The SEC Network is a cruel mistress.

I can’t say I feel sorry for the guy for this…

… but for the first time regarding Finebaum, words fail me.

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So much for absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Mark Richt doesn’t seem to be reluctant about throwing daggers in Todd Grantham’s direction these days.

Richt says each defensive coach having a background at the high school level has helped w/ fundamentals. "Some coaches forget about that."

— Fletcher Page (@FletcherPage) August 13, 2014

Of course, I could be totally off base about who those “some coaches” are.

But I doubt it.

Todd Gurley’s 2014 numbers

Bovada has post some over/under player stats.  Here’s what it’s got for Todd Gurley:

NCAA 2014-2015 Season -Total Rushing Yards – Todd Gurley (Georgia)          

Over/Under                               1260½

 

NCAA 2014-2015 Season -Total Rushing Touchdowns – Todd Gurley (Georgia)

Over/Under                               13½

Looks like some baby-splitting going on there, based on his first two years’ production.  If he stays healthy, those numbers are way below his freshman results.

Would you put money on it, either way?

Mason and trust in the not-so year of the quarterback

Pat Forde returns to the “SEC, it’s not your quarterbacks’ year” meme in this post.  First, one interesting factual nugget:

Interestingly in a pass-first era, there also were the most rushing yards produced and allowed in 2013, but not the most passing yards produced and allowed. That happened in 2001.

Sounds like that means there might be an entirely different, yet equally valid reason this year’s conference may be more run-oriented.  But Forde may have a good point of his own when he notes,

In an effort to win turnover margin, expect a very conservative September in a lot of SEC locales. Until coaches know they can trust their young quarterbacks, they’re not going to place the weight of the world on their shoulder pads.

In light of that, how much comfort should be taken with Mason’s avoidance of throwing picks in practice in the spring and fall?  Certainly it’s no guarantee of perfection come September, but if it’s an indication of emphasis and Mason’s appreciation of its importance, he may be farther along the trust curve than some of his peers, which should be good news for Georgia’s offense.

**************************************************************************

UPDATE:  A little more about Mason, from an unnamed coach who faced Georgia last season.

Hutson Mason’s got some game reps under his belt, and that’s an advantage. It’s not like he’s stepping into a role where he’s playing for the first time. The depth in their backfield is phenomenal. That helps for Mason’s transition, because you’re not going to have to lean on his arm to win ball games. Having a strong run game can only open up throwing lanes for the quarterback — and the strength of their offense will be their running…

Getting pounded: it must be mid-preseason camp.

Damn, Reggie. (AJC photo by Chip Towers)

Athens is Walking Wounded City today. Per Chip Towers:

• The most notable new injury appears to be Reggie Davis. The sophomore wide receiver had his left hand completely clubbed up in a cast. No details on the severity and/or extend of the injury — hopefully coach Mark Richt will provide some when he speaks to reporters after the morning practice — but obviously it’s never good to see that at a position required to use those hands on every play.

• Lots of green, non-contact jerseys among the receiving corps, including Isaiah McKenzie, Chris Conley, Kenneth Towns, Justin Scott-Wesley and walkon Clay Johnson. There was good news at that position, however, as Jonathan Rumph was back in a regular jersey and looks to be fully cleared.

• Some more good news on the injury front: Cornerback Shattle Fenteng is out of green and back to practicing full speed and all of Georgia’s tight ends were a full go without limitations, including frequent absentee Jordan Davis.

• Another new member of the green jersey club, at least from my observation, is outside linebacker Davin Bellamy. But he was fully dressed out and appeared to be participating. He’s out for the first two games via suspension for his DUI arrest this summer. Safety Dominick Sanders remained in green.

• Fullback Merritt Hall was not on the field at all this morning, and there is increasing evidence that he may be out for a while. That starts with the fact that Detric Bing-Dukes said yesterday that his move to fullback from inside linebacker is for the entire season.

• Speaking of the fullbacks, the order in which running backs coach Bryan McClendon was working them Wednesday was senior walkon Taylor Maxey with the first team, followed by fellow walkons Cameron Faulkner and Christian Payne and then finally Bing-Dukes.

• The Bulldogs were missing noseguard Chris Mayes and Lamont Gaillard again this morning. Mayes’ absence should start becoming a bit of a concern at this point. Georgia hasn’t said what his malady is but he, too, has had past problems with concussions.

Man, that’s dizzying.  Can’t make Pruitt’s task any easier, either.

And this just popped up on Twitter.

It appears Merritt Hall's football career is over. Hutson Mason reported that Hall has been medically disqualified due to concussions.

— Field Street Forum (@FieldStForum) August 13, 2014

I sure hate to hear that.  Sincerely hope there are no long-term consequences for Hall.

Wednesday morning buffet

Another day, another buffet line.

• David Climer publishes his list of SEC stadiums, in order of best fan experience.  Georgia checks in at number two.
• Speaking of SEC stadiums, somebody at Texas A&M has a sense of humor.
• Jesse Jackson, oy:  “Nick Saban’s check comes from our work.”
• Will Muschamp personally delivered a season ticket package to a couple who’ve had them for 47 years.  No word on whether he offered to pick them up and take them to the games this year.
• Roll Bama Roll thinks Georgia ought to be able to take care of business against Missouri, “unless Mark Richt chooses this game as his annual faceplant.”
• Here’s a look at existing ACC rivalries.  As you can probably guess, all the recent movement has made a hash of that.
• Here’s CBSSports.com‘s SEC preview.  Not a lot of consensus there.
• On the other hand, Bill Connelly is pretty impressed with South Carolina.
• And here’s Clemson, halfway to Georgia.

Bruce Feldman likes Georgia coordinators.

If you’ll recall, Mike Bobo made Bruce Feldman’s list of top ten offensive coordinators ready for a head coaching job.

Now comes his list of defensive coordinators, and Jeremy Pruitt pops up at number three.  With a bullet.

His stock surged last year after coming over from Alabama and helping FSU get over the top to win the BCS title. The Noles led the nation in scoring D (12.1 ppg) in 2013. If he can remedy what has been an underachieving Bulldog defense and help UGA win an SEC title, his profile will REALLY take off.

By the way, five of the DCs on his list coach in the SEC.  And Louisville’s guy didn’t make the list.

Today’s random factoid

ESPN lets us know that 2013 really was a special year for Georgia.

Georgia was one of six teams last season to pass for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 2,000. Those six teams averaged 10.5 wins. UGA won eight.

My first thought was to blame that on the injury situation, but those stats were compiled despite the injuries.  That leaves the usual suspects – defense and special teams.

How good could last year’s team have been if those two areas had merely been competent?

Mike Slive’s next problem

Okay, now that it’s fine for schools to pay student-athletes’ cost of attendance in full, it should be smooth sailing, right?

Not so fast, bacon breath.  John Infante points out the obvious:  cost of attendance not only varies from conference to conference, it varies from school to school.  Here are his calculations for the SEC:

SEC
– Alabama: $3,298
– Arkansas: $4,002
– Auburn: $5,586
– Florida: $3,320
– Georgia: $1,798
– Kentucky: $3,536
– LSU: $3,680
– Mississippi: $4,500
– Mississippi State: $5,126
– Missouri: $3,664
– South Carolina: $4,151
– Tennessee: $5,666
– Texas A&M: $3,100
– Vanderbilt: $2,730

*Vanderbilt only gives “varies” for travel allowance so it was not included.

Note the pretty massive spread between Georgia and Tennessee there.

Infante’s conclusion?

… There is no way this will fly. Not only do some schools offer more than others, but there is no rhyme or reason to why one is greater than the other. Why are travel, clothing, entertainment, and other personal expenses more than twice as expensive in Knoxville, TN as in Los Angeles, CA? Why an over $600 difference between the two Los Angeles schools.

But at the same time, the options for doing so are very limited. The power conferences have one way to normalize cost of attendance across all 65 schools: let every school go up to the highest cost of attendance figure, which in this case is Tennessee’s $5,666.

But that has its own set of problems. First, many schools would then be permitted to exceed cost of attendance, some by thousands of dollars. Not only is that philosophically troubling for the NCAA, it also complicates matters with financial aid offices. If a portion of an athletic scholarship exceeds cost of attendance and is not paid through the financial aid office, what is but payment for services rendered?

Second, this would be massively more expensive than some schools were likely planning for. Tennessee’s number is almost twice as much as the Pac–12’s average. A school like Iowa State, already worried about paying for COA scholarships would see the cost go up by more than $3,000 per full scholarship equivalency. At that point, the divide between the haves, the have-mores, and the real elite would begin to show quickly and clearly.

And finally, it does not solve the perceived imbalance of giving athletes the same living allowance across the country when the cost of living varies wildly among the cities where these 65 schools are located.

My bet is after a tremendous amount of infighting, they fall back on the default of letting each school set its own number.  It’ll be just like letting everyone come up with their own drug policies. Hey, what could go wrong with that?

Name that caption, male bonding edition

The possibilities are endless.

Spears looks… uncomfortable.

And you?