Spring flings

The first scrimmage was today. The results were good. I am sure you have seen the stats, which though often misleading in spring, look like the offense could be solid again. Assuming the defense gets together with more practices, I like the potential for this team. Running the ball is going to be the key as I'd love to ease one of the three QB's into the season. UGA will have one of the best special teams units , so that can make a huge difference.

The last time UGA won the SEC was also the last time The Atlanta Braves won the eastern division... 2005. This year the Braves will add some pop to the lineup with mega-prospect Sir Heyward. The braves add a new defensive scheme and a new mega-prospect at QB.

I'd love to think this isn't a coincidence.

Wide receivers for 2010

Predicting the production of 2010’s WR’s

Obviously the offensive focus for 2010 should be imposing a steady diet of face-smashing runs a la GT 2010… a game that made me feel like reenacting the montage from Rocky IV where he runs to the top of mountain and shouts "Dragoooo!"

However, the defenses in the SEC are quick to adjust and must be kept of their heels or it won’t be very effective.Here is a look a what I think can be expected for the year not including the best tight end collection in the league as well as a few unauthorized nicknames. These are based on past statistics, and realistic 2010 scenarios not video games or how awesome they cold be in a perfect world. Either way There Is No Easy Way Out for these guys next season.

1) A.J. Green- “ The Green Monster” is the best ball snatcher (huh?) I have seen wear the Red and Black. Can he stay healthy though? I certainly wouldn’t call him fragile, but he’s had to play through some pain in- 2008 (a year where he had over a 1000 all purpose yards ((61 rushing yards)) and obviously missed much of the end of 2009 where he would have tallied 1000 receiving yards. Green started 10 games and had roughly 80 yards per game. I think that Green, if fully healthy and NFL-paycheck level motivated, could wind up with 1300 yards and 15 TD’s. Hearken back to the Arky game, the LSU would-be game winner that should have gone down in UGA lore, or even the 65-yard screen he bounced at Vanderbilt. He looked like one of those crotch-rockets I see on I-285 every Sunday blasting past black and gold mini vans. However, because of the focus of rushing the ball, a new QB, and TE proliferation, I will go with a conservative 1000 yards, but 10 TD’s, which is higher than his average TD per game just because I think he’ll be hungry.

2) Tavarres King-King showed some flashes of deadly home run brilliance last year. If King gets 15 more pounds on him he could easily be All-SEC. He averaged 20.9 per catch and had receptions of 50, 46, 47, 38 yards. Even A.J. didn’t have that many 35+ yarders. However, he seemed to lack the luck to get in it in the end zone on the bombs and he is paragon of red zone intimidation. I think he is going to get somewhere around the 2005 Momass zone. 500 yards & 3 Td’s should be feasible. No nickname for someone named King.

3) Rantavious Wooten- “Woo” has major playmaking ability as evidenced by his catches of 27, 35 43, and 23 yard receptions as a true freshman (not to mention an average of 19.7yds. per catch). He showed that he has the potential be a major difference maker in “The Nightmare” or Kentucky game. He seems to have a talent for actually making it into the end zone as 2 of his 10 receptions were TD’s. Assuming most of last year’s production was a result of pure talent combined with little knowledge, I think he is ready for big things. I’m predicting 350 yards & 3 Td’s with the potential to go much higher.

4) Kris Durham- “K.D. Long” is a bit of a question mark after the injury last year? If healthy, he can make some plays and will be a potential red zone warrior. If he matches his 2008 total off 199 yards and adds a few clutch first downs and TD’s, I’ll call it a success. I’ll go with 250 and 1 TD with hopes that he can get more.

5) Israel Troupe- I hope to call him “Super Trouper” before he leaves UGA. I’m not giving up on the guy as he still has two seasons left, and the 50-yard bomb he banked vs. Auburn showed that he has the ability to make plays when his number is called. He should provide some solid depth at the very least. 100 yards and perhaps another game-changing TD would suffice.

6) Marlon Brown – He was “brown and out” for a while last year, but could wind up being a huge addition next year. It is hard to speculate based on the production from last year, but the report muscle added can’t hurt. I’ll call him one of my favorite clichés, the X factor. He could go for a 100 or blow up.

There Ought to Be a Law or Don't Make Bama cry.

Recently Bama fans had their carping rewarded. The SEC decided that the 2010 schedule was not fair because the Tide was schedule to be rolling while many of their opponents were due for a relaxing bye week.

Too hard?

Bama 2010

9/4 SAN JOSE STATE

9/11 PENN STATE

9/18 at Duke

9/25 at Arkansas 1

10/2 FLORIDA

10/9 at South Carolina

10/16 OLE MISS

10/23 at Tennessee

11/6 at LSU

11/13 MISSISSIPPI STATE

11/20 GEORGIA STATE

11/26 AUBURN

This doesn't show the opponents of course, but is this fair? Many would exclaim "yes" or even "Hell yes, I hate those arrogant, good-for-nothing bunch of...etc." I would rate this a fairly tough schedule regardless of timing, so ...

However, if this is truly an issue, it raises the question what is fair and where is the line drawn?

Many LSU fans will remind you (read everyone) of the recent challenges they faced when the SEC served them up a mess of schedule cakes that many would consider... unsavory. Sorry, extended metaphors aren't my (Matt) Forte...random puns are up there though.

Should UGA fans complain that UF has had the cocktail week off for the vast majority of my life? Should the SEC powers just put it into the good old Commodore 64 and see what happens? Wait, is that what they do?

Many NFL fans might mention the popular scheduling tactic favored by the pros of giving the top teams a tougher schedule to force the parity on the fans like Matchbox 20 was forced on helpless radio listeners of the 90's?

I personally feel that the schedule should be as random as possible. I don't want to get into chaos theory ( because I don't understand it) but I think once the roulette wheel stops, you should either hit the jackpot or walk out of Bryant-Denny and drown your sorrows in a DQ mister misty float. That is just me though.

As the song from Team America once asked, "What would you do"?

Who Should Be the 2010 Back

Who should be the #1 back for UGA’s 2010 squad?

Washaun Ealey

Bad games -

1. (UT) 10-18/0 td’s – (1.8 per carry) This was really no worse than any other player that stumbled and bumbled through this crapfest (excluding Boykin). This game was so painful to watch, I don’t even remember my impression of Ealey and I won’t be viewing it again anytime soon to decide.

2. Kentucky- 19-77/0 td’s ( 4.1 per carry) It is tough to call this a bad game with same yards per carry as two in the solid category, but the confusion on the potential game-tying touchdown drops it a notch.

Solid games-

1. (Vandy)13-71/0 td’s (5.46 per carry)-This was a good game though it was against the 12th ranked rushing defense in the SEC. He could have had more, but we put in Dontavious Jackson & Carlton Thomas (deservedly so).

2. (UF)17-70/0 td’s (4.11 per carry) It is hard to call this good since it is the same avg. per carry as the LSU game, but some of the carries were big and this was against the 2^nd ranked Rush D, so I’ll give him the benefit of those factors. Add in a 20 yard catch and it puts him over the edge. Plus, he took the eye gouge like a man, so there’s that…

3. Auburn18-98/ 1 td’s (5.4 per carry)This was a very good game against a poor D that ranked 10^th in the SEC in rushing defense. Ealey had a19 yarder and several tough runs in the second half.

4. Texas A&M 13-78/ 0 td’s (6.0 per carry)After a decidedly slow start, the wheels started rolling in a big way in this game. This game was highlighted by a 27 yarder that essentially let the Aggies know it was time to roll over. Maybe this game should go in the great games. I don’t know. He just didn’t get enough carries due to Fullback circus at the end of the game. He could have easily finished with over 100 and a TD, but we had to bovine boys a treat.

Great games-

1. Tech 20-183/0 td’s( 9.2 per carry) I still laugh to myself when I think of this game.This was one of the most dominant rushing games I can remember by anyone. He looked like a grown man running through a 1^st grade game of red rover. It seemed like every time he touched it he was 8 yards up the field and then he’d smash through for another yard or two. There were so many great runs it is impossible to remember them. The only thing missing was a TD, which he should have gotten on the 35 yard shredder where he went out at the 3 or so.

Overall: Ealey had a very good season. Given an entire season it is safe to assume that he will get at least close to the 1000 yard barrier. He showed that he will usually break one for 20-30 yards if you keep feeding him the ball. Ealey never really was much of a threat as a receiver last year and he had a stunningly low amount of touchdowns as it compares to his overall production. Hopefully that was more of a coincidence and the fact that we have another capable back in King.

Caleb King

Bad Games-

1. LSU 8-7/0 td’s (.8 per carry) What can you say? This was horrible rushing performance. King had his worst game, but so did the OL. He did have 3 catches for 30 yards, but it still adds up to an embarrassing performance.

2. Vandy 5-14 1 td (2.8 per carry) Caleb had an awesome catch for a TD too, but I still can’t call it a good game when you don’t punish Vandy’s poor D (#12 SEC Rush).

3. UF 5-19/0 td’s (3.8 per carry) Bad game. Enough said. I can’t remember any run from this game and the performance was high lighted by a 6 yarder

Solid Games-

1. Ark 11-59/0 td’s (5.36 per carry) This game was Caleb’s first game of the year and it was a solid performance. It got overlooked because of the deceptively good performance by Joe Cox .Couple that with the fact that the defense looked like someone had spiked the Powerade® with Everclear®, and you get what amounted to an improved King garnering little notice. It didn’t help that Arky ended the season with the 9^th best SEC rushing D.

2. ASU 11-55/0 td’s (5 per carry) Despite losing a fumble, this game was actually an adequate performance against what turned out to be the #1 PAC 10 rushing defense. Before you scoff at the oxymoron of “PAC 10 rushing defense” - know that ASU only allowed 108 yards per game and that is good in any conference. Obviously there was a reason we kept going up top to A.J. in that game.

3. TTU 12-71/0 td’s (5.9 per carry) This game was too easy. Their defense was the worst. Period. I didn’t even look the number up. They sucked. King didn’t get a TD because Ealey was never stopped, Branden Smith “went yard” and the score got out of hand so easily that the 3^rd and 4^th string TB’s (depending on what you call DJAX or Kalvin Daniels 4^th) and even the 3^rd string FB (Justin Fields) were in the game running the ball.

4. Kentucky 14-77/0 td’s (4.3 per carry) He added a 13 yard catch in what was a solid though not spectacular performance. Still, he was near the 100 yard total offense mark and that is good despite the fact that UK had the # 11 rushing defense.

5. Texas A&M 16-60/2 td’s (3.8 per carry) He added a 32 yard reception that was his longest of the year. He really got it going in the second half after a slow start had me worried.

Great Games

1.Auburn- 10-66/2 td’s (6.6 per carry) This game is not going to get the Heisman voters wet (with sweat that is) but getting over 6 yards per carry and the attitude with which he got the second, 24 yard TD puts this one over the edge. He showed attitude, uncanny confidence and a predilection for finding the cutback( more like a mini-dead leg move) to take every available yard.

2. Tech 18-166/2 td’s ( 9.2 per carry) The only bad thing he did in this game was catch an ill-advised pass for -3 yards. Other than that, it was by far his best career game. It is like saying Different Strokes was Gary Coleman’s best work. The 75 yard haymaker TD answered Bebe Thomas’ installment of Willie Martinez’s patented 3^rd quarter “give-the–other-team-all-momentum” fiasco(though truthfully the blame falls squarely on fell Moultrie native Vance Cuff) Caleb’s run pretty much helped ensure about 1000 nerds would not lose their virginity that November night.

Analysis -King had a very good year. He improved immensely on finishing runs, generally not dancing around like a toddler a la Caleb 2008, and showed that he can block quite well when motivated. Add to that the propensity to make catches out of the backfield and you have a guy who is really going places if he continues to improve.

Who Should Start!

Well, from the numbers you have to go with a 60/40 type of split in favor of Ealey. Out of the 8 games in which they both played, Ealey surpassed King’s effort in 7. Some of those games are a “chicken vs. egg” situation because Ealey was given more carries.

Who will replace Rennie

Rennie Curran was a devastatingly efficient tackler. That isn't news too anyone who has watched football in the last three years. Besides being a diminutive beast of beatdown or a tornado of tackles, Rennie also took dependability to the highest possible level. Anytime he didn't smash his way to 10 tackles in a game I was shocked ( that happened 4 times this year when he played the whole game) What may be a bit shocking even to UGA fans is just how much of the work he actually did on the defense. Check these statistics:

Crazy stats

Total tackles- 877  (for the team)

Total Rennie tackles 130 = roughly 15%

The remaining 747 tackles were split between 30+ people

Rennie had the same amount of  tackles as 2nd and 3rd leading tacklers combined in 2009. He had a mere 115 in 2008, which  29 better than next closest.

Who will replace Rennie? 

Let's assume that Justin Houston and Cornelius Washington,  "CornWash", get a shot at the OLB positions.  

This is  generally considered to be a pass rushing position in the 3-4.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-4_defenset     

 Certainly Gamble could wind up there as well being that he actually is heavier than Cornwash.  However, some say he is more on ILB 

and we'll likely have  a rotation.

That leaves us with: 

1) Marcus Dowtin- Made some big plays despite having a club that looked like a pillow wrapped on his hand. 

He looked really confused (on TV) during the Tech game ( I've re-watched three times)but has been otherwise very solid and generally seems to be mean-spirited on the field. 

2) Akeem Dent- Started his career fast and  seemed to hit a plateau, albeit a fairly good one. Still he has good speed and makes his fair share of plays

3) Nick William- He has certainly been preparing for the  next phase, but not as quickly some thought. He'll provide some speedy depth at least.

4) Akeem Hebron-  It would take on heck of a year for him to NOT go down in history as one of those who did not live  up to his Army AA expectations.

5) Chase Vasser -  Nobody really knows yet

 Rennie didn't do everything (he had exactly two force fumbles,  and zero int's ((though one very notable PBU)) and only one fumble recovery in 2009)

 but what he did do was tackle anything that wasn't wearing red and black.  

With 284 total career tackles ( in only three years)he ranks ahead of Thomas Davis and David Pollack.  That kind of production will be tougher to replace

than most would care to admit.

UGA 2010 recruiting

Verbals for 2010 (or don't be Bryan Evans)

You'll notice there are some similarities in the first four guys. There are all Georgians, they are all

( as of February 22) not projected to be 5 star guys, they are all from within an hour radius of Atlanta. So what can be gleaned from these similarities? Maybe nothing or maybe that the 2010 model is a back to the basics approach. Get guys who want to be at UGA, have upside, and are within striking distance of the arches. Disclaimer:Best and Worst case scenarios based on size, some film, and random memories.

David Andrews - 6'2" 275 Best case (Ben Jones)

Worst case (Kevin Perez)

Amarlo Herrara- 6'2" 215 Best case (Tony Taylor)

Worst case (Josh Johnson)

Corey Moore- 6'2" 195 Best case (Sean Jones)

Worst case (Olaolu Sanni-Osomo)

Chris Sanders 6'1" 185 Best case(Kelin Johnson)

Worst case(Bryan Evans)

March Shows in the ATL

Shows that I would "sho-nuff" love to see this spring.

Check these out :

The EARL- The Fruit Bats (March 10th)

The XX ( march 24)

The Fabulous Fox - Wilco (March 26th )

The Tabernacle- Spoon w/ Deerhunter (march 20th)

The Drunken Unicorn- The Ruby Suns Toro Y Moi & Oryx & Crake (march 22)

Center Stage- Air ( March 15th)

Killing Music?

Wiitles are killing music

This band, led by sound design professor, Ryan "Flea" Peoples, uses Wii remotes to rock scientifically (oxymoron) and dazzle audiences with killer three-dollar sunglasses, and pop-n-lock attitude. Yes, it is for real. They invented a program that takes the modulation created by... actually I don't know how it works.

The video, shot by some SCAD friends, is flipping hilarious. I would have liked to see the robot from Lost in Space enter into the equation at some point.

Spring Questions for UGA football

One might ask "What are the three big questions for UGA's spring practice" ? Here is my take in order of importance:

1) How quickly can the defense learn and execute the new system?

It is easy to get swept up in new defensive coordinator, Todd "G-money" Grantham's X and O talk. I'll admit I was sold about 10 seconds into the first radio interview I heard. Having said that, it won't make much difference if the guys running around are confused, timid, or ill-equipped for the task of disrupting offensive schemes, and causing fear.

2) Is the offensive line healthy and/or remotely close to resembling the crew of grave-digging henchmen that allowed the dogs to over and around every team in November and December?

Breaking in a new signal caller is one thing. Breaking a new QB with anything that resembles the first half of the 2009 season will be a major problem. Sure, part of the problem was the general dearth of vision ( I expect he'll be better as a really fast "Hulk smash" LB) by the one healthy back weighing in over the 190 pound mark for the first half of the season, but the defenses faced weren't exactly getting knocked off the ball.

Rushing for under 100 yards per game against OSU, LSU, Arizona State, and Tennessee is not o.k. for a pro-style offense. What ever Stacy Searles did at the end of the year should probably be employed early in spring practice.

3) Can the special teams unit maintain the level of absurd performance in all facets excluding kick coverage?

Last year we have the #1 punter, a #2 kicker( by my count), a kick returner that took three attempts to Grace land and a solid punt return game ( excluding a major brain fart in Arkansas). If these guys can maintain that level, and we can not look like a collection of inebriated toddlers on kick coverage, it will be a major advantage that'll likely win 1 or 2 close games for us in 2010.

I am looking forward to spring practice reports! It won't be long.

Inaugural post

While it amazes me that someone as self-centered as me waited this long to start a blog, I have to factor in my tendency to lag behind the curve. I was about 5 years later than any non-third-world citizen getting a cell phone because I thought it would make me less free. I hope you enjoy the blog.