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Monday, September 20, 2010

Mr. Brightside


The anger is strong in the land of Bulldog fans, as Darth Vader would say. Two straight losses have popped the angst meter up to, well not 11 on a 1-10 scale, but let’s say a 7, or maybe 7.5?

Well, filled with angst is no way to start your week. So here are a few tidbits to brighten you up:

- The schedule is about to get easier. Three of the next four opponents have losing records, and the one that doesn’t, Colorado, is the subject of a New York Times story today on how much the program is struggling.

- A strong finish to the season is still possible. Florida is looking vulnerable, Auburn and Kentucky haven't been convincing, Georgia Tech hasn’t been a world-beater. And then there's Idaho State.

- A.J. Green is only out one more game.

- Aaron Murray is coming along pretty well, and is only a freshman.

- Blair Walsh has been pretty good.

- A lot of other problem areas can only improve, right? … Right?

Or if that doesn’t help:

- You live in Athens, one of the most beautiful small cities in America. Or, if you don’t live here, hopefully you at least get to come here a lot.

- You aren’t Tyler Colvin. I mean, ouch.

- The fall TV season is about to start, which means more “Dexter,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Modern Family,” and … OK, that may be about it. No more “24” and “Lost,” which some of you may be happy about.

But the main thing is “Dexter.” Cannot wait.

Speaking of which, “Man Men” appears to be gearing up for a good finish. Sunday night’s episode was more about the women on the show, along with the very interesting dynamic between Don Draper and his daughter. Time-wise, it’s also zipping along so quickly – now in 1965 – that I’m half expecting the next episode to have the ad agency asked to help Michael Vick improve his image.

Wait, where was I? Oh yeah.

- You aren't New Mexico, which ranks 119th out of 120 programs in FBS in scoring offense ... and 120th in scoring defense.

- You aren’t one of the various Canadian media outlets that reported former NHL head coach Pat Burns had died, only to be called and have the story refuted by … Pat Burns.

So there you go, Bulldog fans. It could be worse, and it might get better. Now, go have a good week.

10 comments:

BHNotes said...

True that. I can't recall an overreaction of this magnitude in recent years. By reading the boards you could swear we've had Ole Miss' season when really we've lost to two top 15 teams. That's not great, but those who thought we'd be 3-0 now headed to win the East, SEC and nattie titles need to lower expectations just a tad. They should blame themselves first if this has ruined their whole fall (as I've read twice now).

Anonymous said...

Yeah, well, they don't know half of it. How about having tickets to the Colorado game, booking your reservation at the perfect place a year in advance, then two weeks before the trip realizing that you booked your room in Boulder for the wrong dates.

Cherry on top!

gastr1 said...

Blair Walsh has been so good that we are going to have to start measuring him by fgs right down the middle versus those slightly right or left.

I just hope he gets a chance to do it in some pressured situations.

Dooms Day Dawg said...

Anon 11:33...How does voicing one's displeasure with the coaching staff, players or current state of the program make you an "ingnorant a##hole"? As a fan I am not pleased with the direction of this program over the last 2+ years, yet I still pull for the Dawgs week in and week out. Every fan should want more from this team. If you are satisfied with where the Dawgs currently sit, I could make the argument that you are in the ignorant group.

Anonymous said...

DDD, take a look at the stat line from Saturday's game below. Note that unranked UGA with its freshman qb starting his third game and missing his best player had more first downs, better third down efficiency, more time of possession and nearly as many yards as the No. 12 team in the nation with their future pro QB. We've lost two close games to good teams, it ain't even close to doomsday. Defense has been positively shitty in recent years but we've got a new coordinator who has shown some improvement since he's taken over, we had a few bad plays in this last game but we had some legitimate stops this year also which is a drastic improvement from the Arkansas game last year. In any event our defensive players have had little to no effective coaching for their whole careers at the hands of Willy Mo so you can't expect CTG to exorcise all of those problems in 3 games. Yours Truly.

Anon 11:33

Arkansas Georgia
1st Downs 18 19
3rd down efficiency 4-12 6-15
4th down efficiency 1-1 2-3
Total Yards 433 392
Passing 380 253
Comp-Att 21-33 15-27
Yards per pass 11.5 9.4
Rushing 53 139
Rushing Attempts 23 41
Yards per rush 2.3 3.4
Penalties 10-75 9-53
Turnovers 0 1
Fumbles lost 0 0
Interceptions thrown 0 1
Possession 25:58 34:02

Dooms Day Dawg said...

Anon...While lengthy, you failed to even remotely answer the question? How does voicing one's displeasure with the coaching staff, players or current state of the program make you an "ingnorant a##hole"? Your stats are nice, but they do not mention the lack of O-line play, poor running game, zero use to outstanding TE's or the fact that the Dawgs have now lost through the air and on the ground. I agree that the D is a work in progress. However, that does not excuse the offense, players and staff, nor the fact that for 2 straight weeks this team has come out flat. Apparently you are satisfied with where the program currently sits.

Anonymous said...

Where we are at now should be no surprise folks. To paraphrase many of the comments by fans (and even coaches) before the season started:

-"Anything over a Willie defense will be an improvement" (well, so far that's correct despite some struggles installing the new D)

-"If we cut down on penalties and turnovers we'll improve" (well, that appears to be much improved overall so far)

-"Aaron Murray is going to have a big learning curve this season" (well, Aaron is coming along much better than anyone anticipated)

-"If we can just split games between Ark and SC" (all things considered, Ark and SC have proved this year they have they're best team in DECADES)

-"Our schedule will set up nicely after our first two SEC games" (Again true, with FLA looking weak and everyone else appearing beatable)

-"10-2 record on the high end, 8-4 record on the low end" (8-4 or 9-3 is still realistic)

My only problems with this team is the Offensive line playing HORRIBLE. That is something no one predicted.

Bobo is another problem. His playcalling is highly questionable. Richt needs to step in, in a BIG way.

Let's keep fighting and supporting our Dawgs.

Anonymous said...

Its the scoreboard stupid ! Stats doesnt mean squat. UGA's schedule sets up nicely because the dawgs are surely beatable as well. 4 - 6 against the SEC and 10 - 11 last 4 years against the SEC east. Yes it's just hunkydory in dawgie nation.

John said...

Anon 5:16 - If you think our defense is improved this year then you are truly delusion. We've been pummelled by a true freshman rb, and torched by the least mobile qb in the conference (whom we sacked a grand total of once).

We had 9 penalties on Saturday...you call that an improvement?

And quit saying we are unranked and the other team is ranked (fill in the blank). The reason for that is because they beat us! We were ranked head of SC going into that game. We have as much or more talent than those teams, and we should have beaten them both. And despite our coaches pathetic attempts to throw the players under the bus, its the coaches fault. CMR needs to get rid of Bobo, Searels and McClendon, or he needs to go himself.

The fact that Murray if a RSFresh also is immaterial...he's the most consistant performer on the team.

And its not just this year that I'm upset about. A far more unsettling issue is that we've have had the same problems for the past 2 seasons plus, and its not getting better, despite what the rose- colored-glasses-wearing-fans think.

You really should be more careful about throwing around terms like "asshole" for people who merely disgaree with you.

Anonymous said...

All this complaining sounds very similar to Stafford's first year in 2006