‘Let it rip’

UGA WR Chris Conley particularly pumped about passing game in practice: "There was no holding back. The ball was being gunned by everyone."

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) October 1, 2014

I hope we’re not about to see a case of the cure being worse than the disease.

“I can just rip it more,” Mason said. “Sometimes there’s stuff I’m seeing and it may not be wide open. But at the end of the day you’ve just gotta give your guys a better chance.”

Is it just me, or is there a faint echo of “I kind of saw Norwood and was like, hmmm, but I decided to throw it anyway…” in there?

Vanderbilt is next to last in the conference in defensive passer rating, in case you’re wondering.

“I think he’s being responsible.”

Can you imagine what the reaction would be if Georgia had punished Todd Gurley for being at Bourbon Street Bar & Grill?

Funny, he doesn’t look…

I had no idea Brandon Kublanow is Jewish.  And he’s facing a hypothetical scenario I constructed a long time ago.  (Although if there’s a conference game you’d have to miss for the High Holidays, Vandy would seem to be the one.)

In any event, good yontif, man.

Vanderbilt: first key

This is pretty stark.

When Patton Robinette is not Vanderbilt's quarterback, the Commodores have been outscored 150-30. Robinette is doubtful this week.

— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) September 30, 2014

Trolling, trolling, trolling

Shorter Michael Cunningham:  Georgia fans should be as impressed as I am with Todd Grantham coaching Charlie Strong’s players against the 122nd ranked strength of schedule as compared to Jeremy Pruitt coaching what’s left of Todd Grantham’s players against the 13th ranked strength of schedule.

Really, AJ-C, you’re not even trying anymore.

What’s up with Mason?

So, as you can see from the current Quote of the Day, Ramik Wilson thinks Dawgnation needs to chill a bit about the starting quarterback.  He has a point, to some extent.

Having watched the replay, the wheels don’t come off the wagon until the second offensive play of the second half.  Mason and the passing game were more than serviceable in the second quarter, when the Dawgs came roaring back to take an eleven-point lead.  And he hit his first pass attempt after the half, an out pattern to Conley, for a thirteen-yard gain and a first down.  At that point, he was 12 of 16, for 122 yards, a touchdown and an interception.  He’d also run for a touchdown.

Then came the second interception.  It was bad and Georgia’s passing game essentially shut down from that time on.  Including the pick, Mason went the rest of the game 4 for 9, for 25 yards.  And the stats probably don’t do the play on the field justice.  Georgia’s passing game looked completely constipated in the second half.

The question left to ask is what’s going on?  Seth Emerson and Gentry Estes, who see the team practice regularly, swear on a stack of Bibles that there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong physically with Mason’s arm from what they’ve observed.  That leaves three possibilities:  Mason’s head, the heads of the receivers and the coaches’ heads.  There’s probably some justification in pointing fingers in all three directions.

• Mason.  Well, if it’s not his arm that’s ailing, then it’s certainly his confidence.  Saturday, he looked like a totally different player than the one we saw pull his team back from the brink against Georgia Tech last November.  I can’t say why totally, but given what we’ve seen in Athens over the past few seasons, there’s one area which I don’t think is getting much attention, per Mason:  “We’ll go back to work; I’ll go back to work. I’ll learn from my mistakes and all I can do is just keep trusting my protection.”  That’s a nice sentiment, but I don’t think he trusts his offensive line as much as he lets on there.  Neither, for that matter, did Aaron Murray.  I’ve said before that it seems Mason is very quick to decide where to go with a play; I suspect his trust in his linemen is part of that.  Whatever the case, his judgment needs to improve in a hurry.  He’s not seeing open receivers within his range as well as a player who’s been in Bobo’s system for five years should be.
• The receivers.  What can you say about this?  “While defenses have taken away the deep ball at times this season, Mason said there have been plenty of miscues, especially in the Tennessee game, by the offense. The biggest has come in the form of miscommunication between Mason and his receivers, he said. There were a few times last Saturday where receivers ran the wrong routes or didn’t hit their marks on routes. Some guys didn’t even turn around at the right time for certain passes. Because of that, there’s been some trust lost between Mason and his receivers, especially when it comes to deeper throws. And while Mason admitted he’s been off on a few passes this season, the playbook has been limited because timing with this group of receivers hasn’t been as crisp as it needs to be.”  It’s been a long time since Georgia’s passing game has been that insecure about itself.  And it doesn’t sound like there’s a quick fix, even with the returns of Mitchell, Rumph and Scott-Wesley this week.
• The coaches.  Okay, Bobo hasn’t been playing with a full deck.  Plus, as overpowering as Georgia’s running game has been, how much do you want to go away from it when games are on the line?  And, as Wilson points out, Georgia is still scoring points without much problem.  But what happened to the offseason promise that we’d see a lot more hurry up because that’s what Mason is most comfortable with?  It seems the coaching staff has really gone all in with the run and sent a message to Mason that game management is his most important task.  Check out Richt’s call-in show answer about why the tight ends weren’t involved in the passing game against Tennessee:  “you’re right, not much to the tight ends. One of those games we felt best way to attack was to run the ball and wear down the Defense.  Keep TG fresh for second half.”

It’s obvious the coaches have made their bed when it comes to offensive strategy this season and they intend to lie in it as long as Todd Gurley can carry the team.  But I don’t think Richt and Bobo are blind to what’s going on with their quarterback.  Mason’s not in a good place right now and they’re going to have to take steps, and soon, to boost his confidence.  Luckily for all, Vanderbilt could offer just the opportunity for that.  I don’t expect all the passing game kinks to be worked out this Saturday, but Mason at least needs to walk off the field without hanging his head down.  If he can’t manage that, I suspect all bets will be off.

Tuesday morning buffet

Lots of weirdness in the buffet today.

• Michigan’s athletic director issues a statement at one o’clock in the morning about the Shane Morris debacle that acknowledges the school knew what Brady Hoke said at his Sunday presser was inaccurate.  Wow.
• If I had to guess which SEC head coach has a child named Smacker, Les Miles would be my first choice.
• Anybody who believes Boom is blocking out the criticism… well, I’ve still got some choice Hahira oceanfront property I could let go for the right price.
• Richt, on the question of rotating quarterbacks:  “I think anything’s possible, but I’m not going to sit here and start trying to tell the whole world what we’re going to do before we even talk to our players about how we’re going to rotate things like that.”
• And, fortunately, Sony Michel won’t need surgery for the injury he suffered in the Tennessee game.
• The missing parts of the receiving corps show up for practice.  Woo hoo!
• J.J. Green may get another start at safety against Vanderbilt.
• It’s now an Ole Miss tradition to downgrade Alabama before their game.
• Boys will be boys at Kentucky.
• Worried about the passing game?  You should be worried about the passing game.

Straight out of Mandingo

George O’Leary is alleged to have said this:

The suit alleges that O’Leary used a derogatory word for African-Americans and called the NFL “one big ‘Ru-Ru’ tribe.” The suit also alleges O’Leary once advised coaches to check African-American players “to make sure their gums are blue, because they are bigger, faster and stronger than (African-American players) with red gums.”

Two questions come to mind here.  One, is there an automatic annual line item in the UCF athletic budget to cover O’Leary litigation expenses?  And, second, how does Central Florida manage to sign any recruits?

“… in the end, it’s going to be tough to perpetuate the species.”

Mike Leach evidently yearns for the simpler days of arranged marriages.

I guess that’s gonna have an effect on recruiting in the future.