Observations from the armchair, “Oh, Billy!” Edition.

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Ain’t nothing better than fried gator tail, Refugees. That said, I may have to lay off the fried foods for a while because my heart tends to stop enough as it is during this season’s Georgia games. The Dawgs did their best to make Billy Gonzales look like a decent coach, but yet again locked it down when it mattered most. I’m still not sure if the team is good enough to make a deep run come playoff time, but they certainly can get there. That and beating all our old rivals again I’ll gladly take during a rebuilding year. On to the Cocktail Party bullets.

  • This was the closest I’ve ever been to predicting a game script, until Gunner took that knee. I had it 31-20 with a 4th quarter score to ice it. Damnit, Kirby. Protect your betting fans better! 😉
  • Speaking of Gunner, I figured he’d have a rough start with all the emotions of this game and venue mixed in, but he was really up and down all game. Some bad throws, some gems, some nice runs and a big blitz pickup he missed that almost turned the game around. Really happy for him and his family though to enjoy this victory.
  • The offense mirrored Gunner overall, looking explosive and efficient at times running and passing, and constipated at other times. Florida has a good defense, but at least 3 of the drives we seemed to execute really poorly. That was disappointing coming off a bye week.
  • I know Lagway came in with a lot of fanfare, but I actually think he’s going to be a bust. He struggles to read coverages and makes too many mental errors to be a big time QB. Sad!
  • Speaking of busts, I don’t think I have anything more to say about Joenel Aguero and Jacory Thomas. I just wish we had better players to take their spots. With Demello going down and KJ out, I was really anxious about the outcome. Think we were lucky that Dallas Wilson went down first and that Lagway isn’t very smart. But I’m not sure we’re going to ever see a good secondary this year.
  • I thought the targeting call on KJ was technically correct in terms of crown of the helmet contact to the head area, but there didn’t seem to be a launching of his body. There are so many different parts to that rule that maybe I’m misinterpreting it, but that one felt like it should’ve been a 15 yard penalty without an ejection.
  • As for the other referee calls, some close ones again yesterday. I agreed with the Gunner incomplete pass vs. fumble and I wasn’t sure about the Sturdivant catch, just really happy and relieved that they called it incomplete on the field. I just wanted a frontal view, but they never showed it. The Gunner clapping call was ridiculous. Maybe he should clap like Kirby takes timeouts?
  • Also, on UF’s 4th drive there were 3 DPI or holding penalties that went uncalled. Is there a good SEC ref crew?
  • Worst punt of Thorson’s career put the defense in a bad spot and cost the Dawgs an early lead. Just goes to show how narrow the margins are this year. Thankfully, he recovered with a 66 yard boomer late in the game. 
  • As always, this game was one of momentum swings. The first half had our crappy second drive, Big Baby’s injury, the coverage bust, then Noah Thomas missing Gunner’s poor pass leading to a pick, and another coverage bust. That energized the Gators, and the Dawgs spiraled into a lot of mistakes.
  • I really loved our running scheme and execution in the first half, lots of play action and looks to the TEs. Just seems like that’s a rhythm that suits Gunner and the team well. And then we went away from it for a quarter. At one point we had -7 rushing yards in the second half.
  • Zachariah Branch, MVP. The last 3 games he’s had 27 catches for 240 yards, tons of critical first downs and 73 jock straps left on the field. What a weapon.
  • CJ and Raylen did their second half thing again, and along with Branch’s jump cuts, are my favorite parts of the season to watch thus far. Think the most entertaining defensive play was the swarm tackle from them and Daylen on one of Lagway’s ill-timed scrambles. That said, Schumann has to leave them in more because when 30 came in Lagway had his easy TD run.
  • I used to like Joe Tessitore. But after his 936 meaningless references to the playoff in the Tech game last year, and him openly rooting for Florida last night, I’m done. When you make Aaron Rodgers’ brother (a noted UGA hater) sound reasonable, you need to dial back on the caffeine and let the football people handle the calls. Maybe boxing is your best sport, after all.
  • Could there be a more Gator move in this game than to tackle a returner who calls a fair catch? Branch was so pissed that he immediately broke off a 42-yard reception on their asses.
  • Great contested catch by Noah Thomas for the TD. Gunner pump-faked to Branch and the whole defense went there. Maybe needed a little more pace on the ball, but Noah took care of it. Need him to continue to ball out with Colbie gone.
  • The DL really struggled when Hall went out. That remains my biggest concern going forward. Elijah Griffin didn’t do much in his first Cocktail Party game, other than help stop the 4th and 1. He’s got to step up more.
  • Delp had maybe his worst game of the year – missed blocks, drops, and penalties – but then sealed the deal with an excellent block for Gunner on the game clinching run.
  • Chauncey Bowens was curiously absent in the first few drives, but he came on strong and had a glorious game-winning TD, running away from the Gator defense like Gunner did against Ole Miss. Nate did fine but can’t seem to break away from the second level of the defense of late. Can’t wait for him to improve his vision and bust one.

Kirby’s facial expressions in the postgame presser were as exasperated and exhilarated as I felt watching the game. For as much attention that Gonzales got for calling “Corch Irvin Meyers” for advice during their off week, Florida’s gameplan was pretty Mickey Mouse, and “Percy Harvey” and “Tim Tivo” were not walking through that door. Georgia played with its food again and made a lot of errors, but weird shit always happens in Jacksonville, and as a 90s student I’ll never take a win there for granted. Also, all our rivals lost yesterday, which should bring a broad smile to everyone’s faces. Lastly, the low key best thing that happened yesterday is that Mississippi State finally won an SEC game. I was worried they were going to put everything into our game next week, but now hopefully they’ll have a big letdown and we can whip them. I’m gonna be out of the country for that game, but I’ll do my best to find it at a pub so I can do a write-up of another win. Go Dawgs, and FTMF!

67 thoughts on “Observations from the armchair, “Oh, Billy!” Edition.”

  1. I needed #1 to pick six at end of game….instead, bro did his best impression of Matt Landers (hands of stone). The game cover would’ve been nice. The 2nd half cover (Dawgs -3.5) gave me some reprieve. Kirby, my middle finger is waving.

    • Even though I take part in the Fabris Pool, I’m not a gambler so take this for what it’s worth. I have no sympathy for anybody who calls himself a fan but whose first instinct it to bitch about not covering the spread instead of celebrating a win.

      • I’m operating a system(theory) with the Fabris Pool this season: I pick all left side one week, all right side next. I missed one week due to lack of attention. Subtract that I think I’m about 65/35 w/l. I’ll know more tomorrow.

        • GC,
          Good solid planning. My thought has been very technical pick six from each side. Reminds me weekly to never bet on things you have no personal control of.

  2. Like you, I am somewhat conflicted on the KJ targeting ruling. Yes, there was the crown of his helmet to helmet contact, but honestly it looked to me like KJ was aiming to wrap the runner up at his waist, but the runner ducked his head into him. There wasn’t much else that KJ could do except just let the guy run by and try to catch him from behind. I am not saying that the call was wrong, but more that it was unfortunate. I assume the rule is still in effect that KJ has to sit out the first half in Starkville.

    • Yeah, the head ducking by the offensive player makes that call really challenging to make. As for KJ‘s suspension, I believe that happened just before the end of the first half so his suspension was for the second half of of that game. He’ll start at Mississippi State.

    • Wait that happened in the 1st half no? I thought all his punishment is just yesterdays 2nd half, no? I could be wrong..

      • I can’t remember when he was ejected, but the rule is the rest of the half that he was ejected from AND the next half as well. If he was ejected with 1 second off the clock or 1 second left on the clock in a half, it counts the same PLUS the next full half.

    • No it happened in the first half so he won’t miss the first half of the Miss St game.

  3. The targeting rule is bullshit for the most part in my opinion. A defenseless player is a guy lollygagging across the field who is not involved in the play. Not a guy who catches the ball and turns upfield. How can a defender change the laws of physics to adjust to someone ducking their head a millisecond before contact? Looked to me like the offensive player initiated the helmet to helmet contact.

  4. Branch may be overall season’s MVP. Imagine how we would have looked without him.

  5. I wonder if Bowens was in Kirby’s doghouse for the first quarter. He was conspicuous by his absence and then came in as soon as the 2nd quarter started. Just guessing.

    Not sure how good this team really is but they are hard to kill and will make it “entertaining”. I prefer the 42-0 type of entertainment but don’t think I’m going to get that this year.

    • Could be right about Bowens, but Smart didn’t hint at anything like that in his presser and no one asked.

      • I honestly think it is just a matter of Bowens not yet being reliable enough to pick up blitzes/stunts in the offensive backfield. I would have to go back and watch tape, but I remember us using him more when we have no intention to fool anyone on what is coming.

  6. On the INT, Gunner’s pass was just a tad behind Thomas but it still hit him in the hands. I think Thomas has to make that catch.

    Now the pass to Delp late in the game was WAY behind. Delp was behind two defenders and who knows how big a gain that would’ve been if the pass was on target.

    -MDDawg

  7. At this point in the season, this is the team we have. The coaches aren’t going to make significant changes, and the players aren’t going to miraculously improve. This team has a will to win unlike anything I’ve ever seen, so I feel confident we will win out in the regular season. They’ll all be close, but if I expect it then I’m able to be mostly relaxed during the games. Yesterday, I think I only yelled at the screen 3 times, and 1 of those was the Clapping While Gunner penalty.

    I’m still hopeful we end of 3rd in the SEC and can skip the title game. We need time to heal, not more opportunities to lose players.

    But the little Munson on my shoulder tells me that Bama is going to lose to Oklahoma and Auburn. We’ll slip past them into that game, lose to aTm, and either miss the CFP or be seeded 11th and have to go up north to play. Meanwhile Bama will sit at home and then host a CFP game because they “beat four ranked teams in a row”.

  8. It’s weird to have a defense with some guys who are simply inadequate. We’d gotten used to good being third string to guys who were excellent to great. Now we’re just hoping for good out of some positions – and often not getting it.

    On the subject of the announcers, Testicletore is the absolute worst – a tiresome, loud-mouthed bush leaguer who doesn’t deserve the PA at a demolition derby. Announcing is generally terrible today but he’s as bad as it gets.

    • Thomas looks absolutely lost out there quite often. Is it coaching? Is it too complicated for him? Is he just not as good as was expected when he was signed? Who knows, but he is costing me a fortune in TUMS and Bourbon.

    • I have never understood how Joe Tessitore got all the way up ranks to being the lead PbP for ABC Sat night college football and MNF. He throws in too many obscure references not related to the game he is calling. He yells too often. I think because he is trying to out Gus Johnson, Gus Johnson. Plus he tries to make every single game situation as game defining to amp up the drama. I was really disappointed that he was calling our game yesterday. I knew we would not get Fowler (who I think is the best around now but the bench is not deep) and Herbstreit (who is tiresome and too often acts high & mighty as if it “his job” to protect the “integrity” of college football even though those two things – integrity and college football -have never met. I like Sean McDonough but think his partner McElroy lets you know he played QB at Alabama for Nick Saban way too much. I never watch the Fox/CBS games featuring Big 10 or Big 12 games because Gus Johnson is Tessitore +1. Joel Klatt is “Herbstreit” lite who loves to try to show us how smart he is but rarely acknowledges when is wrong which is lot.

      Since there are so many games on tv now, there are a some serviceable PbP announcers but the game analysis is really suffering because most of them now are relatively young former players. Game analysis could really use some former coaches who have been involved in game planning, in-game strategy, roster development etc. which would improve the quality of broadcast. Thinking about this in real time now … I can’t think of a former coach providing any analysis in any way other than Meyer and Saban who are doing it on pre-game broadcasts. There is virtually no other former coaches providing analysis anywhere.

      • McDonough and Blackledge were the best combo on ESPN by far. Now Blackledge is on NBC w/ Noah Eagle, who’s an even bigger goober than his dad, Ian.

        Now more than ever, the mute button is your friend.

        • Since I do not watch NBC unless it involves futbol and Arsenal, I had forgotten that Blackledge was there. You are correct Blackledge is very good. Who knows why ESPN hitched their wagon to Herbstreit over Blackledge.

  9. I wish we would run that toss sweep more often. As an old guy, I love seeing that play just grind down the other team. Bonus points when we line up a FB.

  10. Targeting has to be cleaned up. Wilson dropped his head 3 ft in .3 seconds before the impact. KJ was going low and moved his head to the side. The top of his helmet grazed the bottom of his face mask causing Wilson’s head to pop up. Totally BS.

    Targeting needs to be called if the defender doesn’t use his arms to wrap up and does not lead with the face mask. Those requirements are controllable by the defender and the refs can see those actions to call targeting correctly.

    • I would love to see the NCAA add some nuance to the rule. Ejections should only occur in egregious situations where the defender deliberately launches himself into the head of the offensive player. If they want incidental. helmet-to-helmet contact like yesterday to be a penalty, then fine, make it a 15 yarder. But ejection is too harsh for 80-90% of these situations.

  11. One Dawg no one has mentioned who played well and was valuable was Zion Branch. He took over at safety for Bolden, played well and was second on the team in tackles.

    • Other than not tracking that pass to the WR in front of him and allowing a big play, I agree he played well in reserve. Strong tackler.

      • He made the initial stop on Lagway behind the line on the 4th quarter 3rd and short play (on which Lagway fumbled but not called.) Without hit initial tackle Lagway!

  13. This is a bad year to be in a position that you have to fire your coach. With lots of big time openings, who are you going for & how far down the list of desirable destinations are you?

  14. So 2 weeks ago or so, when UF fired Napier, I started crafting a very long post about all of the coaching jobs that were going to be open. I had Kelly getting fired at LSU, Freeze getting let go at Auburn among some of the other jobs, but I got distracted by other things before hitting comment. I ended deleting … wish I wouldn’t have.

    I am going to go ahead make some coaching predictions (fires & hires) before next week.

    Arkansas – Petrino is losing close and Rhett Lashlee signed a big extension at SMU. I don’t think the fabulous Bobby P will have Act II in Fayetteville. I think this is where Glen Schumann gets to be the HC.

    Auburn – They had no choice but to fire Freeze but in this open market, it is most likely they are going to repeat again with an underwhelming choice. Lashlee would have been on the list until this week. Sumrall will get mentioned but look further down this list. Schumann will be mentioned here but they will want head coaching experience. Both Jimbo and Franklin will be candidates but it doesn’t excite the fan base because they already tried the ex-SEC HC in Freeze. They won’t go group of 5 either because of the Harsin failure. They won’t hire anyone connected to Ark St either. Instead they will lure Joe Brady (OC of the Bills) back to the college ranks.

    LSU – It still might be Laner but the dysfunctional nature of this program and institution is palpable. The Governor follows through on his declaration to allow Trump to make the call. Trump has wanted to be an NFL owner since forever and his football instincts are terrible (tanked an entire league, tried to buy the Bills only to be shooed away by NFL accountants.) He tries to make a deal with one of the Harbaughs but then settles on Lou Holtz! Seriously though – this should be the best job available but the dysfunction makes it really tough to predict. I don’t think it would be wise for Kiffin or Drinkwitz. LSU will want a coach with a track record of success but Orgeron tanked it faster than any other NC winning head coach in history. Kelly did even more damage to the culture. They will take run at Kiffin, Drinkwitz, and even Marcus Freeman. Jimbo Fisher will push for the job but ultimately they settle on Matt Campbell.

    Florida – When LSU fired Kelly, I though the Lane Kiffin to Gainesville talk would end because Kiffin would head to Baton Rouge. Cue the Governor of LA and now I think Kiffin will make Florida wait until Ole Miss either loses or crashes out of the playoff. Lane toys with them but Florida decides they cannot wait and hires either Jedd Fisch or Schottenheimer to try to go back to a Spurrier connection.

    Penn St – If I am Eli Drinkwitz I am telling my agent this is the job I want. Cignetti is locked up at Indiana. Matt Rhule is staying in Lincoln long-term. Kiffin prefers Sun Belt jobs. (Oakland has a latitude of 37 degrees North and State College is 3 degrees above that) Mike Elko has & Big10 ties but he has A&M rolling into the playoff. Even though he doesn’t have any B10 or PA ties, Drinkwitz will be very good here. It is a much clearer path to the playoff. I don’t know where they turn at this point if it is not Drinkwitz.

    Now here are some additional coaching predictions as we get the the last weeks of the regular season:

    Kentucky – despite the win on the Plains, Stoops and Kentucky will agree to part ways. I think Stoops knows it is time. UK and the fanbase is ready to move on as well. They renegotiate the buyout from $30+m due in 30 days to either 5 year payout over time or something around $22m. Kentucky hires Jon Sumrall from Tulane who played at UK.

    South Carolina – Beamer followed up the firing of his OL coach by getting rid of Mike Shula (OC) today. These are not the moves of a head coach who is secure in his position. Truthfully if he loses to Clemson this year they might pull the plug on Beamer Ball. Beamer decides to move to the ACC. USC (phallic edition) goes after Clark Lea and Brent Key to no avail. Then a guy named Jimbo calls them … they hire another former NC winning coach.

    Oklahoma – Wait? What? They just beat Tennessee on the road. They are not firing Venables. No they are not. He is going to get a call from another program where he has ties. There will be some calls to hire Josh Heupel or a coach with HC experience. Instead, Oklahoma hires Will Stein from Oregon who is a hot offensive guru and has ties to Texas HS football which is prime recruiting territory.

    Clemson – So where is Venables going? After a disastrous season, Dabo decides to take a pause. They currently sit at 3-5. They are talented enough to beat FSU, Louisville, Furman and USC (phallic edition). They also have played badly enough to lose 3 of those 4. Everyone there – administration, AD, coaches, players and fans know it is time. It is a program that needs new ideas but will push to bring back Venables. Venables is a decent coach who can see Oklahoma’s place in the SEC. He knows he will get time at Clemson and the CFP path is easier.

    FSU – Supposably (That’s word right?) FSU doesn’t have the buyout money for Mike Norvell. They are a .500 team with closing games against Clemson, Va Tech, NC St, and UF. They are good enough to win all of them to save his job for another season. They also are bad enough to lose them all. They will probably split them and finish 6-6 which is a big improvement over the previous year but not where they thought they should be. They are really in a conundrum. If they can negotiate a better buyout from Norvell ($50+m) then he will be gone. Why would Norvell agree to it? Because he knows he is a dead man walking and they will seek to fire him for cause next year where he will get zilch. Plus with all of the coaching movement this year, there will be openings he can take, be successful and double-dip on money. Where will they turn though? Coach Prime? Nope – more on that later. Satterfield from Memphis? Nope – that was the Norvell path. They will take a run at Clark Lea and also will call Brent Key and Jeff Brohm After striking out with them, they hire Scott Satterfield from Cincinnati.

    Va Tech – Beamer moving on from USC (phallic edition)? He must be heading to Blacksburg? Nope. James Franklin all the way. He will get them back to 9-10 win team per season and in the ACC that can get you CFP playoff appearances.

    Sorry for the long post but here are some quick hitters …

    UNC – The Belichick experiment gets pulled after one year. Everyone knows it isn’t working. They go hire Shane Beamer.

    NC State – With wins over UVA & Ga Tech, Doeren stays in Raleigh

    Cincinnati – With Satterfield in Tallahassee, they need a coach. Hey should we run it back with Luke Fickell?

    Wisconsin – Big time disaster … Fickell decides to resign and head back to the Bearcats. #1 candidate Matt Campbell goes to LSU. They try to convince Kenny Dillingham to do a reverse snowbird to no avail. Barry Alvarez throws his hat in the ring but ultimately they take Wisconsin native Lance Leipold from Kansas.

    Kansas – They are non-plussed about football. Leipold brought back to respectability. They will hire someone.

    Every year there are some surprises like Kelly to LSU, Riley to USC, or Chip Kelly to the NFL. Who will it be this year? I will throw out a few …

    1. Lincoln Riley seems to have repaired his reputation enough to get an NFL team or two or three to call. Riley doesn’t really like to recruit even in a fertile place recruiting ground where USC (prophylactic edition) sits. Arthur Blank decides that paying $2.5 million below the NFL average for a head coach with a defensive pedigree and a team stocked with high level offensive talent doesn’t make sense. Blank calls on both Riley and Ryan Day. Riley answers the bell.

    2. Ryan Day remembers that the fanbase wanted to fire him before the playoff run. OSU gets blitzed by Indiana in the B10 Championship. Then they lose their playoff game and he takes off to run the Cleveland Browns.

    3. After a loss in Athens, Steve Sarkisian reveals he has been talking to the Titans. When they lose to A&M, Sarkisian tries to get everyone to believe (without credible evidence) that he is related to Cher. Las Vegas decides that hiring a 70+ year old Pete Carroll was idiotic and they convince Sarkisian to come to Sin City. Texas tries to orchestrate a repeat of the A&M/UT baseball coach drama but Elko stays. The Longhorns complete the stunner though – say hello Laner!

    4. Ryan Day leaving creates a culture fight in Columbus between those that want to elevate Brian Hartline to HC and Marcus Freeman from ND. Ultimately Freeman wins out which leaves an opening in South Bend and Hartline following Day to Cleveland .. paging Clark Lea.

    5. Lea becomes the coach at Notre Dame. Vanderbilt is gutted to lose Lea. Tries to get Brent Key. Ends up promoting Tim Beck.

    • Whether any of your predictions come true or not is TBD. What you can take to the bank (no pun intended) is a lot of those coaches (stay or go) are going to get MASSIVE pay raises and Jimmy Sexton is going to have Santa drop a wad of cash down his chimney so large it would choke an elephant. The predictions you have made are all just plausible enough to make every AD panic and back up the Brinks Truck. As DAWG fans, we are living in great times. As general CFB fans, I’m concerned we are entering a period of utter insanity that will damage the sport we love beyond belief.

    • Oh … I forgot to include Coach Prime resigns from Colorado. I don’t think his health is in a good spot and he might need to focus on that. I think it is affecting his health and his ability to recruit for a school that doesn’t have a great recruiting base to begin with.

      Sean Lewis at SDSU might be a candidate (although I think Sanders fired him as OC). He is the former HC at Kent State who made his bones by losing by 17 points to our 2022 NC winning defense when we were favored by 44.5. He could also be a candidate at Wisconsin.

    • Thanks! You’ve been a great crowd. I will be here all week. Please tip your servers and bartenders.

      Back in the day when a certain stadium in Akron was in use, I always hoped someone would play an early season neutral site game between the two USC’s in NE Ohio. Cocks vs Trojans in the Rubber Bowl.

      • Dick’s Sporting Goods seems like a good sponsor to me. The only thing that wouldn’t make it good family viewing would be the craptastic football played by both teams!

  16. Two points: Tessitore kept saying that “no top 5 team has ever lost to an unranked team in this rivalry” over and over fuck you bro trying to jinx us karma and schadenfreude will find you. Secondly, I don’t care about the SEC championship anymore. Move it to 16 teams, who cares, let the Dawgs rest up while A&M and Bama go injure themselves so we can go kick the shit out of Ohio St. the conference championships are ecclesiastical anymore. Meaningless. (Senator don’t roll over too far we all love ya).

  17. You’re playing an extra game to get a bye. And with the best team in your league. I think Kirby may be strategerying come in third, rest.

    • Honestly, I think Kirby wants to win every game his team is in. However, he wouldn’t mind skipping the championship game for an extra week to rest if he knows he is already in the playoff.
      I hate that they have made every game of the season less important. I was sad we had to play in the SEC championship game last year, though I was glad when we won the conference. Could we have accomplished more by not playing that game last year? Who knows…

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