It seems official – the Tulsa World newspaper is reporting that Oklahoma State has agreed to an ESPN-brokered deal to come to Athens for next season’s opening game.

Georgia will return the visit to open the 2009 season in the “first game played at the completely renovated Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.”

Oklahoma State is currently 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the very tough Big 12 South. They have an upset win over Nebraska to their credit this year, and the offense is coming around nicely (until they ran into Texas last week). Georgia will recognize the Cowboy offense – OSU offensive coordinator Larry Fedora was behind the Florida offense from 2002-2004.

Georgia’s future non-conference games of interest (better list here):

2007: Oklahoma State, @ Georgia Tech
2008: @ Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati
2009: Arizona State, @ Oklahoma State, @ Georgia Tech
2010: @ Oklahoma, Georgia Tech
2011: Louisville, @ Georgia Tech
2012: @ Cincinnati, @ Louisville

Down the road….Clemson and Oregon

2009 looks like a tough schedule on paper – Arizona State, Okla. State, and Tech. Throw in SEC West games with LSU, Arkansas, and Auburn. Of course we don’t know where the fortunes of college football will have teams in three years.

And goes for a week – through November 15th. Several sports will add players, but basketball is the most high-profile sport with a signing period tomorrow.

Georgia men’s basketball team expects to sign four:

• 6’8″ F Chris Barnes
• 6’7″ SF Jeremy Jacob
• 6’9″ F Jeremy Price
• 6’1″ PG Zac Swansey

The women also expect to sign at least three:

• 5’9″ G Brittany Carter
• 5’6″ G Angela Puleo
• 6’3″ F/C Nicole Stroud
• 6’2″ C Jasmine Lee

I was listening, as I often do, to the Colin Cowherd show this afternoon. Love the college football talk. The whole Big East/BCS discussion came up, and he said that if finishing undefeated were all that mattered, then Texas could assure itself of a national title berth every year by playing four nonconference cupcakes. He gave Texas credit for having the “courage” to schedule Ohio State.

The question should be, “why did Texas schedule that game?” Where would Texas be right now had they scheduled Ohio University instead of Ohio State? Right – they’d be undefeated and awaiting the winner of the tOSU-Michigan game for a chance to defend their national title.

I don’t deny the importance of schedule, but give it the proper relative importance. The first order of business is almost always finishing undefeated. You can start backtracking on that as soon as the Big East and the usual “BCS busters” come into the discussion, but there is no way that an undefeated Texas (or SoCal or Auburn or Wisconsin) would be left out of the national title game if they were one of two unbeaten teams at the end of the year.

The importance of scheduling comes into play when you must choose between two similar teams with identical records, but teams like Tulane get left out when they go undefeated. Texas doesn’t. Having more than two unbeaten major programs happens so infrequently in college football that scheduling becomes such a secondary objective versus running the table.

The question shouldn’t be why don’t we have more series like Texas-Ohio State…it should be why those teams with real national title aspirations seek those games out. I’m not saying I like avoiding those kinds of games, but that’s what the system – as it is – rewards. I continue to say that a playoff system would encourage many more interesting nonconference games (just see the December basketball slate) rather than the current system where you must balance the subordinate strength of schedule criteria with the clear primary objective of finishing undefeated.

So what do I think about the Big East? I agree with a great line I heard on ESPN over the weekend, and I wish I could remember its source. I don’t think the Big East champion could have as good a season going through the grind of a more demanding conference, but I wouldn’t count Louisville or West Virginia out when it comes down to an individual game.

(As an aside…how does West Virginia’s destruction of Maryland and Mississippi State look after the past weekend?)

Go Vandy.

Why? Kentucky is currently 3-3 in the SEC with games against Vanderbilt and Tennessee remaining. Georgia is at 3-4. The only chance Georgia has to finish above UK in the SEC standings is to beat Auburn and have the Wildcats lose their final two games.

Yes, it’s really sad to be crunching these kinds of numbers, but it’s all we have left now. It also has a great deal to do with which teams are more attractive in the bowl selection process.

Now I know there are a lot of fans out there posturing and saying that “Georgia doesn’t deserve a bowl” or that they should refuse one (as if fans have any say in that). That’s garbage. Even a minor bowl means two to three more weeks of practice. When a big part of the problem is the inexperience and youth at key positions, why on earth (other than vanity) would you not embrace that opportunity?

Demiko Goodman is out for the season with a torn ACL. It sounds cliched to say “just as he was starting to come around”, but that’s true with him. He was one of the more interesting receivers lately with his receiving starting to catch up to his track speed. Damn.

Ching spoke with some defensive players about the adversity the unit has seen over the past month. Some very interesting comments in there – very good job as always.

I thought Ramarcus Brown made an extremely mature and insightful comment. He said, "Everything’s not gonna go right, so we’re all men here. College is about growing up. You’ve got to be able to handle that." When I read that, I see someone worth keeping an eye on in the next year or two. That kind of perspective is what I’d expect from the program’s leaders.

Some fans will probably focus in on and get bent out of shape about his statement that "we can’t play for the fans. We’ve got to have each other’s back." Brown isn’t denying the importance of fans or not being grateful for the support they do get. All he’s saying is that you can’t rely on that. Fan support is fickle. All you had to do was look around the parking lots and the stadium at the Mississippi State game to know that. I’m not getting into the endless "what defines a good fan" argument here; it’s just a fact that fan support ebbs and flows. We all know that. The players know that if they really need someone to lean on during tough times, they’re going to look to each other first. And I hope that’s how it will be. Brown and the other young players will have to be the core of the program’s resurgence. They are getting forged in fire right now, and they need to come through it together.

Ching also asked the players about "how much they pay attention to Internet message boards and how much criticism they hear and pay attention to." I hope that’s not for this year’s version of the tired "Internet BAD!" article that was played out around 1999. I expect not though since he seems to understand this medium well. We’ll see what comes of that.

Basketball season is starting up. The teams are now into the exhibition stage of the season, and the real games aren’t but a little more than a week away. I’ll have much more comprehensive looks at the teams next week, but here are the basic storylines for the programs right now:

• Can the women get and stay healthy? Entering last season, the Lady Dogs lost four players from August through the exhibition season. It decimated the frontcourt and derailed a very likely Final Four run. Even now, there are several players working back from last year’s injuries or other offseason surgery. And they’re not all 100% yet. That has affected their ability to condition and practice in the preseason, and it will affect how Coach Landers manages the early part of the season. They start the year ranked #9 in the coaches poll.
• Can the men stop the bleeding? The tragic loss of Kevin Brophy and the departure of Younes Idrissi took some valuable experience from the program. Now we learn that promising JUCO transfer and likely starter Takais Brown has been indefinitely suspended over academic issues. The frontcourt will still be stronger than it was, but Brown is a potential difference-maker. Here’s hoping that this suspension is a short-term thing and that Brown can contribute this season.

Oh, and since we’re talking hoops…welcome back to the game, Bobby Cremins.

There’s only one game of national significance in the SEC this weekend, but there aren’t many dogs either.

Mississippi State @ Alabama: Lincoln (12:30)

Alabama has struggled a bit recently. Aside from their decent showing at Tennessee, they have let Ole Miss, Duke, and FIU hang around far too long. The Alabama offense isn’t putting anyone away. The Bulldogs on the other hand have shown a bit of life on offense. Back-to-back 24+ point performances against Georgia and Kentucky have put MSU in two nail-biters. They’re still seeking the breakthrough win though. The Croom-Bama relationship always plays a part in this game. While I think Bama holds serve at home, they might be in trouble or at least in for another cardiac test if MSU can get over 21 points for the third straight week.

Florida @ Vanderbilt: Lincoln (12:30)

Last year’s narrow escape in the Swamp is the storyline for this game. The Florida squad will no doubt remember the embarrassment of nearly losing to Vandy (trust us, actually losing is no fun either). With the BCS standings giving Florida new life in the national title picture, this is a big "leave no doubt" opportunity for the Gators. Florida’s defense should keep the Vanderbilt offense more or less under control, but the real question is the Gator offense. Scoring under 23 points per game in SEC play (and that includes defensive scores), I’m among those starting to wonder if Florida has a big number in them. Style points will count if the SEC has any hopes for its fleet of one-loss teams.

Arkansas @ South Carolina: ESPN (7:45)

The Hogs take their perfect SEC mark nearly 1,000 miles east. They’ve treaded water with some easy wins since their decisive win over Auburn. South Carolina got a dose of reality last weekend in their loss to Tennessee. The Gamecocks have started to find some answers on offense. Arkansas should expect to run well with the league’s top rushing attack against a run defense rated in the bottom third of the SEC. The Columbia crowd is always a factor, but Arkansas has already been road-tested at Auburn. This is the kind of game that Arkansas has to win if they have a chance of winning the West – Tennessee and LSU are right around the corner.

Georgia @ Kentucky (no TV)

The passing games of both teams will be in the spotlight here. Kentucky has the SEC’s third-most productive passing offense, and Georgia’s defense has taken its licks through the air. Wildcat quarterback Andre Woodson is big and mobile and a much improved player from the shell-shocked kid we saw a year ago. Georgia turned up the heat last week against Florida with decent results. They’ll need a strong performance from the defensive line against a banged-up UK offensive front. On the other side, Georgia’s Matthew Stafford continues to develop under center, and he’ll go up against the conference’s most generous pass defense. The one gotcha for Stafford is turnovers. Kentucky is right near the top of the league in turnover margin, recovering an SEC-best 11 fumbles. They have only turned the ball over ten times. Georgia has turned it over ten times in just the past two games. Georgia’s 16 takeaways are middle of the pack, but their 22 giveaways result in the SEC’s worst turnover margin. Worse, many of Georgia’s turnovers have set opponents up deep inside of Bulldog territory.

LSU @ Tennessee: CBS (3:30)

This is the big SEC game of the week. Tennessee is coming off of two very emotional games. They won in a comeback over arch rival Alabama, and then they put the Fulmer vs. Spurrier game behind them last week. They’ll have to gear up for a third straight week against an LSU team that’s been flying under the radar a bit and no doubt stewing about this game since their loss at Florida. There’s also the emotional baggage from last year’s game. LSU roared out to a big lead in their first post-Katrina home game, but Tennessee fought back for their only win of consequence in 2005. LSU’s defense surely remembers how Erik Ainge folded spectacularly against their pressure in that game. The difference between home and away has been night and day for LSU. In their five home games this year, LSU hasn’t scored fewer than 45 points. In their two road games, they haven’t scored more than 10 points. That those two road games were at Auburn and Florida has a lot to do with the disparity, but Tennessee is also a tough place to play. LSU has a big job to prove that they are more than paper tigers away from home.

UGASports.com reported last night that freshman offensive lineman John Miller had left the program. Miller’s side of the story: "I decided to leave the football team and become a full-time student because of academic struggles."

Today, Coach Richt clarified that Miller was actually dismissed from the team for violation of team rules. "It was a coach’s decision," said Richt.

Yeah….that probably made Miller’s "decision" a bit easier. "You can’t fire me – I quit!"

Miller should consider himself pretty fortunate. He was admitted as a student-athlete to an outstanding university, used a valuable scholarship and roster slot, got world-class treatment for a shoulder injury suffered in high school, and didn’t waste much time getting dismissed from the football program. In the end he’s still a student at UGA – just no longer on the full football ride. Life could be a lot worse.

PS…if you’re a UGASports.com subscriber, be sure to check out Steve Patterson’s very in-depth look at “how UGA got so thin on the offensive line“. It’s a really good summation of recruiting hits and misses and a recap of injuries and attrition.

As turnovers go, Georgia’s five against Florida weren’t as bad as they might have been. The Gators were only able to turn those five turnovers into seven points. Of course as close as the game turned out to be, those seven points were everything. Instead, the turnovers had a lot more to do with momentum. Even as Georgia showed signs of life in the second quarter, turnovers on three out of four possessions in the second and third quarters meant that too much time had elapsed before the Dawgs picked up some steam and began the comeback. The turnovers came in spurts and put way too much pressure on individual drives to get Georgia back in the game.

Turnover #1: Stafford interception. Georgia had their first taste of success on offense late in the second quarter. A Lumpkin run had put the ball at midfield, and Georgia decided to take a shot downfield. As the CBS announcer noted, Florida showed press coverage to bait Stafford into throwing the pass he made. The fade to Massaquoi was underthrown, and Georgia’s best opportunity of the game to that point was over. This turnover pretty much killed any hope Georgia had of scoring in the first half.

Turnover #2: Lumpkin fumble. This is the biggie, and we all knew it was coming. At this point, Georgia could take a knee on their opening drive of the second half, and we’d expect that to result in a turnover. I’d say it’s also even money that someone would get hurt taking the knee. The opening sequence of the second half was about as familiar and predictable than the 23rd Halloween movie. Start with the glacial kick return of Danny Ware (plot twist with no penalty this time). Ware returned the kick to around the 18 or so. Apply Ching’s Law of Second Half Kickoffs. The result was spectacular in its swiftness. The entire left side of the offensive line collapsed, and Florida’s defensive line – all with the glowing Impact Player circles going spastic – consumed both Lumpkin and the ball.

Ching wrote last week that "if they’re still in the game at halftime against Florida, I’ll be very interested to see what Georgia does on its first drive of the second half — and if it makes as big a difference in that game as it has in some of the recent ones." Oh, it made a difference. Just a little one.

Turnover #3: Stafford fumble. The only thing that prevented Georgia from having turnovers end three consecutive drives was a single run by Lumpkin that ran out the clock in the first half. Their second drive of the second half began with the penalty they had forgotten to commit on the previous kickoff. Stafford completed two nice mid-range passes to move Georgia out of their own endzone and close to midfield, but two incompletions brought about a third-and-ten. Florida broke down the protection, and Jarvis Moss knocked the ball from Stafford’s hand. A missed field goal kept Florida from converting this turnover to points, so this was possibly the least-costliest turnover out of Georgia’s five. Georgia responded a few drives later by causing their first takeaway of the game. Tony Taylor made a great interception, and the Dawgs were soon on the board.

Turnover #4: Kelin Johnson fumble. This turnover probably hurts more than any of them because of the massive swing of momentum. Georgia had just scored their first touchdown midway through the third quarter. They then held Florida three-and-out, and the Gators were punting from their own 24. The punt wasn’t impressive, and Georgia would have had the ball no worse than on their own 40 with a full head of steam. Johnson probably never saw the ball that bounced off his calf. He was fully engaged in a block The turnover didn’t hurt Georgia on the scoreboard – Florida missed another field goal – but the very next Georgia drive ended with….

Turnover #5: Stafford interception. Georgia was given a stay of execution after Florida failed to cash in two earlier turnovers. The second missed Gator field goal of the day gave Georgia new life. Stafford was developing some rhythm in the second half, and the Dawgs were driving early in the fourth quarter trying to get back within one score. They had several consecutive plays with positive yardage, and they converted (whew!) a close fourth-down to keep the drive going. A 20-yard pass to Massaquoi moved the ball to the Florida 30, but Florida pressure caused another miscue. Stafford was flushed back and to his right as the pressure closed in, and he floated a pass down the sideline that was picked off around the Gator five yard line. As it turned out, this INT acted more like a punt that pinned Florida deep. A few plays later, Tim Tebow fumbled inside his own ten, and Georgia was able to punch in that second touchdown.

Another loss to Florida overshadows several positive developments. It’s hard to write about them without sounding like a Gamecock fan and talking about moral victories.

I said before the game that “this could be a game well into the second half.” It was, but not for the reasons I expected. I had hoped Florida would continue their habits of slow starts while Georgia started like the team that had led at halftime of the past three games of this season. Nope. Instead, the game started out much like last year with Florida grabbing an early double-digit lead while Georgia spent the rest of the game crawling and clawing back.

The Dawgs didn’t fold, and the spirit in the second half was something that’s been missing for a long time. The defense was hitting as well as they have all year.

Five turnovers is just dreadful, and you’re not going to beat the conference leader and a top 5 team that way. One thing to take away from the game was the difference in playmakers, especially on offense. Georgia just has no one on offense to take control of a game…hopefully that’s just a factor of inexperience.

Florida is averaging 23 PPG in five SEC games to date. They haven’t broken 30 once. Most, if not all, of their SEC games have been within reach of either team in the fourth quarter.

I’m not saying that Florida’s offense sucks. They have two very good quarterbacks, a fleet of playmakers at receiver, and a difficult scheme to defend. I just wouldn’t describe them as explosive. Their style is power and force, very much like a passing version of the 2004 Auburn team. Auburn scored 24 against Georgia that year, but it was as complete and overwhelming a defeat as any 40-point beatdown.

Would I be surprised if Florida puts up 30+ on Georgia? No, because Georgia continues to be generous with the ball, and Florida has an opportunistic defense. If the offense and special teams can limit the mistakes that have cost them over the past month, Florida won’t score by the bucketful. That kind of efficient mistake-free play hasn’t been in Georgia’s character this season.

To come through, though, Georgia will have to reverse not one but two patterns. The Bulldogs started the season 5-0 and had given up a total of 14 points in the second halves of those games. They outscored opponents 72-14 in the second half and, other than the South Carolina game, scored at least 14 points in each second half. Since, the bottom has fallen out on both sides of the ball. In the last three games, Georgia has been outscored 71-24 in the second half. They haven’t scored more than nine points in a single second half and have given up no fewer than 17 points each time.

Many Georgia fans have long since thrown in the towel (Rep. Murtha would be proud), but is this really an impossible task? Georgia’s job #1 is not to give Florida any help. No turnovers, and no short-field situations. That alone would be a big turnaround. Then Georgia must attack Florida with the short passing game. Reggie Nelson is back there to slurp up errant deep passes, but teams have been able to move the ball with short ball-control passes.

While some are predicting a blowout and a game that will be over by halftime, I think it’s just as likely, if not moreso, that this could be a game well into the second half. We forget that Georgia led Tennessee going into the fourth quarter. If Georgia can get the first half advantage again and if Florida’s relatively deliberate offensive buildup continues, the stage will be set. That point in the game will be key – Georgia has flopped in the second half while Florida typically has put teams away with late scores or interceptions. Georgia might have the opportunity to reverse those fortunes in this game, but it will be a true test of leadership, talent, and especially coaching.

Ware has kind of faded into the background this year as Lumpkin emerged and we’re spreading the receivers more for Stafford. But Danny has had two of his best games against Florida. He had 14 carries for 71 yards (5.1 per) last year and was running very well in the second half. I still wonder why we took him out of the game when he was rolling. 2004 was even better – 18 carries for 103 yards (5.7 per).

I know that has little to do with the dynamics of this season and this game, but sometimes guys just play better against a given opponent. Reggie Brown owned South Carolina. Michael Johnson made a career out of two games against Auburn. #28 will get the ball at some point on Saturday; it’ll be interesting to see what he does with it in his third game against Florida.

• I’m glad to see the coaches stick with Stafford. It would have been tempting to pull him after some bad second half turnovers, and it might have even been tempting to try something else for the Florida game. He made his mistakes, but he also had the most prolific passing day by a Georgia quarterback this year. He was also quite accurate (60% +) considering he threw three interceptions. The surprising thing about his throwing were that many of the deeper passes were underthrown. Now we know (or have heard at least) that he has quite a gun. I suspect much of it has to do with timing, so we’ll see if that improves.
  
  
• Snark: I wonder how many INTs Stafford would be throwing these days had he started since the South Carolina game.
  
  
• Too much is being made of the booing of MoMass. Yes, many crossed a fine but distinct line between the frustration we all felt and taking it out on #1. I don’t think anyone was pleased with the drop. Some chose to sit on their hands, some groaned, some kicked a bench, some swore, and many booed. That the booing (and applause when he was taken out) was unfortunately the most outward and noticable reaction, but not too many of us had good thoughts in our heads at the time. Most didn’t even notice that that particular pass had been tipped.
  
  
• The really comical part of the reaction is that there are apparently levels of Damn Good Dawgness that makes it more acceptable to kick certain players in the gut. Massaquoi’s a good guy, so we’ll make a public spectacle of our shame. Meanwhile…Dan Inman, take your seat next to Patrick Pass. Can someone please fill in this scale so I know who deserves piling on? How DARE you attack college kids…unless they’re Odell Thurman or lower on the DGD scale.
  
  
• Speaking of which, has "damn good Dawg" taken on the equivalent of "bless his heart"? You can say anything about a player, tack DGD onto it, and all is well. "Monteego Powers is a damn good Dawg, but he should never suit up for Georgia again."
  
  
• Facebook groups for wardrobe coordination, intramural field preservation, and empty apologies. Whitewashing the Cocktail Party. Is this really what college life is like now?
  
  
• The important thing with MoMass is that we need him back. Something has happened to the guy who stood out at the start of the 2005 season with some incredible catches. Massaquoi’s 100+ yard game against Auburn last year was as close as a Georgia receiver came to taking over a game in some time. He is a special talent and can be a difference-maker on this team. We’ve seen it done against quality competition. The Bulldog offense, the developing quarterback, the running game, everything is better when he is on. Whether it’s coaching, something mechanical, something mental, whatever – the coaches have to save him before a promising career is lost.
  
  
• Bryan Evans certainly got thrown into the fire on Saturday. He had one really nice play that nearly resulted in an INT, but he also got lost a few times on deep passes. We know that the depth in the secondary is so young that anyone other than the starter is going to be pretty inexperienced. Whether or not Ramarcus Brown can play on Saturday is a big question.

Found in today’s Augusta Chronicle…if not a typo, call Marc Weiszer’s bookie now!