Exodus.

This didn’t take long.

Georgia junior LB Alec Ogletree said he will enter NFL draft.

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) January 1, 2013

No surprise there.  It’s Geathers’ decision that’s worth watching.

If you look up “decleater” in the dictionary…

this is what you’ll see.

Now that’s what blowing up a play looks like.  And you can’t help but be impressed with the casual way he picks up the loose ball.

Really, I’m fine if the NFL wants to grant Clowney a waiver and let him turn pro now.  Totally.

Mason or Mettenberger would have thrown that sixth TD.

Against the number one pass defense in college football and missing three of his top four receivers, Aaron Murray still managed to throw for 427 yards and five touchdowns.

Not too shabby.

Final pre-game Cap One thoughts

First, I’ll outsource to Bill Connelly.

2. The array of possible outcomes is enormous. Georgia almost lost to Kentucky, needed a fourth-quarter surge to beat Missouri, needed a late defensive stand to beat Tennessee and got destroyed by South Carolina. The Dawgs also handed Florida its only loss, emasculated Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech, and came within five yards of the national title game. Nebraska, meanwhile, beat Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State in successive weeks … and got outscored by Ohio State and Wisconsin (the second time) by a combined 133-69.

Georgia has ranged from average to great, Nebraska from poor to very good. Both teams played their best ball of the season in November, though Georgia played even better on December 1 (Alabama 32, Georgia 28) while Nebraska fell apart (Wisconsin 70, Nebraska 31). Georgia holds the edge, but after a month of reflecting on how close they came to a national title berth, there is no guarantee that the Dawgs will bring their A-game to Orlando.

No, there’s not.  But there’s also no guarantee that Nebraska shows up at its best, either.  And if the Huskers don’t, there’s no reason to think Georgia can’t pull off a, say, somewhat sloppy win.

Honestly, the whole motivation thing has been done to death.  The contrarian in me thinks it won’t end up mattering today.  That leaves me looking at two keys to the game:  (1) Gurshall and (2) turnover margin.  If Georgia can run the ball with authority and win the turnover battle, I have a very hard time seeing how the game goes south for Richt.  Neither of those possibilities seem like much of a stretch, so put me down for a red and black win.

GTP’s 2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.  I thought some of you might find it of interest.

Here’s an excerpt:

About 55,000 tourists visit Liechtenstein every year. This blog was viewed about 3,900,000 times in 2012. If it were Liechtenstein, it would take about 71 years for that many people to see it. Your blog had more visits than a small country in Europe!

Click here to see the complete report.

Here’s to a well-trafficked 2013.

Draft mor juniorz.

A few random observations about last night’s Chick-fil-A Bowl:

1. Um, with Georgia’s September 2013 schedule in mind, let me just say that I saw a number of third-year players on both teams who looked NFL-ready.  Don’t be afraid to climb those golden stairs now, fellas!
2. There’s no way Georgia’s defense will hold up in the September heat letting Clemson run 100 offensive plays.
3. Which means Georgia’s offense had better avoid eight three-and-out possessions.
4. After watching Southern Cal’s complete lack of interest in playing its bowl game, it was a pleasure to see two top-fifteen schools giving it their all for sixty minutes.
5. Once again, the SEC’s fifth-best plays the ACC’s second-best no worse than evenly.  Sounds about right.
6. Zach Mettenberger, 5.2 yards per pass attempt; Jeremy Hill, 10.3 yards per carry.  It just goes to show that you’re never out of it late in a tight game with Les Miles.