Monday, January 18, 2010

Tailback U

UGA Single Season 1,000 yard Rushers.

1,891 - Herschel Walker, 1981 (SEC Record) - SEC Champs
1,752 - Herschel Walker, 1982 - SEC champs
1,616 - Hereschel Walker, 1980 - SEC champs & Natty Champs
1,547 - Garrison Hearst, 1992 - 10-2 Citrus Bowl champs
1,400 - Knowshon Moreno, 2007 - 11-2 Sugar Bowl champs & #2 in final poll
1,334 - Knowshon Moreno, 2008 -10-3 Citrus Bowl Champs
1,324 - Musa Smith, 2002 - SEC Champs & Sugar Bowl champs & #3 in final poll
1,312 - Willie McClendon, 1978 - The Wonderdogs
1,216 - Tim Worley, 1988 - 9-3 Gator Bowl Champs
1,103 - Frank Sinkwich, 1941 - I think this team went to the Orange Bowl. I'd have to check.
1,059 - Rodney Hampton, 1989 - Goff's first year. Poor Rodney was all we had on a 6-6 team.
1,058 - Kevin McLee, 1976 - SEC Champs

My guess is Washaun puts between 1,100-1,200 next year

Oh, and Tate went for 1,016 in '87, an okay year, but he had over 3,000 for his career. Basically, it's pretty simple. Run the ball. Win.

Intriguing Non-Conference games in 2010

Just looking at the early schedules next year, there's certainly some interesting games coming up in 2010.

Sept. 4
Washington at BYU, UCLA at Kansas State, North Carolina vs. LSU in Atlanta
Sept. 11
Penn State at Alabama, Miami at Ohio State, Iowa at Arizona, Oregon at Tennessee, Georgia Tech at Kansas, Pittsburgh at Utah, Florida State at Oklahoma.
Sept. 18
USC at Minnesota, TCU at Texas Tech, Utah at Iowa State, Nebraska at Washington, BYU at Florida State, Arizona State at Wisconsin, Clemson at Auburn
Sept. 25
Oklahoma at Cincinnati, UCLA at Texas, Oregon State at Boise State

One thing that tells us is that we have virtually no shot of that So. Car. Game being at 3:30 on CBS. CBS would be crazy drunk not to kick off their coverage of SEC football w/ Joe Pa visiting the natty champs. Oregon at UT is a pretty good one, too. Me thinks we end up on the deuce for that one. Let's hope it's at 5 p.m. and not 7:45. Gary Patterson vs. Tubbs will be very interesting. And Clemson on the Plains will basically be like the A-Day game. Aren't those two colleges just different branches of the same university?

Boy, FSU @ Oklahoma is intriguing. And…how awesome would that Okie @ Cincy game have been if Brian Kelly weren't in South Bend. Can you believe Tech is going out to Lawrence?

Monday, January 11, 2010

Here's to his old roommate and teammate kicking his face in right on Peachtree in early December 2010

Just like Nick turned Bama down the first time, right? Hmmm, let me say this right.

I love Kirby's fire, and if he could get our D to attack like I saw out of Bama's we'd be a boatload better in all facets of the game. I'd love to have him as DC.

That being said...

I never liked Kirby when I was at UGA. (Some) might give you a different testimony. I loved his crew: Bobo, Tolbert, Sipe, Boog Powell. Kirby was the prick of that group. He was the prima dona of that group that was kind of too good to hang with or talk to managers. So, if he doesn't come..."here's to his old roommate and teammate kicking his face in right on Peachtree in early December 2010 to the tune of half a hundred!" And I'll see Tolbert and Sipe in the stands wearing red pants and we'll laugh all the way to Tempe.

Yes, I hold grudges when it comes to college football.

Now, one thing I can't figure out, though, is that "IF" he has aspirations to the be HC at his alma mater one day, he may have just ruined that opportunity. Damon doesn't strike me as the type to come calling again down the road and spurned Southern universities just don't forget things like that. Just an interesting point. It may have been a lateral move. But if he ever imagined being the guy at UGA, it was the right move. Maybe he doesn't care.

Why Kirby SHOULD HAVE come home....

If I'm a Bama fan today, I'm still basking in the glow of Pasadena. And I would be for a long, long time, till at least early September and maybe even until next year's title game and I'm no longer the reigning champ. But, just a small part of my in the back reaches of my darkest points…I'm a little depressed. Because most of life is about anticipation. Anticipation of high school graduation. Anticipation of your wedding night. Anticiaption of owning a home. Anticipation of retirement. And anticipation of your team ruling the world. And us Dawgs are still hoping for that moment for us…again. But here's a harsh reality for Bama fans: It's never going to get any better. Never.

Here's why. It took astronomical circumstances to make it happen and all the stars aligned for the PERFECT season. Not just perfect season. PERFECT season. Congrats, here's what you did:

-Started off the season on National TV in a huge non-conference win and looked dominant in doing so
-Beat 1 of your 2 most hated rivals on a miracle blocked FG at home on national TV
-Beat your most hated rival at their house on a last minute TD drive
-Finished the season 12-0
-Beat #1 12-0 Florida, the beast of the nation, in the SEC championship game…and you beat them down.
Oh, did I mention you beat the best college football player since Bo Jackson in the SEC title game?
-Did I mention Florida had a 20 game winning streak and was the defending national champ?
-Did I mention you got revenge for Florida beating you the year before and spoiling your championship?
-You book tickets to Pasadena
-Your star player wins the Heisman Trophy (he's not your best player, by the way. Thank you Mr. McClain)
-Your star LB wins the Butkus award
-You beat one of the most storied programs in the nation, 13-0 Texas, in the Rose Bowl

Bama will win more national titles, but they may not be against a 13-0 powerhouse, they may not be in the Rose Bowl, they may beat a 12-0 powerhouse in the SEC game, they may do it with 1 loss, they may not sport the heisman trophy winner. It's the season we all want for our team. Everything went right for them, and to their credit, they made much of it happen. We all want that season. Beat your rivals in heartbreaking, exciting fashion, beat an undefeated powerhouse from the other division in Atlanta, be lucky enough that it's the Rose Bowl's turn to host the title game, win the heisman, and beat an undefeated powerhouse on the other side. It's not going to get any better, Tide. Congrats, but it's all downhill from here. In the meantime, I figure I've got about 12 more shots at the title game in the Rose Bowl before I'm 85. That's IF Jerrydome doesn't get in the BCS, then I'm looking at fewer. What's the odds my Dawgs have the right coach, team, heisman winner, and scenarios on the other sidelines to have a story book ending like the Tide's this year? Slim to none. Enjoy it, Bama. You deserve it and you earned it. It's just not going to get any better.

Unless, of course, you could lead your alma mater to the same type of summit. I guess that might be better for some current Bama employees. That might be better....

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Hollow

Georgia Tech has just won the most hollow conference title in history. You won your conference, but lost to your biggest rival and lost an Orange Bowl in front of the world to the Big 10 runner-up. The only game you won out of your last 3 was your conference title game. And you beat a team that lost to a 7-6 SEC that got handled by Uconn a month later…hollow.

And congrats to Mark Fox and the Hoop Dawgs on beating Tech!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Luck?

Do you realize that since 2002, there have been 8 SEC football champions. None have had more than 2 losses upon winning the championships. In fact, there have been 2 Undefeated teams, 4 one loss teams, and 2 two loss teams. 5 of those 8 SEC championship winners have gone on to play for the MNC (4 won, one is pending), including 3 one loss teams, 1 two loss team, and 1 undefeated team. We hold 2 of those 3 spots of teams that won the SEC and didn't play for the national championship, with a one loss team and a two loss team. Auburn holds the other spot with an undefeated team. I'm not sure whose luck is worse, ours or Auburns, but they're both pretty darn bad.

And if you want to talk about parity…Since the day Danny Weurffel graduated from Florida, and make no mistake that THAT event changed SEC football forever (They won the SEC all 4 of his seasons in Gainesville), here's the rundown of teams winning titles:

Teams w/ 3:
Florida ('00, '06, '08)
LSU ('01, '03, '07)

Teams w/ 2:
UT ('97, '98)
UGA ('01, '05)
Bama ('99, 09)

Teams w/ 1:
Auburn ('04)

If the Vandy or Kentucky kicker could make a dadgum kick…oh, how that balance of power might look different.

Monday, December 7, 2009

When you look at it that way....

You know, if I had told you that before the season, the SEC champ was going to play for all the marbles against Texas, but told you that you are NOT going to win the SEC, so pick the bowl opponent you'd most like to face from the following:

Oklahoma St.
Virginia Tech
Uconn
Northwestern
Texas A & M
Penn St.
Clemson
East Carolina
Cincinatti

Chances are you'd have taken Penn St., Clemson, & Texas A&M. So, it's not that bad when you look at the other opponents you could have faced. It was a bad draw all-around for the SEC. While VaTech is a good matchup w/ UT, it's not attactive to us because we just played them 3 years ago. Same is true for Okla. St. and Ole Miss. Every bowl has their choices to make, and I guess they pick their favorites and have their reasons, but someone please explain to me how there will be more fans in Nashville for UK vs. Clemson than UGA vs. Clemson. UGA would have taken more fans than UK, and more Clemson fans would have come after back-to-back disappointing losses at the chance of beating an historic, hated rival. That's the ONE I can't figure out. And how many times in the next 10 years are you going to get a shot at getting UGA vs. getting UK? Just can't figure that one out, coach. These bowl execs are weird folks. Some bowl is finally going to pair UGA vs.Clemson and watch their tickets sell-out in 5 days and stumble onto a gold mine. I can't hardly think of the more perfect bowl matchup as far as creating buzz w/ the universities and fan bases. We hate each other, and we'd love to play against each other in a neutral site. That one's a mystery.

That being said…beat A&M!