Fixin’ the Gators

When it comes to Georgia, we know what we’re worried about in a couple of weeks.  Here are three concerns from the Gators’ side.

The first two sound like things Georgia might be able to exploit, but if I were Florida, I wouldn’t fret over item number three.

Ripple effect

Another thing about those ineffective bubble screens – the poor blocking meant the Missouri defense didn’t have to adjust to handle them, which meant it was still able to cover everything else according to plan.

Bubble screens are designed to pick up easy yards where they exist, but more importantly they pull nickel backs and linebackers out of the box to open up the inside run or to suck safeties up to open up deep passes. Being able to only play one defender wide against 2 receivers, without being forced to walk a linebacker out or a safety down is an amazing luxury for Barry Odom.

Funny thing about that whole “suck safeties up to open up deep passes” notion.  I thought that’s what play action was for.

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Get well soon, Sony.

I said Michel played his guts out Saturday night.  That’s before I knew the extent of his health.

Probably the most notable thing about Saturday’s 9-6 win over Missouri is it represented the starting debut of sophomore Sony Michel at tailback. Facing one of the SEC’s stingiest defenses and battling groin and hip flexor injuries to boot, Michel managed to eke out 100 total yards, including 87 yards rushing on 26 carries.

It was a strange game for the 5-foot-10, 208-pound sophomore because he disappeared to the locker room in the middle of Georgia’s first possession after having just three carries.

“I had to get warmed up,” said Michel, who now has 515 yards rushing on the season. “My hips, my groin were kind of tight. It was just a precaution. I knew I was coming back.”

Kid’s got some real heart.

That also probably explains to an extent the strange rotation at running back we saw.  The coaches had to make sure both Marshall and Douglas had some game reps under their belts in case Michel’s spirit was willing but flesh too weak to return.

“Dr. Greyson and Mr. Lambert.”

Georgia doesn’t seem to know what quarterback it’s going to get on a play-by-play basis.

I think we got ourselves a new meme, fellas!

Start and stop

Fewest Offensive plays per game 1. Army 57.8 2. Washington 61.6 3. Georgia 61.7 4. Pitt 62.0 5. Penn St 62.2 7. Syracuse 62.4 8. Hawaii 62.5

— Phil Steele (@philsteele042) October 20, 2015

When you don’t make your third-down conversions, you don’t tend to get too many plays a game.

In case you’re wondering, the defense is handling a little over 66 plays a game, which ranks 74th nationally.  Over the long haul, no, that’s not good math.

“We’re gonna let everybody know that it’s kind of like a mini-spring ball this week…”

Richt tells listeners on his call in show last night that Georgia is going to use this week to get back to some of the basics.  Fundamentals are an obvious area on which to focus, but he also hinted at further talent evaluation.

“Our goal as coaches is to put the best players in the game, and the ones that give us the best shot at winning, in our opinion,” Richt said. “Sometimes we’re right and sometimes we’re wrong. But the goal is to get the right ones in the game and the more opportunities we give these guys the more chances they have to prove that they can do it. So we’ll be open-minded to all those types of things. But the bottom line is we’ve gotta get ready.”

That came in response to a specific question about Turman and Bauta not seeing the field, but I suspect Richt’s comment there is likely to turn out to be more about the defense.

The more interesting stuff was health-related.

Another caller asked Richt about the offensive line, which he said “seems to be getting pushed around,” leaving “our backs scrapping for every yard.” Georgia’s tailbacks were held to 3.4 yards per carry by Missouri.

“You know what, Don, that was a big part of our discussion as an offensive staff,” Richt said. “You’re 100 percent right. We did not play as well up front as we had earlier in the season.”

He pointed to two mitigating factors: Left guard Isaiah Wynn was sick, requiring a couple IVs before the game. Center Brandon Kublanow played through a hurt ankle. Wynn’s nausea hadn’t been publicized…

… Something else that could help the blocking: Fullback Christian Payne, who blocked well when available earlier in the season, could return for the Florida game, Richt said. Payne has been dealing with an injury to his fibula.

The tackles weren’t ailing, so health issues can only explain so much.  (To his credit, Richt acknowledged that.)  Still, getting Kublanow’s ankle healthy and Payne’s return would be welcome for the Florida game.

Musical palate cleanser, it’s been a while edition

Last night I traveled down to Variety Playhouse with an old buddy to hear Elvis Costello discuss his new book.  It was an enjoyable time.  The best part was Costello’s nod to his first concert in Atlanta – a show at the old Capri Theater co-billed with Talking Heads in late November, 1977.  It didn’t sell out (and that wasn’t a particularly big venue).  But I was one of those there, along with the friend who went with me last night.

Anyway, here’s a concert clip from a few months later of a song he played that night, “Watching the Detectives”.

Mumme Poll results, Week 7

Without any further ado, here’s the first MP of the season:

Rank	Team	Votes
1	Baylor	54
2	LSU	52
3	Alabama	51
4	Clemson	47
5	Ohio State	46
6	Utah	45
7	TCU	43
8	Michigan State	41
9	Stanford	24
10	Florida State	22
11	Iowa	14
12	Memphis	13
13	Notre Dame	10
14	Oklahoma State	6
14	Florida	6
16	Toledo	5
17	Temple	4
17	Houston	4
17	Oklahoma	4
17	Michigan	4
21	Texas A&M	2
22	California	1
22	Duke	1
22	Western Kentucky	1
22	Texas Tech	1
22	Mississippi	1
22	Navy	1

And a few initial observations:

• Approval voting seems to work just fine. There are no ties until you get pretty far down the list and it’s hard to see any particular spot where the final results have gone off the rails.
• It took me less than ten minutes to assemble my ballot.  I’d be curious to hear from you about your experience, especially if you’re a returning voter.
• Interestingly, the top ten teams are neatly divided into two from each of the P5 conferences.
• Overall, here’s the conference breakdown:  Big 12 – 5; SEC – 5; AAC – 4; Big Ten – 4; ACC – 3; Pac-12 – 3; CUSA – 1; Ind. – 1; MAC – 1.  If our voters tend to be from this neck of the woods, that doesn’t indicate there’s much regional bias at play in the ballots.
• If the season ended today, how much grief do you think a semi-finals composed of Baylor, LSU, Alabama and Clemson would get?

All in all, a nice start.  It would be even nicer to see more participants, though.  Your thoughts?