“But, hell, they’re running another play.”

With regard to the hurry-up, Nick Saban sounds like a man who’s about to embrace the concept of “if you can’t get college football to change the substitution rules beat ’em, join ’em”.

“We spend a lot of time and effort on it. Things just went wrong.”

The first step in fixing a problem is recognizing you have one, so at least the Dawgs are past that with their special teams.

And I know Seth’s being fair with this observation, but, oy, what a classic “other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln” moment is this?

Georgia’s special teams overall haven’t been that bad, other than the three glaring mistakes.

Mumme Poll nag

Just a friendly reminder to go register.  Now.  Do it today.  Operators are standing by to take your call.

Friday morning buffet

Big game tomorrow… you need your energy.

• Georgia-LSU:  it’s hammer time.
• Everybody’s enjoying Junior’s embarrassing loss to Wazzou.
• Nick Saban blames the fans for making his team “anxious”.  Jeebus.
• Arkansas to TAMU:  you can bring the band to the game, but we won’t let them play at halftime.
• Saban says the reason ‘Bama cancelled the Michigan State series is because the neutral site games his team plays are better for business.
• With two teams facing off that don’t run the spread, I get the feeling Gary Danielson is going to be happier than a pig in slop Saturday.
• The NCAA answers the Paterno family’s lawsuit.
• How would the SEC have handled the end of the Arizona State-Wisconsin game?

The worm turns.

Wow.  It’s never pretty watching somebody give up on his idol.  Check out what Mark Bradley had to say about the game the genius called in last night’s less than scintillating loss to Virginia Tech:

This failure went higher than the starting quarterback. This wretched performance falls on Johnson. He designed this system. He recruited these players. He didn’t have them primed for this prime-time tilt, and near the end he nearly blew the game by himself.

Eight-plus minutes left, the Jackets down 17-10, fourth-and-2 at their 33: This is the place in a Tech game when we wits in the press box nod to one another and say, “Paul probably wants to go for this.” Only Johnson did more than want. HE WENT FOR IT. Knowing full well that failure would put Virginia Tech in position to kick the field goal that would ice the game, HE WENT FOR IT.

That’s a long way down from this.  Hope Bradley can survive the pressure drop.

Bulldog City

This one got passed on to me to share with you:

A+ on incorporating the South Carolina clips into the video.  (Plus, you know I’m always gonna dig a gratuitous shot in front of a BBQ joint.) Welcome to the Dawg House, indeed.

Ten questions: LSU

One of my favorite CFB blogs out there is the LSU-centric And The Valley Shook.  All I ask from a blog is entertaining writing on subjects I care about, and ATVS certainly qualifies on that front.  (If you haven’t been sneaking over there this week to catch a few things like this, this and this, you should be.)  Plus, some of the guys there have been known on occasion to drop in on the comments section here, so they’ve obviously got some taste.

Anyhoo, I asked one of the ATVS regulars if he wouldn’t mind sharing some insight about LSU’s season so far with you guys, and he graciously consented.  Without any further ado, here’s Billy Gomila aka Chef Billy:

It really is funny how much the conventional wisdom on LSU’s season has changed since the spring.  Did it have any effect on the team’s preparation/mentality?

I definitely think the players noticed the “down season” narrative, and we know the “nobody believes in us” cliche almost always works as a motivational ploy. The coaching staff has certainly preached the “one game at a time” mindset, and at least outwardly, the players appear to be buying into that.

But I would also say that the schedule has been a big factor as well. LSU had to be ready for a big game in week one, and even with two cupcakes following it up, catching Auburn last week was also a good thing leading into such a big game.

The one thing you’re surprised LSU isn’t doing a better job at is…?

I really expected LSU’s linebackers to be one of the best units on this team, and instead, it’s really struggled so far. Even with a combined 32 tackles from the starters last week against Auburn, they just didn’t make a lot of plays, and we expected more from this group. 

Growing pains from the defense were expected to a degree, but it’s still been a bit of a surprise to watch a team like Auburn kind of henpeck this unit to death in the running game.

What is it, something like 44 out of 60 receptions belong to Beckham, Jr. and Landry – does LSU have a legit third receiving option?  Do the coaches even care?

In terms of one proven guy? I guess not, but they haven’t needed one thus far, really. I don’t think it’s a concern right now really. For a defense to lock down both Beckham and Landry, they’ll likely leave somebody else open, and I don’t think Mettenberger is afraid to go to a back or a tight end if that’s the open guy. How well do you like your nickel corner or safety in coverage?

Really, how tested has LSU been by the early schedule?

I think it depends on your definition of “tested.”The TCU game has probably been the only game that’s ever been at a tight enough stage to feel like the game might slip away. But I do think there’s been an advantage to the way things have built up. You had a big stage in week one, prime time, against a ranked opponent. Then two patsies to keep working out the kinks, then a conference rival (that was 3-0 at the time at that) to build into the first huge crossroads game of the season. Back in 2011, LSU’s first month really set the tone for conference play, whereas the next season, a light start definitely seemed to factor in with the team’s slow start. How well the first four weeks of this season has prepared LSU is something that I think we’ll find out early on Saturday.

We know Georgia’s defense has been on and off in the wake of replacing nine starters.  Has Chavis’ defense missed a beat in the wake of all the NFL departures?

Right now, there just don’t appear to be as many impact players in the front seven as there were a year ago. Specifically, this outfit is missing a Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo or, especially, a Kevin Minter. It’s not exactly getting dragged up and down the field, but there haven’t been as many impact, drive-killing plays.

I mourn the absence of one of college football’s great names, Barkevious Mingo.  Any worthy successors on this year’s roster?

Can I interest you in a Tre’davious White, or perhaps a Kwon Alexander? There’s also a Quantavius Leslie, but he hasn’t seen as much playing time.

Two of the rare teams in CFB that feature a fullback face off:  are the defenses ready?

Isn’t one of the best parts of having a fullback on offense that your defense gets to practice against him? LSU has two by the way. Walk-on Connor Neighbors does a very good job of spelling J.C. Copeland.

Both teams have given up a long kickoff return in the early going.  How have LSU’s special teams performed so far?

Since that one lapse against TCU, LSU’s have been steadily improving. Kicker James Hairston has consistently put kick-offs out of the endzone, and this year’s model Aussie punter, Jamie Keehn, has gotten better every game. In fact, if you factor out that one 100-yard return, LSU’s allowing an average of just 37 kick return yards a game.

During the Auburn broadcast, Blackledge said that to be successful, an offense has to attack LSU’s defense with downfield passing.  True?  If so, how susceptible is the secondary to the deep ball?

It was definitely true on that night. Sophomore Micah Eugene got the start at one of the safety spots, and was late getting deep in man-free coverage a couple of times, which led to both of Auburn’s long pass plays to Sammie Coates. He, reportedly, may miss this weekend with a hamstring injury, however. Nevertheless, this secondary is still relatively young, so a veteran passing attack like Georgia’s could have some success.

The most essential non-alcoholic item for a successful tailgate is…?

Well, for me tailgating is always about family, friends and good food, but those are givens. After that, I’d go with a good TV, some campus wi-fi and a phone with the WatchESPN app. My tailgate group has recently learned how to pair that with an HDMI cable to catch ESPN without having to bring out a satellite dish and triangulate anything. What a country!

It’s my understanding that Billy’s planning to link this Q&A over at his site, so if you’ve got questions or observations, set ’em up in the comments and maybe we’ll get a response from the ATVS folks.  Hope you enjoyed this.