They couldn’t have done it without you, big guy.
By the way, a couple of years ago, they were 6-7. That’s exactly where they are now.
Daily Archives: September 14, 2023
Rattling
“Well he’s got elite arm talent, I can tell you that. The throws he’s made, he can make the touch throws, deep, vertical, back shoulder throws. He ’s thrown a couple field outs. He had a throw against Clemson last year on third-and-10 that was a rope. He’s very elusive, very accurate with the ball, hard to finish on. There’s a lot of people that miss tackles on him when they have an opportunity to try and get him down. Tremendous player, sees the whole field. Some of his best plays come off schedule, meaning somebody misses somebody or he scrambles and he hits you on the shot. Very dangerous.” — Kirby Smart, on Spencer Rattler
Smart wasn’t engaging in Dooley-ish “long snappah” talk there. As poorly as South Carolina’s offensive line has played to date, it hasn’t really affected Rattler’s game as much as you might expect.
South Carolina’s offensive line was blown up to the tune of nine sacks in a Week 1 loss to North Carolina. However, Rattler was only dropped behind the line of scrimmage once last week against Furman. What’s more interesting is that Rattler hasn’t been rattled (not sorry for the pun) when teams get after him. He has completed 83.3% of his passes when blitzed — eighth-nationally among quarterbacks with 40 or more pass attempts.
He leads the conference in passing yards per game and is third in passer rating. He’s also third nationally in completion percentage. The dude is performing at a high level, which is all the more impressive given his protection situation.
Speaking in terms of Saturday, I think it’s fair to say Rattler gives the ‘Cocks a puncher’s chance at an upset. As we all know, there have been years when a puncher’s chance is all South Carolina needed.
None of which is to say he should be feared. The Georgia defense wrecked him last season, so clearly the staff has a good idea of how to scheme against his strengths. But it’s not hard to see why Smart’s respect isn’t contrived.
Filed under 'Cock Envy, Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Danielson on the Dawgs
His last season as an analyst on SEC on CBS, he’s pulling no punches on his way out.
“I think Georgia has lost a lot. It’s an interesting combination that we’re going to talk about. There’s no doubt that they play like their coach coaches. They take on that personality. They always have. I don’t know how many times you do one-on-one interviews with Kirby (Smart). Kirby’s tough on anybody. You walk into his room, you better be ready, you better be prepared. He doesn’t small talk. I like it, but you have better have your facts together, you better be able to produce around him. … They are different. They may end up being NFL ready players, but I thought the last couple of years I thought they had NFL players that were playing college football. … This year I think that there’s a lot of talent here that will eventually be that type of player but I don’t think a lot of them are that way right now.”
“They lost I feel three key parts of their offense. When you lose your offensive coordinator (Todd) Monken, you lose your quarterback (Stetson Bennett) and you lose Darnell Washington. We’re going to talk about him on the broadcast. … He’s unique in a way like the old style tight ends used to play in the NFL in my mind. Without changing or substituting, he’s a sixth offensive lineman on the field that can go out for a pass and it was a very tough matchup. I know how good Brock Bowers is, but I thought what made them unique was a veteran quarterback who had the trust of his NFL type play-calling offensive coordinator and a tight end that made their offense a mismatch. So I think they’re different this year. You’ve got an inexperienced quarterback instead of a fifth- or sixth-year player at quarterback. I’m anxious to see how the offense evolves. Carson (Beck) has tremendous ability, but there was a part of Stetson that the team believed in it and enjoyed rallying around I believe his personality.
And before you say it, he’s already there.
They’re good, but I bet when you guys write this or however you put it out there, Kirby will put it up on the locker room, but that’s just the way I see it.”
LOL. He’s always been good at anticipating calls.
Filed under Georgia Football
Either you’re elite, or you’re not.
In the case of Alabama’s coaching staff, Josh Pate is in the “you’re not” camp.
Just from the standpoint of Occam’s razor, it’s hard to disagree. The talent level is still high, Saban is still Saban, but this team no longer looks as formidable as it once did. There’s only one area of the program left to point at.
Not only that, with all the turnover there, at some point it was bound to catch up with Nick, no? You can’t expect to hit a home run with every assistant coaching hire. Or even a bunch of doubles…
Filed under Alabama
The SEC giveth and the SEC taketh away.
Given this, I find The Athletic’s Austin Mock’s CFP projection piece ($$) both ironic and amusing.
Georgia untested, but on the move
Georgia was a huge beneficiary this past week as the Bulldogs saw their title odds jump from 31.5 percent to 37.5 percent. Alabama losing certainly helped that, but the rest of the SEC has been off to a shaky start which ultimately gives Georgia an easier path than what was anticipated at the beginning of the year. [Emphasis added.]
Talk about your half-empty, half-full “SEC Sucks This Season” glass.
In all fairness, I should mention one other (non-quantifiable) factor running in Georgia’s favor that Seth Emerson has mentioned before: the selection committee is likely to have its thumb on the scale to some extent to make sure the two-time defending national champs have a shot at a three-peat. So the Dawgs have that going for them.
Filed under BCS/Playoffs, Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Lies, damned lies and (Bobo’s) statistics
This is getting pretty amusing, if you ask me.
“Ah, but”, the skeptic might say. “With the running back situation being what it is, what would you expect Bobo to do?”
That’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it, that he’s adapting to what he’s got to work with?
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
Get The Picture 