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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tuesday Links (11/3)

Not much time for links this morning, but a handful of reading material to get you through the day...

-- First off, a shout out to friends of the blog in NYC. Reader Matt S. has started up a Web site for the NYC Bulldogs Club, so if you're a UGA fan in the Big Apple, check it out. And go Phillies!

-- I have a story in today's Telegraph on the Bulldogs' thoughts about playing for 2010 vs. worrying about winning the next four games.

-- And Mike Lough has some thoughts from Eric Zeier about the state of the Georgia program.

-- Some thoughts from the Anonymous Suck-up, a veteran Bulldogs Blog commenter:

"So let me get this straight. Mike Slive thinks a coach criticizing game officials is a worse offense than a player intentionally trying to blind another player. Nice. The real shame is that this is what we all expected. We didn't expect Florida or the SEC to do the right thing. We had no reason to do so, but we had lots of reasons to expect what we got. It's a sad state of affairs.

"Oh...and one more thing...what do you think the reaction would have been if Reshad Jones had been caught gouging Tebow's eyes? Certainly the reaction from the game officials, the media, the coaches, and the league would've been exactly the same, right? Riiight."

Chris Low agrees, bashing the decision to suspend Spikes for just a half of action and pointing the blame at Mike Slive.

-- Jeremy Fowler has the potential background for the Brandon Spikes' eye gouge.

-- Low also thinks putting the blame for Georgia's woes on Joe Cox's shoulders is unfair.

-- Think those black helmets were bad? What if UGA had run onto the field wearing throwback "Georgia Wildcats" uniforms? T Kyle King provides some context on a notable day in Georgia history.

-- One "Lunatic" Georgia fan provides some very lucid insight into the problems of the Georgia defense.

-- It sounds like Caleb King will get the start this week, and The Senator is a little upset about it... probably not for the reason you might think.

-- The Grit Tree is among the many fans unhappy that Joe Cox will be under center again this week and looks deeper at the Cox-Aaron Murray debate.

-- Did you see Syracuse's best player quit the team? I'm actually happy about this. I'm glad Doug Marrone is laying down the law after Greg Robinson let that program fall apart from the inside out.

-- A "Lost" star will have a guest gig on "Law & Order: SVU."

-- A familiar face will be returning to "24" this year.

-- Ever wonder what the odds are that a meteor will actually hit the Earth? It's about the same odds of Morgan Freeman becoming president or Bruce Willis becoming an astronaut

-- Finally, a real explanation for the career of Keanu Reeves. "I am an EFF-BEE-EYE AGENT!"

-- The most inexplicable thing about me is that I don't watch "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." Makes no sense. Everyone tells me I'm dumb. I'll go get the DVDs sometime after football season and catch up, I promise. I did this with "The Wire" and I still beat myself up about not watching it right off the bat. Anyway, a treat for those of you who do watch "Sunny"... a montage of all of Charlie's dance moves.

-- And finally, the answer to yesterday's trivia question...

First off, here were my 10 favorite guesses:

10. Debbie Gibson -- Sadly, no. But she was my first true love.

9. ZZ Top -- I'd still like to see ZZ Top. Interesting fact about ZZ Top: The two guitar players are notorious for their long beards. The drummer, however, is completely clean shaven. His name? Frank Beard.

8. Loverboy -- Nah, no Canadians.

7. Enuff Z Nuff -- Actually, I have seen Enuff Z Nuff in concert. They were the opener in a show that featured Quiet Riot, Warrant and Poison. A lot of aging '80s groupies went topless. It was interesting to say the least.

6. Blue Oyster Cult -- Nope, but that reminds me... I got a fevah!

5. Firehouse -- Nope, but when I lived in California, my roommate had a penchant for blaring '80s music very loud at 3 a.m. while playing beer pong in the garage, and Firehouse's "Love of a Lifetime" was a favorite. Well, not for the neighbors.

4. Parliament Funkadelic -- Nope, but I may watch "PCU" tonight.

3. Red Buttons -- Hilarious.

2. Strawberry Alarm Clock -- I'll admit, I had to Google them.

1. Kenny Rogers with special guests Paul Anka and Lee Greenwood -- Now, THAT'S a concert. And what more can you say about Kenny? The man makes a good bird. (And after finding that video, I spent about another 45 minutes watching other clips.)

But no one guessed the correct answer, which was.... Ah, just watch this.

Insight from White

Some insight on the mind-set of the team from tight end Aron White:

On the offensive struggles...
“It’s very frustrating. With the team we have this year, we’re always a couple plays away from the performances we’ve prepared for. We could come out and put any team away, but we self-destruct sometimes. It sucks, but there’s not a whole lot you can do other than work hard day in and day out in practice and hope we come out on Saturday and perform the way we’ve been practicing. These are things we don’t do in practice, but for whatever reason in a game we’ll throw the ball wrong here, have a fumble there or jump offsides. We’ve just been killing ourselves. We’re a better team than our record shows right now, that’s for sure.”

On playing from behind so often...
“Any time you’re in a game the situation you’re in at the time is going to affect your playcalling and the way the guys perform. Any time you’re coming from behind, that not a place you want to be even thought that’s kind of been our thing this year. We’ve been the team that’s fought back, even though we weren’t able to seal the deal in a lot of them. I definitely feel like if we’d had another score here or there or if the game had been a little closer, it might have changed the way the plays were called or the plays that were called against us – put the pressure on them a little bit more. Besides when it was 14-10, I feel like they were playing a little bit more pressure-free than we would have liked them to be. I feel like we were always in the game until about halfway through the fourth quarter, we were always a score or two away, and we had our chances to make the plays. We just made too many mistakes. We killed ourselves, that’s for sure. My hat’s off to them because they’re a great team, but I don’t feel that they’re unbeatable by any means. I feel like if we’d have come and had a little more focus, we could have came out with a ‘W’.”

On whether Joe Cox deserves the blame...
“I feel like a lot of the times when Joe gets intercepted, it’s not necessarily him making a poor decision or a bad throw, it’s just guys not being on the same page. You look at the one that he threw where he was trying to throw it out of bounds, he had a little too much pressure on him and got hit. That’s happened to him a couple of times. It’s not always Joe’s fault when he throws an interception. I know a lot of people get down on Joe, but I feel like I have faith in him and a lot of the guys have faith in him. Every time Logan gets in the game, I’m pretty happy for him. Obviously that was my high school quarterback, so I’m pretty close with him. And if that’s what the coaches decide to do we’re going to be behind Logan 100 percent of the way, too. But whatever the coaches feel is right to do, our team is going to support that.”

On Brandon Spikes' dirty play...
“It’s a really heated game. When you’re out there on the field in a Georgia-Florida game, it’s hard to control yourself all the time. I think Brandon Spikes is obviously a tremendous talent, a tremendous player. Obviously sometimes tempers flare like that but I don’t feel like it was anything too malicious or he’s a bad player. I just think sometimes people let their emotions get the best of them out there on the field.”

On team unity...
“It’s frustrating sometimes with the season going the way it has been but I feel like our team is sticking together. We’re not a team that’s going to fall apart when things go bad. I think we’ve proven that throughout the season so far. Hopefully we can band together and put faith in each other and turn the season around.”

On Georgia's four losses...
“The first loss against Oklahoma State hit us hard. It sucks to come out and lose the first game of the season, but we didn’t think that by any means that was going to define our season. We came out and played hard, and when we lost that close one to LSU, I don’t think the blame fell on anybody. I think that was one we let slip away as a team. We had a lot of different things go wrong that weren’t major but a whole lot of minor things and we let a heartbreaker get away from us. Then Tennessee came out and got after us pretty well. I feel like they handed us our worst loss of the season. They came out and just dominated that game. This Florida game, it felt like we were there the whole time and kind of gave it away. That’s probably why this game hurts the most. It was a chance for us to come out and prove to everybody that we’re not a .500 team, we’re not a team that we’re scared of anybody. To win a game against the No. 1 team in the country would have changed a lot of people’s mind. To let that opportunity slip by, not because somebody’s better than you in our opinion, but because we did too much to hurt ourselves, that hurts a lot.”

On A.J. Green handling so much attention from defenses...
“I don’t feel like he’s a guy who lets his emotions get the best of him. He’s a pretty calm guy but it’s got to be frustrating to get so many double teams and have people rolling their coverage to you all the time. But he’s a guy that no matter what the coverage is, if you put the ball in his hands, he’s going to go up and make the play.”

On the approach to the rest of the season...
“Right now I think all our focus has to be on Tennessee Tech, and I think that’s something that will be echoed across the team. We can’t overlook the rest of our season or think that it’s down the drain or anything like that. We have four games left in this season, and hopefully a bowl after that. We have to keep our heads in the right place and focus on the season. But at the same time we have a lot of young guys coming back, I’m sure we have a good recruiting class coming in. You can’t help but say hopefully things will be better next year, and with this rivalry, I think a lot of young guys are going to take this loss pretty hard. We had a lot of young guys play, and it’s something we want everybody to remember and carry with us until we play Florida again.”

Monday, November 2, 2009

What's a Pulmonary Contusion?

Courtesy of a link from our friends at the Bill Shanks Show to a site call FreeMD:

"A person with a pulmonary contusion has a bruise to the lung, which results in bleeding into the lung tissue. The collection of blood can prevent oxygen from passing from the lung, into the bloodstream. Pulmonary contusions are caused by severe chest injuries, such as multiple rib fractures or a sternum fracture. "

We don't get to speak to Mark Richt today, but I'm sure he'll be asked on his radio show. This doesn't sound like a one-week injury, eh? At the very least, let's hope A.J. Green is feeling a lot better than that description sounds.

Grading the Game: Florida and the Future

"Any time any young guy is playing it certainly bodes well for the future, but any decision I make or we make as a staff is going to be based on what gives us the best chance to win this year. We owe that to our seniors, we owe that to our fans, we owe that to everybody who busts their tail every day." -- Mark Richt, during his weekly Sunday teleconference this week.

The news came down Monday that Joe Cox would be the starter at quarterback yet again this week. That's not surprising, and the logic that Cox gives Georgia its best chance to win is probably correct. But why use that logic?

I guess if I were a coach, I'd probably want to do whatever I could to end this season on a high note, too. But I'm not a coach. I'm a reporter and blogger, and I'm ready to look ahead.

So with this week's grades, we're taking a little different approach. I'll hand out grades for the Florida game, but I think that mess is sort of secondary now. Besides, what new topics could we explore? Georgia's problems last week were essentially the same problems from the first seven weeks.

So what we're really going to focus on is what lies ahead. What are the issues at hand? What can be done this year to solve them? What might 2010 look like?

Here's what I came up with...

QUARTERBACKS: If you've been reading this blog all season, you know that I've defended Joe Cox's role as the starting quarterback as emphatically as anyone.

I pointed to the youth around him, but eight games into the season, those guys aren't rookies anymore. And even if Cox wasn't on the field, how many more mistakes could they make at this point?

I pointed to the lack of a running game, but Georgia actually ran the ball pretty well against Florida and Cox still had three INTs.

I pointed to drops by his receivers, but it was Cox whose ball placement was brutal throughout the game against the Gators, with the high pass over the middle that got A.J. Green hurt being the most egregious example.

I pointed to some lackluster play calling, but Mike Bobo's game plan Saturday wasn't anywhere close to being the problem.

I'm not a Georgia fan, but I'll echo what I've already heard so many of you say: Joe Cox is a great kid, a loyal Bulldog and is more accountable than probably any 22-year-old I've ever met. And in the grand game of life, those things are far more commendable than anything he could have accomplished on the football field.

But the game we're talking about isn't life, it's football. And sometimes the virtues that you hold in the highest esteem the other six days a week don't mean much on Saturday. There's a reason Brandon Spikes can play dirty and be a first-round draft pick, and there's a reason that Cox can be a truly great kid and probably deserve a seat on the bench.

It doesn't look like that will happen this week, at least not to start the game. Logan Gray certainly hasn't looked ready to take over the offense either, although to be fair, his opportunities have hardly come at optimal times. At the very least, he probably deserves to at least show what he can do for a few series in the first half, before things have gotten out of hand.

Maybe Gray could perform well. Maybe he'll put himself in position to win the job next year. Maybe. But from virtually everyone I've spoken to -- and no, I don't mean coaches or players, but rather the people on the periphery of the program -- it's Aaron Murray that is the quarterback of the future.

I don't know whether that future will become reality in 2010. We probably won't have a firm answer on that until after spring practice. If Gray performs well enough, Murray's future might not be until 2011 or 2012. But I also thinks it's at least worth asking the question of whether or not the future should be 2009. Namely, this week.

When discussing Washaun Ealey after Week 4, Richt said his opinion on burning a redshirt has changed in recent years. It used to be that if a player hadn't seen action in the first four games, he wasn't going to play at all. Now, he said, Week 6 is probably a break-even point, and even after Week 7, 8 or 9, he said, there could be merit in giving a guy playing time if he was ready to perform.

Maybe Murray isn't ready. He missed two weeks and was limited for two more due to tendinitis in his elbow earlier this season, and he was slowed throughout the spring and summer as he continued to recover from a broken leg he suffered as a senior at Plant High School. The coaches know far better than I do where he's at on the learning curve.

But the reports I've heard on Murray say that he has all the physical tools he'll need to succeed, and elbow or leg problems don't keep you from learning the playbook. And as for how healthy he is right now, Richt says that's not an issue.

"He's very healthy even with his arm right now," Richt said. "We went about two weeks monitoring the amount of throws he had for a while, but the last few weeks, he's off the injury list completely. He's 100 percent as far as throwing, and I think he's moving better than he has in a while."

Again, I don't see what the coaches see, and I don't know what the coaches know. But I look ahead to next year's lineup and it's hard not to see a world of possibility there if only Georgia has a quarterback who can match the talent around him.

I don't know what the right decision is on who should start the rest of the way, but I do know it would be a big mistake if the coaching staff didn't at least ask whether or not the benefit of giving five games of playing time to Murray is worth the cost.

(*One final note: Should I even mention that Cox threw for as many TDs against Florida on Saturday as the Gators' previous seven opponents have combined?)

Final Grade (this week): D

Final Grade (future): Incomplete

RUNNING BACKS: Remember when Urban Meyer complained that Tennessee was running the ball too much against Florida, not really trying to win the game but rather to run out the clock?

Well, in that game, the Vols -- complete with future NFL-er Montario Hardesty and former No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Brown -- netted a grand total of 117 yards on the ground against that vaunted Florida defense.

Saturday, Georgia's beleaguered running game racked up 121.

The Bulldogs averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, but if you don't factor in sacks (which the final stats do), Georgia's running game actually accounted for nearly five yards per carry. The same running game that struggled to get to 3 ypc all season posted nearly 5 ypc against the best defense in the country.

And they did it despite being down 14 points early and effectively playing catch-up throughout the game.

We don't need to peer into the future to determine what the running game will look like next year. We don't need to worry about changes to the tailback rotation right now. The future was on display Saturday.

Washaun Ealey has all the natural instincts to be a great running back. He hits the hole as hard as Knowshon Moreno ever did, he just needs to learn some of the subtleties of running at this level. His future is bright.

Caleb King continues to look good, too, despite limited action. He runs harder after first contact than any of Georgia's tailbacks and his pass blocking has been exceptional. At this point, it may be too late for him to nail down an every-down job, but considering how bad this unit looked just a few weeks ago, it's not hard to be encouraged about a 60-40 or 70-30 split between Ealey and King going forward.

I should note, too, that Richard Samuel picked up 40 yards on six carries -- mostly in the fourth quarter -- and look pretty decent doing it. So that remains the biggest question regarding the tailbacks -- where will Samuel be next year? A lot probably depends on whether Georgia can land another solid RB recruit for this year's class. If they can, there's really no reason to allow Samuel's immense natural ability to remain relegated to mop-up duty.

Final Grade (this week):
B+

Final Grade (future): B

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: Here's a trivia question for you: Who was the last Georgia player NOT named A.J. Green to have both three catches and 50 yards receiving in the same game?

I'll let you stew over that for a moment while I ask another question: While everyone is up in arms about a QB change and planning for the future, why has the talk of finding snaps for Marlon Brown suddenly disappeared?

Georgia has six scholarship receivers, and at this point, it's probably fair to stop including Israel Troupe in the discussion. After three years in the program, if he can't get on the field this season, he's at best hovering just above the "lost cause" plateau.

Of those five scholarship guys, only Tavarres King has really established himself by any real standard. Rantavious Wooten has had some nice moments, but his playing time has been limited and his role in the offense has yet to be really determined.

Michael Moore has been a disappointment for much of this season, and he'll be gone next year regardless. Kris Durham will return from injury in 2010 to provide Georgia with another senior, but the fact is, the receiving corps isn't likely to have much more experience next year than it had this year, and this year has been just shy of a disaster.

At this point, there is no reason not to get Brown and Wooten more time, throw them some more passes and help them build up their confidence for next season. Both came to Georgia with a boatload of talent, and at this point, the Bulldogs have absolutely wasted Brown. If this was all the playing time he was going to get, they should have redshirted him. What they've done, instead, is far more atrocious than burning Aaron Murray's redshirt with four games left would be.

As it stands, the WR lineup for next year will probably look like this:

Flanker: Kris Durham, Da'Rick Rogers
Slot: Tavarres King, Rantavious Wooten
Split End: A.J. Green, Marlon Brown

Others: Troupe, Michael Bennett

Da'Rick Rogers has tons of talent and could be a star immediately, but that's what we thought about Brown this year, too. So like this year, there will be potential in the receiving corps, but there's a good chance that aside from Green, that entire unit will have accounted for fewer than 25 receptions in 2009.

Oh, and to answer the original question -- the last player to record at least three catches and 50 receiving yards in the same game was Michael Moore, all the way back in Week 3 against Arkansas.

In fact, the only players other than A.J. to have three catches or more in any game since then are Moore (6 vs. Tennessee), Shaun Chapas (4 vs. Arizona State) and Fred Munzenmaier (3 vs. Vandy). Um, what does it say that two of those guys are fullbacks?

I guess we'll find out a bit more about these guys this week as Green is not expected to play against Tennessee Tech.

Final Grade (this week): C- (mostly because Cox gets the blame for the passing-game woes, but he sure didn't get a ton of help)

Final Grade (future): B- (Hey, they'll still have A.J.)

ADDENDUM: I sort of glossed over the tight ends originally, but obviously Georgia has a ton of talent there. Orson Charles and Aron White still need to improve in their blocking, but overall both have a lot of potential. Bruce Figgins' return and another year of development for Arthur Lynch make tight end a real strength looking forward. Future Grade: A

OFFENSIVE LINE: So for the fifth time in eight games, Georgia trotted out a new starting lineup on the offensive line.

The good news: It helped the running game, which looked much improved.

The bad news: Georgia allowed three sacks Saturday after allowing just six all season before that.

On one hand, the line did seem to play a bit better overall, but boy were there some bad moments.

Cox's first INT was a direct result of A.J. Jones being in the backfield before the QB could finish his drop. Cox's second INT, which was an absolutely awful throw, came as a result of pressure, too, when he was flushed out of the pocket and made an ill-advised pass on a third-down play.

Even when the pressure didn't necessarily cause a turnover, it created other problems. Here's an intriguing note from The Senator:
"Everyone no doubt has his or her key moment of the game. Mine was Dunlap’s sack of Cox during that disastrous series late in the second quarter. Joe’s stats before the sack: 6 of 9 passing for 101 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. Afterwards: 5 of 11 passing for 64 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs."
If you'll recall, the same was true after Cox was hit against Tennessee, and Richt even alluded to the fact that his QB was shaken up a bit.

Perhaps Cox's biggest problem is he simply isn't able to shake off a particularly big hit.

Either way, it remains baffling as to why a veteran O line can't seem to pass protect and run block in the same game.

I'm a little hesitant to put too much blame on Josh Davis for retaliating against Spikes on the opening drive then knocking off Spikes' helmet, which wasn't strapped on in the first place, but the bottom line is that 15-yard flag killed a good drive and may have changed the complexion of the entire game after that. It may not have been all Davis' fault, but it was a huge play.

Looking ahead, the key to the remainder of this season is to find some continuity on the line. With the exception of Vince Vance, every one of these guys will be back next year, and Georgia cannot afford to let this unit fall apart once again. If Justin Anderson is going to be an answer long-term, he needs to play. If he's not, maybe it's time to see what someone like A.J. Harmon can do. Chris Davis is a warrior, but at some point that hip injury isn't just limiting him, but it's limiting the whole offense.

Ideally Trinton Sturdivant comes back strong next year, too, but the coaches certainly can't rely on that. The best approach is to assume Sturdivant will not be the same player he was before, and if it turns out that he makes a full recovery, then it will be a pleasant surprise. But as Vance showed after just one ACL surgery -- a far less invasive one than Sturdivant's first -- it takes a lot of time to return to where you were before the injury.

As for fresh blood, Chris Burnette will be ready next year, and I think there's reason to be excited about his future. But Dallas Lee hasn't exactly earned any rave reviews, and Austin Long remains a mystery after back surgery. For the most part, what we've seen this year is what we'll get next year in terms of personnel. That could be a very good thing or, like this season, it could be another kick in the face.

Final Grade (this week): C

Final Grade (future): B

DEFENSIVE LINE: No position will take a harder hit in 2010 than defensive tackle, where the top three players on the depth chart will all move on -- perhaps all three to the NFL.

Kade Weston, Jeff Owens and Geno Atkins have all been fixtures on the D line for the better part of four years now, and replacing them -- even if they haven't lived up to high expectations this year -- won't be easy. Brandon Wheeling, also a senior, has been part of a six-DT rotation this season and will be gone next year, too.

The top two performers to return will be DeAngelo Tyson and Abry Jones, and neither had so much as a tackle against Florida. Both are immensely talented, and it would probably be tough to get them much more playing time than they're getting already, so the situation is what it is.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Jones and Tyson next season. They'll get some help, possibly from Kwame Geathers and Derrick Lott, possibly from incoming freshman Garrison Smith. Either way, this will be an ongoing work in progress until 2010 kicks off.

The silver lining of the D line this season, however, has clearly been Justin Houston. The line has made marked improvements in terms of pass rush since Houston returned from a two-game suspension, and Saturday he finished with three tackles, two for a loss, and one sack. He's been a beast for more than a month, and he's provided some hope for the pass rush going forward. (Of course, he'll miss the Tennesse Tech game, and who knows how serious his knee injury might be going forward.)

It was frustrating, no doubt, watching Tim Tebow run up the middle for one first down after another on Saturday, but there aren't a lot of players like Tebow. By and large, the run D has been strong this year, the pass rush has improved, and with five freshmen D-ends committed for next year, there's got to be a lot more hope for the D line as 2010 gets set to kick off than there was to start 2009.

Final Grade (this week): C

Final Grade (future): C+ (with potential for much higher if the young DTs develop)

LINEBACKERS: Perhaps the most frustrating thing about watching Saturday's debacle against Florida was seeing how overmatched Georgia's linebackers appeared.

On lateral plays, they looked obviously slow compared to the Gators' fleet-footed running backs like Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey.

On power plays, Tebow and Emmanuel Moody looked stronger, breaking tackles and picking up big plays.

If you're not stronger and you're not faster, you're not going to win a lot of battles.

The first down catch-and-run by Aaron Hernandez on a third-and-16 was an absolute back-breaker. While the D held after that, Caleb Sturgis booted a 56-yard field goal that really was a turning point in the game. Had Florida punted there, Georgia would have gotten the ball back down four with a chance to take the lead late in the second quarter. Instead, the Gators iced Georgia momentum, and once again, it was a tight end that was the thorn in the Bulldogs' side.

Assuming Rennie Curran eschews the NFL, all of Georgia's key linebackers, save Darius Dewberry and little-used Marcus Washington, will be back next year. That's good news, most likely. Heck, Akeem Dent has to be more productive in 2010 than he has been in 2009, right?

But the underperformance of the linebacking corps this season has been almost as striking as the lack of production from the O line. This was supposed to be the strength of the defense, and even Curran has missed some key tackles while the others have been, for the most part, utter non-factors (unless you count bad plays as "factors").

There are some bright spots, however. Nick Williams got his first start of the season against Florida. He hasn't had a huge impact this year, but his potential is there. Christian Robinson has seen his playing time skyrocket in recent weeks, and he finished Saturday's game with three tackles. His production could grow by leaps and bounds if he can stack on a few more pounds to his frame next season. Marcus Dowtin returned from a two-game absence due to an injured finger and posted three tackles and half-a-sack, too. He's got star status written all over him.

What will be interesting next season, however, is seeing how well the three younger guys mix with the three older guys at the position. Who starts? How much will the younger guys play? How will the seniors react if their jobs are usurped by younger players?

This season, John Jancek has been fanatical about rotating players, some moves of which I haven't exactly understood. But next year, finding playing time for Robinson, Dowtin and Williams may be even more important.

Final Grade (this week): D

Final Grade (future): B

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Another worthy note from The Senator following the Florida game:

"Bryan Evans started and played on those first two possessions. He got bailed out by Brandon James’ spectacular drop, but that was about it. Bacarri Rambo came in for Florida’s third possession and the Gators were forced into a three-and-out. Which of course meant that Martinez put Evans back out for the next series, resulting in another Florida score. I gave up keeping track after that, because it obviously didn’t matter, but Evans caught my eye when he rushed at full speed past Tebow on his second touchdown run. I’ve got no idea where he was going on that play."

Indeed, the lack of a starting job for Baccari Rambo has gone from perplexing to absurd, and Saturday's performance only underscored that.

Florida's first two drives against Georgia may have been the worst two-drive performance I've seen from this defense all year. Yes, Arkansas hit some big plays and Johnathan Crompton made some good throws, but what Florida did on 92- and 80-yard drives was merciless. They made it look easy -- probably because it was.

Mark Richt made the point yesterday that Georgia hasn't created enough turnovers. But think about what might have happened had Brandon James bobbled a reception like he did on Florida's second drive, but this time put any Georgia defender within 10 yards of him. The bobble very well may have become an interception, and the complexion of the game may have been completely different.

Instead, with two weeks to prepare, Georgia's secondary was so bad that James could bobble the ball five or six times and still not come close to being touched by a Bulldogs player. It takes a lot for a receiver to drop a pass like that and not have it be the most embarrassing part of that play.

There are five people whose fingerprints are most represented in Georgia's terrible, 73rd-ranked pass defense this season: Bryan Evans, Reshad Jones, Prince Miller, Brandon Boykin and Willie Martinez.

There's a good chance that four of those five will be gone next year.

We'll get to Martinez in a bit. Evans and Miller are seniors, and Branden Smith and Rambo have already shown they'll be adequate and likely superior replacements. Between Makiri Pugh, Shawn Williams and incoming recruit Jakar Hamilton, a replacement for Jones, should he decide to turn pro, shouldn't be too hard to find either.

The lone returner from The Big Five is Boykin, who has taken his lumps this season and has certainly been picked on quite a bit by opposing offensive coordinators, but he's held his own throughout. He hasn't been great, and he hasn't lived up to Asher Allen's work the past two years, but for a first-year starter, he's done a nice job and has made a few particularly impressive plays. His future looks bright even if his present has been erratic.

Of course, what might help the secondary the most is a change is scheme, from a soft zone that even mediocre QBs have exploited at will to something that allows defensive players to make plays.

I'm not sure that we can look at next year and definitively say that addition by subtraction will lead to a resurgence in the secondary, but I think it is safe to say it would be hard for things to get much worse.

Final Grade (this week): D

Final Grade (future): B

SPECIAL TEAMS: Let's add one more to "The List."

Joe Cox connects with Aron White for the Bulldogs' first touchdown of the day. The team celebrates on the sideline. The score is now 14-10 and the Bulldogs have life after a dismal start. What comes next? You guessed it!

Blair Walsh, now a master of the touchback, kicks off directionally, Brandon James returns it 19 yards to the Florida 21, then Mike Gilliard hits James out of bounds and is flagged for a 15-yard penalty, giving the Gators the ball at their own 36 instead. Aside from the ugly tackling on Hernandez's 17-yard reception, the defense held firm, but that extra field position was enough to give Florida a shot at a long field goal, which Sturgis hit to put the Gators back up by 7.

A few other notes of interest:

-- As best I could tell, Georgia felt no need to have 11 men on the field for Sturgis' second field goal of the day.

-- Florida has still not allowed a punt-return yard all season.

-- Brandon Boykin set the school record for kick-return yards and is close to breaking the record for overall return yards, and he did it with very little room to run Saturday. He's already a star as a kick returner.

-- Blair Walsh booted yet another 50-yarder. There's been a lot of talk about the year Drew Butler is having, but Walsh has flown under the radar to have one of the best seasons by a UGA kicker in a while.

-- And speaking of Butler, he averaged 52.5 yards per punt, upping his lead nationally in that category. He booted two of four punts that were downed inside the 20, too. But his long -- a 61-yarder -- severely outkicked its coverage and James returned it 20 yards.

As for the future of the special teams, that's hard to say. Boykin may have impressed to the extent that few teams kick to him next year. Butler and Walsh will both be back, so that's encouraging, assuming Walsh isn't asked to keep directional kicking. And if Aaron Murray wins the starting QB job in 2010, we may even be treated to more Logan Gray punt returns.

The bulk of the special teams, however, are dictated by the guys on the coverage teams, and those fluctuate greatly from year to year, so there's really no telling just how good these units might be next season.

Final Grade (this week): B

Final Grade (future): Incomplete, but with potential

COACHING: And now we get to the crux of it all. The real questions about next year all begin here, right?

Who will be back on the staff? Who might replace those who depart? Will anyone leave at all? And regardless of any shakeups, will there be a real, noticeable, meaningful difference in the culture of the team?

I'd love to tell you I have a ton of inside sources giving me the scoop on what will happen, but that's not the case. In truth, I don't think even Mark Richt knows for sure what will happen yet. I honestly don't believe he'd even consider the decisions he'll have to make until the season is over and he has a full year of information to base those decisions upon. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know how he operates, and it would be out of character for any major overhaul to be decided upon, much less acted upon, at this point.

But before we get too far into that, let's talk about this week's game, since it is particularly relevant to the discussion.

For the better part of a decade, we've heard about how important that open date before the Cocktail Party is to both teams. Something tells me we won't hear that again any time soon.

On the offensive side of the ball, there were obviously some strides made during the bye week. I thought the play calling was strong for the most part, and I commend Mike Bobo for sticking with what he believed would work, even when Georgia fell behind by 14 early. The running game was much improved, and Bobo's decision to keep Ealey as the featured back for most of the game proved to be the right call and may pay even greater dividends moving forward.

Having said that, here's what Brandon Spikes had to say about his fourth-quarter interception that effectively ended the game: "I knew what that play was before the ball was snapped, so I was able to make the play. The coaching staff put us in great position to make plays, so I was able to step in front of the ball."

So let's clarify...

Weeks to prepare: Georgia 2, Florida 1
Number of interceptions that came because players knew what to expect: Georgia 0, Florida 1 (and maybe more)

But again, I thought Bobo did a decent enough job. Was it a perfect performance? No. But he crafted a game plan that had success against a very good defense, and that's praiseworthy. There were times when Georgia moved the ball better against the Gators than anyone has all year. That's a credit to Bobo. He didn't throw any of the four interceptions and he didn't tell Josh Davis to get flagged for a personal foul or tell Orson Charles to jump offsides twice or force Joe Cox to stare down a covered receiver while another ran wide open. In fact, I'd be willing to bet Bobo spent the last two weeks coaching those guys to do the exact opposite of those things.

On the defensive side of the ball, however, it's fair to ask what went on the past two weeks. In fact, that's exactly what Paul Westerdawg does:

"If the entire defensive coaching staff had gone to Bermuda for two weeks and simply met the team at the stadium, what would have been different about our game plan or execution? Seriously.

If that question is too inflammatory for someone to ask Coach Richt, then my question would be...why did Arkansas and Mississippi State have a better game plan defensively than we did? They have far less defensive talent on their respective teams than Georgia does, and they each had half as much time to prepare."

I hate to break it to Paul, who's a fine blogger and a loyal Georgia fan, but he probably should have seen this coming. In fact, Willie Martinez told us this was coming.

As I mentioned above, Georgia's D looked clueless on Florida's opening two drives. Tebow, on the other hand, looked like someone had handed him Georgia's playbook a week ago and told him to memorize it. There was nothing new here, and Tebow beat the UGA defense like I used to beat the first three levels of "Super Mario Brothers." I could do it with my eyes closed because I knew it so well.

There's really not much that can be said positive about the defensive performance, although I've heard people try. But here are the facts:

-- Florida rushed for 210 yards against Georgia -- 70 more than Georgia was allowing on average this season.

-- Tebow completed 15-of-21 passes (72 percent), his second-highest completion percentage of the season. And that's counting that throw to James as an incompletion, which it certainly shouldn't have been.

-- Having watched Tebow barrel over Georgia defenders for three years now, the Florida QB still ran for 91 yards on 16 carries (not including sacks).

-- Tebow became the fourth quarterback to account for four touchdowns against Georgia this season. In eight games.

-- The defense has now allowed 37 or more points in nine of its past 17 games. Against its top rivals/competition -- Auburn, Georgia Tech, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Florida -- Georgia has allowed an average of 34 points and 380 total yards in nine games. And those stats include games against Tennessee and Auburn last year, when both offenses were brutal.

-- In those games, Georgia is 3-6 overall and has created just eight turnovers on defense, three of which came in one game against LSU last year.

-- And while some fans may want to point to Georgia's improved defensive stats on Saturday after those first two drives, don't forget that when Georgia was within four and the Dawgs had Florida pinned on a third-and-16, Hernandez broke one tackle after another for a first down and Florida earned a field goal on the drive. When Georgia was within seven with just 2:23 left in the first half and desperately needed to go into the locker room with some momentum, the defense surrendered a 65-yard drive on just four plays that took just 51 seconds to let Florida go up by 14. Those were the two most important drives of the day for Florida, and the defense failed to hold in either case.

The bottom line is that, yes, there are extenuating circumstances in every game that have made life tough for the defense. But when the unit had a chance to show it used the extra week wisely, it looked dreadful. And when the offense made things close, the defense couldn't hold. Adversity strikes everyone. It can't be an excuse for Georgia's defensive performance any more.

Final Grade (this week): F (with extra negative points for uni's that looked like Grambling)

Final Grade (future): Well, that's the big question now, isn't it? I wish I knew.

Cox Remains Starter, Green Out

Per UGA release...

University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt confirmed Monday that senior quarterback Joe Cox will remain the starter for the Bulldogs.

"It was unanimous among our staff that Joe gives us the best chance to win and that’s where our focus needs to be.,” said Richt. “There’s still a lot of football left this season. We tell our players to finish the drill and we are committed to doing that this week and each week the remainder of the season. We have faith in Joe that he gives us the best opportunity to do that. At the same time, we do plan on Logan Gray getting some playing time this week at quarterback.”

Richt also updated the injury situation from Saturday and status for this week’s game against Tennessee Tech. He said A.J. Green suffered a pulmonary contusion and will not play this week; Clint Boling had a knee contusion and is probable; and Justin Houston suffered a hyper extended elbow and is doubtful.

And from the SEC, regarding Brandon Spikes:

The Southeastern Conference has reviewed and accepted the disciplinary actions taken by the University of Florida regarding football student-athlete Brandon Spikes. The university suspended Spikes for the first half of its next game (vs. Vanderbilt, Nov. 7) for an unsportsmanlike act during the Gators' last game (vs. Georgia, Oct. 31).

ADDENDUM: Here is what Brandon Spikes had to say:

"I accept responsibility for my actions and I accept the consequences of my actions. I would like to apologize to my team and the coaching staff and Washun Ealey. Football is a very physical and emotional game, but there is no excuse for my actions."

Monday Links (11/2)

Rex Robinson has a post saying what many of you have said since Saturday: What's wrong with this team when it needs gimmicks to get up for its biggest game of the season?

In fact, Rex doesn't really even need to say it, because Rennie Curran did before the game:

"There is no way you can't get pumped for the Florida game. If you're not pumped for this one, then you don't have a heart." -- Curran

That's the quote Senator Blutarsky had on his home page for the better part of a week prior to the Florida game. Hard not to make the connection that Rennie says a team that's not pumped for that game has no heart, and yet Mark Richt thought a uniform gimmick and dancing on the sideline was a necessary game plan.

In some ways, I get it. Coaches have a job, and among their top responsibilities is to motivate. That's not always an easy task.

Here's the thing you have to remember about athletes: Daily life is all about fooling yourself into thinking that what you're doing is the most important thing that's ever been done. It's about tricking yourself into believing anything you need to believe to motivate yourself. It's about pushing yourself beyond your limits by any means necessary.

Sometimes, the gimmicks help with that. No one was complaining when The Celebration was followed by a Georgia win or the original blackout preceded a dominant performance. Sometimes the gimmicks work.

But here's the difference between Georgia and Florida right now: The Gators needed motivation, too. They're still talking about that 2007 celebration. They still feel slighted.

They used The Celebration and, more importantly, the loss as their primary tool for motivation throughout the offseason last year. Players talked about doing one push-up for every point Georgia scored, one sit-up for every rushing yard Knowshon Moreno had. That's focus.

This offseason, Georgia talked about it, too, though not as loudly. There were, indeed, posters hanging up around the Butts-Mehre building showing Florida celebrating a win and Urban Meyer calling timeout, even if Richt downplayed it publicly.

The Gators had everything to lose Saturday and Georgia had nothing to lose except another opportunity to prove they were up to the challenge of beating Florida.

Pregame, the confidence and swagger of Florida's players was palpable. It just felt like a great team that knew it was great and never considered the fact that they might lose.

For Georgia, there was confidence, too. But it felt created, hollow. It felt like a gimmick. It felt like Georgia had convinced itself it could win, while Florida just knew.

That's all abstract opinionating on my part, but it's an opinion I shared with a few other writers before the game even kicked off.

There was a talent difference on the field, and anyone who watched Georgia's linebackers fruitlessly pursue Florida's speedy running backs could see it. There's a big difference between having Tim Tebow at quarterback accounting for four TDs and Joe Cox and Logan Gray, who accounted for four turnovers, too.

But what I'll remember from that game, what I think was the real difference between those two teams, was what I saw pregame. There's a culture of confidence, of motivated players, of focus and determination and, yes, even arrogance at Florida that Georgia just doesn't have. I don't know why that is, but I'm certain it started long before kickoff, long before any uniforms were hung in lockers and long before this season even began.

In that respect, the uniforms weren't remotely responsible for what happened Saturday. They're a symptom of the larger problem.

On to the links...

-- I have a story in today's Telegraph that, despite the failures, there hasn't been a splintering of Georgia's locker room. Personally though, I can't help but wonder what some of the younger backups start to think when, at 4-4, the struggling juniors and seniors continue to get the starts going forward. That will be interesting to watch if it happens.

-- Battle Hymn Notes has more complaints about the uniforms which, at best, were a bad PR move on Mark Richt's part. This in a season of really bad PR moves by these Georgia coaches.

-- Get the Picture has a post on the potential decisions that Damon Evans may have to make down the road, with some news that Mark Richt may not be too interested in firing one or both of his coordinators.

I'll say this:

1.) I don't know that Mike Bobo needs to be canned now. I had as many problems with his playcalling early in the season as anyone, but I thought he did, for the most part, a nice job in that dept. on Saturday. Moreover, with a limited QB, virtually nothing from the ground game and absolutely no depth at WR after A.J. Green, Bobo hasn't exactly had a full deck to play with. He hasn't done an A+ job for sure, but he hasn't been so bad he needs to be fired either. He's not the one throwing the picks or going down in the backfield on first contact.Moreover , he's been forced to play catchup in six of eight games, which makes it tough to execute the game plan you planned for all week.

2.) Richt may not be enthusiastic about making a change at defensive coordinator, but remember last year that he explicitly said he would not fire anyone. That hasn't happened this year, and he's even admitted that a change may be necessary (even if he hasn't endorsed the decision yet). And beyond what even Richt may want, I almost find it hard to believe that Willie Martinez would really want to stick around in Athens for another year of constant questions and backlash. Nobody wants to work in an environment like that. Perhaps the most likely outcome of all this is that Richt won't have a decision to make at all because Martinez will may it for him. That's just speculation on my part, but it stems from a distinct difference in tone from last year to this.

-- ESPN's Chris Low says Georgia is in decline, which stands in stark contrasts with Mark Richt's pronouncement postgame that the program was fine and only the season was bad.

-- For now, Richt is skirting the issues at QB.

-- Bulldog in Exile looks at Saturday's loss and sees plenty of problems, but wonders where the solutions will come from.

-- Bernie sees the same problem, but presents them in convenient bullet-point form.

-- Georgia Sports Blog isn't buying the notion that a severe talent deficiency is the cause of Georgia's headaches against the Gators.

-- Chip Towers writes that the talent gap shouldn't be that big.

-- Apparently Urban Meyer might have a talk with Brandon Spikes about his eye-gouging. But even better is this: Apparently Spikes went after Tim Tebow after the game against Mississippi State.

-- Every Day Should Be Saturday says that there was a bit of eye-related issues for Florida in Saturday's game, too, that weren't exactly caught on film.

-- Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. (And no, I'm not bitter about the Phillies.)

-- I love Pearl Jam's halloween costumes. My brother went to see them in Philly on Friday, which reminds me, I should bid a fond farewell to the old Spectrum. The Pearl Jam shows were the last for the once-great venue that was home to the Broad Street Bullies and Dr. J's Sixers. It becomes a parking lot now, which is sad. I saw my first concert there... and I'll give a dollar to whoever can guess who it was. (Clue: It was 1986.)

-- See, Harvard really is worth the money.

-- I swear, I would pay to watch Christopher Walken read the phone book. This, however, is even better.

-- I quit watching "Heroes" a long time ago, so I'm thinking this idea is a little past its time.

-- And finally, here's a great list of the best fake products from "The Simpsons." What, no Colonel Qwik-E-Mart's Kentucky Brand Bourbon?

Mumme Poll Ballot: Week 9

If you haven't submitted your Mumme Poll ballot yet, go do it.

If you have, feel free to let me know where I'm wrong.

Here's my list...

Top Five

Alabama -- The Tide better hope Greg McElroy remembered how to play QB during their off week. This week's game vs. LSU remains the last really big game on the SEC slate.

Florida -- I'm far from convinced they are the best team in the country, but the Gators definitely have a ton of talent. They made some plays, and Georgia helped them out quite a bit. Regardless, they're the SEC champs now, and only Alabama stands in their way.

Texas -- Dominated an overrated Oklahoma State team and, like Florida, is essentially on cruise control until the conference title game. Unlike Florida, however, they don't have anyone the caliber of Alabama waiting at the end.

Oregon -- Just a very impressive win from what has probably been the most dominant team in the country during the past six weeks. In a head-to-head match right now, you'd have to like the Ducks vs. almost anyone.

Boise State -- At this point, I think TCU, Boise and Cincinnati are all about the same. But if I have Oregon up this high, I felt obligated to do the same for Boise State.

The Next Seven

TCU -- The Horned Frogs will probably finish the year with more impressive wins than that other undefeated team from Texas. Not that it will matter.

Cincinnati -- You get no credit from beating Syracuse, but the rest of their slate should be a good test. Connecticut isn't a pushover, and West Virginia and Pittsburgh await.

LSU -- Not much credit for beating Tulane either, but win this coming week and things get very, very interesting in the SEC West.

Georgia Tech -- Hey, Georgia's defense looked better against Vandy than Tech's did. So that's something, right? Eventually, that awful GT defense is going to come back to haunt them. Of course, eventually may not be until the bowl game.

Penn State -- Below, I will list all of Penn State's impressive wins:

...

...

...

Got that? Yikes. The Nittany Lions scheduled no one out of conference and play in the awful Big Ten. Thankfully they'll get Ohio State in the Overrated Bowl this week and, ideally, we can stop talking about at least one of them for the rest of the season.

Southern Cal -- The Trojans probably don't belong here either. I really want to put Houston here. Next week. For sure.

ADDENDUM: I'm dumb and simply forgot to add Iowa here. I did vote for them, but typed up this post between player interviews yesterday and somehow skipped the Hawkeyes. My bad.

Yes, Iowa definitely deserves to be on here, and I'd probably have them close to the top five if they could just put one impressive performance together. It says a lot about the heart of a team that continues to come back and win, but it says a lot about the talent of a team that continues to fall behind early to significantly inferior opponents.

Last Teams Out

Houston -- Could they beat USC? I dunno. Do they deserve to be ahead of USC? Probably. Do I like to ask questions I plan to immediately answer myself? You betcha.

Pittsburgh -- They have beaten no one. They get Syracuse this week. Next Monday, they'll still have beaten no one. They get Notre Dame the week after that. The following Monday, they'll still have beaten no one. (And yes, I do think they'll beat Notre Dame.)

Ohio State/Miami -- Pretty sure neither team is any good. Then again, who is?

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Teleconference Notes (11/1)

A few bits of info from today's interviews, though nothing particularly intriguing came of them...

-- Spoke with Nick Williams. He left the game Saturday with cramping but said he's fine.

-- Mark Richt did not have injury updates on the other Bulldogs who went down in the second half Saturday -- Justin Houston, AJ Green, Clint Boling -- but said that it was his understanding that none of those injuries were particularly serious.

-- Richt said he'll be evaluating all positions but would not elaborate on any potential changes that might be made. He said there may be more evaluation than normal of personnel at tonight's practice and that he may have more changes by Tuesday.

-- Richt pointed out that, while the offensive turnovers have been a huge problem, the lack of turnovers created by the defense have been just as problematic. Some of that, he said, has been a lack of players making plays, but pointed to the Bulldogs having recovered just 1 of 10 forced fumbles as an example of how the ball simply hasn't bounced Georgia's way very often either.

-- Richt said he did not see any footage of the Brandon Spikes' eye-gouge of Washaun Ealey but said he was informed of it by someone else. He refused to comment directly about that play, but said that in any case in which he feels there is a question or problem regarding a rule, he does report them to Rogers Redding.

Spoke with Aron White, too, and he said he thought the incident with Spikes was a matter of a player's emotions getting the best of him during the game and did not think Spikes was a malicious player.

-- And speaking of White, he had stiches under his left eye, courtesy of Arthur Lynch. The freshman tight end was apparently a bit too excited after White's TD and managed to gash White's eye celebrating after the play.

-- Regarding Aaron Murray, Richt said the freshman QB has no serious injury issues at the moment and that he scrimmaged live with the team during the open week, moving around well.

-- And finally, regarding any potential personnel changes, Richt said they will all be determined by what will help Georgia win its final four games. Looking ahead to 2010 will have no bearing on the decisions he makes regarding who plays against Tennessee Tech this week.

-- I had planned to ask about the Florida field goal where Georgia had too few players on the field, but Richt had to cut things a bit short for a meeting. I'll ask about it later this week.

Spikes Goes Dirty

If you haven't seen it yet...



To answer the numerous questions: I don't know what, if anything, can be done about it now. I will ask Mark Richt about it during his teleconference this evening though.

Fleeting Thoughts: Florida Edition

If you haven't read it yet, CLICK HERE to check out my game story from Saturday's debacle in Jacksonville.

I don't know how much is even worth saying at this point. I think we know the problems. I think we know that few will be resolved before the season is over. All that's left now is the post-mortem. Four games, of which Georgia must win at least two, and probably won't be favored in more than that. Four games to figure out how to right the ship for next year.

I don't know the answers. I can't gauge the atmosphere in the locker room. But I do know the answers won't come easily. And maybe more importantly at this point, I wonder how many of the people in charge are even asking the right questions.

Anyway, some thoughts...

-- Like last year, it's not hard to say that if a few things had gone differently, the game could have belonged to Georgia. Saying that, however, does no good for the future. If the mistakes had been an aberration, then sure, write it off as bad luck, bad decisions, bad breaks. Instead, this has been what we've gotten from the Dawgs for the better part of two years, and this with an extra week to prepare. If Mark Richt wants to do his team a favor, he won't spend the rest of this season sugarcoating the loss.

-- Here's something you'll no doubt hear at some point from someone: Two of Cox's interceptions and Gray's pick led to Florida points -- 17 of them in fact. So maybe Willie Martinez can't be blamed as much, given that the D only "really" allowed 24 points.

But you know what? I can't believe Cox throws that second pick if Georgia isn't so far behind. It was third down. It was midfield. They were trailing by 14. Cox had to make a play. A punt would have effectively signaled the end of a comeback, too. And his third INT? It was a bad throw, but it was made amid a furious and utterly fruitless attempt to keep the Dawgs in the game. And Gray's pick? Well, if the D had played better, maybe Gray isn't even in the game.

So this week, the defense gets cut no slack. I'm going to say the D was responsible for the offense turning the ball over so much. If the D had done its job in the first half, the situation in the second half is completely different. No excuses for Willie this week.

-- Remember, the Dawgs had that "all important" bye week. What were the defensive coaches doing during that time? Other than planning the Dawgs' wardrobe, I mean.

-- The defense did get better as the game progressed, but with an extra week to prepare, how could things start off so badly? Florida scored on an 80-yard drive and a 92-yard drive and only faced one third down.

On numerous plays, Tim Tebow never even needed to read the defense. Before the ball was snapped, he knew exactly where the holes in the zone would be.

On the running plays, Georgia showed virtually no ability to keep pace laterally with the speedy Gators.

And even when the defense supposedly adjusted, Florida scored every single time it needed to. It was like the Alabama game last year. People say it was close in the second half. It wasn't. Every time Georgia got close, the Dawgs' D gave up a score.

-- I don't want to ignore Brandon James' drop on the second drive. That's as open as I've ever seen a receiver on a play in which the defender didn't fall down. He bobbled the ball six times and still didn't have a UGA defender near him.

-- And Florida was 7-of-13 on third down.

-- Give some credit to Mike Bobo. There were times where Georgia's offense -- when it wasn't shooting itself in the foot with turnovers and flags -- looked as good as anyone has looked against that Gators' D all season.

-- It seems silly to say much about it in retrospect, but Caleb Sturgis' 56-yard field goal really changed the tone of the game. That was big.

-- If you're searching for silver linings, I think the combo of Washaun Ealey and Caleb King can be effective and potentially very good moving forward.

-- Clint Boling and A.J. Green both got hurt, and while Richt said he doesn't think either is serious, there's a possibility, from the sounds of it, that both could miss next week. If you take Boling and Green off this team, is anyone considering Tennessee Tech an easy win?

-- After the game, Richt wasn't anywhere near as angry as he was against Tennessee, but he certainly wasn't glossing over the problems either. I think it was more a sense of the sudden realization that he was resigned to his fate for this season. There are no more opportunities for miracles. It's done. This is officially a bad team.

-- Several times this week I mentioned that while Georgia had hardly evened its rivalry with Florida under Richt, the gap had clearly been closed. But that's hard to say now. I think T Kyle King puts it best:

"During Steve Spurrier’s tenure in Gainesville, Georgia simply was outclassed by Florida, and the results showed up in the record book: 38-7, 45-13, 52-14, 52-17, 47-7, 38-7. Between 2002 and 2007, though, the ‘Dawgs claimed a pair of victories in Jacksonville and never lost to the Sunshine State Saurians by more than a touchdown. There was reason to believe the two programs were on more or less equal footing.

"After back-to-back blowouts by 49-10 and 41-17 scores, though, no such cause for confidence exists. Every gain the Georgia program has made since 2001 has been lost. We are now where we were in the 1990s. The glory run is over and we are back to square one."

-- Orson Charles has a ton of talent and will eventually be a very good player, but Saturday showed us that he is also still very much a freshman. Having said that, I enjoyed hearing him called "Omar Charles" and "Orson Welles." At least the Welles one seemed appropriate for how frightening that performance was by Georgia.

-- No, Georgia didn't get any help from the referees.

-- Georgia didn't deserve any help from the referees either.

-- Joe Cox should not be the starting quarterback anymore. The problem, however, is that there is no one else on the roster who should be starting either.

-- I'd be fine with starting Aaron Murray this week. LSU probably gained some ground by burning Jordan Jefferson's redshirt late last year. And Tennessee Tech is probably the best time to get Murray's feet wet. But I still doubt Georgia does it.

-- Brandon Spikes is a dirty player. Washaun Ealey may be wearing an eye patch today.

-- I really see no need to comment on the uniforms, but I'll add two quick thoughts: 1.) Email from Davis, who summed them up perfectly: "They look like XFL uniforms." 2.) The first step in the right direction for Richt should be deciding that Georgia is too good to need gimmicks.

-- One more thing on the uniforms, courtesy of Lee: "The black helmet/pants thing was a stroke of genius! This way, when someone is flipping through ESPN Classic 9 ten years from now, maybe they won't recognize that it's Georgia getting embarrassed against Florida again."

That comment was black-jersey worthy. Genius.

-- Georgia is not bowl eligible. Temple is. Yikes.

-- Tennessee over South Carolina. Mississippi State over Kentucky. The SEC East is a disaster. The fact that Georgia could either miss a bowl or finish second in the East, and either is distinctly possible, is absolutely insane.

-- Florida is not the best team in the nation. Luckily they play in the SEC East.