If South Carolina went 1-11, Spurrier would still be wise-assing it, as long as the one win was over Georgia.
I wonder what the quip will be when he hears about Georgia hiring “Young Schotty”.
Daily Archives: January 7, 2015
Can I have your undivided attention for a minute?
You know, if it was me paying John Chavis a million three to coach my defense, the least I’d expect is that he not be on the phone job hunting less than half an hour before the bowl game kicked off.
Filed under SEC Football
Breaking: it’s not John Lilly.
Or anyone else who’s supposed to have interviewed.
Richt plays his cards pretty close to the vest. I’ll do some digging on Schottenheimer and post further.
Filed under Georgia Football
The Iron Bowl, sponsored by University of Georgia football
Deep in the heart of Second Chance country…
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UPDATE: Please join me for a laugh. Per Alabama spokesperson Deborah Lane,
“Jonathan Taylor was admitted to The University of Alabama following the same procedures that the UA Admissions office uses to evaluate any student who has dealt with legal issues. The admissions process includes representatives from academic, legal, student affairs, student conduct, UAPD and counseling. Athletics is not involved in the admissions process. Taylor’s continued enrollment depends on his ability to fulfill all requirements the University has specifically mandated for him during his time as a UA student.”
“Athletics is not involved in the admissions process.”? Girl, we’re talking Alabama here. About how many other enrollees have you had to make statements like that?
That quote – it’s all just made up and flagellant.
Filed under Georgia Football
Spurrier’s long, slow trek into the sunset
Shorter Garnet and Black Attack: South Carolina is a basketball school.
Filed under 'Cock Envy
One nation, under college football
Heather Dinich, of all people, gets the long-term trend to which this first college football playoff has contributed.
By doubling the number of teams contending for the sport’s greatest prize, the playoff simultaneously broadened the scope of interest in the entire season and drew the attention of fans and coaches to more games outside their region into a race that criss-crossed the country like never before.
Ohio State mattered to Baylor. TCU was leery of Mississippi State. Boise State was watching Marshall, which kept an eye on just about every other league frontrunner in the Group of 5. Everyone was tuned in to the Big 12 — a controversial conference race that became a national storyline only because the inaugural playoff made it one.
“You’re all in one big conference now,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said.
Her article focuses on how the coaches dealt with the season, but the more important story is how the sport is changing from one based on strong regional fan affiliation to where it’s viewed as a more homogeneous, national one. You know, just like every other major commercial sporting enterprise.
It didn’t start with the playoff, of course. We’ve already gotten indications of the new direction with conference realignment and the wholesale uprooting of traditions in its wake. The postseason is simply contributing to the process. Accelerating it. And it’s changing our mindset.
“Absolutely, all of those other teams that were kind of in it — the Marshalls and where Ohio State was going to fit between Baylor and TCU — I think it added and made it better for the fans and people involved to pay more attention to not just their teams but all the teams, which helped us,” Harsin said. “We probably got a few more fans on the East Coast staying up late to watch what Boise State does to see if that’s going to affect Marshall or whatever.”
I don’t think this is necessarily what people like Delany and Slive planned as they set things in motion. (ESPN, on the other hand…) But it’s where it’s going nonetheless. And that’s why many of our assumptions about how the postseason will adapt and change in the future are likely inaccurate, because they’re based in a context that is becoming outmoded. What we should probably be asking ourselves in the near future is what helps the suits market the sport to a national audience, and not just what sells in, say, Tuscaloosa.
You need a hint? Here’s one.
Filed under BCS/Playoffs, College Football
The year of living frustratedly
So I read Michael Elkon’s “how could everybody get the SEC West wrong?” piece and suddenly it dawned on me – Georgia was simply ahead of the curve on the conference’s season of disappointment.
I mean, think about it. Here’s where Elkon’s coming from:
In the regular season, the SEC West was a perfect 28-0 in non-conference games. When the league was en route to its flawless out-of-conference performance, some numbskull was using the Simple Rating System to ask whether the division was the best since conferences started splitting in half.
Georgia, too, was an advanced stats darling. The Dawgs are fifth in Football Outsiders F/+ rankings. Seventh in regular season SRS. Sagarin has them fifth. And they’re fifth in CFBMatrix’ scoring efficiency rankings. (There are more out there, but you get the gist.)
So how is this a team that wound up not even winning its division, let alone playing for a slot in the inaugural college football playoff? Welp, I think I’m going to outsource the answer to that question to Bill Connelly, who had this to say in the wake of Georgia’s win in the Belk Bowl:
Georgia lost to South Carolina, lost badly to Florida, lost the best running back in college football midway through the season, lost the SEC East to a team it beat by 34 points on the road … and finished fifth in the F/+ rankings. And I can totally justify it. Play for play, drive for drive, the Dawgs’ brilliant moments outnumbered their mediocre ones. It’s just that quite a few of those mediocre moments happened on two specific Saturdays in Jacksonville and Columbia East. Spread out those bad moments, and you go 12-1. Or better.
Not a lot of derp, in other words, but just enough, and concentrated in just the right moments to maximize its effect. And that’s how you negate so much good coaching work that got done this season, on special teams, on turnover margin, on managing field position, on maximizing offensive skill position talent… hell, you get the idea.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Wednesday morning buffet
It’s cold, and you’re hungry.
- Chad Kelly plea bargains; Hugh Freeze remains coy about Kelly’s fate at Ole Miss. C’mon, man.
- Jonathan Taylor’s next stop is still up in the air. Just remember, you can’t spell second chance without SEC.
- Very nice breakdown of how Ohio State attacked Alabama on both sides of the ball. You can bet there will be plenty of SEC coaches who will be breaking down Sugar Bowl film over the offseason.
- Bill Connelly continues to refine the way he analyzes tempo.
- Matt Hinton ranks all the new head coaching hires here. (Bobo’s ranks ninth.)
- How bad were those SEC West defenses in their five bowl game losses? Really bad: “Averages of 39.6 points allowed, 501.4 total yards allowed and 314.6 rushing yards allowed, not to mention a combined defensive third-down percentage of 55.4 percent.”
- Life as a recruiting coordinator ain’t easy.
- Ed Aschoff previews the SEC East for 2015. His conclusion? Georgia “returns arguably the East’s best team”, but don’t sleep on Tennessee.
Filed under College Football, Recruiting, SEC Football, Stats Geek!, Strategery And Mechanics
Get The Picture 