Jeebus. Talk about piling on.
This is after already grabbing Eli Ricks out of the transfer portal. Yeah, Saban’s slowing down, all right.
Daily Archives: December 21, 2021
Not the bowl game opt out you were expecting
Shot.
Chaser.
I dunno if Drinkwitz is making some sort of three-dimensional chess move for the recruiting trail, or what. But if the kid wants to play, why make him sit out?
Filed under It's Just Bidness
“At the end of the day, a crime isn’t a crime unless there is a punishment attached.”
It is not at all clear that the NCAA is serious about levying punishments against schools whose NIL programs are suspected of running afoul of the few rules that exist.
What is clear is that the NCAA wants you to think it is.
Well, they may be selling that, but who’s buying?
“Whenever Emmert says anything, he’s nebulous,” a prominent college athletics source told On3. “The NCAA has said that they can’t do anything, so what are we doing? Is he just trying to say that they are trying?”
The only person in college athletics with less credibility than Mark Emmert is Bill Hancock. Though, at least Hancock doesn’t have the power to punish anyone.
Filed under The NCAA
It’s Tuesday.
Or, as we like to think of it around here, Just Another Day To Ask Questions About Georgia’s Starting Quarterback.
Jesse Palmer, as usual, gets it bass-ackwards.
“He’s enough for them against good defenses I think like Kentucky or Auburn or Arkansas,” ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer said on air, “but against elite defenses, he’s thrown five interceptions now against Alabama in two games the last two years. Is Stetson Bennett enough in the playoff against a Michigan defense or against the Bama defense or against Cincinnati?”
Stetson Bennett’s problem isn’t with elite defenses. It’s with elite offenses. Allow Marc Weiszer to explain.
Bennett averages 19.3 pass attempts per game this season. When he’s had to throw 30 or more times a game at Georgia, he’s 0-2 — 18 of 40 last season and 29 of 48 this season — both against Alabama with 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Georgia’s defense had been so dominant this season that Bennett threw just 11 fourth-quarter passes all season before attempting 19 against Alabama in the final 15 minutes.
Stetson wasn’t throwing that much against ‘Bama because of their defense, Jesse.
Again, this all gets back to what I’ve been saying since the SECCG. Kirby’s first decision isn’t JT or Stetson. It’s whether Georgia’s defense can figure out a way to hold down elite offenses better than it’s shown over the past two seasons. You have to admit the track record isn’t particularly encouraging so far.
Then again, maybe Smart doesn’t have a decision at all. Seth Emerson ($$):
It’s been speculated that Daniels, who dealt with oblique and lat injuries early in the season, is still not at full strength. Smart has not addressed that, and he dodged the subject when asked whether he was confident Daniels could perform to last year’s level if called upon.
There’s a certain amount of tea leaf parsing you have to do reading that, because Seth is being cautious with his phrasing, but if you want to speculate about why Stetson continues to hang on to the starting position, that makes more sense than this does.
All that being said, I wouldn’t put Michigan’s offense in the same class as Alabama’s, so I’m not certain that a decision to start Stetson in Miami is a definitive indication of who starts in Indianapolis, especially if Seth is correct about the state of JT’s health and what might be in store with another three weeks of rest and rehab.
In other words, it’ll be Tuesday again, for sure.
Filed under Georgia Football
Back to the protocols
Nick Saban isn’t going to let COVID derail another national title run without a fight.
With COVID-19 cases surging nationally and games in the NFL being impacted by the pandemic again, Alabama is returning to its safety protocols from a year ago as it prepares to take part in the College Football Playoff.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Monday that the team is back to wearing masks in the facility and social distancing during meetings. He noted that more than 90% of players are vaccinated and have received their booster shots.
“Am I concerned?” Saban said. “I’m always concerned when there’s an issue out there, and we want to do the best we can to help our players be concerned about the issue and respect it so they have the best opportunity to stay safe.”
Are the other three teams in the CFP field are following suit? I would assume so, but who knows?
Filed under BCS/Playoffs, The Body Is A Temple
“A never-ending grind”
Pity the poor football coaches who have to work harder these days.
In the meantime, many coaches are frustrated, feeling as if they’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of recruiting. An SEC staffer who works in personnel estimated that coaches are having to continually recruit 55-60% of their current roster. The staffer described a situation in which a starter left school for the NFL, and four players reached out about getting the former starter’s jersey number. Coaches couldn’t simply give it to the player with the most seniority, as they might have in the past. Instead, it went to the player they felt was most likely to leave if he didn’t get his way.
“You have to kiss their ass,” the assistant said.
Sure, they’re making millions, but you can’t put a price tag on what losing control means to a control freak.
Coaches are eager for the NCAA to do something, whether that means policing tampering or restricting transfer activity to more narrow windows in the calendar.
“Or”? LMAO. If you polled 100 coaches on that choice, my bet is you’d get 100 votes for option number two.
Filed under Transfers Are For Coaches.
Wallow in pain
David Hale tweeted this out yesterday:
My response was (1) ’08 and ’21 were more disappointing than agonizing and (2) you can’t have an agonizing list that doesn’t include ’13 Auburn.
Your mileage may vary, obviously, so share your pain in the comments.
Filed under Georgia Football
Closer, but no cee-gar
Interesting graphic from Brian Fremeau about home field advantage:
So, visiting teams aren’t winning more often, but they are shrinking the margin of victory. (Although I am curious to see if the uptick in 2021 is just a one-time thing, or the start of a trend reversal.)
Filed under College Football, Stats Geek!
Forget it, Jake. It’s the Georgia Way.
Hanky panky, at 280 grand a year:
Josh Lee has resigned as Georgia’s director of football operations amid an investigation by UGA’s Equal Opportunity Office (EOO). The investigation concerned allegations of sexual harassment, according to persons familiar with the situation.
In a statement sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution late Monday afternoon in response to requests for comment, Georgia Athletics would confirm only that Lee had resigned “to pursue other professional opportunities” and declined further comment.
However, in its response to the AJC’s open records request seeking documentation, UGA cited a state policy [OCGA 50-18-72 (a)(8)] that keeps “material obtained in investigations related to suspension, firing or investigation of complaints” exempt from open records review until 10 days after the matter has been concluded.
Well, that’s certainly convenient.
The sexual harassment shit isn’t part of the Georgia Way, of course. But this is:
Lee is alleged to have sent inappropriate text messages to at least one of his direct reports over a period of time, according to several individuals with knowledge of the proceedings. The AJC was told that the accusations were brought to Brooks’ attention in early October and that he immediately turned the matter over to the EOO. However, as recently as last week, Lee accompanied UGA personnel on scouting trips to the College Football Playoff sites.
I can’t wait to hear the explanation — assuming we ever get one, that is — as to why he was allowed to stay on the job, as opposed to, say, being suspended with pay pending further investigation, after the matter came to Brooks’ attention. In the meantime, all I can say is that the Georgia Way protects its own until it can’t.
Filed under Georgia Football
When your Daily Gator sez “realistically”…
That word doesn’t mean what he thinks it means.
I’ve got to admit it hasn’t taken them long to get their mojo back.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Get The Picture 