The Circus Is Coming To Town!

 

And I’m not talking about ESPN’s College GameDay Live. No, I’m referring to the Ringling Brothers of the SEC folks – Alabama fans. Ugh.

When I was little my parents would take me to see the circus every year, but my favorite part was going downtown to watch all the animals arrive by train. The handlers would unload them and begin moving them toward whatever venue in town they were performing. But the elephants were too big to move by truck, so its just easier to have them walk to the Colliseum. They would link the elephants from trunk to tail and lead them through town. I was always amazed & excited at the pageantry of it all, but soon felt disgusted by the awful stench and site of the huge mounds of poo they left behind. Sort of like watching the Bama fans start to trickle into Athens yesterday with their big mouths running, letting everyone know they’re here to dominate & claim their rightful crystal football…. only to do what they usually do against Georgia: drop a giant turd in Sanford on their way back to Tuscaloser.

 

 

Like the Bear, Elvis is alive & well in Tuscaloser

I’ve never understood Georgia fans that say they could pull for Alabama if they’d never been born red & black. What??? My parents raised me right abiding by Lewis Grizzard’s mantra “I’m Bulldog born and Bulldog bred, and when I die I’ll be by-God Bulldog dead!” Damn straight. Bama fans are known for one thing and one thing only – being even more delusional & bat-shit crazy than lamecock fans. I’ll certainly give them credit for 6 AP National Championships and a run of flat-out dominance when Bear Bryant was there. Their traditions and history make them one of the most successful programs in all of college football, for sure. But, that was in the past people. And here’s a newsflash: much like Elvis & Walt Disney, the Bear is dead. While you’ve been so busy worshiping your golden calf, time has marched on without you in the SEC, bringing parity to the conference and dominance from elite programs like Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, and yes even Auburn. Fear the thumb indeed.

 

But you know, that’s one of the great things about life in the SEC. We have the storied traditions, the toughest teams, the best players & coaches money can buy (I kid!), the biggest match-ups, all the media attention and the craziest fanatical freakish fans on the planet. And its all in Athens, Georgia at the moment for the biggest game of the week…. #3 Georgia vs. #8 Alabama, Between The Hedges.

 

If you know my blog, then you know I don’t do big previews, but I do have a few ideas on what my Dawgs will have to do to get the win Saturday night. So here goes.

First things first, there are some intangibles that will definitely have an affect on the game.

1. The Blackout. Since the Sugar Bowl I’ve been saying we would more than likely pull out the black jerseys again for the UcheaT game. Two years of absolute demoralization by those hilbillies is enough dammit. They ruined our SECC goals last year, humiliated us on national television AGAIN and forced us to question our worth as a team. Yeah, my vote was to blackout phat phil, no question. That is until Alabama decided to play big boy football against Clemson and climb into the top ten. Now, its a no-brainer. Plus, when our Seniors ask for something, I say give it to them – they’ve earned it. Thankfully, CMR agrees. The bigger point is what the blackout does for UGA. This has little to do with a wardrobe change. It has everything to do with a game change, however (see Auburn & Hawaii 2007). For whatever reason, the black jersies electrify an already HUGE game and keeps our fans jacked for 3 1/2 hours. Its intimidating as hell to our opponents (again see Auburn & Hawaii 2007) and tends to rattle their ability to communicate on the field. What does that spell? Perfection! Advantage Georgia. BIGTIME.
2. GameDay Crew is finally back! I was a Senior the last time GameDay was in Athens, and it was by far one of the most miserable days in Sanford Stadium I’ve ever had. And that’s saying a lot seeing as how I’ve been going to games for 30 years now and sat through the Goff years. But, having GameDay is more than a distraction. Its an honor. It means you’re one of the hottest teams around and you’re playing in THE biggest game of the week. Its also an opportunity to make a statement about your team, the players, and the fans. Its important for our players to enjoy the hype, but don’t lose focus. And since last year’s UcheaT game, I haven’t seen our team lose focus. If anything I’ve seen UGA get tougher mentally. They’ve handled the preseason #1 ranking, the Heisman talk, the offseason arrests, the drop in the polls, and all of the injuries with mental toughness and focus. I expect nothing less this weekend. Our fans on the other hand…. well I’m just praying we don’t make asses out of ourselves and make Fowler, Corso & Herbstriet wish they’d never crossed the Georgia state line.
3. Munson has retired. Ugh, I still hate writing that. I wrote a post about it earlier in the week, so I’m not going delve too much into this again, except to say that I think it will have an impact on the game for our players and our fans especially. Its the first time in 43 years that the guard has changed in the press box. Munson was and still is Georgia. His voice & presence in the game meant a lot to our players. I can’t tell you how many times I read quotes this week from the guys saying how much it meant to them & their families the first time they heard Munson call their name. Last year’s Alabama game was the first road game he missed after deciding only to call home games. Its significant that this Alabama game will be the first game without him at home ever again. I think our players get what he means to the program and I know our fans do. I see his absence as just added motivation to honor his legacy and give him a reason to enjoy just being a Dawg fan for once. I’ve said it all week and I’ll say it again – win this one for Munson!

 

 

So that’s all stuff the Dawgs really have no control over. But there are definitely a few things the boys wearing black can control on the field tomorrow night, such as:

 

We go as Matt Stafford goes. I truly believe the QB play tomorrow will be the difference maker. And its a no-brainer that I’m taking Stafford over JP Wilson any day of the week and twice on Sundays. What has emerged as Georgia’s offensive signature since Mark Richt’s arrival, and especially in the last few years, is a balanced pro-style attack. If you come after our run game, we will burn you in the air. If you cover our receivers will will torch you on the ground. In other words, teams have to pick their poison with us much like teams had to in dealing with Florida State when CMR was the play caller. JP wilson can’t throw with any consistency, he doesn’t have Staff’s cannon for the deep ball, and is only moderately accurate. Our defense will force him to beat us in the air and he can’t. But Stafford can. Bama’s defense will give us some fits, but they can’t combat all of Stafford’s weapons.

The O-line has to hold. Same story, different week. In case you’ve forgotten I said the same thing last Saturday against ASU. Once the reconfigured line got going they held up pretty good. The big story here that everyone’s been talking about is the matchup between “Mount” Cody and Ben Jones. Jones, being the true freshman, is at a disadvantage here for sure, but this is one mean dude. He eats dead grasshoppers when hungry, and turns into the hulk when its time to “do work”. He doesn’t intimidate easily and I’m sure he’s relishing the opportunity to take on his home state team. The bigger issue here is how this young line will handle Bama’s stout D. They’re especially outstanding against the run, so we’re gonna have to make our moves on the outside. Enter Knowshon. But Bama’s defense is also excellent at bringing lots of pressure with their linebackers. This is the typical Saban “I’ll confuse the hell out of you with my blitz” 3-4 style of play. Nothing we haven’t seen before, but the question is, can we contain them and protect Stafford? Just repeat after me “In Searles I trust, In Searles I trust…”

Shut the run down. Last week it was all about the pass rush. Now its all about containing Bama’s run game in Glen Coffee and Mark Ingram. So far we’re 3rd in the country in run defense, but we haven’t played anyone with a power run game like Bama either. As I mentioned earlier, our front 4 have to contain Bama’s run game and force JP Wilson into throwing the ball in order to lock this game up. Period. If we can dominate that line of srimmage early, we can control this game. Simple as that. Enter Rennie “I swam all the way from Liberia just to whip your ass” Curran and Danell Ellerbe. I’m confident we can handle the run game, but the biggest question I have is how we will handle an attack from Bama’s tight ends when Parker is pressured to throw. Remember, the lamecocks figured out in the 2nd half that this is an area of weakness for us. Hopefully we’ll be better prepared to defend the TE than we were 2 weeks ago.

Calling Brannan Southerland… I love Shaun Chapas because he’s a damn good Dawg. But he’s not Brannan. Not many people are unfortunately. And last week’s goal line miscues made this point abundantly clear. Shaun is also not the blocker Brannan is, and again that point was driven home last week as well. ASU’s defense was tougher than I thought, but nothing compared to South Carolina’s D or Bama’s. In goal line situations this weekend Shaun has to find some power or we need to find another way to get the ball in the endzone. The difference between 6 and 3 points was the difference in the game last year in Tuscaloser. We absolutely cannot afford to miss opportunities for TD’s and still expect to win this game. 

Coach Fab, you are the bane of my existance! Not really, but close. This is my biggest gripe from week to week. The kickoffs seemed to be a little better last week, but ASU didn’t have Javy “Have you seen my highlights” Arenas. One small mistake in return coverage (from a kickoff or punt) or one small mistake in not kicking that ball where it should go and Arenas will run it to the house. Its what he does. As Kit mentioned in his preview, I feel sure CMR has worked on special teams all week. I just pray to everything Holy that we’ve improved dramatically. Allowing Arenas to add to his highlight reel will most certainly change the momentum in this game and could possibly cost us a win.

 

So that’s how I see it folks. And I still see the Dawgs with the edge to win. We’re too balanced, tough, and focused to lose at home tomorrow. I expect this to be a battle of good old-fashioned, smash mouth, SEC football and nothing less. Most importantly I expect this game to be one of the best I’ve seen in a long time and probably one of the most fun days to be in Athens all year!

 

Here’s my prediction….. UGA 31 Bama 17    We win this one for Munson! Go Dawgs!!!

 

“I think it’s going to be one of the easiest games to motivate for since I’ve been at Georgia,” head coach Mark Richt said. “It’s a no-brainer. If the guys blood doesn’t boil, if they don’t get riled up for this one, they probably shouldn’t be wearing red and black.”

 

 

PS – look out for some stellar recruits at the Dawg Walk and on the sidelines tomorrow. We’re hosting several of the nations best targets and a few of our 2009 commits, including Orson Charles, Aaron Murray, Zach Mettengerger, Markeith Ambles, and Marlon Brown to name a few. If you see any of them, let them know you want to see them in black jerseys next season and for God sakes don’t boo any of our players if they make a mistake. Nothing wil have them running to join the gaytor roster faster. 

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