Tag Archives: #isitbasketballseasonyet

The weekend that was at MBG – week 6 edition

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How did I get outcoached by that guy?

A couple of big road upsets occur on what was supposed to be a boring Saturday of college football. Needless to say, the message boards lit up across the fruited plain as usual on a Saturday. Before we start our trip, take a quick look at this (remember most of these teams have beaten a ranked opponent at the time of the game).

Just leaving this here for Mumme Poll voters.

Let’s get started this morning this morning in the Classic City where it’s clear BBN isn’t happy with basketball season starting the first week of October.

Kentucky is probably the best job for a coach looking for stability while being the worst for maintaining consistency and acquiring talent. It’s the exact opposite of their men’s basketball coaching job. The problem is their fans are starting to expect close to the same performance from their football program that they expect from their basketball program.

Stoops is probably now a dead man walking unless he finds a way to beat Tennessee to save his job. I’m guessing Kirby told him after the game that he has a spot in his coaching rehab program when the time is right.

On to the game, I don’t understand why Kirby doesn’t coach this game in Lexington the same way he does in Athens. Turn the superior athletes loose and let them make plays. Kudos to Stoops for hitting the over for his buddies in Youngstown by leaving his starters in while Georgia was emptying the bench. I was surprised he didn’t try an onside kick to get a field goal to cover the spread.

Let’s move on to Tobacco Road to check in on the Bill Belichick Experience.

Before the season no one would be surprised that Clemson was going to beat North Carolina. I’m not even sure I would have been surprised to see the Tiggers beat the Heels convincingly.

I am surprised at how quickly things have gotten sideways with Belichick. I thought it was a dumb hire for a Kentucky type of program (football at a basketball school) to attempt to short-cut their way to national relevance, but this has gone worse than I thought it would.

Does Bill have the class to step down and go play golf after 1 year in Chapel Hill? We’ll see.

Let’s stay in the ACC to check in on Seminole Nation.

Yes, the final score was only by 6. -3 turnover margin gets you beat, and many times gets you run out of the building. Down 28-3, the Noles scramble to score 19 in the 4th quarter.

After the Alabama game, I thought Norvell had probably saved himself. His buyout is probably the only thing saving him now as the Noles season is officially on the brink. Trips to Clemson, Raleigh and Hogtown loom for the Tribe.

Is it just me, or does the new Doak just not have the same degree of home field advantage as the old one?

Now, we head to the 2 places you’ve been waiting for this week. Let’s start out at the land of the Big Bang Theory … Pasadena, California … to see how the Lions are doing this morning.

James Franklin has made a lot of money in Happy Valley by beating teams his team is supposed to beat. They went out and hired Jim Knowles away from the hated Buckeyes and threw a bunch of NIL money at players hoping to replicate what anOSU did to win a title.

Instead, now the season is close to half over, and they allowed Oregon to beat them twice. UCLA is one of the worst Power 4 teams in the country, and they controlled much of the game with Nico I accounting for 5 TDs and outplaying the preseason #1 overall pick in the Yankee Cade Klubnik.

I think it’s safe to say that Franklin is quickly wearing out his welcome and a trip to Columbus looms.

Let’s end today’s trip in Hogtown not for the reason we thought at the start of the weekend.

You ain’t wrong, collin12345. But we all think you’re a “laughing stock” because no one wanted you.

In the name of a meteor game, the north central, meth lab geniuses aren’t getting a pass this week.

Where’s F-bum today as Arch Manning’s Heisman campaign, after his moment against (checks notes) Sam Houston, crashes and burns in The Swamp? Watching this Texas offense has to be making the Shorthorns wonder where is the Sark who is supposed to be an offensive genius. The problem on Saturday was they sucked on defense as well.

To the Handbags, congratulations on keeping the Sun Belt Billy farewell tour going for another week. A trip to College Station to face an AgCult team who is now taking on the toughness of its coach probably isn’t going to end well for you.

That’s what I saw this week. Share your well wishes to Texas and Penn State in the comments.

Tale of the stats – Georgia 31, Auburn 13

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On the day we celebrated the life of our content creator in perpetuity at the Railroad lot, the Dawgs handle their business on Homecoming against the Greater Opelika Cow College for the 8th time in a row. Beating Auburn is always great, and playing them as a Homecoming opponent was the pièce de résistance.

Here’s the link to my preview:

“I don’t care for Auburn” – Auburn preview

Team Stats:

I like drivin’ in my truck.

As I looked at the statistics again and the scoring summary, Auburn didn’t look awful. It was definitely a case of feast or famine and red zone. 3rd down was the difference in this game as the Dawgs converted at a greater than 50% clip with the Tigers at just under 33%. Auburn only entered the red zone twice with both times being held to field goals and scored their only TD on a poorly defended running play by Jarquez Hunter.

Individual Stats:

3 sacks and 5 total TFLs and Peyton Thorne rarely made any hay with his feet unlike 2023 at J-HS. The defense on this day was opportunistic and played some fairly solid bend but don’t break defense. We probably all thought the performance was subpar especially against the run, and Hugh Sleeze took another moral victory lap at game’s end. Moral and Hugh Sleeze in the same sentence? Yikes.

Something to Consider for 2025:

With the full reinstatement of Young being official with the start of spring practice and another year of Humphreys doing things the Georgia way, these 2 with returning players and transfers could help the Dawgs’ passing game. This game was the last appearance of the year for Young, and I’m not sure it was a coincidence that the offensive production from the wide receivers began to drop off after this game.

After Dan Jackson’s pro day performance (legit 4.4) this week and Starks’s combine performance, I had to give the 2 safeties who are both likely to be drafted now their due. Everyone knows KJ Bolden is next in line to be the next great Georgia safety with his range, tackling and ball skills. One of the story lines of spring practice may be who lines up on the other hash at safety. My bet right now is JaCorey Thomas, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the young DBs make a push for playing time.

Dan Jackson appreciation post … plays like this on special teams may be the reason he ends up with an extended career at the next level. I’m not saying he’s going to block field goals, but #17 has been everywhere for the last 4 years as a big part of the special teams. The NFL is more than happy to keep some guys on the roster who can play but get after it on special teams. Once again, we are going to need someone to take the leadership role on special teams. It’s not glamorous work, but it’s damn important work.

Summary:

18-point wins over your longest running rival never get old. Please, SEC, don’t let the game end as an annual game. 19-6 in the 21st century and 9-1 in the Smart era … that’s ownership. They have beaten Alabama more times over this span than they have beaten Georgia.

Not much else to say, but Go Dawgs!

Let us know your thoughts on the DSOR in the comments.

March Madness Fabris Pool

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Welcome to the inaugural GTP Refugees March Madness pool!

Here’s the link to register for the pool. Deadline to get your bracket in is tipoff for the first games on Thursday at noon. (The play in games are not part of the pool).

Pretty standard rules for you bracketologists, you can see the rules for our pool on the site.

https://www.runyourpool.com/p/j/1706b458d71946d3a37087948422d2c8

Once selection Sunday is finished, you should be able to enter your brackets later this evening or Monday morning.

Good luck! Maybe our hoop dawgs will sneak in this year.

Your humble commish,

Dawglicious

(Any trouble getting on the site, email me at dawglicious22 at g mail dot com)

Mildcat or Wildcat – Kentucky preview

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We can’t be 25% through the regular season after Saturday night in Lexington, can we? The top-ranked Dawgs open SEC play in the bluegrass at Kroger Field against a Kentucky team reeling from a 31-6 home loss to South Carolina. At the beginning of the day on Saturday, there was talk of College GameDay making its first trip to Lexington, and at the end of the day, many have left the ‘Cats for dead while the Dawgs cruised to a lopsided win over an FCS opponent using a shortened 4th quarter (hey, Lane, maybe you need to learn something from Kirby about sportsmanship). Let’s get to the preview.

When Georgia Has the Ball

Likely much to Mark Stoops’s chagrin, the forecast for Saturday night has turned where there is little chance for rain and wind as the threat of rain appears localized to Friday. That likely means Mike Bobo will be given freer rein over the play calling and let Carson Beck play. Stoops wants this game to be played in a phone booth, and Kirby has obliged on multiple occasions especially in Lexington. Similar to last year’s blowout in Athens, a fast start by the Georgia offense puts the game away early as it is going to be a challenge for the Wildcats to keep up with Georgia in a track meet. Saturday would be a great time for the Georgia offensive line to assert its dominance early to give Trevor Etienne and the backs running lanes and for Beck to have time to pick apart the Kentucky secondary. The Kentucky defense did a good job of controlling the Gamecocks’ running game and will look to improve over the 5.6 yards per carry they allowed the Dawgs in 2023. While South Carolina didn’t throw the ball much, they were effective at 11.5 yards per attempt.

When Kentucky Has the Ball

The ‘Cats were downright awful on offense last Saturday. How does a team that only generated 183 yards of total offense keep the ball for over 32:00? Stoopsball, I guess. Kentucky ran the ball 46 times for an average gain of 3.0 yards per carry, and the passing game was worse. If the Wildcats can’t threaten Georgia with any passing game, there is no path to victory without a lot of help from Georgia in cheap field position caused by turnovers and special teams. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kentucky try to force Georgia to defend the quarterback run game with some easy RPO stuff thrown in … the types of things Brock Vandagriff did at Prince Avenue Christian before coming to Georgia. That appears to be the best formula for trying to stay ahead of the chains, keep the clock moving and limit possessions. I’m guessing Smart & Schumann know Vandagriff’s tendencies and will force him to try to complete passes into tight windows. How long a leash Vandagriff has at this point is anyone’s guess, so I would assume the Dawgs are also putting in some preparation for Kentucky’s #2 QB.

What Will Happen

The Dawgs need to get off to a fast start on both sides of the ball as they did in Athens last year. There is no reason to give this Kentucky team and their fans any hope. The Missouri game in 2022 comes to mind as a game where we allowed an overmatched opponent to stay in the game and took the Dawgs to the brink. Two early turnovers and an explosive play in the run game gave Missouri the boost they needed to get a double digit lead. I’m concerned that Kirby is going to be willing to play conservatively to allow the defense to attempt to suffocate the Kentucky offense and get out of Lexington with an ugly win and play into Stoops’s hands especially if the weather forecast changes to something a bit more nasty. I like the Dawgs to win easily, but giving 24 points on the road to a team not named Vanderbilt seems like a lot to me. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stoops get a backdoor cover for his friends up in Youngstown. Kirby gets a solid win and a lot to chew on his team about for the next 2 weeks before the showdown with Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Final Score: Georgia 38, Kentucky 17

What’s your current prediction for a Friday? Let us know in the comments section.

First look at Kentucky

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Saturday night in Lexington can be a scary place for Dawg fans. Typically, that has been because the game has been later in the year when the weather turns colder and the fall leaves show and Keeneland is closed for the season. None of that will be the case as the nation’s #1 team rolls into the bluegrass to take on Kentucky. The Wildcats are stumbling after a 31-6 beatdown at the hands of South Carolina, and they may be playing for their season on Saturday night.

Series Record: Georgia leads 63-12-2 and is riding a 14 game winning streak over the Wildcats.

Last Meeting: Georgia ran the Wildcats out of Sanford Stadium 51-13. Carson Beck carved up the Kentucky defense by going 28-35 for 389 yards and 4 TDs. The Georgia defense suffocated Big Blue’s offense by holding them under 200 yards of total offense and only 55 yards on the ground.

Gambling Degenerate Facts: BetMGM’s line is Georgia -24 and a -5,000 money line favorite with a 45.5 total.

Interesting Statistic: Kentucky Passing Yards per Game – 106.5

Kentucky is currently 130th in FBS (last in the SEC) in passing yards per game only ahead of Western Michigan, Wyoming, Air Force and Army. I’ll admit I thought Brock Vandagriff would be an upgrade over Devin Leary, but he was absolutely atrocious in his first SEC start on Saturday at South Carolina. If this holds on Saturday, I really see no path to a win for the Wildcats without a lot of help from Georgia on both sides of the ball.

Early Outlook

This game feels a lot like the Clemson game. Mike Stoops does not want this game to turn into a track meet where Georgia’s skill players take over the game, and eventually his defense implodes from being on the field too long. I expect the Cats to try to slow the game down, take advantage of a couple of breaks, and have a chance to win late. I just don’t see how they can do that against a stingy Georgia defense without getting cheap field position.

On defense, I expect the Georgia defense to dare Vandagriff to beat them with his arm. If Kentucky can’t find some semblance of a passing game to take the pressure off their offensive line against the Georgia defensive front, this game could get out of hand relatively quickly. I like the Dawgs to win easily but maybe not as easily as the oddsmakers believe.

What’s your current thoughts midweek before the Dawgs and Cats get together on the bluegrass? Let us know in the comments.