Daily Archives: December 11, 2018

If it were that easy, anyone could do it.

A reminder that winning consistently isn’t exactly a common thing in college football.

Richt had his flaws and Georgia has certainly upped its game with the changeover, but to act like winning 8-10 games a season on a regular basis was no big deal ignores reality.  It’s no sin to acknowledge that.

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36 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!

Shreveport or bust

The next time somebody insists that nobody cares about playing in that bowl game…

24 Comments

Filed under It's Not Easy Being A Mid-Major

“You got extra room…?”

I don’t believe it’s a shock Georgia’s recruiting is going swimmingly now.  This staff, if nothing else, is relentless.

After Webb’s commitment, Georgia moved up to the No. 2 spot in the team recruiting rankings with 19 pledges. But Smart and the Bulldogs’ coaching staff have used this time between the SEC Championship and the bowl game to be in non-stop recruiting mode.

Smart has been across the country, ranging from a trip to visit offensive tackle Trevor Keegan in Crystal Lake, Ill., to Louisiana to visit Bulldog pledge Makiya Tongue the day after hosting prospects on an official visit.

Per Kipp Adams at Dawgs247, Smart has room to sign as many as six more recruits in the 2019 class.

The math for that gets… um, interesting at this point.  According to Seth Emerson ($$), the roster numbers as of a few days ago look like this:

Georgia’s roster, which is 39 percent upperclassmen this season, will be considerably older next season. But one thing won’t change: Depth, thanks to being right at or around that NCAA scholarship limit of 85.

Schools don’t release their official scholarship numbers, but by my count, Georgia was at 84 scholarships this year, one below the limit.

There are fifteen seniors, so you do the roster management math.  There is no more room at the inn.  Which means you can expect a few kids to be off seeking new college horizons in the upcoming months.  That’s life if the big city these days.

58 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, Recruiting

Touchback City, sweetheart.

I doubt this will surprise anyone.

Kickoff returns are down about 20 percent in the first year of a new NCAA rule that gives the receiving team possession at its 25-yard line if a fair catch is made anywhere between the goal line and 25.

According to NCAA figures provided to The Associated Press on Monday, kick return men in the Football Bowl Subdivision made fair catches on about 1 out of every 10 kickoffs they received between the goal line and 25.

So, the NCAA created a rule that came up with a rule that accomplished its goal of improving player safety with a minimal impact on game flow.  Well done, folks.  Now you can rest on your laurels… wait, what?

NCAA national coordinator of officials Rogers Redding has said the Football Rules Committee probably will consider more changes to kickoff rules next year with the objective of reducing returns or making them less likely to result in injury.

Jeez, Rogers.  Ever hear of quitting while you’re ahead?  Other than gut kickoffs completely, what’s left to do?

25 Comments

Filed under The Body Is A Temple, The NCAA

I got ‘yer Power 6 right here, bub.

Let’s see if Danny White’s braggadocio makes him inclined to go all in on the AAC’s request that UCF sign a grant-of-rights agreement that would commit the school to the conference for the duration of the next media rights deal.

I’m guessing he’s from the “money talks, bullshit walks” school of AD management, but, hey, I would love to see him prove me wrong about that.

9 Comments

Filed under It's Not Easy Being A Mid-Major

The healer

Honestly, if this isn’t a perfect match…

Former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has accepted a position on Mike Locksley’s staff at Maryland, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to InsideMDSports.

Jones, who spent last year as an offensive analyst at Alabama, is expected to coach tight ends and serve as an associate head coach at Maryland. The 50-year old Michigan native, who also served as head coach at Cincinnati and Western Michigan, formed a relationship with Locksley during their year together under Nick Saban and will now work for him in his first coaching position since he was let go at Tennessee in 2017.

If there’s anyone out there who can take players’ minds off an unspeakable tragedy like McNair’s death, it’s Booch.  A year of five-star hearts and trash cans, and those kids will be yearning for Durkin’s return.

I’ll take my tongue out of my cheek now.

17 Comments

Filed under Big Ten Football

What if Gus is out of f***s to give?

… Throughout the season, Coach Malzahn and I had discussions focused on placing our student-athletes in the best competitive position for the future. To confirm, Coach Malzahn is dedicated to this program and he has my support as we work together to move forward. Our discussions are ongoing, and we will focus on evolving in all facets of the program to achieve better and more consistent results. Rest assured, my commitment to overseeing and managing the effort to put Auburn football back at the level we expect and you deserve will be unrelenting.

We have the most passionate fan base in the country, who love Auburn and all it represents. You, the fans, are the driving force in our effort to make you proud. Of course, it stings when we fall short of our lofty expectations, but in true Auburn fashion, we will dust ourselves off and recommit to our goals.

To reiterate, my responsibility is to serve Auburn, and more specifically, our coaches, staff and student-athletes. Among other things, successfully navigating this endeavor requires collaboration, trust, passion and resilience…

Auburn athletics director Allen Greene

Has anyone considered the possibility that Gus (and Jimmy Sexton, don’t forget) is playing three-dimensional chess with the Auburn hierarchy — okay, right, this is Auburn, so let’s just say the possibility he’s playing chess while they’re playing checkers — by saying, guys, if you think you can engineer me walking away from a $32 million buyout, watch me double down on everything you’re unhappy with, like the playcalling, so that you’ll wind up thinking the buyout is a bargain?

20 Comments

Filed under Auburn's Cast of Thousands

What if Kirby is out of f***s to give?

I’ve reached the point with all these silly “will Georgia be motivated in its bowl game because losing to ‘Bama?” stories that I hope the first time Texas stops Georgia on third down, Smart immediately calls another fake punt.

21 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, Strategery And Mechanics