June 5, 2015 · 11:01 AM

R U experienced?

Georgia manages an unimpressive 102nd on Phil Steele’s list of 2015 % of Lettermen Returning.

It could be worse.  Like it is in Florida’s case.

25 Comments

Filed under Phil Steele Makes My Eyes Water

25 responses to “R U experienced?”

  1. Derek
    June 5, 2015 at 11:15 AM

    I like seeing Alabama on down the list. If we can muster some offense in that game, October 3rd could be a lot of fun. If we have to play a “slobber knocker” I get worried. If we start going up and down the field and bama has to pass, carter and Floyd are going to lay waste to their qbs. Remember TD breaking brodie croyle in Athens? That was a fun day at the office.

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    • JCDAWG83
      June 5, 2015 at 11:27 AM

      I think we match up pretty well with Bama. I’m worried about going to Knoxville the next week. We will either be coming off of a big win or a big letdown and emotional fatigue could be a problem either way.

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      • Derek
        June 5, 2015 at 11:46 AM

        I still wonder if we are physical enough and I wonder if our qb can do what you have to do to beat bama. You have to hang in there and throw the ball down the field. Easier said than done with everything that they throw at you. As good as Gurley was, that performance happened because of Aaron. Without Aaron throwing successfully down field, there wouldn’t have been any running room. The biggest play no one will remember in the SECCG game was the 3rd and 1 with about 6 to play on our 18 or so. We had the lead and needed to burn clock and gain field position. Bobo’s call: #3 up the gut. We got nothing. We punt and they throw the long ball to Cooper to take he lead. Its just so hard to push Bama off the ball. If we think our OL and Chubb can beat Bama, I think that’s very questionable thinking. Can we beat ’em? Yep. We are going to need a very good day from an inexperienced QB though if we are going to get it done. If Chubb goes for 200+ on 37 and we win, well then either Bama’s just done OR Chubb is Jim Brown.

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        • JCDAWG83
          June 5, 2015 at 12:57 PM

          I don’t think you have to be able to throw 40 yards down field, but you do have to be able to make the defense think about the passing game. I don’t see us lining up and knocking Bama off the ball, they are too deep to wear out. Play action and passes to the running backs and tight ends will keep the Bama defense guessing and not able to simply stack the box and shut down the run (I think they can shut it down by stacking the box, they have the talent to do it). I like the idea of running Michel wide and throwing to him out of the backfield too.

          Again, UT scares me. If we beat Bama, we’ll have a hard time getting up for the next week and the toothless viles will be fired up wanting to knock us off. If we lose to Bama, the viles will be sky high thinking they can beat us too and we have to try and get up after a loss and go on the road.

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          • Derek
            June 5, 2015 at 2:20 PM

            I agree that you don’t have to launch it to make things go. You have to hit plays on the outside and underneath the deep safety. They like to man up on the corners, play a single safety deep, play nickel and use the nickel back and strong safety in run support. Where they are weak is behind the lbs and in front of the deep safety and one on one with corners should always advantage the offense. But you gotta throw it and catch it. You beat press coverage and have the courage to throw under the deep safety and catch it everything starts to fall apart for them and you can gash ’em because the dbs heads are now on a swivel and they aren’t able to handle run and pass responsibilities. You hit some skinny posts at 12 yards and some back shoulders and take some deep shots and you can let 27 run wild. Have to make them fear the pass first though. Hard to do. It’s why they win so many damn games. They destroy mediocre qbs. You gotta have brass balls and a laser arm. Most qbs are found wanting and they lose. Hell Aaron played like lights out and came up with a L vs. those guys. In short, I’ll worry about the vols on 10/4. Chubby and Floyd and carter should be enough to take care of them on a bad week.

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        • Ben
          June 5, 2015 at 3:17 PM

          I’d forgotten about the sequence until you just mentioned it, and now my stomach is in knots. Thanks for that.

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      • Macallanlover
        June 5, 2015 at 1:18 PM

        Ideally you wouldn’t want to huge games back-to-back if you could help it so it is not a preferable situation. I was worried about it a lot more until I saw that TN has Arkansas the week before. That will be every bit as physical and challenging for them as Bama is for us. I see no disadvantage to us having Bama in comparison to their schedule. Being on the road gives them an edge but with Oklahoma, Florida, and Arkansas before us they could also be crumbling by the time we arrive and could easily have 2-3 losses. They will be hungry for a W no doubt but have a talent and coaching edge on them, and we will not be as beat up. Respect the game, worry about their desperation, but like our chances.

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    • Cojones
      June 5, 2015 at 4:06 PM

      Not only Croyle was standing on the sideline with his arm in sling, but the backup joined him with the opposite arm in a sling. Then their 3rd stringer got hurt. Yep, a sight to see.

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  2. Denver94
    June 5, 2015 at 11:22 AM

    OK. Still not trading with a single program in that top 25.

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  3. JCDAWG83
    June 5, 2015 at 11:24 AM

    I’ll say it again, i think we have way too many questions this year to expect a playoff appearance. New qb, new OC, new center, new OL coach, questionable run defense, wr depth issue, wr talent issue, db questions, middle school quality punter and all this is before any injuries or suspensions. I think the Vegas over/under on regular season wins at 9 is dead on.

    Next season we’ll have another first year qb (if Eason lives up to the hype) and he will be a true freshman starting in the SEC, never a good thing. If this year’s qb turns out to be a good one, redshirting Eason would be a great thing. If we can find another stud rb (Chubb will certainly leave after next season) to come in next year, 2017 might be a decent chance to win the SEC and make the playoff. Not being a pessimist, just seeing the reality of where we are.

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    • JCDAWG83
      June 5, 2015 at 11:27 AM

      Of course I mean Chubb leaving after the 2016 season.

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      • AusDawg85
        June 5, 2015 at 11:55 AM

        What…now you’re a Richt apologist?!
        😉

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        • JCDAWG83
          June 5, 2015 at 12:49 PM

          No, I didn’t include head coach shortcomings in the list because that is a constant and would be redundant. My hope is; with enough talent and new, better asst coaches, maybe we can overcome the Richt factor and win something of consequence. I don’t see the talent and asst coaching coming together until a few years down the road.

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    • Derek
      June 5, 2015 at 2:25 PM

      But we match up well vs. Alabama? Both can’t be right. If we can beat Alabama everyone else in the schedule should be pretty manageable and if you lose one along the way you’re still likely in the seccg and you gotta win that to get in no matter what. I think if we can win that game on 10/3 we are 7-1 at worst. Tech will be tough but we’ll beat them. We get into ATL and see what happens. If we lose on 10/3 we have to win the rest and get back to ATL still with a chance at a playoff. Both are doable IF our qb play comes through.

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      • JCDAWG83
        June 5, 2015 at 4:06 PM

        I think we match up well scheme wise. They are much deeper on defense, especially defensive line, so we’re not going to wear them down and we’re not going to run over them. Michel going wide and catching the ball out of the backfield should work better than giving it to Chubb every down and trying to run between the tackles. We have to have their linebackers and safety and dbs hesitant to sell out against the run. If we can get an underneath and outside passing game going in the 10-15 yard range, we can move the ball on the ground against them.

        If we can’t make them respect the pass, we will get killed. We have to be able to stop their inside running game. If it’s a replay of tech, we will never see the ball and it will be ugly. Pruitt better have some meat on the defensive line and not try and play with skinny, ACC type linemen who will get steamrolled. Our linebackers are very good, but the linemen have to keep the offensive linemen off of them.

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  4. Bulldawg Bill
    June 5, 2015 at 4:48 PM

    …Have you ever been experienced?
    I have…

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  5. Uglydawgq
    June 5, 2015 at 5:22 PM

    Don’t forget Keith Marshall. He started out on-fire and then had a horrible string of bad luck…He’s 100% healthy, mature , hungry and and as of right now is the most overlooked and underrated of Georgia’s offensive weapons. Under the Radar, KM is. And when he breaks a game open (when he clears that crowded line…he’s lightening), Georgia opponents will know they can’t key on Chubb. ..Two back formation with a mobile QB and a couple of tight ends with good hands will be tough to defend, even for a deep defense like ‘Bamas.

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  6. Uglydawg
    June 5, 2015 at 5:24 PM

    How in the crap did I get a “q” tacked on to my handle?
    Gotta edit that out.

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  7. Cosmic Dawg
    June 5, 2015 at 10:19 PM

    So let me get this straight – two thirds of the team last year lettered, which means contributed significantly. That’s not counting freshmen who were redshirting.

    So by Steele’s numbers, we’re losing about 1/3 of our significant contributors, who we can generally expect were Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. I would also expect top programs to have a slightly higher number due to attrition to the NFL.

    So seems about right to me…

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    • Cosmic Dawg
      June 5, 2015 at 10:21 PM

      That’s not counting freshmen who were redshirting.>

      i.e., players who are talented but who shouldn’t be considered part of the pool of potential contributors.

      Also, NFL talent on your college team not only affects your attrition in general, but impacts this particular metric greatly.

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  8. eethomaswfnc
    June 6, 2015 at 8:14 AM

    I’m not sure how much stock I put in the lettermen returning statistic any more. It’s a measure from a day long gone for multiple reasons (freshman eligibility, NFL early entry, roster management, etc.).

    Vanderbilt could be #1 in that statistic and still go 1-11 because their existing talent level is absolutely awful. With the advent of freshman seeing the field early and often, a better measure of returning players is some combination of returning yardage and tackles along with recruiting ranking. In other words, if you have a large part of your team returning from a performance standpoint plus a high recruiting ranking, you should have higher expectations for your team.

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