Like I said, there’s always a stat of the day when you need one.
I really, really want to see what a Monken-coached offense with a year under its belt and a spring practice can unleash in 2021. Is that too much to ask?
Daily Archives: December 8, 2020
As the sphincter tightens
Jeremy Pruitt is handling Tennessee’s worst losing streak in its program’s history just swell, thank you. Why do you ask?
Third-year Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt had an irritable tone during the postgame media availability, appearing to take issue with a string of the questions asked by reporters.
The second inquiry, about a quarterback competition, seemingly set Pruitt off. Tennessee started freshman Harrison Bailey, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 111 yards (66.7 percent) and one touchdown to zero interceptions but took five sacks, before making a switch to third-year sophomore J.T. Shrout while trailing 31-7 with 11:15 left in the fourth quarter.
“I mean, guys, every week — so y’all won’t have to ever have to ask me this again, OK — every week, we go out there and we see who competes in practice, who does the best job that we feel like affects the guys around him, aight, and we will do that as long as I’m the head football coach here at every position,” Pruitt said. “So you don’t have to ask me ever, ever, ever again.”
That stuff may work for Nick Saban, but not so much for a guy who’s looking up from a deep, deep hole this season. And if telling reporters they don’t need to ask him a question doesn’t work, there’s always this:
Perhaps the most interesting reaction came on a question about Tennessee’s third-down struggles, going 4 of 15. In the answer, Pruitt dumbed down football to a reporter.
“Well, Blake, I don’t know how much you know about football, but you can play inside man-to-man or you can play outside man-to-man and if they’re running inside breaking routes, you like to play ’em from inside-out,” Pruitt said.
Let’s just say Blake knows enough about football to know that going 4-15 on third down against a Grantham defense is worth a question or two.
Meanwhile, here’s a super vote of confidence for the head coach.
Pruitt’s trying to spin this as something he fully supports, but let’s be real here: “Due to many hardships and struggles within the program” ain’t exactly a good look.
If you think Greg McGarity’s reaction to the SEC postponing the Vanderbilt game was a little bit over the top, just imagine Pruitt’s reaction to the news that the Vols won’t get to play the ‘Dores this season. Like I said, I’m kind of looking forward to it.
Filed under Because Nothing Sucks Like A Big Orange
The one good lesson the SEC should take from the 2020 season.
The SEC played (okay, tried to play) a ten-game conference schedule this year and heads didn’t explode. There will be a conference team in the CFP. Basically, business as usual.
No, I don’t expect a 10-game conference schedule going forward, for the reason Smart states, but there’s no reason that a nine-game conference schedule isn’t doable. There isn’t the downside coaches fear. Assuming that a cupcake game is ditched for another SEC game, it’s a better deal for fans attending and TV networks broadcasting. Most importantly, such a move undoes a lot of the scheduling stupidity Mike Slive inflicted upon us when he expanded the conference to fourteen schools.
Ideally, this ought to be mated with the NCAA’s move to do away with a win requirement for bowl games, so that coaches don’t have a reason to object, but that’s not mandatory as far as I’m concerned. Just do it, Sankey.
A nine-game conference schedule just means more.
Filed under SEC Football
Your move, Emmert.
I’ve got to give credit where credit’s due. The NCAA’s plan for college athletes’ NIL rights in the face of legislative action has been, shall we say, lukewarm at best, so what does California, where the first such statutory challenge emerged, do?
Why, California doubles down, bitch.
The California state legislator who wrote what became the first state law designed to allow college athletes to make money from their name, image and likeness introduced a bill Monday that would expand the law’s impact and could hasten potential conflicts between state statutes and NCAA rules.
As overwhelmingly passed by both houses of the legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2019, the law already includes provisions that are less restrictive than proposed name-image-and-likeness (NIL) rules changes that the NCAA unveiled last month in preparation for a vote in January 2021.
Sen. Nancy Skinner’s new bill could create additional differences, and it would make the law effective as soon as Aug. 1, 2021 — 17 months earlier than the current date. Specifically, the bill would change the law’s effective date to either Jan. 1, 2022 or on the start date of the NCAA’s NIL rules changes. As currently proposed, that would be Aug. 1, 2021.
Skinner was joined in sponsoring the bill by state Sen. Steven Bradford.
“It’s good that the NCAA has followed California’s lead, but their proposed rules changes come up short,” Skinner said in a statement. “The NCAA doesn’t appear willing to give student athletes the autonomy and full range of benefits that California law does. My new bill will ensure that California athletes are not unfairly and unnecessarily restricted.”
I think I’m gonna need a bigger bag of popcorn.
Filed under Political Wankery, The NCAA
“The be-all and end-all is, are you scoring points?”
This message has not been approved by Mike Bobo.
“I want to score points. Do you care how? No, I don’t care how, as long as we can run the ball, control the line of scrimmage, not turn it over, throw the ball downfield,” Smart said. “I’m very pleased with all those things.
“I do think that being explosive is much more important than being balanced, and explosive can be done in a lot of different ways.” [Emphasis added.]
That may be the most heretical thing ever uttered by a Georgia football coach in my lifetime. Maybe I should start referring to Todd Monken as the Kirby whisperer.
Filed under Georgia Football, Strategery And Mechanics
What less than 53 looks like
Speaking of Vanderbilt taking a pass on the Tennessee game, this is pretty damned ugly.
Vandy is basically an upper classification high school football team at this point. And, no, merely putting a collection of bodies on the field ain’t competing.
Filed under SEC Football
The best laid plans of mice and Greg Sankey
So much for that whole “every SEC team will play a ten-game schedule” mantra, boss.
That will still leave the Aggies with a game against Tennessee, and I have to admit I’m kinda hoping Vanderbilt has to take a pass on the Vols, so that Pruitt can finish the year on a seven-game losing streak.
Filed under SEC Football
Just when you thought 2020 was non-stop depressing…
I have a question.
Isn’t whipped cream the more traditional fare served with nude women?
The funny (funniest?) thing about this is that the show aired a month ago and nobody noticed. It took the apology to bring it to light.
Filed under Stylin'
The door, she revolves.
Two of Georgia’s receivers are about to hit the transfer trail.
Dawgs247 has learned that a pair of Georgia wideouts are seeking a transfer. Trey Blount, a redshirt junior from Atlanta, and Makiya Tongue, a redshirt freshman from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, both intend to transfer according to persons with knowledge of the situation. As of early Monday afternoon, neither have entered their name into the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Transfer portal but it’s expected to happen in the near future.
Baton Rouge, you say? Ummm… what a coincidence that this news made a buzz on social media last night.
LSU tight end Arik Gilbert is considering leaving LSU and missed Monday’s practice, sources told Geaux247. Head coach Ed Orgeron and his staff are fighting to keep the talented five-star prospect from the 2020 class, but Gilbert is homesick and is likely returning home to the state of Georgia for the remainder of the semester, sources said.
The true freshman is LSU’s leading active pass catcher with Terrace Marshall Jr. forgoing his eligibility to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft. On the season, the Marietta, Ga. native and 2020 National High School Gatorade Player of the Year has caught 35 balls for 368 yards and two scores.
Tongue for Gilbert, and everybody gets to go home. Sounds like a fair swap, if you ask me, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Which isn’t to say Kirby ain’t on the mother…
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UPDATE: Potential glee aside, this is very good stuff from LSU’s punter.
He’s a teenager, hundreds of miles away from his parents and high school buddies, with no way to reach them because of a pandemic. How well would you handle that?
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