When I said last week that Chris Barnes had filled the vacancy left after Walter Hill decided to dedicate himself to Georgia football, I meant in terms of numbers only. Hill is a 6’5″ jumper, and Barnes is a certified power forward. Georgia still had a need at the small forward/wing position, and today’s news that Jeremy Jacob has committed ($) takes care of that hole. Jacob is a 6’7″ forward from Baton Rouge by way of Hargrave Prep. He had offers from Cincinnatti and Ole Miss, among others.

Georgia’s most high-profile players lately have been small forwards (as they often are at any program). Jumaine Jones and Jarvis Hayes both were natural wings. It doesn’t sound as if Jacob has the outside shot of those two yet, but he sounds a bit stronger on the post than they were. Improvement in his jumper could turn him into a very dangerous player on offense.

Jacob’s commitment gives the Dawgs three solid frontcourt players in next year’s class (Jacob, Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price). Georgia also has a commitment from PG Zac Swansey.

• Georgia beat Mississippi State.
• Georgia is bowl-eligible.
• Matthew Stafford completed over 20 passes, many of which were to Georgia receivers.
• No one was able to watch the game live on TV.
• Georgia didn’t wear garish all-purple uniforms.

That’s all I’ve got.

It’s been since 1997 that the “other” Bulldogs came to Athens. Georgia won 47-0, and the big story was all about a steamroller. More construction equipment is in order this week as Georgia begins the rebuilding process behind freshman QB Matthew Stafford.

Once you get beyond the coachspeak, Mississippi State isn’t a good team. After all the self-flagellation Georgia fans have done in the past two weeks, we have to make a distinction. As many problems as Georgia might have, they are nowhere near as bad as Mississippi State. They haven’t been able to stay within 15 points of an SEC team this year. They are down, and let me say without equivocation that there is no reason why Georgia should be in a game with these guys after halftime. Of course, I would have said that about a few other games this season. Here are some areas I’ll be watching in the game:

• Stafford and the youth movement: The big news of course is Richt turning the reigns over to Matthew Stafford on a more permanent basis. That in itself leads to a number of questions. Will Stafford spend more time in the shotgun where he is most comfortable? Will receivers catch his passes? Will he go downfield much against a shaky pass defense? Stafford looked fine in relief last week, but even he was not a cure for Georgia’s redzone problems.
  
  Injuries have thrown other youngsters in the mix this weekend. Sophomore Tripp Chandler will start at tight end in place of Martrez Milner. If Ramarcus Brown is unable to go at cornerback, redshirt freshman Bryan Evans along with true freshmen Asher Allen and Prince Miller will see action. Allen will return kickoffs in place of Thomas Brown. If Nick Jones can’t play, Ian Smith wll be the center. We might even see more time for younger safeties like C.J. Byrd if the starters continue to under-produce. A good showing by some young players might leave the door open for the coaches to try even more guys down the road at positions such as linebacker.
  
  
• The three two-headed monster: The season-ending injury to Thomas Brown will affect the distribution of carries; the only question is how Ware and Lumpkin will split time. Will Lumpkin get the chance to carry the ball 20 times? Blocking by the backs will be important against a formidable defensive front.
  
  
• Receiver TD watch: Forget dropped passes for a second. Other than Mario Raley’s touchdown early on against Western Kentucky, Georgia’s receivers haven’t caught a touchdown pass this season. Fullback Brannan Southerland with two receiving touchdowns has twice as many as Georgia’s entire wide receiver unit. There are individuals who have outproduced the entire Georgia receiver corps. An injury to A.J. Bryant doesn’t help their chances for improving those numbers. Massaquoi has been playing better lately, and we’ll see how improved the unit can be after a week’s working exclusively with Stafford. There will be a few wild cards in the passing game. Tripp Chandler and Coleman Watson present a different look at TE. Danny Ware might see more time in the backfield, and he’s Georgia’s best receiving back. And always beware of the dual-threat from (to this point) offensive MVP Southerland.
  
  
• Musical offensive line: If there’s one area where Mississippi State might cause Georgia problems, it’s in the trenches when Georgia has the ball. The MSU defensive line has three senior starters led by Deljuan Robinson. The unit is as good as any in the SEC. The bad news is that Georgia’s already-thin offensive line took a hit last week when Chester Adams and Nick Jones were injured. Jones might play this week, but Adams’ position will be filled by reserve tackle Michael Turner. The remaining linemen have been working without substitution this week, so hopefully they have something left in the tank for the game. An effective day by the MSU defensive front likely would mean another low-scoring close game.
  
  
• What the doctor ordered for the defense: The Mississippi State offense made South Carolina look like Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain defense in the season opener. The glacial Mike Henig will play at quarterback since injuries have eliminated everyone else. On the other hand, Georgia made Vanderbilt’s quarterback look like John Elway during Vandy’s game-winning drive last week. The good news is that Mississippi State has no systematic strengths or weapons on offense to be concerned about. Jerious Norwood is gone, and nothing remotely close has stepped into his void.
  
  The question then is whether or not Georgia can avoid defensive breakdowns that would allow their opponent to have above-average output from their offense. Mississippi State presents a great chance for Georgia’s defense to get a much-needed shot in the arm before Jacksonville. We also thought that Colorado and Ole Miss would be good chances to work out kinks for later in the season, but those games turned into fights for survival.

When a team struggles, there is often a chicken-or-the-egg questions that comes up about coaching vs. talent. Fans get incredulous whenever you bring talent into the discussion. "We’ve had top 10 recruiting classes forever – how can you talk about talent?!?!?" In the general sense, that’s true. The imperfections of recruiting rankings aside, Georgia has recruited very well.

But when you look at individual positions and the effects of attrition and player development on a more micro level, you see that certain positions can develop personnel issues even with recruiting going well at a macro level. The offensive line is most frequently mentioned in that context, and others have written about that. For another example, let’s look at the defensive back position and the signees since 2002. For the benefit of emphasis, I’ve crossed out the names of those unavailable to the team right now.

A pretty clear picture emerges – those with any experience are almost forced into starting roles, and all of the reserves are at best sophomores or redshirt freshmen. The good news seems to be that there are two strong talented classes coming up through the ranks, and that will help in future seasons. Attrition has taken its toll as several upperclassmen who might be in the mix this year are either no longer with the program or sidelined with long-term injuries.

2002 (Redshirt seniors – 0):

• B.J. Fields: gone
• Olaolu Sanni-Osomo: career-ending injury
• Tim Jennings: graduated
• Demario Minter: graduated

2003 (Seniors / redshirt juniors – 2):

• Thomas Flowers: out for season
• Paul Oliver: current starter
• Tra Battle – originally a walk-on, multi-year starter

2004 (Juniors / redshirt sophomores – 2):

• Kelin Johnson: current starter
• Antonio Sims: gone
• Ramarcus Brown: current starter

2005 (Sophomores / redshirt freshmen – 3):

• Donovan Baldwin: hasn’t seen much action yet
• Antavious Coates: out for season
• Bryan Evans: CB reserve
• C.J. Byrd: seeing more time at safety

The good news is that more help is on the way from the true freshmen in the 2006 class:

• Asher Allen: getting lots of time at nickle back
• Prince Miller: has played as a true freshman
• Quintin Banks: redshirting
• Reshad Jones: redshirting

Earlier this month we learned that the Georgia men’s basketball team had landed a commitment from PG Zac Swansey after Keegan Bell backed out.

Last week, frontcourt prospect Walter Hill from East Hall decided to play football for Georgia instead of basketball.

To fill the hole left by Hill’s decision, UGASports.com is reporting ($) that 6’8″ forward Chris Barnes from Riverdale will commit to Georgia over Kentucky and Oklahoma. This is a nice pickup for the frontcourt, and it’s very good news to see Georgia win a recruiting battle of this magnitude. Rivals.com basketball recruiting expert Justin Young says, “You pair (Barnes) with Jeremy Price, another instate guy, and you have yourself a really good base to build around down the road.”

Two things stand out in the ongoing saga of last weekend’s Miami – FIU brawl (be sure to watch through the 1′ 45" point).

1 – The surprising part of the story wasn’t the fight itself but the fact that none of the players from either south Florida school seems to have been armed with anything more dangerous than a helmet.

2 – Did Miami president Donna Shalala actually use the worn-out sports cliche "throw…under the bus" in an official statement about the incident earlier this week? Epic. Rack her. She’s now qualified to work on a Sunday morning NFL pregame show.

Chip Towers in today’s AJC reports an accusation by former Georgia basketball center Robb Dryden.

Former University of Georgia basketball coach Ron Jirsa benched a player after he refused to change his major when his class schedule conflicted with practice, former UGA center Robb Dryden said this week.

Dryden claims that after refusing to change his major, Jirsa retaliated by dismissing him from the team and then by benching him after Dryden was reinstated by associate athletic director Dick Bestwick. I recall at the time a lot of people wondering why Dryden wasn’t used much at all after showing some early promise, and I guess this explains it. Jirsa doesn’t deny the incident.

Sometimes coaches are able to work around schedules. Andy Landers moved his practices last year to early mornings in order to accomodate the afternoon class schedules which conflicted with his usual practice time. No one was thrilled with the crack-of-dawn practices, but the team was able to balance the need to practice with the academic schedules of the student-athletes. Several players had to learn the discipline to be ready and alert for early practices, but that’s part of the trade-off of priorities.

It seems from the article as if Jirsa had that option in this case, and it’s wrong that he tried to force a different set of priorities on Dryden instead of adjust the practice schedule.

Life as a college student-athlete is a constant balance of priorities. You must be dedicated to your sport, because that’s the reason why you’re on scholarship. You have academic priorities. You have social and even financial priorities. Many have spiritual priorities. Sometimes you have to choose some over others. I do fault Jirsa for trying to force Dryden to change his major to one more convenient for Jirsa, and I don’t at all like the retaliatory response of kicking Dryden off the team after Robb refused to drop his major. That’s a ham-handed response by a new coach who wasn’t ready for those nuances of the job.

This isn’t always as cut-and-dried as it seems. It might happen that a must-have class is only offered when the team practices, and the coach has already found the optimal time to balance practice with the course load of most of his players. If a player can’t practice, his performance and value to the team is diminished. Should a player who can’t practice expect to play?

"That was the backbone reason why I came to Georgia — to go the engineering school, and I wasn’t going to change my major," Dryden said.

That’s great, and I’m glad he finally graduated, but he also had to remember the means by which he was able to come to Georgia and major in engineering. There was a commitment to basketball. It doesn’t seem though that this situation was completely either-or. Jirsa had the ability to be flexible and chose not to, so it’s quite right that he should have the egg on his face.

Andy Johnston had it right in Sunday’s Banner-Herald. You’re shocked that Georgia lost to Vanderbilt, but you’re not surprised. The Dawgs had been flirting with this possibility all season, and it finally caught up with them against the SEC opponent against whom a defeat traditionally indicates your arrival at rock bottom.

The praise of Vanderbilt began as soon as the game ended. Georgia coaches and players graciously gave credit to the Commodores for "making plays". Everyone pointed out how Vandy wasn’t as bad as their record indicated and had come really close to such a breakthrough win against other teams. That’s fine, but I also wonder why opposing coaches aren’t crediting Georgia for making plays or out-scheming them or taking it to them. Vanderbilt is a well-coached team with playmakers on both sides of the ball who came up big and a young quarterback starting to make his mark. So what is Georgia?

Georgia is not rebuilding, as Mark Richt confirmed on Sunday. Building implies construction, progress, and improvement. Instead, the Bulldogs have seemed willing to blast the foundation each week and start over. Back before the Tennessee game I wrote, "The offense in particular seems to be frozen over decisions that seem much more appropriate for August than October." Here we are going into Game 8, and the same questions persist. The starting quarterback might change again. The unfortunate injury to Thomas Brown might be the only thing that gives some sort of direction to the running back position. Every time a receiver seems poised to take over a game, he fades back into the shadows. You can’t build – or even rebuild – on top of that.

Coach Richt seems poised to make an announcement on that front today and announce some sort of plan for the quarterback position. Will that be the panacea for all of Georgia’s problems? Not at all, and I don’t expect that kind of effect. If Matt Stafford is named the starting quarterback, and I mean in a more permanent sense than what we’re used to, it might at least offer some younger players a chance to lead this team.

Questioning leadership is an easy target for fans because it’s more or less subjective. Poor results? Must be a lack of leadership. Leadership is a vague concept, but usually it comes down to a context of trust. We trust someone to catch a touchdown pass. We trust them to make a key block or a tackle or a deflection. We trust them to show up with great effort in practice and the weight room. We trust them to show up for class and stay out of trouble. Often upperclassmen become leaders by virtue of their experience, but we frequently see younger players in leadership roles because their teammates discover early on that they can depend on them to make plays.

I think what fans are really asking for is reliable playmakers, and there don’t seem to be many in the ranks of the upperclassmen. The senior at quarterback can’t carry the offense. The senior at tight end still struggles with drops. The senior at defensive end hasn’t been heard from in games. The senior at offensive tackle is a loose cannon. Postgame quotes from senior Ray Gant help to illustrate what is lacking from the upperclassmen on the team.

"We weren’t ready for the challenge that they brought to us, and by the time we did realize it was going to be a fight, it was too little, too late," he said.

That says a ton. Georgia wasn’t ready…for Vanderbilt. After losing to Tennessee and barely surviving two earlier games against unranked opponents, they couldn’t get ready and motivated to respond. Gant continues,

"I thought it was a wrap. I thought it was a wrap," Gant said. "Emotions were high. I just knew it was over from there. Somebody had to make a play, we did it, and I just knew it was over. After that, I don’t know what happened. I guess we melted down at the end."

I’ll be honest and say I also felt a great sense of relief after Taylor’s interception. The Dawgs were back on top and had the crowd and momentum back. But there were over nine minutes remaining in the game. Georgia’s defense hadn’t done much before that interception to stop Vandy in over two quarters. It was far from over. The lack of a killer instinct and no purpose to finish at the end wasn’t just the story for the defense. The offense had a chance to seal the win but couldn’t even after a facemask penalty bailed them out. The coaches played for the field goal and opened the door for Vanderbilt’s winning drive. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching – it was a true team effort when Gant says "we melted down at the end."

So is that leadership? Coaching? Talent? Haitian voodoo? A little of everything?

Coach Richt hesitates to use the "rebuilding" label because there’s still quite a bit of this season left. I’m not ready to write the year off. Even if it’s not a championship season, the current state of the team doesn’t have to be how this team is remembered. "When you start talking rebuilding, you start telling the seniors their year is not that important," Richt said. That’s true, but their senior year is not everything. I’m not one to join the "fire/bench everyone" mobs, but a loss to Vanderbilt (no matter how much you build them up) by a ranked team is usually a sign that something’s wrong and a signal to make some adjustments. The size and scope of those adjustments is up to Richt who has probably earned the most trust of anyone involved in this story. The indication that we might finally be moving past this paralyzing starter-of-the-week loop is a good first step.

PS…I’m not sure if I’ll watch the CSS rebroadcast on Tuesday, but I’m fairly certain that analyst Buck Belue won’t make as much of a horse’s ass of himself as this Miami guy did.

Where are you this morning?

1. DENIAL
2. ANGER
3. BARGAINING
4. DEPRESSION
5. ACCEPTANCE

In what’s seen as a compromise move, a University Council subcommittee has recommended that Georgia’s Fall Break be reduced to a single day, the Friday before Georgia-Florida. The extra day will allow Georgia students to break for the entire Thanksgiving week.

We’ll see how many professors give pop quizzes on that Thursday. Malcolm Adams (no relation) still isn’t happy. “I think it’s ludicrous to have a holiday associated with a football game,” he huffed. The World’s Largest Outdoor Soda and Chips Bash will still go on, we hear.

No word yet on how far Georgia has risen in the U.S. News and World Report rankings after this bold move.

John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader writes,

Q: If UK does need seven wins, where might that seventh come?

A: Maybe Georgia. Any team that requires a last-minute touchdown to nip Colorado at home is vulnerable. Mark Richt has quarterback problems. The Bulldogs were blitzed in the fourth quarter Saturday night by Tennessee. No telling what the Dawgs’ mindset might be by the time they arrive in Lexington Nov. 4. It’s a long shot, but a shot.

Ever popular AJC columnist Mark Bradley opines,

For the first time since 2000, Tech has a better football team than Georgia…it’s hard to imagine Gailey’s best team losing to maybe Richt’s worst. It’s hard to imagine anything, even a statewide executive order, denying Tech this time.

I don’t know that you can say either opinion is wrong at this point, but it’s good stuff to have in the bank when those games come around.

A few weeks back, Georgia all-American Tasha Humphrey was arrested for underage possession of alcohol. University rules require an automatic suspension lasting 10% of the season for such an offense, and that’s three games for basketball. Coach Landers decided to double the suspension “to underscore the severity of her actions at a time when there is a school crackdown on alcohol abuse.”

We’re all familiar by now with the crackdown on underage drinking in Athens, and a high-profile student-athlete caught in the dragnet won’t be treated lightly.

The suspension means that Humphrey will miss the first six games of the season including big early-season contests against Rutgers and Stanford.

I’m surprised no one has brought this up. While we’re looking for somewhere to place the blame for Saturday’s loss, we’re overlooking something, and it hurts to say so as a proud American. I can buy the Cherrishinski, and Adams is always a worthy scapegoat, but let it be noted that we’re now a solid 0-2 with an average 41 PPG against us when the U.S. Army Infantry Command Exhibition Parachute Team from Fort Benning (also known as the “Silver Wings”) parachutes into Sanford Stadium.

It was an awesome show, and God love them for their service, but they’ve been omens of doom from above.

Photo: UGASports.com

Georgia governor Sonny Perdue probably thought he was scoring some low-hanging political fruit with Dawg fans by taking the AJC to task over a headline about the Georgia football team. After all, he’s a former Georgia player, a Georgia fan, a reasonably popular governor, and everyone loves to dump on the newspaper guys.

The ploy seems to have fallen flat among the Georgia fans I’ve seen comment. Most recognize it as a cheap attempt to score political points. Many don’t forget the lack of leadership shown by the Governor when it came to the Board of Regents fiasco a few years ago.

Personally, I’m a bit nervous any time a government official sees fit to meddle with the press. Even in a lighthearted (I hope) case like this, it’s not particularly appropriate for the governor to weigh in. He’s entitled to his opinion as a citizen, but a letter sent from the governor’s office about such a trivial matter isn’t a very judicious use of the position.

I write this as a Perdue voter and a Georgia alumnus myself. This is one item that should have been left off the “Sonny do” list.