So much for patience, grasshopper.

Interesting timing for this news, to say the least.

Highly touted quarterback Justin Fields has notified Georgia he intends to transfer, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the school has not yet acknowledged the transfer.

It’s a little weird, as Seth Emerson explains.

1. Justin Fields was at Georgia practice this afternoon.
2. No confirmation on Georgia's end yet.
3. There have been Fields transferring rumors for a few days now.
4. Dan Wolken and USA Today would not just throw that out there.

More soon, hopefully.

— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) December 18, 2018

Assuming it plays out as Wolken indicates, I can’t help but wonder whether this is motivated by Jake Fromm indicating that he’s planning on staying four years, or simply basic frustration over the way Fields was deployed this season.

According to Wolken,  Fields is planning to appeal to the NCAA to be eligible this coming season.  While I’m not sure what grounds he’s asserting for that, I would think wanting to play immediately is more about Fromm’s future than anything, because were Fromm to leave early for the NFL, if Fields doesn’t get the NCAA waiver, he wouldn’t be starting elsewhere any sooner than he would in Athens.

More to come, obviously.

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Tom Herman’s math

I get why Herman said it, and he wasn’t being disrespectful towards Georgia when he made the point that the Dawgs’ running game won’t “be anything too formidable for us”, but his choice of examples for why that’s the case are a little strange.

“We played a team in Oklahoma that had gone six straight games of rushing for at least 290 yards,” Herman said. “The week prior we were against a Kansas team that had a freshman running back named Pooka Williams who rushed for 200-and-something yards against Oklahoma the week prior to that.”

Texas held the Sooners to 129 yards rushing and just 3.2 yards per carry in its 39-27 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 1.

Against Kansas, on Nov. 23, the Longhorns held Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Pooka Williams to 103 yards on 16 carries and the Jayhawks to 137 yards rushing as a team in a 24-17 win.

“So, yeah, there are some teams that do like to throw it in our conference,” Herman said. “But the last three games that we played, being Iowa State, Kansas, and then Oklahoma, are all in the conversation for very difficult teams to defend running the football.”

Texas did a good job defending the run in the Big 12 title game, but Herman didn’t mention Oklahoma’s rushing stats when the teams met earlier during the regular season.  They aren’t particularly pretty:  31 attempts, 222 yards (7.16 ypc) and 2 TDs.

As far as Pooka Williams goes, sure Texas did a better job of stopping him than Oklahoma did, but Williams still managed almost six and a half yards per rushing attempt against the Longhorns defense.

Looking at the game logs, I don’t really see where you can clearly say Texas’ rush defense improved by season’s end.  Yes, the ‘Horns did well in that regard against Iowa State and Oklahoma, but three of the last five offenses they faced all averaged above Texas’ season average.

Georgia’s running game, on the other hand, clearly improved as the season wore on.  And before you jump on the decline against Alabama, consider that Georgia rushed for a higher ypc average against the Tide defense (3.92) than Texas’ run defense averaged (3.88) for the season.  That’s kind of formidable in its own way, you’d think.

“I think… we are far from a typical ‘non-autonomy 5’ opponent.”

Give Danny White credit for continuing to beat that drum for UCF.

In an email exchange between UCF athletics director Danny White and Florida Gators athletics director Scott Stricklin, White not only lobbies for Stricklin to schedule a neutral site game with the Gators, but encourages Stricklin — a member of the College Football Playoff Committee — to help him fix a “broken” system.

The Orlando Sentinel obtained the email exchange between White and Stricklin via a public records request regarding scheduling a UF-UCF series.

There’s a lot going on there.  Allow Allen Kenney to summarize.

have to give Danny White credit for his ability to manipulate media coverage and keep ucf in the news. Initiates e-mail dialogue subject to open records requests and tips off friendly reporter https://t.co/BgfBtewKd0

— Allen Kenney (@BlatantHomerism) December 17, 2018

That’s all nice, but there is the matter of leverage.  When it comes to getting Florida to schedule UCF as a peer program, White doesn’t really have any.  If this is more about public shaming the P5 into playoff expansion, well, fine, but that’s not an issue for Scott Stricklin, rather for Greg Sankey.

It’ll be interesting to see where White goes next, based on how the bowl game against LSU goes.

Old familiar faces

One good thing about a month off between the SECCG and the bowl game is that there’s enough time passing to allow for a return of the walking wounded.

Kirby Smart met with reporters on Monday for the first time since the SEC Championship game where he revealed that multiple UGA players have benefited from a couple of weeks off to heal.

Sophomore inside linebacker Monty Rice has practiced the past couple of days and should be ready for the Sugar Bowl. Freshman offensive lineman Cade Mays is practicing and is “good to go.” while redshirt sophomore Ben Cleveland has improved a great deal from where he was two weeks ago in his comeback from a leg injury.

Rice suffered a foot injury during the pre-game warmup prior to UMass in November. He missed that game, Georgia Tech, and Alabama in the SEC Championship game. He also missed the Missouri game earlier this season with a knee injury. It looked as if he might give it a go in the SEC title game. He warmed up with the team as a second-team inside linebacker but he didn’t appear in the 35-28 loss. Despite missing four contests this season, Rice is still Georgia’s second-leading tackler with 59 starts.

All good there. So is this:  “Senior outside linebacker D’Andre Walker, who missed the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship game against Alabama, should be good to go for the Sugar Bowl.”

Too bad they won’t get David Marshall back in time.

Slow play, for the win

Kirby Smart said he is unaware of anyone on UGA who has decided to skip the bowl game. He also said he's met with juniors about NFL decisions. "Some of our guys may be close to making a decision."

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) December 17, 2018

Kirby knows you can’t decide to skip the bowl game if you haven’t decided to leave early for the draft.

Reader poll, showing up edition

I thought I’d keep today’s reader poll a simple one.  While there have been whispers about some turning pro early, there hasn’t been a rash of announcements about Georgia players skipping the Sugar Bowl, which would appear to be a good sign when it comes to focus.  Also, Kirby.

But, Mel Tucker is gone and Georgia won’t be vying for a national title this go ’round, so there is that.

Anyway, what’s your feeling on the team’s mental/emotional state for the game against the Longhorns?

 

GTP Gift Guide update

Christmas is about a week away, so in the spirit of the season — at least from the standpoint of my kids, which is all about good cheer and gift giving (and receiving!) — I thought it might be worth a post updating the Gift Guide with any observations about what’s already on there, along with any suggestions you may have for updates.

From personal experience, I thought I’d mention a few:

• You can get an autographed copy of Bill Connelly’s 50 Best College Football Teams if you reach out now.  It’s a great read.
• I get regular compliments on my Classic Georgia shirts all the time.  Check out their site.
• If you have the jack, and admittedly it’s a lot for that sort of product, I continue to give the Soundboks 2 my highest recommendation.  It’s sturdy and loud, which makes it a perfect music source for tailgating.  (They’ve had it on sale on and off over the past month or so, so you may get lucky on the price.)
• I just ordered a pair of Sonos Plays for my man cave, to go surround sound.  I’ll report back after I get them up and running, but college football watching on TV has never been better for me.  (That’s a recommendation for YouTube TV, too.)
• The Yeti Rambler Colster remains a kickass way to keep my beer cold on a hot day.

Please use the comments to share your experiences with any of the items listed in the Gift Guide, along with any suggestions you may have for additions there.

“If I were Urban, I’d tell you where to stick your suspension.”

Yeah, I’d say the Ohio State president’s handling of the Urban Meyer suspension didn’t go well.

Hey, my heart bleeds for him and Corch both.