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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Stock up, stock down

STOCK UP

Carlton Thomas – Now the team’s second-leading rusher, he has made it a three-man committee, rather than a Washaun Ealey/Caleb King tandem. Well, Ealey and King have played their role in that too, but credit Thomas for taking advantage so far.

The power of TMZ – Did the Hollywood-based web site initiate the NCAA investigate into Green? That’s what we can infer from Green’s statement on Monday. TMZ originally reported that Georgia was looking into whether Green had been at the infamous Miami party. Eventually the NCAA investigation moved away from that into the jersey sale.

TMZ stands for “thirty-mile zone,” as in the area in Los Angeles crucial to the entertainment industry. It is essentially still a Hollywood web site. But in this case, it apparently played a large role in a sports story, four time zones – not 30 miles – away.

Ratings on Mark Richt’s radio show – The Monday night show on WSB has become must-listening. Richt has stayed composed, even when one caller said “how about getting rid of Bobo”? (Richt ignored the question.)

Another caller was cut off Monday when he started railing at the coach, saying the program was “out of control.” (Richt said on the air he wanted to hear more of what the guy said.) A man claiming to be that caller e-mailed me Monday night, and said he didn’t curse, and was calling from a land line so it couldn’t have been a connection issue. For what it’s worth.

Asking everybody about the state of the program – Is there anyone who hasn’t weighed in? It was one thing to rush to Greg McGarity and get his take. (Hey, I was among them.) And of course fans have their opinions. But even Steve Spurrier was asked about Georgia last weekend. So was Gov. Sonny Perdue, a former Bulldog player in the 1960s, who was quoted as being concerned about the team’s intensity.

At some point, I really want to hear what Russ has to say about all this.


STOCK DOWN

Washaun Ealey – Well yeah, two critical fumbles inside the 5 will do that to you. Not surprisingly, Ealey will not start at Colorado as penance, but he will still play, according to Mike Bobo. Not that it was a particularly bold move to bench Ealey – when he hasn’t been fumbling, it’s not like he was setting the world on fire.

Marlon Brown
– After a preseason that made him seem poised for a breakout year, Brown has been pretty quiet. And that’s with Green out. Brown’s biggest moment so far may have been a bad one: His holding call at Mississippi State that negated Kris Durham’s touchdown. There’s still time for the sophomore to emerge, even this season, but he hasn’t done much so far.

The offensive numbers – The Bulldogs now rank next-to-last in the SEC in rushing offense, but are dead last in average yards-per-carry. Ouch. They’re 10th in scoring offense, ninth in total offense and ninth in first downs.

The defense (when it matters) – Todd Grantham said he mostly judges his unit on how it starts and finishes. Which is why he can’t be happy. Three straight games have gone this way: Give up an opening touchdown, then clamp up for most of the rest of the game, then break down again late.

The Bulldogs rank seventh in the SEC in scoring defense and fifth in total defense, which isn’t bad. But that doesn’t tell the best tale thus far.

Pass defense – It’s becoming an alarming trend for the Bulldogs: For long stretches, they just can’t get off the field. It happened at South Carolina, and again at Mississippi State. Opponents are converting on third down 41.8 percent of the time, which ties Georgia for worst in the SEC in that category.

HOLDING STEADY

Greg McGarity – I spent about 20 minutes with the new A.D. on Monday, and poked and prodded. He didn’t commit to anything, and held firm in several other interviews. McGarity is handling it smartly, not dodging the questions, and saying all the right things about being concerned, but not saying anything he would have go back on. The worst thing he could do right now is undermine Richt or the program, and he hasn’t done so.

The depth chart – In the immediate aftermath of the debacle in Starkville, Richt said he was contemplating changes. By Tuesday he said there would be no “major overhaul,” with the biggest change being Green back starting at receiver. Grantham also said there were no major personnel changes planned on defense.

Aaron Murray and Kris Durham – Two of the lone bright spots on the moribund offense. Assuming Durham is healthy – he looked fine in the media portion of Tuesday’s practice – he and Green will make a good tandem for the improving Murray.

16 comments:

Army Dawg said...

How can Carlton Thomas' stock be up. Like all of our other running backs he can not run between the tackles (combination of poor blocking and other teams stacking the box) and when he did get some room to run Saturday night the yard line paint tackled him. It appears to me that our backs are just average. If the blocking and defensive scheme gives us a 3 yard gain, we get 3 yards. With Moreno, if the defensive scheme and blocking gave us 3 yards, Moreno got us 6. I know we need running backs that don't fumble but I haven't seen anything from Thomas that makes me think he should be our every down I formation tail back. Now if we want to run the spread option with Murray and Thomas like WV...maybe we have something.

Josh said...

Is Samuel healthy? It might be worth giving him another shot at RB. Didn't look great last season, but he is strong and has speed. Would be hard to be less productive than what we've seen so far.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Army Dawg. I'd hate to think a 5-7, 160 pound running back is what we're counting on. Especially one who trips over yard line markers.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Seth - I love this blog, it is so incredibly awesome.

Love, Your favorite poster - Number 1 Fan!

Willb said...

I'm torn on the running backs! I know that washaun is the best runner we gave by Far. He could be a 1000 yard back. But his fumbles and lack of blocking could of cost us the games. I just think we need to choose one and let him get into a groove. No constant switching! This isn't little league where everyone gets a shot! Whatever happened to malcome? Is he still injured? I never thought he would get a look those year with all the backs we have but why not? I didnt think washaun was gonna play a big role last year as a true freshman. Also I would like to see more branden smith on offense. A lot more. He is a playmaker.

Anonymous said...

He should be FIRED immediately - like ADGM says - if it is inevitable - it should be done immediately. The team is no longer responding to him and he absolutely cannot lead this team effectively. His record over the past few games is ridiculously poor and he hasn't shown he can correct the mistakes.

Russ must go! I do not want to hear his opinion - it is just painfully obviousl that Russ must be fired and replaced immediately!

Bryan said...

I don't see how Carlton's stock could be moving at all. He had nothing but green about 5 yards around him on one play, and tripped over his own feet at the line of scrimmage. He doesn't appear to have the same vision as Washaun or Caleb. If we're gonna use him, I hope we'll move away from trying to run him straight down the middle and turn to let him turn the corner due to his size.

Anonymous said...

The more I read from McGarity the better I feel.

PantyGate may turn out to be a godsend.

Matt said...

RB question: Is there any possibility at all that Ken Malcome might get a shot? I know you have been saying that he is likely to redshirt, but with the lack of production from the other tailbacks and knowing that the running game took a while (6-7 games?) to come on last year...has he made enough progress to even have a chance of getting some carries?

Anonymous said...

Why is it that folks seem to bring up that one play with Carlton where he tripped instead of picking up a nice gain but ignore the one play where he cut back through a crease in the line and picked up 14 yards? If one play is all that is needed to cast aspersions, surely another play can reel them back in.

Anonymous said...

On Ealey: The Dawgs have lost their last four SEC games, and he's fumbled inside the five-yard line in three of those (Kentucky last year). I've been comparing him to Jasper Sanks, but I'm starting to view that as an insult to Sanks, whom I hold in lower esteem than any other UGA football player in the last 30 years.

Anonymous said...

I think we beat Auburn after Kentucky

meansonny said...

I'm not sold on Thomas.

I'd love to see a guy who could dominate a short yardage passing game like Welker.

I'd love to see any back create positive yardage on the perimeter runs.

Thomas is built for being that guy. But I'm not seeing it. His practices might merit the PT. But his production from the last 2 seasons has not.

I'd like to see him prove me wrong.
Anyway, fwiw, if i'm the coach i'm playing ealey and king with king getting the goalline snaps just like last season.

Anonymous said...

The Kentucky game last year was after the Auburn game ...

BZ said...

In case anybody forgot, last year ealey didn't play until the LSU game which was i think the 4th game maybe. so why not let malcome play and see what he's got. He can't be any worse and he might even light a fire under the other 3 backs to play harder. i say play the kid. who cares about redshirts, nobody stays 4 years nowadays if they are any good. oh and what about nick williams?? it pisses me off that we heard so much about him in fall camp and now he hardly even gets to play safety. i haven't seen "the hitman" do anything special either but he plays every down besides the two personal fouls he had... just my opinion..