Dawgs on (Hill)top(pers) – WKU preview

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No, Chip, not that Toppers.

At 12:45 this afternoon, the 2nd-ranked Dawgs host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers between the hedges on SEC Network for the much anticipated debut of the all-white uniforms. An interesting side note … the WKU women’s sports teams are called the Lady Toppers. I’m guessing there’s a Chip Towers joke in there somewhere. Right now, rather than being a hotter than the surface of the sun, rain could be in the forecast with temperatures in the mid-80s. That probably means an empty student section by halftime and a steady stream of fans headed for their cars well before the game ends. Let’s get to the preview.

When Georgia has the ball

The big question today is whether last week’s offensive explosion was a preview of the offense’s efficiency or the result of one of the worst FCS teams to make an appearance at Sanford Stadium. My guess is that it’s a little bit of both. The Georgia offensive line gave Gunner Stockton plenty of time to throw the ball and allowed him to stand in the pocket to be efficient. The line of scrimmage did exactly what we should expect when facing an overmatched opponent … pure domination. I’m not sure the WKU defense will provide significantly more resistance against the Georgia offensive line if you look at the statistics last week against Nevada when they yielded almost 8.4 yards per play including 5(!) rushing touchdowns on the day. Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens and the rest of the Georgia running backs should be able to run with abandon against the Hilltoppers’ front 7.

When WKU has the ball

Western Kentucky scored 14 points in last Saturday’s loss. I can’t imagine they are going to get into the double digits against this Georgia defense. They ran over 80 plays last week in Reno averaging less than 4.5 yards per play. That doesn’t seem like a formula that is going to slow down the game enough to keep a final score respectable. I am assuming we are going to see a lot of quick passing as Tyson Helton probably knows that running the ball against this defense is going to be tough sledding on Saturday. I am really interested in seeing whether some of the improved pass rush we saw last weekend continues to hold.

What will happen

I expect a lot of vanilla looks just like last weekend. We have superior talent. Kirby doesn’t want to embarrass Helton. He also is going to want to get a lot of younger players some game reps against an opponent that is significantly better than the Tennessee State team we saw last week. Can the Dawgs put up 50+ on Saturday? Absolutely if Kirby wants to do that. I believe we’ll see what we did last Saturday … a Georgia team focused on getting off to a fast start. Similar to the 2nd preseason game in the NFL, I expect we’ll see the 1st team well into the 2nd quarter before yielding to the young pups.

Dawgs win but likely don’t cover.

Final Score: Georgia 42, WKU 6

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

25 years

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How time flies. How easily time forgets.

25 years ago. I was 26. Jesus, to be young again, but at the time I was in Orlando, working as an intern for the UCF athletics department.

One of the cool things of living in a new city, outside of Georgia, was the variety of programming on the radio we had. I listened to Howard Stern on my drive in to work each morning, and when he was talking with Robin about planes flying into towers, I thought he was doing a schtick.


When I got to the office, the coordinator was pulling up images on a dial up modem and I watched the images slowly, methodically unfurl. First the tops of the towers, then billowing plumes of flame and smoke. It was real, and at the moment, it felt we were all doomed.

I had my first trip to New York City a year or so earlier, and went to the top of the World Trade Center. It still stands out as one of the modern wonders of the world that I got to experience in person. Amazing. My mother’s birthday is September 11th, and we had planned a trip to NYC around the same time of the attacks. We had to cancel because of an event at UCF. Weird how time and chance works.

I loved my time in the City. Dean and Deluca, Patsy Grimaldi’s, Katz’s Deli, street hawking faux cologne, walking in to a Chinese gambling parlor by accident, drinking at “Irish” pubs. MOMA. Street fights. It was exciting, real, and raw. When I was trying to get back to the Paramount I thought I could cut through Little Brazil and walk the one single block, but found myself surrounded by crackheads and prostitutes so I walked into the middle of the street and took my chances. On the way back to JFK a cab hit a pedestrian in front of us. The driver saw it and said “that’s normal”. I was shocked, disturbed, but the plane left on time and the cab driver received his fare and a tip.
It was life and it was what it was. Another day of life and death in NYC.

+++++

In my time, as I mentioned yesterday, I’ve had a charmed life. I consider myself lucky, regardless of divorces, medical events, or whatever. I watched in Mrs. Bibby’s third grade classroom as Challenger went up in flames. I watched Columbine unfold on live TV. I saw 9/11 in the coaches room at UCF’s basketball arena.

I was sitting there with a bunch a 6 and 7 feet tall monsters, basketball players, watching on a big screen. One kid jumped up and ran from the room screaming about his mother, who worked in the vicinity of the WTC on the day of the incident. I should’ve known who he was, but I didn’t. I can’t imagine his fear or his pain, but I can understand.

It was an event that called me into teaching. I wondered what I was doing throwing out free t-shirts and cups at games. I was running the clock for football games and announcing the down and distance at the Citrus Bowl when Tennessee played Michigan. The referee sitting next to me at the clock and PA told me I had a future in this field and a talent. It didn’t matter. It didn’t seem to matter to me, anyway.

Next thing I know, I’m teaching sixth grade science at the school I attended for junior high, because that seemed to matter, and that made the difference. I married, and would divorce, two fellow teachers. It is what it is. But, at the end of the day, I’ve lead a charmed and purposeful life.

People were thinking they were doing that in New York 25 years ago, and they’re gone now.

So it goes, as Vonnegut said.

25 years. How quickly we forget.

Today, In Historic Rivalries

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Kansas, we stand with you. We don’t really like Missouri, either.

If you need some fun Friday night watching, they play tonight at 8 pm on Fox. Gotta say, Fox ain’t bad when you consider the nonsensical ranting of their broadcast crew on most games. It’s a fun watch.

Just a PSA for a good night of football. Enjoy.

We’re Number 3

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In pending lawsuits. I don’t think that’s good. That’s not good right?

Note: includes 42 million pending? What do we not know?

As it pertains to Michigan, though:

On Wednesday, the Detroit Free Press reported that 16 former University of Michigan hockey players had filed a federal lawsuit in Detroit alleging years of sexualized hazing inside the program between 1984 and 2001. The plaintiffs, identified only as John Does, allege that coaches knew of the conduct and in some cases required it.

The suit is the latest chapter in Michigan’s six-year run of scandal.

Court filings, NCAA decisions, news reports and university records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act put the bill at $1.15 billion in 2026 dollars, and counting.

The staggering sum dwarfs the scandal bills of the next 19 public universities combined.

Oh, since a lot of us didn’t know what SASE meant (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) please know that when you see FOIA in articles, they are referencing the Freedom of Information Act. Just saying.

But, hey, they’ve got the donors to cover it, so why not be dirty and keep winning, right, Michigan?

Cough.

This is What You Get: The 12 Million Dollar Man

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If you think the average Michigan man is happy with the Minutemen Miracle from Saturday, you’re wrong. The criticism has been directed not at the head coach, but at Dave Portnoy’s investment in Bryce Underwood.

Another post, which won’t embed here, looked like this:

Screenshot

A quick perusal of the comments and I came across one where someone said “he gets paid to be a great quarterback”. And, lo, we have entered the conundrum of NIL in college sports.

Consider some of our collective disdain for Mike Bobo. It’s one thing to disagree with his play calling, it’s another thing altogether when you find out he gets a raise. While we once could bemoan a quarterback or athlete for a subpar effort, now we’re complaining about a lack of return on investment.

This is what the Senator warned us about, and now it’s here. Minor League Football and media rights rule the day. Don’t want to sit in noon weather for a cupcake game in Sanford? Blame not the UGAA, but look to the media rights. You’ll sit in the nuclear heat of the sun because it fits the viewing schedule, I don’t care if you’re a sun stroked mongoloid who dies from heat stroke, we have money to make here!

I don’t come here to point fingers at Underwood. If he’s my son, I’m telling him to take the money and then transfer somewhere reputable his junior year to develop if he wants to go pro. Like a USC or somewhere they develop quarterbacks.

What’s sad is between litigation and likeness, kids are now becoming semipros and people aren’t chalking it up to “maybe there’s next year” but are turning their attention to deepening the coffers to bring in the next bright shiny toy to their roster.

Gone are the days of amateurism and the walk in hero who earns a scholarship. Well, mostly.

Looks like it still happens, but maybe won’t at the P4 level anymore.

While other people have embraced the portal – Mike Norvell – and others have rejected it – Dabo Swinney – one thing is becoming more and more clear…Kirby has the right approach to navigating the portal era.

It might not happen this year, or next, but he’s building some roster consistency where others are not. In the interim, the highest bidders and the new shows in town, like tOSU and Indiana, will hoist trophies and beat their chests, but the 2021 and 2022 seasons were not aberrations. A long road of roster consistency and management will yield results, and as far as I’ve heard, no one is questioning how much Gunner or Nate Frazier are making this year.

And that says something, given the modern circumstances.

Go Dawgs.

Thursday Thought Provoker: Top of the Mornin’ Tailgating

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Sorry for the late posting…I passed my first kidney stone and it was, well, a bit of a painful ordeal. I can blog through a lot of things, but that…no, sir.

Anyway, it’s an early kickoff this week, which means that those of you who are fortunate to go will need to have an early morning tailgate, or at least departure time, to arrive for the pre-game festivities. I can recall, back in the good ole days, that a early kickoff meant a box of fried chicken and maybe a 10:30 am arrival. Given the modern setups nowadays, I imagine it’s far more elaborate and may include making your breakfast at the site.

Or, maybe it’s like it is at Boston College:

I wonder how the open bars I see on campus would fly given these rules at BC? Hmmm.

Anyway, for those of you who arrive early…what do you do? Do you do a breakfast and lunch? Or is it a more muted affair? Discuss.

We’re #2

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Georgia moves up in the AP ballot to number two. Not much of a shakeup anywhere, but Haley Sawyer strikes again.

Who is Haley Sawyer? Why, she’s the AP voter who last year moved Florida up two spots in the AP poll…after Florida lost to USF.

I’m just surprised she hasn’t been named to the CFP Committee, if I’m being honest. She’s in the news again because she left Michigan at 17 after their loss/win from Saturday.

Anyway, here’s the breakdown of the latest voting:

Worth noting Mike Griffith’s voting at the bottom. LSU #1? Hmmm.

MAC Attack

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Someone’s not letting go of the Ann Arbor Atrocity without a fight.

Eh. Most of the parties have moved on, so the fact that this is coming up on a Tuesday after the fact is odd. Some others have pointed out that the game and broadcast clocks were not in sync, so there’s this:

Kind of makes sense, honestly.

In other news, you mean to tell me a broadcast screwed up a game?

He’ll, that’s nothing new.

Help Us Brent Venables, You’re Our Only Hope

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Shot:

Chaser:

Dabo is officially on the hot seat, and it seems like he doesn’t much care about it. Ever since Brent Venables left the Greater Anderson Cow College, Clemson hasn’t necessarily been a feared program.

In Venables time at Clemson, roughly ten years from 2012-2021, Clemson lost a total of 17 games. In the four seasons since he took over at the helm at Oklahoma, Clemson hasn’t necessarily lost…17 games.

It’s not so bad, though…in the four years before Venables came to Clemson, Swinney lost 22 games.

It’s amazing what Swinney can’t accomplish as a head coach in his own, and people are becoming very aware of it. Smart may have had his last chance to embarrass Dabo when Georgia played Clemson a few years ago, but the better news is Kirby doesn’t have a split like that that people can point to based on a coordinator, no matter if the fan base likes the coordinator or not.