Let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words, two simple words which express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation: Auburn Sucks.
I've been a Dawg my entire life. UGA was always my dream school where I received 2 Terry College degrees and met my DGD wife. I've been a season ticket holder for over 30 years and love the in-stadium experience over anything from Section HD. My first game in Sanford Stadium was the 1981 Auburn game where we clinched the SEC championship. The best game I've attended in person was the Midnight Miss against Ohio State (nite, nite!). The best home games I've attended were the 1984 Clemson game (the Butler did it) and the 2013 LSU game (that 4th down is still the loudest single moment I've experienced between the hedges). The game I love to win is against the Handbags (FTMF), and the game I hate to lose is the NATS (Tuck Fech).
The Dawgs come back to the friendly confines between the hedges at Sanford Stadium to host the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with the Auburn Tigers. Georgia has ascended to the #1 ranking after beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Auburn sits at 3-2 after a loss two weeks ago on the banks of the Tennessee River to the Volunteers. Alex Golesh gets his first introduction to this SEC rivalry, and Georgia looks to extend its recent dominance in the series. After a tough game on Saturday night and a bye week before the Cocktail Party, this game can potentially be a trap game if the Dawgs sleepwalk Saturday afternoon. Let’s get to the first look.
Series record / last meeting
Georgia leads the series 66-56-8 as a result of a 9-game streak in the series. In the last meeting, the Dawgs win 20-10 with a late Superman like TD by Gunner Stockton providing the final margin. The game’s turning point was a controversial fumble inside the Georgia 1 as the Tigers were going in for a 17-point lead on the Plains. Georgia would go on to kick a late 1st half field goal and then dominate the 2nd half of the game on both sides of the ball.
Gambling degenerate facts
According to DraftKings, after opening as a 16.5 point favorite, Georgia has become a 20.5 favorite with a 49.5 point total. Georgia now sits as a -1600 favorite on the money line.
Byrum Brown has struggled thus far adjusting to the SEC speed of the game throwing 7 picks in 5 games including 2 in their last game at Tennessee. If the Dawgs’ defense can get some heat on Brown, I expect he is going to throw at least 1 on Saturday afternoon. He has not faced the quality of a secondary he will see Saturday in Athens.
Early outlook
Will the Dawgs come out with a focus on destroying anything in Auburn orange? If so, I see practically no path to victory for Auburn. If Georgia falls into the trap they did last year in Jordan-Hare, there is likely to be a game into the 2nd half. This Georgia team appears to be different. They appear to be focused on getting out to fast starts and forcing teams to take chances to keep up. My opinion is that this trend of fast starts continues on Saturday afternoon. Dawgs take care of business and win a game by eventually wearing out the Auburn lines of scrimmage. 20.5 seems like a big number especially with D.J. Durkin game planning the Auburn defense, but this is the same team that gave up 44 to Florida at home before the wheels started falling off the Handbag bus.
What’s your thought right now for Saturday?
Given the length of the series, what is your favorite win the Dawgs have had over the Greater Opelika Cow College? Mine has to be 1992 when we won the game with the ball on the Georgia 1 as the clock ran out. My wife & I got back from our honeymoon on a red-eye that morning and met friends in Auburn that night after they left a message on our answering machine that they had 2 more tickets.
Saturday was glorious. I hope the pollsters find some reason to continue to disrespect us and move Notre Dame to #1. Anyway, on a day like this the message boards once again didn’t disappoint and our geniuses didn’t show up even when it felt the game may be slipping away.
Let’s start today’s trip in Louisville on Friday night for Mike Norvell’s throwing away all of his goodwill from the week before away with 1 play call.
On the road up 14 and instead of going up by 3 scores, Norvell decides to go for it on the 2 yard line and then calls a play where the ball gets thrown behind the line of scrimmage. I don’t know if a field goal there changes the eventual outcome, but it allowed the floodgates to open on the next play from scrimmage when Louisville has a 97 yard run to cut the lead in half. If you’re going to go for it there, either line up and run or make sure you throw the ball into the end zone.
Norvell is a dead man walking at this point. The question is whether they can raise the money to buy out his contract plus his assistants.
Ouch.
Let’s move on to Hogtown where it hasn’t taken long for the Handbags’ season to start free fallin’.
-3 turnover margin gets you beat most Saturdays, and, most of the time, that team gets run out of the building. Giving up 10 of 16 3rd downs is not a good look for a Handbag defense that has multiple loseable games on the schedule left on the schedule. I wonder what the ticket market for the Cocktail Party on the Gator side of MBS is like right now as they get ready to head to Austin for a date with Texas who deep down knows their faceplant in Hogtown last fall was the reason they weren’t in the CFP.
Jonny Boy is finding out really quickly how fickle Handbags are. At this point, the Florida-FSU game may end up on the ACC Network+.
Let’s head to CoMo to check on the mental state of Drink’s latest beatdown victim … Texas 8&4.
That first post is truly genius worthy, or maybe a T-sip posing as an Aggie pulls a great troll.
Could the Missouri game in November end up as the biggest home game of the year? After the last 2 weeks, that appears likely now. Texas A&M is officially on tilt after their defense gets shredded for 252 rushing yards.
On the other side, this stat line is horrible.
Yikes.
At 3-3, it could get ugly for Elko because the Aggie oilmen are more than happy to pay another buyout.
Speaking of little brothers, let’s look in on the Greater Opelika Cow College’s preparation for the DSOR (Dawgs, be loud on Saturday … no letdown).
Auburn fans are as bad as Tech nerds over their never-ending obsession with all things Bama. I’m not going to watch the Sa(t)an documentary for many reasons, but seeing a Barner call any program a bunch of cheaters is rich.
Let’s head to the west coast where the preseason national champions’ season is going up in smoke.
7 turnovers. 20:00 of time of possession. 73 yards rushing. 1 for 12 on 3rd down. Damn, just damn, Dan.
If Kirby decided he has had enough, Lanning would no longer be on my list of coaches I would want to pursue. He has every advantage a first time head coach would want, yet he finds ways to lose games where his team is more talented.
Let’s head to Dallas to check on the status of “Texas is back!” after Sark and Arch fail yet again.
To the genius that fires a stray at Kirby, I’m sure Kirby is worried about your opinion. Texas gets exposed by Oklahoma’s defense, and the Archduke is officially out of the Heisman race after throwing 2 backbreaking picks in the 4th quarter. Steve Sarkisian has to be looking at the fine print in his contract after this one. Oklahoma was dreadful on offense again, but Mateer makes 2 throws that make all the difference in crunch time.
That “best team money can buy” strategy appears to be exploding in Texass’s face. Speaking of programs overspending on NIL …
Let’s head back to horse/bourbon country to check in with the Corn Dogs after losing to Kentucky.
I know a lot of LSU fans aren’t that smart, but that genius doesn’t understand the basics of what $19 million really means. A quick Google search mentioned the following: A waterfront mansion in Ft. Lauderdale, a super-yacht, or a portfolio that generates $760k a year (conservatively without touching the principal).
On to the game itself, Kentucky goes for the win in the first overtime for the 2nd week in a row and lives to tell about it. If this keeps up Will Stein may be in line for SEC CotY. There isn’t a game left on the schedule that Kentucky can’t win starting on Saturday night in Norman where they open as a 6.5 point underdog.
On the other side, LSU is fortunate the game went to overtime after 2 turnovers in their own territory both resulted in no points. The Cajuns adored Kiffin in December and are now turning on him in October. They still have upcoming games against Texas and Alabama which I’m sure Disney will put at night in Death Valley.
This will hurt:
Random stat:
Shane Beamer has more Top-25 road wins in his career than Lane Kiffin.
There’s been plenty of cloud storage used over the 36 hours about the officiating and the embarrassment of Fowler and Herbstreit. Dawg in Austin’s observations post from yesterday is a tour de force in analysis if you haven’t yet read it.
My take on Saturday night is that this was a win for the culture and values of the program as created by Kirby Smart. I have said for 10 years now that Kirby took the Process of Saban and put a human face on it.
Connection – Even when Sacovie muffed the punt (thank goodness for Blake Stewart), Kirby and some players made it clear that they were behind him. He made a clear fair catch of the next one.
Composure – It would have been easy for the team to lose their composure as Alabama turned the game in the 2nd quarter, but clearly the team did not leave the field for halftime discouraged.
Resilience – The first drive of the 2nd half was resilience in action. That was coming off the mat and pulling up the defense after the late 2nd quarter drive.
Physicality – The drive chart of the 2nd half was a beauty to behold: 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:22 (TD); 11 plays, 69 yards, 6:20 (Missed FG); 10 plays, 84 yards, 5:19 (FG); and 8 plays, 40 yards, 3:10 (End of game).
G.A.T.A.
What did you see this weekend that made you laugh out loud? Let us know in the comments.
Tonight the Dawgs and Tide get together in a likely rain-soaked, wind-blown Bryant-Denny Stadium with the inside track to Atlanta and the CFP on the line. As usual, the rosters of both teams are littered with future NFL prospects. The coaches are 2 of the game’s current best in Kirby Smart and Kalen DeBoer. It has been a long time since the Dawgs have beaten Alabama in a regular season. Here’s to hoping that streak comes crashing down about 11 pm. Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia has the ball
The Georgia offense needs to turn this into a line of scrimmage kind of game as they did back in December in the Atlanta rematch. Keep Gunner Stockton upright in the pocket with potential running lanes and allow the Georgia running backs to find holes. While the Alabama defense has been stout against the run, South Carolina did gash the Alabama front 7. This game goes as far as the Georgia offensive line allows it to go. With Chauncey Bowens out for tonight, Nate Frazier needs to have one of his biggest games as a Bulldog. It’s also a time for the Georgia tight ends to assert themselves as the deepest position group on the field regardless of sideline.
When Alabama has the ball
The Tide has found their quarterback in Keelon Russell, who is now the betting favorite to win the Most Overrated Award in Sports. He has been difficult to control, but the Tide offense is going to face the best defense by far they have seen this season. The Tide’s offensive line had trouble with the Georgia front 7 in the SEC championship game. Once again, if the Georgia defensive front can assert itself, the Dawgs should see some success. If not, the Tide has the opportunity to turn this game into a track meet where it could be difficult for the Georgia offense to keep up.
What will happen
Is the emergence of Russell by itself enough for the point spread to move from Georgia by a field goal to Bama -1.5? As this game draws closer, my optimism goes up. If the weather conditions are as bad as they appear to be at this point, I do believe that tends to be an advantage to the team that is more physical. Even in last year’s loss in Athens, the Dawgs were the more physical team. I do think Kirby has been game planning for this one pretty much the whole season to this point (other than the week of the OU game). This game comes down to turnovers and kicking game. I think that makes experience at quarterback invaluable. Dawgs get one hand on the Alabama state championship trophy tonight.
Final score: Georgia 27, Alabama 24
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
This also serves as the Georgia game day thread, so keep it civil.
This brings Bama privilege to whole different level
Saturday night, the pressure of the season ratchets up to 11 as the Dawgs travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama in a top 10 showdown. Georgia has not been tested to this point rolling through its schedule 5-0 and not being behind for a minute this season. Alabama has had to come off the mat a couple of times in games against Kentucky and Florida State coming back from 1st half deficits. Both teams are extremely talented with future NFL players all over the field. This game appears to have the look of a 4-quarter battle royale where the first to blink potentially loses. Let’s get to the first look.
Series record / last meeting
Alabama leads the series 45-27-4, but Georgia has a 1-game streak in the series. In the last meeting, the Dawgs avenge their only regular season loss with a 28-7 physical pounding of the Tide in the SEC championship game. The Georgia defense got after Ty Simpson’s ass and held the Tide to negative yards rushing. Georgia took advantage of turnovers, special teams and field position to generate easy points and to send the Tide faithful to the exits midway through the 4th quarter. In the months following, Alabama fans could not accept the absolute domination claiming Georgia won only because of Alabama mistakes
Gambling degenerate facts
According to DraftKings, after opening as a 3 point favorite, Georgia is a -1.5 point underdog with a point total of 55.5 with Bama as a -122 money line favorite. Essentially, Bama is favored due to home field advantage.
Interesting statistic: 49.12% (Alabama’s 3rd down conversion rate)
Alabama has been extremely efficient on offense and has been good at staying on the field. 3rd down was the difference in game 1 in Athens last year, and if the Dawgs have their best chance to win on Saturday night, the defense needs to be able to get off the field and get the ball to the offense with good field position. The Florida State game is an interesting data point for Saturday night where the Tide only converted 1/3 of their 3rd downs. The Georgia defense is a step up in competition from the Seminoles.
Early outlook
It’s time for Georgia to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa. If Georgia wins 3rd down, I really do think we are all going to be happy on Saturday night. If not, we will be staring down the remainder of the SEC gauntlet knowing that Texas doesn’t play either Georgia or Alabama and Bama will have the tiebreaker over us to get to Atlanta. That also means Georgia has 1 strike against us in the season-long battle to get to the CFP.
If the Dawgs can contain Keelon Russell, I do think the Georgia offense has one particular advantage to exploit in this game. The Georgia offensive line can control the game and keep the Alabama offense on the sideline.
I hate to say it, but right now, Bama wins a close one due to home field advantage and the real Bama privilege. Dawgs, please make me eat those words.
What’s your thought right now for Saturday?
Given the rivalry between the Alabama freshman class and UGA undergraduate admissions, what was your safety school? My answer is I didn’t have one.
As usual, the message boards did not disappoint in the usual locations including one that has been a frequent spot in the past. As the season continues, it’s clear there are a couple of places that have buyer’s (and seller’s) remorse on some recent decisions, and there are others where difficult decisions that are going to cost universities a lot of money are imminent. How quickly is the coaching carousel going to start turning? Let’s get going to see what’s happening.
We’ll start this week’s trip in the Windy City on Friday rather than Saturday as the Nittany Lions get their butts flat run over by Northwestern.
Northwestern runs for 413(!) yards against the once proud defensive stalwart Ped (sorry, Penn) State. 2 backs go over 160 yards, and the Wildcats average 7.5 yards per attempt. Joe Paterno is spinning in his grave, and all of the linebackers who once made Happy Valley LBU are probably ready to take Matt Campbell out for a little tackling practice. On the flip side, 48 yards rushing on 22 attempts is appalling for a program that made its reputation on physicality. When a coach leaves a place that has treated him right as Iowa State did with Campbell for years, I enjoy watching that coach fall flat on his face.
Moving on to Blacksburg where “Enter Sandman” couldn’t save the Hokies from a James Franklin face plant.
The Hokies blow a double digit lead at home to Pitt. They lose on a special teams mistake by missing what is not much more than a glorified extra point in a 36-yard field goal as time expired. -4 turnover margin, yikes. They were fortunate to have a chance to win with that kind of lopsided margin.
Let’s move on to the Land of 10,000 Lakes to check in on the Kyle Whittingham Experience at Michigan.
Michigan gets beaten by Minnesota, who got absolutely worn out at home by Mississippi State. Michigan has scored more than 20 points once this season … against UTEP. They generated all of 180 yards of total offense, and Barstool NIL QB Bryce Underwood looked awful again. But. The flip side Troy Bowles appears to be Michigan’s best defensive player, and he could make the 2-deep at linebacker at Georgia.
This graphic is a pretty good summary of Michigan football.
USC comes back to beat Washington at home after falling behind by double digits. If that doesn’t happen, I’m betting Lincoln Riley may have been fired as early as Sunday morning. Life doesn’t get any easier for the Boy Wonder as as a home game against Jeremiah Smith and the Buckeyes and a November date at the defending national champion Hoosiers loom on the schedule. That’s without even mentioning the cross-town rivalry game with UCLA where Riley truly could be coaching for his job. Colin Cowpatty is hazzing a sad over this.
Let’s head back southeast to check on the state of college football in the Palmetto State … let’s just put it this way – it ain’t pretty.
With the “Enter Sandman” reference earlier in today’s feature, “Sandstorm” doesn’t save South Carolina from another blown double digit lead. Kentucky was left for dead after the 2nd half firebombing that Bama laid on them at Commonwealth Stadium (I can’t call it Kroger Field). It appears unlikely that Baby Beamer is going to last long enough for Kirby to drive the final nail in his career coffin in Columbia East. That job is a place where careers go to die. Is what South Carolina has become the result of pouring your NIL money into 2 players while neglecting the rest of the roster?
On the other hand, last night may have been Dabo’s last stand to maintain any credibility that he can turn things around at the Greater Anderson Cow College. I watched much of the first half, and it looked like Miami was just like a cat playing with a mouse before it finally decided it was time to go in for the kill. I wasn’t impressed with the Canes (I don’t get the money Miami spent on Mensah … he’s good, but he’s not this unstoppable force IMHO). Dabo is going to be given the opportunity to retire at Clemson on his own terms and be loved by their fan base. The game has truly passed him by at this point.
Let’s go back to Knoxville to check on the mental state of the Auburn Family post-loss to the Vols.
Auburn thought they were hiring their offensive genius in Golesh. What we’re finding out is that being successful at South Florida is a little different than the gauntlet that is the SEC. Byrum Brown looks terrible, and the Tigers’ defense got absolutely run over by Tennessee, who barely even tried to throw the ball. The fact they are saying that Drinkwitz wasn’t cool enough to be part of the Auburn family makes me laugh out loud.
Lather, rinse, repeat, Tiglesmen. We’re here for it.
That really was nothing but some context for our last stop of the weekend … Columbia, Missouri.
You knew this was eventually coming. The guy being claimed as the Gators’ savior is being dragged 5 weeks into his tenure as the Head Handbag. The Bloody Tuesday jokes write themselves after the way Missouri dominated Florida physically especially in the 2nd half. The 80-yard run they gave up to make it 45-10 was well blocked, and then the back just made the Gator secondary look awful. The “Won’t Back Down” serenade by the Missouri fans is just the chef’s kiss. I don’t know what that means for Halloween afternoon in Mercedes Benz Stadium, but I can imagine Kirby isn’t going to go easy on Jonny Boy.
A little bonus content from a genius at StinkTalk who has diagnosed their problem.
This is Nerd 101 kind of stuff. The next thing you know they’ll be hooking Key up to some biofeedback machine on the sideline to tell him when he needs to drink water. They are pathetic.
What did you see this weekend? Here’s to no UGA geniuses showing up in this space next Monday. GATA, Dawgs.
About 12:45 today our 2nd ranked Georgia Bulldogs look to move to 3-0 in the conference and continue to bolster our resume as one of the true national title contenders against Vanderbilt on Homecoming in Athens. Everyone knows the undercurrent story of the week, and Kirby and the players have downplayed that angle in public. Of course, that player is still listed as “Questionable” on yesterday’s availability report. I imagine the behind the scenes is quite different as the Dawgs prepare for the Commodores. Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia has the ball
The Georgia offense needs to continue to build on its explosive start. Regardless of the metric used, the offense has generated more big chunk yardage plays this year compared to the last couple of years. In particular, the running game has been downright scary as Georgia has created the opportunity for long runs by Nate Frazier, Dwight Phillips, Gunner Stockton, Ryan Puglisi, Jaden Reddell and Talyn Taylor. Just missing the 20 yard cutoff is the always tough Chauncey Bowens with an 18 yarder himself. I went back and looked at Vandy’s near loss to NC State. The Pack was very solid on offense other than turnovers and generated some explosives against the Vandy defense. If the Dawgs do that and limit mistakes, the 40-point barrier should be very much in play later today.
When Vanderbilt has the ball
Will Curtis play or not? That really is the question. As mentioned earlier, the freshman QB remains listed on the availability report as questionable. I believe that means he will give it a go later today. I’m assuming the Georgia defense has been fully prepared for Curtis to play and not to be limited. I expect the Georgia defense to give a lot of looks the young signal caller has not seen and to disguise true intent. If we can get pressure, I expect Curtis to give the Georgia defense opportunities to put on the Savage Pads and change field position and game momentum. If I were Clark Lea, I would try to shorten the game with ball control especially with the short passing game knowing how difficult the Georgia defense is to run against. If the game gets out of hand, how long does Lea leave Curtis in knowing that there are winnable games for the team down the road?
What will happen
Assuming nothing absolutely weird happens today including the weather, the Dawgs should win and win by double digits. Covering a spread that has moved to 25 1/2 likely requires the Dawgs to play clean and get Vandy’s offense off the field without sucking the game clock dry.
I said in the first look post that I expect the Dawgs to cover. I see no reason to back away from that at this point. The Dawgs’ offense continues its explosive play and generates yards and points. The defense gets after Curtis from the start and introduces Curtis to life as a Commodore in the SEC.
Final score: Georgia 41, Vanderbilt 10
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
EDIT (by Otis): This is your post for comments throughout the game today.
The Jed Clampetts see their Texas Tea coming into focus.
CFP leaders are closer than ever to expanding to a 24-team playoff. They are talking buyouts of conference title games and scheduling logistics of doubling the field.
I know White T-Shirt Guy isn’t some of you guys’ favorite. Dial this up to 37:00, and you get a tour de force crushing the fake arguments made for expansion. Didn’t the powers that be say that schools would schedule up in a 12-team expansion as well. If you believe that at this point, you’re nothing but a sucker.
Greg Sankey and the SEC, you’re our Obi-Wan Kenobi against this madness.
Early Saturday afternoon, the Dawgs host one of the program’s traditional Homecoming opponents between the hedges of Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium. Clark Lea has turned around the program from the disaster it had become under Derek Mason where the low point was the Commodores quitting on the pandemic season rather than taking the L that was coming to them in Athens in 2020. Go, Diego, Go Pavia is gone, and former Georgia commit Jared Curtis will get the start at quarterback. They are 3-1 against the murderers’ row schedule of Austin Peay, Delaware, NC State and Auburn. If Dave Doeren and CJ Bailey have a collective brain between them, Vandy would be 2-2 right now. Let’s get to the first look.
Series record / last meeting
Georgia leads the series 61-20-2 and is riding a 6 game winning streak in the series. In the last meeting in 2023, Georgia goes into Nashville and wins 37-20 in a game not nearly as close as the score indicates. 2nd half red zone woes turning potential touchdowns into field goals, and a near pick 6 make the score look respectable. The Dawgs generate over 550 yards of total offense while limiting Vanderbilt to 219 including a paltry 18 yards on the ground. The biggest story line of the game is the loss of Brock Bowers in the 1st half to a high ankle sprain, which limited 19’s effectiveness and availability for the remainder of the season.
Gambling degenerate facts
According to DraftKings, Georgia is -24.5 point favorite with a point total of 50.5 and are a -2800 money line favorite.
Interesting statistic: +0.55 (Vandy’s net yards per play)
Through 4 games, Vandy’s net yards per play statistic is mediocre especially considering their strength of schedule. They are averaging fewer than 4 yards per rushing attempt and 7.5 yards per passing attempt. Curtis is leading the team in rushing attempts at this point in the season … if that happens on Saturday, I’m not sure he’ll be able to finish the game. Not surprisingly, their defensive stats on a per play basis look very similar. One item of note is that NC State and Auburn both averaged over 4 yards per attempt on the ground against the Vanderbilt defense.
Early outlook
I think Kirby has had this game circled on the schedule since the schedule was announced. All indications are that Curtis burned every bridge with the Georgia coaching staff in the days leading up to his last minute flip to the hometown team especially given the Georgia staff’s assurance to his family that he was the only QB they were going to recruit actively. I’m guessing the defense has some special wrinkles in store for Curtis, and he’s going to be very sore on Sunday morning.
Vanderbilt doesn’t have the quantity and quality of athletes through the depth chart to keep up with a Georgia team that’s focused.
Georgia fans (and, especially, students), let’s show Curtis what he could have had behind him on Saturday afternoon. Let’s make Sanford a midday house of horrors and drop an anchor right the Commodore’s head. Dawgs win and cover.
What’s your thought right now for Saturday?
Given Vanderbilt’s academic reputation, what top flight academic school would you have considered going to if given the opportunity? My answer has to be Stanford. Great golf tradition, incredible school, beautiful location.
The teams (except 1) at the top of the rankings flexed their collective muscles while others came crashing back down to reality. We saw the emergence of a future opponent we didn’t believe would be a challenge before the season. We saw another rival’s season officially go up in glorious flames.
Let’s start today on the banks of the Tennessee River where this week’s meteor game occurred.
Texas wins a game on the road where they don’t recover an onside kick, have a -2 turnover margin, and lose over 110 yards hidden yards in penalties including one of the most idiotic, tasteless celebration penalties you’ll ever see. The Longhorns generate 10 sacks and hold Tennessee to under 20 points.
Can we just stop the constant talk of how tough a place to play Kneeland Stadium is? The Tennessee faithful seem to be getting close to the end of their ropes with Heupel.
Let’s go up to the Big House to check in on the temperature of the Maize & Blue.
Talking about the Big 10 officiating screwing them is priceless. If they can’t beat Iowa at home, I don’t think Indiana, Oregon, UCLA(!) and Ohio State are too worried about Michigan especially on offense. You give up a kickoff return for a touchdown and take a likely sure 3 off the scoreboard by going for it on 4th and short. Regardless of what their record says, Michigan is 2-2.
Our next stop is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to see how Louisville’s season seems to be imploding.
Yes, Cardinals, you aren’t a serious program. Karma is a bitch after your coach implies Georgia was scared to come play you. Wake Forest has become one of those programs that shouldn’t be competitive in this new world order of college football, yet they were competitive with Miami and has 2 Power 4 road wins.
Let’s swing into Hogtown to check on the Rebel Black Bear Land Sharks as they come crashing back to reality.
Florida runs (literally and figuratively) Ole Miss out of North Florida and drops half a hundred on them while doing it. 302 yards rushing, 60% 3rd down conversion and 2 players over 100 yards rushing each show us that Ole Miss is vulnerable on defense. Is Florida likely to be a tougher out on Halloween? Yes, but I also think we know the Faulkner offense now.
I give Pete Golding 2 years before he’s run out of Oxford.
Let’s drop into the Classic City in the aftermath of the Dawgs’ dismantling of the program that is destined to become the Nebraska of the SEC.
Stephen A. Smith was right this week when he told a former Sooner appearing with him … “You’re going to get your ass kicked.” That’s what happened on Saturday afternoon in Athens. The Dawgs play a C game on offense and beat Oklahoma by 28. If you had Ryan Puglisi taking snaps in this game on your preseason Bingo card, you may need to get to your closest casino.
John Mateer looked awful. Their offensive line was downright offensive especially in the run game where most of their 65 yards rushing came after the starting defense was on the sideline.
Chris Cole was everywhere. Talyn Taylor is becoming WR1 before our eyes. Special teams were spot on. This team continues to get better.
Jared Curtis is probably having nightmares already thinking about what awaits him Saturday afternoon.
Let’s head out west to check in on the Boy Wonder after his team shows their asses against Oregon.
Arrogant Nation gets smacked down by Oregon, and Dan Lanning lets west coast recruits know what the difference in the 2 programs is. America’s worst ChatGPT poet comes into the game after Dante Moore’s scary injury to lead the Ducks to the win. On the play in question, QBs should have to go to 1 knee to give themselves up. The hit wasn’t necessary and was about as vicious as it gets. The USC players’ celebration after the hit was as tasteless as Collin Simmons’s post-sack celebration earlier in the day.
That hit is what the targeting rule was meant to stop not some of the normal football plays where things happen when 2 large human beings collide.
Let’s come back east to drop into Tuscaloosa as things slowly come apart for the Gamecocks.
Dylan Stewart makes an ass of himself. Shane Beamer’s time at South Carolina is going to come to an end. South Carolina ran for 216 yards on Alabama but scored just 18 points. Bama has found their QB in Russell. The Cocks had a chance to jump on Bama early and missed a field goal due a penalty. The next drive they try on the dumbest version of a QB sneak on 4th down. Then the floodgates opened.
I believe the Dawgs are getting ready to go to Tuscaloosa and make a statement in 2 weeks.
Let’s move on to the Bayou where another former Big 12 SEC member’s season is officially on the brink staring into the abyss.
Texas A&M, you ain’t hiring Nick Saban. If Texas couldn’t convince him to leave Bama, you aren’t going to convince him to come out of a retirement that he seems to love. You need a quarterback more than anything. Marcel Reed is worse than John Mateer. At least, Mateer can make an accurate throw when given time.
I could have posted another submission making fun of Elko’s body shape, but that has gotten old.
Little brother is in trouble.
Let’s end this week’s trip as the Nerds of North Avenue fear the Tree in Palo Alto and StinkTalk didn’t disappoint. The end of the Drought draws nearer.
Ken Whisenhunt is the nerds’ Obi-Wan Kenobi. 12 penalties, -2 turnover margin, and 4th and 45 tell me they aren’t the geniuses on the field we’re supposed to believe they are.
The Jacketasses may not be a point spread favorite again this season (at home against Boston College may be the exception).
Pain is coming in Sanford in November, and I can’t wait to see us make them quit.
The only problem with that is that StinkTalk won’t be open for lurking. #firstworldproblems
What caught your eye this week? Let us know in the comments.
I don’t know about all of you, but playing Oklahoma in a conference game doesn’t feel right. Of course, I have felt that about all of the Big 12 interlopers over the last 14 years. Later today the 2nd ranked Dawgs and Sooners meet on campus for the first time as SEC competitors. Georgia has played 3 games in which they haven’t been challenged for more than a half. Oklahoma has a loss in the Big House to Michigan and a scuffling win over New Mexico in their last 2 games. Those performances have seen the Sooners fall out of the top 25 and have started the hot seat murmurs. I expect we’re going to get OU’s best shot in Athens this afternoon. Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia has the ball
Oklahoma is stout on defense, and this group may be the best defense the Georgia offense faces this season. The best thing for this week is that this offense faces a great defense every Bloody Tuesday at practice. The game really comes down to whether the Georgia offense can stay out of 3rd and long for much of the day. Gunner Stockton needs to be at his dual threat best today by hitting receivers when they are open in tight windows and by using his legs to get yardage when plays break down. I expect to see a lot of 12 personnel from the Georgia offense to force the Oklahoma defense to be in run-pass conflict especially on early downs.
When Oklahoma has the ball
The Sooners have struggled mightily on offense since their opening 51-0 win over UTEP. They have scored 31 total points in their last 2 games and have not looked good in doing it. John Mateer has not played to the high expectations of Sooner fans this year, and his terrible interception late in the Michigan game directly led to that loss. The Oklahoma running has not been very good either only generating 170 and 61 yards (about 3.25 yards per attempt) in their 2 wins. The Georgia defense will look to capitalize on the limited Oklahoma offense. I look for Georgia to control the Oklahoma running game with the front 6 and then dial up the pressure on Mateer on 3rd down.
What will happen
A couple of Oklahoma top linemen are either out or questionable. I’m guessing David Stone is going to attempt to suit up and play this afternoon after sustaining a leg injury in practice this week. The Sooners’ best offensive lineman Michael Fasusi is likely out. That’s probably not a good sign for a line that has struggled this season.
If Georgia doesn’t turn the ball over and controls the ability of Oklahoma to create explosive plays, the Dawgs are going to win. The Dawgs get into the upper 20s but don’t quite cover because the late substitutions give up a score late for the Sooners to get the back door cover.
