Let It Go

I write this blog not for the stats and expert analysis. I write this blog not for the adoration of fans. I have none. Nobody reads it as far as I know. I should call it, "Tree falling in the forest."

I admittedly care too much about the Dogs and how they play. I'm a normal guy with a respectable career, great wife, and a happy regular, well-adjusted life. This is my one oddity. I watch and care about a football team from the college I attended and graduated from 20 years ago. Oh well.

So on to expunging my frustration about the LSU game...then I'll be positive.

I tend to watch games and think of them in moments of potential. In other words...if we get this first down...if we don't stop them...that kind of thing. For instance...what does the other path look like if we catch that first touchdown? What does it look like if we catch the second? Or if we hit the field goal? Or if they actually called the clipping, holding, spearing, or touchback on that run back? The answer is that we'll never know...and that is what bugs me.

I realize that we'll never know and that it perhaps doesn't matter. As a fan though, I can't ignore it. I have no responsibility to "respond" to adversity. I can only hope my team does. I don't have to "get over" wondering about the what-ifs?

What chaps my hide is that we have to deal with them in the first place. If you execute you have better luck. If you catch the ball and score, you don't have to wonder. If you don't commit a dumb penalty, you don't give them the damn ball back on 4th down.

In the end you can say it's true that it does no good to wonder what could have been. I'll grant you that. My point is that you know exactly what happens if you execute. Look back at the previous ten games. It means you win.

Looking ahead, I hope our coaches can keep the players holding their heads high and teach them the lesson. Look how good you look when you play hard and execute. You are young. You have two more seasons of this ahead of you. Learn the lesson.

The Georgia Bulldogs can play with anybody when they do not beat themselves.

Really looking forward to the bowl and next year. Go Dogs. 

Look At Us Now

I've been looking for this Georgia Bulldog football team for a couple of years now. It's the byproduct of focused effort. The coaches are coaching. The players are listening. The schemes are working.

So nice to complete the season with a decisive win over Tech. That makes two ranked teams in 3 weeks. Very nice.

We now face the biggest challenge since Bama came to Athens a few years ago. In fact, this may be the biggest Georgia game in the last decade. Not because we stand to win the National Championship. We don't...but because we stand to win the SEC in a year where they are saying that the SEC West is the best division ever. They're saying LSU may be the best team ever. They are giving the Dogs no chance. Perfect.

I couldn't be happier. We have absolutely nothing to lose. Play loose. Have fun. Fly around. Put a hit on somebody. Make them play tight. Let them worry. We're not defending anything. We are trying to show the rest of college football that they better look out for the Dogs.

We are young, we are pissed and we are dangerous.

Go Dogs.

Fork In The Road

So here we are...

I'm calling this the biggest fork in the road in the last decade for the Bulldog program.

Win and you've opened the door to a shot at the SEC title. Lose and we have to hope that SC loses too.

To be truthful, we will know before kick off...however...I'm writing before the SC/FLA game ends. I never want to worry about another game when the Dogs are in the driver's seat..so we carry on with this line of reasoning.

We need to win for the confidence of the youngsters. We need to win because it means the East. We need to win because it's Auburn. We need to win because it's the fork in the road.

This is a ranked team. This is our chance to boost confidence. To execute. To show the rest of the SEC that we are a team on the rise.

Because I'll tell you this...if we are not on the rise..we are in trouble. We are young and loaded. Fast and talented. Big and tough. Ready and willing. We are a team that has a chance to crush it for the next two years. Think about that. We are right there on the verge. Who else? While Bama and LSU get all the attention, we are quietly creeping up at the pace you could only dream about. Nobody is talking about us yet we are stacked.

Let's win out and prove our worth..because next year the radar will hone in on us. Next year we cannot play the "rebuilding", "young", or "underdog" card. Next year is our year. The following is even better.

A lot of that depends on how we execute today. This very day. Are we ready? I say yes without hesitation.

Go. Dogs.

With Any Luck

One thing I keep bringing up on this blog and in conversation is that I believe the Dogs have run out of bad luck. We aren't above dumb penalties and mistakes...I'm just saying the bad luck lacks the severity and timing that it once had. I think we've paid our fair share in unbelievable turnovers and penalties at critical times over the past couple of seasons.

We now seem to be winning the close games. Winning the ugly games. Winning the games we should win because we are no longer committed to beating ourselves.

With any luck on the positive side we have 6 more games to look forward to this season. I have predicted it before and have no reason to alter my assertion. The Georgia Bulldogs will win out. We have yet to see the full power of the machine in motion. We are watching young players gel. We are watching Freshmen and Sophomores learn complicated systems and assignments. Our coaches have found a great bunch of young guys that want to be coached and have bought into being a Bulldog. Seems getting rid of a couple of guys can go a long way.

I could go on about this and that but here's the abbreviated version that I assume everyone can see for themselves. Defense is playing great. Offense seems to be picking up. Bobo is calling a better game. Special teams is awful. I assume the coaches see all these things and will address what needs to be addressed. I'm on a purely opinionated mission here.

I'd love to see us win out. South Carolina needs to drop one. We get to play LSU or Bama. We trip them up. We go to a BCS bowl and execute against a great opponent.

By the end of the year, we will be the team that nobody wants to play.

**UPDATED** 4:45pm. Nov 1.

So I just read that Crowell, Carlton Thomas, and Ken Malcome are suspended for failing a drug test. On top of that...Richard Samuel is out. We literally lost 4 running backs since Saturday.

I am going to say that while that flies in the face of my bad luck theory...I choose to look at it in a positive light. At least it happened before the New Mexico State game and not Auburn.

Will be interesting to see if this dies or gets worse. A lot worse. I hope our luck is good.

One Key Stat

Here's the only stat I care about for the Georgia/Florida game this weekend. 12-1.

While this could be properly interpreted as 12 beers for 1 guy (this guy)...that is not why I listed those two numbers.

12-1 is the turnover score in the last 3 meetings of these two teams. In fact...the last 3 UGA QBs have all had 3 INT games respectively. During that time we have taken the ball from Florida...ONE...freakin...time.

Murray threw an INT on his first pass....and on his last pass..in last year's matchup. This is simply not something that you can live with.

I have to believe that sheer odds are on our side this year. There's no way Florida can win this many years. There's no way we can turn the ball over that many times. Math won't allow it. We will show up. We will execute. We will stomp the Gators.

There. That's my expert analysis.

Another Ugly Trip To Tennessee

Just happy to squeak by with the win. That's two weeks in a row we got out of Dodge with a bruise or two but the ugly W.

My theory is still intact. I said it before on this blog. The Dogs will win out this year. Seems even more bold and half cocked given our performance of late.

The theory is based on a couple of things....

Mostly blind allegiance to a team that is half as good as I wish they were...another is the feeling that we're out of bad luck..finally. It's the feeling that we have an incredible set of components that have still not clicked as the one solid unit. Still having miscues, penalties and missed assignments. The difference this year? We are actually winning a couple of the close and ugly games. I think every team needs to win a couple clunkers and get a little lucky during the course of a good season. I just have this nagging feeling that we will get our act together and really hit that next gear.

A week off. Crowell will heal. Malcolm Mitchell will heal. We can prepare for the Gators without "overlooking" some other opponent. We can review last year's game play by play and realize that Aaron Murray lost that game for us by being a freshman. And it's okay. No worries.

This is the year we turn around the Gator curse.

We have a ton of room for improvement. Now is the time to move from "needs improvement" to "don't look now but the Dogs are good".

Mississippi sweep. Tennessee sweep. So far so good.

Tennessee

What is it about the Tennessee game that chaps my hide every year? I can't put my finger on it. I mean, I know the orange is the easy "go to" answer. They look like crappy popsicles in those get ups. Is it the redneck fanbase? Maybe...but then again the Dogs have their fair share too. Could it be that they play that damn song every time they score?...or gain a yard?...or snap the ball? Probably.

In truth our rivalry, while old, has not been as bitter as it should be. I just naturally hate orange and Tennessee is the worst offender. I just don't like them. Period. And I think that it's healthy to despise a team for no other reason than that you just sorta...do. Just sort of can't stand the bastards. There you go.

Not really scientific but honest.

By the way...look at this gem from Da'Rick Rogers. Here is his wisdom on leaving UGA after committing 7 months earlier. Out of nowhere. Flip Flop.

Tell us all about it, Da'Rick:

Q: Did Georgia have any hints or signs that you were going to flip on them? Did you surprise the coaches when you switched to Tennessee?

A. “I don’t know. I don’t know about the coaches. They can feel however they might have felt. It was all for me. You know, I had to go where I could be happy and I’m in a great place now. I’m happy here.”

Like my opinion...his quote is not really scientific but honest.

But read closely.

"It was all for me."....and the eloquent, "They can feel however they might have felt."  The tense doesn't agree but I think you get the hint.

Da'Rick is actually perfect for the Vols. Stay there. Then leave early because some dumb agent oversells your ability to a third tier NFL team.

Go Dogs!