The Front 7 Will Shine In 2011

  I will never deny the fact that I am a homer when it comes to the Dawgs, and I have expressed that over and over on my blog. There has been pretty long leave of absence lately because my wife gave birth to our second little girl last spring. But now, it is time to start talking UGABlog in full force once again!
  Most Dawg fans can't help but smile when we think about how greatly improved our front seven will be to start the 2011 season. Yes, we lost Justin Houston, but it appears that Jarvis Jones will be a dang good fit to fill that role. The likes of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and others have  talked repeatedly about our front 7, so why not get PUMPED up Dawg fans?! Chris Low reported a few of my favorite articles; here's some quotes:

LB Christian Robinson, LB Jarvis Jones, LB Alec Ogletree -- Alabama might have the most intimidating group of linebackers, but Georgia could have the fastest, most athletic. Robinson is the leader in the middle and Ogletree will be a tackling machine alongside him. Jones should help lessen the blow of losing Justin Houston outside and could be a more complete player than Houston. 

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John Jenkins has been a name bandied about by Georgia fans since the end of last football season.By the end of this week, he'll be more than just a name. He'll be a member of the Georgia football team and one of the more important recruits Mark Richt has brought in since coming to Athens as head coach in 2001.
Jenkins, considered one of the top junior college defensive tackles in the country, is on his way to campus and scheduled to begin summer school classes on Friday. The Bulldogs plan to plug the 340-pound Jenkins in at nose guard. He's from the same junior college, Gulf Coast Community College, that produced Terrence Cody, and Georgia is banking on Jenkins having a similar impact as Cody.
While Cody might have been a tad bigger, the book on Jenkins is that he might be a little more athletic.
He also brings the kind of sheer size and power the Bulldogs were missing up front last season. In fact, Kwame Geathers, who's also beefed up to the 350-pound range, improved enough this spring that the Georgia defensive coaches think there's a chance they might be able to play Jenkins and Geathers together.
DeAngelo Tyson, who was undersized at nose guard a year ago, is moving to end in Georgia's 3-4 scheme, and Abry Jones will also play end.
That's four guys right around 300 pounds or bigger up front for the Bulldogs, who should be greatly improved across the board in their front seven on defense.
Of course, if Jenkins is the game-changer the Bulldogs think he is, he's going to make everybody around him look at lot better.

What Can Drew Do For U..........GA?

I haven't been this excited about a commitment since AJ Green. Why you might ask? Well, Ray Drew is the type of guy that has a presence which will be known by all those around the UGA program. Ray Drew is a stud defensive end, yes, but more important than that are the intangibles that he will bring to the table. Just look at how he captivated the entire nation with his whole recruiting process.

When Ray Drew speaks, people listen. I firmly believe that Ray Drew is the glue that has and will bring this entire class and football program back to the forefront of NCAA football!

It's a great day to be a Georgia Bulldawg!

UGA on Sports Illustrated

We've all seen this...


And this is near and dear to all of the Dawgnation's hearts...


Remember this?


And this?


Those memories of the past will always be part of the lore that makes UGA so special in my heart. My future dreams are that we get to see these five guys on the cover of SI one day. I can see the title now: "The Fab Five: They helped bring the Georgia Bulldogs out of the cellar, and back into the title hunt". A guy can dream can't he?
Jay Rome, Malcolm Mitchell, Isaiah Crowell, Ray Drew, John Jenkins

What's All This Talk About Nutrition?

The more crap I keep hearing about all of this new emphasis on nutrition within the UGA football program, the more I say.....IT'S ABOUT DANG TIME!

I took a nutrition class or two back in my days at UGA, and to this day, I pay a good bit of attention to what goes into my diet. The more I read, learn, and practice good nutrition, the more I become totally convinced that it is one of the major keys to looking good, feeling good, and performing at the highest level your body is capable of.

Kudos to McGarity, Coach T, and all those who are an instrumental part of bringing the Georgia Bulldogs into the new age of fitness.

GO DAWGS!

Richt, Hire Leach and Both of You Can Find the Promised Land!

Half of you are going to read what I am about to say, and immediately blow it off as "that would never happen". Hear me out, and then give me some reasonable answers as to why?

Mike Leach wants to coach football again. He is, however, on a bit of a "black list" due to the fact that he is suing his former school and ESPN. Most people would agree that he is going to win his lawsuit because he didn't really do anything legally wrong, and the defendants did. Mike Leach is an offensive genius with a very proven record in a high level BCS conference. Flat out, the dude can score some points!

We heard from Mark Richt at his presser this week that some "cutting edge" changes were coming to the UGA football program, right? Well, Mike Leach is just your man to come in and install those changes.

Leach is known for engineering some extremely potent offenses and leading very prolific pass oriented teams. Everywhere he's been, the teams have broken numerous school and NCAA records. At Valdosta State and Kentucky, where he was offensive coordinator under Hal Mumme, developing their famous "Air Raid Offense", at Oklahoma under head coach Bob Stoops, and Texas Tech, where he became head coach in 2000. At Kentucky he tutored prospect Tim Couch into a No. 1 NFL draft pick. At Oklahoma, Josh Heupel became an NFL draft pick following a year under Leach's tutelage. We all know how Graham Harrell prospered at Texas Tech.

I've heard first hand that most people from the program knew these guys wouldn't pan out at the NFL level. They were just products of the nearly unstoppable system, and didn't even make a splash in the NFL. That tells me that Leach obviously got way more out of these guys than most coaches would have.

That being said, Aaron Murray would absolutely thrive under Leach's system, and we have quite a few receivers that could make plays all over the field. How would you like to see Brandon Smith in a Leach scheme? I bet the coach would salivate at the thought of having a weapon like Smith!

I am not out in la la land. I am a realist. I know that Leach would only be a temporary answer, but if Mike Bobo is such the "great coach" that Richt says he is, surely he could learn from Leach and continue the system once Leach leaves for a head coaching job.

Everyone could win from this marriage. Mike Leach could learn a thing or two about Jesus. Mark Richt could revive a struggling program. Todd Grantham could be the first coach to match a good defense while Leach's offense was scoring a million points a game. Mike Bobo could learn what it's like to be a REAL coordinator. UGA could be the talk of the NCAA, counteracting any loss of TV time that ESPN gives the Dawgs for hiring Leach.

What's not to love about signing Leach to a one year $2 million dollar contract? Let me have it anons!

I'm Jumping On The Wagon

Take that title for what you will. If I was the AD at UGA right now, I would have some SERIOUS soul searching decisions to make over the next day or two. If he chooses to keep things as they are, I will have to support that decision. But, if we choose to make a change, I am in total support of that. I just watched one of the most uninspired, embarrassing football games I have seen in a LONG TIME from the Dawgs. OK, tell me how awesome UCF is in the comments now people!

Dreaded Dawg Day

This is the day that I dread more than any other each year when it comes to my Dawgs. I am obviously excited to watch the game after a month layoff, but then I have to go 8 months until I get to see a real game again. How do I cope with the absence of college football? Well, 51 weeks ago I started this blog to waste spend time talking and pondering what will be next year.

And so, I spend this New Year's eve in hopes that my Dawgs will go out on a winning note, and in even bigger hopes that next season will be the ONE! As for today, I feel confident that the Dawgs take care of business and come out on top, BIG TIME. The defense steps up, the offense shines.

DAWGS 38 - UCF 17

Mark Richt and Santa Claus

CLICK THE CARTOON FOR A LARGER VERSION

Bobo's Opportunity for Respect

UCF is 10-3, so they obviously are not going to roll over like Louisiana Lafayette, right? That being said, the Dawgs out man the Knights easily...on paper. The funny thing about paper is that it doesn't hold up very well when you dump the kind of crap on it we have been dumping all season!

I'm sure most of you are tired of reading the specifics as to why Mike Bobo has been less than perfect when calling plays this year. Yes, we scored 30+ points a whole heap of times this season, but Mikey boy has a problem with taking his foot off the pedal at really bad times (see GaTech game). It's pretty hard to argue that Bobo is a good QB coach, since he produces pretty good talent at that position year after year, sans Joe Cox. The problem lies in his overall play calling, and most notably his insistence on having a balanced offense just for the sake of balance.

Back to the UCF bowl game...Mike, if we possibly can, lay the hammer down! Let Murray throw it 50+ times if the defense is giving it to us. I remember when we threw the ball 3 times in a row, successfully, to AJ Green against Tech, then we just stopped throwing the ball down field much of the second half! In the Liberty Bowl, let's see if we can set a new record for the most consecutive passes thrown to one player in a row! How about it? Can we go balls out?

GATA Dawgs!

5 STAR RECRUITING PIMPS

My partners and I are considering a new business plan. The tentative name of this business is "5 Star Recruiting Pimps: We'll get you paid; just don't tell your kid about it!"

Most of you know by now that the NCAA, in it's retarded decision, has opened up a whole world of new business opportunities. All a parent has to do now is solicit the help of an "agent" to help them get money for having their child go to a certain college and play sports.

I'm thinking that the finders fee for our business' services will be somewhere around 25%. We will be consulting other "experts" in this field to see if this is an appropriate fee. Rodney Garner, Coach Richt, and company, are you listening? I know people that know people that know people! These "people" have hefty bank accounts, and ways of hiding the "exchanges" of said monies!

NCAA...COME ON MAN!

The UGA Facebook Diatribe

My wife is almost 4 months pregnant, and she made convinced me to stay at home and watch the UGA versus GaTech game on TV this past weekend. Instead of posting my rants on this blog as the game went on, Facebook felt the wrath of my anger and joy throughout the contest. Sunday, I found it extremely entertaining to go back and read my Facebook wall and the comments that were made by me and some of my friends. It was so interesting to re-hash my Facebook play-by-play that I thought you may enjoy a few of the quotes/comments as well.

Over half of my posts have been omitted:

Look at that white boy runnnnnnnnnnnnn! Woof Woof Woof!

Rambo bringin' the hamma!

When your QB is 7/8 for 158yds and 2 TDs...what should you do?

Wow, how do you get the ball spotted in the exact same place when you just gained 2 feet?

Shocking news Dawg fans: We throw the ball again and move it straight down the field! Murray is the MAN!

Mike Bobo, that may have been the best designed running play I have seen from UGA in 3 years!

Why do they even have instant replay in college football? What a JOKE!

If they give that fumble back to them, I am going to be LIVID!

Richt is going to get fired based on the shear fact that he is a "timeout MORON"! Someone tell him there is a whole quarter of football left in a TIGHT GAME!

Apparantly it is now legal to tackle someone by their facemask in PLAIN SIGHT!

God must have seen it too!

Conventional wisdom says to run the ball right now. REALITY says that they haven't stopped our passing game ALL DAY LONG!

Todd Grantham is NOT earning 1/12 of his $750,000 salary tonight!

Did he just miss that xtra point? YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Sarah, if we lose this game, hide all of the sharp objects in the house!

Go for it, we can't stop them anyways!

To all of my neighbors, I am sorry for that barking incident that just occurred outside of my front door.

Is it just me, or does Josh Nesbitt look like he is 42 years old?

I could go on and on, but I do have a job to get to in the morning!

Washaun Ealey, RUN This State Tonight

Last year, Washaun Ealey made it clear that the kid can bring it (20 carries, 183 yards) in the Clean Old Fashion Hate game. This year has been disappointing as far as his production and off the field problems. I have yet to back off my opinion that the kid is a potential 1,200 yard back in the SEC. Will he do it next year? I think so.

None-the-less, barring his fumbleitous returning, I predict we will see 100+ yards from Ealey again tonight. As with the season, the running game was strange this year. I attribute some of it to an under-performing line, much of it to not having AJ from the start, a LOT of it to play calling, and the rest to the football gods.

Hopefully the kid will be back in true fashion for 2011!

Dawgs, It's Time To Play With Your Hair On Fire

I fully expect the Dawgs to come out pissed off tonight, and handle the Yellow Jackets like we should. This year has been one of the more disappointing years in my few decades as a rabid Dawg fan.

Who even really cares about a bowl game at this point? It is my opinion that a team with 6 losses doesn't deserve to play in a bowl game anyways. Today, it's all about pride, and coming together as a Dawg team with twice, hell, THREE times that talent as the nerds!

I'm not big on making these bold predictions, mainly because of the jinx, but I say DAWGS 45 - NERDS 13!

Earn that paycheck tonight Grantham!

Piss on Georgia Tech

I happened to run across another case of the famous Pissing Uga's in my attic while digging out Christmas decorations. The Uga Statue's that I have are pictured below, except for one big difference: all I have left are in RED JERSEYS (black jersey upon request)! I will try to get some new pictures and post them with the red jersey asap. Just send an email or comment on this thread if you are interested. These things make great Christmas gifts for any Dawg fan. I have pictures somewhere of the statue peeing on a Yellow Jacket, Gator, etc.

GO DAWGS, beat the NERDS!

UGA Boise State Playing In 2011, YAYUH!

I waited until the word was semi-official to get too excited about this news. I tend to shy away from bandwagon blogs on purpose, but I had to put my two cents in on this one.

Two of the most popular blogs I have written this past year were pertaining to Boise State. If you missed them, you can read them HERE, and HERE.

I'm not going to lie, I have really started keeping tabs on my blog site statistics, and hit number 100,000 is most likely going to come on this post. I never in my life expected to get that many hits in less than eleven months of blogging!

Anyways, back to my point. Hopefully the Dawgs can get off on the right foot in 2011 and beat a team that has become a household name in college football. The BSU Broncos are a pillar of the rankings for the past several years. Here's to hoping we don't let the SEC down and give BSU fans even more fuel to add to the fire!

Even A Dawg Fan Has to Laugh At This

Before you get ticked off at me. I am in complete agreement that Auburn's Nick Fairley is TRASH. Evidence is HERE & HERE.

UGA & The Play Action Pass

The play-action pass, when used effectively, can be one of the most valuable offensive tools in all of football. Notice the phrase when used effectively!

I know a little bit about offense schemes, game plans, play design, and all things related to scoring points. I was a 3 year varsity starter in high school; had a few small college offers in football, but pursued baseball instead. Since college, I've coached football teams from peewee level, up to top ranked high school teams. I've never coached in college because I chose not too. Had I felt the passion to do so, I'm sure I could have, but I guess the world will never know.

That being said, I know a good bit about the play-action pass. Plain and simply put, it is a tool used to freeze linebackers and safeties by getting them to bite on a fake to a potential ball carrier. It works great when you use it sparingly, or at the right time. Hell you can even use it a lot if your running game is gashing the opponent on a consistent basis. The problem with UGA's system is that we use play-action pass on more than 90% of our passes, and even when the running game is a non-factor. It's as if we have certain plays that can only be run out of play-action. Why can't the same plays be executed with the quarterback doing a simple 5-step drop?

Thinking from a quarterback's perspective, I love to throw the ball on a straight 5 step drop. Why? When a quarterback doesn't have to worry about the fake, he gets to focus on the safeties and cornerbacks from the moment the ball is snapped. When faking, a quarterback has to take his eyes off the safeties for a moment, and then take to time to find them again after the fake. This may not seem all that difficult, but any quarterback will tell you it makes a world of difference to have to take your eyes off the secondary, and the look up and find the defenders again. Besides finding the secondary, it makes one hell of a difference when it comes to avoiding the rush. Think about it; wouldn't Aaron Murray have stood a better chance at avoiding Nick Fairley's body slams if he saw him coming a second sooner? Yep.

When I went back and watched the Auburn game a second time, I payed close attention to Fairley on every offensive snap. The kid was rarely, if ever, phased by a play-action fake, nor were the linebackers.

What are your thoughts?

The Worst Of All Nick Fairley Plays

Watching this video just proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that players like Nick Fairley have no business in football until they learn how to be a man. Chicken $hit players like this are worthless.

Watch this video (Auburn Fans) and tell me the guy is a winner. You can clearly see Fairley trying to dig his facemask into Murray's throat and chin.



Danielson, you dumba$$, their helmets are not stuck!

Auburn Week - Greatest UGA Moments!

11/16/2002
My dad and I left Cumming, GA that beautiful fall morning looking forward to seeing some smashmouth SEC football. What we would witness may have been one of my all-time favorite moments in UGA football.

I remember getting to Auburn a few hours early, and the temperature had dropped over 30 degrees from what it was when we left our house. We took a trip to the local Wal-Mart to pick up some thermal underwear, and headed back to Jordan-Hare Stadium. For two hours, we sat in the freezing cold stands, and watched the Tigers man-handle our beloved Bulldogs. Then came....THE CATCH heard round the Bulldawg Nation!


It's moments like these that bring a father and son as close as ever. It's also moments like these that I will bleed red & black until the day I die!

Urban Meyer Admits That He Misses Timmy

Dawgs 28 Jean Shorts 17