This is how you proactive.

Mark Emmert, bringing the stupid.

NCAA Prez likens college sports to a (national) Homeowners Association, with mansions, apartments, and condos. “We know our neighborhood…and we don’t want other people to tell us how to do it.” Other people? Does he mean the laws of state and federal governments?

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) October 16, 2019

How do you compromise with somebody like that?

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Sometimes, it really isn’t rocket science.

Writing about UGA, and this is infuriating:

* Fromm vs SC (1st 44 min): 17-28, 154 yds, 1 INT (99.8 rating)
* Next 15 min (when they had to take the regulator off): 10-16, 136, 1 TD, 1 INT (142.0)
* Last min+OT (tied again): 1-7, 5, 1 INT (-8.3)

JUST KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) October 16, 2019

Bill’s infuriated and he’s a Mizzou fan, so imagine how I feel.

Along the same lines, care to guess how many second half touchdowns the Dawgs have scored in the four games against P5 opponents?  That would be three.

Isn’t keeping your foot on the gas imposing your will?

Not bad. Just bad enough.

I have this sinking feeling that folks are going to be poking and prodding at that inexplicable South Carolina loss for a while.  Sigh.

Your 10.16.19 Playpen

A simple question for you guys today:  generally speaking, how much does it suck to be an Atlanta sports fan?  (And, yes, for purposes of this question, I include UGA in that.)

It’s wearying, is what it is.  I say that knowing I’m more fortunate than some of you, in that at least my undergraduate alma mater won two national titles in sports I care about this year.  But, man, the rest of it…

You have questions. Kirby has answers.

Talk about your timely reader questions…

Here’s what the boss man has to say about that:

“I go back and say again, we talked about it the other day, it’s simple: Don’t turn the ball over, be more explosive, and win two-minute, all right?” Smart said. “Those are three really critical factors. We’ve got to be more explosive.”

“The runs that we have, there were about six or seven runs in there that were over 10 yards that I would argue could be home runs if one more guy gives a little more effort and gives a little more blocking,” Smart said.

“You’ve got to be able to be more explosive when you get an opportunity to do that. And you’ve got to win two-minute in games. And you can’t turn it over.”

It’s simple, indeed.  When receivers blocking downfield gets a mention and getting receivers open downfield doesn’t, that should tell you all you need to know about what he thinks needs fixing.

Manball can’t fail; it can only be failed.  Win those battles, boys!

“On this day, I did suck.”

Woo, boy, Joe Moorhead.  I’m not sure this is the way you go about firing up the Mississippi State fan base.

Moorhead’s dedication to his Dawgs isn’t in question, but his ability to lead them to wins on Saturdays is. He admitted that his team was out-coached and outplayed by a Tennessee group that previously had not beaten a Power 5 team this season.

Yikes.

2019 Mumme Poll, Week 7

The results are in.

A total of 250 ballots were cast, so interest cooled from last week for some reason.  I wonder what that might be.  Average number of teams was 8.7 per ballot.

The breakdown by conference isn’t too surprising.

One thing we tracked this week was how much time everyone spent putting their ballot together.  Here’s how that broke down:

I’ll keep saying it — approval voting is so easy, a coach wouldn’t even need to outsource his vote to an SID.

A few random observations:

• Nice South Carolina trolling from five of you.  Well played.
• Among others receiving votes this week:  Ohio, Wyoming, Wake Forest and Louisiana.  Obviously my message about reviewing your ballot before casting it needs some work.
• The top tier, which I define as teams appearing on at least 90% of all ballots cast, is down to five.  But keep an eye on Wisconsin.
• As was the case last week, no team appeared on every single ballot.
• One thing I’ll say for the Mumme Poll over the AP and Coaches Polls this week is that at least we don’t have to explain why Notre Dame is ranked higher than Georgia.

A clue to the new direction

On the off chance you weren’t sure what Kentucky will dial up Saturday night in pass coverage, let me help.

🚨SOUTH CAROLINA DOMINATED IN MAN COVERAGE vs Fromm🚨

vs Man: 8/26 (30%) 1 TD 2 Int

vs Zone: 20/25 (80%) 1 Int (off WR hands)

SC made it tough on Fromm all day. All completions in Man were contested. Have to find WR that can separate consistently vs man!

UF plays man well 🧐

— Jordan Rodgers (@JRodgers11) October 14, 2019

South Carolina’s created the defensive template.  Secondaries are going to play man against Georgia until Georgia proves it can beat man coverage.  You could say they’re going to try to impose their will in that regard.

Hey, don’t take my word for it.

“I think Georgia is done.” @danorlovsky7 on @GetUpESPN pic.twitter.com/oDq2npKmnV

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) October 15, 2019