In case you were wondering about one other thing in the defensive depth chart…
Spoken like a man who hasn’t followed the Georgia football program for years.
Daily Archives: August 29, 2016
Georgia’s chances in the opener just got better.
Six months ago, if you had told me I would be posting this news this week, I would have called you a crazy optimist. Yet he we are:
If Chubb gets 20 carries Saturday night, I have a hard time seeing how Georgia loses. Call me a crazy optimist.
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UPDATE: You want irony? How about this for irony?
The drama now revolves around the tailbacks behind Chubb. Fellow junior Sony Michel remains a game-time decision with his arm injury. Freshman Elijah Holyfield is day-to-day with an ankle he sprained over a week ago.
“He’s still gimpy on the ankle, but we’re gonna get all we can out of him,” Smart said.
Yep. Nick Chubb is now the rock that Georgia’s running backs are resting on.
Filed under Georgia Football
All in on “OR”
Behold the ambiguous wonder that is Georgia’s depth chart going into its opener:
That is amusing. By my count, that’s nine “OR”s for the starters on offense — including all three of the quarterbacks — and four for the defense. Makes you wonder if Kirby wants to play the opener without numbers on the jerseys and veils on the players’ helmets.
Seriously, I suppose I get some of this. The offensive line, for example, is a series of dominoes based on whether Catalina is ready to start at left tackle. The tie at wide receiver is probably their way of showing who plays in three-wide sets. And I understand what they’re trying to do at Mike and Will linebacker. But the coaches sure don’t want to tip their hands before Saturday on a lot of spots. How much of that is motivational, how much is bet hedging and how much is smoke being blown North Carolina’s way I’ll leave to you to allocate.
Of greater interest to me is that despite all the talk we were hearing about how many members of the 2016 class were cracking the two-deep, the depth charts aren’t showing it. There are only two true freshman, Eason and Ridley, among the offensive players and four on the defensive side, with three of those being on the d-line, where they really have little choice.
Given Smart’s comments previously, I’m not sure if that says more about the upperclassmen buying into the new coaching staff’s approach better than we thought, or this year’s signing class turning out to be not as precocious as we hoped.
Then again, if there’s one thing to be said about the charts, it’s that they’re not exactly etched in stone.
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UPDATE: Damn it, I hate when coaches come up with better headers than I do.
Filed under Georgia Football
Culture clash
As we all know, it’s a big weekend in Atlanta for Georgia football.
Just remember, if you’re a Georgia Tech fan, it’s a big weekend in Atlanta for you, too.
Filed under Georgia Tech Football
THE PROCESS® 2.0
If you’re interested in an outsider’s look at what Kirby Smart brings to the table, check out this Roll Bama Roll post, entitled “How dangerous is new Georgia Bulldogs football coach Kirby Smart?”. Sure, it’s a little condescending, but if anyone’s entitled to that kind of attitude, it’s Alabama’s fan base.
Overall, other than the casual dismissals of Chaney’s and Pittman’s backgrounds and the characterization of the recent outcome of the series with Auburn as a toss up, it’s a fair cop. Hard to argue with much of this:
Experiencing The Process® is one thing. Imitating it is another. Jimbo Fisher took Florida State to the top of the mountain with his version. Jim McElwain has shown great promise in his short career as a head coach. But heed the warnings that are Will Muschamp and Derek Dooley.
Implementing The Process® is a delicate process. The first step is having that presence of a totalitarian leader. Saban is not a big man but he can bring a grown man to tears. He takes control of every aspect of his program. He is a calculated man and everything he does and everything he says, has a purpose towards helping his team succeed. Can Smart inspire his team to play an FCS cupcake the way Saban does? Can he get his team to buy in every day, every rep, every study hall, every second of every day for the span of each player’s college career at Georgia?
We shall see.
Filed under Georgia Football
“Being connected through their device is their expectation whether it’s music or sports.”
The NFL embraces Wi-Fi connectivity at stadiums. Of course, when you’re shaking down the taxpayers for new stadiums every few years, it’s a lot easier to integrate the newest technology into your infrastructure. So it’s not clear if this is a trend that will trickle down to the next level quickly.
But don’t tell me this won’t resonate with colleges sooner or later.
More teams are monetizing their apps by selling merchandise, food and drinks to fans, as well as tickets for future games. This is another reason it’s important to have a strong Wi-Fi connection and plenty of beacons in place. The beacons pinpoint where a fan is located within the stadium. By knowing this, the team can send messages about discounts, whether on merchandise or hot dogs at that moment in the stadium. The beacons also allow the stadium to give helpful information to fans such as how long the nearest bathroom wait is going to be.
VenueNext and YinzCam are two mobile platform developers used by many professional teams and arenas to boost profits through additional sales and advertising. All of these options make it easier for fans to spend money, and for stadiums and teams to make money.
It would be so Georgia to charge fans for an app to let them know which bathrooms had the shortest wait. Greg McGarity’s probably already on that mother.
(h/t Raleighwood Dawg)
Filed under It's Just Bidness, Science Marches Onward
If I didn’t know any better…
… I’d say Bill Connelly is trolling us.
Your East division favorites: Tennessee and Georgia. S&P+ has been kind of a funny tool for messing with Vol fans’ psyches. They get affirmation with the top-10 ranking … and massive anxiety from basically being division co-favorites. And on the flipside, I get to mess with the heads of Georgia fans (And yes, obviously a lot will depend on Georgia’s QB situation. Like, everything will depend on that.)
Well, hell. Maybe he is.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
When does basketball season start?
This is what futility looks like:
38 Consecutive seasons have passed since Kentucky most recently posted a winning record against SEC competition. It’s the longest such streak in conference history. The Wildcats posted a 2-6 league record in 2015. Kentucky hasn’t finished above .500 in SEC play since 1977, when DE Art Still and QB Derrick Ramsey led the Wildcats to a 6-0 conference mark. In addition to its six Eastern Division opponents, Kentucky has Alabama and Mississippi State on its conference slate in 2016.
When a team other than Vanderbilt holds a mark like that, you know it’s pretty sad. And with that 2016 schedule, I wouldn’t bet on it ending this year.
Filed under SEC Football
The next big thing…
… sounds like something Bobo ran his last few seasons in Athens.
Coaches are human, and like all humans they get intrigued by what’s next, the evolution of technology, of thought, or in this case their sport. And after a decade of college teams embracing the spread and spread-option, coaches are thinking about what they can do with more runners in the backfield and tight ends on the line — commonly known as a “pro set.”
One of the draws of this approach, according to Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, is that it renders problematic a trend in recruiting specialized defensive players tailored to stopping the spread such as nickelbacks, pass-rushers and those who slide from defensive back to linebacker.
“If you start to utilize more two-tight end sets, that could be problematic for defenses,” he said.
But the pro sets seen on Saturdays will include a proven college ingredient: faster pace.
Genius, I tells ‘ya.
Filed under Strategery And Mechanics
Get The Picture 