Get Ready for the Sacrilege ...

... or, shut up about Erk Russel and Vince Dooley.

I'm just tired of reading stupid posts about how great our defense was "back in the day."  Yeah, Erk's defense gave up few points.  In 1980, his defense was 9th in the nation in scoring defense, with a now-unimaginable 11.4 points per game surrendered.  To me, that sounds like horseshit.

Regular readers of my blog know, of course, the love-hate relationship I have with numbers.  I look around the SEC landscape today, and I see touchdowns being scored in bunches...and I have to ask myself, is it that the SEC defenses suck now...or were we simply 3 decades behind in offensive firepower?  We've prided ourselves on being a defense-first league...but that seems to be no more.  Surely we didn't just throw in the towel.  What the hell?

Well, that got me thinking that maybe, just maybe, our glory defense of old wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  Maybe, just maybe, the COMPETITION had something to do with it.  So, I decided to peek into the holiest of holies.  I decided to investigate the crown-jewel of the UGA history book.  I decided to, dare I say it, consider debunking the MYTH that is the Great Georgia Defense of Erk Russel in 1980.

...

For those of you still reading, I applaud you.  Now, let me admit that I dig into this with absolutely no sense of irony, as in 1980 I was not a Georgia fan.  In fact, I wasn't a fan of any team at all.  In the fall of 1980, when Herschel was running roughshod over linebackers and diving into endzones, I was toddling around my parents' split-level home in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  I had never heard of the Georgia Bulldogs, and definitely didn't know that 19 years later, I'd be strapping on a red helmet emblazoned with a Black G on the side.  So, let me go ahead and say that for me, as for many fans, the 1980 season holds no mystique.  As such, it is fair game for fire.  

Here we go.

Richt and Company take a lot of flack for their record against top 10 opponents.  So far in 2013, they have already defeated as many top-10 opponents as the 1980 team did.  That's right, Notre Dame (7), was the sole top-10 team to be defeated by the "great" UGA team in 1980.  National Championship resume's just weren't all that demanding back in the day I suppose.

Of the 12 games Georgia played, only 3 were true road games.  The first was a 1-point victory over Tennessee to open the season.  UGA 16-TN 15.  By the way, Tennessee was a 5-6 team in 1980.

UGA also beat UK (27-0) and AU (31-21) at their homes.  AU was 5-6 that season.  UK, an impressive 3-8.

Georgia won the Cocktail Party against #20 Florida, who would go 8-4 that season, 26-21.

I suppose curent fans would look at UGA's 42-0 whipping of TA&M and think that's pretty good... right up until they realized that A&M was in the "Southwest" conference, and 4-7.  Oops.

A 4-point victory over Clemson sits better with us than our 3-point loss this season, of course.  Then there's the nasty fact that the tigers were a 6-5 team that year.  Ugh.

We beat 3-8 Ole Miss 28-21.  Wow.  3-8.  They put up 21 on the vaunted Erkster.

Even State-Rival Georgia Tech put up 20 points that season, and they were 1-9-1.  

YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY.   GT had ONE victory in 1980, but they put 20 on the board against UGA.

Sure, the goose eggs against UK and TAMU feel good.  And of course, the one against 2-9 Vandy as well.  But still...all this hootin' and hollerin' about the amazeballs Erk Russel defenses starts to sound a bit childish when you look at the offenses that defense faced.  

TN                     5-6    (1 pt MoV)

TAMU              4-7

CLEM               6-5    (4 pt MoV)

TCU                  1-10

MISS                 3-8

VANDY           2-9  

UK                    3-8

USCe                8-4     (3 pt MoV)

FL                     8-4     (5 pt MoV)

AU                    5-6    

GT                    1-9-1

ND                   9-2-1

So, Erk's defense was able to go undefeated and sit 9th in the nation in scoring defense against a schedule that featured eight teams who posted sub-.500 records.  In fact, there were more teams with 3 or less wins, than there were with 6 or more wins.  

Please, shut up about the amazing Championship Defense and the Junkyard Dawgs and all of that.  Understand that there were four teams, who were middling at best, who could have upset that apple cart.  Things came together just as they had to in that season, and there was a fair amount of luck involved as well.  

The Georgia defense of 2013 is very talented.  They have faced MUCH STIFFER competition than that 1980 crew could ever have imagined.  They've given up more points, yes.  Luckily, on the other side of the ball is an offense that is lightyears ahead of the 1980 one (Herschel notwithstanding).  So now they face another top-10 opponent in LSU, and it's time to see if the D has improved from its first few games out.  

I've seen marked improvement every week.  I hope you have, too.  And I hope we all see it today.  

We need it.... because the teams we play this season are much better than those that made up the "Championship Schedule" back in the day.

Go Dawgs.

Specifically for "Rick W"

Rick W threw up a healthy retort to my last post, saying that Grantham had all offseason to prepare for Clemson and South Carolina, and we gave up 68 points.  He says Grantham "doesn't have a clue" and that we're the 5th (or so) best defense in the conference.  He says we're closer to Vanderbilt than we are Alabama defensively.


Hey Rick, tell me again how awesome that Bama defense is....

628 yards and 42 points surrendered to the team that beat them a year ago...

A year ago.

Saban and Smart had a full year to get ready for that game, and they gave up 628 yards and 42 points.

I guess they don't have a clue either.

Or maybe, just MAYBE, as I said before ... when you face TOP teams, you simply need to be able to make one more stop than they do.

Those "total defense" and "Scoring defense" stats sure are great stuff for bloggers and fans to discuss.  They sound fabulous coming out of Gary Danielson's increasingly slurred pie-hole.  But, in actuality, they mean nothing.  nada.  zip.  zero.  zilch.

What matters is whether or not your defense can make that one final stop they need to make in order to win the game.   That's what UGA did against South Carolina.

Go Dawgs.

All that "This just isn't a top-10 defense" horseshit

First off, let me say that the titular statement is completely asinine when said in week 2 of any season.  Take a look back in week 8, and you may have some data from which to make that claim.

Just FYI...the nation's top 10 "total" defenses right now:

10. Penn State
9.  Alabama
7. Marshall (tied)
7. UCF (tied)
6. Duke
5. Florida
4. Virginia Tech
3. Michigan State
2. Arizona State
1. Wisconsin

(Georgia #100)

The nation's top 10 "Scoring" defenses are:

9. Marshall (tied)
9. Louisville (tied)
9. Duke (tied)
7. Arizona (tied)
7. Oregon (tied)
6. Washington
4. Oklahoma (tied)
4. UCF (tied)
1. Georgia Tech (tied)
1. Arizona State (tied)
1. Wisconsin (tied)

(Georgia #95)

So I guess you need to ask yourself if you truly believe a few things.  First of all, do you believe that Duke has one of the best defenses in the country?  Second, do you believe that Georgia has the 95th-100th best defense in the country?  

I don't think anyone would argue that out of the 10 teams at the top of the polls, Georgia has faced the toughest two-game stretch of any.  Out of the 10 teams at the top of the polls only TWO currently have defenses ranked in either top 10.  Alabama at #9 in total defense, and Oregon at #7 in scoring defense.  Oregon drew Nicholls State in week 1 (and a bad Virginia team in week 2) and Alabama had week 2 off.  So....yeah.

Of course, for every defense, there is an opposing offense, right?  After the past two weeks, people have been pretty happy with the play of our offense.  The O-Line faltered for a quarter and a half, but putting up 35+ on back-back top-10 opponents is seen as pretty damned good.

Well, here's some info:

UGA scoring Offense - #38 in the country
UGA total Offense - #20 in the country

Who out there believes we're as low as #20 in offense?  I'm pretty sure most of you believe we have the BEST RB tandem.  Many believe we have one of the top QBs.  (Some ignorant folks still argue he just can't win the big one and isn't clutch.  Read: Shut up.)


Simply put - there's too much football ahead of us to make any solid judgment calls on what we've seen thus far.  I'll bet you this...Clemson is going to light up MANY teams for more than 38 points.  I'll also bet South Carolina tops 30 a few times.  

Is this defense a "shut down" defense?  Not at the moment.  Is it good enough to win a championship?  I'd say yes.  Why would I say yes?  Because at the end of the day, a Championship defense need only to make one more stop than the opposing team can make.  That's it.  We'd all love to see 14 shutouts a season.  Realistically, though, the competition is just too damned good for that to happen.  I wouldn't doubt we'll see one or two.  As the playmakers get settled in and gel, I think you'll see the defense's numbers improve greatly.  The important thing is this - the offense is potent enough that even if the defense is fairly pedestrian, it could be good enough to win a title.

Basically, Georgia is in the top 10, so you're damned right this is a top 10 defense.


Go Dawgs.

Aaron Murray - the best "Bad" QB in NCAA history

...Or, Football Players don't listen to Fans.

17-23 309 yds 4 TDs.  0 Picks.  0 Fumbles.  0 horrible misreads.  0 brain farts.  0 reasons to look for any approval from a fanbase that has called him out as being "unable to win big games."

After a 3-point loss in a hostile environment (read: my 55-10 dream-based prediction is why I don't get paid for this), a multitude of "Dawgfans" heaped the trash-talk onto Murray.  "He just can't win big games" was the common consensus.  They point to the less-than stellar mark against ranked opponents during his tenure.  Readers of this blog know full well the stock I DON'T put in that.  Why?  Because every game is its own experience.  Every game is its own little universe.  The way that UGA played Alabama in the SEC Championship game had no bearing on how it would play Nebraska in the bowl.  Likewise, the UGA beatdown by USCe in Columbia did not show us how the Georgia offense would play for the majority of last season.

It's long been said that a quarterback has to have a short memory.  If he throws an interception, he has to forget about it when he gets back on the field.  He has to just go out there and play.  Most great quarterbacks do just that.  When they make a mistake, they just say "Screw it" and play on.  Why?  Can't change it.  All you can do is play the next play.

Unfortunately, fan bases do not have to master that same skill.  They dig and research and try to find every piece of evidence to predict how a quarterback will/won't perform in the future.  ... OR, they don't Analyze ANYTHING, but instead simply look at W-L numbers (read: Chest-thumping hillbilly screaming "It's the only thing that matters!" - shortly after having a 3-hour argument with a Florida fan about how closely we played them in so many losses that could have gone our way, so Florida obviously wasn't the better team) and claim the quarterback is held responsible for all of it.

Against Clemson, Murray didn't have a banner day.  His two turnovers were definitely part of what prevented a victory.  He had 1 TD on the ground.  He threw another one, but it was taken away.  I don't get to see the wide-angle tape, so I don't know if he had other open receivers for TDs on the day, but Bobo was a bit critical (as Murray was of himself) of some COMPLETED passes that could have gone for more, had they been more accurate.  Still, when your offense gets 35 points, its hard to blame the QB for the loss. It just is.

But, Murray could have listened.  He could have agreed with the rabid fanbase and thought, "They're right.  I just can't do it.  I just can't beat ranked teams.  I just can't win big games.  I mean, there was the Nebraska game last year where I bounced back after throwing a couple of INTs in the 1st half, and there was Florida last year...won that one, and of course the way I sliced up Missouri in their first SEC game, after we had fallen behind..that was pretty good.  And then there were those two pesky top-25 wins against Auburn and Tech my sophomore year.  But yeah, the fans are right.  I should just quit football."  Fortunately, he didn't do that.  Nah, he just went out, led a great game, threw for 300+ for the 9th time in his UGA career.  He tossed 4 TDs for the 9th time in his career.  He beat a top-10 team for the second time in 2 seasons.

I've been critical of Murray in the past.  I've expected more.  After the Clemson loss, I told a friend of mine that his stats and performance aside, a 5-star recruit, 5th year senior, 4th year starter, 2-time SEC Champion can't have simple mental mistakes like NOT WATCHING THE PLAYCLOCK in a game against a top-10 team.  You just can't do that.  But, I have never questioned Murray's courage, tenacity, or ability to make plays.  I HAVE questioned his ability to make decisions.

As he has matured, his decision making has improved.  Bobo and Richt are now allowing him to get out of the pocket more, and we saw against USC how GOOD that can be for UGA.  They trust him to make the right decisions.  As fans, we should as well.  Barring injury, Aaron Murray will hold quite a few UGA and SEC records.  He may even get to hold a Crystal Football.

If that moment comes, I'm sure he'll be willing to start listening to fans.  Because if that moment comes, they'll have nothing but praise for him.  And, many will say, "I've been with you the whole time."  And he'll believe them - because as a Good Quarterback should, he'll have a short memory.


Go Dawgs.

What the hell am I thinking?

I don't know.  It just keeps popping up in my head.

55-10

I can't escape it.

55-10

There's no logical reason to believe that we will walk into Death Valley tomorrow, and walk out with a landslide victory.  Even the most chest-thumping of SEC fans have to agree that Clemson has enough offensive firepower to put that kind of talk to rest.  Even those who fall in the "Richt can do no wrong" camp have to question the ridiculousness of that score prediction.  There simply is no way we can dominate Clemson like that.

55-10

Still, it rings in my head.  Unending.  I've looked at the stats, at the personnel returning, the personnel departing.  I've read countless blogs going back and forth about who has what and will have learned what from whom...and the paper match up keeps returning fairly even.  And yet, there it is.

55-10

It's absolutely insane to think that we could do that to them.  I mean, score 55?  Possibly.  This is a team that gave up 99 points in a 3-game stretch last season (FSU 37, BC 31, GT 31).  Our offense IS better than those three.  But hold them to 10?  There's just no way that could happen.  I mean, only three teams kept Clemson under 30 points scored last season.  Those teams were South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn.

Wait a minute.  Auburn?  Auburn?  Auburn who gave up 26 points to Clemson, then gave up 28 points to ULM a week later, Auburn?

Still, just because the only SEC defenses Clemson faced last year all held the Tigers to under 30 points doesn't mean their offense isn't as awesome as everyone seems to believe it is.  There's just no way.   We have too many untested, unproven names on Defense.  We can't possibly stop them like that.

And besides, LAST YEAR is LAST YEAR.
Georgia's motto: "New Year.  New Team.  One Dream."

That holds true for our opponents as well.  They're not the same team anymore.  They could be much, much better than they were.  That's the goal of every program, right?  Get better every year.  Win a championship.  Georgia's thinking it.  Clemson must be thinking it.

What in the hell am I thinking?

55-10

go dawgs

About that "Big Game" nonsense

I was reading a blog this morning.  The blogger was going over reasons why the Dawgs would/wouldn't win the Title this year, and one of the primary why nots was Murray's inability to come through in big games.  This blogger pointed to the 4-10 record the Dawgs post in the Murray era.  So, let's break that down, shall we?

I don't think anyone would pretend that our team in the 2010 season was one worthy of any kind of national ranking.  You lose 7 games out of 13, and you're just plain sub-par as a football team.  That's all there is to it.  We faced 4 ranked teams that year, and lost to all 4...including #25 UCF in the bowl game.  (A low point in modern UGA football history).  Murray was a freshman who couldn't lead his offense to paydirt against South Carolina, and who couldn't keep up the pace when eventual National Champion Cam Newton Auburn came roaring back to beat the Dawgs.

So, you take the crappiest year of UGA football out of the equation, and you're looking at a 4-6 record against Ranked Opponents.

So, then what?

2011 - The Boise Debacle in which Connor Norman (walk-on soph) had to try to hold up in coverage against one of the nation's better passing attacks due to suspensions/injuries in our secondary.  Follow that up with a SC game that featured A punt-fake-td, and a shower of points-by-mistake by the Cocks.  We also notched two Top 25 wins in 2012 over Auburn and at GT.  Then, after playing the best defensive half in SECCG history, the levee broke and our defense got railroaded by LSU.  The Michigan State Game?  Damnit.  Just Damnit.

So here we are, going into the 2012 season looking at 2 more wins, and 2 more losses.

One loss was horrible.  It was the worst game of football I can remember watching UGA play in quite some time.  The Dawgs simply were firing on ZERO cylinders as South Carolina ran us out of the building.  The other loss, though...it was 5 yards and 6 seconds from being the victory that finally put Georgia over the hump.  

So, to put it simply...when you're summing up how Georgia "can't win the big one" with Murray at the helm, you need to look at the past and see that he went

0-4  (0%)

Then

2-4  (33%)

Then

2-2  (50%)

And very nearly 3-1 (75%).


The first month of the season will give Murray and the Dawgs three shots at Top 25 teams.  There's a fourth in November against Florida.  It's possible that Vandy will be ranked in the Top 25 by the time we play them.  And, if the Dawgs win the East, they'll be facing Top-25ers in the SECCG and any Bowl game we reach (Nat'l Title or otherwise).

So at the end of the day, 7 out of our possible 14 games this season could be against Top 25 teams.  Or in other words, if you don't think Murray and Company can "win the big ones" against T25s, we're screwed.


As for me, I think we go 14-0...but hey, don't I always say that?

Go Dawgs.

It's Finally Game Week, Y'all!

This was my best offseason ever.  I sat idly by while a number of stories (Houston's reinstatement, the 2014 SEC Schedule, Harvey-Clemons' suspension, Secondary injuries, Manziel's Shenanigans) permeated the fanbase.  I didn't speak up. I didn't admonish bloggers for writing about these in the offseason.  I didn't whine about the worthless of conjecture nor the lack of any real FOOTBALL to talk about.

I simply sat down, and shut up.

But, as football season approaches once more, I find myself unable to contain my mirth.  In six short days, we will once again see our boys strap on their white jerseys and their red helmets and go play this fabulous game against a team that many have seen as an 'up and comer' for nigh on a decade.  I'm tired of the hype, I'm tired of the guesswork and the analysis and the x's and o's.  I'm ready to see some damned football already.

I'm ready to see Theus drop someone on his ass.

I'm ready to see Gurley hit a hole harder than John Holmes.

I'm ready to see Mitchell outrun the wind.

I'm ready to see Artie plow a SS into the ground as he scores on a skinny post.

I'm ready to see the Windmill!

I'm ready to see Jenkins start his own march into Georgia Lore.

I'm ready to see Swanny haul in balls like his namesake.

I'm ready to see the Reverend instill the fear of God into some hapless runningback.


I'm Ready.

Go Dawgs.