Dogs have a lot of questions to answer at G-Day
Will the pressure be on Mike Bobo this season? (Associated Press)
This year’s G-Day game, set for April 10, should be one of the more interesting UGA intrasquad matches in a long time.
While some aspects of the 2010 Dogs at least appear to be pretty well established — the offensive line and the two top running backs — there are a lot of big question marks hovering over Mark Richt’s 10th team.
Will Logan Gray still be competing for the starting quarterback job by G-Day or will he be a receiver or in the secondary? Will forgotten running back Richard Samuel have taken his speed to the linebacking corps?
And the two most intriguing questions: The quarterback battle and the implementation of a different defensive alignment under new coordinator Todd Grantham.
About half the defensive starters from last season are gone, and the defensive players are a little nervous about the switch to a 3-4 scheme and where they’ll fit into it. Who’s going to play nose guard? Who will those blitzing outside linebackers be?
But at the same time they’re excited about Grantham’s preference for an aggressive, attacking defense.
As fans, we’re feeling the same way, but come G-Day it’s likely we won’t get a true picture of what kind of D the Dogs will field in the fall. Chances are the players will still be learning what they’re supposed to do and making a lot of mistakes. It’s likely to be a pretty sloppy game on the defensive side.
Which could give us a possibly misleading view of where our offense stands, particularly the play at quarterback. Still, it will be instructive to see how Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger have progressed since we last saw them play in the 2009 G-Day game. At that time, Murray definitely looked to be farther along and impressed with his ability to roll out, while Mettenberger still had a ways to go on his footwork and dialing back his cannon of an arm. We’re told both players have improved since then. It’ll be fun to see how much.
The spotlight obviously will be on Grantham since he was brought in to clean up Willie Martinez’s mess, but I’m thinking there actually may be more pressure this season on offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who’ll have two redshirt freshmen and a true freshman (incoming recruit Hutson Mason) taking snaps this fall if Gray does switch positions, and a pretty inexperienced quarterback even if Gray stays in the mix.
Some folks felt Bobo skated a bit in the blame game last season in that the embattled Martinez took the lion’s share of the heat for the Dogs’ troubles when in many cases the offense’s sputtering and turnovers left the defense with a short field to defend. This year, with the defense in a rebuilding mode, the onus is on the offense to lead the way. Is Bobo up to it?
What other G-Day story lines are you looking forward to seeing?
LADY DOGS MEET THE LADY IN ORANGE
Tonight’s game between Andy Landers’ 8th ranked Lady Dogs and the 3rd ranked Lady Vols at Stegeman Coliseum is a big one and I know at least one Georgia fan who’d sell his soul to see UGA beat the orange pants suit off Landers’ longtime nemesis, Pat Summitt. (Right, Steve?) Reserved seat tickets are still available for the 7 p.m. game and are $5 for adults and $3 for kids. Tickets can be ordered online (using the print-at-home option only) until 3 p.m. today or can be bought by calling 1-877-542-1231 before 4 p.m. They’ll also be on sale at the Stegeman ticket booths starting at 5:30 p.m. Mastercard, VISA and cash are all accepted forms of payment at the Stegeman Coliseum ticket windows. UGA students get in free when presenting their valid UGA ID Card at Gate 4 of the Coliseum. The first 300 UGA Students will receive a “Beat Tennessee” T-shirt and free pizza. All UGA students can register to win a Nintendo Wii, iPod Touch and other gift cards during the game.
Go Lady Dogs!
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160 comments Add your comment
gdawginkalamazoo
January 21st, 2010
4:01 pm
gatorman, I think with the O-line that we have now the power I is the way to go. As someone above mentioned Carlton Thomas’ speed could be better utilized for sure. With all that is coming back on that side of the ball it should be exciting if they don’t let up. That’s my problem. They seem to get a lead and change modes. Why is Saban one of the best coaches in the country? He gets his kids to play smash mouth football for 60 minutes, and more if needed.
For real
January 21st, 2010
4:02 pm
“I IMAGINE THE TIGER WOODS SHOW WILL DRAW MORE ATTENTION THAN DESIRED AT AUGUSTA.”
Hey L-Dawg – keep up with the times. Tiger wont be there this year.
Paddy
January 21st, 2010
4:14 pm
Big Daddy…….None of us are real surprised that you are from Alabama after reading your post. Dumber than a sack of rocks. With my apology to the rocks!
Rod
January 21st, 2010
4:15 pm
Same thing Smoke wagon said
Nebraska fan- Most of us really appreciate what CMR has done for the Georgia program but there are a few bandwagon fans that want him fired for some odd reason. I believe that most of them are Ga. Tech fans pretending to be Dawgs since he really owns them. I would not judge all Georgia fans by a few moonbats. BTW Nebraska was much improved this year. Congrats!
Otto
January 21st, 2010
4:18 pm
Gatorman thanks, good to see a rival keeping civil conversation.
The power I is useful but more variation is needed. UGA does not recruit OL as heavy as Bama.
Murray and Thomas could make for an intersting pair with a creative OC.
seabass
January 21st, 2010
4:20 pm
We have several guys in the 300+lbs range that would make good canidates for nose tackles. We will be just fine people.
Sav'h Dawg
January 21st, 2010
4:28 pm
The receiving corps needs to be comprised of the top 4. Our coaches seem to be concerned with keeping players happy through playing time. Play the best avalilable and quit rotating so much at this position. NFL teams stick with the top 3 or 4.
Brucemac
January 21st, 2010
4:47 pm
Dear “Why”, these are not true GA fans, they are idiots from UGA competitors with nothing better to do or just by standers that are failures at there job and misdirect their miserable existence on CMR. Where in the world would you find a coach that averages 10 wins per year in the toughest conference in America to replace him? Of cource Saban and Myers have the upper hand just now but they ain’t coming to Athens. 99% of DAWGS love and support CMR. GO DAWGS.
il5
January 21st, 2010
4:52 pm
I’d like to hear Coach Richt’s plan to:
Run the ball for 225 yards a game, even when people know we’re coming
1) Create 2 takeaways a game/limit offensive giveaways
2) Cut penalties in half
3) Beat Florida
4) Inspire our guys during the off season to work harder than ever
5) Off season conditioning plan so we don’t lose the 4th quarter in 2010 like we did in 2009. Copnditoning plan worked 2002-2008, not in 2009.
6) Moving to a merit-based philosophy so guys work harder–stop the favoritism–reward objective performance–STOP ROTATING MEDIOCRE PLAYERS–THEY DO NOT DESERVE IT–THEY HAVE NOT EARNED IT!!
7) Get a better plan for Special teams–Meyer plays Freshmen–requires them to prove themselves on special teams BEFORE they earn a starting position
9) Play guys REGARDLESS of their AGE or YEARS ON THE TEAM—based on MERIT/PERFORMANCE ONLY–move away from the “blind-loyalty” policy. Start a lot of freshman if that’s how it pans out. Put your best talent on the field.
ONLY SERIOUS
January 21st, 2010
4:57 pm
110rd Scott Brown for President!!!!
Balderdash
January 21st, 2010
4:58 pm
Hope Samuel makes the switch to linebacker. King and Ealey will obviously get the bulk of the carries, so if he wants to see the field and be an impact player, making the switch should be an easy decision. He said he likes both positions equally. Let’s see if that’s true. Same thing with Gray. Murray and Mettenberger are the guys. If he wants to make an impact, he’s got a decision to make.
Brucemac
January 21st, 2010
5:11 pm
il5, perfect example. You need to put a plan together to get those Big Macs served faster idiot.
col fot
January 21st, 2010
5:19 pm
why not let uga’s scout team scrimmage the yellow jacks in their spring game, the jacks might have a chance but i doubt it. the jacks would probably get drilled.ha,ha,ha
SOONER FAN
January 21st, 2010
5:21 pm
NEBRASKA FAN-I agree with you and think Richt is a great coach and national titles will follow.I know Bob Devaney and Tom Osbourne coached longer without national titles and Penn St also.I believe Georgia will have multiple national titles before Richt is done at Georgia.We only have one since the Switzer days ourselves.I think UGA has mostly good educated fans and alunmi who love Richt but every schoolhas the lunatic fringe who know nothing about football.
shane#1
January 21st, 2010
5:21 pm
Nebraska Fan, I remember Coach Dooley’s time well and a lot of fans wanted him fired. It comes with the job. Being a coach is kind of like being a preacher, half the congregation loves the preacher, the other half wants him fired. Many were saying that Richt would never fire coach Willie, it wasn’t untill the deed was done that we leared Richt was unhappy with the D last year. Richt seems to be very deliberate, which is not a bad thing in a head coach. Make rash decisions and you wind up with a Kiffin! As for next year, a new QB and a new defense sound exciting. I think Murray will get the nod, but I have read that Mett has made some real strides. He has gotten his weight down to 235 and they say he seems much quicker, so he may give Murray a real battle. It should be a fun year for the Dawgs, I just hope that the same O linemen can start all 12 games.
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
5:22 pm
Is there an actual example of a player that ever started out of “blind loyalty”, rather than fundamentable football considerations?
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
5:22 pm
Is there an actual example of a player that ever started out of “blind loyalty”, rather than fundamentable football considerations?
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
5:23 pm
now THAT friends is hard to pull off.
1eyedJack
January 21st, 2010
5:24 pm
I think a big problem is that you have to promise playing time to some of these kids to get them to sign. Guys like Saban or Meyer or the late Lane Kiffen probably have no problem disremembering those promises but a guy like CMR feels compelled to honor them.
The Truth
January 21st, 2010
5:28 pm
“What mess people? Just because we didn’t win the popularity contest known as the bcs and get a shot at the title in 2002 or 2007 doesn’t mean we are lacking!!!!”
Just to remind the crazy Dawg fans out there(most UGA fans know the truth) there was no popularity contest in 07. Dawgs finished with two losses which was great but were tied in the East with the Vols who beat the Dawgs that year so the Vols won the tiebreaker. No popularity contest there, just the rules. So why would UGA be in the title game after not winning the East and not playing in the SEC title game, we won’t even say they didn’t win it because they were not even there. So the title game was LSU(SEC Champion) vs. Ohio State(Big 10 Champion).
Two in a row?
January 21st, 2010
5:34 pm
“I’d like to hear Coach Richt’s plan to:
3) Beat Florida”
How about his plan to beat them consistently. Ok, the Dawgs are more then capable of beating them in a given game but it hasn’t been since the 1988 and 1989 seasons that the Dawgs beat them twice in a row. That is what I want to see him do, beat them twice in a row………if he can.
NerdHerder
January 21st, 2010
5:40 pm
The way Richt is talking about ball security I would be surprised if our qbs threw it more than 20 times in any game next year. With the hb tandem we have i just want to see us run over people and set our wrs up for playaction.
NerdHerder
January 21st, 2010
5:42 pm
Anytime there is a vote involved in anything it is by its very own nature a popularity contest.
il5
January 21st, 2010
5:46 pm
Coach Richt will use the proven plan to beat Florida using the Bama strategy:
1) 3-4 defense to disguise looks–Tebow was dumbfounded–a Freshman QB will have his head spinning
2) Run the ball to control the clock and minimize turnovers
3) Isolate the QB and make the Florida QB beat you running and passing–the flaw in the spread system is the QB as Bama proved
All the news thats fit to print
January 21st, 2010
6:01 pm
Who is Scott Brown?
H
January 21st, 2010
6:34 pm
My biggest concern is Bobo.
1: Can he develop players? Joe Cox and the vast majority of the experienced O-line’s performance last season say no. Stafford developed somewhat, but he was already uber-talented. Same with Moreno and Green.
2: Can he call plays? Sometimes, but Bobo seems to get into inexplicable ruts. Texas A&M first half, the OK State game–terrible offensive play-calling against two HORRIBLE defenses. We can’t afford to have this sort of performance. I think we’ll have to learn the hard way that we need better than Bobo to compete with Florida and Bama.
Big L
January 21st, 2010
7:40 pm
all Bobo has gotta do is blend the spread with the power I to suit Murray’s talents and he would be a genius. Adjust to your strengths, don’t try to force the QB to play what he ain’t. All QB’s ain’t gotta be Matt Stafford. And like I said before, who cares where Stafford went in the draft, I could give a blasting bowl movement about pro ball. I want a championship at UGA. However the team is run to do it.
why are McRibs only around for a limited time?
January 21st, 2010
7:40 pm
where are you, Ted Striker?
Mobile Dawg
January 21st, 2010
8:26 pm
There’s really no excuse for Bobo this year. All he needs to do is figure out which two downs he will run and which one he will pass for the 66% running attack. It’s what we should have been doing all along.
FLA DAWG
January 21st, 2010
8:31 pm
I have only one question;
Why is Bobo still employed at UGA?
How Innovative Can Bobo & Richt Be?
January 21st, 2010
8:47 pm
This is what I’d like to see. What new offensive strategy and/or tactics can they bring to college football that reduces risk, creates match-up problems, is hard to read, and best utilizes existing resources?
Bobo Needs to Study Boise St.
January 21st, 2010
8:52 pm
Boise St. leads the nation in offense points at 42 a game, yet, is in the top 5, for least giveaways.
Georgia needs to study & emulate.
There IS a way to maximize offensive scoring and minimize risk.
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
8:53 pm
Why would Mike Bobo NOT be still employed at UGA?
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
9:01 pm
il5, did you come up with a name of a player that would be an example of this “blind loyalty policy” and not performance in figuring who is getting playing time?
Ole Yeller Dawg
January 21st, 2010
9:33 pm
AltamahaDawg:
Bryan Evans
Michael Moore
Joe Cox
Logan Grey
Pitbull
January 21st, 2010
10:15 pm
Dawgs could lose the National championship game and some of you people would still b@itch.
Hymie
January 21st, 2010
10:19 pm
Who will be the up-and-coming Uncle Tom for the white folk uga fans to assuage their guilt over?
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
10:20 pm
Can’t really be Joe Cox AND Logan Gray now can it?
Micheal Moore never kept anybody off the field in the little time he did gets. I don’t even see the argument here. Who, when? And you didn’t think MM was a good player in the limited role he played. I did. And since we are on the subject, didn’t a freshman WR keep Moore, a Jr, from getting a lot more reps last year? Seems like it.
The fact that Bryan Evans was out there is self-explainatory that there obviously wasn’t anyone better. Scary, but had there been anyone remotely better, why wouldn’t he have been out there? Who should have been?
BTW, Its very easy to name a bunch of underclassmen that played over more senior players. All over the place. I can think of a handfull without even looking it up. Is that blind loyalty just a random policy? Or maybe it’s BS, and there is more to the story. Might not agree with the coaches accessments of abilities at times, but its silly to say they played folks simply out of loyalty, not performance (as they define it). Silly
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
11:01 pm
Sav Dawg, except for a handfull of catches, all of the receiving numbers by far were from 3 player, and then a far distant 4th. 2 player really caught the majority. Who were all these rec we were rotating in just to keep people happy? We had our top 3 or 4 as you suggested. And then Marlon Brown and Israel Troupe split a handful of reps.
BuLLdawg
January 21st, 2010
11:10 pm
What do you know ?
Someone actually writing about Andy Landers games.
UGA Women beat Number 3 vols tonight while Georgia tek beat Savannah State.
Typical cupcakes for Georgia tek in EVERY SPORT.
This Sport, Georgia tek LOST to UGA as well 50-56.
AJ-C has NO ARTICLE ON YOUR GAME AGAINST SAVANNAH STATE TONIGHT.
UGA Lady Bulldogs are 70-15 against current ACC teams, mostly on the Strength of Andy Landers 29-3 Record against Georgia tek, including 12-0 in Athens.
15 times Andy Landers has beat Pat Summitt. No coach has done better against Pat Summitt than Andy Landers.
18 times the 2 teams have met with both teams ranked in the Top 10 in the Nation. The vols beat Andy Landers for the National Championship Game in 1996.
53-50, as Andy Landers teaches Defense.
Vincent J. Dooley, as UGA Athletics Director, hired Andy Landers as UGA Lady Bulldogs’ Head Women’s Basketball Coach April 1979.
26 NCAA Tournaments for UGA’s Andy Landers is 2nd Best in The Nation, including 5 Final 4 for Andy Landers.
25 Wins a season and this is the 29th Season at UGA for Andy Landers, who is now over 800 Wins in his Career and already named to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
He Graduates ALL of his Players. All.
19 of his former players have played in the WNBA.
429 weeks Andy Landers has been Ranked in the AP Poll, which is 3rd Best in the Nation.
And, tonight Andy Landers beat Pat Summitt for the 15th time head-to-head.
Runner-Up in 1985 and 1996, the 5 Final 4s, 10 Elite 8s, and 16 Sweet 16s, Andy Landers has been ultra successful as a motivator and as a recruiter, along with his main prowess of teaching Defense.
Only 3 teams have done better since 1979 than Andy Landers’ teams, taking the Final AP Poll Rankings and comparing them across all teams.
BuLLdawg
January 21st, 2010
11:11 pm
11 SEC Championships or SEC Tournament Championships for Andy Landers at UGA, and that is 2nd Best in The SEC, the Nation’s Premier Women’s Basketball Conference forever – like Football.
Janet Harris, 4-Time Consensus All-America.
Teresa Edwards won her 1st Gold Medal in 1984, and is the 1st Woman or Man to compete in 5 Olympics in Basketball. Teresa Edwards Won her 4th Gold Medal in 2000.
Katrina McClain competed in 3 Olympics with Teresa Edwards winning the Gold Medal in 1988 and 1996 together as the Backbone of the U.S. Olympics Team.
Recently the vols have had Superior Basketball Teams under Pat Summitt, but the games were not decided until the final basket really ever in the history between Andy Landers and Pat Summitt.
National Coach of the Year 4 times, Andy Landers is a lot of fun to watch coach.
31 All-America UGA Players Andy Landers recruited here.
57 All-SEC Academic Honor Roll, Andy Landers’ Student-Athletes are much better than Georgia tek’s in the classroom, and always have been. These 57 All-SEC Academic Honor Roll players for Andy Landers are in fact his 57 Best Players.
They all Graduate.
Andy Landers so far this year has beat Georgia tek again (he’s Never Lost to Georgia tek in Athens, and sports a haughty 29-3 Record Head-to-Head against Georgia tek), Oklahoma, Rutgers, Virginia, Kentucky and Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Lady vols, and all 6 of them are Top 25 teams.
He will play another 10 Top 25 teams before the end of the season, and 4 of those are coming up now against 4 Ranked SEC Teams.
athensdawg
January 21st, 2010
11:23 pm
bill….great point on bozo.
i think the heat is now on him and van halanger.
Cabine Dawg
January 21st, 2010
11:24 pm
With their new D coordinator, the Dawgs should easily have the best D in the SEC east, maybe even better than Bama, since they are losing 9 starters. If bobo comes through with better work, UGA can win the SEC–mark it down! The key games are florida and tennessee, which the Dawgs should win easy, since both teams will be way down in 2010!!! The Dawgs upset bama in the SEC title game–bet the house!
AltamahaDawg
January 21st, 2010
11:44 pm
Oh now, plenty of folks were talking about coach Andy Landers before now. Remember? How he was a huge failure and needed to be fire a long time ago.
BuLLdawg
January 22nd, 2010
7:01 am
Auburn or the vols, Alabama, or LSU – they all have the advantage over us and you can add in Florida has the advantage obviously too.
5 SEC Rivalry games and we are on the Losing End of all 5. They all 5 SEC teams OWN UGA.
chazzo
January 22nd, 2010
8:13 am
QB is important, and there may be some stumbling and grumbling early on. I am more concerned about the D-line. Of course, it is probably good that the new coach with the new scheme has young guys to mold.
Bobo Should Have Gone First
January 22nd, 2010
8:44 am
This was CMR’s mess that has been building for a long time.. 3-4 years.
Unfortunately, I can’t see Mark turning this thing around. I have very little confidence remaining in him. I say that due to less talent on defense and an under performing offense, UGA will go 5-7 next year.
Mark needs to take one of those missions for a long time and let Will Muschamp come to UGA as head coach and bring Kirby as the DC. Hire Leach from TT as the OC.
Good luck in Argentina or Nigeria Mark.. Maybe Bobo can go with you. Maybe you and Bobo an go to Syria or Lebenon and try to bring peace rather than war to that part of the world.
collegeballfan
January 22nd, 2010
9:06 am
The Ladydogs knocked off the #3 team in the country. UGA put 7700 people in the stands. See what happens when the UGA students & grads support a team? Now if you UGA people will get off your cheap butts and support Fox and the men’s team the same thing will happen. But only if you grads get in the stands first. The better high school players are not going to college to play in front of a high school crowd.
But, like Bill King, you will probably continue to focus on football
in January.
The disgrace for you Dawg fans is that I am a Tech fan but I am the biggest fan of UGA basketball on this blog.
GeoffDawg
January 22nd, 2010
9:25 am
AltamahaDawg – I wouldn’t construe it as “blind” loyalty but I do think loyalty to the upperclassmen who’ve paid their dues is a consideration because it helps set the tone for stability in the program. However, I think it was clear that last year, at least in the second half of the season, that Rambo was a better safety than Evans.
J
January 22nd, 2010
9:44 am
G day does stand for GAY DAY right?