Antavious Coates (Photo: UGASports.com)

Antavious Coates was exactly what you wanted as a safety.  He had the prototypical NFL safety build.  He had good football skills.  He had a love for contact.  He had the kind of work ethic you want.  Unfortunately, what he didn’t have was the knees to play college football.  Coates had already missed his first two seasons at Georgia due to knee injuries, and for the fourth time in his football career, he has torn an ACL.

UGASports.com reported this afternoon that the injury occurred on Saturday and has all but ended his career.  It was one of those injuries that didn’t seem that severe at the time, but an MRI on Sunday confirmed the tear.  Georgia will apply for a medical disqualification for Coates.

Because Coates wants to get into coaching, he will serve as a student coach this year (similar to a graduate assistant).  “He’s going to get a really great head start in that area,” said Coach Richt.  “He’s still an inspiration to this football team.”

Richt summed up the most unfortunate part of the story for someone who was entering his third year at Georgia with a dream of playing for the Bulldogs.  “He never got to play Between the Hedges.  That really hurt.”

The Georgia Sports Blog  discusses today what I think is one of the most important questions of the season opener.  As pwd notes, the improvements made by the new OSU defensive coordinator is the big unknown.  He’ll likely bring a better defensive game plan,  but will the execution be there in the first game?

The conventional wisdom says that this game could likely end up giving the scoreboard a workout.  Everyone’s heard about OSU’s potent offense with its effective running and passing attacks.  OSU’s defense in recent seasons has had trouble stopping people.  Sounds like the recipe for a high-scoring game, right?  

I think the question under the surface is this:

Do you feel confident in Georgia’s ability to emerge from a shootout?

I’d have to admit that I’d rather it not get to that point.  It’s not that Georgia doesn’t have the ability to score points or that it lacks playmakers.  My questions are ones of consistency and experience.  You like your chances with Stafford under center.  Then it gets foggy:

• Only one returning receiver with more than 15 receptions
• Unsettled rotation at tailback with a history of inconsistency
• Starting tight end out of action
• Mostly-new offensive line with a couple of freshman starters

That last one is the key of course.  Without a functioning offensive line, the rest of the offense is handicapped.  Again, it wouldn’t faze me to see Georgia put up some points.  We’ve seen what guys like Lumpkin, Brown, Massaquoi, Bailey, and Henderson can do.  I just can’t bring myself to say that we can rely on that level of production yet.  Hopefully at some point this season we can.  Getting into a shootout is playing OSU’s game, and the Bulldog defense should have enough talent to present OSU’s offense with a serious challenge.  If they can take some of the pressure off of the Georgia offense and hold OSU under 20, the Dawgs should be in good shape.

Mark Richt, in a moment of frustration, had some strong words about an indoor practice facility on Friday evening.  He cleared the air on Saturday and apologized for the tone of his remarks:

When I actually read my comments late in the day on Saturday I was very disappointed in what I said and the way I said it. It appeared to be someone who was ungrateful for what he had and that is certainly not the case. For that, I want to apologize to President (Michael) Adams, (athletic director) Damon Evans, and the Bulldog Nation.

Of course anyone with some perspective and understanding about the issue knows that Richt has been working with Damon Evans and University administration on this issue for some time.  Granting him frustration over lost practice time, we recognize that he has been pragmatic and has prioritized such a facility correctly among the projects currently on the table.  I’m glad he is passionate about the facility – he will likely need that drive when it comes time to beat the bushes during fundraising for the building which might one day bear his name.

A limited number of single-game Georgia football tickets are still available for the upcoming home game against Western Carolina (Sept. 15).

Beginning on August 27 @ 9:00am, these remaining tickets can be purchased online www.georgiadogs.com or by calling the Athletic Association’s ticket office toll free 1-877-542-1231. There is no limit per order.

Tickets are $40 each plus a processing fee and orders will be mailed out the week of September 3.

Roderick Battle (photo: UGASports.com)

Sophomore defensive end Roderick Battle was asked an interesting question last week by UGASports.com.  More experienced players are expected to bring the younger players along, but they’re still competing for playing time.  Battle is expected to be a starting defensive end this season, and there are several players pushing him for that starting job.  He was asked if he ever felt that he was “giving away your tricks of the trade” and putting his own chances at a disadvantage by helping a younger player.  His response was great:

You might think that there would be, but I would not say so. Over the summer, we all tried to get each other out here to do extra work. In the end, it is not about me, and I would rather this team win without me than lose with me. That’s how I feel.

Meanwhile, the adjusted weekend schedule due to Friday’s storms meant that cornerback Ramarcus Brown would have to miss a family wedding. He might have been allowed to attend, but he didn’t even ask.

“He did not ask permission to get out of it,” said Richt. “He said that his family understood.”

Those of you with familiy members inconsiderate enough to schedule a wedding during football season would do well to follow Brown’s example.

Mark Richt made his most passionate plea yet for an indoor facility last night as a thunderstorm canceled practice.  You can just hear the frustration dripping:

“It’s a royal pain to have to deal with this kind of stuff,” coach Mark Richt said. “It would be nice to have an indoor facility nearby where you wouldn’t have to spend your whole life trying to figure out a new plan. It gets very frustrating and very old and I’m about tired of it. Maybe one day we’ll get that done.”

It’s a theme that comes up on the rare occasions the Dawgs have to change venues or cancel practice outright due to weather.  Back in 2004, Richt was beating the drum:

”I’d like to have an indoor facility,” Richt said Tuesday. ”That’s No.1 on my list right now.”

You have to hand it to him – he knows how to play the situation to his advantage.  A canceled practice at this stage of the season can really mess up game preparations.  The Dawgs will practice twice on Saturday to make up for the lost time.  And his appeals are guaranteed to find sympathetic ears from fans who will turn around and scream, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE THE MAN WHAT HE WANTS!!!”

But get Richt away from the frustration of an altered practice plan, and his tone becomes much more pragmatic.  Other priorities emerge.  Just a year ago, Richt admitted that he’d rather have a weight room expansion at the Butts-Mehre building before an indoor facility.  The utility to the program is just that much more. 

Another issue is the scale and location of the facility. 

If UGA does build one, “it would be something that will be scaled down, not one of these enormous facilities,” he said.  And it would likely be built somewhere on South Milledge Avenue, away from the main UGA campus, Adams said.

Richt is aware of those considerations and admits that those issues could be delaying the project. 

“We have to decide exactly what we want and also have to decide where to put it,” Richt said. “That’s kind of slowed it down. You want it all together if you can get it. We could just put an indoor facility and stick it out by Soccer/Softball (on Milledge Avenue) and say we have an indoor facility, but I want it to be more than that. I want it to be convenient, also.”

I’m not going to argue the merits of a facility (though I tend to agree with pwd there.)  If Richt wants it, he wants it.  Just remember the more measured side of Richt the next time he sounds as if he’s at the breaking point.  Fans could use a dose of that themselves when it comes to the indoor facility.

Though the Bulldogs’ Friday night practice was canceled due to weather, they still made news with some announcements about the offensive depth chart.

Quarterback Blake Barnes is suspended for the first game, so it’s not really a surprise to see Mark Richt name freshman Logan Gray as the #3 quarterback for the season opener next weekend.  What is more interesting is Richt hinting that Gray could remain ahead of Barnes for the rest of the season.  Ideally, you’d want to redshirt Gray to give him a few years of playing time once Stafford and Cox leave.

The bigger news was receivers coach John Eason announcing that he plans to use a core group of seven receivers.  Bailey, Henderson, and Massaquoi are the starters, and Harris, Durham, Mike Moore, and Tony Wilson have earned playing time as reserves.  Some very notable names were left off that list:  A.J. Bryant, T.J. Gartrell, and Demiko Goodman for instance.  Eason addressed the situation:

“Some guys I did not name basically threw themselves out of the mix at this point. They have got to kind of earn their way back in and they have to do a better job to earn playing time.”

Veeeeeeeeery interesting, and we’ll see what effect it has in motivating those upperclassmen.  The drops and other inconsistencies that have plagued the receivers over the past couple of years are frustrating everyone, and it’s a positive sign to see the coaching staff shake things up as a result.  The ones left out of the mix are sitting due to  practice performance. “It was close, it was based on (practice and scrimmage) grades and some of them eliminated themselves with a dropped pass,” Eason said.

Eason indicated that the others might get in the game in mop-up situations, but they shouldn’t count on it.   “We may end up dressing about ten, but in terms of who gets in the game, basically we have just about determined that.”

Most of the  seven are familiar to fans.  Moore and Durham saw playing time last year as freshmen.  Redshirt freshman Tony Wilson is the new name in the mix, and he brings an important trait to the position.

“I think his toughness is something we missed last year and I that is something I talked about in the meeting,” said Coach Eason following team meetings. “I said Tony Wilson is the toughest guy in the room and I feel that he is and it is based on the way he blocks. He really gets after it. I think that is what we need and he does a really nice job of catching the football.”

There’s a lot of hand-wringing today over the reports from last night’s scrimmage. Though the Dawgs easily beat the scout team, many are focusing on Matthew Stafford’s impatience with the energy level.

"The thing that was missing was energy, man," Stafford said. "Maybe 92,000 sitting in the seats will spark a fire under some of these guys. People are going to find out quick, young guys what it takes to play in this league. I just hope they realize it before they go out there and play."

As others have observed, he’s really taking control of this team. Whether or not the young guys, especially the offensive line, respond in time. There is a window of opportunity with a quarterback like Stafford on campus, and the Dawgs need to make the most of it.

Another bit of news from last night is Thomas Brown emerging as the starting tailback. One one hand, it’s amazing that a guy less than a year removed from a major knee injury has risen back to the top. On the other hand, you’re not surprised by anything from Brown. I admit that I expected Lumpkin to at least start the season as the starter. We’ll see both Brown and Lumpkin as well as Knowshon Moreno rotate in. Given Brown’s reputation as a blocker, one wonders if the staff is making their decision with an eye on an inexperienced offensive line. It has to be disappointing for a guy like Lumpkin who was the starter for the second half of 2006 and into the spring, but he’ll have every opportunity during his time on the field this season to make his case.

There are certainly bigger questions on the team than the three-deep tailback position, but does that mean more of the same from the tailback position this year? With the addition of Moreno, fans were expecting a step forward.

Receiver Joe Adams of Arkansas is expected to announce his college decision Friday night on local television.  If you believe the recruiting gurus, the decision is between Georgia, Southern Cal, and Florida with Georgia having as good of a chance as anyone.  Rivals.com rates him the #1 player in the state of Arkansas and among the better receivers in the nation.

If Georgia is Adams’ choice, it would almost guarantee the Bulldogs the nation’s top receiver recruiting class.  The Dawgs already have commitments from A.J. Green (rated the nation’s #2 receiver) and Tavarres King (rated the #15 receiver in the nation and the best in the state of Georgia).  Adding a third guy of Adams’ quality would surpass – on paper of course –  the 1999 signing of Durrell Robinson and Reggie Brown as the best group of incoming receivers at Georgia.

I know it’s hard to get into recruiting with the season just a week away, but this decision is one worth tuning in for tonight.

I was glad to see a reporter ask these questions of Mark Richt at yesterday’s practice.  They illustrate nicely what I was talking about in yesterday’s post about the importance of Gray. (Transcript courtesy of UGASports.com):

How important is it having Logan Gray around to emulate Bobby Reid for the scout team in practice?

It is very important for us. He has requested to be live tomorrow. He wants to give the defense as realistic a look as possible. We usually allow our Oklahoma State quarterback to be live to help our defense try and tackle somebody. We truly have not sacked anybody all year, so we may let him do that. He is excited about it and he is very talented. He is a hard thrower. He kind of knew on signing day that he would be a redshirt and he knew there would be a time when he would need to help us by being the scout team quarterback. He is already taking a lot of pride in it and he is helping us.

How much does it help having an athletic quarterback like Logan since in the past you had to use a defensive back or another player to emulate an athletic quarterback for the scout team?

I know at times Ramarcus Brown and others have been back there. I think he can do it.

It’s very interesting that Gray requested to be a live player for the purposes of improving the defense – “please, come hit me!”.  It’s especially significant when you are practicing against a mobile quarterback.  In a non-contact situation, you let up at the last minute.  In a game, that’s exactly when a mobile quarterback might make that one move to get himself out of trouble and into space.  Finishing through on the pursuit is a crucial concept to practice and master when preparing for a quarterback liked Reid.

Looks pretty red to me.

I hesitated about commenting on this bit from Ching’s update yesterday. No one wants to discourage enthusiastic fans – especially students. We experienced fans just need to help the next generation direct that enthusiasm and avoid bad ideas. College is all about learning and discovering life lessons, so here’s another.

Word traveling around the UGA students is a red-out for the opening home game against OSU. Many of us really want this to happen and for it to work successfully. … Please PLEASE get the word out about this red-out to as many friends and fans as you possibly can. A red-out against a visiting Big XII program on national television would give the Bulldog squad added publicity and attention, and we as students feel it would energize the team and the crowd to no end. We also feel like it would be a GREAT beginning to what could be a very promising season. PLEASE do everything you can to support this cause.

Where to begin…

1. Georgia fans generally wear red anyway. Asking Georgia fans to come to a game in red is like asking Cure concert-goers to wear black. It’s just going to happen. No one is going to look at Sanford Stadium and remark, "does it look more red in here to you, or is it just me?"
2. It’s Oklahoma State. It’s the season opener and a nationally-televised game, but I can’t wait to see what the students have in store for the Ole Miss game.
3. The Dawgs have been one of the top programs in the nation for several years and have earned national acclaim and respect with their performance on the field. They don’t need crowd gimmicks for publicity. Leave that for lesser teams.
4. Crowd gimmicks often backfire spectacularly. Don’t do this to the Dawgs.

The biggest thing that the students can do to energize the team and the crowd is to show up to the game an hour before kickoff and welcome the team as they come out for warm-ups. A full and loud student section starting well before kickoff matters infinitely more than the choice of wardrobe.

Eric Zeier in younger days. Photo: Dawgbone.net

Ever since the topic of Larry Munson’s semi-retirement came up, I’ve thought that the question isn’t so much, "who should replace Munson?" as it is, "who should replace Scott Howard?" It just made sense to me that Howard would slide into the lead role of the broadcast team, essentially taking Munson’s place. It’s a role he has earned on the basketball broadcasts, and it’s natural that he’d make that transition for football. The question of replacing Howard is a lot less emotionally-charged than a discussion about replacing Munson.

Athletic director Damon Evans and flagship radio station AM750 WSB announced today that my contemporary at UGA, former Bulldog legend Eric Zeier, will join Howard in the broadcast booth for road games this season. Munson has already announced that he will skip road games.

This might ruffle a few feathers given Munson’s popularity, but I the Howard-Zeier team will be an improvement from an informational standpoint. The game should be easier to follow, and the quality of information should be richer. As anyone who listens to Georgia basketball games knows, Howard is at home doing play-by-play with all of the passion that Georgia fans want. He has worked as part of the football broadcast team since 1993 and is familiar to fans. He is comfortable enough in a Georgia broadcast booth to avoid the temptation to imitate Munson or to be intimidated by Munson’s legacy.

Although Zeier is a relatively inexperienced broadcaster, he seems like a great choice as a color analyst. In his career as Georgia, he was known as an intelligent quarterback with an above-average understanding of the game, and his college and professional experience should add quite a bit of insight to the broadcast. As a fan favorite from 1991-1994, Zeier should find quick acceptance from the Bulldog faithful.

The rest of the broadcast team, including Loran Smith and Hondo Williamson, will remain unchanged. We’ll miss Munson’s distinctive style and cherish the remaining broadcasts during home games, but the future seems to be in very good hands.

Zeier’s first broadcast will come against Alabama on Sept. 22 in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa was also the site of Zeier’s first road game as a Georgia quarterback in 1991. Hopefully this Zeier debut will have a better outcome than that 10-0 loss.

Coach Bobo watches his latest star pupil. Photo: UGASports.com

Most programs would love to have quarterback Logan Gray in camp right now.  Anywhere else, the true freshman from Missouri might even be in the mix for playing time.  Rivals.com rated him among the top ten dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation.  With those credentials and aware of Georgia’s quarterback situation, it was quite an accomplishment by the coaching staff to get Gray’s signature.  It’s also a mature decision by Gray to accept his current role with an eye towards starting in a few years.

If there was one thing besides turnovers that gave Georgia trouble last season, it was a mobile quarterback.  From Colorado to Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Florida, the ability of a quarterback to move the pocket and scramble if necessary gave the Bulldog defense fits.  It was a happy coincidence that two of the quarterbacks involved in Georgia’s season-ending winning streak were basically potted plants.

To make matters worse, the Bulldogs couldn’t do much to work on the problem.  All of the quarterbacks on the roster were more traditional drop-back types.  You really couldn’t take a guy like A.J. Bryant and have him run the scout team – he needed the work at receiver.  So the Bulldogs were left to get most of their lessons defending the mobile quarterback on the field.  You can break down assignments and talk theory, but there’s nothing like experience.

This year, the Bulldog defense will have a high-quality player on the scout team to simulate that kind of quarterback.  Gray is already at work playing the Bobby Reid role as Georgia prepares for Oklahoma State.  Reid is a quality and experienced quarterback, but Gray should at least be able to approximate some of the challenge. The mobile quarterback might still be a nuisance for Georgia this year, but it won’t be because the defense hasn’t been prepared in practice.  With Stafford and Gray, the Bulldogs have both quarterbacking styles covered, and the defense should be better for it this year.  You won’t see Logan Gray on the field this season, but know that he’s already helping the team.

With so many young players battling for playing time and so much need at some key positions, the redshirting question seems to have above-average importance this year. Lots of new names are, for one reason or another, mentioned frequently in practice updates as the coaching staff continues to evaluate the depth chart. I tend to get skeptical that true out-of-nowhere newcomers like Boling and Cuff will really see much time unless there is a long-term injury ahead of them, but you continue to hear their names as the season draws near.

Based on the most recent practice reports and comments, it looks as if we can group the newcomers as shown below. I included all newcomers, just not the true freshmen. It wouldn’t surprise me to see anyone in the top three groups play, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see anyone in the bottom three groups redshirting.

Likely (+90%) to play:

• LB Rennie Curran
• OL Justin Anderson
• P Drew Butler
• OL Scott Haverkamp
• DL Corey Irvin
• OL Trinton Sturdivant
• OL Vince Vance
• DL Jarius Wynn

Leaning towards playing:

• OL Clint Boling
• CB Vance Cuff
• TE Bruce Figgins

Leaning toward redshirting:

• RB Caleb King
• TE Aron White
• LB Charles White
• OL Ben Harden

Likely (+90%) to redshirt:

• S John Knox
• LB Justin Houston
• WR Israel Troupe
• WR Walter Hill
• QB Logan Gray
• DE Neland Ball
• OL Chris Little
• OL Tanner Strickland

UGA has updated the 2007 ticket cutoff requirements, and 25,501 points were required for Georgia Tech tickets. You see now why so many of us go for Tech’s three-game pack.

Still no word on the Florida cutoff, and this is starting to get a bit ridiculous. They’ve known the number of ticket requests since April. Is there a question about the number of seats available at Alltel Stadium? Maybe one of our intrepid beat reporters could start asking these questions of the athletic administration today while they wait for football practice to end.