Just something to keep in the back of your mind as Opening Night approaches:
- Offensive plays of 20 yards or more, 2012: Georgia, 3rd nationally
- Opponent plays of 20 yards or more, 2012: Clemson, 109th nationally
By the way, offensively, Clemson was no slouch in that department, either, as the Tigers finished right behind Georgia. At least the Dawgs were somewhat respectable on defense last year, finishing 53rd. But there are a lot of guys on that side of the ball who are gone now.
Me, I’m seeing a pretty wild game shaping up.
Get The Picture 
I am seeing some younger, hungreyer, and in their prime kind of guys on that side of the ball. As a Cheerleader, I loved it when we were yelling DEFENSE<DEFENSE<DEFENSE!!!!!!!! Go Dawgs….sic em….woof woof.
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Quit posting stupid shit on this blog go away
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I’m not anticipating too many 7-6 games this year. I think it’s a good thing our offense should be able to score pretty much at will (assuming they’re in rhythm). I think we’re going to need it. I also don’t believe we’ll see too many 42-14 games either. 24-21 or 42-35? Yeah, I think we’ll see scores like that. I hope I’m wrong but our secondary is just a little too green at this point.
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I share the concerns about the secondary, but think they’ll put up OK #s overall (mostly because, barring playing Bama or TAMU in the SECCG, there aren’t that many decent QBs on our schedule. But the downside is we see 3 of the 4 best in the first month.)
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Any game where we score less than 30 will be a disappointment, in my opinion. Yeah, we’ll give up some points, and I’m not suggesting we will win them all, but this could be the best offense in school history. It should figure out ways to score on everyone.
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I feel the two games against Clemson and South Carolina will set the tone for the season. We cannot afford to come out flat like we did against Boise. With so many younger guys on the field defensively, an early confidence boost can make a huge difference. Win both and we may be in for a really fun season.
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Paul, I agree with you. If this team gets off to a 2-0 start, then the sky is the limit. And what a great ride it would be! However, if this team losses to Clemson, I see an 0-2 start as a certainty. Going 0-2 will likely lead to a 2-3 record over the first 5 games with L’s coming from Clemson, USC and LSU.
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Skeptic Dawg indeed.
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SD, each game is a separate contest. Just because you may lose against one opponent doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose against others.
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I am in the camp of “we can’t be much worse” on defense as a whole this season but I do expect us to get burned on big plays with the inexperienced secondary we have taking the field on Aug 31. The only chance we had at holding Clemson to a score in the teens was if Boyd had taken the money and ran to the NFL. Let’s face it, we have not been very good at stopping a passing offense since long before CMR came to Athens. Our only chance to keep them from passing for over 350 yards is to put Boyd on his back with an effective rush. Fortunately, the Clemson defense has even more to worry about from us.
I fully expect to have to outscore Clemson in a game that will look a lot more like a PAC12 or BIG12 matchup than two teams from the southeast duking it out. Hopefully, it won’t be decided by FG kickers.
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Mac, Did you play football? You sure are wise enough.
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Whether we do or don’t show up on D, the stage is set to look like a lot of scoring. Before kicking in I want to see what Herrera, Big John and those with experience like Wilson, Norman, etc can do together as a team. Throw in Wiggins, Matthews and a few other young, but mature, newbies and I’ll bet that Grantham will get us to change our minds before we play SC(their O is capable of gelling into a Clemson).
Quickness can make up for some inexperience and mistakes and we have a bunch of quick ones.LSU lost more than we did and their D isn’t downgraded so much. We should consider that we are beginning on the same foot on D. Whatever capabilities they are given with their new and fast D players should be dittoed to our D, plus Matthews is the tie-breaker. Our secondary will be faster than LSU’s
My opinion will wait to see what Grantham thinks of summer practice and whether they are ahead of the curve for Newbies cobbled with older and experienced Goodies.
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Although we don’t return a lot of starters on the D, we do return a lot of kids with game experience…I have to especially keep reminding my inner Munson that not every departing starter in the secondary is getting replaced by a 5′ 3″ nearsighted true freshman. Bowman, Dawson, Moore, Norman, Sailors, Swann – it’s not a HOF squad but at least there are some kids back there who generally know where to be and when. If a few of these freshmen work out, we may not be too bad back there.
I think we’re going to be surprised at how little our LB play falls off, even with Jarvis and Ogletree gone, and I’m particularly excited to see how Drew and Jenkins and DeLoach step up. I actually think the line may improve a little.
It may get hairy at times, but I’m super excited to see this new defense.
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If Norman is starting over Moore against Clemson, that’s a sure sign of a serious problem. I’ve never seen anything out of Norman to suggest that he provides anything more than good special teams play and serviceable depth. Furthermore, that would mean that Moore has not progressed in his development nearly as much as needed.
I also think everybody is underestimating how much losing JJ is going to hurt. He was the rare player who wasn’t just fundamentally sound but was also a game changer. Against Clemson, I’m not sure we have a good enough playmaker in the front seven to compensate for the lack of talent and depth in the secondary. Losing JHC really hurts.
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I too expect a high scoring game. The key to the D is a pass rush. A great QB doesn’t look so good when he is on his back or throwing off his back foot. If we can presssure them, we win by 10.
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A high scoring game without our only experienced PK? Not a great formula for victory.
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I see the game being very similar to this game….
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=322660052
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I would prefer it be similar to this game (with Clemson again playing the role of Clemson, and us as WVA): http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=320040228
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