Smokin’

Metaphor, or nah?

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is on Fire. On Stadium Road. #gainesville #uf #florida #gators pic.twitter.com/zn34zVX3QU

— Doves Cry Too (@dovescrytoo) September 12, 2020

Somebody’s lost control.

I await Herbie’s biting take on this news.  Or Mark Richt’s.

West Virginia will be shorthanded when it opens the season at home today. Sources tell EerSports 11 players are not allowed to play when the Mountaineers entertain Eastern Kentucky at Milan Puskar Stadium.

However, the absences are not linked to positive test results for COVID-19 and are instead suspensions for a violation of team rules.

A source said to expect quite a few changes to the two-deep the team released Monday, particularly on offense, which will be without multiple starters. The source said head coach Neal Brown suspended starting left tackle Junior Uzebu, starting center Chase Behrndt, starting inside receiver T.J. Simmons, backup inside receiver Isaiah Esdale, backup inside receiver Zack Dobson, tight ends Mike O’Laughlin and T.J. Banks, backup offensive linemen Tairiq Stewart and Zach Davis, backup cornerback David Vincent-Okoli and backup long snapper J.P. Hadley.

Hope they survive the backup long snapper’s absence.

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Your 9.12 game day post

Here’s today’s complete slate of games for your viewing pleasure:

Almost feels normal, amirite?

I assume I know who everyone is picking in the 3:30 ABC game, but feel free to share your thoughts in the comments about any of ’em.

Don’t think, just throw.

As far as I know, there’s still nothing definite to report on the starting quarterback situation (the most recent whispers indicate that Mathis is starting to come on, but who really knows ain’t talking publicly about that).

There, of course, is still time and there are experienced coaches making the evaluations, so assuming there is something to work with, the job will get done.  I will say that every day that goes by without a positive resolution to Daniels’ physical readiness is a day that makes a stronger case to me, at least, that Mathis will likely start the opener.  Arkansas isn’t the kind of opponent worth risking Daniels’ season over.

In the meantime, I will leave you with one somewhat unsettling JT Daniels story from Seth Emerson’s piece ($$) on the two contenders for the starting job, from his former coach at Southern Cal:

If anything, Ellis wanted Daniels to not over-think some coverages and just go out and play.

“Well, coach, they rotated but I’m supposed to …,” Daniels might say in the film room as they went over the previous game.

“Buddy, the hitch is standing there wide open — just throw it, stop trying to over-analyze everything,” Ellis would reply.

Ellis went on to blame most of Daniels’ turnover problems during his freshman season on over-analyzing.  Not great.

Lesson to be learned:

$55 million… and counting

Looks like I’ve got a fan over at the Dawgs247 board.

I wonder if Blutarsky over at Get The Picture still has something smart to say about the reserve fund. Butts-Mehre looks a hell of a lot smarter than the Senator in this deal.

Normally, I don’t do requests, but since he’s being so gracious about it, let’s take a quick look at the underlying story.

Georgia is currently in that boat. J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Greg McGarity announced at the fall meeting of UGA’s Athletics Board on Friday that the Bulldogs will deal with a shortfall of $55 million. That’s not a reference to the loss of revenue, but a bottom-line projection that could get worse if Georgia experiences any disruptions to its 2020 football season.

“We expect the bottom line, our net number once you factor in revenue and expenses, will be a net loss of $55 million,” McGarity said after the board meeting. “There are adjustments on both ends to where we get to that net number.”

Okay, so first McGarity admits that’s just an expectation, not a final number.

Situations like this are why the UGA Athletic Association has always prided itself on maintain a significant dollar amount in its reserves. McGarity has referred to it as a “rainy day fund” in the past and it’s necessary to keep the UGAA’s credit rating as high as it can be. As of May 30, that number was $74.5 million and McGarity anticipates having to dip into that some for the 2020-2021 year. He just isn’t sure how much yet.

“We know we have certain buckets of money,” McGarity said. “We certainly don’t want to deplete our reserves as Ryan (Nesbit) had mentioned. We plan to use a portion, but we really don’t know what that number will be but certainly it’s a huge part of our operating expenses to be able to spend of the interest off of that. We certainly don’t want to deplete so it will be one of the tools in the tool chest that will use to help make ends meet.”

Two things there:  the reserve fund exists to prop up the UGAA’s credit rating and they haven’t actually committed to using any of it yet in the current fiscal year.  (Not to mention that if they do, they admit up front they don’t plan on using much.)

Sounds pretty crisis-y to me.  Or not.

One more thing about the dire financial straits Butts-Mehre finds itself presently in, via Chip Towers:

Josh Brooks, Georgia’s senior deputy AD, updated the board on the progress of the Butts-Mehre football complex expansion. He reported the $80 million project as being “on time and under budget.”

Yes, plowing $80 million into a capital project that doesn’t generate revenue is exactly how you’d expect a financially prudent organization to act in tough times.

Tell you what, folks, when the day comes that Georgia’s athletic department really has to dip deeply into the reserve fund to carry on, there will be receipts and I will be the first to congratulate Michael Adams for his foresight and Greg McGarity for his diligence in carrying the torch.  Until then, if you want to believe in the reserve fund fairy, bless your hearts.