Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Georgia Notebook

- Going back to the end of the 2009 Independence Bowl, if anyone would've said Georgia would be heading into this year's Tech game at 5-6 most would believe this would be Richt's final game at Sanford Stadium. The Evans happy hour and a complete change on the defensive side of the ball will give Richt at least another season. The events at the end of the Auburn game and the Auburn program as a whole also gave CMR a boost as a lot of Georgia people have rallied around the fact that Georgia is not that.

Comparing Richt and Donnan.....

-Last 4 years under Donnan: 35-13
-Last 4 under Richt: 34-16
-Last 2 under Donnan: 16-8
-Last 2 under Richt: 13-11

The obvious difference in the two is the entire body of work. Two SEC championships make a big difference. Maybe the biggest difference is their records against Tech. Donnan was 2-3 while Richt is 8-1 and with a win next week Georgia will conclude the most successful decade ever against Tech.

- Justin Houston was named one of the 5 finalist for the Nagurski award which goes to the best defensive player in the country. Pollack won it in 2004. Peterson or Fairley will win it this year but Houston quietly had one of the best seasons a Georgia defender has had under Richt. This coming on a defense that has given up 31 points a game in the 6 losses.

- The Basketball team is 2-0. Trey Thompkins has sat out both and may be out for another 2-4 weeks. Free throws and rebounding have been obvious deficiencies. Leslie has struggled from the floor and the freshmen have contributed very little. However, Price has had his best two game stretch of his career and Robinson has been very good. He might be the fastest player Georgia has ever had and is easily the fastest I have ever seen.

Georgia plays at St. Louis Saturday then 3 games in Orlando. They start with Notre Dame on Thanksgiving and the field also includes Boston College, California, Manhattan, Temple, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. With a good chance of not having Thompkins for any of that, 2-2 would be okay, while 3-1 would be ideal.

- The early signing period for sports other than football is wrapping up and basketball got one of the best players in the country in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He is rated as high as the 12th best player in the country and I have no doubt he will start from day one.
Baseball signed 20 guys and Perfect Game Magazine has rated it as the 2nd best class in the country, easily the best class in school history. The problem with having the 2nd best class is a lot of those guys should be drafted early which means a good portion of the class will never make it to Georgia. Dante Bichette's son was one of the signees. Dante Jr. played for Florida in the Little League World Series a few years back. I can't remember who was with me other than TP and my dad but a couple of years ago after a Sand Gnats game Dante and his son had a bullpen session in front of the right field bleachers and the kid was throwing at least 105 mph and he was like 14. Bichette was a roaming instructor for the Nationals at the time.

- Finally, Crowell and a number of other recruits will be present in Athens for the Tech game. The 7:45 kick will benefit recruiting more than anything. Mark it down, Crowell will come to Georgia.

3 comments:

Pl0we said...

JJBA, you and I see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. Crowell as well as Ray Drew will be in attendance for the tech game. However, I do not think Crowell will be a Dawg. I hope he does become one, but I still think he land at Alabama.

Pl0we said...

Not Ray Drew,I meant Jay Rome.

Slic Ric said...

Yea Crowell did say he wanted to win championships. Not seeing too many of those around Athens lately. And no the Fulmer Cup trophy doesn't count. That being said, I think Georgia is going to completely curb stomp Tech and I think it is going to be ugly. Maybe he will see some promise in this team and jump on board.