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.

So, DAWGS…whatcha got?

The Dawg Nation has been here before. Head coach Mark Richt, his staff and his teams have been here before. Question is, “What’s up from here?”

Dawgsports.com sums it up pretty well:

This season is going to be a repeat of 2006. Early close calls against weak opponents proved to be a harbinger of close (and not so close) losses to come when scares against the Colorado Buffaloes and the Mississippi Rebels served as the prelude to four losses in a five-week stretch. The season was only salvaged with wins over ranked yet overrated Auburn and Georgia Tech squads.

This season is going to be a repeat of 2007. The first half of the fall featured a close conference loss at home and a defeat by a wider margin in a lackluster effort against an orange-clad opponent on the road. The Bulldogs somehow managed to scratch and claw their way to a 5-2 record following a road win over the Vanderbilt Commodores, and, after a well-placed open date, Georgia finally put it all together, began playing up to its considerable potential, and went on a 6-0 run to close out the season.

You can read the rest of this fine article HERE:


I ask again. So, DAWGS…whatcha got?

Here we are headed down the road in another SEC season where we haven’t turned the corner and headed deep into fall, but we can see it from here, and the DAWGS find themselves once again at a crossroads in their season. It is Tennessee week and the Vols look a lot different than they did in 2006…no Great Pumpkin, aka Phil Fulmer…but I don’t know that Georgia does. On that sad October Saturday we witnessed our DAWGS trot out and promptly roll over without displaying any fight and Coach Richt said as much. Unlike that 2006 team, I don’t think anyone is going to say that this Georgia team is not going to fight for all they’re worth Saturday in Knoxville. In 2007, it was a flash of fight and good fortune in Nashville that saved the DAWGS season before they exploded on the CFB landscape two weeks later in Jacksonville. This year’s team has shown some of that flash-factor, but has not been consistent in any area outside of the individual performances turned in by #8, Green, the Domin8oR.

The 2009 Georgia Bulldogs sit at 3-2 overall, 3-1 inside the conference. All things considered, outside of any hit the team’s national perception may have taken from a loss to the #4 team in the nation, this bunch of DAWGS is none the worse for wear and is still in total control of its own destiny. As fans, certainly nothing has changed for us. It is football and you’re not going to win them all, every season. This team can still be a champion. Now, there are several legitimate reasons to doubt this team can accomplish that feat, but it must be acknowledged that everything they want to get done is still out in front of them.

It is possible. There are two weeks, two winnable SEC games and a bye week straight ahead. For the first time all season, the defense is coming off an effort that has more easily recognizable positive things to build off of than any other performance this season. They can look at the film and see themselves doing things the right way in game action and that will only breed confidence and belief in the system and in the coaching. The offense can still find their way in the running game and if they do, it will open the passing game up even more. The road for Georgia still goes through Florida, just like we all knew it would. We don’t know what the immediate future is for this team, but there is time to work out the kinks and peak when everything is on the line. The mettle of this team is still to be tested further. Watch closely how this team approaches the next two week. Can you see them working to get better and do the little things well? I think these next two games may be as telling as any two the DAWGS have played this year.

I will throw out this word of caution though. Due to the presence of Green, the Domin8oR, the offense, the WRs in particular, as well as the rest of the team should be careful of the “superstar syndrome” that they seemingly suffered with at times last year where they seemed to depend too much on the star power of Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. No one man is a team, regardless of how much of a BEAST he is.

So DAWGS, whatcha got? Here’s hoping you can put it all together, practice smart and play fierce over the next weeks and arrive in Jacksonville playing with an urgency and a momentum like that of a runaway train headed down hill and we will just see what happens between the lines on Halloween. If you can, this road we’re all traveling down together may not turn out to be so bumpy after all.
GO DAWGS!!!