The new schedules are here! The new schedules are here!

Next year’s complete conference breakdown is here.  Georgia’s 2013 conference slate looks like this:

Sept. 7: SOUTH CAROLINA
Sept. 28: LSU
Oct. 5: at Tennessee
Oct. 12: MISSOURI
Oct. 19: at Vanderbilt
Nov. 2: vs. Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 16: at Auburn
Nov. 23: KENTUCKY

So, that’s two straight years of Auburn on the road.  And a tough September.

Interestingly, nobody in the East gets Alabama and LSU.

South Carolina gets Arkansas and Mississippi State, so that should settle things down somewhat in Columbia.

Best scholarship offer ever

This is pretty cool.

You can read the details here.

Of course, if they tried that in Athens, Williamson’s boys would probably arrest a player on their way out the door for failing to give his middle name.

If you want to get the job done right, do it yourself.

Marshall Morgan self-corrects.

“Actually, I knew there was something that had to be going wrong. Before the South Carolina game I changed it up a little bit,” Morgan said. “Normally it’s three steps back and two steps to the left. But I just widened up the steps, which allows my leg to get more elongated. Because I was kind of jamming myself in getting over the ball.”

Morgan said he came up with the tweak himself, after watching film.

“It allows my leg to get longer and get more of the ball,” he said. “That’s what’s allowed me to get better, further kicks. Even on kickoffs I widened out my width a little bit. It allows you to crank more into it, kind of like a shot-putter.”

In a perverse way, I find that makes me feel genuinely optimistic.  There’s a logic to it and he clearly feels more confident with the correction.

The only two snarky things I can come up with in response are that it’s not like he had much of an opportunity to prove it in the South Carolina game and I sure wish Georgia’s defensive problems were as easily self-corrected.

First thoughts on Georgia – Kentucky

Whatever happens in this game, it has to be taken through the backdrop that this year’s Kentucky squad isn’t very good.  How ungood is it?  Well, by my count, the SEC tracks 33 separate team statistical categories.  Kentucky is in the bottom three in eighteen of them and eleventh in four more.  Considering that the ‘Cats excel in things like PAT percentage, opponents’ fourth-down conversion rates and on-side kicks, it’s not a pretty picture.

They’re thirteenth in scoring offense and last in scoring defense and they’re worse than Georgia in turnover margin.

This is a classic example of a team that you get down early and then watch it get down on itself.  That’s exactly what happened to them at Arkansas last week.  The question is whether Georgia is man enough to do just that, or if the Dawgs are still suffering with a hangover from that South Carolina pounding.

The handwringing continues.

Rodney Garner is in touch with his inner Ray Goff.

“We consciously tried to do something a little different against South Carolina. We didn’t want to have the same situation in a game where the quarterback ran all over the place,” Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. “But he still broke it open a few times, when we felt like we were doing some things, and then for some reason we lost contain on the outside, we still let him step up there. We’ve just gotta keep working and keep getting better.”

I tells ‘ya, it’s déjà vu all over again, man.

And seriously, can we please stop with this already?

But in retrospect Garner wishes he had given Smith more snaps. Garner pointed to the Tennessee game, where Jenkins and Abry Jones each played about 60-70 snaps, and thinks each should have been rested for 10-20 snaps in favor of Smith. Garner also wishes he had given Smith about 10 more snaps at South Carolina.

“That’s really what I should have done. I told him that when we met: I’m kicking myself,” Garner said. “But when you’re in that type of game, you’re going with the guy that you trust, that you know is gonna execute … even though he’s wounded, and he’s out there trying to suck it up.”

Look, coaches, I get that improvement doesn’t happen until you acknowledge your mistakes.  That’s all fine.  Just quit airing your regrets in public and, you know, fix the damned problem.  The world doesn’t care about the birthing process.  It just wants to see the baby.

PSA: Dinner with Dooley

Nah, not with SOD, although that might have its own certain charms right now.  No, this is something coming up that I’ve been asked to pass along to you guys who might be interested:

DINNER WITH DOOLEY TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE
Special Rate for Bulldawg Club MembersEnjoy a memorable evening with legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel.  Tickets include dinner and drinks.  Coach Dooley will speak on his new book, History and Reminiscences of the University of Georgia, illustrated by artist Steve Penley.  Copies of the book will be available for purchase.  Special tickets rates for Bulldawg Club members in the link below

http://www.jekyllisland.com/DinnerWithDooleyBulldawgClubSpecial.aspx

If any of you go, feel free to report back.  I’m always open to hearing about old war stories.  Maybe somebody can get Vince to open up about the true story behind the Goff hire.

Permanent? The SEC doesn’t think that word means what we think it means.

Quotation marks, for the win.

At least four SEC football teams could change “permanent” cross-divisional opponents when the conference soon releases its 2013 schedule, SEC Executive Associate Commissioner Mark Womack said today.

Whatta bunch of oxymorons.

Traditional playing dates will be kept “to some degree,” Womack said. “I think you try to keep some of those traditional games in the dates they have traditionally been played in.”

Well, at least you can’t say they’re not trying.

Most SEC members continue to favor eight conference games, Womack said. Earlier this month, the ACC dropped its plan for nine conference games after adding Notre Dame to play every ACC school five games a year.

“I think you look at what other folks are doing, but our institutions look at the issues they face that impacts their positions on scheduling,” Womack said. “I think our guys are always open to looking at things, but at this point in time we’re moving forward for the longterm schedule. That doesn’t mean that couldn’t change during the duration.”

Of course not.

At some point, you have to figure these guys drop all the pretense and just outsource scheduling to CBS and ESPN.