No, that is wishful thinking.
Daily Archives: September 20, 2023
So you’re saying there’s a plan?
If true, this is positively Machiavellian on the part of the NCAA.
I say “if true” because I have a hard time believing the NCAA does anything indicating that it has an organized strategy when it comes to amateurism.
Filed under The NCAA
After a second look…
Typically when I watch a replay of a Georgia game after seeing it live, my reaction falls into one of two categories — either confirmation of how I felt seeing the game for the first time, or disappointment that the team really didn’t play as well as I thought they had. Strangely enough, my take after seeing the South Carolina replay was the exception to the rule. I feel better about the game now than I did in the stands immediately afterwards.
I think the reason for that is they were much closer to playing a good first half than I realized at the time. There were a lot of little things that happened to thwart that, most of which stand a good chance of being cleaned up over the next few weeks, if this coaching staff does what it seems to always do. (If you’re looking for similar thoughts, this Dawg Post piece is pretty good on that front.)
That isn’t to say I don’t have some lingering concerns. I do. I’d say there are three things in particular that don’t fall into the “fix the execution and they’ll be fine” category, but are more structural in nature. They are:
- The safety position behind Bullard isn’t safe. I didn’t realize it until I watched the replay, but David Daniel-Sisavanh had a rough day. There’s no way to sugar coat that. He struggled in coverage and had some mistakes in run support. South Carolina was able to take advantage of that on several occasions. Maybe it’s not the end of the world — the Dawgs still managed a defensive passer rating of 101.92 — because they’re getting stellar play out of Starks, Lassiter and Smith, but I worry it’s something that opponents will find a way to exploit. In other words, get well soon, Javon.
- Carson Beck’s early tentativeness. I’ve already hit on this before, but as long as he shows a propensity for settling for the short throw (and, to be fair, the coaches tolerate it, particularly when it comes to playcalling), it’s only going to encourage defenses to continue to load the box to stuff the run. His deep ball to Rara Thomas on the first drive of the second half opened the waters, so to speak, as it caused the Carolina defense to respect the long pass and back off loading the box, which in turn helped Georgia’s run game control the rest of the second half.
- Offensive line play… still. I was willing to chalk up the struggles on the o-line to how defenses were scheming against them, because the pass protection had been solid through the first two games, even if the run blocking was subpar. But the South Carolina game changed my mind about that because (1) the o-line had issues in pass pro and (2) the line appeared improved after Mims’ injury, when Truss was moved out to right tackle. I don’t think Searles has settled on his best five players yet, in other words. Will he? I don’t know, but it’s clear that between Greene’s inexperience at left tackle and Truss’ inconsistent technique at left guard, the left side of the offensive line is vulnerable.
There’s still time to fix even these issues, of course. They’re just different in nature from the sloppiness I saw that can be cleaned up with some basic attention to fundamentals.
Ending on the positive here, this is a good summary of what I came away with being most impressed by this group on Saturday:
Discipline and resilience – a team that is stressed will commit unforced errors. The Dawgs didn’t turn the ball over and only had 6 penalties. Two of those were delay penalties deliberately taken. The telltale signs of frustration weren’t there on the sidelines or on the field. Georgia knew they had to play better to win, and they did just that.
Down 14-3 at the half, the crowd (at least an audible portion of it) was growing restless, but the team, to its credit, never showed signs of panic. For a group with as many new faces on it as this Georgia team has, that’s quite impressive. Culture, for the win.
Filed under Georgia Football
A Senator wants to do it for the kids.
Check out the big brain on Joe:
Manchin addressed this Tuesday, partially in an educational context and partially in the context of the role that booster-backed collectives are playing in athlete recruitment and movement – another activity his and Tuberville’s bill seeks to address by requiring collectives to be affiliated with a school.
“These kids have to understand: It’s called student-athletes. It’s not called athlete-students,” Manchin said. At present “Option B is getting an education. That should be Option A. … First of all, I’m probably never going to graduate because I’m flip-flopping back and forth. And next of all, no one’s going to be able to develop my skills.”
He said that if an athlete can make $1 million from NIL activities, he or she should “get yourself an agent … go out there and sell your goods, but you’re not going to use that as a bargaining tool back and forth to universities.”
… While the Manchin-Tuberville bill does not address the employment status of athletes, Manchin made clear that he does not think athletes should be school employees.
“Should student- athletes be employees? Jesus Criminy, are you crazy?” Manchin said. “You want to make a kid an employee of a school because of their athletic scholarship?”
Jesus Criminy, my head hurts after reading that.
Senator, it’s not “it’s called student-athletes”. It’s “the NCAA calls them student-athletes”. And, no, you don’t make a kid an employee of a school because of their athletic scholarship. You make them an employee of the school because, for all intents and purposes, their role playing for a major college athletic program is a job.
Oh, and here’s Senator Option A in the next breath:
“You might not like this one,” Manchin told the AD’s, “but the Pell Grants –most student-athletes today come from challenged areas and they qualify for Pell, right? All the athletic departments use it. Well, we need that money to help kids who have very little chance of getting an education. … I think that if there’s so much money in the athletic departments and there’s so much money coming in, you should at least pay for the kid’s education. You shouldn’t have the federal government with the Pell Grants paying for it.”
So, apparently, schools should pay the kids… or something. Jesus Criminy, indeed.
Filed under Political Wankery
“One moment at a time”
Want to know what Kirby Smart said to his team at halftime Saturday? Here you go:
It sure worked.
Filed under Georgia Football
Don’t get mad, get even.
But we were told Alabama’s offensive line would be a team strength this season.
There was considerable buzz surrounding Alabama’s offensive line this preseason.
They were the size of an NFL unit, the numbers said.
And they were mad, their leader said.
Right tackle JC Latham didn’t hold back at SEC Media Days back in July when talking about the physical mentality they wanted to restore to a group that had taken heat in recent years.
“We’re going to be physical up front,” Latham said two months ago today in Nashville. “And we’re going to have receivers who want to block and we’re going to have running backs who want to run through people. Just bringing that physicality as well because there are a lot of people saying we aren’t who we once were.”
Evidently anger isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Alabama’s running game is right around the FBS mid-pack with an average carry of 4.40 yards. That ranks 67th but also includes quarterback Jalen Milroe’s 92 net rushing yards (4.2 average) — often recorded in scramble situations.
But it’s the time the Alabama quarterbacks couldn’t avoid the pass rush that’s the greatest indictment on the line.
Consider the 12 times Crimson Tide passers were sacked this season. That ranks 126th among FBS teams.
Then recognize those 12 sacks equal the entire allowance of the 2019 Alabama offensive line.
Those 12 were spread out over a 13-game season while this 12 came before entering SEC play. South Florida, who went without a sack against a Western Kentucky team that threw the ball 50 times, had five against Alabama who successfully attempted just 23.
Texas also had five in the 34-24 win Sept. 9 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. In the other two games, the Longhorns totaled three. They played Rice and Wyoming.
Sounds like they’re really cooking in Tuscaloosa. Oh, and by the way…
Filed under Alabama, Stats Geek!
“It’s better than Super Bowls.”
Trent Dilfer is UAB’s head coach. It sounds like he’s really looking forward to this week’s Athens visit.
Is he going to coach, or did he buy a ticket?
Filed under SEC Football
Time is money.
I’m not blaming my shitty start in the Fabris Pool on it (although I’d like to), but I have been curious about this:
Sample size is too small to draw any conclusions, obviously. But it’s something to keep an eye on, at least for a while.
Filed under What's Bet In Vegas Stays In Vegas
TFW the shoe is on the other foot
Interesting choice of words here…
When South Carolina came into the locker room at halftime last Saturday, the vibes were good. Excitement was in the air. The Gamecocks were up 14-3 against the best team in the country.
To many, it was a shock to see top-ranked Georgia get outplayed in the first half. But not for South Carolina.
However, the Gamecocks knew it didn’t matter what they did before. They had to keep their foot on the gas and not let up. They knew the Dawgs would start to play better one way or another.
“We knew whenever we came out of halftime, we were going to get their best shot. They’re a championship team, back-to-back,” Marcellas Dial said during the Garnet Trust Hour on 107.5 The Game. [Emphasis added.]
Turnabout is fair play, I guess.
Filed under 'Cock Envy, Georgia Football
Get The Picture 