Heat Check: Everybody – Tech, UGA, the Falcons – is smokin’
The men of Groh are growing on me, I must confess. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Georgia Tech wins a big game and is back in the Top 25. Georgia beats Florida and has climbed to No. 18. The Falcons don’t even play but gain on New Orleans in the NFC South. Our weekly Heat Check begins with the question: Are we Winnersville or what?
Georgia Tech: A big-time performance was needed, and that’s what the Jackets provided. Coming as it did after two small-time losses, Tech now gives the impression of having turned a corner. (Then again, it’s always nice to happen on a corner and find Dabo Swinney standing there.)
There was a neat little hidden stat coming into the Clemson game, so neat and so hidden I’d have missed it if a faithful Twitter follower hadn’t called it to my attention: In ACC games, Tech was 11th in the conference in total offense but first in the league in total defense. Which tells us that, for all the hand-wringing over Al Groh’s D, he has fashioned a unit that will give the famous offense a chance in every game, provided the offense doesn’t turn the ball over and the special teams don’t collapse completely. Heat Index: Beat the nation’s No. 5 team, even if it is Dabo-coached, and you’re certifiably smokin’ again.
Georgia: I have to say I’m a bit confused. Georgia beat Florida for the fourth time since 1989 after trailing by two touchdowns, and the reaction on this site wasn’t so much exultation but complaint. I’m willing to concede that reader comments aren’t necessarily an accurate gauge of anything and that some folks who present themselves as Georgia fans might not be. That said …
Are you serious? When you’ve lost as many games to Florida as Georgia has, you should take a one-point victory on a safety induced by a punt that bounces off a seagull and be happy with it. I know special teams were terrible. I know this isn’t much of a Florida team. Doesn’t matter. It was still Florida in Jacksonville, and Georgia won. Heat Index: Six in a row after 0-2 — me, I’d call that warmth.
The Falcons: Had a bye. Will have another Sunday. (Technically, they meet Indianapolis. Same difference.) Then again, the Saints thought they’d have a bye in St. Louis, and they lost to an 0-6 opponent. Which means the Falcons are tied with New Orleans in the loss column, which is a pretty good place to be after starting 2-3.
Do I think the Falcons have played to their capacity? No, I don’t. Do I think they can win the Super Bowl playing as they have? No again. But do I think they have room to grow into a Super Bowl-type team? Yes, I still do. Heat Index: After the trip to Indy, the Falcons’ next three are at home, including a Nov. 13 date against New Orleans. Time to get hot, I’d say.
Will Muschamp: The former Bulldog officially became the first Florida coach ever to have a losing record against Mark Richt, and Gator fans don’t know what to do. Should they write off Muschamp as the next Ron Zook, or should they blame Urban Meyer for leaving so little talent behind? Heat Index: Florida was winless in October for the first time since it went 0-10-1 under Charley Pell in 1979. That’s cold.
Dabo Swinney: He replaced Tommy Bowden, who would raise hopes only to dash them, and after two years on the job it’s unclear whether Dabo isn’t really Tommy B. in disguise. Because nothing at Clemson has changed. This is still the team you can’t believe in. Heat Index: When you come into a game thinking about a national championship and trail by three touchdowns at the half, you’ve undergone a cold snap.
The Braves: They finished one game behind the eventual World Series champs. Which sounds nicer than saying, “The Cardinals wouldn’t be champs if the Braves hadn’t squandered an 8 1/2-game lead in September.” Heat Index: A chilly winter awaits.
The Hawks: They’re locked out. Their new owner might not be their new owner after all. Other than that, everything’s hunky-dory. Heat Index: Let’s see, when were the Hawks ever a hot item? In 1988, maybe?
By Mark Bradley
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369 comments Add your comment
Terry
October 31st, 2011
11:10 am
Lowcountry Bulldawg, If I’m not mistaken, Florida had some fifth year seniors playing, so I would include 2007, when they had a #1 ranking. John Brantley, Chris Rainey, Deonte Thompson, ranked 4 star players in 2007 rivals ranking.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:11 am
@HT 10:43…. the last time Richt was so bold was when he had a Van Gorder D. You will agree with me a stout D changes everything now on offensive philosophy… How many times did we hand UF a short field on special teams play and we knocked them back… We can now take chances that we were not able to last year because of our stout D.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:14 am
@ beanster… nice post! but there are 2 camps unfortunately and maybe it keeps the team hungry looking to play the perfect game… They are young, so young and just getting better… LSU is going to slap Bama silly in my opinion… The pt spread will be interesting this week as the game gets closer.
ClemsonBrad
October 31st, 2011
11:15 am
A bad loss, yes….but before this weekend, Dabo was looking like a Coach of the Year canidate. It’s a long season Mark…we still look good for a BCS bowl and the ACC Championship. I hope we get to face Tech. again. I’d love another crack at them.
Ted M
October 31st, 2011
11:16 am
Tony La Russa retired as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
He went out on top…Cox went out a flop.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:16 am
Is there a team in the country that has more “rivals” than we do?? What do you all say.???.. We have USC, Clemson (when we play them) TN, Auburn, now Bama due to recruiting, UF, Tech. Everyone camps on our borders for recruits…
The original OLD Greg
October 31st, 2011
11:17 am
Gary and Verne were horrendous Saturday. In one possession, Danielson referred to Murray as Joe Cox then corrected himself by calling him Aaron Rodgers. Mistakes all day from those two really bothered me along with the blatant rooting for a Florida victory.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:17 am
I refuse to include Vandy, yet….
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:18 am
Gary and Verne are getting old… They did correctly ask for us to higher a Special Teams coach….
JB
October 31st, 2011
11:21 am
Calling Murray “Aaron Rodgers” got my attention…..We could only dream…LOL
joey1
October 31st, 2011
11:22 am
these ga mutts are delusional… to think uga has a good defense is a joke they padded their stats against the last 6 very week opponents the bottom of the sec teams which have a combined record of 21-24…uga has beat noone of merit
Tech Fan Since 1950
October 31st, 2011
11:23 am
Glad “nobody” did not show up at the game Saturday night. It would have been just too crowded then. Just enough Jackets and Tigers to throw a nice downtown Atlanta party. Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field—just the best venue in college football. You can’t beat the feeling of being a part of the Atlanta skyline. Go Jackets and Go Varsity!
AidDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:23 am
Congraats Dawgs a wiwn is a win. Congrats Tech you beat a very ggod team and florida fans your florida you will be back………
The Grinch .
October 31st, 2011
11:26 am
To all you UGA haters that were trivializing our “close” victory over Vanderbilt (saying we should have blown them out), what’s your take on #7 Arkansas and their “blowout” of Vandy?
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 31st, 2011
11:26 am
“you do realize that UGA and their terrible coaching staff has beaten Auburn like 4 out of the last 5 times? Was last year an aberration with a phenom like Newton? I don’t know, we shall see. I promise we will show up and see what happens.”
Not sure what that has to do with my question.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 31st, 2011
11:27 am
“what’s your take on #7 Arkansas and their “blowout” of Vandy?”
Arkansas is better than UGA.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:27 am
@HT… you are right about Mullen… Missy St has to be a graveyard for coaching…. as is Ol Miss. Why they fired Cutcliffe is beyond me….
1eyedJack
October 31st, 2011
11:29 am
If GT leads the ACC in defense then that has to be the no-defense league.
K
October 31st, 2011
11:30 am
UGA is NOT in Atlanta!!!!
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
11:30 am
I noticed that “blowout” win by Ark. But, we are in the “lousy” East as all are saying… That’s ok… all you have to do is play 60 minutes in the SEC Chmpshp game… not the best of 3 or best of 5.. It’s football and anything can happen…Auburn, are you playing spoilers this year??? or just riding the season out??? You beating Bama again this year???
bucket
October 31st, 2011
11:31 am
@ 2010 – I wasn’t trying to answer your question.
C
October 31st, 2011
11:32 am
Let’s go Falcons! The South is up for grabs!
The Grinch .
October 31st, 2011
11:35 am
K
October 31st, 2011
11:30 am
Which is a good thing…..
The Grinch .
October 31st, 2011
11:37 am
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 31st, 2011
11:27 am
Not doubting that. Just wondering what the haters were thinking.
By the way, will you still be using the same post name in 2024 when you’ve still not won another BCS championship? You might want to “freshen” things up, you know.
Dawglasville
October 31st, 2011
11:37 am
In the next month we will play both Auburn and Tech. We will find out where the University of Georgia stacks up against these two nationally ranked teams. In my humble opinion they all look pretty evenly matched, but that is my humble opinion (which is like… and that is why we have blogs).
UGA Insider
October 31st, 2011
11:46 am
UGA has the worst special teams unit in the country and it is gonna cost us at some point this year. The UF game is over and let’s move on…
Tiger Ron
October 31st, 2011
11:47 am
Mark, Wait until this season is over before pasing judgment on Dabo. We still can finish with one of our best records this year in Tiger football history.
UGA Insider
October 31st, 2011
11:49 am
If our special teams can just play “average” and our offense can get healthy we have a chance to be a very good team. Our defense is playing lights out and they are playing at a very high level. Coach Bobo has to step it up.
Herschel Talker
October 31st, 2011
11:51 am
BobDawg:
Yes, I agree about Grantham’s D as compared to Van Gorder’s. Having this kind of D definitely allows us to take chances we couldn’t take in the past. It is nice to see us hitting hard, making good tackles, and kicking some rear end on that side of the ball. It has been a while. If Grantham fires those guys up like Van Gorder did, that side of the ball is in good shape.
HT
6-2 is not that bad. « My Two Cents
October 31st, 2011
11:53 am
[...] week, Mark Bradley of the AJC does a Heat Check for the Atlanta area sports teams. Here’s what he had to say about my Dawgs after our win [...]
Jacket Dad
October 31st, 2011
11:55 am
I’ve very proud of how Tech played on Saturday – would never in a million years believed we could play a complete game in most every area. We’re still young and definately can’t let this go to our head (which we have a tendency to do). I just hope we carry it forward.
Congrat to the Dawgs also. Although FL is down this year, a win is still a win. As far as the last game of the season, Tech will have to have another game like Saturday to have a chance – but hopefully they will!
GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!
Hoops Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:00 pm
I’ll say again since my first post did not appear: Herschel Talker ought to change his name to Herschel Far_er because true UGA fans know where his “talk” is coming from.
Loyal Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:08 pm
MB, I’ll restate what’s been written by a few of the more intelligent posters on here. There is always a small group of people who are going to complain all the time. Believe me, 90% of the UGA fans were thrilled with the win over FL, no matter how it was done. One particular poster to this board like to throw rocks just to get the attention of the others. Most everyone in the media was saying that if UGA started 0-2, the season would completely go into the ditch. CMR and his staff has done a very good job of keeping the team focused each week and winning. Don’t go by what you read on this board, the negative posters don’t represent the majority of UGA fans. Congrats CMR and staff. We’re all still behind you!
Loyal Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:09 pm
Enter your comments here
Loyal Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:11 pm
MB, don’t pay attention to the negative posters here. They don’t represent the majority of the UGA fan base. We’re thrilled with the win over FL. Congrats CMR and staff. We’re all still behind you!
Falkor
October 31st, 2011
12:11 pm
It took wins across the board to cause it, but MB wrote a completely positive article.
Way to go man! I’m not a usual hater anyway so take it for what it’s worth….
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
12:16 pm
@HT…. This game was huge for Murray and Charles both coming from Plant HS in Tampa… I wonder how many texts they have sent to UF fans who said they would never beat the Gators… Talk about a 900 lb gorilla off your back!!! I’m surprised Murray even came back to play after that sandwich hit he took to his thigh… He is a tough dude and I think if affected his throwing in the 2nd half…
Columbus Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:16 pm
To the Auburn Moron 2010, I’ve got news for you, just because your little Aubie team lost to Arkansas, AGAIN!!!, does not mean they are better than UGA. As a matter of fact, Auburn has a losing record against Arky over the last ten years to the tune of 6-4, and also has a losing record to Coach Mark Richt of 6-4. Richt also holds a winning record of 5-1 against Arky. Mark Richt has a winning record against all SEC teams except Florida, and is tied with LSU at 3-3. Can’t wait to start next streak against the little Aubies, gonna be fun. Gonna be a long time before Auburn beats UGA again!!!! HAHAHAHAHA
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
12:20 pm
Some of you criticizing Crowell are off base in my opinion… I still think Frosh are off limits as their 1st year is traumatic in school and anything they give us is “gravy”… plus his weight training and maturity levels are not there yet along with the load we are asking him to carry.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
12:23 pm
That’s ok Columbus Dawg… good post… as I’ve said earlier… EVERYONE IS OUR RIVAL… Geez, they all camp on our borders and come here poaching talent… Tn, Clemson, Auburn, UF, Tech, USC, Fla State (we don’t even play them but imagine if we did with all the South Ga talent they come after) and now Bama as they hit our state hard now….Geez…
Lowcountry Bulldawg
October 31st, 2011
12:25 pm
Terry,
Exactly, it is still Florida. They had PLENTY of talent on the field. You can make the excuses for players leaving the program and change of style offensively but its still Florida. No reason for Florida to be on a four game losing streak. The streak boils down to coaching or lack there of.
Richt > Muschamp
October 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
will is in over his head in the SEC. He’s better as an assistant in a weak conference like the big 12. Leave the SEC to the big boy coaches. Fla may not keep him around for 3 years. Richt will own muschamp for years.
drmaryb (*_-)
October 31st, 2011
12:26 pm
Stats & Facts!
The remarkable stats re: the dirty birds are:
_______________
PA (points allowed)
The birds have allowed 168 -vs- the saints & buccaneers @ 189.
________
So kudos to the improved D-Line play and prime-time Grimes! Also:
_____________
Division Wins:
The birds 4-3
The saints 2-3
The bucs 3-3
_____________
The Conf Wins:
The birds & saints are 1-1
The bucs are: 0-1/2?
Anyway, that’s make take on remaining optimistic about the trend upwards!
Let’s Go Falcons!
MANBOOBS JOHNSON
October 31st, 2011
12:28 pm
If Georgia can stop Demps and Rainey they will totally shutdown the Auburn 2.We are truly hog fans saturday and after the win.if the football gods are fair Petrino will get struck by lightning after they beat carolina.
Alphare
October 31st, 2011
12:28 pm
Tech wins, UGA wins, which makes this proud tax payer prouder.
By the way, I consider myself a mall partial owner of the 2 colleges just because I pay my fair share of taxes to make the 2 colleges functional.
Hopefully my hometown team Tech will beat UGA. Tech can score, now they can defend. Fear Tech.
BobDawg
October 31st, 2011
12:31 pm
@ Lowcountry and Terry,,,, If UF had an unfair advantage… Why did they show up to play the game? If you show up to play the game, then you need to accept the consequences. Scoreboard… We can’t help it if they have a track team for a football team…. I just love the fact that Muschamp is 0-1 to CMR.
Dawgs Win Out
October 31st, 2011
12:33 pm
This Dawg team is for real. They will beat auburn and tech easily and upset lsu in the title game. Take the points and win the money—the Dawgs will win the SEC!
Fleming Island Dawg
October 31st, 2011
12:36 pm
So who has AL or LSU beat? They have each played maybe 1 good team apiece so are their stats padded?
Lowcountry Bulldawg
October 31st, 2011
12:36 pm
Bob,
Exactly, and critics point ot the opponents UGA has played during the winning streak. Well that was how it unfolded this year and all they can do is play the schedule layed out before them. This team could have easily nose dived the season after starting 0-2 and little credit is given to this coaching staff for not allowing that. On top of keeping the team together CMR and company have ran the table since then. That is a credit to CMR’s leadership of this program. I commend them for the work they have put in thus far.
Alphare
October 31st, 2011
12:36 pm
Dawgs Win Out,
put your money where your mouth is, or you can bet your house on them. We will be happy to see how they will work out for you.