A new S & C face coming soon…

… as Joe Tereshinski announces his retirement, effective after the bowl game.  According to Estes, Georgia is likely to seek an outside hire to replace him.

Coach T will always be the Best Damn Dawg. You will not find a person that loves UGA & cherishes our history more than T.

— Kolton Houston (@KoltonHouston75) December 1, 2014

It will be very interesting to see which way the program goes with this move.  Anyone have an idea who the up-and-comers are who would look good filling that slot?

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The silver lining from Saturday’s shit storm

At least the genius may stick around for a few more years.  Hope he gets a Paul Hewitt-type extension.

“… I could get in a car wreck, but I’m definitely planning on being back.”

The head coach of the 6-6 South Carolina Gamecocks announces he will return in the same position in 2015.

My favorite thing about the article is that it wasn’t worth the effort to get a comment from the AD.

“I know we are on the right track.”

Mark Richt thinks his program’s future’s so bright, he’s gotta wear shades.

“It’s hard to sit here and act all giddy about what happened,” Richt said of this season. “I mean we want to win the East and win the SEC. And we want to be a team competing and winning some national championships. Obviously there were some things that were a little different that we had to manage.

“I know we are on the right track. I mean I am so very excited about what’s going on here at Georgia and what’s happening with our recruiting and our staff and how we have established some things that have been outstanding, or will continue to be in some cases, and I think we’re getting our players to buy in 100 percent, and when we keep doing that and keep recruiting like we are, great things are gonna happen.”

Richt was then asked how close he feels Georgia is to again being a national championship contender.

“Well, I mean how close were we to going to Atlanta and having a chance to get in the thing?” Richt said. “We were probably closer than we think.”

This brings me to where I was heading with yesterday’s post about how B-M would ever go about replacing Richt, as some of you would like.  The point being that most of you who want a change are willing to take a risk in the hope that an athletic department that has a shaky record at best with major hires would get this one right.  And I don’t have a problem with that attitude.  We’re all fans and hope is our fuel.  But how is that kind of hope any better than those who hope Mark Richt is right?  I don’t see it.

Or, you could just ask Bernie’s question.

Observations from the 35, nerds win! edition

Once again, the hedges took a post-game hit.

I’ve rehashed most of the big issues already, so let me keep the bullet points short and sour.

• Bobo had a tough day, mainly because his offensive line regressed significantly in the second half.  But his play calling on the last drive in regulation was as good as you could ask.  Except for leaving eighteen seconds on the clock.
• He wasn’t the only coordinator who had it rough.  Tech came out in the second half and made a couple of adjustments in how it ran the ball.  Any hope that Georgia’s defensive line was going to step up and control the B-backs vanished quickly.  That forced Pruitt to try to plug the middle, which had the unfortunate consequence of leaving the defense vulnerable on the edges.
• Give Swann credit for paying attention to no whistle being blown on his 99-yard takeaway.  I don’t know what the officials were thinking there, but seeing as Georgia’s been burned on occasion by the refs letting forward progress go on for an eternity, I don’t feel a bit guilty about it.
• There are a lot of things you can point at as to why Georgia lost.  One that isn’t getting much attention is the Georgia series that came after Swann’s score.  First, the defense held Tech for one of the few times in the second half, forcing a bad punt that gave the offense starting position on the Jackets’ 36.  From there, nothing.  Except a blocked field goal.
• The game was weird because special teams were weird.
• Malcolm Mitchell played his ass off again.
• Neither team missed a fourth down conversion, right?
• After the ballsy pooch kick to get the ball back with the lead, the genius proceeded to give his advantage away with some questionable play calling.  Why Tech didn’t keep feeding the B-back there is something I didn’t understand.
• I don’t think Pruitt’s strategy after the squib kick was bad.  I do think Leonard Floyd blew his spy responsibility by lining up wrong and letting Thomas escape for those 21 yards.

Eh, I hate a loss to Georgia Tech more than any other.  But if there’s a year to toss one away, I suppose this was the one.  Somehow, that’s of little comfort.

SEC Power Poll, Week 14

Welp, the conference did a good bit of eating its own this weekend, so your guess is as good as my ballot.

As I always do in the last PP of the year, net yards per game for each team will appear in a pathetic attempt to make it look like my evaluations mean something.  (Good luck with that.)  One obvious observation:  the quality of the conference drops like a rock after the top seven.

1. Alabama (+177.0 ypg).  Hey, did you hear Lane Kiffin is a genius?  Amari Cooper could make me look like one of the best offensive coordinators in college football.
2. Mississippi (+122.1 ypg).  Toughest call to make this week was which Mississippi school to place in front of the other.  Tie goes to the Egg Bowl winner.
3. Mississippi State (+94.50 ypg).  Great year, but the defense turned out to be a little shakier than I expected.
4. Missouri (+35.40 ypg).  If you weren’t sure that Gary Pinkel coached a overachieving team this season, that ypg figure should erase all doubt.
5. Georgia (+120.90 ypg).  Yeah, going into the season, most of us expected something on the order of three losses.  But after being the only team in the SEC to score 500 points, the Dawgs’ 2014 still feels like a disappointment, doesn’t it?
6. Auburn (+100.50 ypg).  Vaya con Dios, Ellis Johnson.
7. LSU (+77.60 ypg).  The defense was fabulous.  The offense was missing in action.
8. Arkansas (+65.20 ypg).   Bert got a lead.  Bert got cute.  Bert got beat.  Karma.
9. Florida (+59.20 ypg).  I did so hope cancelling the Idaho game would come back to bite the Gators in the butt.  Oh well, have fun in Shreveport or some place similar, boys.
10. Texas A&M (+.30 ypg).  If there’s a Will Muschamp, next defensive coordinator contest, I guess the Aggies are the first entry.
11. Tennessee (+3.10 ypg).  Hard to believe, but Tennessee’s seniors get to head to their first bowl game this year.
12. South Carolina (+17.20 ypg).  The win over Georgia looks more incomprehensible with each passing week.
13. Kentucky (-22.60 ypg).  Even in the SEC, it’s not easy to start 5-1 and fail to make it to a bowl.  But you did it, ‘Cats!
14. Vanderbilt (-113.80 ypg).  I’d say there’s always next year, but I’m not sure that’s much consolation.

Fabris Invitational results, Week 14

The season ends, not with a bang, but a tiebreaker in the last weekly results.

STANDINGS for WEEK 14

Rank	Selection Name	Standings Adjustment	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker Game 17-35
1	Mayor of Dawgtown	Adj	8-2	8	21-27**
1	4boysbrew	Adj	8-2	8	28-35

Congrats, Mayor.

And we are now ready to proclaim a regular season champ.  Or, in a first, co-champs.

SEASON STANDINGS through Week 14

Rank	You	Selection Name	W-L	Pts
1		Second String Secondary	82-58	82
1		Valley Dawg	82-58	82

Kudos to both. Take a victory lap in the comments section.

Again, that concludes the pick ’ems for the regular season. I expect to have the bowl pool up in ten days or so. Stay tuned.