Today is the gateway to the first college football weekend of the season. And there was much rejoicing…
- Speaking of which, if you’re one of those people who must, here are a couple of betting tips for tomorrow’s games.
- Athlon’s list of the top 15 SEC games this season has Georgia playing in four of the top eight.
- I’m sorry, but no tailgating guide for Georgia football is complete without a mention of Popeye’s fried chicken. It just ain’t.
- Austin Peay’s head coach has a dark secret: “His father, Rob Healy, grandfather Bill Healy, and uncle, Brad Bourne, all played at Georgia Tech.”
- There is some shit Nick Saban has time for, like giving Urban Meyer advice on handling domestic violence accusations.
- Georgia put twelve players on the 2018 Preseason Coaches All-Southeastern Conference Football Team, tops in the SEC and two more than Alabama.
- According to this article in The Athletic ($$), Ole Miss’ offense only has 28 plays in its playbook and doesn’t use more than 16-18 of them in a game.
- And here’s a quick reminder of the rule changes going into effect this season.
- Trevor Matich has the hottest Ohio State take you’ll see today. Maybe more teams should let assistant coaches abuse their spouses.
Get The Picture 
Senator, It looks like the link to Ole Miss’s offense is incorrect. I believe this is the one you meant to link to: https://theathletic.com/484465/2018/08/23/quarterback-yards-per-play-qb-ypp/
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You’re right. Too many tabs open on my browser. 🙂
Thanks for catching.
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“We’re going to get one chance on Sept. 1st to line it up against arguably the best team in the country. We’ve got some kids that hope one day to play in the National Football League. You’re going to be able to see really quickly if that’s going to be a reality.”
Pretty cool and pretty high praise. Is it just me or is there a different vibe from past cupcake match-ups? I have this strange sensation that Kirby and Co. will win the ones they are supposed to……
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IMHO the changes in the “blocking below the waist” rule make the rule even more complicated and arbitrary. If they are serious about protecting players they should just outlaw all blocking below the waist—period. Half measures like this are not really an improvement.
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I’m not crazy about the fair catch rule, either. I understand he need for safety, but now why bother kicking off outside of an onside kick? Why not just spot the ball on the 25 and do away with kickoffs all together?
Hell, while we’re at it lets call all punts 45 yards. 4th and 2, you can go for it or we’ll automatically spot the ball 45 yards from the LOS for the other team because we don’t want someone getting hurt running full speed down the field. If it’s inside the opponents 50 we’ll spot it on the 25. That way we can be fair to everyone and no one gets hurt.
And BTW, here are your flag belts and bubble wrap. Have fun!
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From the perspective of the receiving team..if you’re down..you might want still want to attempt a run-back..esp. since they will become so infrequent that the coverage team might not be sharp.
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Yeah..it would take someone who’s mastered calculus to understand it all. Here’s lookin’ at you GT.
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This cracked me up regarding TN tailgating experience and what to wear: “We dress up, but we aren’t quite the Grove, but we also aren’t as casual as other schools.” So, I guess they regard their shirtless, checkered orange and white overalls as ‘dressed up’! Sounds about right!
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I thought Weaver’s D was out of business and there is no better BBW in Athens than Butt Hutt.
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I had heard Weaver D’s was open again. I hope that it is because I loved it when I was in Athens. Haven’t been to Butt Hutt but I am big fan of Pulaski Heights … good to see them get some props.
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Regarding the new fair catch rules, Will Muschamp said on local radio <I’m paraphrasing>: “Deebo Samuel will NOT be fair-catching any kickoffs. He can bring it out from 8 yards deep in the end zone if he wants.” I’m curious — what do you think Georgia’s kickoff strategy will be for that game?
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Cover cover and cover fast. Have Blankenship kick it to the corners of the end zone and maybe it will be a touchback. Under the new rules kicking it out of bounds is only a 10 yard penalty anyway, 35 instead of 25.
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I truly love the new rule that mandates that knee pads cover the knees. I couldn’t stand seeing players wear football pants that looked like spandex biking shorts!
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Well it looks like the new blocking rules will just be another arrow in the quiver of the SEC officials to throw a game or let Bama Roll. When the SEC Championship officials threw the flag against our FB/RB blocking on a sweep I knew we were screwed. Then the offside call but hey to be the man you must beat the man and his officials.
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Alabama’s opponents were the LEAST penalized in the country last year. Georgia right there with them.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2017/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category14/sort01.html
Same in 2016
http://www.cfbstats.com/2016/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category14/sort01.html
#102 in 2015! But Miss St, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas and Auburn were all right there at the bottom.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2015/leader/national/team/defense/split01/category14/sort01.html
SEC officials just don’t flag much, and when they do, they tend to favor the underdog. Be prepared for that this year.
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Thanks, 69 Dawg. Never forget. Never agree that we weren’t screwed..
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I can envision a lot of teams having to waste a timeout before a potential 2-point attempt after scoring a touchdown (especially if it’s kind of a “surprise” long-distance touchdown). This year, they will start the 40-second clock immediately after the touchdown, so teams will have to hurry down the field, decide what 2-point play they are going to run, and get set before the play clock runs out. And that doesn’t even count the time dilly-dallying over whether to go for two at all, and communicating to the players that they will be going for two.
Coaches are going to need to be prepared to make the decision to go for two (and have a play ready) at any point in the game now (even when on defense, in case they get a return TD). This rule will hurt the unprepared coaches.
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If the game is on TV there will be a TV timeout after every touchdown unless the game is a blowout and they’re just trying to hurry it up and get it off the air.
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But the TV timeout would come after the extra point or 2-point attempt. I’m referring to the brief time in between the touchdown and the extra point/2-point attempt, which could cause issues.
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I think Trevor Matich ….might be right…a seize mentality can ,in fact, focus a team…..A team that believes that people are out to get them and that the only people they can trust and believe in are in the locker room with them can become a very cohesive unit. The OSU’s real problem will probably be Penn State. Hell I just realized that I hate Franklin every bit as much as I hate Urban ,can they both lose? Is the congress woman who named Croach Urban Mayers still in Jail….inquiring minds want to know.
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So, the players feel like they’re under siege because their head coach empowered a horn dog?
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Bojangles > Popeyes. It’s ok for you to be dead, flat, wrong, occasionally, Senator.
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