SB Nation User Blog: SkiDawg1985

Cost of going to the Sugar Bowl

SkiDawg1985 — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:54:11 -0000

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/uga/stories/2008/05/06/gaexpenses_0507.html

Seems like a big waste of money. I do not want to hear the UGA athletics dept crying about money as long as crap like this goes on.

Tebow: Cheater

SkiDawg1985 — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:05:20 -0000

Okay, I am not a fan of silly NCAA rules and most of these rules seem to be silly, but...

apparently Tebow might have violated a NCAA rule regarding recruits.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/shared-blogs/ajc/cfbrecruit/entries/2008/01/25/report_tebow_il.htm l

The term illegal really is not applicable. Tebow broke no law; he broke a rule.

Nonetheless, I bet there are some signs being made for Jacksonville. Tebow may also be laying the groundwork for a future cell phone sponsorship...

The Spread

SkiDawg1985 — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:16:15 -0000

Curious about long term effects of the "spread" offense.

First, I guess almost anything these days is the spread so this could be a hard thing to get a grip on. Some teams throw a lot out of their spread (Central Michigan, Mizzou, Kansas and FLorida) others are more run oriented like WVU.

Second, since this offense with a running QB or at least a strong threat of one is spreading (pun intended), I wonder what the long term effects will be. I start with the assumption that the top recruits today want to one day play professional football.

I do not see the pros adopting an offense that has its QB exposed frequently to very large players who run very fast. While mobility is a factor, that usually means a bit of rolling out and only scrambling across the line of scrimmage when it is necessary. For one thing, there is already a dearth of good QBs in the NFL so much so that QBs in their 40s and Todd Collins are still around. With the millions and millions invested in these players and the salary cap what coach/owner will take the chance. Another thing is that NFL coaches are a different breed (as evidenced by the few successful moves between the two at the head coaching level). NFL coaches tend to coach from "the book" and conservatively. As I recently heard it put, NFL coaches coach not to lose.

So what happens when these spread QBs like Pat White reach the end of their eligibility and they are not drafted? Do they sign on as free agents and try to make it as a WR? Is that an attractive option (and it has been successful in Hines Ward--albeit he played on a little QB at UGA--and Antwaan Randall-El and the Curry fellow for Oakland)?

If spread players do not go to the pro ranks, will QBs eventually start avoiding the programs with the spread offenses similar to what happened with wishbone and veer QBs many years ago? Eventually colleges gave up the option for the most part (rule changes also opened up the passing game and made passing more attractive) and then high schools moved away from it as well.

Generally I do not care what the pros do as I watch very little pro football, but there can be no denying that pro football influences colleges and even high schools.

Just positing an idea.

Looking ahead to 2008

SkiDawg1985 — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:52:18 -0000

Looking at current depth charts and looking ahead to 2008.

I found depth charts for most of UGA's 2008 opponents (could not find one for Georgia Southern or Central Michigan). I counted the number of seniors listed 2 deep on offense and defense; I did not count special teams. Obviously some of these folks might leave early or even transfer or not make grades, so take it for what it is. It also does not take into account a person getting beaten out or big changes due to a change in offensive scheme which could happen at Central Michigan, Tennessee, Auburn and Tech since CMU might get a new HC, UT and AU have (or will have new OC) and Tech will have a new staff.

Team Off SRs Def SRs
USC 6 8
ASU 7 5
Bama 3 6
UT 4 6
Vandy 6 5
LSU 7 7
UF 3 3
UK 7 4
AU 6 5
Tech 6 10

For reference UGA loses 3 from the offense and defense

Not all senior losses are equal for instance UK losing Woodsen is a big loss compared to losing a backup FB on some other team.

There are also situations where the drop off is not all that great.

I do not see any UGA players going early to the NFL unless that are some that are in trouble academically that no one knows about.

What was amazing was looking at the SEC teams on UGA's schedule and seeing all the FR and SO listed as 1 or 2 on depth charts.