Georgia has dismissed three players from the football team: redshirt freshman receiver Sanford Seay and freshman defensive backs Nick Marshall and Chris Sanders.

I’ll leave the gory details and the finger-wagging to others – we’ll move on to the impact on the team. Seay wasn’t likely to break into the receiver rotation any time soon. You don’t want to write off the contribution of someone who hadn’t seen the field yet, but the program was already recruiting above him.

The losses of Marshall and Sanders are more significant. To begin with, say a little prayer that Rambo and Williams (not to mention Smith and Commings) decided to return as seniors. Georgia’s secondary should be in decent shape for 2012, but it can’t absorb many more losses or injuries. (This assumes Sanders Commings remains with the team, and that’s an unsettled situation.)

Georgia’s defensive backfield becomes even more of a priority for 2013 recruiting than it was. Once the seniors leave, these are the only remaining scholarship defensive backs:

• Fr. Sheldon Dawson
• RFr. Devin Bowman
• RSo. Marc Deas
• So. Quintavious Harrow
• So. Corey Moore
• So. Damian Swann

Yikes. Marshall and Sanders were quality players who earned time as true freshmen. Their voids in the pipeline really hurt the present and future depth chart.

The bigger issue is one we touched on yesterday. Attrition is a rite of passage each offseason. Georgia has already started the year undermanned even after a nice signing class. The Recruiter’s Roster has been updated with the signings and dismissals, and the Dawgs are down to around 76 scholarship players. With 14 seniors, that’s 23 spots open for 2013 signees, and that doesn’t consider likely NFL entrants, the Commings situation, or future attrition.

Bret Bielema’s on about “gentlemen’s agreements” and unwritten rules. Urban Meyer has upset the applecart by daring to pursue and sign prospects that had committed elsewhere (and who were apparently quite receptive to listen to schools other than those to which they had committed.)

It would be useful to hear Bielema explore his ideas of gentlemanly conduct and just which unwritten rules he’ll follow. “Don’t recruit someone else’s commitment.” Check. “Don’t go for two up 25 with less than 5 minutes left.” Well…

Unwritten rules are for baseball. If they’re not written, they’re not rules.

There’s a tendency to equate a successful class with a frenzy of Signing Day activity. If you make more noise, you get talked about on the Signing Day shows, and the casual fan thinks, “job well done.”

While Georgia fans might mope about Avery Young or wonder what happened to all of the flips and rumors of mystery signees that always get people going leading into Signing Day, it’s useful to see what other people are saying about Georgia’s efforts:

• It is, by most accounts, the third-best class in the conference and one of the top 10 in the nation.
• The class contains five of Phil Steele’s Top 100 incoming freshmen. Only five programs had more.
• Georgia’s 2012 signing class includes the top-rated prospect from Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and arguably Florida.

As Radi Nabulsi pointed out yesterday, ESPN actually ranks the 2012 class higher (relative to the rest of the nation) than it did the 2011 Dream Team class. Of the players who are rated less than four stars, you’re including a couple of kickers and a fullback – positions of need where even the best rarely get much attention from recruiting analysts. Pretty much every guy signed makes sense; you can see how each fits into the needs and identity of the program.

If there’s a flaw in the class, it’s in quantity rather than quality. If you put faith in the accuracy of the Recruiter’s Roster (and we do), you’re looking at about 61 returning scholarship players. Add the 19 members of the 2012 class, including early enrollees, and you’re right at about 80. Even if there were zero attrition between now and the start of the season, Georgia is well shy of the 85 scholarship limit. Zero attrition would be an extremely rare and exceptional offseason. So it’s likely that the Bulldogs will enter the season with between 75-80 scholarship players (before deserving walk-ons are placed on scholarship.)

Is that a big deal? After all, no team plays all 85 players. SEC teams aren’t even allowed to dress more than 75 (home) or 65 (road) for conference games. If it didn’t matter, teams wouldn’t get bent out of shape over losing a couple of scholarships in NCAA sanctions. If it didn’t matter, oversigning wouldn’t be nearly the issue that it is. This is where your future is developed. It’s the redshirts and the special teams contributors.

A total consistently lower than the limit means that the ones you do sign had better count. It’s how you end up with walk-ons at linebacker or safety after just an injury or two. Remember that this class is in the context of a depth situation that was already thin. Georgia hasn’t come close to the 85 limit for a couple of years. The Dawgs were around 80 scholarship players in 2010, even lower in 2011, and they start 2012 already in a position to make half a dozen walk-ons very happy. It’s a metaphor we’ve used before, but imagine a probation period of three years with a reduction of five scholarships. That’s Ohio State territory, and it’s a condition that’s more or less self-inflicted at Georgia.

A 2012 class with fewer than 20 signees wasn’t the intended strategy. You can identify 5 or 6 guys that the Dawgs would have gladly taken on Signing Day. One would have hoped, for example, for more than three offensive linemen – not only are you replacing the three seniors; you’re also plugging the hole left by Brent Benedict. The class wasn’t also heavy on defensive backs or interior linebackers, and those will be areas of concern sooner than later.

Of course the staff could have found a few guys to take those spots and make everyone feel better about the numbers, but there were no Plan Bs this year. That’s fine in that it gives the staff the room for quality players in the future, but sooner or later that room has to be used. Offensive line aside, Georgia met enough needs to be in good shape for the 2012 season. Looking much beyond the short-term shows the big job ahead.

The opportunity – and the need – is there for a big 2013 class. There is room for several early entrants that would count against the 2012 class. There are just 14 seniors, but you can pretty much count on a few juniors heading to the NFL after next season. With just a normal amount of attrition, the 2013 class should easily hold at least 25. Now can the staff – which did a great job identifying and closing on the 19 they did sign – widen their net and bring in that same quality to a larger haul in 2013?

It’s noon, and all of Georgia’s verbal commitments have signed. There have been two additions to the class so far, and they’re major. The news has been good enough to move the Dawgs’ 2012 class up to #5 on ESPN’s rankings, but there is still some drama to come. While we catch our breath and wait for the afternoon’s decisions, some thoughts on the events so far:

Cordarrelle Patterson signing with Tennessee. This was a mild surprise; many of us had expected Georgia to get the nod. For all of Tennessee’s problems, they’ll have a tremendous trio of receivers next year with Hunter, Rogers, and Patterson. It might be the best set in the SEC.

Dalvin Tomlinson to Alabama. We considered it a longshot for Tomlinson to sign with Georgia, but it would have been nice. He’s a quality defensive lineman. You just got the feeling that this just wasn’t going to go the Dawgs’ way when it wouldn’t work out for Tomlinson to take an official visit to Georgia. The silver lining? He won’t be signing with Georgia Tech, and that was a very real possibility. Tomlinson heading to Bama means that Tech has lost their last and best chance for any kind of Signing Day splash.

Josh Harvey-Clemons signing with Georgia. He was the highest-rated prospect in Georgia according to several recruiting services. He’ll slide right in to the all-important outside linebacker spot, but Georgia coaches would love to use his athleticism in other ways – like a red zone receiver target.

Josh Dawson flipping from Vandy to Georgia. This one had been buzzing for a while, but, again, we know how accurate rumors of flips are. Ordinarily stealing someone from Vandy isn’t something to celebrate, but Dawson is a 4* prospect that was a gem in a solid Commodore class. Georgia coaches should watch their back…James Franklin can’t be happy about losing Dawson.

The flips that weren’t. Rumors of flips and “mystery signees” are rampant every signing day, but it’s so rare for them to pan out. Josh Dawson was a nice exception. But Brandon Greem, JaQuay Williams, and Kenderius Whitehead all stuck with their original commitments.

Dorial Green-Beckham to Missouri. The Tigers will enter the SEC with arguably the nation’s top incoming freshman. Green-Beckham is an outstanding receiver that will give SEC defenses problems for the next three years. Everyone down on Georgia’s 2012 schedule should take another look at that Missouri game. Mizzou will be pumped to host its first SEC game. They’re already a solid program, and now they add a threat like DGB to a potent offense. The timing of the game might be the good news for Georgia; he’ll still be raw and finding his way that early in the season. A big splash is not impossible though – Sammy Watkins had 10 catches for 155 yards and 2 TD in just his third game.

Georgia’s 2012 defense will be sponsored by Flying J. John, James, Jordan, Josh, Josh, and Jonathan join a defense starring Jarvis Jones and John Jenkins.

There are a ton of sites now with Signing Day pages, but we’ll focus on two:

• The official Signing Day page at georgiadogs.com. Signings shouldn’t be considered official until the school posts them, and this is where they’ll do it. Most everyone else will be sourcing from this info anyway.
• The commitment / signing list at UGASports.com. The school can’t name verbal commitments of course, but this page from UGASports.com will show you who has signed and which verbal commitments are yet to sign. There is also a mobile version here.

Twitter

Twitter is perfect for the fast pace of Signing Day, and that’s where most of the news will break first. Rather than suggest dozens of people to follow, we’ll make it simple.

We’ve created a Twitter list of 20 or so of the media outlets and recruiting services/blogs that will have relevant content on Signing Day. Just follow this list, and you’ll see the tweets from all of those people whether or not you follow them. Follow @dawgsonline/UGASigningDay11

If all of the sites and analysis and rumors throughout the day are a bit too much and you just want to know who signed where, we’ve created a Twitter account for that, too. Just follow @uga_nsd. It’s a low-noise feed that will just tell you 1) when someone has signed with Georgia and 2) the Signing Day decisions of 8-10 key prospects where Georgia is heavily involved. It shouldn’t be more than 30-35 tweets throughout the day, so you can even sign up for mobile notifications on that @uga_nsd account and not be overwhelmed.

Of course you can keep up with the #signingday hashtag for nationwide recruiting news and talk.

Georgia held a press conference this afternoon to announce, confirm, settle, and resolve that Orson Charles would be the only early departure from the 2011 team. Much of this news leaked out earlier in the week, but a lot of that was second-hand information. Solid, but still second-hand. Flanked by several juniors and team leaders, Mark Richt was understandably “thrilled” to reveal that all draft-eligible underclassmen, save Charles, would be returning for 2012. He also announced that sophomore quarterback Hutson Mason decided against a transfer and will remain a Bulldog.

Georgia was smart to pull together an event like this. Such press conferences are usually held to announce departures, but it’s not uncommon for high-profile players to use an event to announce their return. Being able to present a group of rising juniors and seniors of this quality to speak about why they’re returning, the common goals, and their vision for 2012 is a rare opportunity. It’s a shot of positive press during the peak of recruiting season. It’s also a gauntlet thrown: everyone pledging to return recognizes what is possible in 2012, and they’re embracing the expectations along with the possibilities. It’s now up to them to make it happen.

The biggest impact of this news will be on the defense. Almost all of the players considering the NFL draft were on that side of the ball. Now that it appears every draft-eligible junior and sophomore will return in 2012, we’re able to start thinking about a defense that will return 9 of 11 starters.

• The two departing starters are big ones: Georgia sure could have used the athleticism of Tyson in the postseason (thanks, Jay Finch!), and lack of depth at the defensive end spot didn’t help as LSU’s offensive line took over and Michigan State held off the Georgia pass rush. And Boykin – it could take as many as three or four (very good) players to try to do what he did for the 2011 team.
• The answer, at least at cornerback, seems clear. It’s Branden Smith’s to lose. Smith improved his coverage in 2011, and I’m entirely content with a secondary of Commings, Smith, Williams, and Rambo. The questions lie in depth. Swann played a good deal in 2011, and Marshall saw a lot of time on special teams. Chris Sanders will also play in a reserve role. Jordan Love would have helped, but he’s decided to transfer.
• The picture at defensive end is a little less clear. You didn’t hear his name much in the list of players considering the NFL, but I’m thrilled to have Abry Jones back. You assume Garrison Smith has a good shot at the other end spot considering that he was first off the bench when Tyson was injured. Smith did well in relief, especially against Tech, but there wasn’t much behind him. Ray Drew, who spent much of his freshman season struggling with the transition to outside linebacker, might be more comfortable and effective on the line after adding a few added pounds.
• The starting four at linebacker – Jones, Gilliard, Ogletree, and Washington – are outstanding. Washington’s consistency can be an issue, but otherwise there aren’t many weaknesses among that group. As we saw after Ogletree’s injury, depth here too is an issue. Herrera contributed well and lost playing time as the starters became healthy, but you expect his progress to continue. Having an experienced leader like Robinson to step in situationally is a valuable bonus. Ramik Wilson and other newcomers should have an opportunity to play.
• I think that a lot of the depth issues we’re talking about were responsible for Georgia’s second half problems against some of its better opponents. Guys like Jenkins were able to step into immediate needs, but Georgia is still feeling the effects of a couple of underwhelming recruiting classes. No offense to guys like Jeremy Sulek who earned every bit of playing time they got, but it’s illustrative that the loss of a starter can throw the depth chart into such a crisis.
• Will those depth issues be resolved in 2012? With minimal losses, it won’t be worse. Via the invaluable Recruiter’s Roster, we can see that Georgia adds in three redshirt freshmen. You expect a little development from the handful of true freshmen who saw action either on defense or special teams. There should also be a small number of true freshmen who are able to earn their way on the field, though the need for immediate contribution isn’t as strong as it might have been in 2011. So, yes, Georgia’s defense should be a little deeper overall.
• There are a few gotchas about the depth. You assume a certain amount of development from one year to the next, but that doesn’t always work out. The defense will also be deeper at some spots than others. Another look at the Recruiter’s Roster reveals a scary picture on the defensive line – Mike Thornton is the only player standing between the junior class and any true freshmen. Again, it might take some position changes to help that situation while a nice 2012 haul of defensive linemen gets up to speed. Then there is always the possibility of injury. Georgia was fortunate to make it through spring and most of the season with few long-term injuries, but that’s not common. They were able to overcome the loss of Ogletree for the first half of the season against lighter competition, but they really missed Tyson and Gilliard in the postseason.
• As good as the news was about everyone returning for 2012, it means that the turnover heading into 2013 is going to be brutal. This is the window when the “Dream Team” should be coming into its own, but it’s also going to require some very strong 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes to maintain the talent level on defense.

Georgia will miss Orson Charles, but if you told me a month ago that he’d be the only early departure from the 2011 squad, I’d have considered it foolishly optimistic. We feared that Charles’s announcement yesterday would open the floodgates, but only good news started to pour in.

It was, for the offseason, quite a day. Around noon on Wedneday, we were faced with both the impending departure of Charles as well as rumors about the Falcons reaching out to Todd Grantham. By the end of the day, yes, Charles had indeed announced his departure. But then word spread that Rambo was staying. Grantham smartly issued a statement to put an immediate halt to rumors about him leaving. We soon found out that Shawn Williams and Cornelius Washington had also decided to stay. By the end of the day, it appeared as if Jarvis Jones succeeded in his mission to return the entire group of eligible defensive early entrants.

These were smart decisions. I don’t ever begrudge anyone who follows their dream, but Charles was the only player considering the NFL where another year might not make a world’s difference. I admit there is some selfishness to seeing good players hang around as long as possible in Athens, but none of the defensive players returning (Jarvis Jones excepted) were probable high-round picks. It’s an indication that, despite the temptation, hangers-on looking to make a buck, and possible personal need of the quick payday, these guys had some good advice coming from somewhere that they were mature enough to heed.

And hopefully the message that Todd Grantham preached last month sunk in. Georgia hasn’t done a great job of driving home this point with some of its recent marginal early entrants.

“If you’re not a top 15 pick you should stay in school,” Grantham stated flatly. “If you’re a top 15 pick, the amount of money that you make you can justify it. But if you’re not, you should work to become that. Because if you look at the guaranteed money you make up at the top is so great, you can actually make money by staying. You go from being a middle second-round pick to a bottom first- or top-second-round pick, you’re talking hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. You can make that by working hard.”

Of course that last sentence is the key. Take a guy like Bacarri Rambo. He entered the 2011 season as a wildcard. He didn’t have the best sophomore season, and he was suspended for the first game. Rambo put in the work to go from an iffy starter to a legitimate pro prospect. Now he’ll enter the 2012 season as a known entity, he’ll be on every relevant preseason watch list, and he’ll be playing on what should be one hell of a defense. If he continues to work, he’ll illustrate Grantham’s point and realize a windfall when he enters the 2013 draft in much better position than he would have in 2012.

Nothing is 100% official until the deadline to enter the draft passes this Sunday. At least for now it looks as if Georgia will have one of its most experienced and deepest defenses heading into 2012, and they’ll still have their coordinator to continue the development that took place in 2011.

It’s a combination we were fortunate enough to see several times while the two played for Georgia, and it was nice to see Thompkins feed Leslie for Travis’s first NBA dunk last night. It’s great to see them both find a spot on an NBA roster.

The new year means that basketball season is about to head into conference play. For the women, SEC action is already underway. The Lady Dogs had an impressive win over Arkansas last Sunday, and they’ll be in Knoxville tonight. The men start things off with a familiar foe: the quirks of the schedule and SEC Tournament mean that Alabama will be the opponent for the third time in the last four conference games. That’s not necessarily good news: the Tide dispatched Georgia twice last year and will be favored to do so again this time. Playing Alabama has a tiny bit of added significance now: Georgia and Alabama replaced coaches at the same time, and in some small way Mark Fox and Anthony Grant will be compared and contrasted as long as they hold their current posts.

With the start of conference play nigh and the football season now over, let’s play catch-up and see where our basketball teams are over a third of the way into the season. We’ll start with the men.

Men

The Team:

You didn’t have to be an expert to get an early read on the 2012 Dawgs. The departure of Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins in addition to the graduation of Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price meant that this year’s team would be woefully thin in the frontcourt. The only hope was for an impact newcomer, and that didn’t exactly happen. Georgia did bring in several young post players, but they’re understandably, well, young and are having to learn on the job.

Donte Williams and Marcus Thornton have started most of the year up front. Thornton’s had to play a bit out of position – he’s a natural small forward and not really a post, and he’s been injured for the past few games. Still, he’s managed to be Georgia’s leading rebounder out of the gate.

Nemanja Djurisic is one of the newcomers and has started while Thornton is out injured. Djurisic is “raw” personified, but he isn’t afraid to drive to the basket or fight for rebounds. He also has nice range on his shot, giving the Dawgs a fourth outside weapon when he’s in the game. John Florveus and Tim Dixon are the other newcomers providing minutes in the frontcourt, and Connor Nolte continues to contribute off the bench.

Struggles on the frontcourt have had an impact on the guards. A lot was expected of returning senior starters Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson, and it’s been tough for either to establish consistency. A weak frontcourt means that defenses can extend on the guards, and that’s been disruptive.

There have been two positive developments in the backcourt. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was Georgia’s first McDonald’s All-American signing in 20 years, and he hasn’t disappointed. KCP leads Georgia in scoring and has the ability to make the steal, the move, or the dunk that gets the crowd on its feet. He’s a freshman and still has a lot to learn and work on in shot selection and especially defense, but he’s off to a great start. The other good development has been the play of Vincent Williams. Williams has come on as a backup point guard and shows a lot more confidence in his shot. He’s even earned the start lately over Ware.

The Season So Far:

As expected with the turnover from last season’s NCAA Tournament team, it’s been a rough go of it for the Dawgs. Georgia is 9-5 going into conference play. If there’s one thing positive in the results so far, it’s that the team hasn’t had a truly bad loss – with one exception. The home loss to a poor Georgia Tech team was possibly the low point of the season and really highlighted the deficiencies of the Dawgs. To Georgia’s credit, they rebounded and have won five straight. The Dawgs don’t really have any marquee wins under their belt, but some nice wins away from from against Notre Dame and Southern Cal were impressive.

Around the SEC:

As shaky as Georgia has looked so far, they’re far from the worst team in the league. That says a lot about the state of the bottom tier of the SEC, but it could also help the Dawgs avoid the basement even with their shortcomings. If the guards can carry the team past a couple of lower-tier conference foes, they should break clear of the bottom third of the league.

As expected, Kentucky and Florida are off to strong starts. Kentucky is the clear favorite and a national title contender, but the Gators aren’t to be dismissed. Mississippi State had moderately strong expectations after a disappointing season a year ago, and they’ve lived up to the billing so far. The Bulldogs have stepped up their typically weak nonconference slate, and they’ve met the challenge.

Alabama has been a slight disappointment. The Tide started the season ranked and won their first seven. They lost three of four in early December, but they’ve since righted the ship. Their 25-point demolition of Georgia Tech this week was appreciated, but it’s also a warning to what awaits Georgia in their SEC opener. Vanderbilt has been the league’s real disappointment. They started the year in the top 10. Some early losses to quality opponents fell in the “close call, but no shame” category, but chance after chance to establish themselves among the top third of the league was missed. A convincing win over Marquette demonstrated what the Commodores can do, but they’ve missed that target more often than not this year.

Then there’s the bottom half of the league. Each division has three teams that are going to struggle to earn much postseason notice. The West might have the slightly stronger group: LSU and Ole Miss aren’t awful, but Auburn is. Georgia and a Tennessee program with their new coach could battle for 4th/5th in the East, and South Carolina should wind up on the bottom.

Remember that the SEC is going away from divisional standings this year. Though the schedule will still follow a divisional format (which doesn’t make much sense), the teams will be sorted on overall conference record. Under this system, Georgia could realistically finish somewhere around 7th-10th this year.

The backlash over Georgia’s 2012 schedule is well underway. I don’t deny that the schedule opens up some great opportunities, but let’s win them first and worry about impressing the critics later.

If Georgia does have a big year in 2012, it’s going to have to come with wins:

1. at a jacked-up Missouri hosting their first-ever SEC game. Missouri will likely finish 2011 ranked, is well-coached, and should have another competitive team in 2012.
2. at South Carolina to play a program that returns a lot of talent in a stadium where Georgia usually doesn’t win easily. Georgia has lost two straight to the Gamecocks, and South Carolina will likely see Georgia as their primary obstacle to winning the East.
3. in Jacksonville where, Florida down or not, the Dawgs haven’t put together consecutive wins since the Reagan-Bush years.
4. against a very good, likely top 5, team in the SEC Championship if the Dawgs are able to return to the Dome.

And all of that says nothing of traditional rivalries with Tennessee, Auburn, and Georgia Tech – teams that would give a lot to ruin our season, and teams that have spoiled some Georgia seasons in recent years.

The AJC’s Bill King takes a look ahead to 2012 and offers this conclusion:

“There’s no denying that a schedule that didn’t include the toughest teams from the SEC West probably was the biggest factor in Georgia’s 2011 turnaround. “

There is a bit of truth to the “Georgia is better because of a lighter schedule” angle, but it’s not because the teams on the schedule changed.

The 2010 schedule also “didn’t include the toughest teams from the SEC West,” with the exception of Arkansas. The 2011 schedule traded the Hogs for Ole Miss, and that certainly was a step down in class. The rest of the conference slate was identical. If there was a difference, it was that several of those teams weren’t what they were in 2010. Auburn is the obvious example. Mississippi State might not have been as strong as they were in 2010, but they were still good enough to win a bowl, and I’d say that their drop-off had as much to do with expectations than anything else. Of course Florida was down in 2011, but they were also vulnerable in 2010 until Georgia helped them find an offense. Georgia can control many things, but the quality of their conference – and especially their divisional – opponents isn’t one of them.

Georgia’s nonconference slate was much tougher in 2011 thanks to the replacement of Colorado with Boise State. Two of Georgia’s four nonconference games were away from home against bowl-bound teams.

The 2010 schedule gave Georgia just about the same opportunities that the 2011 schedule did. The difference was that the 2011 Dawgs were improved enough to take advantage of those games against weaker or average opponents.

Aside from the obvious “Mark Richt conservative BAD” conclusion about Georgia’s first overtime possession, it’s the consistency that puzzles me. In perfect hindsight, you would have preferred the chip shot in the first quarter, but you understand why that decision was made – especially in light of the outcry after last season’s bowl game and the tone that was set by laying up early. This was the same coach that traded mid-range field goals for risky passes into the endzone in Jacksonville because that was what it was going to take to beat Florida. The same coach called a gutsy third-down pass to a true freshman that all but ended that Florida game – again, because that’s what it was going to take.

So why in a game with so little on the line, especially when contrasted with a game like Florida, would Richt have played it so close to the vest? He had a similar third down opportunity with just over two minutes remaining where a pass would have all but ended it. Even that decision to run can be defended – you put your top-notch defense in to defend an 85-yard field. But to cash in and not even try to gain yards in overtime? “I felt like my man would make the kick,” Richt explained. Is that what it was? No strategy – just a question of faith?

Was the field goal itself a bad idea? Short of the occasional deep pass, Georgia struggled to move the ball at all. The overtime playcalling will be criticized until September, but Georgia couldn’t run nor pass in overtime. They couldn’t even gain positive yardage in overtime when they were trying to score. This would be Walsh’s closest attempt of all three overtime kicks. I don’t have nearly as much of a problem with the notion of “playing for the field goal” as I do with the second down call.

On first down, Carlton Thomas gained two yards around the left edge. Not great, but forward progress to the 23. Move the pile twice more against a gassed defense (everyone is tired in overtime), and you’re on or inside the 20. You face a 37-yard FG which, while only five yards closer than the one that was attempted, is psychologically much different from one over 40 yards out. The kick didn’t miss by much, and I think that the same kick from five yards closer in would have snuck inside the right upright.

Instead, the call was to have Murray center the ball on second down. Worse than an empty play, it cost yardage. Georgia surrendered field position – and the opportunity to better its field position – in exchange for centering the ball on the field. (Kevin Butler made an interesting observation postgame that a placement between the hashmarks might not even be the ideal position for Walsh given his tendency to push his misses right. The original placement on the left hashmark might have been better.*) Georgia went from having a kick no worse than 40 yards out to intentionally lengthening the distance for a kicker who had struggled mightily beyond 40 yards this year.

I’ve also never liked the idea of kicking on third down. I know why you do it – Tech beat Georgia in such a situation in 1999 in the aftermath of the Jasper Sanks incident. But going back 12 years for an example of why you kick on 3rd down leaves me with the conclusion that this is one of the by-the-book decisions, like centering the ball, that’s done without much consideration for the situation or the personnel. The combination of Frix-Butler-Walsh has been consistent. Georgia gave up second down by trading yardage for an advantage that really wasn’t an advantage. They gave up third down to protect against a scenario that we haven’t seen in a decade. It wasn’t even so much the fear of a turnover – it was completely parking the bus, forgetting that this was 2011 Walsh rather than 2010, and going by the book for a generic field goal attempt as if you were Gene Chizik within a shadow of the goal line at the end of last season’s championship game.

* – I don’t expect Richt to have Walsh’s kicking tendencies at his fingertips for calls like this. It would be something you might expect someone like a special teams coach to know though.

The difference between really good teams and average teams are how well you finish. Do you make plays, big plays, at the end of the game? That’s going to define us, really I think.

– Mark Richt, September 2011

For all of the gains made during the 2011 season, the whole point of the exercise and the entire reason for revamping the conditioning program could be summarized by the concept of “finishing.” Using that concept as a rubric, the final game showed that Georgia hadn’t mastered what it set out to focus on during the offseason. The game also showed that all areas of the team contributed to the problems in finishing. Offense, defense, special teams, and coaching all had roles in the evaporation of a 16-point halftime lead.

All of that is not to say that the focus on “finishing” was a failure when you zoom out and look at the season as a whole. Georgia was able to close out a good many games in 2011, and it’s a large part of why they won 10 games, won in Jacksonville, and won the East. We can conclude that the process is, at best, incomplete. That led to disappointment against better competition in 2011. If you want a silver lining, we shouldn’t have to worry about complacency heading into 2012 – all of that wasn’t going to be undone in one year, was it?

If there was a common thread among the teams that gave Georgia its four losses and biggest problems closing out games in 2011, it was superior defensive line play. Boise’s line is one of the best in the nation. South Carolina had a disruptive front that made game-changing plays. LSU…well. Michigan State offered one last test against a top defensive front. Worthy and Gholston were as good as it gets. In fact, Georgia’s offense against MSU reminded me a lot of the Boise game. You had a few big plays go for scores, but by and large it was a frustrating day getting anything going.

A lot of people asked where the tight ends were against Michigan State. Orson Charles had a single, insignificant reception. The (lack of) production from that position is a byproduct of the offensive line. Georgia couldn’t block MSU with five linemen plus a running back, so the tight end was more often than not a sixth offensive lineman. Watch Murray’s long touchdown pass to King: as the pocket moved right, Charles was protecting the backside of the play.

The Bulldog offensive line will and should receive a lot of scrutiny in the offseason. Georgia couldn’t stand up to the best defensive fronts it faced in 2011, and that’s a large part of what separates them from a higher class of teams. I don’t say that as an indictment of what Coach Friend did in 2011. He put together a decent line with what he had available, and it’s worth a closer look to see why he’ll have another big challenge in 2012.

To begin with, you had three senior starters. Not a bad start. Two of them were guards playing out of position at tackle. One of those was a guy who had sat out 2010 while training to play on the defensive line. Georgia’s other two starters, both guards, were relatively inexperienced. They had a single reserve, Dallas Lee, who could be counted on for significant playing time, and Lee was lost after the Florida game. All of that was good enough for much of the year, but it wasn’t when asked to stop or push high quality defensive lines.

Remove the three seniors, and you see why this is perhaps the central storyline heading into 2012. Georgia’s returning starters at guard are fair but won’t be preseason all-conference mentions. Save Lee, there won’t be much returning experience. Pencil David Andrews in at center. That leaves tackle.

Against elite defensive lines, you need quality tackles to deal with the speed and athleticism of the ends. If you think about it, the Dawgs haven’t really had a true left tackle in top form since Sturdivant in 2007. Georgia’s 2011 tackles were converted guards. The 2012 tackles – whoever they end up being – will be inexperienced. The Dawgs recently got a commitment from a very nice JUCO lineman, Mark Beard. Beard plays guard, but he’s told recruiting services that Georgia is interested in him as a possible tackle. Going to the JUCO well for another guard-turned-tackle might be an insight into the lack of depth at the position. If Long and Danztler aren’t ready to step in, the Dawgs might even have to turn to a true freshman like John Theus. The coaches are also hard after top tackle prospects Brandon Greene and Avery Young.

Georgia’s going to have a lot in their favor in 2012. Schedule, defense, experienced QB, nice receivers, and maybe even some quality depth at tailback. But without that line, they’re going to run into many of the same struggles against the type of team they’d likely meet in the postseason. It’ll be October before the 2012 Dawgs have to face their first strong test up front, at South Carolina. Before then, there’s an awful lot of work to do to develop a unit that can push the Dawgs past the defensive lines of the best teams on the schedule.

The Dawgs (and Spartans) arrived in Tampa today. Mark Richt had said before the break that he didn’t expect any surprises from fall semester grades, and it looks as if everyone is in good academic shape for the bowl game.

Mark Richt confirmed that everyone is eligible for the bowl. No academic casualties this year. Last year three players were out b/c of that.

— Seth Emerson (@SethEmerson) December 27, 2011

If you like baseball – a LOT of baseball – the SEC is happy to oblige. With two programs entering the conference, the SEC Baseball Tournament will expand from 8 to 10 teams starting in 2012. The double-elimination format means that the tournament will stretch from Tuesday to Sunday in the week preceding Memorial Day for a total of 17 games. We’ve never been particularly impressed with the relevance of the event, but last season’s SEC Tournament provided a path for Georgia to earn a bid in the NCAA Tournament. With an additional two teams in Hoover, a few more programs could find themselves with a chance to make a push for a place in the national bracket.

As before, the seeding will be based on overall conference standings, but the division winners will be guaranteed one of the top two seeds. Here are all of the changes:

• Increase from eight to 10 teams
• Event will run from Tuesday through Sunday
• Games played from Tuesday to Friday are double elimination with single elimination starting on Saturday with games 15 and 16.
• Addition of SEC Baseball Legends Program recognized annually at tournament