marlon is a big, physical receiver and he’s faster than he used to be,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “He’s trained, he’s trimmed his body down, he’s worked hard with our strength staff — Sherman Armstrong especially — with his speed. It’s paid off for him. He’s quicker, he’s more flexible and he’s always had real strong hands.”
That’s the first specific shout-out I’ve caught from Richt about the new strength and conditioning team. It seemed to me that the team as a whole looked to be in better physical shape than Missouri in the fourth quarter Saturday night. And there’s no question Brown seriously stepped up his game. So I’m wondering: are we seeing some real progress on this front?
Get The Picture 
Let’s play LSU or Alabama and find out, shall we?
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The best conditioned players can’t overcome the numbers advantage that LSU and Ala have. We will get wornout again.
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Completely Agree with 69Dawg. Top conditioned players for UGA playing nearly every down Vs. Top Conditioned players for ALA / LSU that rotate regularly = Dawg exhaustion in 4th quarter…. particularly the defense who must pursue all game.
I do think we have made strides though, hopefully enough to allow us to outperform mortal teams in the 4th quarter.
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The best conditioned athletes in the world can not overcome Institutional Will…Old Lady Luck would have to make a major commitment to the Dawgs to be able to beat Bama and probably LSU….but let’s not get carried away and forget about FAU’s long snapper here.
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But really, LSU and Alabama’s depth isn’t legit since they “gray shirt”, right? I know it’s within the rules to play the players they have, but their depth is a result of deviation from the accepted “moral” norms of roster management.
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The issue is whether or not the 2012 version of the Dawgs represents an improvement in conditioning over previous Dawgs squads–the answer is absolutely YES! IMHO the conditioning problem was the very thing that was wrong with the ’10 team. They were out of shape all season, particularly the O-linemen, and it showed in the 4th quarter of every game. Last year conditioning was better and this year it is even better still. Cudos to CMR for recognizing the problem and taking the right steps to fix it. As for Bama and LSU having more depth, that’s a roster management issue which we can only hope that in the future CMR will address with the same aplomb as he addressed the conditioning issue. I, for one, believe he will.
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Exactly what I’ve been saying ever since the SECCG last season. UGA’s starting D is as good as anyone in the country. LSU and Bama just have more bodies they can throw at you as the game wears on. Unfortunately, I don’t see that changing this year, but a boy can dream.
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Agreed.
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Well, considering out defense played 4 men down on Saturday and still wore out Mizzou in the 4th quarter, I’d say our defensive depth is pretty good. And our running back depth is getting pretty good. Our OL depth is still an issue in my mind.
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True ‘dat.
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Overtime bowl game?
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And yet, I firmly believe that if the WRs catch those early walk in Tds that were great calls and good passes, GA wins that game. Numbers be damned. The NFL has 55 players and they play 4 quarters too.
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The NFL used to have 40 player rosters.
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As was pointed out by someone here yesterday, and as I am always saying to Mrs. Cosmic Dawg, who hangs on every word of my indispensable football analysis – if you are the team with the least depth, punting and FG on 4th and short will kill your chances. You’d better make hay while your guys are fresh in the first three quarters, take your chances, and get your points while you can.
What is the more risky proposition – going for it on 4th and 2 on the other guy’s 20 yard line in the first quarter or being down by three scores with five minutes left in the 4Q?
How many times have we seen the former? Not often enough.
How many times do we see the latter? All the dang time, as underdogs hobble to another predictable loss. So why not try something different for a change? At least get your fans pumped up by going out in a blaze of glory…
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One can only hope but so far there seems to be an improvement.
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Get out of here with your …….happy talk, and your ………praising of staff and what not.
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In the 4th quarter, Sheldon Richardson looked like he could have used some of that. Apparently, he couldn’t keep up with the old men.
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You mean the video guy hired some solid folks…
I kid, i kid. crow happily eaten on the hire.
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I think we started to see progress last year. The guys were noticeably bigger, and seemed to have more steam in the 4th quarter than in years prior. Hopefully the new additions are improving things like speed, and another year in the program has improved the guys’ cardio for late in the game. It was obvious to me that they wore Mizzou down, but I’m not sure if that came from better conditioning, our guys being bigger and stronger, more depth, or all of the above.
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To quote Merlin Olsen, “Oh, he’s a fine physical specimen.”
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Interesting to see the UGA perspective on the changes to the S&C and being an improvement. When you consider that the folks that were imported from Penn St. were available because Bill O’Brien believed that PSU’s previous S&C staff were behind the times.
http://www.centredaily.com/2012/07/13/3259827/maximizing-effort.html
But maybe it is just about injecting different ideas/different methods into the conversation rather than one way being better than the other. Considering that Penn St’s new guy used to head up Spurrier’s S&C, I wonder if that will have any effect on them as this season moves forward.
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Penn State? What’s that?
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Proly should say from now on….The Football Factory Formerly Known As Penn State.
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Or, the Former Football Factory Known As……
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Yes he looked lithe, but it was the strenght of his hands that I commented on live. His ability to reach and snag was impressive. You can’t coach that.
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He definitely made some nice grabs away from the body.
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I particularly enjoyed that back-end-of-the-pigskin snag he made for his second TD, to put the Dawgs up 24-20.
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How about big John Jenkins in the fourth quarter tracking down dual threat James Franklin on a designed QB run play?
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That has not gotten as much attention as it deserves. Very impressive for a man his size and illustrates how athletic he is. We had all heard about his athleticism, that play showcases it. I also saw another play where he was trailing a RB and got in on the “put down”. When a 360 pound man is moving and hits you as you struggle with another defender to get an extra foot or two, you are going down immediately. Quite a finisher.
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Correct. Even more impressive, was his second half performance as a whole. John Jenkins was a terror. He was beating double teams and just ruining the Mizzou offense. His play inside deserves credit for a lot of the plays the D made on the edges and outside of the pocket.
If he stays healthy and continues on this pace, he’ll have a terrific senior season.
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The “Fridge” with wheels. Whoda ever thunkit?
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Hey! A new Fing Scooter model with a fridge to keep your sandwiches cool. Gotta open a new dealership in Kansas.
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that was the play I posted about Sunday AM . the fans in my section were just stunned silent for a moment , everyone was wondering was that our 356 pound nose tackle that ran down,from behind their stud QB. Scary great play
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That is the play the Mizz fans are saying that one of the bulldogs ripped the helmet off Franklin. I can not tell from the angle of the broadcast, but I have to think if it actually showed someone pulling at his helmet it would have been shown on replays.
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What I like most about Motel 6 is his remaining humble about his start at practice at UGA and keeping his mind open for hard-worked improvement. He just is getting better and better.
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Here’s something to put in your dream book…..”McCarron throws over the middle….intercepted, picked off by John Jenkins….30…25, look at the running motel….15….10…they’re hanging off of him….5…..touchdown!!!
Dawgs win in overtime….
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Why did it have to go to overtime? I kid.
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I don’t have time to deal with this shit….I am scared to death about FAU’s long snapper.
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……..As Motel 6 helps turn out the lights.
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I don’t know if it got lost because Jarvis intercepted the pass, but I re-watched the game last night and Jenkins straight bulldozed two guys on his way to Franklin. I started wondering if that was what really allowed Jarvis to intercept the pass.
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I rewatched that play as well, and it looks like if JJ does not steal that pass, either the safety or a corner was also jumping the route so that ball was going to be picked one way or the other.
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Too much fun at Marlon’s expense. Marlon has begun his journey to become the quintessential WR he came here to be. It’s great that new training methods and the S&C coordinators can produce this result in a short period of time with a player who works like hell to implement during games. I think Wooten has benefited as well from their summer-long training that requires individual discipline to make it all work.
Thanks to people like Marlon and Sherman we are securing a well-rounded physical look to this team that is beginning to ramp up all over. That goes for player attitudes that are necessary to get new techniques taught by coaches implemented.
GO DAWGS!!
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Highly-recruited WRs with the surname “Brown” tend to have pretty good senior seasons at UGA…
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The whole thing comes down to whether or not we are having a magical season. One game at a time.
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Scout the portents are propitious. But it takes at least one and usually two miracles to make a season magical.
When we look back it may be that RS4’s play on the fake punt was a miracle. That, however is something that only becomes clear when put in perspective.
It is a long season, really just begun….worry hard, wear the right hat, be very careful with kharma.
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ONE GAME AT A TIME.
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Where is Granny Clampet with that cricket in the matchbox?
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And … EASY DOES IT!
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BROWN is the new GREEN
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Nice …. The guy does look as if he could catch balls all day long.
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Besides Marlon, we have a fine WR corps. The drops this last week were from people who got us here and will be the people who will do in FU again this year. Wooten, King and other loaned-out company(MM) will be here all year folks. we got lotsa targets to cheer for Murray to hit. Each is a newly made person looking to do great in CFB. Our continued support of team and coaches can help that happen.
Why do I want to play SC tomorrow? Just can’t shake that thought.
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