SB Nation User Blog: hailtogeorgia

Georgia gets a top WR

hailtogeorgia — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:31:13 -0000

Georgia gets a top WR

One of the top recruits in the state/nation at WR picked UGA over Florida. The kid runs a 4.34 40, is 6'3", and had 1300 yards last year with 11 touchdowns. This will give us two big guys from Calhoun on the WR corps next year.

Beckham in the bigs

hailtogeorgia — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:19:05 -0000

I don't know if many of you have heard, but according to MLB.com, exactly 364 days after being their number one draft pick, Gordon Beckham has been called up to join the White Sox. They expect him to spell Alexei Ramirez at short, as well as playing a little second and third. I'm happy for him, it certainly seems like it's been a while since the Dawgs have really had someone rise to the top as quickly as he has. This now gives me another reason to cheer against the Cubs on top of the fact that they beat the Bravos in extras last night. Any predictions on how he'll do, how long he'll stay?

Two Quarterbacks?

hailtogeorgia — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:58:52 -0000

After reading Bill King's column about whether or not we should think about using Logan Gray to spell Joe Cox this year, I began thinking about the possibilities. Obviously, we all remember this from Greene and Shockley, but I do think it would be interesting to see it with Mike Bobo calling the plays instead of Mark Richt. I would like to see Gray come in and make a play or two with his feet. Nothing against Joe Cox, but much like David Greene, he's no Prefontaine.

Looking at the situation, I think it's very similar to our former pseudo-dual quarterback system. A starter who is known to be very accurate and has a veteran's knowledge of the playbook, but unfortunately does not have the footspeed to add another dimension to his game, coupled with a backup with a fairly good arm, not so great accuracy, but the wonderful moniker of "dual-threat".

Certainly, this could go either way, and I'm sure we will see it used atleast once this season. However, I also think it opens up a great opportunity to run a wild(dawg) formation. We could bring in Gray for a presumable change of pace, then string him out wide and put any one of our stable of runningbacks in the backfield. I'm not normally high on this formation, but I think it would be nice to see Richard Samuel get the ball directly and bust some heads, or have Carlton Thomas squirming around like Jacquizz Rogers. Thoughts?

Haven't we seen this before?

hailtogeorgia — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:40:42 -0000

So according to the AJC, Kris Durham will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and will (seemingly like every other injured player Georgia has) be out for the year. He'll take a medical redshirt and be back in 2010, but this just makes me wonder who will step up in his place? Barring some major depth chart shakeup, he was going to be our first string split end and he has, hands down, the most experience of any receiver we have. Mikey Moore is more than capable of filling the role, but I still think we will miss some of Durham's size and physicality in that spot, as well as general knowledge of the position. I'm not saying Moore isn't very talented, I just think that split end looked a lot more impressive with Durham and Moore than it does with any combination not including our tall buddy from Calhoun. So basically, who steps up now? Tavarres King is promising, but has little gametime experience. The only real thing I remember about Tony Wilson (and correct me if I'm wrong here) is dropping what would've been a go-ahead touchdown against South Carolina in 2007. Israel Troupe? Marlon Brown? Rantavious Wooten? Orson Charles? Branden Smith? Really, there are only question marks at this point. Certainly Brown will see some playing time, but as far as Wooten or Smith go (and possibly Troupe, as well) I thought they were more geared towards the slot position. Anyway, hopefully this will be the last of our season enders, and atleast he does get a medical redshirt. The only thing that can make me feel any better about our receivers is that Orson Charles DID shatter Florida's National Championship Trophy, so that's got to be some kind of omen, right?

And now for something completely different...

hailtogeorgia — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:45:09 -0000

I ran across this the other day. Kyle, after your whole pie with bacon on top thing, it made me think you would appreciate it. I think it's the kind of thing every guy has wished for at some point.

www.baconnaise.com

Here's my sentence to make my fanpost seventy-five words long. I think this rule is dumb. Who likes Baconnaise more: Pear Bryant or Marky Mark Mangino?

Oh, the humanity.

Penalties/Points Allowed

hailtogeorgia — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:11:52 -0000

After the Dawgs faced Auburn and, once again, struggled to limit the number of penalties committed, I decided to look at some stats and see if there was any correlation between the number of points given up and penalties committed. I start this off by reminding everyone that Richt decided to start disciplining the team for penalties around the time of the Vanderbilt game (perhaps just before the Tennessee game). Starting with the Vanderbilt game, penalties began to decrease. After the Vandy game, our defense then gave up three straight 38+ point performances. There was then a public outcry for the defense to step up, the defense had an "enough is enough" meeting and vowed to play with more passion. The penalties come back. Here are how the numbers themselves panned out:

In seven games with nine penalties or more, we gave up a total of 123 points, averaging out to 17.57 ppg. In four games with eight penalties or less, we gave up a total of 139 points, averaging out to 34.75 ppg. The games with eight penalties or less were to Vanderbilt, LSU, Florida, and Kentucky.

I realize relative offensive prowess of our opponents influences the amount of points given up, but I did think it was interesting that as soon as we began to limit our penalties with any sort of consistency, our points allowed skyrocketed. As soon as our defense catches flack and decides to play with passion again, the penalties go back up and our points allowed goes back down. Any thoughts?