Good work Cubs

Magic number: 2

10 years ago tonight, BC recorded one of its greatest victories of all time. The Cadets defeated Camden County 9-7 on a last minute field goal in Kingsland. The game turned out to be for the region championship.

Camden coah Jeff Herron says that loss motivates him to this day. Since the defeat Camden has a record of 123-11, no region losses, 6 trips to the semi-finals, and 3 state Championships. They are currently ranked #6 in the USA TODAY National Prep Poll.

The 2000 BC team cemented itself as one of the better teams in school history going 9-1 in the regular season and winning the region championship.

Top 5 wins in my lifetime:

1. 1996 at #2 LaGrange 24-17

2. 2000 at Camden 9-7

3. 1996 vs. Northside 11-10 (OT)

4. 1994 at #5 Statesboro 21-7

5. 2005 at #5 South Effingham 7-0

He wasn't even the best player in the infield. 1 game and this would be a much happier post.

I'm sorry...

for the unending Georgia posts but I don't know what else to do.

Like someone said on Dawgpost, Ealey's performance and Spielman's comment on this play kind of sums up Georgia football right now:

A reason to Watch

Though I have little confidence in the program right now, I'm going to go in a different direction on this post.

- We can play loose with nothing to lose the rest of the way. 2007 shows we can go on a run when there is little to no hope. 2007 followed a 2006 season that was very similar to 2009.

-A.J. Green has to do a whole bunch to make up for what has occurred. Once again, I don't know if we win yesterday with him but we throw it to him on that last 3rd down and I like our chances. From Colorado on we will have the best player in every game.

- The coaches have to realize there is a problem. They will hear and see all the numbers and records that have been brought up in the last 24 hours. Though last year and Carolina should have been a wake up call, the Goff comparisons would really do it for me.

- The schedule from here on out looks great. Mississippi St. is more than losable though. Georgia can play with the nothing to lose mentality or go 180 degrees the other way and fold. Starkville will shed some light on that. A win and the schedule is not daunting with only 2 ranked teams.

- Murray is a gamer and will continue to get better. The offensive line can't play any worse. If nothing else the play of the O-line and secondary might force the coaches to try some guys they might otherwise have not. Might find some players.

- Finally, Florida is not a world beater and Carolina has a handful of losable games. Florida will lose to Bama and Georgia. Carolina will lose at least 2 but probably more. I'll be shocked if we only lose 1 more game the rest of the way. But contrary to what I said last week, we are not completely dead if we do find some magic.

The interesting thing to watch is the fan base. For the first time in a long time there will be some Georgia fans that pull against the Dawgs at times. Their theory will be the faster things get bad, the faster it will get better. There will be Georgia followers rooting for the opponent hoping for change at the top.

Georgia's Football Program

Women and children in the lifeboats first. More to follow later in the day. And yes it really is that bad:(

Play action

Blast from the past

Dobbs Needs To Improve Toughness? No Way!

David Ching has a nice little rundown of all the guys who redshirted this year in the Columbus Ledger-Inquirer today, with comments from the starters. A couple of highlights:

QUINTIN BANKS

Projected 2007 position: Safety

Height/Weight: 6-2/192

Teammate's comments: "Typical Georgia safety, I guess. The big-hitting safety that everybody says we're missing this year. He has learned the game extremely fast, the playbook. He can answer the questions that coach asks that most guys at that point don't usually know. He's learned the package extremely well." Georgia safety Tra Battle

DEMARCUS DOBBS

Projected 2007 position: Defensive end

Height/Weight: 6-2/270

Teammate's comments: "Great upside. A little quiet, needs to get more of a football mentality, a little more toughness. He has it, but he's a nice guy too, though. When he gets some of that jerk in him, then it's a wrap." Defensive tackle Ray Gant

RESHAD JONES

Projected 2007 position: Safety

Height/Weight: 6-2/188

Teammate's comments: "Reshad's just a natural athlete. Anytime the ball's in the air, he goes up to get it. He may not know the playbook and the scheme as well as (Quintin) Banks, but athletic-wise, he's with the best of us as far as covering and ball skills. He's just a natural at it, you can really tell." Georgia safety Tra Battle

KIANTE TRIPP

Projected 2007 position: Defensive end

Height/Weight: 6-6/272

Teammate's comments: "Perfect frame, perfect size. Big, strong, hard worker. He'll probably be an all-American before he leaves." ­ Defensive end Quentin Moses

Shock Value

A.J. Green Cost us an SEC East Championship!

UPDATE....

people not real happy with Bobo.

CMR Postgame

"Its not like we were playing the school for the blind, they are a great team..........I think we are starting to grow up as a team and thats a good thing."

- 9 of the 11 starters on offense have been in the program for 3 or more years. It would be 10 with A.J.

- 10 of the 11 starters on defense have been in the program for 3 or more years.

I hope they have enough time to grow before they graduate.

I will give him credit for this quote: "As of right now, our focus needs to be on winning a conference game."

Would've been a comeback for the ages and I would've had full confidence in Walsh to make anything inside of 55. However, Arkansas deserved to win the game with how they dominated the first 3 quarters. Get ready for the steady diet of our team never quit and blah blah blah.

JD on the call in show: "Georgia will be back, I just don't know when that will be."

Butler: "Whats a little disappointing to say is that there are some fundamental problems that don't seem to be getting fixed."

Last 3 SEC games:

Home loss to Kentucky

Road loss to Carolina

Home loss to Arkansas

In under 2 years Georgia has lost 10 games.

See yall in Starkville!

(Bump)

Also, here's a snippet from this week's "Gruff and Grump" article in Bulldawg Illustrated:

We ran the wildcat a couple of times. Or wild Dawg or whatever you chose to call it. Sloppy cat is more like it. The formation and idea is fine with us. We actually like it. Problem is it looks like we have practiced it for all of about six plays during the week.

We continue to wonder what happens in offensive practice. Do the running backs focus and work hard on fundamentals? We sure do fumble a lot. What about the tight ends. What is their story? Time to step up and be dominant like they can be.

Why do we need to call a time out four plays into the second half? And another four plays later? What did we talk about during half time? Four plays later and we can not line up correctly? Then, four plays later and we can not get the proper personnel on the field? (Editor’s note- the last paragraph is a retread from about twenty five games in Mark Richt’s career. Too many to note specifically). The Dawgs were faced with having to overcome a deficit with no timeouts and facing a very good rushing football team. All because of a keystone cops routine we practice several times every season. Coach Richt has been our coach for ten years. For ten years we have been doing this Mickey Mouse stuff. Man does it get old.

Must Win

September could be a fun month if Georgia wins Saturday. Losing would all but eliminate Georgia from anything important in a year where the window was as wide open as it could ever be in the east. Florida is not overwhelming. Tennessee is as bad as ever. Carolina has the toughest schedule. Don't sleep on Kentucky though, they probably have as much talent as ever. But the Dawgs have a manageable schedule with 10 starters back on offense! Need to take advantage.

Saturday was bad but not the end. Saturday at 4 could be the end. Georgia should get nothing but better as the season progresses but it might not mean a thing if we don't win Saturday. We can afford 1 more loss and still have thoughts of Atlanta. If that loss is Saturday, however, dreams are limited to Atlanta a month late.

The Bravos are not playing well but back in late April no one thought they would be anywhere in this realm. 18 games left and a game back in the east and 1 ahead in the wild card. Got to play better to have a chance and the 6 games with the Phils could be awesome. A wise man once said, there is nothing better than meaningful baseball.

*Also, JD thinks Branden Smith should be moved to offense. I heard a lot of people down on Smith after the game Saturday. Playing behind Cuff was an indication to me that he was not as far along as we thought he might be. Hes too explosive not to have the ball in his hands more. I'm not saying hes a bad CB, but I don't know if a permanent move to offense wouldn't be best for all parties.

Here's where we need to go

As his team raced onto the field, he gazed into the stands filled with screaming fans and wondered about the several thousand "cadets" from Texas A.&M. clustered in one end zone. They wear military uniforms and buzz cuts, holler in unison and stand at attention the entire game. "How come they get to pretend they are soldiers?" he asked. "The thing is, they aren't actually in the military. I ought to have Mike's Pirate School. The freshmen, all they get is the bandanna. When you're a senior, you get the sword and skull and crossbones. For homework, we'll work pirate maneuvers and stuff like that."

I'm of the opinion that yesterday could have been worse. Outside of Houston and Gamble I have never seen a Georgia front 7 look that overmatched. Not getting off blocks, arm tackling, and basically being physically dominated. On the other hand, our experienced and strength of the team O-Line was far from dominant. Yes, we were a non-fumble away from possibly being tied. Yes, we did not have arguably the best player in the country eligible. And yes, it was the first SEC game with a new QB and a new defense. But as Slic mentioned below, at some point you have to start winning again. Going back to the 2008 season Georgia has not beaten a "good" team outside of Tech. And as well as the ACC performed yesterday I don't know if being the best team in that conference makes you a "good" team. Losses happen, especially on the road in the SEC. However, its the big picture and the carry over from last year that makes this Carolina loss more aggrevating than any I can remember. Four thoughts fom players and coaches after yesterday's game helped in guiding my aggrevation.

Little Picture:

- Marcus Lattimore stating how Carolina knew they would have unbelievable success running the Zone Read if Georgia kept their DE's as wide as they were against ULL. Sitting with Denny, he picked up on our DE's rediculous width on the very 1st drive. Obviously we didn't feel as if we needed to adjust prior to Lattimore running for his 180th yard. What bothers me is that was such an easy and fundamental problem that Carolina basically based their entire offensive game plan around and never had to go away from it.

Big Picture:

- CMR stating that Lattiore is going to be a star not only on Saturday's but most likely Sunday's as well. The statement is not that rediculous because I was extremely impressed and without him Carolina probably doesn't win. However, the kid has played two college games and CMR wants to drive him to Canton. This is just more of what has become the CMR norm of deflecting attention away from our own deficiencies. A whole bunch of those yards were due to us missing 2 and 3 tackles or laying on the ground less than a second after the snap.

- A South Carolina Offensive Lineman being surprised by how quick they were able to wear down the Georgia front and how they seemed to be out of shape at times. The Georgia defense was on the field a whole bunch on a humid day. Most of that is their fault however for not getting off the field. Anyway, I'm going to bring up the S&CCDVH (thats a good one) subject again. He finally came under a little fire in the past year for the perceived lack of production from his department. From what I think because of certain things, this perception is not rediculous one bit. Not that this has any validity at all, but 2 different people who watched games all day yesterday both said it seemed as if Georgia looked small in a lot of positions compared to some other high profile teams. One saying, "it just doesn't look like we fill out our jerseys like they do." In person during pre-game Carolina looked a lot bigger. But maybe its just Under Armor.

- Spurrier commenting on how the 3 timeouts by Georgia early in the 3rd changed the outlook on the 2nd half. For some reason this as always been a problem for CMR teams. Even when Georgia has had greast teams we always seemed to find great ways to burn timeouts. Bobo, in reference to one of the timeouts, said that we really need to get the right personnel on the field. Very good point coach. Out of a timeout we came right back with the same formation (wildcat) and caught Carolina by surprise with a 2 yard run. Once in a while if a RB needs to ask the QB something there is no problem. Haveing to use 3 timeouts that wouldv'e been a little help down the stretch is. Unfortunately, same story, differnt chapter.

And Bobo has to like Vanilla ice cream. Fans have been voicing this opinion for a while now and its pretty hard to argue. He could have run the Wing-T with Stafford and Moreno and would have scored 50. Without those two guys, the play action pass on every single 3rd and long, when we haven't gained a yard all day between the tackles, just doesn't seem to be fooling them for some reason. I think the quick fix would be more designed pass plays to our FB's in the flats. Or just move back up to the box since that has something to do with anything.

If there was only one word I could use I'd have to go with soft. From the top down it seems present in one form or another.

On a happy note:

- Carrol Brown played at Delaney's in Columbia. If you are ever in the state capitol its not a bad place to visit.

- Delaney's is also the capitol of Poundtown.

- Speaking of Murray, he racked up a total of 2 points in the 2010 Mascot name challenge. You receive a College, give me the mascot. Not real hard. Alli had 14 points septubleing Murray, while Plowe won with 41.

- In a single thought, there was a link made between Doug, Jimmy, and Finch attack. Boy do we need a blog back.

WTF Happend in Columbia and Where to Go From Here

Let me preface this by saying I realize: the last time we lost to South Carolina we went to the Sugar Bowl and finished 2nd in the country; we are breaking in a new QB and defensive scheme; AJ green did not play; the SEC has gotten stronger; we cannot win every game; CMR has brought the Georgia program to an unprecedented level of success and prestige.

Having said that, here's what I know:

*Georgia is 10-11 in its last 21 games against the SEC East (if that doesn't scream mediocre I don't know what does)

*Georgia hasn't been to the SEC Championship since 2005 and I'll go out on a limb and say they are not getting back there this either. That will be 5 years. In that span, Florida has 2 National Championships, Alabama and LSU have 1. Realistically I think we should go once every 4 years at least. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Observations:

*Aaron Murray looked good he was just handcuffed by playcalling. I think he has a bright future.

*This is the most underachieving offensive line in Georgia history. There's about 10 guys with considerable experience and they've essentially been playing together the last 3 years. Things should've clicked by now. We shouldn't just see flashes of greatness. They got bullied by Carolina's front 7. It was embarrassing. WTF CSS?

*You can tell Florida and Alabama are bigger stronger and faster than Georgia just by doing the ole eyeball test.

*South Carolina's depth may suck and that's why they'll collapse at some point as usual but they've got playmakers all over the field. Georgia really doesn't. Or maybe they're not being put in position to make plays. Not sure.

*CTG seemed more toned down compared to last week. Rambo screws up in coverage and he jumps all over his ass last week. This week we miss 50 tackles and not really a peep. Did CMR have a talk with him about his sideline demeanor? Which brings me to another point, CSS. He used to considered the best o-line coach in the conference and mean SOB to boot. Now our o-line sucks. They look soft and I don't see the same intensity from him either. Has CMR worn this guy down or has he become comfortable with the Georgia "culture" or coaching?

*As bad as it seemed like we may have played yesterday we were still in the game and should've won. We lost 17-6 for Christ's sakes. We didn't get blown out and we should've been able to score 18 points on South Carolina regardless. The broken tackles are why Lattimore had so many yards and I think that's a result of a Willie hangover effect. CTG is trying to correct all that BS CWM taught them the last 4 years. It's gonna take time. Hell we had 5 sacks. Once again though Georgia settled for its moniker "Field Goal U." That Ealey fumble really hurt.

*CMR is in his 10th season and as great as he's been there's no doubt we are starting to see some negative trends. 10 years is a long time. Florida St. and Tennessee's programs suffered out of loyalty to head coaches with a successful track record who were clearly bottoming out. Everybody could see both teams withering away, being a mere shell of their former selves. Even the great CPC's juggernaut USC (the real USC for any South Carolina fans reading this and I believe I made that quite clear yesterday) program began to show some complacency in his latter years. It happens and it's understandable. Success breeds complacency which can lead to mediocrity. We have in no way come close to the level Tennessee and FSU have been on the last few years but with time who knows? Right now quite honestly I think Georgia is a little better than mediocre.

*Something tells me had Damon Evans not been fired another bad season would've resulted in CMR's departure but now McGarity has the unenviable task of assessing the direction of our football program and deciding what needs to be done.

*Now this obviously South Carolina has a leg up in the east but they still have to play Auburn and Alabama the next 2 weeks and they have to play Florida in the swamp at the end of the season so I still don't think they're going to win the East. In fact they will probably still end up with 4 losses somehow. Obviously this puts Georgia in the hole and they can really only afford one more SEC loss which sucks because every game looks tough from here on out.

*I watched some of the Arkansas-La-Monroe game and they didn't look great but I think it's because they've been looking ahead to Georgia since their bowl game last year. Thankfully their defense is nowhere near as good as South Carolina's so we should score but how many will we need to score is the question. If Georgia loses Saturday things get really interesting to say the least. Tennessee looked ok. They've got talent at some positions but no depth as well. I think if given the time Dooley will have that program turned around which is not good news for Georgia fans either.

This is not a post advocating the firing of CMR. I'm simply saying if this season heads the way it looks like it's heading, I think he should definitely be on the hot seat if he's not already. Maybe getting rid of Bobo's the answer. Maybe they just need new blood across the board to shake things up (excluding Grantham and Lakatos- I'm still a big fan of theirs). I don't know what this program needs but we consistently piss the bed in big games now and that's not good. In 2008 as the pre-season #1 team with the #1 NFL draft pick, one of the best runningbacks in Georgia history, and a future top draft pick in AJ Green, we lost arguably the 2 biggest games of season (Bama and Florida) by a combined score of 90-40. It wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't coupled with losses to teams we have ABSOLUTELY no reason losing to.

As a Georgia fan, don't just focus on yesterday, take the last few years into account. Are you satisfied? I can't say that I am. The rest of the league is getting better and I just can't help but think we have taken a step back in some regard. Maybe not a huge step back but one big enough to keep us in Chik-fil-a and outback bowls for awhile if something's not done. Are you ok with that level of success?

USC weekend Haiku

Dat a boy A.J.

Mitchell is ready to roll.

Thank God for Durham.

EDSBS take

Legge is reporting AJ will play

If he is just guessing then I'd like to hang out with him.

Update: The King is also reporting it. He supposedly broke it.

Happy Birthday, Bunger

Happy birthday, PBung. I hope you thoroughly enjoy the beauty of Tybee today. May you start the day/night at your favorite place, Hucapoos, then make it down front for the fireworks and some Wind Rose and maybe even back to the Quarter for some late night wings.

Top 5 Bunger edition:

1: I tell Murray all the time, the mind is like a parachute. Bunger definitely has an open mind. The guy has about 5 different groups of really good friends he rolls with. The hippies, the yuppies, the yankees, the young professionals, the people actually from Tybee: they all love him.

2: Bunger is undoubtedly one of the funniest people I've ever met; he can have an intelligent conversation about pretty much everything. More importantly, he's a good guy. Genuine seems like the appropriate word for it. He's a loyal friend to be sure.

3: He's never too busy or important. You can always count on PBung to answer his phone or invite you along for the ride if he's doing anything. Aside from school nights, he's ready to roll every night of the year.

4: After a year at SHS, he's shaping young minds over at Groves. My biggest class is 13 so I have no idea how he handles it. Big props though for doing something he loves. I'd love to come observe one of those classes one day.

5: The Tybee-Pool-Hop, the teeth sweating, "Welcome to America", Andrew Jackson, the Bunger Christmas party, Archie's incident at Dolphin Reef, Mudslinging, Croc-wrestling, and all those times with DJ Marty. Ohhhh yeah! I've had a lot of great memories with Bunger and I know that there are many more to come in the future.

Have a good one, dude.

Sincerely,

The guys at OIA

Watch Me Crank That RoboCop

Its Saturday in Athens Georgia!!!

Just a Reminder

For anyone who wants to participate, picks are up on PPB.