Ye Olde Mailbag

One of the joys of driving to a game on Saturday, as I will be doing Saturday, is listening to other college football telecasts on satellite radio. You hear a few homers, and a few who get quite involved on behalf of their teams.

But nothing like this. Enjoy.

I've seen a lot of things in press boxes, but never a radio analyst challenging media members to a fight.

In the meantime, on to your questions.

Do you think that Washaun’s injury is worse than the coaches, or Wahsaun for that matter, are letting on? I saw the injury and it looked awful, I thought for sure he had torn an ACL. I couldn’t believe it when he came back in the game! I couldn’t even watch the replays it looked so painful. Do you think they are playing a little possum with Florida on this injury? They kept Caleb out for two games with what seemed like a minor ankle injury compared to Washaun’s knee? Are you seeing anything differently from what is being reported?
- Kevin Wiley

Well I’m one of the people doing the reporting, so I’m not seeing anything different than I report. But yes, I do have a bit of the same leeriness about this injury. Ealey did say after the game it was just a “tweak,” then it became a mild MCL sprain. The parallel with the King twisted ankle is there. Let’s just say it will be a good idea to keep a close eye on warm-ups Saturday.

With Ealey's injury this is probably moot, but earlier in the week Richt was talking about giving both Ealey and King reps this week. I have always thought that Georgia relies too heavily on trying to use every running back we have instead of letting the #1 guy get into a rhythm. Last week is a perfect example. King was out, Ealey had the load, and he dominated with 157 yards. Too often we subbing in and out when one guy gets stopped for a couple losses. Look at what So Car has done with Lattimore. Spurrier doesn't give a crap how that makes Kenny Miles feel. He knows Lattimore is his best shot to win.
Your thoughts?
- Nick McKloskey

Well that’s the thing: Georgia still isn’t sure, based on production, which tailback does give the team the best shot to win. They were hoping someone would emerge, with the other one being a useful backup, but all the suspensions and injuries have prevented that. King did get the majority of the carries before his suspension, and was starting to separate himself. Now … who knows what to expect Saturday.

How is T.J. Stripling? Any news on his treatment/rehab?
- David Grier

Stripling had surgery three days after tearing his patella tendon at Colorado. There hasn’t been any news on him since then, but I would assume he’s going to be iffy for spring practice, but healthy enough for summer camp. Mark Richt said the day after it happened that “the history of those things (the surgeries) is very, very good. He’ll be able to recover.”

I want to know why the TE's are not getting more balls thrown their way and how are we addressing the breakdowns in our porous pass coverage? Is it more of a schematic issue or personnel?
- Carlos Ingram

Regarding the tight end, they were getting back into the flow of the offense until the Kentucky game, when none of them recorded a catch. Some of that had to do with the short fields, and the success Georgia was having with the run. I would suspect Orson Charles and/or Aron White will see a few targets on Saturday.
As for the pass coverage, the Kentucky game was a clear step back. They hoped that the increased roles for Sanders Commings and Shawn Williams were a panacea, but the unit was burned again in Lexington. At this point, you just have to assume it’s not going to get much better, and hope to contain the damage.

Have you gotten any indication of how important this game is to the coaching staff and do they seem any more locked in for this game than usual? Has there been any mention of preparation for Florida taking place in the off-season?
- Matt in Smyrna

Oh, I have to think they’ve been locked in for every other Florida game. Coaches aren’t like fans, (or media members), looking past one opponent to another. They have to show up to planning meetings on Sundays and Mondays whether it’s Florida or Idaho State. … But frankly the coaches have seemed “locked in” for awhile now. We’ll sometimes ask Richt or an assistant about something we thought everyone was talking about, but they clearly had no idea about it until we told them.

I was watching some of Louisiana Tech at Boise on Tuesday. I have not seen written or verbal commentary criticizing Boise for wearing uniforms that are specifically designed to match their field turf color. There is no reason to do this other than to gain a competitive advantage in regards to affecting the opponent’s peripheral vision. It is obviously not against the rules, but it is at the least very poor sportsmanship. Has there been criticism or is everyone afraid to comment on “poor little Boise trying to fight the big boys”?
- Columbia Dawg

On this specific issue of blue-on-blue, I’ll plead ignorance. But I continue to be baffled by the anti-Boise State backlash in SEC territory. Really – and I say this as someone who lives in this area and covers the league – it comes off as petty. After all, hasn’t the SEC won the last four BCS titles? The probability is a one-loss SEC team, whether it’s Alabama, Auburn or LSU, is going to get into the national championship game.

SEC fans complaining about Boise State is like Wal-Mart complaining about the mom-and-pop store down the street.

Am I the only one who doesn't like that we won't alter the practice plan to account for what counts as a missed day? I'd like to think that with such a crucial game coming up (with the SEC East hanging in the balance) that maybe we'd try to get as much meaningful practice as possible, instead of settling for walk-throughs. Seth, are the coaches at all nervous about how this might affect the readiness of the team? Especially since Meyer is making "alterations" to their offense? I mean, he even said "There's nothing like doing it," so why not follow through on that? Am I missing something here?
- Anonymous (via Le blog)

This was a case where Georgia was hurt not having its indoor facility ready. Now if the Bulldogs lose, don’t go using that as that excuse. But it would’ve helped to do more than a walk-through. As for Thursday, coaches are adverse to doing much hitting two days before a game. So the choice was to flip the days, and risk injury two days before a game, rather than three, or just use Wednesday as essentially an informational (i.e. gameplan) day.

One thing I'll be interested in seeing is how Rainey holds up in the game after missing that many practice and game reps versus how out of "game shape" AJ was in the Colorado game? Splitting btw. RB and WR with Demps reportedly a little beat up, he should be getting a ton of chances and have to physically exert himself a lot. If he holds up and plays well, what if anything does this say about our S&C when AJ missed a decent chunk of the CO game?
- BullyMack (via Le Blog)

Ah, another strength and conditioning concern. Well, add it to the list. Let’s see what happens when Rainey and Demps do get out there.