Can Georgia dial up more pressure this season?

Mike Huguenin brings up a point about an area of the defense that does need to improve from last year’s performance when he asks about the pass rush.  It was anemic at best:  Georgia finished eleventh in the conference in sacks and ninth in tackles for loss.

Some of that no doubt was by design – we saw Floyd drop into coverage quite a bit, for example, and with the running quarterbacks Georgia faced throughout the season, Pruitt emphasized containment out of necessity (not that it always worked) – but you can’t chalk all of it up to that.

Huguenin isn’t kidding when he says this is a big spring and season for Lorenzo Carter, who appeared to disappear for much of 2015 after a strong freshman year.  And it’s also fair to note, as he does, that Davin Bellamy is Georgia’s leading returning sacker for 2016.  With three.

If there’s one area where Grantham showed out better than Pruitt, it’s sacks.  Even in 2013, with that defense, the Dawgs averaged almost one more sack per game than last season.  While that makes the job Georgia’s secondary did last year look even better, it’s pretty much a given that a solid pass rush is a defensive back’s best friend.  That’s something Smart and Tucker need to address going forward.

Today, in “duh”

Forty-three paragraphs detailing the University of Cincinnati’s determined slog to join the Big 12 conference, full of details and selling points about the school…

… and then you get to the only thing that matters.

In the end, though, it may not be about which school puts forth the best effort to impress the Big 12’s decision makers.

“It’s all about TV,” said Lee Igel, a sports business expert and co-director of New York University’s Sports & Society program.

Building a pipeline from Da U to Athens?

An interesting rumor popped up yesterday that Kevin Beard, who was on Miami’s staff last season but wasn’t retained by Mark Richt, is headed to Georgia in some capacity.  What that capacity is, I couldn’t say, as the coaching staff is full up.

But, if true, it sounds like Beard brings something to the table.

Beard, meanwhile, was a member of Miami’s 2001 national championship team. He spent two years with the Hurricanes, the first as an assistant director of operations in 2014 and as a wide receivers coach last season.

He was immensely popular with current players on both sides of the ball and well-regarded among many top-notch South Florida recruits, most notably St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Sam Bruce, who played for Beard at University School when Beard, a former Plantation High standout, coached at the high school level in Broward County.

Between him and Coley, it sounds like Kirby Smart is making some serious moves to maintain a viable connection to south Florida talent.  Also, in adding someone like Beard who has actual on field coaching experience, Smart appears to be taking another page out of the Saban playbook when it comes to assembling a support staff.

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UPDATE:  More from Seth Emerson here.

I’ve been issued an old fart card and I know how to use it.

I turn sixty today.  I believe that means I now have official status to yell at fans in Sanford Stadium to sit their asses down even when something exciting is happening.

Other than that, I plan on staying that same upbeat, happy go lucky fellow I’ve always… HEY, YOU KIDS!!!! GET OFF MY BLOG!!!!

Uh, sorry.  Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all.