Say farewell.
I’m not going to make a “and there was much rejoicing” crack until I see who the replacement is. There’s a part of me who thinks we’re in for a “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” scenario.
Monthly Archives: November 2020
He gone.
This is no surprise.
I had hoped this would work out for him, because he’s been through a lot. Maybe the next place will turn out to be a better fit. Best of luck, kiddo.
Meanwhile, it does clean up the quarterback room at Georgia. For now, anyway.
Filed under Georgia Football
Alex, I’ll take “I’ll have whatever he’s having” for $200.
Dude.
It’s not pretty when punditry jumps the shark.
Filed under Media Punditry/Foibles, SEC Football
Shape of things to come?
I know, small sample size and all, but I can’t help noting that after two games, JT’s passer rating is a relatively gaudy 187.34, which would put him in the top three in the conference if he had enough starts.
Yeah, I’m probably getting way ahead of myself here, but, you know what? Screw it. I’m having too much fun watching him run the offense right now.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Observations from the armchair, South Carolina edition
Yeah, it was an easy 29-point win, but it wasn’t without a few ups and downs. The Dawgs rushed out to a three-touchdown lead and… then relaxed on defense, allowing the ‘Cocks to score ten straight points before responding with another touchdown.
They then came out after the half and locked down the Gamecock offense en route to putting the game away for good, and then gave up an 11-play, 98-yard drive for SC’s last score. That was followed by Georgia’s longest, most time consuming drive of the game that finished on the Carolina one-yard line to end the night.
The fourth quarter fog was a nice touch. And with that, some bullet points.
- I don’t know how much to attribute to all the missing bodies on South Carolina’s defense and how much to attribute to the ‘Cock defense not loading the box to respect what JT Daniels did in last week’s game, but, either way, Georgia’s running game simply overpowered the opponent. And that started with the offensive line that blew open ridiculously sized holes all game long. Both White and Cook scored touchdowns on plays where no defender laid a hand on them.
- Hill bounced back from his poor showing last week with what was perhaps his best game of the year, blocking-wise. I saw him get to the second level to make blocks several times. (In a twist, his high shotgun snaps seemed to come later in the game than usual.) Shaffer was better, too, although inconsistent. He whiffed on a block that led to a sack.
- You don’t rush for over three hundred yards at better than seven yards a clip without your backs having a very good day, and a very good day it was for them. Cook looks like he’s really starting to get a feel for the position. White bullied the defense all game. McIntosh had a couple of great runs where he shook a tackle, reversed course and made something out of nothing. It was also good to see Edwards get out there and contribute, although it was a shame his touchdown got called back on a penalty.
- McKitty on that opening drive was money — first, the beautiful catch and gain on the seam route, and then, stretching out for his first touchdown of the season. He’s a guy who should have gotten more out of his transfer year in Athens, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
- With only ten completions, there isn’t too much to say about the receivers. A couple of drops and a short throw from Daniels made their contributions less than they could have been. The Smith touchdown, as I mentioned, was a perfect play. And it goes without saying that Monken is still designing plays that get the receivers open.
- One other thing about the receivers that does merit a mention is that this was by far the best game I saw them have this season blocking downfield. Pickens and Burton, in particular, gave terrific effort in that regard.
- Okay, so JT didn’t have a dominant day. But they didn’t need him to. He did have an efficient one, though, although there were a couple of occasions that showed he’s still shaking the rust off. His sideline throw to Burton was short; had he hit Burton in stride, it would have been six points. He also missed seeing a wide open Burton down the middle for another score when the defender slipped and fell. One of the sacks was the result of him holding the ball way too long instead of taking the easy dump off pass to White. All of that seems correctable with more playing time. I can also give him a pass when he’s on and makes his game look so easy.
- Defensively, job one was to take away the running game, and with one fairly glaring exception, the defense did just that. Doty, in particular, who I was really worried about heading into the game, was shut down as a running option. Kevin Harris wasn’t much of a factor, either. All that being said, there was some atrocious tackling from the linebackers that allowed the backs to escape what should have been negative plays. Some of it looked to be the result of bad luck, when two defenders bounced into each other, but some of it looked like guys giving up early on the play.
- I don’t want to be too harsh about that, though, as there were a ton of sacks and tackles for loss to compensate for the occasionally shoddy tackling.
- The two defenders who really stood out were Cine and Carter. Cine was everywhere and seemed to have a tackle almost every other play. Carter was disruptive, especially on the play where he hit the mesh point on a hand off and blew it up for a loss.
- That being said, Bobo called a lot of underneath passing stuff and plenty of it worked, especially with throws to the tight end and Harris out of the backfield. The inside linebackers simply aren’t handling pass coverage well enough.
- Special teams were, with the exception of a kickoff that went out of bounds, great again. Podlesny didn’t miss on a scoring opportunity, Camarda’s one punt went for 50 yards and no return, an extra point was blocked and Jackson turned in a monster game returning kicks and punts. Funny how we’re not hearing any snarky commentary about the Scott Cochran experiment these days.
- Coaching? I would describe Smart’s day as workmanlike. He knew his team was facing a decimated South Carolina team starting a true freshman quarterback and once it was apparent that Georgia would have its way running the ball, it was pretty much just a matter of making sure things stayed on track, which they did (that’s the calmest he’s been in a fourth quarter in ages).
All in all, a very good night. And now Georgia follows that up with another game against a team coming in under an interim coach. Vanderbilt is the worst team in the conference and it’s not even close. It should be a good opportunity again for the team to get the offense to continue meshing together. Florida should clinch the East Saturday, but there is still plenty for this Georgia team to do as it regroups.
Filed under Georgia Football
Down, down, down
Holy crap. I knew FSU had fallen on hard times, but I didn’t realize how hard.
Sheesh.
Filed under ACC Football, Stats Geek!
SEC net ypp, Week 10
Another week in the books, so here we go again.
Here’s the conference order by net yards per play, with the offensive ypp and defensive ypp, respectively, in parenthesis.
As I’ve been doing, I also show the week-to-week change in the net figure (stats via cfbstats.com.)
- Alabama: 2.93 (7.96; 5.03) [net change: +.15]
- Florida: 1.65 (7.41; 5.76) [net change: +.28]
- TAMU: 1.01 (6.26; 5.25) [net change: -.14]
- Georgia: 0.83 (5.81; 4.98) [net change: +.34]
- Arkansas: 0.58 (5.92; 5.34) [net change: DNP]
- Missouri: 0.11 (5.61; 5.50) [net change: +.74]
- Ole Miss: -0.04 (7.02; 7.06) [net change: +.10]
- Auburn: -0.08 (5.63; 5.71) [net change: -.49]
- Kentucky: -0.67 (4.86; 5.53) [net change: -.35]
- Mississippi State: -0.70 (4.90; 5.60) [net change: -0-]
- Tennessee: -.87 (4.98; 5.85) [net change: DNP]
- South Carolina: -1.20 (5.31; 6.51) [net change: -.24]
- LSU: -1.49 (5.57; 6.79) [net change: +.27]
- Vanderbilt: -2.44 (4.78; 7.22) [net change: -.25]
Here’s the current order for turnover margin.
- +8: Arkansas
- +6: Alabama
- +4: TAMU
- +3: Auburn, Kentucky
- +2: Florida
- +1: LSU
- 0: South Carolina
- -2: Georgia, Ole Miss
- -3: Missouri, Tennessee
- -8: Mississippi State
- -9: Vanderbilt
And, observations:
- Alabama is ridiculous. Florida is closer to Arkansas in net ypp than the Tide.
- Fastest riser: Missouri. Fastest faller: Auburn.
- LSU finished last season with a 2.47 net in conference play.
- There is one SEC team with a defensive ypp under 5. Barely. (There was only one in conference play last season, for what that’s worth.)
Filed under SEC Football, Stats Geek!
“I don’t really understand why that rule is a thing.”
Christ on a bicycle, amateurism is such a joke.
During the three years Jamie Andries spent as a member of the University of Oklahoma cheerleading team, she cheered at two Big 12 championship football games, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl and the 2016 Final Four.
And while the star football and basketball players in those games — including the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield and the future N.B.A. guard Buddy Hield — were forbidden to make money from their athletic fame beyond what the university provided to cover their attendance, Andries was receiving thousands of dollars through sponsorship deals with Crocs, L’Oréal, American Eagle and Lokai…
… The lucrative opportunities for Andries came because of her fame and a social media following in the cheerleading world — she is one of the top “cheerlebrities,” as such stars are known — and because the N.C.A.A. and its universities do not regulate cheerleading in the same ways they do other sports.
Long-held rules governing amateurism among college athletes do not apply to cheerleaders, meaning they can sell autographs, appear in commercials and wear their cheer uniforms while promoting products as social influencers, without fear of being disciplined. In sports governed by the N.C.A.A., athletes risk their eligibility to compete if they engage in similar activities, and their teams and universities can also be punished.
There isn’t a world where this makes any sense, except for Mark Emmert’s. I’d say the people running college athletics should be ashamed of maintaining the charade, but who am I kidding? Those people have no shame.
Filed under It's Just Bidness, The NCAA
SEC Power Poll, Week 10
It’s Alabama’s world and we’re just living in it.
- Alabama. Steve Sarkisian passed the audition, y’all.
- Florida. Yeah, I think they beat the Aggies in a rematch.
- Georgia. Blew out a weakened South Carolina team, which, come to think of it, is what they should have done last season.
- Texas A&M. I’m sorry, but top ten teams don’t get forced to punt a dozen times in a game by a Bo Pelini-coached defense.
- Auburn. That may have been the most gutlessly coached game of Gus Malzahn’s career.
- Missouri. The Tigers face Arkansas this week in a game that might decide the SEC Coach of the Year.
- Arkansas. Sam Pittman got a bye week to get past COVID.
- Ole Miss. Weirdly enough, the Rebs beat Mississippi State by the same score Georgia did the week before.
- LSU. Ed Orgeron: “I think we need to call better plays. I think we need to have a better plan.”
- Kentucky. Fading fast, as the Wildcats’ health issues are catching up to them.
- Mississippi State. Say what you will about Mike Leach, nobody has his team playing harder than MSU.
- Tennessee. It’s Meteor Bowl time!
- South Carolina. They’ll blame Bobo.
- Vanderbilt. When your game highlight is a perfectly executed pooch kick — your only kickoff of the game — it’s been a bad, bad day. Bad enough to get fired.
Filed under SEC Football
Fabris Pool results, Week 13
Two perfect 7-0s, one tiebreaker:
Congrats to BernieDawg for pulling that out.
As for the seasonal race, we’ve got a three way tie with two weeks to go.
Plus, there are a ton of folks within three points of the lead.
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Filed under GTP Stuff
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