RUNNING THE BALL IS THE ANSWER

Here's some fun stats:

Rushing Offense

2008 

1. Florida (SEC & national champ)
2. Ole Miss
3. Bama (SEC west champ)

2009 

1. Miss. St.
2. Florida (SEC east champ)
3. Bama (SEC & national champ)

2010 

1. Auburn (SEC & national champ)
2. Miss. St.
3. Ole Miss

2011 

1. Bama (national champ)
2. LSU (SEC champ)
3. South Carolina

2012 

1. Texas A & M
2. Bama (SEC & national champ)
3. Florida

2013 

1. Auburn (SEC champ & national runner-up)
2. Mizzou (SEC east champ)
3. Arkansas

2014 

1. Georgia (Leads east - ranked #9)
2. Miss. St. (Leads west - ranked #1)
3. Auburn (ranked #5)

You know, we say that the league has changed and that Spurrier and then the spread changed things.  They certainly did, but it ain't all that different.  You gotta run the ball to win.  In fact, what is unequivocally true is that the SEC champ has finished in the top 3 of the league in rushing in the last 5 years.  Many times, both division champs were in the top three.  BTW, we were #4 in 2012.  It really shows what a mess that 2010 season was.  It is the outlier as South Carolina finished 8th and won the East at 5-3.  It was an unheard of year.  We finished 7th in 2011, too. But that year was a weird one, too, in which the best team in the nation didn't even go to the SEC.  Shows you how good Aaron Murray was that year because South Carolina finished 3rd and was a superior team to us in a lot of ways.  Pretty much, if you want go to the SEC championship game, you need to finish in the top 4 in rushing.  If you want to WIN the SEC, you pretty much have to finish in the top 3.  Alabama is 5th this year.  Hard to imagine that top four deal won't continue to hold form.  That doesn't bode well for Ole Miss, which currently ranks 11th.  Their stuffy defense might can offset that, but my guess is that it will catch up with them, maybe Saturday night down where Dreams Come to Die.

It ain't changed much from Dooley, Bryant, Vaught and Jordan's day.  You wanna win in this league, you better run the football.  BTW, I so want the first play in Jax to be Wild Gurl w/ Chubb as the offset back.  Does it give it or keep it?

Feeling Chubby

Let's pretend it's August 25th.  I look into a crystal ball and tell you that JSW and Mitchell don't play the first four games, and JSW barely sniffs the field even in the first 7.  Jay Rome is banged up.  We're going to lose 3 more DBs to dismissal or medical issues, Marshall is out after the Troy game for about 4-5 weeks.  Sony gets hurt vs. UT and is out a month.  And Gurley is out after the Vandy game and misses the road trips to Mizzou and Little Rock.  Moreover, I tell you that 7 games in Hutson hasn't thrown for over 200 yards in a game.  You tell me the record.  It ain't 6-1 heading into the bye week.

Mark Richt is a fine coach.  He got a win in a place we couldn't in 2001 then knocked the lid off the program in 2002.  He cobbled together an O-line to somehow win the east in 2003.  He won the SEC in 2005 when no one expected it.  He pulled the team out of a pit in 2006 for maybe our best finish ever.  He turned the tables in 2007.  He set his jaw on a cold night in Bobby Dodd in 2009, and turned around a program after an 0-2 start in 2010.  He somehow - SOMEHOW - salvaged a team ravaged by injuries in 2013 to win more than we lost.  But 2014, so far, is Richt's finest hour.  We have had every reason to be 5-2 or 4-3.  We're not.  We'r 9th in the country with winnable games ahead of us.  And we're getting healthier and in rhythm…quickly.  I can hardly remember a 2-week stretch like this.  This is what we were supposed to experience vs. Mizzou and Vandy last year.  Had we won those 2 games, we win the East, even with the play of which we never speak in Lee County.  Who knows how that thing turns out.  Who knows if the same play call is played against UK and Murray ever gets hurt.  Who knows?  Alas, Nick Chubb was playing for the Cedartown Bulldogs and not the Georgia Bulldogs last fall, which reminds me…

• I am amazed at Nick Chubb.  Really…amazed.  I'll admit, I thought going into Mizzou that if we had one of these freshmen, I'd rather have Sony.  They're sooooooo different.  But, Chubb runs a kind of hard that I don't know that we've seen.  He is totally HEAVY as they say.  He's going to be really, really, really special.  He's way faster than I realized and has fantastic vision.  He's a baller.  He's been the difference.  It's been clear that the game plan has been to ride that kid, and man has he risen to the challenge.  Richt speaks of him with a kind of reverence.  Woooweeee, 27 and 1 are going to be a load for a couple of years.
• Speaking of Chubb and the running backs.  There's a lot of chatter going on that the Gurley deal is 4 games.  What does that mean?  I'm reminded a little bit of the 1995 Nebraska teaam.  Lawrence Phillips was suspended the first 5 games (much different deal as he was a complete thug).  Nebraska leaned on freshmen running back Ahman Green, who rushed for over 1,000 yards.  I really want Gurley back for Florida, but if he is indeed suspended the next two games, there's a very good chance that Nick and Todd are both going for 1,000 yards this season.  Phillips returned in game 7 and they proceeded to thrash everyone, including a 12-0 Florida team that I thought was the best Spurrier ever had at Florida.  If Nick can carry us two more…watch out.
• I'm loving me some Dominick Sanders.  That kid is going to get better and better and better.
• We are flying around on D like we haven't seen at least since mid-2012 and maybe more like 2011.  It's surely fun to watch.  People are getting open some on the middle, but not much.  People were open the entire 2013 season.  I still can't figure out why anyone actually ran a running play against us last year.
• Don't tell anyone, but we can run block.
• Amazing how Conley and Bennett get more open with #26 on the field, isn't it?
• Izzy makes football more fun.  I never think anyone is going touch him, much less tackle him.
• So proud of Hutson.  I keep waiting for a breakout game (and Saturday could have been one), but Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley keep telling him not to worry about it.  Seriously, why throw it 25 times when you don't have to?
• Are we recruiting a punter?
• Best I've seen Marsall hit kickoffs all year.
• Man, those outside linebackers can get after a QB can't they?  We're starting to get some guys you have to game plan around, and Ramik is really flying around.\
• I love our white socks on road games.
• Arkansas fans are the cockiest 0-16 in the SEC group I've ever been around.

Early Florida stuff:

• They are bad.  I can't believe Foley didn't fire him today.
• I always have that worry in the back of my mind that they'll start the freshman QB and roll out some new looks and get us down by a couple of scores and bad things will happen.
• Then again, have you seen their freshman QB?  Not exactly Joe Montana.
• I do worry about their Defense, which seems legit.  Can we really grind them to a pulp like we did Mizzou and Arky?  Then again, Blake Sims looked like Tom Brady against them.  And Henry rushed for 111 on them.  Blake Sims.  Yes, THAT Blake Sims.  445 passing yards.
• I worry about kicking it to DuBose and him getting a cheap one.
• I worry about a lot of stuff.
• I worried about stuff going into the 2012 game at Auburn, because Auburn has stopped us from winning so many SEC titles.  And I remember the look of a team that has quit on it's coach.  We left that one 38-0.
• We get up 17-0, that team won't put up much of a fight.

Go Dawgs!

Well, at Least We Own THAT Columbia

Whew, what a weekend.  Dawgs stun the nation with their performance while Auburn, Tech, and Florida lose.  That's a good weekend fellas.  First time in loooooooooong time I watched one from the easy chair.  Yes, it was weird.  It feels like it didn't really happen.  Considering what we saw from the Dawgs, it's a legitimate question anyway -- did that really happen?

• Don't look now, but Hutson Mason is 5th in the nation in Completion Percentage.  Isn't that what matters most for us?  There aren't a lot of errant balls and wasted downs.  Six games into the season, he has 3 picks.  If he throws 6 for the whole year, we're going to be very pleased.  DJ threw 5 in 11 games in 2005, and that was a banner year. 
• We have won by an average of 27.5 points in 2 trips to Columbia West.  That's 4 TDs.  Not too shabby.
• Brendan Langley might be the craziest mid-season story in the history of Georgia Football.  Then again, I'll bet Pruitt was just delighted to have a kid with size and speed who had started a few SEC games at corner, because we've been playing a bunch of kids that have NEVER started before Aug. 30. 
• To me, that looked a lot like Georgia Football from late 2001-2003.  It looked a lot like David handing off to Veron or Musa and a stifling defense.  It totally changes your play-calling when you believe your D is going to hold them.  My guess is we're going to see Bobo get a lot more conservative in the next year and a half, but we WILL get more explosive with some players back.  In our heyday from 2002-2005, Teddy and I used to talk about our ho-hum 19 point wins.  We seemed to be everyone by 19 points, weather it was South Carolina/UT or Vandy/UK.  That's what we can/will look like with a competent defense.  At this point, please remove your hat in honor of Matt Stafford and Aaron Murray, whom we never really gave a competent D.  When we gave them half-way competent Ds, we looked pretty good in 2007 and 2012.
• Glad to see Leonard and Jordan looking dominant.  I was very impressed with Mike Thornton.  #88 can play a little bit, too.
• I've watched Mauk against Indiana, USCe, and UGA.  Color me not impressed. 
• Boy, did their backs look average compared to Chubb.
• Speaking of Cedartown Nick…man, does he run hard.  He's a little bit Marshawn Lynch to me.  I still can't put my finger on a UGA back he reminds me of.  Gurley is like Worley and #34.  Michel is Garrison Hearst 2.0.  I don't know if we've had a kid like Chubb.  He got so many first downs after contact I lost count.  You can tell Mark Richt loves him.  Boy, are he and Michel going to be a handful for a few years.
• MoneyMitch made those screens look a little more dangerous.  He's gonna get rolling here soon.  Good news is it looks like Ramsey will have 2 deep threats next year to show that arm off with.
• Kudos to Bobo for understanding the feel of the game and keeping Hutson in there. 
• Michael Bennett sure looks open when 26 is out wide.
• We need to get Izzy some more touches, simply for my enjoyment.
• I've been saying this since Troy:  we're covering better.  We covered UT and Vandy better.  Worley made some great throws to beat coverage, but they weren't wide open like we've seen in the past.  We saw that bear fruit on Saturday.  We were in position to make plays.
• Interceptions are fun!
• I'm fascinated to see Mizzou go to Gainesville this week.
• Gurley would have run for 250 before the 4th QTR.  I'm not joking.  It would have gotten ugly.

On to Little Rock:

• Arkansas' QB will make you get on your knees and thank the good Lord of Hutson Mason.
• Bama shut their backs down.  I'll believe it when I see it when it comes to their running game mashing us.  I just don't think a team can line it up and run it on Ramik and Amarlo.
• If Gurley plays, it will be ugly.  If he doesn't, we'll still win.  I think they kind of spent their energy on that Bama game.
• Would love to get Keith back and see him bust one on the Hogs.

The National Scene:

• Awesome defensive performance from defensive mastermind Gary Patterson on Saturday.  I'm not exactly sure how you score 58 in regulation and lose in regulation.
• Really, we wanted Baylor to win that one and now want to see OU beat Baylor.
• I never thought I'd live to see a day when South Carolina travels to the Plains and it's the 3rd Saturday in October game and Verne and Gary are in Lexington for the MSU vs UK game, but that's exactly what's happening on Oct. 26.  Hey, UK beat USCjr and has a better record (even if they lose in Baton Rouge Saturday night), and MSU is undefeated and #1 and beat Auburn (and they're off this week).  That's all just crazy to me.
• MSU must be for real.  Hard to believe what they've pulled off.  They can lose @ Bama and still win the West.  They just need Bama to drop one to LSU, UT, A&M, or Auburn.  That seems likely, frankly.  I'm still not THAT impressed with Prescott.  His passing is below average.  He's an unbelievable runner, though.  It's just like Cam and Tebow.  Get them behind the sticks and get them in 3rd and long.  Get them down by a couple scores and they'll struggle.
• Ole Miss was the shocker for me.  I was sure they'd lose at A&M.  Bloom is off that Kenny Hill rose.  Ole Miss has a great D.  I'm impressed with them.  Fasinated to see if UT can muster a fight against them.  That game's in Oxford, but that seems like one UT could get.  Boy, if they lose that one, that's 4 losses with @ South Carolina, Bama, and Mizzou and Kentucky.  They'd have to go 2-2 in those games to make a bowl.
• Boy, the Gators sent me to bed happy.  They can find a way to lose a game like I've never seen.  They're turning into Kentucky.  It's beautiful.  I'm not convinced it's as easy to win there as we think.  Spurrier did, but we'd all agree he's a one of a kind.  Urban did on the back of Tebow, and Urban is a top 5 or top 10 coach in CFB in the last 15-20 years.  They've got a weird fanbase and ugly stadium.  When they fire Muschamp, who in the world is going to go there?  Is Dan Mullen REALLY going to leave Starkville and start all over.  He's #1 at MSU and he's a lot younger than Miles and Saban.  Why leave?  He's a hero there.  I just think they're in trouble in Gainesville in big ways.  I think they'll go after Spurrier and try to get 5 years out of him.  I'm not sure he's got it in him to put in that work.
• Speaking of the Gators.  They've got 2 losses.  They've got Mizzou, UGA, South Carolina and @ FSU.  They have to win one of those.  If not, they finish 5-6 and don't go bowling.  Let's face it, based on the Georgia Southern game last year, there's no guarantee they beat Idaho.  Wow…that was fun to type.
• Auburn's luck is catching up to them.  Those 2 WRs are awesome.  The awesomeness ends there.  Nick Marshall still can't throw, but he's fast as lightning.  Those back just aren't as good as Mason, and it makes them look a lot less dangerous.
• Thank you, Duke.  Sincerely, Georgia.
• Did Nick Saban make that obligatory reference call to Pat Hayden or just wing it this time?  He hated him so much at USC that he fired Kiffen on the runway in LA.  You'd think Nick would have thought of that. 
• Bama simply isn't as talented as before.  The QB play is not good and the RB play isn't as elite.  Yeldon dances, and when they can't get the ball to Cooper they really stagnate.  Me?  I'd hand it to Henry 30 times one game and see how that goes.  That dude is still huge.

Well, it's going to be a week of waiting, isn't it?  We can win Saturday without #3.  I think the game being in LR helps us in many ways.  Smaller and older crowd than Fayetteville.  But, I'm fully ready to say this:  I ain't skeered of nobody.  Obviously, we're sitting here hoping for the best with #3.  But, I think we've all got the assumption that he's going to return at some point.  We can win this thing with him.  I mean the whole thing.  This could prove to be THAT catalyst that our team needed.  Apparently Hutson went all Shawn Williams in pre-game, and this might be the turning point.  Maybe it clicked.  "We whipped a decent team by playing this way without Todd.  What could we do WITH him?"  I sure hope so.  The NCAA is in a sticky mess with this.  I can't imagine they want the bad publicity their getting.  It's very fascinating.  Manziel and Cam were so polarizing and people couldn't stand them.  Not so with Todd.  Everyone loves Todd.  Everyone.  This isn't criminal.  It runs against the American fabric.  I'm fascinated to see how it plays out.  I'd imagine they want this to go away quickly.  They COULD have done us the biggest favor ever.  It COULD be the turning point of a season and even coaching career. 

 

I'm thinking Shawn Williams speech in 2012. 

I'm thinking Richt's rant about stomping on The Star in Nashville after Coutu's game-winner in 2007. 

I'm thinking Michael Johnson's catch in 2002.

 

This felt like vintage Richt lid-popping.  It felt like Bobo trusting his D-coordinator for the first time ever.

 

It felt like the beginning of something in the middle of the season.

Inside the Numbers: Missouri

South Carolina: 30 carries, 142 yards, TD
Indiana: 44 carries, 246 yards, 3 TD
Toledo: 15 carries, 148 yards, 3 TD
SDSU: 17 carries, 103 yards, 2 TD

That's what four of Missouri's five opponents (tailbacks) did against them.

I'm telling you, Gurley's going for at least 2 bills, maybe 250.

I really, really want Sony to get heal, but I keep thinking about 2007.  We
had Stafford, but we took off by getting #24 lathered up.  Same goes for
2002.  DJ got hurt that South Carolina game, and we were forced to play
David the whole games vs. Bama and UT.  David HAD to play that game in
T-town that year.

Gurley had 10 carries for 65 yards and 1 TD in 2012 vs. Mizzou.  In this 2nd
game.  In which he knew 5 plays.  We gave Ken Malcome 7 carries and Keith
Marshall 12.  What will happen if Gurley gets 25 and Chubb gets 10?

Tre Mason rushed for approximately 7,228 yards in Atlanta against them.  I
know we had #11 to loosen things up last season, but not much with that group of WRs we
were throwing out there, so I'll leave you with these numbers:

JJ Green - 12 carries, 87 yards
Brendan Douglas - 14 carries, 70 yards

They will deliver Todd the Heisman at the Columbia Airport.

WHAT. A. WEEKEND.

Looks like that weekend might be the kind that is in order this year.  There's more ranked games this week, and we'll find out about MSU and Auburn.
The National Scene:

• Nick Saban never goes to a place like Oxford and loses.  Spurrier never loses to Kentucky.  Except they did.  Don't look now, but Coach Superior is 3-2 in the last 5 tries vs. the 'Cats and lost 2 of 3 in Lexington. 
• Saban doesn't allow special teams mistakes…except when your 3-year starting KO and punt returner fumbles a KO.  I honestly wonder sometimes if people actually watch football games.  Stuff happens.
• Boy, we all have our nits to pick on playcalls with Bobo from time to time, but Spurrier completely lost his mind in Lexington.  Mike Davis was gashing them for about 15 yards a pop, until Spurrier decided he didn't want to run the ball anymore.  I keep saying it.  11-2 with 1 INT by Connor Shaw.  What happens if Thompson throws 12 INTs?  He's working on it, and one against us should have also cost them that game.
• Thank you, Southern Cal, for making the Prayer in Jordan-Hare look like the 2nd worst defended Hail Mary.
• Watched a little Auburn replay last night.  Nick Marshall still has no idea what he's doing in the passing game, despite what the prognosticators want to tell us.  He cannot read coverages and only throws it to wide open guys.  His best play is scrambling around and throwing it as far as he can, which we can attest to.
• Wow, how LSU has fallen.  Who in the world wins with them and Florida this week?
• Boom is a moron in the first degree.  I hope we give the Gators what's coming to them.  I'm always happy to get a win of any kind in J'ville, but we need to hand them one of those seal-clubbings like they gave us back in the day.  I think that's a possibility.
• Mark Dantonio was hilarious after the Mich. St./Nebraska game.  I've never seen a coach so relieved that his team mananged to not fart away a game.  They came awfully close.
• Someone please beat Notre Dame…twice.  If they get in the playoff versus an SEC team, it will again be ugly.  They can't score.  BTW, don't count on my Tarheels being one of those teams this week.  ND goes to Tallahassee, so one of them is going to lose.  They also are @ Arizona St., host Louisville, and @ SC to close the season.  Gotta think they lose 2 in there.  Them and FSU are the two worst of the whole bunch of 'elite' teams to me.
• Butch is looking for bricks if you have any.
• Good for TCU.  Always liked Patterson.  They play Baylor this week, so someone is getting their come up'ns.
• If you haven't seen the video of the Okie St. track star returning the KO for a TD, go find it.  Holy moly that joker is fast.  I've never seen a player pull away from guys like that.  He runs a 10.1 100-meters.  That is smokin'.
• Since ESPN started Thursday night college football, it always seems an upset on Thursday night can set the tone for the weekend.  It did this week.
• The playoff prognostications are driving me nuts.  Hey, nimrod, MSU, Ole Miss and Auburn aren't all going to the playoff…because they all play each other.  The playoff doesn't start today.  It's stupid.  Alabama gets A&M, MSU and Auburn in Tuscaloosa.  I wouldn't go to sleep on the Tide just yet.
• Oh, the polls are the most meaningless thing ever now.

Georgia Fan:

• Read on a comment board:  "Where in the world is Keith Marshall?"  This is how little our fanbase knows about our team.
• I like how our fans give credit to other teams for having good players but we don't get credit for Gurley.  "Without Gurley we're a mediocre team."  Um, except we do have Todd Gurley.  Without Amari Cooper that Alabama offense looks pretty average.  Without Mariota, Oregon is 8-4.  Isn't that kind of the whole point, to have and get good players.  Without Prescott, MSU is MSU.
• "How can Ole Miss and Miss. St. be this good and we're not?"  Did I miss something?  When Ole Miss and MSU start rolling into road games and winning in tough enviroments and pull off an 11-1, call me.  Who would you take on a neutral field?  I'll take Todd Gurley and crew.  What I know is that we have the same number of losses as Alabama and A & M, who both lost tough road games. 
• Dawg fans need to look north and west.  Tennessee, Michigan and Texas can't beat anybody, and I mean anybody.  Florida can only beat Tennessee.  Hard to believe how those teams have fallen.

Dawgs:

• You know, our secondary is making a few plays.  Teams are not wide open like last year or South Carolina this year.  We'll get a real test this week.
• This team we're playing lost to Indiana.  Yes, they beat South Carolina.  They lost to Indiana.
• I think Todd Gurley is going to rip them a new one. 
• Why have Todd throw it vs. Vandy?  Because he can.  The Wild Gurl is going to be deadly at about the 4-yard line.
• It would be nice to have JSW and MM, you know, back.  We do not have elite WRs out there, and that's hurting our passing game more than I think we realize.  MoneyMitch sure did look good for a few plays out there.
• Jeb Blazevich is going to be awesome. I mean, that dude is going to be unstoppable in a couple of years.
• I'm not as concerned about Mason as others.  We look a lot like 2002 UGA, but our D is worse and Gurley is much better than Musa.  David was average as grits in a lot of those games.  He flat out stunk it up vs. Clemson and South Carolina.  We scored like 18 vs. Tennessee.  We kept Billy Bennett's leg warm that season.  David played great in some key moments, and we need that from Hutson.  We DO need to get better to beat some teams down the road.  I think we're gonna do it, but I hope we're not down 7-0 and give the ball to Ramsey on our own 13 in the 3rd series on Saturday.  We are what we are.  We just need to hope #14 can make the few plays we need him to make.  #3 will make the rest.
• Izzy is just going to be fun to watch.  Think about this:  He'll be our senior punt returner in South Bend in 2017.  We are getting every ounce out of that kid.

Saturday was #105 in a row for the ol' coach, and the streak will end there.  That noon start is tempting me to head to Mizzou, as I could make it back by about 3 a.m., but I'd be a dead-man walking on Sunday and just can't do it.  I've never watched a UGA game on TV with my boys.

Oh, and in the "OMG what if that happens" category this week.  I love thinking about this stuff.  There is a really good chance Tech goes 10-0 heading into the final two games vs. Clemson & UGA.  What if we win out and are 10-1 heading into Tech and Tech beats Clemson in Atlanta to go 11-0.  Auburn is 10-1 and Bama is 10-1 heading into the Iron Bowl.  Gurley is the front-runner for the Heisman, and Tech would be ranked in top 5 by then and we'd be in there, too above Auburn. Does CBS DARE take the Tech/GA game over the Iron Bowl?  That ACC is wretched.  I don't think Tech is THAT good.  I think VaTech and Miami are that bad.  They avoid Louisville and FSU.  They have Duke, UNC, Pitt, Uva, and State left before the last two.  That's embarrasing. 

Go Dawgs!
Beat Mizzou!