WILL GEORGIA WIN THE 2014 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP?

Welcome back, Nation.  The 2014 college football season is finally upon us.  Can I get a “Go DAWGS!”?  All spring and summer I listen to folks talk about how they just can’t wait for football season to come back around and how they just can’t wait to see those DAWGS running loose again.  Well, here we are.

Will this finally be the year our beloved Georgia Bulldogs win a national championship?  Well, we’ll get to that.

This year, just like every year, the DAWGS will take the field carrying their own hopes and dreams, as well as the hopes and dreams of a nation…the DAWG Nation…on their shoulders.  The young men that wear the red and black have been working every day since that last whistle blew to do what it takes to get the job done this time around.  Each and every one of them have committed body and soul to the “G” in pursuit of that most elusive of goals.  Think about that as we point out the lone trumpeter and listen to Munson call our DAWGS to field of battle one more time. 

But why do they do it?  Why do these young men, the coaches, staff, and the Redcoats and cheerleaders too, why do they sacrifice so much?  Certainly, everyone involved wants to win a championship, but I know there’s more to it.  To make such an investment of time and effort (and remember there is nothing more valuable than our time), there must be more. 

They do it because it matters.  I’m not simply talking about wins and losses.  There are well over one hundred schools playing FBS level football and winning and losing matters to all of them.  If you don’t believe me, just ask them.  It matters to those actually putting in the work on a completely different level.  It matters because each person involved is putting it all on the line to represent their family.  It matters because of a sacred promise they’ve made to their teammates, their brothers and sisters in the chaos, that they will give it all they’ve got because a promise so sacred demands nothing less.  Certainly, they want to win for themselves.  Absolutely!  But do not let it go unnoticed that it matters because they feel the weight of representing everyone that came before them, a university and an entire state.  It matters because they know they are representing you.  They are sacrificing for you.  They want to win for you.

So, will the 2014 edition of the Georgia Bulldogs win a national championship on the gridiron?  Probably not.  Can they?  Most definitely!  Do I hope that happens?  Abso-damn-lutely! But let’s face it, those odds are long and there are a lot of bounces of the ball that will have to go Georgia’s way for that to happen. 

So, if you’re a “fan” that will be miserable and write the entire season off as a waste of time if the DAWGS fail to claim a national title in 2014, you’re probably not going to enjoy the back half of this year….and I want to wish you lots of luck with that.  But, if you’re a true fan, a real supporter of the University of Georgia and the people that represent it, I want to encourage you to enjoy every minute of every game and appreciate the efforts of these young men, the coaches and everyone involved with the program for the expression of a passion that is visceral and real.  As someone that loves the University of Georgia, what more can you ask of any representative of the DAWG Nation.

Glory, Glory!

Do you HATE Florida?

Do you #HATE Florida? Because I #HATE Florida. | #UGA - #DAWGS vs #Gators: 2013 http://t.co/CWdIiaReEV #GoDAWGS #DAWGNation #WarFortheOar
— Iamgenx (@ADAMNBEASTBLOG) July 27, 2014

THE PACKING LIST: TENNESSEE

After a brutal opening month of games that saw the DAWGS go 2-1 against three top ten opponents and rattle off three consecutive victories at home, Georgia is back on the road at 3-1 (2-0) this week on Rocky Top.  Butch Jones is trying to clean up after Derek Dooley managed to extinguish the dumpster fire that was left blazing when Lane Kiffin bolted for Southern California.  Well, you won’t find me crying for the Hillbillies.  I’m looking for the DAWGS to squish the urnge into something that resembles so many bug guts on the bottom of your shoe.  We know traveling can get a hectic and it can be tough to always remember everything, so we humbly offer up this week’s packing list.

*Murray’s mirror*

Old number 11 has been great for Georgia this season and is finally being mentioned, as he absolutely should be, in the completely haphazard Heisman talk swirling around the world of college football.  Environments like Tennessee’s 100k + will offer on Saturday are the very reason a fifth-year senior starting quarterback like Aaron Murray are such prized commodities.  All Murray needs to do is show up and be the same quarterback he has been every time he’s looked in the mirror this season and Georgia will be well on there way.

*Running man*

The man-child that is Todd Gurley may or may not be ready to answer the bell on Saturday, but thankfully there are more horses in the stable for the DAWGS.  Included among them is the man that had his breakout game of 2012 against the Vols, Keith Marshall.  The two freshmen that have seen the field for Georgia this year have shown to be very capable so far as well.  Marshall can absolutely carry the load for the DAWGS if he needs to, but regardless of who’s totin’ the rock Georgia must run the football.  The ground game is central to the DAWGS offense, it keeps the defense fresh and it wears down an opponent.  In the end, it doesn’t really matter who carries the ball for Georgia on Saturday, as long as they get down hill with an attitude.

*Boys to Men*

It’s no coincidence that as Chris Mayes has made his presence felt on the DAWGS defensive line, we have seen more and more big plays out of that unit.  That needs to continue for Georgia against the Vols this week.  Although they are a young group, Georgia’s D-line needs to continue to show up against a Tennessee unit that Coach Mark Richt has called the best in the league and maybe the country. 

*Track Shoes*

Much has been said about the Vols lack of play-makers and depth on both sides of the ball and frankly, I agree with that assessment.  With that said, you have to acknowledge that Georgia does not have the same kind of problem.  I am pleased to be able to say the DAWGS have speed all over the field and play makers have emerged on both sides of the ball.  Saturday against Tennessee, Georgia must play like it.  The DAWGS advantage is real and they need to put it on display on Rocky Top.  Let’s play “catch me if you can” for four quarters and those “smokey” uniforms will look a lot more like ash after the Vols have been burned a few times.

*Show and Tell*

Whether it was youth, inexperience, noise or whatever else you want to blame.  The problems that plagued the Georgia defensive back seven in the pass game against LSU will be present against Tennessee on Saturday.  Coaches and veterans say not knowing the hand signals is bunk and the freshmen say noise was a problem.  I don’t need them to tell me that they’ve got it under control.  It will most likely be so loud I couldn’t hear them anyway.  It doesn’t matter.  The DAWGS need to figure it out show us on the field that they have worked out the issues. 

*Wrecking ball*

Like I said earlier, Jones is trying to rebuild Tennessee’s program and return them to relevance in the conference.  Well, me and the DAWG Nation could care less about all that. There’s a wrecking ball on the truck and even though it’s gonna play hell with our gas mileage, Georgia needs to break it out and destroy that new house that Jones and the Vols are trying to build. 

So, there you have it.  Now it’s time to turn this thing north and get in the wind.  The college football world is paying attention and the DAWG Nation is ready.  Our blood runs red and black.  Just make sure you don’t dilute it too much with that hillbilly shine while you’re up on Rocky Top this weekend.  Safe travels, Nation.

Glory, Glory.

THE PACKING LIST : CLEMSON

Hello, DAWG Nation!  The BEAST is back and man it feels good.  It has been an extremely busy year around our way, but football is back and that gets our attention.  What’s more, we look up and find an old rival has invited us over to get the party started…Clemson.  In case I haven’t mentioned it before, we grew up about 30 minutes from Clemson, have family that went to and graduated from Clemson, and I will readily state that as a matter of fact, Clemson’s version of Tiger Rag is the one and only true version of Tiger Rag.  Period.  But enough of that noise.  This week those Tigers are nothing more than the first in a long and formidable line of challengers that the DAWGS must conquer to claim the championship mantle they truly desire and make good on their mantra, “New Year.  New Team.  One Dream.” 

And what a way to get it started!  A top ten match-up with a prime time national television spotlight.  Whew-wee, son!  Everybody in the pasture town that is Clemson better strap ‘em on tight Saturday ‘cause they don’t get any bigger than this.  I’m serious.  Wherever you may be, you better get your head on a swivel.  When the DAWG Nation gets this amped up, you just never know where that knockout crack back is going to come from.  It might just be that lovely lady on your arm dressed in her best red and black.  Man, I can’t wait!  It’s coming…tick, tIcK, TICK…and the DAWGS are gonna get loose. 

All the big stuff’s already on the trucks, but there are just few things we have to make sure we don’t leave behind before we fire the diesels and roll this show up I-85.  Don’t forget to steal a quick look at beautiful Lake Hartwell on the way.  We know traveling can get a little hectic and it can be tough to always remember everything, so we humbly offer up this week’s packing list.

*BIG BOY (SILVER) BRITCHES*

Georgia and Clemson.  Dooley and Danny.  This is the classic rivalry of my youth that showed me what Georgia football is all about.  The one that built the legends and made me understand what silver britches were really supposed to look like and more importantly, represent.  I know exactly what I was doing when I saw Kevin Butler kick one 60 yards, plus a foot and a half…hanging in the doorway with the cousins as we craned our necks back inside to see the game as we rambled out the door to play a pick-up game of tackle in the front yard.  This one is rooted deep for me and all that makes me the DAWG I am to this day. 

That’s why I know Georgia has to bring their big boy britches to this one.  Everybody knows there will be more than a few new faces taking the field on Saturday, but that can be no excuse for a team that absolutely expects to do big things this season.  The environment will be tough and the stage will be huge, but if the DAWGS are really what we all hope and believe they are, those new faces need to be the next wave of stars for us to cheer and not a handicap that must be overcome.  If we’re lucky, we’ll see some silver in those britches and if we do, this Georgia team really could turn out to be something special.

*HAMMERS*

Let’s just put it on the line here.  It’s time to break some stuff.  What better tool to get that done than a hammer?  I know folks are high on Clemson and their complicated and flashy offense, but winning football is a simple concept.  You must win.  Man on man, eleven individual battles across the field.  You must beat your opponent until he don’t want to be hit anymore.  So, it’s a good thing that Georgia’s got a few trusty old hammers in the toolbox. 

If the DAWGS are going to get this done, that talented backfield of Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall (don’t forget that 6’2”, 257 lb Mack truck of a fullback Quayvon Hicks) will have to grind on the Tigers.  On defense, I’m looking at #52 Amarlo Herrera and the rest of the front seven to shut down that unproven Clemson running game…with prejudice.  All those young kids we’re going to be lining up on Saturday should grab one of those hammers and bust some stuff up while we’re at it and use it to break out for the world to see.  If all goes well, all you people in red and black heading north this weekend better watch your step on the way out ‘cause there’s gonna be pieces of shattered hopes and ACC prestige all over the place.

*OLD HAT*

While there’s no doubt this is a big game on Georgia’s schedule and on the college football landscape in 2013, it really shouldn’t faze this group of DAWGS.  Yes, I know.  There are some pups on the bus this week.  But for a program that has seen the glare from more than a few bright lights over the last few years, this game should not provide too big a stage, especially with veterans at every level on both sides of the ball.  The DAWGS must embrace this opportunity like that old familiar hat that’s already broken in and fits just right, and then rock that lid like we all know they can.

*THE NASTIES*

Both in 2002 and 2005, Coach Richt’s DAWGS rode experienced offensive lines to SEC Championships.  Those groups were more than just veteran though, they were nasty.  They lived to gnaw shins, grind lanes and wreck defenders, imposing a championship will as they laid claim to rings.  In 2002, I was in the stadium when Coach Richt believed in his men and went for it on 4^th and short near midfield late in the fourth quarter against Clemson to put the game away and Jon Stinchcomb and crew bulled the way for Musa Smith to go up and over for the first down to seal the win.  I’m certain the young men that make up Georgia’s offensive line unit are wonderful individuals, fabulous students and upstanding campus citizens, but we don’t need to see those guys.  We need the angry, play-through-the-whistle and right up to the line guys.  By the time they walk off the field in Clemson on Saturday night, Georgia’s O-line better have shown a much darker side to the Tigers and made them understand....we are not friends, we do not like you, and you’re gonna like it.  If the DAWGS get that message across to the Tigers, the ride South early on Sunday morning will be a sweet one.

So there it is, Nation.  We’re finally here, the long wait is over and we are rewarded with what should be a fantastic, classic match-up.  The DAWGS are ready and so are we.  If you’re making the trip watch out for those speed traps and fly your colors high.  Don’t take too many back roads or you might find yourself in a country traffic jam, sitting behind a few escaped cows in the middle of the road somewhere in the prettiest pasture town in the Piedmont.  Safe travels, Nation.

Glory, Glory.

WE HAVE THE ANSWER

At first, I wasn’t sure if I would have anything to say about Jim Tressel’s decision to resign as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. I mean, what could I add to the story? We can all get the news from any number of locations in any number of varied forms. Then I remembered an exchange I had with a Buckeye fan back in December after the news came out that Georgia and Ohio State had agreed to play a home-and-home series beginning in the year 2020.

In my line of work, virtually everyone has an opinion on virtually every sports related topic. I mean, it’s what we do. However, some people are better at taking off the “team-colored glasses” than others are when debating a topic that involves the squads with which they are allied.

In the wake of the home-and-home announcement back in late December, and at a time Ohio State was in the midst of its (still) ongoing investigation into wrongdoing involving the football program, I had a Buckeye fan say the following to me during a discussion about the two storied programs finally meeting in a regular season game:

Has anybody checked Georgia's record lately? At this rate they will be in the Mountain West conference or Division II by 2020. What happened, did The Little Sisters of the Poor book up early with "grudge matches" with USC and Notre Dame? Here's an interesting bet....who is still coaching OSU/GA in 2020....Tressel or Richt? Mark who??

Can you believe it? I was stunned at the time, and frankly I still am, that a fan of any team mired in the type of an institutional NCAA investigation that Ohio State was (and is) could so blatantly disparage Mark Richt and the University of Georgia.

Rest assured DAWG Nation, I proceeded to quickly and without prejudice inform this Buckeye that Tressel had a history of being shady before arriving at Ohio State, that there have been questions about Tressel and his program during his time (and championship) in Columbus and, OH BY THE WAY, the Buckeyes were right in the middle of a scandal that has now proven to be the undoing of The Sweater Vest’s tenure as the head coach at Ohio State and possibly their entire 2011 season.

Well, I guess we have the answer to that Buckeye’s question today don’t we? Granted, none of us are happy with how the last couple of seasons have played out ‘between the hedges’ in Athens and we will not be satisfied until the DAWGS are once again on top of the SEC East and playing for a conference title in Atlanta, but there is none among us that is working any harder to make that a reality than the head coach and leader of our program, Mark Richt.

It has recently come to light based on statements from the people that actually make the decisions at the University of Georgia, that for all of the belly aching and sometimes misplaced and delusional complaints from the rabid Georgia fan base, Coach Richt actually is NOT on the ridiculously speculated hot seat. That is how it should be. I would absolutely rather lose a game or two, and do not misunderstand…losing stinks, than win by taking shortcuts only to suffer the shame of those “successes” later.

I’m as excited today as I was in December when the 2020-21 games with the Buckeyes were announced. In the AJC article by Tim Tucker announcing the home-and-home series between Georgia and Ohio State, Coach Mark Richt stated that he will be looking forward to the game, too.

“Yeah, man,” Richt said. “I hope I’m here to go to Columbus.”

I agree with you on that one, Coach. I hope you’re still leading the DAWGS too. Either way, one thing is for sure…Jim Tressel won’t be there to take it all in.
I wonder what that Buckeye fan would have to say about the state of things today.

Glory, Glory.

DAWGS and BRONCOS: WHO YA GOT?

Will the DAWGS beat Boise State in the Dome to kick off the 2011 season?

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