Archive for September, 2009

Our panel of judges has selected the four finalists in the first week of the Junkyard Blawg Fan of the Week contest, with the theme “Bulldogs on Wheels.” Now it’s up to you. Take a look at these photos, pick your favorite and then vote in the poll. The winner, to be announced Wednesday, will receive two tickets to the Arizona State game on Sept. 26 in Athens.

And stay tuned for your next opportunity to enter the contest on Thursday!

Fan No. 1

Fan. No. 2

Fan No. 3

Fan No. 4

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Continue reading Time to vote for Fan of the Week! »

A.J. Green scores. (Jeremy Scott / Special)

A few observations and questions from Saturday’s win over Arkansas …

It’s almost scary to think how good this Georgia team could be if the offense and defense both put all the pieces together in the same game and cut out those stupid turnovers and penalties. Right now, though, that’s looking like a tall order. …

Georgia is ridiculously talented at receiver. I’m sure the Hogs’ Ramon Broadway regrets dissing A.J. Green before the game, but A.J.’s seven catches for 137 yards were just part of the picture for the Dogs. Michael Moore didn’t catch a touchdown pass but his six catches for 91 yards were important; the guy is a dynamite possession receiver. Orson Charles showed what a mismatch he is for defenders at tight end; more big things to come there. And Tavares King had a couple of really nice catches, although he also had a couple of drops. That long ball he let go through his hands would have given Joe Cox the Georgia touchdown …

Continue reading Defense needs to get on same page as Joe and the boys »

So much for questions about Joe Cox’s arm.

A record-tying five touchdowns and throwing for 375 yards.

But one question: When when did Georgia move to the Big 12 conference?

There were still too many turnovers. Way too many penalties. A frustratingly ineffective kickoff game. And the defense gave up nearly 500 yards of offense and five touchdown passes by Ryan Mallett.

But the Dogs again showed a remarkable resiliency, too. One thing you can say about this Georgia team is they don’t get rattled when they get down.

And Georgia comes out of Fayetteville with a big road win.

The difference in the game?

The redhead with the bad shoulder and supposedly weak arm. With several helping hands from A.J. Green, Michael Moore, Tavares King and Orson Charles.

All Mark Richt asked of Cox this game was to get better. Mission accomplished. And then some.

Time to celebrate!

More to come.

Continue reading A signature game for Joe Cox »

A.J. Green (Georgiadogs.com)

We’ll head into the weekend with this quote from Razorback Central in which Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway appears not to be that impressed by Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green.

“He definitely does a lot of things that a lot of veteran guys do,” Broadway said. “But … he hasn’t done nothing else that I haven’t seen. I’ve been playing for the last season, so A.J., he’s going to be a good guy. But they’ve got to do a little bit more [than] the last two weeks to beat us.”

It’ll be interesting to watch that match-up Saturday night.

Smart money’s on A.J.

Go Dogs!

Continue reading Hog needs to be taught some respect »

Joe Cox (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)

One thing we haven’t seen Georgia do much of so far this season is throw the deep ball to A.J. Green, but Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald has up some interesting quotes from Mark Richt and Joe Cox on the subject.

Talking on his Monday radio program, Richt said that Joe Cox “can throw the ball far enough to throw just about anything we want. We’re not going to throw it 65 yards or 75 yards, but there aren’t many Matthew Staffords in the world. I’ll say this — when we do throw the ball deep, I’ll bet you we complete more deep balls this year than we completed last year. Mostly because Joe will put it in play and give a great player like A.J. Green a chance to make the play. If we overthrow him, we get nothing. If we throw it on the money, it’s awesome and if we throw it short, A.J. can either get the ball or usually the defender interferes.”

Cox makes the same point about the importance of not overthrowing the ball. “Of …

Continue reading Bulldog Bites: Georgia to go deep? »

Branden Smith could be a key special teams player. (Johnny Crawford / AJC)

Both teams in Saturday’s Georgia-Arkansas game are a bit of a mystery.

For the Dogs, the big question is whether the offense that put more than 40 points up against South Carolina will show up, or will it be that anemic, indecisive bunch that had trouble scoring on Okie State? As for the Hogs, a lot of folks are expecting them to be one of the conference’s high-powered scoring machines, but they’ve played only one game against a minor-league opponent so far. And we don’t know if their defense, which was terrible last year, has improved much.

I think the Dogs should be able to prevail. But certain key factors are needed for that to happen:

Georgia must put real pressure on Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett. Let him stand in the pocket and he’s going to pick the Dogs’ already shaky pass defense apart.

The Dogs also must tighten up their zone coverage. They must leave much less of a cushion, especially for …

Continue reading Keys to a win over the Hogs … plus Adams to NCAA? »

Georgiadogs.com

My friend Doug is an adopted Hog, sort of.

Doug actually graduated from Arkansas State, but because their football program is not exactly major-league, he’s a longtime supporter of his home state’s flagship football program, the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. He even has a bright red stuffed razorback sitting on top of his computer monitor. At least, I think it’s a razorback. Looks more like a red aardvark.

Anyway, since I’ve been reading that Razorbacks fandom has been keying on the game with Georgia for months and many in the “Natural State” are predicting a major beat-down for the Dogs, I decided to check in with Doug and get his view of Saturday’s game in Fayetteville. So I asked him: Are Ryan Mallett and the Hog offense as good as SEC media types say? Will the Arkansas defense be any better than last year, when it was awful? Are the folks in Arkansas really feeling that confident?

“It should be a pretty good game,” Doug said. “As far as Mallett is …

Continue reading A pig’s eye view of Georgia-Arkansas »

Let’s check in on some of what’s being said about the Georgia-Arkansas game in Razorbacks land, via MrSEC.com.

The Hogs’ defensive coordinator, Willy Robinson, sums up Dogs QB Joe Cox like this: “He’s not the biggest guy in the world. He’s not the most accurate guy in the world. But the youngster just competes and he goes to the end, and they do a lot of great things with him as far as moving him out of the pocket [and] putting the quick game together.”

Robinson also says he’s curious how his much maligned defense will react to any big plays by Georgia: “If we get punched in the mouth it will be interesting to see how we respond. We got punched in the mouth early last year and we didn’t respond very well.”

And also at Razorback Central, columnist Harry King notes that Arkansas fans have been fixated on the Georgia game for some time. “During this decade, I can’t remember Arkansas fans exuding such optimism and anticipation about a particular SEC opponent during the …

Continue reading Two-minute drill: View from Arkansas »

North Campus after the South Carolina game. (Tom Ritch / Special)

All those folks tailgating on North Campus before Georgia home games in Athens — both the responsible ones who pick up and bag their own trash and the jerks who leave the quads looking like a landfill — might as well enjoy it while they can.

Because I’m betting the days of free tailgating on UGA’s two original quadrangles are numbered.

Actually, I’d already come to that conclusion even before school President Michael Adams felt it necessary address the subject of tailgate trash today after a Cabinet meeting in Athens. Adams said crews would put out extra trash bags and containers for the next home game against Arizona State and pleaded with fans to cooperate, but frankly I think it’s too late to save all-free tailgating at UGA.

The trend has started. Already, other schools, including SEC brethren Auburn and Alabama, have started charging hundreds of dollars per game for access to certain areas favored by …

Continue reading Garbage dumping endangers free tailgating »

Will Willie Martinez (left) listen to Mark Richt? (Brant Sanderlin / AJC)

One of the most common laments heard in Sanford Stadium last week was how much of a cushion Georgia’s defenders were giving South Carolina’s receivers and how open the middle of the Dogs’ zone defense was all night. It was particularly bad on some third-down plays when the Georgia defenders seemed willing to give up a first down just to prevent the long ball.

Well, at least the fans weren’t the only ones noticing how soft Willie Martinez’s zone was as Georgia yielded 313 yards in the air to Carolina. Martinez’s boss did, too. And Mark Richt says change is in order, Georgiadogs.com reports.

“It doesn’t matter if you play zone or man, there was too much space and not enough resistance,” Richt said of the Dogs’ defense against the Gamecocks. “We’ve got to squeeze the quarterback in the pocket and the receivers, too. Offensive football is about getting that space out there for the receivers and …

Continue reading Richt looks for tighter pass defense »