Ten things noted and noticed in Week 3
Athens — As we’ve done the past two Mondays, let’s rewind another week of preseason practice. Here are 10 things worth noticing and noting from Week 3 of the Bulldogs’ preseason:
1. So there’s finally an official leader in the tailback derby, Mark Richt declaring Friday night that Richard Samuel is now “a solid No. 1.”
2. Pretty good endorsement of Samuel by linebacker Rennie Curran, too: “I remember tackling him one time, and I got a headache. . . . He’s definitely the type of back that we need in terms of running that ball in the SEC and playing that hard-nosed football.”
3. Even if Samuel is -– and remains –- No. 1, there still can be prominent roles in the tailback equation for 5-foot-7 Carlton Thomas and, once healthy, former Gwinnett County prep star Caleb King. No one tailback is going to replace all of Knowshon Moreno’s 2008 production: the 1,400 rushing yards (on 250 carries) and the 392 receiving yards (on 33 catches). As Joe Cox reminded reporters Saturday, Thomas and King can make plays and catch balls and will be needed. (Here’s Ken Sugiura’s item on Cox’s comments.)
4. Richt’s post-practice mood varied during the week. On Tuesday: “As a team, we didn’t practice hard enough, weren’t disciplined enough [and] just didn’t have the day we need to [have] to get where we want to go.” On Friday: “Coaches are coaching their tails off, and the guys are responding. I had a really good feeling after today.”
5. So the consensus of the preseason polls is that Georgia ranks ahead of Georgia Tech –- but behind season-opening opponent Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are tied (with Penn State) for No. 9 in the AP poll, which was released Saturday, making them Georgia’s first top-10 opening opponent since . . . 1968, when the Dogs started the season with a 17-17 tie against No. 9 Tennessee in Knoxville. (Georgia went on to win the SEC championship that season, by the way.)
6. It’s starting to look as if most of the UGA players with hamstring injuries are getting close to 100 percent: Safety Reshad Jones expects to fully participate in practice today, as do tight end Aron White and possibly linebacker Darius Dewberry. Safety Bryan Evans might be just a few days away. It’s not as clear when King or linebacker Akeem Dent will be back, although possibly sometime this week.
7. Bulldog Nation was in full fret mode for a couple of hours Wednesday night when word got out of a practice-field injury to starting center Ben Jones. Turned out to be a sprained left ankle, and by Friday night Richt was reassuring all that Jones would play in the Sept. 5 opener: “I’d be shocked if he’s not ready for that game. You know, when [the injury occurred], it looked a little more severe than it ended up being, thankfully. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him work [this] week, really.”
8. Yes, the football coaches, like other UGA employees, will be furloughed without pay for six days this school year. But no, the coaches, unlike most UGA employees, won’t have to take two of their furlough days on Oct. 30 (the day before the Florida game) or Nov. 25 (three days before the Georgia Tech game).
9. Richt on furloughs: “If the university needs to do it, then we need to cooperate.” And Richt on how difficult it would be to get his coaches to take a day off during the season: “I don’t know if we’ve ever had a day off in the middle of the season. So I doubt that we’ll just be able to stay home and relax. I don’t think that’ll happen.”
10. Georgia started to turn the practice-field focus to the Oklahoma State gameplan, spending 20 minutes Friday with its scout team emulating the Cowboys. That continues this week.
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99 comments Add your comment
Jackets:
August 24th, 2009
3:17 pm
Hey Sanford Drive: Sorry about the typo above with abother. I mean’t another. man, ….one would think I went to UGA for an education. NOT! GO GATORS AND JACKETS! THWG!
Jackets:
August 24th, 2009
3:19 pm
SuperDawg: Go smoke a fatty, get a real dog at the Jr. V and keep dreaming. Your team will SUCK this year. Bank on it! THWG!
Jackets:
August 24th, 2009
3:20 pm
OSU 45 UGAG 17
Joe Cox is going down!
GO COWBOYS!
superDawg
August 24th, 2009
3:21 pm
The whipping UGA will give gt in NOV.will kill jackets boy.
Johnny DangerDawg
August 24th, 2009
4:09 pm
Good info, Tim. Thanks.
SuperB
August 24th, 2009
4:26 pm
Every year the media takes a perceived “up and comer,” a team once a doormat, and frenzies them into the next super power. Last year it was Arizona State and this year it is Oklahoma State. They do have talent on the offensive side, but they have yet to prove themselves for a season on the big stage. Meanwhile (yawn here…) Georgia has won 82 games in 8 years under Mark Richt– and knows how to win on the road.
Topp Dogg
August 24th, 2009
4:33 pm
Tech sucks wolf peters ,mark it down.
chazzo
August 24th, 2009
4:55 pm
Tech won. That team deserves all the glory and the props With all due respect, though, winning by three is hardly a whooping. 21-0 in the 3rd quarter is a whooping, but the overall game is a squeaker.
chazzo
August 24th, 2009
4:57 pm
I hope that UGA will never play a prevent D again. No keeping close, being a good sport, trying to run out the clock. No,no,no,no, no. NO!
Gator Romp
August 24th, 2009
5:46 pm
Hey Chazzo, 49-10 UF over UGA is a whoopin. Mark it down, as another one is coming sonny boy. GO GATORS
Gator Romp
August 24th, 2009
5:48 pm
I wonder if Caleb King can jump over one of our players like Knowshon did lil ole Chippewas player? LOL!
Ramble On:
August 24th, 2009
5:50 pm
Valdosta Dawg: You are # 2 in the state of Georgia for football, but your gym mutts are dang good and I hear your basketball team is picked to win it all?
You are now and always will be a heck of a neck!
THWG
Oledawg
August 24th, 2009
5:52 pm
“Kwame Geathers comes from a very athletic family with a brother playing for So. Car. and other family members playing in the NFL. Although he’s not able to join us until after Fall Practice has started, I’m sure that he and his family have conditioned all summer in preparation for his arrival here.”…or some such quote heard when Kwame was driving to Athens. KNOTTT! He was gasping for breath in his basic practices required by the NCAA in order that he could join his teammates. He was reported as huffing hard thru his 3rd day of conditioning. Doesn’t project as if he is in any kind of shape. Struck me as the first redshirt announcement of the year. “Home alone” discipline doesn’t float too well with others who have hit it hard all summer at UGA. I would be surprised to see him play this year. I’ll gladly eat those words if we get a glowing report from practice on Kwame. Then again I didn’t think he would make it to UGA. Hope I’m wrong again.
COWBOY KILLA
August 24th, 2009
5:54 pm
Georgia Georgia Georgia fans. Oh my my my, you underate our team and you will lose in stillwater. We have an awesome offense, which will put so many points on the board by halftime all your fans will be watching nascar. GO COWBOYS!
COWBOY KILLA
August 24th, 2009
5:56 pm
DEZ BRYANT will torch your second rated defense. I hear that Willie Martinez is an awesome DC. is that the case? LOL
Top Dogg
August 24th, 2009
6:00 pm
I say we get our azzes kicked by OSU, LSU, GT, UF, ARK, SC and Vandy beats us. That’s what………..6 losses. Man, I am dreading this season. However, Joe Cox has a better arm than DJ Shockley, Matt Stafford and David Greene combined. I say it’s bombs away into the cellar in the SEC and by week 4, we are not ranked coz we stank.
bronco buster
August 24th, 2009
6:00 pm
cowboy t.boone got to your head or you fell off your horse.
Top Dogg
August 24th, 2009
6:00 pm
Actually, that’s 7 losses. I didn’t do very well in Math this last year.
Oledawg
August 24th, 2009
6:21 pm
Dawg Fans- Let’s pretend we are starting with S.C. in the first game. We don’t know the tricks up their sleeve, but you bet that they have some. Individual players get hyped by the press, but no one in the media can match up the teams as to individual players and none of us will know until the game begins. Remember the best receiver out of Tech in years who went in the first round a couple of years ago? He was better than Dez Bryant is. It didn’t matter that a short safety took his game away when we played Tech. We can hope for that again, but we just won’t know for two weeks. But please, whatever happens don’t bury your loyalties as bad things happen. Our players heard the student fans get behind them in the Bama game and they appreciated it. Too much has been put on winning or dying in this game. Each game one-at-the-time thru this season. Project hope, not criticism on players and staff, throughout the game. Stay with them thru the season and then(and only then) will we know what we have/had for a team. We won’t know after one game. Above all let’s get ready to cheer the Dawgs loud enough to be heard in Picken’s Diggins.
Oledawg
August 24th, 2009
6:30 pm
Cowboy Killa- Why do they call you cowpokes? Beastiality will get you nowhere. Is cowpoking an erotic or kinky act? You know- Erotic is like using a chicken feather drawn slowly over the body to enhance the tactile senses. Kinky is using the whole chicken.
fan
August 24th, 2009
6:38 pm
tech fans, when yall say UGAG, you sound like children dying for attention. that and ugay are the lamest nicknames ever for a rival. no other rival calls us that, yall sound really gay. also, when people outside of Georgia think of football in the state of GA, they always think of UGA, Cause we’ve actually won something. we go 10-3 disappointment, yall go 9-4 we are awesome!! tech fans=idiots of the college football world.
harleydawg
August 24th, 2009
8:07 pm
jacket, dawgs 22 would run for 3000 yds this yr in the acc, what happened to your rod against lsu, how many yds ?? tebow was the best qb last yr if you know any thing about football, he should have gotten heisman last yr
Nostra-chazzo
August 24th, 2009
8:51 pm
The dogs definitely cannot take the cowboys lightly. I was looking at some stats from last year, though. Has anyone done this? It is hilarious. Does anyone play d out there? I’ve never seen so many games where both teams had over 500 yards of offense. Texas got 32 first downs against them. Oklahoma racked up 61 points. Texas Tech racked up 59. They lost to every ranked team they played. Could be a more mature team with a better d this year, I suppose. If I were betting, I’d put my money on the dogs. Hope Willie doesn’t overlook their running game, though. Who is ready to see Georgia’s D line create some carnage?
georgiagirl
August 24th, 2009
9:19 pm
OleDawg,
Great post GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am a DAWG FAN and I love the hell out of it.
All DAWG fans back up your team.
Pit Bull
August 24th, 2009
10:16 pm
Lets keep things simple. The Cowboys have had all summer to get ready for Ga. There first several games can all be over looked with no trouble. If they throw Martineze a new wrinkle it will be the 2nd half before he even knows what it is. They are quite aware of this as is all of college football by now. We are going to have to play smash mouth football to beat them in their own stadium on national TV. They have had a super hard summer camp! I think that fight, will go to them. I think Martineze will be out smarted and we will lose and look bad doing it. Unless the new defensive co coordinator can make a difference. I think LSU or somebody tried that last year and it was a disaster! We should have a great defense this year, that means an average to good defense under Martienze. Never a great defense. PS SC will definietly kick our butt this year as well. Spurrier has been waiting all summer. This year COULD get ugly in a hurry! Hope I’m wrong though.
RoyDawgMercer
August 24th, 2009
10:23 pm
Hey, Jackets! You’re a complete dumb ass. What, one in nine recently make you think Blech is anything more than a pimple on UGA’s ass? LSU made you their bitches in The ATL and others will too this year. Nobody talking much on the Flats about the D? Because it sucks. VaTech takes the ACC. Later.
Say it aint so
August 24th, 2009
10:26 pm
Hey everybody,
look who’s back….it’s the dumbest blogger on this board. It’s “RAMBLE ON!!!!!”
Hey Ramble, you are and will always be the biggest NERD!!!
Jackettes: Great team you have there buddy…lost your last game 38-3. Squeeked by Gardner Webb because some small end let a nerd block their GW FG attempt. I remember you guys TYING Furman (in the Joke) 3-3 in 1988. Also 2 one win seasons and a 2 win season. Congrats, you are the biggest losers in this state!!!
Nostra-chazzo
August 24th, 2009
10:38 pm
Geez Pitbull… Take a couple of paxil and put down the crying towel. It’s either that…. oh hell just go shopping for a bunch of orange. (Orange and blue… orange and white…. orange and dark blue… it’ll all look good on you.)
Nostra-chazzo
August 24th, 2009
10:44 pm
f*** a bunch of cowboys and gators. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
heeldawg
August 24th, 2009
11:06 pm
Typical Tech fans–lots of trash talking. Get it in while you can, insects–order will be restored in a few short months!
Cowboy Killa: I don’t know how we “underate” your team. We ate less than them? We ate underneath them? What word is that?
Seriously, we respect OSU football. You’ve got the best trio of skill players on offense around. And your new stadium looks great online. That is all fine and dandy in the preseason. But when the helmets are strapped on and the cleats laced up, you’re still going to be facing an SEC defense trying to prove a point–and trying to prove it with extreme prejudice. This is NOT going to be a Big 12-style shootout. Ghosts of 2007 will be conjured up out of the Stillwater turf. Depth will be an issue. Skill will be an issue. In the end, there is no contest here. When the smoke clears, the final outcome will be much the same as it was two years ago–and all of those grandiose illusions you’ve harbored will taste like ashes in your mouth. Welcome back to mediocrity, OSU–as if you ever left.
Coach Richt eats teams like yours for breakfast, ‘Pokes.
Pass the cornflakes.
Top Dogg
August 25th, 2009
12:04 am
Read this: I am a little worried redneck UGAG fan: Oh no…………….we are going to suck azz!
A year ago, the Georgia Bulldogs were a solid preseason No. 1 — turns out, that’s about as reliable as picking a good restaurant on the basis of its tableclothes. They now fend off predictions of relative mediocrity.
Who is this senior quarterback who has waited so patiently? He is even too unknown even for Wikipedia, that’s who. Enter the name Joe Cox, and the result is a cricket batsman who died in 1971.
THWG!
COWBOY KILLA:
August 25th, 2009
12:12 am
Hey Oledawgyboy:
We are called the pokes, coz we are going to poke the football up all your sorry azz teams azzes. That includes your ugly azz mascot UGA VII, or is it UGAVIII? I know one died recently, so which ugly mutt are you on?
UGA is soooooooooo overated every year it’s a joke. The SEC suxs with the exception of UF, which apparently beats you every season and LSU, BAMA and Ole Miss. All the other teams including your puppies suck! Overated and underachievers. Get ready to get your azzes handed to you in Stillwater. This ain’t Athens and quite frankly I am surprised you are actually opening against a good team instead of Tenn Tech, Ga. Southern or the Chippewas. Usually, your sorry azz team has 3 or 4 home games to start the season and they are patsies. You will see a real team when you visit Oklahoma State. Good luck stopping our offense. After what I saw last year when you played GT, you guys can’t tackle and gave up a 16 pt lead at halftime at home. OSU 45 UGA 10. You are going to be crying your sorry azzes all the way back to Georgia.
COWBOY GATOR JACKET:
August 25th, 2009
12:16 am
Hey UGAG: Your three worst nightmares, OSU = loss, OF = Big loss, GT = Big loss and don’t forget about powerhouse Tenn Tech. They may sneak up on you and kick your azzes as well. UGA will lose at least 4 games this year and probably more like 5 or 6. However, your fans will say it’s a rebuilding year as always. What a joke of a school, team and education. UGA = LOSERS!
GO GATORS!
COWBOY GATOR JACKET:
August 25th, 2009
12:17 am
Sorry about the typo with OF instead of UF. I forgot, I am a Georgia Grad. LMFAO! THWG!
SMELLY DAWGS:
August 25th, 2009
12:21 am
Hey all you redneck fans! Let’s get ready for some azzzzzzzzzzzzzz kickins all year. Get outta your smelly azz campers and doublewides and root your redneck under educated neckersons on. Man…………you sell out 90k for every game, but by 1/2 time there will be 45K necks and by 3rd quarter 22k and by 4th quarter 11k. GO SMELLY DAWGS! WE SUCK AZZ!
Denver Dog
August 25th, 2009
12:22 am
Bring on Gardner Webb and Jax State. Then laugh about Ok State Arziz State and all the other wimps we play.
Isn’t it a shame about Tech!
chazzo
August 25th, 2009
8:07 am
WTF is OF? WTF is a cowboy gator jacket? Sounds like something a drag queen would wear.
Oledawg
August 25th, 2009
7:38 pm
Is it Cowboy Killa because you kill cowboys? Or do you poke cowboys? Or do you mimic Hollywood and use stockings with an armadillo inside instead of a gerbel? Even with a saddle-spreadass, that could account for you being a cowboy killa. And keep our champion mascot out of this. You couldn’t even lick his balls…cause that dawg would BITE YOUUU!
Spread it out,Cowboy Killa because we have a couple of planeloads of cowboy killas headed your way in less than two weeks. Since you are an azz man, we will use cactus as condoms.
Hey Dogtards
August 25th, 2009
10:20 pm
“What, one in nine recently make you think Blech is anything more than a pimple on UGA’s ass?”
This genius can count.
“Bring on Gardner Webb and Jax State. Then laugh about Ok State Arziz State and all the other wimps we play.
Isn’t it a shame about Tech!”
We are playing the 5th and 3rd best sec teams from last year. Isn’t that supposed to be the best conference in the land?
“Great team you have there buddy…lost your last game 38-3. Squeeked by Gardner Webb because some small end let a nerd block their GW FG attempt.”
Yeah, it’s sad when Gardner Webb played us closer than you guys. They actually showed up in the second half!
I gotta admit, you guys have a great football team but, as a whole, are a relatively classless bunch. Here’s hoping you beat up on OK St. and Florida, just so the trainwreck is that much bigger come thanksgiving.
THWG!!
SMELLY DAWGS:
August 25th, 2009
11:22 pm
UGA Who? Read this and weep you necks! THWG! By the way, who is Caleb King? The Pine master!
Jonathan Dwyer handled more than 90 percent of Georgia Tech B-backs’ carries last year. And he made the most of them: 1,395 yards, 7.0 yards per carry and the ACC’s player of the year award as the Jackets finished with a 9-4 record in coach Paul Johnson’s first season.
Watching and learning behind him were Preston Lyons and Richard Watson. Lyons, a Marist School graduate, transferred to Tech last season from Colgate and sat out the year per NCAA rules. Watson redshirted after a stellar prep career at FAMU High in Tallahassee.
“Him being the ACC player and all that, and him being in his third year of college football, you know he has a lot of experience, having played since he was a true freshman,” said Watson, who is listed third on the depth chart. “I just try to take everything I can from him, learn from him.”
Lyons, listed second on the depth chart, said Dwyer helps them with their techniques, reading the offensive line and blocks, and where they should be going on plays.
“He’s watching me during practice, giving me pointers,” Lyons said. “He’s a good guy to look up to.”
And just because Dwyer dominated the snaps last year doesn’t mean Lyons and Watson are having trouble staying motivated. Efforts to keep Dwyer fresh mean they may get time, just like Lucas Cox did in spot-duty last year.
“Last year, we didn’t have a lot of guys out there so it was kind of rough. But the fresher he is, the more productive he will be,” Lyons said. “We’ve got a bunch of good guys back there in our backfield so it’s a good thing to keep everyone in there, keep everyone rotating, keep everyone fresh. That’s when we are most productive.”
Having that depth is something that Johnson is looking forward to.
“No doubt, no question,” Johnson said. “There’s several guys that can play in there unlike last year. Hopefully Jon can get a break or two.”
Hey, last time I checked Roddy Jones just scored again and racked up 214 yards as a FRESHMAN. Your school and team sucks azz! Go OSU, LSU, GT, UF, ARK, SC, VANDY, KY (Jelly coz you will need it) and the powerhouse Tenn Tech. DAWGS GO DOWN FOR THE COUNT. 6 losses and Willie is toast. RAMBLE ON!
SMELLY DAWGS:
August 25th, 2009
11:26 pm
Hey Chazzo: We will call you Jizzo coz you will be wiping the smooze off your chin after you give Joe PHallic a BJ along with the rest of the team. THWG!
By the way, I see you are scheduling Army. Man, now that is a powerhouse. I still haven’t heard a response about you playing the Coast Guard. At least they can keep your smelly azz overated under educated team from sinking into OBLIVION. GO GATORS AND JACKETS! THWG!
GT RULES:
August 26th, 2009
12:08 am
UGA SUCKS! THWG!
GT RULES:
August 26th, 2009
12:10 am
Hey Georgia Girl: Are you a dog too? LMFAO! THWG!
GT RULES:
August 26th, 2009
12:12 am
RoyboydogMercer: You are one clueless MTF! GT will beat the puppies, as will a bunch of other teams. hey, you can use the excuse that this is a rebuilding year. LMAO! Dawgs suck!
COWBOY KILLA:
August 26th, 2009
12:14 am
Georgia: You might as well stay at home. Our team will put 45 – 50 on your crappy D. After watching the GT game last year, your D is pathetic and will get torched. Go ahead and forfeit the game, coz you will go down. Leave your ugly azz mascot at home, or bring extra ice for his nuts, coz the Mutts suck azz!
dawgman
August 26th, 2009
1:54 am
hey broke back mountain I’m cowboy killa I’m sorry you play in a weak conf. such as the weak 12 and you f!#*S can score 45-50 points on those weak teams but welcome to SEC where it’s going be rough going in. You will find out sept. 5 oh yeah i think big 10 is a better conf. than you pu##*s and thats bad . Cause they really suck ass!!!
shards1967
August 26th, 2009
11:06 am
Folks …………UGA players know that the world is looking at them post No Show and Stafford. They know that folks do not predict any success past a 7-5 or 8-4 year.
The D OUGHT TO come out with fire in the belly. They OUGHT to want to smack someone around and prove that they are SEC caliber men or are they pretenders? IS CWM over his head? We will know all the answers by the end of September.
The offense needs to control the ball and enjoy looooooooooooooooong drives ( if possible ) and play smart football with everybody on their schedule, starting with OSU.
I personally like UGA teams when they are “with backs against the wall” and so let em rip. DJ’s senior year was like that. SEC Champs with HUGE let down in the Sugar Bowl played in Atlanta. Big downer for the program and that season. Ouch !!!
UGA will not be undefeated but if we achieve a 10-2 year with an upset here and there, then we can be happy. Most schools would love to enjoy the consistency of UGA, including the major bowls and exposure. Short of the Gators, we have won more than we have lost including major smack downs of LSU and Bama last year. UGA, UT and Florida and LSU are the SEC royalty ……..period. A win over U of F this year?? Then, we are 50/50 with them over last 6 years and that is a decent rivalry with one of the best programs around.
Ark could whip UGA this year and mabe we lose to OK State and then, grow and not lose again. Things happen and that is why SEC football is a blast. INuuriies, attitude, scheduling, weekends off and such control the season. DEPTh is the key and UGA has depth and a weekend off bbefore Florida. Tech? Pay back is acoming and they know it.
gooooooooooooooooo Dawgs.
shards1967
August 26th, 2009
11:08 am
My bad………….UGA defeated Bama in OT in Alabama in 2007. My bad. We got smacked down and hard last year by the Tide.
raleigh
August 27th, 2009
6:15 pm
go dawgs sic em caint wait till stillwater