In what now seems to be an annual event, GEORGIA lost another huge home contest.
AJ Green may be the best receiver in college football – he had 99 yards and what could have been the winning touchdown, except for a grotesque sportsmanship miscall, followed by a special teams’ breakdown and a final total collapse. He almost saved us, but why did we need to be saved?
Look at it this way: Each team scored two 4th quarter touchdowns, and the difference in scoring margin was that LSU led 6-0 at the end of the 3rd quarter. They won by 6.
Our defense played with the heart and tenacity not seen since Van Gorder gave two thumbs up on the regular. The culprit in this game – outside of the one VERY bad blown call by the officials – was our offensive play calling. Bobo called the worst half of football I remember in the first half. We simply yielded all third downs to them. It was weak and conservative and just crap. And, yes, Joe was cold and the running game stank. But you 100% must try to get first downs on a third down and eight by passing down the field.
Filed under: College Football
Look for Big Hairy Blawg to return to regular action soon
How about my skill position talk now? Georgia exploded for 41 points Saturday night. Brandon Boykin and Branden Smith had a record-breaking return yardage effort. Smith ran a 61-yard reverse to paydirt, while Boykin had a pick and played like an MVP. Orson Charles looked good; Green looked great. None of them are upperclassmen. Neither is Samuel, who ran hard. It was a good SEC win. The Hog-Dawg Rodeo is up next. Another night game, this time on the road in Arkansas.
Filed under: Border Bash, College Football, Donnan, GEORGIA, Green, Herschel Walker, INTERVIEWS, POWER FOOTBALL, SEC, THE ATL, UGA, bowl games, carolina, championships, literature, richt, spurrier, taunts, travel
GO DAWGS!!!
I’m heading with my girl, Jami Buck to Augusta, GA to cover the BORDER BASH. Every year, the Dawgs fans, the Cocks fans, we get in each others’ face and claim the border, on the river in Augusta, the night before the GEORGIA-carolina Game. Never been but her folks, the Colonel and Mrs. Buck, they live in Augusta. And we are going.
Go Dawgs and Carolina’s not: “a David Pollack creating poetry in the endzone. Nor Eric Zeier, nor Herschel and thanks for the fumbles in 1980, nor David Greene, nor AJ, now, nor Garrison Hearst … Robert Edwards, Terrence Edwards – Johnny nor August Vance, he’s got daddies wheels, nor Joey, they are Chiropractors like Dad and we are all real big fans, and the other two of us our businessmen too, and big time alums of Georgia (because we care so much), with degrees in Speech Communication and Finance, and we love it! And I was the Set-Up Crew Manager at the Tate Student Center – plus Fran mother f-ing Tarkenton- we usually win.”
The LameCocks are straight Tanneyhill. George Rogers, my friends hot, cool Greek cousins, Columbia… and Tanneyhill!
FACT: Richt 6-2 versus Carolina. Hypothesis: The Old Ball Coach SUCKS EGGS
Down with U STEVE SPURRIER because Spurrier is a Cock
BTW: It you’re down on the DAWGS, I’m down on you. Y’all fucking cheer up.
Filed under: College Football, Cox, D, GEORGIA, NCAA, O-LINE, POWER FOOTBALL, SEC, carolina, richt
Thought we should go in a little bit of a different direction at mid-week of the GEORGIA-Carolina game buildup. Quick trivia: Name the school that produced the SEC’s all-time leading Rusher, Receiver and Quarterback. woof, woof and woof.
While the blogosphere is crawling with us crying about our remarkably poor offensive showing in Stillwater, and the Dawgs-Cocks series has seen both teams total an average of 22 points per game in recent history, I say we look forward by looking back. Please realize that UGA always, always, always has playmakers at the skill positions. It is simply a matter of them being in a position to succeed and doing so. The talent exists on this and EVERY recent UGA offensive roster to point-blank dominate the best league in football. Skill positions are the historic strength of our program. With a solid D and solid blocking finally in place, we can and will turn this around. I predict our normal 10 wins, again.
You do not see Tim Tebow, Steve Spurrier, Peyton Manning, Bo Jackson, George Rogers, Shaun Alexander, Josh Reed, Craig Yeast or Kenny McKinley on the following list of SEC record-holders because they never wore RED and Black:
Herschel Walker 5,259 yards
Terrence Edwards 3,093 yards
David Greene 11,528 yards (He also has the most wins in NCAA history)
Let’s all give Joe Cox the benefit of the doubt for now. Have you ever even tried to go for a jog or shoot hoops while recovering from the flu? Nearly impossible. If he can’t get it done, Richt will find a way to win without him as starter. I have a feeling he will get it done.
Big difference between this and other recent Carolina games: We have a loss and are wide awake.
My prediction: DAWGS by two touchdowns.
Filed under: College Football, Cox, D, GEORGIA, Green, POWER FOOTBALL, athens, carolina, richt, travel
T. Boone Pickens pumped so much money into the Okie State Cowboys’ football program that they rededicated the stadium to him. Offense has been the name of the game for several years there, and with a new season came hope that they may actually have a defense this year too. They do.
We took the opening drive and played GEORGIA football. It was 7-0 after Michael Moore grabbed a perfect touchdown pass from the flu-fighting Joe Cox. Things looked good; they weren’t. Our only score the rest of the afternoon would be a 53-yard field goal. We never came close to scoring another touchdown.
Our D mostly held up against a potent Cowboys’ attack that averaged 40 points per game last season. We led 7-0 after one quarter, then trailed 10-7 at half. At 17-7 it was not looking so good anymore. And even trailing 24-10, we found no offensive spark.
The two touchdown difference would stand. All-American Dez Bryant caught two touchdowns, so that could be seen as the difference in the game. However, he only caught 3 total passes and was, in reality, often battered hard by a much improved UGA secondary, led by safeties Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans.
In reality, two very bad calls were the cause of 14 of Okie State’s points. One: on fourth and short the Pokes were flat stoned, but a terrible spot gave them an undeserved first down. The announcers balked. Then OSU punched it in with a fresh set of downs. Two: Dez Bryant had his hands on a pass near the goalline but was separated from the ball on a clean shoulder pad to shoulder pad hit. Flags flew for “roughness” – what the hell – this is football not some child’s game of cowboys and indians. The announcers balked. Then OSU punched it in with a fresh set of downs. It was hard to watch.
Our offense had no similarities to last year’s productive squad after that first drive. Joe Cox fumbled once and was picked off once and hit on only 50% of his passes, aided by at least 5 drops from a receiving core with a major drop off after our top two guys. AJ Green was blanketed most of the day by two or three guys and caught only four passes. Richard Samuel was somewhat effective on his 20 carries but never spectacular. In limited action, tiny Carlton Thomas was blown up and fumbled.
Conversely, we never took the ball away from them. We dropped several sure interceptions; a lingering problem from last year that did not get fixed. Still, overall I grade our defense out at a B+. Our offense gets an F. Special teams gets a C-, the long field goal offset by a 75-yard return by Perrish Cox.
Low scoring, defense-minded South Carolina comes to ATHENS, GA next for a night game. If we don’t score much again – and we rarely do against them – Spurrier could get the Cocks to do just enough for the Cox era to come to a thud. At 0-2, we would be obviously in rebuilding mode and would probably want to start a younger quarterback. He had the flu, and it is not too late for Joe to become a DJ Shockley type winner. But after that performance – a Joe Tereshinski III type suckfest – I have no reason for positive projections except that Richt thinks Cox can get the job done. This is when a good coach earns his money, and Richt is a good coach.
We wanted to schedule tough and far away and we did and played poorly, got bad calls and bad breaks and got beat. Similarly bad things happened to other strong programs this weekend: Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia Tech.
For the first time at UGA, Richt has dropped a season opener. Counting the Tech debacle and the bowl win, we are 1-2 in our last 3 games. This is when a good coach must earn his money.
The night before a big game is not a big party night for me. I just want time to pass … as quickly as possible. So, I worked at one job and filled out paperwork at the other, came home, took a shower and soon went to bed.
When daylight awakened me, “Thank God,” I said. So much to be thankful for in my life. And seasons of life can be measured by seasons of year, of sport. Things are good and getting better, and this is easily my favorite time of year: FOOTBALL SEASON.
After some cuddling of my girlfriend and feeding and petting of my pets, some housework and personal clean up, it was breakfast time: coffee, banana pancakes. Man, I feel great.
Then I hear the news: Joe Cox has the flu and may not play.
Imagine: You go undefeated in High School, wait four full seasons on the bench and the practice field, year five is almost underway with you at the reins, adrenaline surging through your veins, the intensity insane. You waited for this and it all seems so worth it, so worthwhile.
The game is a big game, on the road, against a ranked opponent, and … influenza hits. You don’t even make the team flight, instead pushing gallons of fluids and taking a private flight alone. Just you and your doubts and thoughts. This is big time. And your body is failing you.
Question one of this oh so very young season, before it even begins: Will Joe Cox be able to go and play effectively?
Filed under: poetry
My God, Larry
Would you look at the stupid clock
It says forty-two
That’s how many
Beautiful, bountiful
Years you gave
To the fair institution
You are one, yourself
And no man can be an island
But Hell if you ain’t a legend
Blue, Forty-two
Set, Hut…Touchdown!
And the tears stream
As I dream of you
How can one man
One self-effacing
Gravel-voiced
Gloom-and-doom
Radioman
Mean so much
Mr. Munson, sir
You are the greatest
You are the greatest
You are the greatest
That ever lived
Filed under: College Football, Cox, D, Floor-DUH, GEORGIA, Moreno, POWER FOOTBALL, SEC, UGA, richt, travel
Two years ago, I used Big Hairy Blawg to try to get y’all worried about the explosive Oklahoma State Cowboys. GEORGIA fans, like all sports fans, tend to be overly optimistic, especially in the preseason. As my fellow alum brother and I always say about UGA this time of year, “The Dawgs are lookin’ good.” When you have a program built to the level that we have reached, the excitement about returning talent can easily overshadow the very real holes in the team, and every college team has holes, question marks, weaknesses, teams or situations that cause struggles.
Our struggles have come in two forms:
1. GATORS. Looking up: If we can manage a win this year, UGA will have won 3 of 6. The Stafford and Moreno combo went 1 and 1 in Jacksnonville. And when you are this far down in a recent series, winning .500 would be a huge step forward.
2. HOME games against SEC rivals that we are favored to win and don’t. The Carolinas and Tennessees of the world have waltzed into our back yard and beaten us when we were the better team.
Outside of the aforementioned scenarios, we have dropped very few other games in the 8 years that Richt has been at the helm. Some examples: an undefeated Auburn team, a National Champion LSU squad twice, a BAMA team that would finish the regular season without a loss. Tough teams will come up not named FLORIDA, because this is the SEC.
We have done very well on the road and out of conference and with season openers. Our trends versus the Pokes all say DAWGS win. And as any good gambler can tell you, college football is easily the biggest trend game in existence.
Two years ago, Okie State came into the humidity of that drained river valley we call home and just melted. They could not score like we heard they would; they could not stop us. The great Moreno appeared on the scene from off the bench late that game. He controlled the clock, to assure no comeback was to happen. We gave up only 14 points and won by three touchdowns.
The Big 12 is a scorefest of a league and the Pokes can really score. Zac Robinson is a gaudy statistics, dual-threat quarterback in his senior season. The shifty Kendall Hunter gained over 1,600 yards rushing last season. Dez Bryant had almost 1,500 yards receiving and is a size matchup nightmare that lives for a jump ball in the end zone. Perrish Cox is a dynamo return specialist. Russell Okung is a classic 6′6″ 300-pound road paver. They have the talent to outscore anyone in the country.
Thing is, they generally have to, and have not gotten the job done against conference powers Oklahoma or Texas. Okie State plays a lot like we did last year. They score a ton of points most weeks, but they give up way too many points to get over the hump.
The Joe Cox era is underway and we may need him to put up 40. Or maybe our defense finally steps up against a big time offense and mostly shuts them down.
One way or the other: GEORGIA needs this win to claim our rightful spot in the top ten. From there, we start the wars of the SEC: the greatest football conference in the land.
Filed under: ATL, College Football, GEORGIA, POWER FOOTBALL, SEC, THE ATL, UGA, championships, family, richt, taunts, tech
Hanging your hat on one shootout victory really proves the overall pathetic nature of many Tech fans. Squirmy geeks. The State Championship should be another good game this year, with Tech returning Marietta native Jonathon Dwyer, picked for ACC player of the year, and yet GEORGIA is clearly the more talented team. While Dwyer (The Diesel) and the complete Tech running game do pose a big threat to our return to state dominance this season, when you look at the programs it is obvious to all of us in Georgia that it is only a matter of time before UGA rises to the top.
Jackets, we had a defensive collapse and lost one football game to you after whipping you for many years, bringing our season loss total to three games. Tech dropped four total games in their supposed breakout year and was even blown out in the ATL-Chicken-Sandwich-Peach Bowl by a rather down LSU team.
FACT: Richt has two SEC titles, a #2 national finish, a #3 national finish. And he has won seven of eight over you. While Paul Johnson is 1-0, even the most diehard Jacket fan would be delighted to start regularly winning 40% of the time versus the Big Hairy Dawgs, and even that will not happen!
Not to mention when you look at the numbers (you like numbers, don’t you?):
WE OWN THE ATL SO STOP ACTING LIKE YOU ARE EVER THE HOME TEAM IN OUR STATE.
More fans, more money, more talent, more wins, the SEC, the state, the Flagship!!!
GO DAWGS!
