Posts Tagged ‘Georgia’

Before we get to this week’s hallucinations from Auburn, we have this important farming update: A man in Iowa was found with 800 pounds of marijuana, which probably led Shoeless Joe Jackson to show up out of nowhere and ask: “Dude. Is this heaven? Because I swear my bat is starting to look like a 42-inch Zinger.”

So, true story: The guy’s arrested and in addition to being charged with, like, possession of a banned substance that could prompt Des Moines residents to declare, “I’m so done with cream corn,”  the government slaps him with “failure to affix a drug tax stamp.”

I took a poll. All of these folks believe he's innocent.

Really? Ganja is taxed? And if so, is that deductible because I’m guessing guys who have 800 pounds of marijuana aren’t real good at saving receipts or Turbo Tax.

This leads me to the world of high finance in the SEC (the conference, not the other one).

According to various reports, confirmed by various sources, some of which even have faces — really, …

Continue reading Weekend Predictions: Sources say Newton over Georgia »

I would imagine this is what it looks like in headquarters of Colley Matrix.

Since the BCS standings came out last night, I’ve had a few fans ask me what it would take for Georgia or Georgia Tech to crack the upper levels of the rankings.

The short answer is: an unexplained series of events, most likely orchestrated by mysterious cosmic forces.

I’m going to remove the human polls used in the BCS — the Harris poll and the USA Today coaches’ poll — from this discussion because far be it for me to project the emotions of a voter who’s sitting on his couch in South Bumpstead.

There are six computer polls used in the BCS formula. When you see where Georgia and Georgia Tech are ranked by the computers, you will realize just how low the programs are sitting.

Hello, Dogs: You’re No. 60.

Hello, Jackets: You’re No. 45.

Those are only the averages. The six computer rankings are Anderson & Hester, Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Massey, Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. Here’s how each of the six …

Continue reading Computers say: Georgia No. 60; Georgia Tech No. 45 »

Goodbye, Russ.

Having replaced the defensive coordinator, the defensive ends coach, the linebackers coach, the quarterback, several starters, the list of excuses and presumably the adviser who’s in charge of telling players that those cute little pilot wings he got when he was 6 years old is not a license to drink, drive, hit, run, speed, no-show, steal, deny, and sell your bowl jersey to anybody, let alone a guy whose business card reads, “Snidely Whiplash,” the Georgia Bulldogs finally found a new scapegoat for their fall: Russ, The Temporary Mascot.

Why pick on a poor dog?

Hello, Uga VIII.

Russ didn’t ask for this. He was just fine hanging in the back of the Seiler house with the hamster and the goldfish.

Georgia had already thrown his personal life into public

view when they revealed in Russ’s official bio that he was, “the five-year-old half-brother of Uga VII.”

Half-brother? Was there a sex scandal in Dawgingham Palace we needed to know about?

Oh, the pains of being the …

Continue reading Weekend Predictions: Dogs boot Russ before homecoming »

Mike Bobo (Georgia offense).

Al Groh (Georgia Tech defense).

In the interest of full disclosure, here goes: When Georgia and Georgia Tech both hired new defensive coordinators in January, I had more confidence in Paul Johnson’s decision to bring in Al Groh than I did Mark Richt’s decision to hire Todd Grantham.

The reason was simple: While Groh was a disappointment as a head coach at Virginia, he was a proven commodity as a defensive coach in the NFL and college, working with the likes of Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. I also believed that taking a college coordinator’s job at 66 indicated that he must be truly motivated to win again. Conversely, while Grantham came highly recommended, most recently as the linebackers coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he had been a coordinator only once before: with the Cleveland Browns, where he had mixed results (2005-07). Grantham was closer to an unknown commodity.

Continue reading Bust poll: Bobo (Georgia offense) vs. Groh (Tech defense) »

Mississippi State's Arceto Clark leaps high to catch a touchdown pass over Branden Smith, one of many plays to not go Georgia's way Saturday. (AP photo)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Was this convincing enough? Georgia just made Mississippi State look like a major force in the SEC. It’s seldom a force even within state borders.

Last week the Bulldogs lost to Arkansas for the first time in 17 years. This time they lost to another conference opponent for the first time in 36 years.

Doesn’t that suggest this isn’t some aberration?

The Bulldogs are 0-3 in the SEC. They stand alone in the conference in that regard. Behind Mississippi State, behind Vanderbilt, behind the schools you used to joke about. They are no longer the team that can beat everybody except Alabama and Florida. They are the team that can lose to every team well below Alabama and Florida.

After a 24-12 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday night, Georgia is 2-7 in its past nine SEC games. That’s not trivial, and it’s …

Continue reading Georgia’s embarrassment grows more historical by week »

Steve Spurrier and South Carolina have the upper hand on Mark Richt and Georgia in the SEC East race so far.

I have this general belief that if people are obsessing 24/7 over whether one player is going to be eligible for a football game — even when it’s a player as great as A.J. Green — there’s probably something wrong with the team.

But it’s easy to understand. If Georgia loses to Arkansas Saturday, that puts the Bulldogs at 0-2 in the SEC and it logically eliminates them from winning the East Division.

Or does it? The more you look at the makeup of the teams and the schedules, it’s reasonable to believe the SEC winner will lose at least two games this season, possibly three.

It’s easy to forget, with Florida going 15-1 in the conference in the last two seasons, but three of the previous five SEC East winners had two losses: Georgia, Tennessee and Florida tied at 6-2 in 2003; the Dogs won the division outright at 6-2 in 2005;  Georgia and Tennessee went 6-2 in 2007.

Prior to …

Continue reading Can Dogs afford to lose two SEC games and still win East? »

It seemed nothing Georgia did made a difference against Marcus Lattimore. (The State photo)

Georgia just lost its SEC opener, is already one game down in the East and next must play Arkansas, which has one of the top quarterbacks (Ryan Mallett) and offenses in the nation.

Georgia Tech just lost a non-conference game to Kansas, a seemingly punch-drunk program that was reeling from a defeat against North Dakota State, and doesn’t seem nearly ready for conference play (notwithstanding that the ACC didn’t exactly look like a super power this weekend).

 Loading …

Which program do you feel better about right now? Or worse?

Will Saturday’s losses prove to be aberrations or tone-setters for the season? It’s probably too early to tell, but here are both sides of the arguments for both schools:

♦ Georgia will be fine: Things haven’t exactly been stable off the field in Athens, and that …

Continue reading Bulldogs or Jackets — which team worries you more? »

Welcome to Lawrence, home of college hoops.

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Welcome to Lawrence, Kansas, the resting spot of basketball inventor James Naismith and the home of a former Division I football program.

Notwithstanding the whole, “That’s why they play the games” thing, this is a game Georgia Tech should win. The Kansas Jayhawks, only three years removed from a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl victory, opened last week with a 6-3 loss to North Dakota State.

Something you didn't know.

No disrespect to the Yellow Jackets and what coach Paul Johnson has built the last two seasons, but when Tech is a 14-point ROAD favorite, it says something about the opponent.

First, a word about Lawrence. This is my first time here. Unfortunately, last night’s arrival and today’s early kickoff (11 a.m. Central time) left me little time for exploring. But it’s a very cool spot, similar to Athens with maybe a touch of

They're all looking for Allen Fieldhouse.

Berkeley. I can see why it would be a great …

Continue reading We’re LIVE from Tech-Kansas (football, not basketball) »

Without suspended wide receiver A.J. Green . . .

Once you got past Wednesday’s most stunning revelation — wait, a Georgia Independence Bowl Jersey is worth $1,000? — one thing became clear following A.J. Green’s four-game suspension: Todd Grantham’s performance as the Bulldogs new’ defensive coordinator just became infinitely more important.

There is no easy win to spin this. Georgia can still win football games without Green, but a team doesn’t lose one of the top offensive players in the nation without feeling it. Green makes big plays, scores touchdowns, stretches a defense and draws double coverage. Those things help open up a running game, which in turn alleviates pressure on the quarterback.

. . . Todd Grantham's calls becomes more important.

Minus Green, logic says the Dogs are not nearly as potent offensively. Their margin for error just shrunk. Enter Grantham.

Forget last week’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette. It was nice to see a strong defensive effort in Athens, …

Continue reading With A.J. Green out, Grantham moves into Dogs’ spotlight »

Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green (crossing his arms) was forced to sit out Georgia's opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)

ATHENS – If there was any doubt that Mark Richt has become a little gun shy when it comes to the game status of his players, consider this: When asked if all of Georgia’s suspended players would be returning this week, he said: “If they behave.”

When asked specifically about Washaun Ealey’s return, Richt said: “If nothing happens between now and then.”

Ever have a speeding ticket or an accident on your driving record and you were just waiting for the moment when it finally dropped off so insurance rates would go down? That’s sort of where the Bulldogs are at this week — or at least should be at kickoff Saturday at South Carolina. Three players (Ealey, Tavarres King, Alec Ogletree) return from suspensions. Others among the nine arrests since the spring have been either kicked out, transferred or are out of Bulldog timeout.

Only A.J. …

Continue reading Georgia can’t move on while A.J. Green is a walking rumor »