Saturday, November 29, 2014

Oh well, on to basketball

Wait, Tech beat us at that, too.

Pretty miserable year, but then at least a down year for Mark Richt is a 9 and 3 season.

Has Mark Fox surpassed .500 since he's been here?  I think he had a 85 and 77 overall record before the season started.  We're 3 and 3 since then, so Fox is barely managing .500 in year six of his tenure.  

Don't remember what I was expecting when Fox was brought on, but it wasn't losing to Tech four times in a row, and it wasn't playing .500 ball.  We can beat the scrubs who have to travel by bus to Stegeman, but I'd like to see us beat some solid Division I teams.  

We'll have our chance soon.  We play Colorado and Kansas State in December.

Maybe we'll go on a run.  In all honesty, though, I don't see how without a real post game.  No slight meant to Thornton and Djurisic.  They try hard, and they're great representatives of the program.  Yet and still, they're forwards who have to match up with other team's centers.  Thornton had the knee surgeries and never really regained his rim-rocking physicality from high school, and Djurisic is more of a stretch four. We don't have a big skilled guy in the middle, and Kenny Gaines' sickness has exposed our lack of scoring everywhere else.

The SEC slate did us well last year, now that SEC basketball got rid of the division format.  We don't have to play Florida and Kentucky twice each year, and South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn and Texas A&M are in about as bad a shape as we are.  Other than Kentucky, I think we match up pretty well with just about everybody.  The problem is that judging by the games played so far, UGA looks like a border-line NIT team, not one that will do real damage in the NCAA Tourney.

I would be a lot more optimistic on the whole if we had bagged one of the Wheeler players for the 2015 recruiting class.  We didn't get it done.  6' 10" big man Daniel Giddens got scooped up by Ohio State and it appears that athletic small forward Jaylen Brown is headed elsewhere.

Wish we would have hired an Atlanta high school head coach to see if we could get a pipeline going in recruiting.  Maybe the incoming recruits we did will play above their ranking.  Jackson, Ogbeide and Wilridge may help next year.

 In the meantime, we'll adjust expectations downward and hope for the best.

Good thing I don't have access to the SEC Network

Only thing worse than hearing this loss on the radio would be watching it.  Good thing I didn't spend money on a ticket or even going to a sports bar to see it on t.v.

Ughhh.

In the end, we were bound to lose one or two out of 15.  And since we lost to Tech, I'm glad that Missouri did win.  Would have been too much to have a chance at the playoffs and then have Tech spoil it for us.

Four Trips inside the ten-yard line

at home, and we can't punch it in against Tech?  They hustled to the ball and got our guys stopped.  Then our vaunted o-line can't create a seam.  Didn't this happen a long time ago?

Meanwhile, they run the ball up the gut all day long.

Totally disgusting.

Paul Johnson has a team, folks, and we may not win again for a while.  Hate to say it, but when we can't stop the dive play, we're in big trouble.  This game amounted to UGA being hopeful for opportunistic miscues.  And with a good quarterback, there will only be so many.

Tech Stole It!

Quadfecta.

They Lead!

They just run it and run it.

But we blocked the extra point!

All the Ray Drew haters owe him an apology.

They tie it!

Overtime.

We could lose this thing, guys.  My ticker can't take it.

We won in overtime last year, but this thing feels like their turn.  I sure hope not!

4 seconds left.

They have the ball at our 30-something.  Looks like they'll try the field goal.

Watch the fake, guys!

18 seconds left

Hunker down one more time!

Touchdown!

How did that happen?

I'm way too old for this!

4th down from the three.  22 seconds left!

When Tech's Line Outplays Ours,

we're in a heap of trouble.  Even if their line plays us even, with the option trickery, they may one day blow us out.

Won't be today, but our 17 to 14 lead is very slim.

We may win, but this game could be the start of a very troubling trend.  They can run the ball, but we can't.  And then on defense, seeing Tech stone us on three separate possessions from within the five yard line, makes this the type of game that they might steal.

Four Fingers Held Up

Game has moved fast.

I think Paul Johnson has his qb.  It's a real series, now.  They're playing hard.

Georgia has the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter.  Let's score a td, Dawgs.

Bobo will earn his keep now

We need to run the football to give our defense a break, but Tech has tied it up and they know we want to run it.  Bobo will have to mix in the pass to keep Tech honest.

If Georgia Wins, will Paul Johnson Shake Hands?

Maybe.  Maybe not.

I can see that dour expression.

Let's finish the drill and find out.

Jarvis Sanks is Smiling

They deserve that one.

Reminds me of the Tony Taylor (?) snatch and score.  Think we had one like that a couple of years ago, too.  Didn't we?  Who was our linebacker that ripped the ball out as Tech was about to score?  That play changed the game around.

Maybe Tech will feel so down, they'll fold the tents.  Our defense better get bowed up.

I Take That Back!

Touchdown!  Damian Swann runs it back 97 yards.  Previous play is under review.

Touchdown!  Woo-Hoo!

Looks Bad, Folks

They took the ball first in the second half and drove it down our throats.  Ball is at our two-yard line.  We can't stop the run.

Quadfecta?

Ughh!

1.  Yesterday afternoon, Mizzou beats Arkansas, keeping Georgia from winning the SEC East and ending all hope of UGA advancing to the first NCAA football playoffs.

2.  UGA loses last night in basketball to Minnesota, a game that on paper we probably should have taken.  Mark Fox and the hounds are playing .500 basketball yet again.

3.  Now, two UGA lost fumbles at the goal line.  Tech has their option game going, converting two fourth down plays and moving the ball 80 yards.  They even scoring on a fade route.  Tied at half.

4.  Losing to Tech at home would be unthinkable, especially during a season that they won their division and we didn't.

What's that, a "quadfecta?"  Is that even a word?  Hard to describe how bad that would be.

I think Georgia still wins by 14, but they're scaring me.  We'd better play hard during the second half.  Four sports reversals in one weekend is too much to bear.

Nick Chubb

Well, I said back in October that he would be a good one.  I actually started to write that "Nick Chubb might even make us forget about Todd Gurley," but I kept that seemingly preposterous statement to myself.

Had no idea that Gurley would be in essence disqualified for the remaining part of his career.  Hated to see him go down with the ACL, but it would be a huge mistake for him to continue to play college football at this point.

So now it really is the Nick Chubb show.  Okay, now I will make a preposterous statement.  Actually put it on the Blog instead of just keeping it to myself:  Chubb will end his career as Georgia's all-time leading rusher.