DAWGBEASTS and the RAGIN’ CAJUNS

WEEK ONE
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA vs. GEORGIA


THE DEFENSE and COACH GRANTHAM – The DAWGS new look 34 defense definitely passed the eye test Saturday. If that wasn’t enough, they backed it up with some impressive numbers too. Georgia held UL to a paltry 14 net rushing yards (0.5 ypc) and 128 total yards, nearly half of which came on one play. The DAWGS also racked up three sacks (Akeem Dent, Justin Houston and Akeem Hebron) and three interceptions (Brandon Boykin, Jakar Hamilton and Sanders Commings). But what may be more important, Georgia’s defense seems to have fully embraced Coach Grantham’s philosophy and personality and I don’t believe it’s a stretch to say that the effort we saw on Saturday is a direct result of the DAWGS new Defensive Coordinator’s influence.

AARON MURRAY – The numbers were very solid, but the practice was sparkling. Murray played “very well” according to Coach Richt and led the DAWGS to an opening game best in the Richt Era, 55 points. Murray accounted for four touchdowns in his debut and that was without several of his top weapons. But it’s not just what Murray accomplished on Saturday, but it was how he did it. The RFr. looked very poised and in control throughout the game and made one good decision after another. Even when he was flushed out of the pocket by pressure, it was clearly evident that Murray kept his eyes down field and continued to look to make a play up the field before just taking off on the run. When he did decide to pull the ball down and go, Murray was decisive and got the very most he could get on every carry. With that said, maybe we can teach him to slide every now and again from here on out.



KRIS DURHAM – Playing at home for the first time in 707 days, Durham went right out and carried the receiving load on a day the DAWGS were shorthanded in the WR corps and responded with new career-highs in receptions (5) and yards (83).

BRANDEN SMITH – Is Branden Smith 2010’s Champ Bailey? Maybe not yet, but he’s a special talent to be sure. Smith became the first Georgia player since Bailey to start on three sides of the ball in a game when he lined up with the first unit on offense (WR), defense (CB) and special teams (PR). Smith didn’t just take up a spot on the field on Saturday, finishing with one carry and one reception on offense and one tackle on defense in addition to three punt returns for 51 yards.

LOGAN GRAY – I guess it’s safe to say Gray’s transition to WR is complete. Well, at least it is well on its way to getting there. Gray finished with two catches for 32 yards and a touchdown on Saturday and nearly had a second TD that surely would have made all the highlight reels if he had made the play. Gray acquitted himself well in the run game too, showing great effort when blocking down field. We were happy to see Gray have some success in his new role and believe that he is sure to see increased time on the field at wide receiver as the season progresses.

KEYS TO SUCCESS FOR GRANTHAM’S D: CORNERBACK

Georgia’s had one, everybody wants one and anyone that tells you they don’t is a liar. I’m talking about that unique and rare species known as…the lock down corner.

They are game changers, swagger-oozing dominators and impact players that can shut a player down, blow up game plans and take away one half of the football field.

I’m a life long RAIDERS fan, so I guess it’s no surprise I am so enamored with the in-your-face and aggressive style that a shut down corner brings. Mike Haynes, Willie Brown and Lester Hayes…game changers all. There are a few in the NFL today…NNamdi Asomugha, our very own former DAWG Champ Bailey and the man currently dominating the New York media, Darrelle Rivas and there have been some others in the NFL’s recent past like the poster boy for the term Deion Sanders and Darrell Green. But moreover, I am a fan of what having a dominant cornerback as part of your defensive 11 allows you to do as a defense. Knowing that a player of that caliber is patrolling the secondary gives you the freedom to bring that extra pressure and speed up the clock in the opposing quarterback’s head on every play. You can take more chances, disrupt the offense and that commonly leads to more big plays on defense and more turnovers.

Coach Grantham has brought his version of the 34 defense to the University of Georgia for the 2010 season and we in the DAWG Nation can’t wait to see the results. Grantham has been teasingly verbose about how aggressive we can expect to see his defense play this fall, promising an attacking style that he hopes opposing offenses won’t soon forget. In my view, the only way this vision of the DAWGS defense can become reality is if the players lining up at cornerback are up to the task.

I am not suggesting that there is a lock down corner on the roster, but I’m not saying there is not either. I don’t believe that the players currently at UGA at that position were asked to lock up in man coverage that often in the previous defensive scheme, so I don’t think it’s fair to say who will and who will not be up to the challenge.

Brandon Boykin appears to be a lock to start at one corner and now that Branden Smith is back in the fold, along with Vance Cuff, the DAWGS possess the athletes to have the fastest pair of starting cornerbacks in the nation and speed is the first ingredient when building a lock down cornerback, so there is the possibility that Georgia could develop at least one player to that lofty status. However, there is so much more that is required for a player to be considered a shut down type cornerback….instincts, aggression, hands, technique and conditioning. Whatever raw talent there is to work with on that unit, it falls to Coach Scott Lakatos, the rest of the defensive staff as well as the strength and conditioning coaches to help a player reach his full potential. With Jordan Love, Sanders Commings and true freshman Derek Owens also drawing praise during fall camp, the DAWGS edges appear to be in good shape heading into the season.

The bottom line is that if the DAWGS are going to have the level of success on defense that we all hope they will have, the cornerbacks will have to sparkle in the harsh glare of the bright lights of the Southeastern Conference.

Do the young men lining up at cornerback for Georgia have to be lock down corners? No, they do not, but they will have to be able to square off one-on-one out there on that island and rise to the challenge several times during the course of a game if that “junkyard dawgs” defense that we all want so badly to see is to return to Athens.

Glory, Glory.

ME, KIRBY AND THE GATORS

Kirby Smart was a four year letterman for our DAWGS from 1995-1998. I’m pretty sure you already knew that part. What you probably didn’t know is Smart and I shared our time at Georgia until I graduated from Grady in the spring of 1998. Now while I shared an afternoon bus with Mike Bobo three days a week in 1997, I had no such (meaningless) relationship with a young Kirby. Why does any of this matter? Well, 1997 was a nice year for the Georgia football team. It was Jim Donnan’s best Bulldogs team and Kirby was a major contributor to that squad. What’s more, the DAWGS beat Florida and Steve Spurrier that year 37-17 after entering the game as 20 point underdogs. This is relevant because I was at that game, my first Georgia/Florida experience, and it is justifiably my first, greatest first person memory as a DAWGS fan and Kirby played a big role in the win. Therefore, according to my bourbon influenced connectivity chain, Mr. Smart and I are eternally linked.

In 1997 a group of fellow Georgia fans and I headed south to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with more tickets to the game than we knew what to do with and no idea what we were in for. We spent the night before the game partying deep into the night and sleeping on the floor at a friend’s house in Valdosta only to wake early on game day feeling bouncy, bright-eyed and bushy tailed as if we knew it was going to be a great day. As soon as we got to Jacksonville and got parked for some alcohol-based tailgating we ran into some good ole boy strangers from south-Georgia and they readily offered up shot after shot of some libation I remember only as Hot Damn. Needless to say, by the time we wobbled our way to the stadium and found our seats, we were well oiled and wide open.

We cheered and body-surfed and talked trash to every Gator within shouting distance as Bobo threw to Hines and Corey Allen, Robert Edwards ran for touchdown after touchdown and…this is where Kirby comes in…the DAWGS picked three Gator quarterbacks off a total of four times in the game, of which, Kirby had two and should’ve had another. The Georgia defense was great that day coming up with big stop time and again and Mr. Smart played smart and was seemingly always around the action. Kirby would go on to lead the Bulldogs with six interceptions in 1997 and that was while sharing the same field as future NFL Hall-of-Famer Champ Bailey.

This is clearly the memory zenith of football fandom during my college daze and while it may not be the first thing I recall about that day, that game, that glorious victory over the HATED Gators or even that trip, Kirby’s contributions to the win absolutely rank as my favorite memory of the current Alabama defensive coordinator’s time as a DAWG.

That was then. This is now. Who knows? There may be a memory or two that have yet to be crafted by Smart at (for) the University of Georgia, just in a different role. I have no idea, but I will be keeping a keen eye on the goings-on in Athens in the coming days…just in case.

It's Halloween. Trick or Treat, DAWGS?

I am a true Generation-Xer. You know, old enough to know about but not really old enough to remember the time when the DAWGS made the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville their annual feeding bowl and the team from Florida seemed to be little more than so many kibble and bits. As for the number one ranking that Florida currently sports, well I have flashes of scenes from the 1985 matchup where Georgia defeated the No. 1 Gators 24-3, but unfortunately my memories of the 47-7 beat down at the hands of the No. 1 Gators in 1996 are more easily recalled. Thank goodness for November 1, 1997. I was a senior at Georgia and road-tripped to Jacksonville with more tickets than I had people to give them to because seemingly no one expected the DAWGS to put up much of a fight. We all know what happened that year. I remember thinking that despite being a three touchdown underdog to the defending national champions, those Gators could be had. Those Gators were shaky at quarterback with Jesse Palmer and Noah Brindise and that was the key since Steve Spurrier’s offense depends so heavily on the quarterback position. They had stars in Fred Taylor, Jevon Kearse, Mike Peterson and Jacquez Green, but if we could just pressure the QB, slow down the run, establish our running game and not beat ourselves I felt the DAWGS could shock the world. Well, Jim Donnan, Robert Edwards, Mike Bobo, Hines Ward, Champ Bailey, Corey Allen and the rest of the boys let it all hang out that day and danced out of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with a 37-17 victory. We danced the night away to “Georgia on my mind” at The Landing and there has never been a sweeter ride home. I remember that glorious trip to Florida as the defining moment of football fanaticism from my college years.

In many ways, this year’s game shares many similarities to that 1997 matchup. The 2009 edition of the Florida Gators are also the defending national champions. The DAWGS are once again nearly a three touchdown underdog and coming off a defeat the previous year that was just one point shy of 40 points. Granted, the 1997 Florida team did already have a loss coming into the game with Georgia, but how much of a stretch is it to say that this year’s Gators might too have a loss if it were not for the horrendous officiating that we have seen in the SEC this season? In reality, none of this means anything. The 1997 matchup has absolutely no bearing on the 2009 game, but I can’t help but feel very much like I felt in 1997. I know Florida is scary deep on defense. I know that Florida leads the league in scoring defense and total defense. I know that Florida leads the league in scoring offense, total offense and has a Heisman Trophy winning, two-time national champion as it’s starting quarterback. Yet, in the month of October, the Gators have looked anything but unbeatable.

So, here are a few sweet treats to enjoy during the scariest week of the year.

When it comes to Saint Timothy, for all of his achievements that do garner respect, I still say he is not all he’s cracked up to be. Regardless of what others my want you to think, Tebow is not a skilled passer and does not handle pressure well. As for his brute strength, Saint Timothy running in short yardage is like Shaquille O’Neal dunking…I’m not impressed. Blessed with his size and strength, he should be able to do that. With that said, Tebow’s short yardage run can be taken away if you attack it as we have seen again and again from Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi State in recent games. Tebow is just like any other big back in that he must be stopped before he gets started. When you know Saint Timothy will be carrying the ball, you have to attack. Playing the Gators dive play well will go a long way in helping you to figure out when number 15 will be toting the rock.


Given where we are in the season, it is clear that everything the DAWGS do offensively begins with AJ Green, Lethal Weapon 8. AJ > anything Florida has on either side of the ball, Saint Timothy included. Opponent’s defensive game plans begin and end with what to do with Green, so distribution is the key for the DAWGS to keep that Gators defense off balance. How Florida chooses to play AJ…lock up in man…play zone…play a deep zone…will be something that Georgia offense will have to adjust to and the other receivers will need to have a good day, especially the tight ends.

In the kicking game, I have to give the edge to Georgia. The DAWGS key contributors, Blair Walsh, Drew Butler, Brandon Boykin (with occasional appearances by Prince Miller and Branden Smith) are valuable keys to winning the battle of hidden yardage in this game. Florida has the edge off the tee ranking 2nd in kickoff returns and kickoff coverage, but the kickoff return specialists Boykin (27.3 ypr) and Brandon James (27.5 ypr) are essentially a wash. Georgia has the edge in the punting game ranking 4th in punt return and leading the conference in punting with a 44.1 net/punt average. A key blocked kick would be HUGE in this game.

Now to put some real meat on this Dawg’s bone. In my opinion, here’s the real deal on this game. Florida leads the league in every key offensive statistical category except passing offense where the Gators rank 7th. Why then, when you watch them play, it doesn’t look that way? Two reasons: 1) Tebow leads the team in rushing. When your quarterback, particularly this quarterback, is your primary ball carrier the final numbers can sneak up on you. 2) Aaron Hernandez, the Florida tight end, is the team’s most consistent threat in the passing game. Riley Cooper (WR) is nice, but nothing special. Hernandez and Cooper have caught 60 of Tebow’s 84 completions and the other two starting WRs have a combined 14 catches. No other Gators wide receiver scares opponents because Florida has not established a consistent threat in the vertical passing game. This assertion is supported by the fact that that both Arkansas and Mississippi State played a lot of man-to-man coverage against Florida. “Hernandez and Hooks” seems to be the philosophy of this Gators team right now which allows opponents to squat on routes without the threat of being beaten deep, and this forces Tebow to hold the ball and that has led to sacks and bad decisions. Sounds like a winning strategy to me. With that said, it must also be said that the DAWGS could be vulnerable when our linebackers match up in pass coverage with Florida’s speedy running backs.

When it comes to coaching, that has to be the wildcard for Georgia right now. I say that because of the fantastic timing of the bye week. The team has had a chance to rest up, heal and prepare. The opportunity is there for a big statement to be made by Georgia. We will know soon enough.

Am I the only one? It just feels like Florida is ready to crack after a few close calls? They have dealt with the pressure of being touted as the greatest team ever assembled with the greatest player ever to strap on a helmet running the show. Everyone in the national media thought the season was a mere formality that would inevitably lead to Pasadena and a national championship. Could it finally be getting to them? Everyone tries to deny it, but it is simply impossible and pretty soon the players begin to expect certain performances and outcomes for themselves. Winning simply is not good enough. Urban Meyer can deny it all he wants, but these pressures are inherent to these situations and they are unavoidable. Sometimes teams manage to overcome these thoughts with great individual player performances or defining team moments, but more often than not all that pressure leads to cracks and eventually forces bursts. If things line up and the DAWGS put a whole game together, throw in a little Florida stress and this could be the Halloween that Georgia treats the DAWG Nation and hands out nothing but tricks to the Gators.