Preview: New Mexico State perfect opponent at perfect time for Georgia
Three storylines . . .
Missing persons. Georgia enters the game without its top four tailbacks. Freshman star Isaiah Crowell, Carlton Thomas and Ken Malcome are suspended after flunking a UGA-administered drug test and backup Richard Samuel underwent season-ending surgery on Tuesday for an ankle injury suffered in the Florida game. The Bulldogs will go with Brandon Harton, a 5-6, 174-pound sophomore from Reidsville who was awarded a scholarship in preseason camp, and Kyle Karempelis (5-9-180), a freshman walkon from Norcross.
Not-so-special teams. Expected to be a team strength this season, Georgia’s special teams plays is instead among the worst in the SEC, where it ranks in the bottom half if not dead last in almost every category. The Bulldogs will look to shore up kickoff coverage in particular. They gave up 200 yards and a touchdown on five returns against Florida last week and New Mexico State features the nation’s 12th-best return team.
Calling the Hogs. While most eyes in college football will be focused on Saturday’s night’s “Game of the Century” between No. 1-ranked LSU and No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa (8 p.m., CBS), the Bulldogs and their fans will be more interested in what’s happening in Fayetteville, Ark., at about the same time (7:15 p.m., ESPN). There No. 8 Arkansas (7-1, 3-1 SEC) will be playing host to No. 10 South Carolina (7-1, 5-1). A Gamecocks’ loss will give Georgia sole possession of first place in the SEC’s Eastern Division.
A Georgia win would . . .
Be its 7th straight for the first time in a season since 2007
Be its 71st in 90 homecoming games (currently 70-17-2)
A New Mexico State win would . . .
Be its first against an SEC opponent in 14 tries.
Keep an eye on …
For Georgia: Brandon Harton. The redshirt sophomore from Reidsville is expected to get the start at tailback in the wake of the Bulldogs losing four others to suspension or injury this week. Harton (5-6, 174), a lightning quick and shifty runner, earned a scholarship in preseason camp and had actually worked his way up to No. 3 on the depth chart. But a severe ankle injury late in camp sidelined him for the first two games of the season.
For New Mexico State: Taveon Rogers. The Aggies’ senior wide receiver (6-0, 188) from Lancaster, Calif., is a threat in both the passing and return game. Last week he had 7 catches for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns against Nevada. It was his third multi-TD game of the season. He leads New Mexico State’s wideouts with 32 catches for 669 yards and is also averaging 27.5 yards on kickoff returns with a nation-leading two touchdowns.
The numbers game
6
Offensive touchdowns surrendered by Georgia defense in last 6 games
118-23
Aggregate score of Bulldogs three wins over New Mexico State
24
Tackles by Aggies safety Donyae Coleman vs. Nevada last week
The history book
Series record: Georgia leads 3-0
The last time: On Sept. 28, 2002, the Bulldogs fell behind 7-0 before scoring 41 unanswered points. Damien Gary notched Georgia’s first two scores on a 71-yard punt return and a 20-yard pass from David Greene.
The bottom line
This non-conference game comes conveniently sandwiched between rival contests against Florida and Auburn. Meanwhile, New Mexico State is exactly the type of opponent the Bulldogs need at this juncture of the season. The Aggies feature a high-octane offense (419 yards, 30 points per game) and one of the best return games in the country. Meanwhile, they’re giving up 442 yards a game and their rush defense ranks 111th nationally. So Georgia should be able to absorb its personnel losses while having to stay sharp and focused.
– Chip Towers
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377 comments Add your comment
Old Yeller
November 5th, 2011
7:23 am
I don’t care how many “RB” are out at UGA. “NMS’ doesn’t go to Athens and beat Georgia.
”.and “RB’s” “BH” & “KK” get it done.
TOO Much
Cold Hard Truth
November 5th, 2011
8:21 am
jp,
You are the perfect example of the stereotypical delusional Georgia fan. You are a redneck, uneducated, dirt-poor, Tea Party Republican who creates your own “reality” simply because you are unable to justify your disappointment in your pathetic attempt at creating a life for yourself. And so, rather than taking the necessary actions to improve your own lot in life, you seek imaginary scapegoats against which to lash out and transfer blame for all of your shortcomings.
sheepdawg
November 5th, 2011
8:36 am
perfect game for dogs? you are a sad lot of fanatics if that’s your consolation for today’s game
Thomas Brown
November 5th, 2011
8:37 am
Teams who are ranked in top 10 AP Poll entire Mark Richt era 2001 through today, where we rank this entire tenure against such teams :
http://www.cfbtrivia.com/cfbt_records.php?ttp://www.cfbtrivia.com/cfbt_detail.php?teamname=Georgia&fry=2001&thy=2011&app=on&tmajor=on&tgrk=on&tyrk=on&tIA=on&tBCS=on&scrview=3&yrk=on&jpl=on&yrk=on&yrr=on&yrl=01&yrh=10
It is # 35.
4th best coach in college football, my behind. Yell at me all you want. Yell at all of us all you want. What you are left with is a head coach with NO DISCIPLINE on or off the field, who only beats cupcakes – and as others have pointed out to you you continue to feel it is only me you need to direct yourself to, what you find, is that we are
4 times as likely to lose to a team who we are supposed to beat, than we are to beat a team who we are supposed to lose to.
17 such games vs teams all 17 who if they had not beat us, they would not have finished in the top 25 all 11 years. Lose to Auburn or Georgia tek and that number increases since NEITHER will end the season in the top 25 probably even if they beat Mark Richt.
papadawg
November 5th, 2011
8:44 am
Maybe just maybe one of these kids will show he wants to play RB for the DAWGS. We sure need someone with heart at that position
How 2 Win
November 5th, 2011
8:54 am
Georgia needs to make taking out the opposing quarterback their first priority in this game. NMSU has a very poor defensive squad, but they have scored more than thirty points in each of their past four outings.
Florida provided a blueprint for defeating Georgia when they unveiled their one-dimensional passing attack designed to allow their injured starting quarterback to participate in the game. Fortunately for Georgia, their defense was eventually able to exact enough of a toll on Brantley that he was no longer delivering accurate throws to his receivers in the second half of the game.
A healthy quarterback who is capable of making accurate passes for four quarters could spell big-time trouble for the Georgia defensive backfield, and that would place the Bulldogs in the awkward position of relying on a diminished offensive squad to prevail in a scoring marathon.
I expect Coach Grantham to bring multiple blitz schemes to rattle the NMSU quarterback and snuff out the passing threat early in this game. I doubt that the New Mexico State O-line has the size or strength to overcome such a defensive game plan. Therefore, I predict a continuation of Georgia’s winning streak in today’s contest.
Jalex49
November 5th, 2011
8:58 am
Just win Dawgs.. Best of luck!
LSU Game Day : BamaFootball4Life
November 5th, 2011
8:59 am
[...] New Mexico State Perfect Opponent At Perfect Time For Georgia Crowell, Thomas and Malcome are suspended after flunking a UGA-administered drug test [...]
maddawg 913
November 5th, 2011
9:49 am
test
Bud
November 5th, 2011
9:56 am
DON”T FUMBLE !!!!!
iceBULLDOGcold11
November 5th, 2011
10:07 am
Defense = 1 touchdown
Special teams = 1 touchdown
Offense = 3 touchdowns
35-13 keep RUNNING that BACK in your head
How 2 Win
November 5th, 2011
10:29 am
It should be a close game, but I believe that Georgia has an excellent chance to prevail if they can keep the penalties and mental errors to a minimum.
GATA!!!
fae
November 5th, 2011
11:02 am
Player suspensions should be served during televised games. The guys suspended for rules violations are only at UGA to be seen. Suspending them for meaningless untelevised games serves no useful purpose–doesn’t really punish them.
Ben
November 5th, 2011
11:04 am
I PRAY Michael Adams saw the Gameday bit about tailgating.
It’s not about eating and drinking Mike!
Stop ruining the tailgate atmosphere!
How 2 Win
November 5th, 2011
11:10 am
@fae
The game is being carried under ESPN’s SEC package and will be available on CSS and ESPN3.
Enjoy.
BTDog
November 5th, 2011
11:30 am
Really, every game, besides first two, have been a cakewalk against 2-6 teams to 3-5 teams to at the most, 4-4 teams. What a cupcakes, creampuff schedule.
How 2 Win
November 5th, 2011
11:35 am
Should be a big one today!
Sven Ottke
November 5th, 2011
11:36 am
Perfect opponent at the perfect time? Why? Is New Mexico State bringing the doobage or the Doritos?
Wavy Gravy
November 5th, 2011
11:41 am
Both!
That’s why they’re perfect!
RedandBlackDawg
November 5th, 2011
11:54 am
How 2 win,
Just so you know, New Mexico’s opponents are even worse than ours are supposed to be, and they have three wins for the year. Of those three wins, the teams they beat have a total of 2 wins for the year and one of them has not won a game. You are very right though. As long as they keep their errors down and mental mistakes to a minimum, they really should not have anything to worry about today.
GO DAWGS and GATA
Sid
November 5th, 2011
11:56 am
Four Storylines… I am not sure that we shouldn’t be looking deeper into why we are in this situation to begin with.
Just remember boys, when they asked Herschel if he ever got tired of carrying the football he replied. “That football ain’t heavy!”
J.J.M.
November 5th, 2011
12:04 pm
If you have xbox live then you can watch the game using the espn app
JAWJeRDAWG
November 5th, 2011
12:07 pm
RedandBlackDawg
JAWJeRDAWG
November 5th, 2011
12:11 pm
RedandBlackDawg
Agree, no worries about today’s game except getting a serious injury that would keep a player out of the Auburn game.
Let’s get this win today without any significant injuries. Go Dawgs!
Doug
November 5th, 2011
1:32 pm
Brandon Harton just scored. Isiah Crowell would still be prancing around trying to pick his hole.
LWells2000
November 5th, 2011
2:49 pm
UGA is playing WHO? These nothing games have no point except to reveal how far UGA is willing to go to win. Whatever happened to those real teams we used to play?
LWells2000
November 5th, 2011
3:29 pm
I heard New Mexico State Teachers College only plays touch football with a six-man team all week while practicing…