Throw, Forrest, throw!

Boom is running defensive backs off like lepers.

While the Tigers didn’t lose any starters, the secondary can’t sustain many more losses. That unit has lost five players since December, and only nine scholarship players are on the roster at present. One of those nine is a true freshman signee, and four more true freshman are on the way (three 4-stars and one 3-star). Auburn is looking at opening fall camp with 13 players in the backfield, which isn’t a lot.

Thirteen is more than Pruitt had to work with last season.  And Georgia wound up second in the conference in pass rating defense.  We’ll soon see if Muschamp earns his money as a defensive genius.

By the way, note that the generosity of Second Chance U only extends so far.

Auburn safety Derrick Moncrief has been granted his release, hours after telling the Advertiser he hoped to leave the program Friday morning.

Moncrief said the only restrictions Auburn put on his release are for other SEC teams and anyone on the schedule in the next two years. Auburn plays Louisville to open the upcoming season and hosts Clemson in 2016.

Sorry about that, Todd.

“… I can assure you that coach Schottenheimer is a great teacher.”

I know this is coming from Barrett Sallee, who’s made it clear he’s not a fan of Georgia’s new offensive coordinator, but there are a couple of things from his post I’d like to focus on, both through the words of Malcolm Mitchell.

First,

It should come as no surprise that Schottenheimer is bringing an NFL mentality to the Bulldogs offense since making the jump to Athens.

“Coach Bobo had been a college coach for so long, and coach ‘Schotty’ is just getting back into that flow,” wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell said after Georgia’s spring game. “When he’s teaching, he’s rolling through. He’s not taking five minutes to teach one play. It’s like 10 seconds, and you better know it by tomorrow.

“He’s brought that in. Every time we install, it’s quick. A 30-play install might take five minutes.”

Mitchell said the change of pace in preparation isn’t a problem, though, because everybody wants to get where Schottenheimer’s been.

“We love it,” he said. “Everybody in the room wants to go to the NFL, and that’s where he came from. If he’s doing that, he’s showing us how to prepare at the next level.”

That being said, Mitchell’s other comment-worthy observation is

“We need a lot more chemistry,” he said. “That’s not bashing the chemistry we have now because we do have flow and you saw a little bit of that [in the spring game]. But we have a long way to go and everybody needs to be on the same page. That will be straightened out when we get that quarterback position solidified.”

Now while I’m more than willing to accept Mitchell’s conviction that the chemistry problem isn’t due to the change in coordinators, isn’t it likely that some of the reason none of the quarterback candidates have stepped forward to claim the starter’s job is the result of the change in style?  Perhaps Ramsey not taking easily to Schottenheimer’s approach, or, maybe more accurately, Bauta adapting to the change better than the other two have so far, is what’s closed last season’s gap between Bauta and Ramsey.

In the end, you figure they’ll go with the one of the three Schottenheimer is most comfortable with running the show.  But what will it say if the coaches still can’t pick a clear number one going into the opener?

Great moments in Bulldog pride

GATA, boys.

South side Sanford Stadium restroom renovation has begun. You spoke and we listened, Bulldog Nation! #CommittotheG pic.twitter.com/9vwMohW4Ac

— UGA FACILITIES (@UGAFACILITIES) May 14, 2015

Don’t get me wrong; it’s long overdue.  I’m just not sure it’s an event worthy of memorializing.

Make sure you’re done by August, aight?

Jeff Long explains how it is to Nick Saban.

I never thought it was possible to condescend to Alabama’s head coach, but Long pulls it off.

“Well, I think sometimes coaches, particularly those at the highest level, I’m not sure how aware they are of what’s really going on out there in the real world,” Long said. “You know, bowl games, they keep adding bowl games. And I think the television interest for the games is higher than ever before, so I think that’s not only the College Football Playoff, but as we’ve gone through some of those bowl games. So I’m not sure it’s having that effect.”  [Emphasis added.]

Nick, you chump.  Don’t you know it’s ESPN’s world and Jeff Long is just living in it?