Coach Amazon Prime is getting paid. Normally I’d argue one of these things is not like the other, but…
Just to be clear, Georgia surrendered 226 yards rushing to Massachusetts, but here’s a fun fact:
Run the damn ball, Sark. You’ve got enough money on the roster to do it.
Or at least he should.
Ever wonder what impact Smart has had on the SEC?
And…
And then…
Yes, he’s turned the rest of the conference into basketball schools. Meanwhile..,
Get in line Longhorns. Kirby’s around for a while. Might as well become a basketball school while you can.
Go Dawgs!
By Friday, February 28th:
By Saturday evening, March 1st:
Georgia played arguably their best and most complete game Saturday night, and in Austin, of all places. And to think, the Longhorns were going to take over the SEC.
I’m beginning to enjoy their company. I think the genesis of a new hated rival started here:
Horns Down.
Go ‘Dawgs.
I spent Friday night and Saturday at Disney World with the family, so I only checked in on the games when I had a chance. I think we can say the 1st round games delivered in proving college football is different from the NFL and March Madness. Talent matters, and Bobby Hill is overrated.
Let’s start our trip in South Bend where Marcus Freeman’s defense destroyed Indiana’s hope of a Hoosier state title.
Imagine not winning a game against a team currently ranked in the top 25 and being splattered by the 1 you did play. Indiana, you were a cute story throughout the year, but you should have been playing in a New Year’s 6 bowl or having a nice postseason celebration of your season in a sunny locale. Instead, you are home for the holidays with the most empty calorie 11-2 record we’ve seen since Hawaii got scattered, smothered, covered and chunked in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.
On the Notre Dame side, your All-American tailback gained 108 yards and you had almost 200 yards on the ground … good for you. 98 of those came on one play. Let me just put it this way. You aren’t going to overwhelm the Georgia line of scrimmage.
Let’s move over to State College for the Death Penalty Bowl to check in on the Ponies.
I said last week that SMU was this year’s TCU except TCU won a playoff game. This game was the classic “the moment was too big and they pissed down their leg” Coach 30 moment. Penn State had 74 yards of offense and a 14-0 lead due to 2 pick 6s. At that moment, the game was out of reach.
The big question coming out of the first 2 games is whether either of these 2 schools were worthy of an at-large bid. I think it’s safe to say the answer is no.
Let’s move on to Austin for what would turn out to be the game of the weekend.
A really bad 2nd quarter dooms Dabo and the Tiggers. Clemson cuts the lead to 7 and then gives up a long TD run to put the game away. To the geniuses on TigerNet, who are you going to hire to take Dabo’s place? Clemson is still the team in the ACC best constructed to play deep into January. Is Dabo the best in-game coach? No way. Has he built a program and a culture that can stand the test of time? I think so. The problem is he doesn’t have a pair of championship-quality coordinators to lean on for game planning and recruiting.
I did find this troll to be humorous.
Let’s end the trip segment of the weekend in Columbus. Damn, why didn’t the meteor show up?
Tennessee social media and message boards could be the most toxic in the world of the CFB internet. I admit I got this one wrong … bad wrong. Tennessee got boat raced. Jeremiah Smith is a man. Nico is still way overrated. When you get outcoached by the Just for Men spokescoach, you pretty much suck.
What’s the excuse this time, Vols? Face it. Your coach runs up big numbers against inferior competition, finds magic for a game every other year (Bama in Kneeland), and looks lousy against teams that are superior.
There’s going to be a winter of discontent in Knoxville.
What does all of this mean for Georgia? While ND doesn’t scare me, they could be a tough out if we don’t have a good game plan for Gunner or our execution sucks … not a time for a slow start. Penn State feasted on a QB not ready for prime time. Our offensive line will have to play their asses off in a game with them. Texas and Ohio State are both troublesome. Hopefully, Gunner has settled in by the time we possibly get to one of them.
For a bonus feature, here are some tidbits from other boards over the weekend.
What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments below.
The middle game of CFP triple-header Saturday features the teams in the “We Lost to Georgia” Bowl, the Greater Anderson Cow College Tiggers and the Texass Hamburgers at DKR Memorial Stadium. This game has all the look of a Texas easy win based on the teams’ performance throughout the year … home field advantage, offensive line play, and overall defense. On the other hand, this game isn’t Dabo’s first rodeo in the CFP and Clemson’s defensive line play. Let’s get to the preview.
Series Record: First meeting (I was surprised that these 2 schools had not even played in a bowl game)
Gambling Degenerate Facts: The Harrah’s sports book at the Venetian has Texas as a 11.5 point favorite with a money line of -455 and a point total of 51.5.
How Should a Refugee Watch This Game: We beat both of these teams soundly in the regular season, one on a “neutral” site and one in their backyard. We turned around and beat the Hamburgers again in Atlanta in an SEC championship game for the ages. Texas is one of the 2 teams in this thing that is built in a way to compete with us (IMHO, Ohio State is the other). To me, the Greater Anderson Cow College has the defensive front to do to Texas what we did to them twice … get pressure on Ewers and control the Texas running game. I’ll never consider Texas as part of the SEC, so I’ll be fine if the Tiggers go ahead and take them out of this thing. I would enjoy the Message Board Geniuses’ X feed if that happened.
Interesting Statistic: 0.86/2.25 (net yards per play for Clemson and Texas, respectively)
The difference in this statistic is stark. After drilling into the detail, the Longhorns’ defense is the real difference between these 2 teams. That doesn’t mean I’m saying Clemson’s defense is the weak link, but the Longhorn defense should be the best total unit on the field on Saturday and have been the most consistent unit throughout the season.
Early Outlook
Texas should win this game and should cover the spread if the game goes as the teams on paper would indicate. The problem for Texas is that the game isn’t played on paper. Similar to the 2 games against Georgia, the media and the talking heads are lining up with Texas against “little ole Clemson.” Turnovers (game 1) and drive-killing mistakes (game 2) changed the games. If those equalizers show up again on Saturday, this game will be a 4 quarter fist fight.
Clemson’s path to victory requires them to be able to run the ball effectively, stay in front of (or with) the chains and stay out of 3rd and long … the thing they did not do consistently in Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Georgia. The Tigers really need to turn this game into a low-scoring street brawl to have a chance to steal it in the 4th quarter. I’m not convinced about Sark’s in-game coaching prowess, and a close game in the 4th would only magnify those concerns.
I think the team with the most paths to victory is the likely winner. Therefore, the burnt orange of Texas makes a return trip to Atlanta to take on Arizona State in the Peach Bowl.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Can’t say I disagree. Hell, I’d vote for it if it were on a referendum.
Horns down, and Go Dawgs.
I’m still on cloud 9 as I write this. After winning the SEC championship, everything from this point on is just gravy. I’ll get into the game in a bit, but I still have the privilege to share the misery and genius of the message board universe.
Let’s start our trip up in Charlotte where the Greater Anderson Cow College played 3D chess for the regular season.
“We have the smarts.” Yeah, right. I’m guessing this genius is making Beef & Cheddar sandwiches after getting promoted from the curly fryer at the Anderson Arby’s.
Clemson blows a big lead over SMU and then kicks a 56 yard field goal on the game’s final play to get their ticket punched as the 12 seed to the CFP. Their reward is a trip to Austin to take on a Texas team that knows it has a favorable draw to the semifinals if they can beat the Tiggers before Christmas. This seems like a terrible matchup for Clemson given how the Georgia front 7 overwhelmed the Clemson offensive line in Atlanta. The question is whether Sark can rebuild Quinn Ewers’s confidence over the next 2 weeks to have him ready to make a playoff run.
Let’s go check in on the state of mind of the Bammer Nation after they find that their dance card is sending them to (checks notes) Tampa for the Reliaquest Bowl for a Rose Bowl rematch with Michigan instead of their rightful place in the ESPN Invitational.
Bammers online everywhere are trying to gaslight the entire college football world by saying “they wuz robbed” and so Greg Byrne should cancel every high-profile OOC game for eternity. They lost 3 games in the conference to unranked opponents including an embarrassing loss to Oklahoma in Norman. The Vandy loss also hasn’t aged well.
SMU’s comeback makes it easy for the committee to make the decision take out Alabama. Once again, Finebaum should be a joy later this afternoon.
Roll Tears Roll.
Let’s head to downtown Atlanta to check on the Hamburgers after the Dawgs win the SEC and take the #2 ranking and overall seed.
Any Shorthorn making a comment about officiating and SEC favoritism just makes me laugh. To my view on the game, Texas had their chances to get total control of the game in the first half but could only scrape out a 6-3 lead at the break due to a turnover, penalties, missed field goals and Georgia pass pressure. When you really watch the game closely, Texas really only generated yards off big plays even a couple of improvising plays.
When the Dawgs went to Gunner, it was like the light came on for the offensive line. They started moving the Texas defense and the receivers seemed to decide to start catching the ball (Get well soon, Carson). The fake punt and the drive that culminated from it was beautiful … scoring a TD there would have been the only thing to make it perfect.
To me, the most valuable player of the game was the Georgia front 7. They dominated the Texas run game that had been so potent, and you can’t say enough about the 6 sacks and how those sacks completely affected the game.
To end our trip, let’s take the MARTA east and north lines to North Avenue to check in on the Birmingham Bowl bound Jacketasses of StinkTalk.
Those self-proclaimed geniuses don’t even know how the format of the expanded playoff is supposed to work. I can’t blame them … when they have no reason to understand it, we shouldn’t be surprised when some Dudd-like nerd tries to use the FSU argument to say we shouldn’t be in (note the time of the comment at 10 pm). That commenter was probably watching cricket or quidditch world championship reruns or participating in a tricycle race before a big tickle pile.
In summary, that bunch makes it really easy to hate them for the real inferiority complex dumbass little brothers they are. I hope Diego Pavia goes full Auburn on their asses in Birmingham.
It’s great to be a Georgia Bulldog!
What did you see on Championship Saturday? Let us know in the comments below.
Georgia and Texas square off later today for the 2nd time in Atlanta with the SEC championship on the line. Just like clockwork the entire college football apparatus has lined up saying Texas will win. They all talk about what Texas learned from the first game, and no one is giving Georgia a chance. I even heard Josh Pate talk about what happens in the playoff if Georgia gets blown out like the result is set in stone and it’s just a matter of how bad it’s going to be. I don’t know if Georgia is going to win, but other than the LSU game in 2019, I’ve never gone into a game in this building thinking the Dawgs didn’t have chance. This Texas team ain’t that LSU team. Let’s get to the preview.
When Georgia Has the Ball
Can Carson Beck continue to take care of the ball as he has the last few weeks and didn’t do in Austin? If so, Georgia has more than a puncher’s chance to win today. Due to the offensive woes at the time, Georgia took advantage of field position created by the defense to score 23 first half points. We can’t rely on those same opportunities to win today. Similar to the Tennessee game, I expect we are going to see Mike Bobo take an early shot to let the Longhorns’ defense know we are going to throw it over their head if they decide to play 8 or 9 in the box.
I can’t write this without talking about how important the offensive line play is this week. This game likely goes only as well as that group allows. Just enough of a running game to force the Longhorns to respect play action. Keep Beck upright in the pocket.
When Texas Has the Ball
Will Sark put Arch Manning out there more than in game 1? Can Quinn Ewers be more effective than he was in Austin? Can Texas run the ball and protect the quarterbacks much better than they did in front of friendly crowd in Austin? If the answers to all of these are yes, we probably don’t win.
The defense has played 3 great games this year: Clemson, Texas and Tennessee. The common denominator in all of those games really was the ability to force quarterbacks to stay in the pocket and make throws with a limited ability to run the ball. Against Clemson, Georgia stopped the run consistently and got consistent pressure but only 2 sacks. 7 sacks in Austin were the difference in the game as Ewers and Manning looked like they were playing big boy football for the first time. 5 sacks on Nico I in Athens against Tennessee. Many of those caused by the fact there was no one to throw to downfield. On the other hand, in our 2 losses, we got 1 sack total.
I think that tells you our winning formula today depends on creating havoc. Can we do it?
What Will Happen
Honestly, I’m at a loss for knowing what is going to happen. LSU 2019 is the only time we have lost in Mercedes-Benz without Alabama being on the other sideline. This Georgia team is better than that 2019 team, and Texas is nowhere near the juggernaut that was that LSU team.
This outcome of this game comes down to line play and how Carson Beck handles the moment. At this point in the season, I have to say Texas has the edge along the lines of scrimmage, but they aren’t going to be able to win a 17-7 type of game as they did last week in College Station. Carson Beck at his best is better than the 2 QBs combined for Texas.
Other than that LSU game, Kirby seems to be at his best when no one gives his team a chance. I believe Kirby knows the value of getting that bye for his team, and he is going to coach that way.
The Dawgs force one field goal in the red zone to make the difference.
Final Score: Georgia 31, Texas 27
Shocker.
And they’ll do it again Saturday, if given the chance. Why wouldn’t they? The Texas Temper Tantrum worked to overturn a non-reviewable play, so load up your pockets with water bottles and give it a Bevo Heavo and shows you ass in the MBS.
Just like they did as the home team in the Big XII championship last year, Texas decided their uniform combo is going to be “all white, all white, all white” (sigh).
Easier to see the blood, if you ask me.
Maybe we should play a reverse Uno card and call for a white out in the Benz.