It’s easy to overanalyze bowls when so much of them come down to motivation and momentum. In the case of Virginia Tech and Georgia, both finished the regular season pretty well. Both are also looking to get some momentum into next season with their young quarterbacks. These are two teams used to being on top of their conferences and playing in January, so we’ll see which comes out more ready to play. Here’s what I’m looking at in all three phases of the game:
Offense:
Can Georgia hold its own against a good and opportunistic defense? Virginia Tech gives up the fewest yards per game in the nation, and it starts with a strong front line. Georgia’s offensive line comes and goes, and they’re dealing with another numbers crunch this week. They’ll need a very motivated performance from the offensive line in order to have any room in which to operate.
Can they avoid mistakes and turnovers? Georgia has been much better in their two recent wins when it comes to catching the ball and avoiding interceptions. Virginia Tech thrives on turnovers and momentum.
How will Bobo do with the spotlight on him? It’s a tough situation in which to make a debut as offensive coordinator, but Georgia fans will be scrutinizing the playcalling and offensive scheme used to counter VT’s strengths on defense.
Defense:
Virginia Tech has a capable offense, but much like Georgia it hasn’t been particularly highlight-reel quality most of the season. Ore is as good of a tailback as Georgia has seen this year, and Glennon has cut down on mistakes at quarterback. Georgia gave up big rushing yardage to Tashard Choice in the season finale, but they held Auburn’s potent attack in check. VT’s offense is much more effective when aided by field position and momentum from defense and special teams, so it’s important for Georgia to make VT work for every yard they get. VT’s offense can be good, but Georgia can’t allow them to be spectacular.
Special teams:
This is expected to be an area of strength for Virginia Tech, but Georgia can have something to say about that. Brandon Coutu is back as the reliable placekicker, and we’ll see how he is able to perform in his first game back since October. The real question I have is the impact of Coutu’s return on punter Gordon Ely-Kelso. Ely-Kelso has had to handle placekicking duties down the stretch, and his punting has suffered, particularly in the Georgia Tech game. He has been an outstanding punter in the past, and Georgia will need him at the top of his game. Georgia’s return units have also made big plays this year, and one in this bowl game could dramatically change things.
I’ve already said it a dozen times in this post, but Virginia Tech thrives on momentum. When they get a head of steam from turnovers or big plays on special teams, they can be very hard to stop. Georgia went through a phase earlier in the year where punt protection was a big problem. They can’t afford to give the Hokies even an inch of opportunity in this area, or VT will take it.
Everyone is expecting this game to be close and low-scoring, but either team has the ability to blow the game open. Georgia showed their potential at Auburn, and VT has explosive potential from the defense and special teams. They have each also shown the ability to get blown out this year. The Peach…er, Chick-fil-A Bowl is usually one of the most competitive and interesting bowl games, and they have two similar teams lined up for this edition.
Both the men’s and women’s Georgia basketball teams saw turnovers and lack of offensive firepower doom them to losses on Thursday night.
The Georgia men had a season-high 26 turnovers in a 75-60 loss to #21 Clemson. “We haven’t taken care of the ball as well as we could this year, but today was exceptionally bad,” said coach Dennis Felton. With point guard Sundiata Gaines still hampered with an ankle injury, Georgia remains lost on offense. Where the trio of Mercer, Gaines, and Stukes produced 65 points against Gonzaga earlier in the month, they combined for just 21 against Clemson. For a team that lives and dies with guard play, they are in a world of trouble without consistent production from those three. Mercer is just 6 for his last 23 attempts.
Takais Brown and Terrance Woodbury had solid nights with 13 and 14 points, but their opportunities to do more were limited by the turnovers. Georgia attempted only 56 shots (Clemson had 67) and got to the line only 6 times all night. Clemson, according to Felton, scored a third of their points off of those Georgia turnovers.
The news doesn’t get better for Georgia. We learned after the game that Gaines has torn ligaments in that injured ankle. With a team that is so dependent on Gaines just to get a shot off, that news spells big trouble. Georgia’s next two games are against Top 5 opponents Wisconsin and Florida. Without Gaines in top form, it’s looking more and more as if that win over Gonzaga was an upper limit for how well this team can play rather than they effort they are able to give consistently against top competition.
It wasn’t a much better night for the women, and their problems seem just as systemic. The story sounds much the same – George Washington scored 23 points off 24 Georgia turnovers en route to a 66-54 win. Only one Lady Dog starter scored in double-figures, and the team as a whole shot 39%. Georgia was strong inside – Tasha Humphrey scored 16 and Angel Robinson 15 – but guard play fizzled. Normally reliable Cori Chambers shot 2-of-12 and finished with only six points. Ashley Houts and Megan Darrah didn’t score. In fact, this might have been one of Darrah’s worst games in her three years in Athens. She was 0-for-7 shooting and had a team-high five turnovers. Houts is in a bit of a slump – she hasn’t scored in double-figures since the Georgia Tech game at the beginning of December.
It’s hard to put a finger on it, but the Lady Dogs haven’t looked really solid all of December. Much of it has to do with integrating Tasha Humphrey back into the lineup, but the problems are across the board. The team seems plagued by slow starts. Guard play is spotty, especially at the point guard position. The team just hasn’t looked as impressive as you might have expected when you added Humphrey back in to the lineup that beat Rutgers and Stanford. They have a consolation game against Brown this weekend, and then they’re right into the SEC schedule with Florida and LSU. There’s not much time left to figure it out.
After a break for Christmas, it’s time to catch up.
Football
The Dawgs are heavy into Chick-fil-A Bowl preparations. So far, the big stories are Seth Watts joining Ian Smith in the Suspended Linemen Club, leaving the Dawgs with only six OL for this game, and the news that Brandon Coutu will be available to kick. More on this game tomorrow.
Men’s hoops
The loss to Tech was disappointing on several levels. I know that they were without Gaines, but no one really stepped up into that void. The team was incapable of getting into the offense at times, and the shot selection wasn’t what it needed to be. Though a lot of people are dwelling on the absence of Gaines, I was also a bit surprised by how poorly Georgia played on defense. Young and Dickey had it far too easy from the opening possession. The help defense was also missing inside as Tech time after time penetrated and dished for an open dunk.
Gaines should be good to go this week, and we’ll need him against Clemson and Wisconsin. Clemson is undefeated as they were last year when Georgia won in Athens. They really haven’t played any top teams so far, but they have some very capable players. James Mays will be a handful inside, and K.C. Rivers will be another challenge for the wing defense as a 6’5″ guard.
Then it’s Wisconsin. The Badgers are looking like one of the nation’s best teams so far, and it will be as big of a challenge as #2 Pitt coming in to Athens in 2002. All-American candidate Alando Tucker leads the Badgers, and the 6’6″ forward will be the best test yet for Georgia’s frontcourt defense. Tucker can go inside or outside. Ideally you’d want someone with Woodbury’s build and speed to defend Tucker, but so far Woodbury’s defense hasn’t caught up with the offensive glimpses he’s shown. Of course a team with the ranking of Wisconsin has to have some other elements, and they do. Kammron Taylor is capable of putting up big numbers from the guard spot, and 6’11” Brian Butch prevents interior defenses from focusing solely on Tucker.
That New Year’s Eve clash with Wisconsin will be big, but Georgia won’t have much time to either enjoy or recover from that game – next week it’s off to Florida to open the SEC season.
Women’s hoops
The Lady Dogs had a relatively uneventful tour of Virginia last week beating James Madison and Richmond easily. Along the way, Andy Landers won the 750th game of his career and also beat protegee Michael Shafer at Richmond. If there has been a concern lately it is slow starts. Against both Richmond and TCU, Georgia was punchless for the first eight minutes. Cori Chambers shot them out of the funk in both games, but they’ll need to hit the court harder in future games. They’ll also need more production from the other guard spot. Ashley Houts hasn’t had a double-figure game since the Georgia Tech game in early December.
They head out to the west coast this week for a tournament in San Diego. They’ll play George Washington and then likely tournament host San Diego State. Georgia should win both games before opening the SEC slate with Florida next Thursday.
The ABH writes that Charlie Taylor Douglas of Reynolds and Richard Alexander Perry of Fort Valley were arrested Tuesday on charges of battery, reckless conduct, underage possession of alcohol, public drunkenness and carrying a weapon on school property.
Immediately after the halftime show [of the men’s basketball game against Jacksonville], thousands of fans at Stegeman Coliseum saw the teens run from their seats to the court floor and, according to a UGA police report, “attack two University of Georgia mascots.”
I’m glad these bits of trash were arrested, but I’m disappointed that other fans didn’t apply some justice themselves. Of course there were 63 people at the game, so it might have been that no one was within a section or two.
They messed with the wrong mascots though. Hairy has a background in law enforcement, and Spike is usually packing heat.
It’s been a while since Georgia has signed a junior college football player, but that has changed in a big way. Today is the first day that JUCO transfers can sign with a program, and Georgia has received three signatures so far.
OG/OT Scott Haverkamp, DE Jarius Wynn, and DT Corvey Irvin signed with the Dawgs today. Two other JUCO offensive linemen, Vince Vance and Joe Blaes, are also expected to sign within the next day or so. All will be enrolled for spring semester and will be able to provide depth during spring practice. The Dawgs needed some immediate help on the offensive line particularly, and these junior college transfers give the Dawgs some older and more physically-mature players than the typical true freshman at a position where that really matters. Now they have about eight months to get up to speed and hopefully contribute to Georgia’s depth for the 2007 season.
UPDATE: Chad Simmons of UGASports.com is reporting tonight ($) that Blaes will not sign with Georgia at this time because the Dawgs apparently ran out of room for mid-year enrollees. It is possible that Blaes still could sign with Georgia in February and enroll in the summer, but he is weighing his options and considering a couple of other schools where he could enroll mid-year..
In a move that doesn’t surprise many people, Mark Richt has promoted quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo to offensive coordinator. Richt had already turned over the playcalling reigns to Bobo, and this move was an expected progression in Bobo’s career. The departure of offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Neil Callaway to UAB opened up the position.
The coordinator position is a lot more than playcalling. He’s responsible for installing and executing the offensive package for each game including scouting, practice schedule, play scripting, and so on. While Richt called the plays, the coordinator still had a large role. Now it looks as if both that role and the playcalling role will go to Bobo. For everyone who has been critical of Callaway and for Richt holding on to too much control, it’s now Bobo’s show.
That leaves the ball in Mark Richt’s court. Smith has already been suspended for the next six football games which includes the Chick-fil-A bowl and the first five games next season. Smith had been expected to move into the starting center position next year, but Georgia will have to find an answer.
The question remains what this will mean for Smith’s career. After five games next year, Georgia will have a starting center established and probably won’t be likely to move him aside for someone with Smith’s experience level. Then would he be good enough to supplant that starter in 2008? This great opportunity has been slammed shut for now, and it will be a long road back to the starting lineup.
Hopefully the end result of the suspension and everything else is for Smith to get straight and finish out his college career. Whether that includes meaningful contribution to the football program is up to him now.
Dennis Felton has had several big wins at Georgia. He has beaten Georgia Tech
twice. He’s beaten Kentucky in Rupp Arena. Last season’s win against an Alabama
team that went deep into the NCAA Tournament is very underrated. So to immediately
label Saturday’s
win over Gonzaga as the biggest in Felton’s four years at Georgia or to
claim
it as a sign that Georgia has arrived might be getting ahead of things.
The thing about those other impressive wins was that they stood out in seasons
of frustration. Nice wins were followed by puzzling losses or even slumps that
went on for weeks. We even got so impressed with ourselves early last year that
a trip to the postseason seemed a foregone conclusion. Oops.
That’s not to downplay Saturday’s win. It was magnificent. Gonzaga didn’t play
poorly. Georgia did so many things well – the biggest of which was keeping up
the intensity. Scoring droughts have killed many a promising Georgia game, and
the Dawgs more or less avoided them in this game. A Gaines layup in the midst
of a Gonzaga run ended the Zags’ biggest push of the second half, and the Dawgs
didn’t let them get on another run the rest of the way. It’s possible that we
might not have even seen Georgia’s upper limit on Saturday – the three-point
shooting wasn’t that good – but at the very least we know that Georgia is capable
of some very good basketball against quality opponents.
The story is as it has been for a couple of years now. Georgia will play as
its guards play. The three top guards combined for 65 of Georgia’s 96 points.
Stukes ruled the first half, Gaines took over in the second, and Mercer was…well,
just watch this:
The difference this year is that the rest of the team isn’t a liability. Whether
it’s Jackson’s incredibly clutch back-to-back baskets down the stretch, Newman’s
five assists, or Brown and Bliss playing strong under the basket, other players
are finding roles and not killing the team with mistakes. Make no mistake –
the Dawgs still need those three guards to play at that kind of level to have
much success this year. The guards just won’t have to do everything.
The question the team has to face is, "now what?" It’s great that
we’re not sitting here on Monday knowing that Georgia can’t compete with good
teams and hoping they can salvage something from the season. Georgia can play.
Now with games coming up against Tech, Clemson, and Wisconsin, we’ll see if
the Dawgs use the opportunities opened up by this win to go into SEC play with
a head of steam and take a real step forward on the program’s path back.
Otherwise, it was just another isolated upset win.
It’s official – Neil Callaway will become UAB’s new football coach. Congratulations to him. If you have to lose assistants, you want to see them moving on to better things instead of having to fire them. It’s a sign that you’ve hired well. That’s certainly been the case with Georgia’s last few departures. Van Gorder and Smart both went to the NFL, and now Callaway leaves for a head coaching opportunity.
Callaway’s a Blazer.
Callaway, fairly or not, has been somewhat of a lightning rod for fans during his entire time here. Fans have projected their distaste for Richt’s offense or the zone blocking schemes onto Callaway. His role as offensive coordinator has never really been understood fully when Richt calls the plays. When Greene was sacked mercilessly in 2003 or when Georgia’s “three-headed monster” of tailbacks didn’t run wild, fans pointed the finger at Callaway.
The results speak for themselves though. Callaway’s line has won the SEC East three times and the SEC twice. He’s done that at other schools too. It’s run-blocked for Verron and Musa, and it’s pass-blocked for three of the most exciting quarterbacks to come through Athens. Even this year with very little depth and some polarizing starters, the Dawgs ended up with the second-fewest sacks allowed in the SEC. Not bad at all. The OL under Callaway has taken a lot of shots, probably far more than their share. Now his detractors have their wish.
Callaway’s replacement will be starting over in many respects. Not only will the offensive coordinator position and the very nature of the offense be in question, but it will be a fresh start in terms of personnel too. There are a handful – only about three or four (depending on Ian Smith’s future) – returning with any experience next year. There are at least nine newcomers on the way from junior college down to true freshmen. There are several redshirting freshmen who haven’t seen playing time yet. New coach, new players. He’ll have a fresh start in terms of the fans too, but we’ll see how long that lasts.
People are already putting together wish lists of who should replace Callaway. Is it someone with an FSU connection or a UGA past? Is it a well-known name? Knowing Richt, it’s just as likely to be someone no one mentions until the connections are put together after the fact. In many repects, this new offensive line coach will be coming into a much better situation than Callaway inherited. He will have a group of about 13 or more with which to work, and the classes will be somewhat staggered. Georgia also has a stronger position in terms of prestige and recruiting.
This really is a great opportunity for the right coach. Best wishes to Coach Cal, but it will be exciting to see how the new guy puts together the incoming talent and keeps the pipeline open. Job #1 is keeping the current commitments on board, and then it’s time to start building. The bar has been set a bit higher than most people realize.
Exams are over, many Georgia student-athletes are
graduating (congratulations!), and it’s time to catch up with the three
sports getting back into action this week.
Coutu kicking is pretty significant. We need Ely-Kelso to focus on punting
which was sub-par against Georgia Tech and has been shaky for much of the season
to be honest. Virginia Tech is known for nothing if not special teams, so any
advantage we can get in that area is meaningful. It’s likely to be a ball-control
field position kind of game, so we need Ely-Kelso 1) getting the punts off in
the first place and 2) hitting them well enough to be a strategic weapon in
that style of game.
Men’s basketball
The Dawgs aren’t messing around – Gonzaga is their first opponent after the
exam week break. The problem with Gonzaga is that you can’t really talk about
one player. You might mention point guard Derek Raivio. Freshman Jeremy Pargo
and Matt Bouldin have contributed right away, and Bouldin is a matchup nightmare
for a Georgia defense that has been very generous to opposing wings. Those are
just the guards. Forward Josh Heytvelt is versatile and quick and will severely
test Georgia’s young interior defense.
The game at the Gwinnett Center will be a homecoming of sorts for Mike Mercer
and Billy Humphrey. The two guards are among Georgia’s top three scorers, and
they’ll need big games to beat Gonzaga. The key is consistency from Stukes,
Mercer, and Humphrey. All are capable of getting hot, but all are equally capable
of disappearing for long stretches. The Dawgs will have to get the right ones
in the game when they’re hot and get steady contributions from Bliss, Brown,
and Singleton inside.
They should have a relatively easy game against Jacksonville next week, and
then they’ll face Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Friday. Tech is loaded with some
good young talent, but they’ve dropped a few games lately. The series has been
pretty even since it went home-and-home over ten years ago, and Georgia’s 75-70
win in Atlanta in 2000 was the sole road win by either team.
Women’s basketball
The Lady Dogs have had to stew over their first loss of the season for over
a week. They are essentially starting over by trying to work Tasha Humphrey
and some other players back into the rotation. A team that was only six deep
a few weeks ago and learned how to prosper in that situation now has eight or
nine players to deal with.
Georgia will have a painfully easy game against Savannah State in Savannah
on the 15th and then they’ll have a bit of a test against TCU on the 17th in
Athens. TCU rose to become a moderately strong team a few seasons ago when they
had star center Sandora Irvin, and they’re trying to sustain something in her
wake. They have a quality squad this year that just knocked off Florida. With
the exception of a rout of a bad Memphis team a few weeks ago, Georgia has been
pushed pretty hard recently by teams like Davidson, Georgia Southern, Georgia
Tech, and of course MTSU. How they handle a challenge from TCU will say a lot
about their progress and cohesion since the return of Humphrey.
With the news that Tra
Battle has been named third-team AP All-American, Georgia has now produced
an All-American safety in each of the past four seasons (and hopefully defensive
backfield recruits are paying attention). Battle contributed right out of the
gate as a redshirt freshman when he started the 2003 season opener at Clemson.
Everyone expected him to give way to some higher-regarded scholarship players,
but Battle became a two-year starter and cemented his All-American status with
a three-interception game at Auburn. Not bad for a walk-on. Congrats, Tra! Congratulations
also to DE Quentin Moses for joining Battle on the third team.
Finals week brings the college sports world to a grinding halt. Football is
in hibernation, and both basketball teams won’t play again until this weekend.
Once exams are over, here’s what we have to look forward to:
Men’s basketball really gets going with games upcoming against Gonzaga and
Georgia Tech. There aren’t many more preseason cupcakes left. A road win over
Wake Forest was nice
The Lady Dogs try to recover from their first loss of the season and try
to find chemistry and rotations that work now that Tasha Humphrey is back.
The football team will start practicing for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. It’s not
quite summer two-a-days, but the semester break gives the team a chance to
go through some of the more intense workouts they’ve had since August.
Early enrollees will join the football team. These include recent junior
college commitments as well as high schoolers graduating early. I believe
that offensive lineman Tanner Strickland is the first to arrive. These early
arrivals will be able to practice with the team during bowl preparations,
though they won’t play in the game. Going through bowl practices and spring
practice is very valuable to incoming freshmen (Stafford and Durham made the
most of it last year), but it’s infinitely more important for junior college
players where the eligibility clock is already ticking.
Good luck on exams, and we’ll see what interesting topics we can come up with
until the Dawgs start making news on the field and court again.
University of Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt will join Virginia Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer on Thursday, December 14th at the Chick-fil-A Bowl Coaches Luncheon presented by Russell Athletic. Coach Richt will discuss the Dawgs big wins over Auburn and Georgia Tech as well as give his insights into the December 30th match-up against the Hokies. The luncheon will be held in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The event starts at noon and tickets can be purchased for $35 by calling 404-586-1923.
A sloppy and anemic performance all around from Georgia led to an upset 70-62 win for Middle Tennessee Wednesday night.
Georgia committed a season-high 22 turnovers and gave up 15 offensive rebounds in the loss, and MTSU attempted nearly 20 more field goals as a result. Point guards Ashley Houts and Janese Hardrick combined for 4 assists, 11 points, and 12 turnovers. They were completely ineffective against pressure, and Megan Darrah was not able to pick up the slack as she did Sunday at Georgia Tech.
Things weren’t that good on defense either. MTSU had two main scoring weapons, Amber Holt and Chrissy Givens, and Georgia was able to stop neither. Holt scored 21 and Givens 25.
Even more frustrating is the fact that Holt originally signed with Georgia last spring as a junior college all-American. She wasn’t admitted to Georgia but apparently was qualified to enroll at MTSU. She torched Georgia tonight, and the Lady Dogs had no answer.
Georgia’s post trio of Robinson, Rowsey, and Humphrey managed a combined 19 points, ten of which came from Robinson. For whatever reason, centers Robinson and Rowsey played a total of 23 minutes between them. So with the game left to the guards and the wings, only Chambers (23 points) did some damage.
They looked confused and frustrated trying to get into the offense. Transistion was non-existent. They simply must get more from Houts and especially the senior Hardrick. Georgia had flirted with upset losses to Davidson and Georgia Southern, so perhaps they were due, but they didn’t look much better – and it might be argued they looked worse – with Humphrey in the lineup. They weren’t exactly meshing at Tech on Sunday either but got enough plays to win that game.
Exam week means that they will have over a week to stew on the loss and hopefully come back and close out December looking much better.
After several seasons without a single JUCO football signee, Georgia added offensive linemen Vince Vance and Joe Blaes a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday, they received commitments from two additional junior college defensive linemen, Corvey Irvin and Jarius Wynn from Georgia Military College. Chad Simmons at UGASports.com has the scoop ($).
Four junior college transfers in a single season isn’t a recruiting strategy used by Richt in the past, but the need is definitely there at those positions next year. These four are all able to provide some degree of help right away. Some will even be able to enroll and begin working out with the Dawgs during Chick-fil-A Bowl practices. With two years of eligibility remaining, in most cases, getting them in the program and through a bowl and spring practice is very important to making sure they can contribute out of the gate.
Dawgs and Hokies
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