Somebody’s been doing his research during the bye week.
Junior linebacker Kentrell Brothers said stopping Gurley takes on even more importance because, in his opinion, Georgia doesn’t really unleash the passing playbook as much under new quarterback Hutson Mason as it did last year under Aaron Murray: “I don’t know if they trust him as much as they did Aaron Murray, so they’re definitely putting the ball in Todd Gurley’s hands a lot more. Which is smart. They’re going to run the ball downhill. If we stop it, we’re going to win the game. If we don’t, we’re going to have a long night.”
Okay, it’s a day game, but he makes the correct point. Stopping Gurley is not a concept that’s escaped any of Georgia’s other opponents this season so far, though. It’s just been something other teams couldn’t do anything about.
Get The Picture 
If Mizzou puts too many resources into stopping TG, they will find out there are other competent aspects to the Georgia offense.
There IS no good answer for a back like Gurley. That’s why everyone wants one.
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Hopefully JSW will be “game ready” this week. He and Malcolm have the ability to burn any defense that stacks the box to stop Gurley.
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They do if they’re 100%. I just doubt that either one could be, at this point. Hope I’m wrong.
~~~
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The only people who have been able to stop Todd Gurley this year are Richt and Bobo. He should get a minimum of 25 touches in each of the remaining SEC games, unless there is a comfortable 3 score lead.
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I meant to post this at the bottom.
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I read somewhere that Mizzou only allowed 3-100 yard rushers all year last season (and 2 were in the SECCG). This year, they’ve allowed 4 in 5 games.
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Silver, you’re speaking my language. Todd is going to create a highlight film on that fast turf. 62 degrees and low humidity. 25 carries will be a breeze. We won’t need that many from him in Little Rock. Maybe 17-18, then let him take a long, long nap for two weeks and wake him up about 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 1.
I don’t get all the gnashing of teeth. Hutson ain’t no Murray, but Gurley ain’t like nobody we’ve had in 30 years. He’s an extreme competitor who wants the ball and wants to win a championship badly. He’s going to to carry us.
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He’s the closest thing College football has seen to Adrian Peterson sans the off field stuff. My brothers in Dawgnation, enjoy this kid while you can. It will be a while before we see another like him.
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He will, if we give him a little help. We need to have some success throwing, IMO. Doesn’t have to be a lot, but enough to keep them honest..
Mizzou wants to get us in situations where they can control the game with their pass rush. We have to make sure we stay out of those situations. So we have to have some success early, and not fall too far behind.
If we can get to the 4th quarter with a lead, or still close, we can pound the ball. But I think it’s unrealistic to think we can just pound the ball for 4 quarters, without some sort of help from the passing game (not that you’re saying that).
We’ll need the passing game for at least 2 or 3 quarters, IMO.
~~~
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+1 re: “I don’t get all the gnashing of teeth.” MO is a quality opponent, no doubt. But the fact remains that Todd Gurley II is actually on the UGA football team. They recruited him, they’ve perfected him, and they’re using him. As a result, and because Hutson Mason, like the vast majority of QBs, is not Aaron Murray, TG II is the focus of our offense. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s a damn football beast, and he’s backed up by what may be “Beast Jr” in the making (and may soon again be backed up by the emerging Two Headed Beast).
I can bitch and moan with the best of them, but it seems to me there’s excessive hand wringing by UGA Fandom this week. We’ve got 4 critical SEC road games–with a serendipitous off week in the middle–coming up. Let’s see how our Dawggies do in them, while rooting hard all the way.
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Troy did manage to do a pretty good job of keeping him on the sideline.
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beat me to it. Follow the Troy model everyone….
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In 1980, I remember Bobby Bowden saying that he had never seen a team (UGA) depend on one player so much (Herschel). Same situation this year with Gurley. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the same team prospects as in 1980? By the way, Herschel didn’t (but should have done so) win the Heisman that year, but he was the force behind UGA’s only national title in my lifetime to date; This year,at least, Gurley has a real shot to win the Heisman.
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I think part of that has also come from Michel and Marshall being injured. Chubb’s great, but I suspect isn’t as far along in pass protection as those two and Gurley. While I suspect #3 could handle it, I’d feel better if we could get him back at 20 carries or fewer unless we really needed it (see the Clemson game).
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I have a different theory. This stretch is the one in which we need to lean on Todd, and we’re being forced to. Thomas Brown’s injury in 2007 served as the catalyst for that season. Knowshon was simply better, and our offense clicked as we got him greased up. We leaned heavily on Special K in that Vandy-Florida stretch and it made all the difference. Our offense got confidence, Knowshon became a difference maker, and TB came back motivated and as a welcome addition by the Auburn game.
Our offense is different with Todd, and we need a little confidence now. A fake in Todd’s belly opens things up a little more, which will give Hutson confidence. I think this Mizzou-Fla stretch is where we need to lean on Todd and get the kinks out…and get him rolling. TB’s injury forced our hand in 2007 and I always thought it worked out well. I see that now. Let’s get rolling on this stud we’ve got, then bring everyone back to the party.
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Times are different, I agree, but like Herschel said after 40-plus carries, “The ball don’t weigh much.”
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But the kids tackling Gurley weigh more now. Lets hope for continued health and some more chances to rest him for the big ones.
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This. We’ve got a big game against Arkansas two weeks from now; they know how to gang-defend a tailback iso; and they’ll just have finished tackling Yeldon and Henry. My fear is that sending Gurley up the middle 30 times vs. Mizzou gives Arkansas the upper hand.
Then again, what really worries me about Arkansas is that their Oline weighs an average of 380 lbs. I suppose inner Munson needs to wait until next week to really let the Arkansas panic flow.
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Kraut, if you think we can’t throw, take a look at Fayetteville. Their passing game makes Hutson look like Joe Montana. They’re 14th in the league in passing. You think they can line it up and just run it on us? Who has done that? Ramik is a beast vs. the run.
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Also, if you think our D is bad…
(That said, I do think they’re good enough to finish ahead of LSU in the West, which should count as a big accomplishment considering how good the teams at the top are.)
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Why don’t we worry about winning the Mizzou game which will likely decide the East before we start worrying about Arkansas? Looking ahead it dumb. If we loose to Mizzou, then who will give a shit about the Arky game?
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“The ball ain’t heavy.”
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Mizzou has 2 great PASS RUSHING DEs that are on the smallish side. I would like to see us run some of that delayed draw that UT gashed us with to allow our tackles to essentially let their DEs wash themselves out of the play. In any case, I don’t think that Mizzou’s d-line is built to take the kind of pounding they are about to receive at the hands of Mssr. Gurley.
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I like what you did with that title.
Especially apropos for Mizzou.
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I prefer to look at his All -purpose yards at nearly 200 ypg average. Speaking of which, how come his 50 yard pass completion doesn’t figure into the total?
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Als Wyatt Earp ontketende de hel bij de OK Corral, zal de heer Todd Gurley hetzelfde te doen in het land van de Tigers.
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As Wyatt Earp unleashed Hell at the OK corral, Mr. Todd Gurley will do the same in the land of the Tigers.
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Grown Man Football
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Give it to the horse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Doesn’t this pretty much confirm that Mason is a liability? Nobody respects him as a threat
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Boots, you may be trolling, but I’ll just say I don’t agree with you on that.
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I see Mason as potentially another Buck Belue. Manage the game, hand it to Gurley, throw just enough to keep the opponent’s LBs and DBs honest. That formula has worked just fine before and not just at Georgia.
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Amen, his arm seems to be fine. He may not be Aaron Murray on long range accuracy but when the receivers and he get dialed in they are more than capable of burning teams that cheat up too much to protect against the run. We just need to keep teams honest by exploiting all they are willing to give us. Plenty of offensive weapons on this team, imo, and we will need all of them to outscore a few teams on the inward half of the season because the defense hasn’t improved enough yet. Coming together slowly, but progress is being made. Will it be enough, soon enough? I doubt it for all the games I see but let’s hang with them, I don’t see any lack of effort from any of them so they deserve our support.
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But remember that Mizzou always gives UGA it’s best shot.
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Amen to that.
One of these days, I need to write a post about how Georgia plays the toughest schedule in the country because every team it plays brings its A game. What other school has it so rough?
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Alabama. Wasn’t a couple of years ago 6 or 7 of their opponents scheduled their bye weeks before them?
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