Gentry Estes gently reminds us that there are actually other things to know about Georgia’s Belk Bowl opponent besides its defensive coordinator.
Considering how the regular season ended, this is something worth watching:
It’s probably best to not throw in the direction of junior safety Gerod Holliman, who is one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award. Holliman has tied an NCAA record this season with a whopping 14 interceptions. By comparison, only 23 teams in the FBS have intercepted more than 14 passes this season. As a team, Louisville is tied for first nationally in interceptions with 25…
On the flip side, the schools had two common opponents this season, Clemson and Kentucky. Louisville lost to Clemson and barely squeaked by Kentucky at home. Georgia… didn’t. Should we be worried about focus? Too soon?
Get The Picture 
The team should be more fired up about this one than they were about that rainy Nebraska rematch.
Grades will be in before this game so hopefully most of our players will be eligible to play.
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In this year, just like in 2007, I don’t want to put too much stock in common opponents. UGA and UF both had Mizzou as a common opponent, after all.
But UGA is a better overall team, so the post’s overall point is correct. And despite the GT overtime, Mason has been very good about protecting the ball. Hopefully Mr. Holliman won’t get that extra interception he’d need to break the old record rather than tie it.
Louisville is #48 nationally in rushing defense. Michel has a month off to get healthy and he’s sharing the backfield with the AP freshman of the year for the SEC.
Hopefully we can grind them down into the dirt without needing Mason to try and do too much.
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Good thoughts — it’ll be tough to intercept passes if you have to come down into run support.
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My hope is that in all of this, some of the truth about just what the f was going on with e 2013 defense and coaching staff comes to light. My feeling is that it will have to come from Grantham, since Richt is going to be politically correct at all times. But it would be fascinating if they were just all honest.
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Not poking the bear here but is their loss to Virginia worse than our loss to the Chickens?
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Yes, of course. USCe would kill UVA.
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We’re facing Grantham. Shouldn’t our offense just get into some third and long situations?
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Exactly. Certain recipe for success! 🙂
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Only if we had a quarterback who throw it that far… 😉
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Enlightening when clicking through cfbstats: For all its prowess in picking off the ball, LVille has only fallen on 3(!) fumbles which is ninth-worst in the land. The Cards have also given away 16(!!) fumbles, fifth-worst in the game.
Somewhere in there lies a basic gameplan for victory!
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I wonder if there S&C program includes arm-flapping?
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That’s…that’s just a lot of interceptions for one player.
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Richt needs to prove that he can beat a good coach like Petrino. Most of the fan base will have a melt down if we lose to grantham and I will be one of them fans who melt down
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Richt’s already beaten Petrino.
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But was it a big game? I hear he can’t win the big ones. Except for the times he does.
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It wasn’t. It was an early season matchup between two mediocre teams.
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It wasn’t a big game because we won. Just like Gus is now a mediocre coach because Richt stomped him.
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No, it was not a big game because it wasn’t a big game. Richt has won some big games, and he’s lost some. The only big games when you aren’t any good, like Georgia in ’09 and ’10, are rivalry games.
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It may not have been a big game from December 2014 perspective but it was big the day we played it because we started the game first in the SEC East and finished the game first in in the SEC East. Had we lost it I suspect that you would be classifying it as having lost a big game.
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By that standard any SEC game is a big game until you’re mathematically eliminated. That would make pretty much every Vanderbilt game a big game. Why do you assume I’m arguing in bad faith? By my own stated standard, Richt won two big games in ’09 alone. Three if you count South Carolina as a big rivalry game.
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That’s right I forgot about the 2009 game. Well we need to win this game because of the tech loss…if you lose to tech then the most important game is the next one. As a fan I don’t like to pay my ticket and drive for 3 hrs to watch us lose….bowl games do matter…you play to win the game.
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Richt’s also lost to Petrino. Remember 2010?
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That wasn’t the point I was responding to, Mayor, but, yes, I remember 2010. I blogged about it. 😉
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You write a blog? What do you think of Mark Richt?!!
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Who?
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And Richt has lost to Petrino, so this is their most important meeting.
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And you know Georgia’s gonna get Louisville’s best shot. 😉
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Snark noted, but I don’t see why not. That would seem to fit right in with the Petrino/Grantham profile. 🙂
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And incidentally, I can easily waste an afternoon wading through cfbstats!
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Eh, bowl games like this don’t really matter. I’d like Georgia to win, but I’m not going to be very angry if they lose for whatever reason.
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Or, more to the point, Richt needs to prove that his decision to go in a different defensive direction was the right one and beat Grantham.
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Our first play on offense needs to be a wheel route.
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As long as he doesn’t jump the quick slant we should be fine….too soon?
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Common opponent Kentucky. It is said UK did not score on Pruitt’s defense in every quarter but they did against Grantham. What does that mean. For me just a number on the board.
But can that offensive genius Bobo put up enought points on Grantham to win number 10? We will see, but I have some concerns.
Are Green and Langley on the travel squad to the Belk Bowl?
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I doubt it…they are looking to leave…doubt they will be traveling with the team. I have some concerns as well. But I still think we will win. Mostly because of Chubb and Michel running thru that grantham defense
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And yet when you take a look at cfbstats, LVille is 3rd in the nation stopping the run at 94 ypg and 2.94 ypc. Oooof.
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You are absolutely right. I must have been looking at the wrong year or something earlier. #3, not #48. That’s what I get for trying to do two things at once.
Makes the game look a lot tougher for UGA.
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FWIW, Clemson didn’t score an offensive TD against Louisville (had a punt return TD, fell on a fumble in the end zone, and a bunch of field goals), and UK scored 14 points on pick-six and fumble return TDs (could also add another 7 after blocking a punt deep in UofL territory and scoring on short field). Technically, UK’s offense scored more against Georgia than Louisville.
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So you’re saying our special teams and D will carry the day?
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UGA will win this game. Our rushing attack will be too much in the end. Plus our defense matches up pretty well vs their finesse offense. I expect us to win between 3 to 7 points.
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Bobo’s gonna air it out. Look at all the seniors leaving the program, including Mason. Bet he uses the pass to set up the run vs. the other way around.
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Well then, hopefully someone puts a homing beacon on Holliman (#8). Of course, he is a Safety so maybe Mason’s short passing game will mostly avoid these dangers. I’ll settle for seeing a competent display of Grown Man football in all three phases. That ought to add up to a win.
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