Now, reality: Despite the record number of NFL Draft picks from last year’s Georgia team — including 5 from defense in the first round — there’s little difference between last year’s crazy good defense and this year’s group.
One NFL scout told me this week the Georgia defense, “looks like the same guys with different numbers. It’s uncanny.”
Nah. It’s just good coaching, in the full sense of the word — recruiting, talent evaluation, player development, fundamentals and scheme. Of course, if that were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Get The Picture 
I’ve been a UGA fan since arriving on campus in 1974. This is the best time to be a Dawg I’ve ever experienced.
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Amen, brother
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I was in school during the Herschel era and it wasn’t even close to what we are experiencing under Kirby.
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33-3-1 during that era, but this is certainly more dynamic. It’s down to how all the players have advanced. We would grind other teams into the ground with Herschel, now we can beat you several different ways, with both the offense and defense. Surely is a great time to be a Dawg!
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Speaking of last year’s defense, I read a stat that the Eagles’ run defense is allowing less than 3 yards a carry when JD99 is on the field and 10 YPC when he isn’t.
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So he’s having pretty much the same impact as he did at Georgia in his first couple of years.
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I’ve read that too, EE. I will watch any Eagles’ game that I can from now on. Even though I’m not a fan, per se, I am a JD fan!
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I know it’s a small sample size (not sure if the stat included the preseason).
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It’s nice that they are focusing on how their offensive will play against our defense. Our offense against their “defense” is really going to be the game, though.
It might be a “Gambler” game for them, though: the best that they can hope for is to die in their sleep.
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Said NFL scout has contributed to Dawg porn without even knowing it!
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If they go in and do to South Carolina, what most of us think they will do, a state of depression that has nothing to do with the economy may overtake the SEC East. Except for UT. That group is just plain stupid.
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It’s a little premature to say it’s the same as last year, but that the results have been identical so far speaks volumes about the system Smart has in place and their player evaluation. I have a feeling there will be a game this year where the relative lack of experience at linebacker and certain secondary positions will hurt them a little, but whether it will be enough for Georgia to potentially lose a regular season game is another matter.
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“…there will be a game this year where the relative lack of experience at linebacker and certain secondary positions will hurt them a little…”
That makes sense except that by the time we get to a team truly capable of hurting us a little, the new pieces of the defense will have experience. If Oregon couldn’t do it – I think I read they scored about 70 points in their second game – who do you see doing that before the SEC championship game? I guess we could do it to ourselves; that has happened before, but it really looks to me like Kirby is on the mutha.
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Wait a minute. I thought Kirby couldn’t develop players. So now I have to learn a new narrative?
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Let’s run through the narratives:
1. Can’t develop
2. Can’t develop QBs specifically
3. Not a good gameday coach, just a good recruiter
4. Richt 2.0
Am I missing any? He’s pretty much debunked all of them, but I’m sure the handbags will come up with something else.
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5) bad schoolboy haircut! 😝
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HE CANT BEAT NICK! Wait, what? Oh.
HE CANT WIN A BIG GAME! Check his record v Dabo, Jimbo, Brian Kelly, Mullen, Harbaugh, Riley.
HE WONT EVER WIN A NC! Lol. Next.
FTMF.
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This is why the Muschamp hire was so good and so important. It’s allowed Kirby to absorb the loss of Lanning and move forward just as well as we were before.
And to think, some Georgia fans conflated his poor head coaching performance with his ability to coach defense, or, didn’t like the things he said while a head coach so much that they didn’t want him as a coach here.
Where would we be without Boom? How much worse would our defenses last season and this season be without him?
I’m glad we’ll never know.
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” With You”
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We played the Dawgs in Rugby in 81&82…the party was in a Duplex/apt at one end of the Pitch, the guy who lived there had been around along time and was a photographer that had pictures of very pretty Co-ed’s all over the walls…do you remember him?
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He has given Georgia an absolute edge with the coaching staff. It’s like having another HC. And he loves it. Man has plenty of money, get’s to ‘coach’, leaves the political BS to Kirby and he Can go do what he does best making really good money doing it.
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I think Kirby has established the culture at UGA to maintain this for the long run. You come in a 5 star and don’t perform (see you later Brenton Cox), you sit or leave. You come in as a walk on or lower star, work your ass off and perform (hello Bennett, McConkey, Jackson, Mitchell) and you will start or at least get a lot of PT. You earn your time, it is not given or guaranteed.
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Also you build depth throughout the season so your freshman are ready to contribute by season end and when you lose you don’t whine all off-season blaming it on a rebuilding year.
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I wonder who you could be talking about?
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“Thats cause a blind squirrel found a nut, but like there were 84 other ones next to it. So hes even luckier”
-Dan Mullen probably
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Eh. I need to see more before I even think “same guys with different numbers. ” I’m slightly concerned about the DL and ILB.
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