Texas Tech fires its head coach midseason. Okay, that’s not new. But this is:
Midseason firing of a coach with a winning record? Boy, if you’re the AD, you’d better have a slam dunk lined up.
Daily Archives: October 25, 2021
Mama, I got them cosmic 6-day hold blues again.
Tough luck if you need to make plans now for Athens on November 6.
Mizzou at seven? Yecch.
Filed under Georgia Football
Today, in ain’t played anybody, PAWWWLLL
Is there a single Georgia narrative that’s held up this season?
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
“This wasn’t supposed to be a great team, but it was supposed to be better than it is.”
Pat Dooley’s mid-season report card on Florida is worth a read, considering what week it is.
Particularly his concluding take on the head coach:
It feels like a lost season and I’m not sure what Mullen can do to turn it around other than starting Richardson and hoping he can handle the full load. It does feel like Florida football is at a crossroads. Is it going to be Mississippi State under Mullen or can he make the necessary changes to get the Gators pointed back towards elite status?
Assuming that’s not a rhetorical question, I know which way I’m going.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
A few stats from the UT-‘Bama game to think about
Yeah, I know what week it is, but Georgia gets the Vols in a few weeks and I expect Alabama to be the opponent in the SECCG, so munch on these in the meantime.
From David Ubben ($$):
Alabama took away Tennessee’s running game for 60 minutes and reaped the benefits of a one-dimensional offense late. The Vols averaged 5.14 yards per carry entering the game and 26th nationally with 59 carries longer than 10 yards, which was more than all but one team (Arkansas) in the country. Alabama limited Tennessee’s backs to 38 yards on 14 carries with no runs longer than 7 yards.
They may have been sloppy in pass coverage, but Alabama’s defensive front seven took the Vols completely out of their running game. That’s not nothing. On the one hand, that’s something that bodes well for the trip to Knoxville. On the other, let’s just say the idea of having to count on Stetson Bennett to win a game when Georgia’s running attack is shut down concerns me just a wee bit.
And here are a couple more Vol nuggets from David Paschall:
- Tennessee ranks 129th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams with 25 minutes and 19 seconds of possession time per game, ahead of only Connecticut.
- The Vols notched eight more tackles for loss and are averaging 7.4 per game, which ranks third in the FBS and first among Power Five teams.
I know TOP isn’t the most meaningful stat out there, but when you’re as thin as Tennessee is, going fast while going 2-12 on third down conversions is a recipe for wearing out your defense by the fourth quarter. Which, by the way, is what happened. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat of that against the Dawgs.
As for the second stat there, UT did do a good job early on flustering Alabama on offense, “early on” being the key term. (See paragraph above.) By the way, tackles for loss notwithstanding, ‘Bama finished an incredible 15-20 on its third down conversions. Tennessee is next to last in the conference in opponents’ third down conversion rate. If Daniels is back as the starting quarterback by then, expect him to feast on third downs.
Filed under Alabama, Because Nothing Sucks Like A Big Orange, Stats Geek!
SEC Net YPP, Week 8
It seemed like half the league had bye weeks, but the net ypp race moves on, anyway. (As always, stats via cfbstats.com.)
- Georgia 3.19 (6.74 o; 3.55 d) [NC: DNP]
- Florida 2.00 (7.07 o; 5.07 d) [NC: DNP]
- Alabama 1.78 (6.78 o; 5.00 d) [NC: -.26]
- Auburn: 1.58 (6.48 o; 4.90 d) [NC: DNP]
- Arkansas 1.45 (6.62 o; 5.17 d) [NC: +.35]
- Texas A&M 1.25 (6.01 o; 4.76 d) [NC: +.18]
- Ole Miss 1.24 (6.80 o; 5.56 d) [NC: +.05]
- Tennessee 1.14 (6.25 o; 5.11 d) [NC: -.20]
- Kentucky 1.03 (6.09 o; 5.06 d) [NC: DNP]
- LSU -.08 (5.64 o; 5.72 d) [NC: -.21]
- Mississippi State -.10 (5.51 o; 5.61 d) [NC: +.32]
- South Carolina -.21 (5.38 o; 5.21 d) [NC: -.38]
- Missouri -.54 (6.24 o; 6.78 d) [NC: DNP]
- Vanderbilt -2.23 (4.39 o; 6.56 d) [NC: +.05]
Turnover margin, after week six:
- +7: Alabama, Ole Miss
- +3: Georgia, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee
- +1: Arkansas, Auburn
- -1: South Carolina, Texas A&M
- -3: Mississippi State, Vanderbilt
- -7: Florida
- -8: Kentucky
Thoughts and observations:
- Florida is at the 2.0 net ypp/CFP threshold, but, of course, isn’t in play for the playoffs. Meanwhile, ‘Bama is well below the threshold, but still very much in play.
- Maybe the most impressive thing about Ole Miss so far this season is that turnover margin figure, considering how Corral was an interception machine in 2020.
- TAMU continues its slow and steady rise up the net ypp ranks.
- Arkansas had the biggest positive bounce of the week, which makes sense as it was the only SEC team to face a non-conference cupcake.
- The gap in defensive ypp between 1 (UGA) and 2 (TAMU) is greater than the gap between 2 and 12 (LSU).
Filed under SEC Football, Stats Geek!
Sooooo… how’s that whole gap thing going, Gators?
Swimmingly, it appears.
Getting back to basics
Brent, you had me at “use of play action!”.
Seriously, of the things that have irritated me about Georgia’s offense under Smart before this season, the de-emphasis/quasi-abandonment of play action is at the top. That Chaney and especially Coley elected to leave one of the best tools Georgia had in its bag was borderline malpractice, especially when you consider the backs they had to use to sell play action. I guess those sideline passes from Fromm were just too tempting to ignore.
If there’s any irony to this, it’s that Monken doesn’t have the same kind of backfield talent that his predecessors had, but is still committed to making play action work. In the land of the stubbornly blind, the realistic one-eyed coordinator is king.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!, Strategery And Mechanics
Monday ticket exchange
It’s that week. You know the week I’m talking about.
Those of you who hate Jacksonville can move on to the next post. Everybody else — you need tix, a parking pass, or both? Or do you have extras to sell? Share what you’ve got or need in the comments. Don’t forget to be specific.
Filed under GTP Stuff
SEC Power Poll, Week Eight
Five teams took the week off — it’s bye week bounce time! Or not, maybe…
- Georgia. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around ‘Bama giving up 88 more points in the same number of conference games than the Dawgs have.
- Alabama. I don’t think this year’s version of the Tide is that much less talented than last year’s so much as it’s not as well coached.
- Texas A&M. Week by week, the Aggies are getting their collective shit together.
- Ole Miss. The Rebs are ranked in the top ten, but is Matt Corral going to survive the regular season?
- Kentucky. No bye week bounce for the ‘Cats, I’m afraid.
- Florida. Didn’t play, but still moved up into a tie for third place in the division. Who said Mullen can’t coach?
- Auburn. The Tigers host Ole Miss this week (and are favored!), which should make for an interesting meeting.
- Tennessee. After taking a 14-7 lead, does being outscored 45-10 the rest of the way count as a moral victory? Asking for a friend…
- Arkansas. Beat up an in state cupcake.
- LSU. I don’t want to say the entire team has quit, but there were definitely players Saturday just going through the motions.
- Mississippi State. Once again, Vanderbilt is chicken soup for the mediocre offense’s soul.
- South Carolina. Absolutely putrid offense.
- Missouri. Absolutely putrid defense.
- Vanderbilt. If Missouri and South Carolina had a baby, they’d name it Vandy.
Filed under SEC Football
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