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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Thursday's random thoughts

It’s kind of a light day, as we approach 48 hours until Georgia’s latest big game. So here are a few random thoughts, notes and facts as I go through my Thursday and get ready for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Stark-Vegas.

- Three weeks ago, if you were told that at this point Aaron Murray would have just two turnovers, be completing 62 percent of his passes, and be ranked fourth in the SEC in passing yards, you would’ve assumed Georgia would be 3-0, right?

- Remember how Cornelius Washington had lost his starting OLB spot to Darryl Gamble in preseason? Well guess who has actually started the first three games: Washington, not Gamble.

The two have actually played about the same amount of time, and been pretty productive too.

“All it is, is he starts in one package and I start in another,” Washington said Wednesday. “And it just so happens that the package that I start in is the package that’s been called at the beginning of games.”

- I find it amazing that Georgia hasn’t had a three-game losing streak in two decades. At the program I just got done covering, South Carolina, they had a word for a losing streak of three or more: November.

- Not that anyone asked me, but I expect Alabama to beat Arkansas, and convincingly. Maybe not a rout, but in the 7-17 point range. The Razorbacks don’t have enough of a running game to hang with the Tide.

- As for the league’s other big game, South Carolina-Auburn strikes me as a toss-up. I almost hate to bring it up, but the sudden death of Kenny McKinley, whom many of the Gamecocks played with, could have an effect, one way or another. But ultimately I’m picking South Carolina, because I’m not convinced that Auburn is legit yet.

- Georgia fans should keep an eye on that Kentucky-Florida game – mainly to see if the Wildcats are any good. If Georgia can get out of Starkville with a win, it has a real chance to be 6-2 heading to Jacksonville: Wins against Colorado, Tennessee and Vanderbilt have to happen, or the season’s in trouble, with the swing game being the trip to Kentucky.

- Six SEC teams (half the league, for the math-challenged) are in the top 15 of this week’s coach’s poll. That’s amazing, but does anybody really think the SEC is THAT deep this year? Do you really expect to see Auburn, LSU, Arkansas and even South Carolina in the top 15 at the end of the year?

- A stat from the SEC: Georgia had 33 former players on an NFL opening-week roster, tied with Florida and Tennessee for the sixth-most overall, and second-most in the SEC. LSU led the way with 35. Texas led all schools with 40.

And Georgia has more defensive ends (six) in the NFL than any other school.

- Having now seen Ryan Mallett in person twice, I firmly believe anyone not picking him No. 1 in next year’s draft either doesn’t need a quarterback, or hasn’t scouted him right. If Sam Bradford can be a No. 1 overall pick – much less JaMarcus Russell, Alex Smith or David Carr – then Mallett can be. Put him in the right system, and he should be a top five NFL quarterback.

- BYU and West Virginia have agreed to meet in 2016. If anybody can think of two more divergent fan bases, let me know. One group can’t drink alcohol, the other considers moonshine and chewing tobacco to be staples of a healthy diet.

- I can’t believe that, earlier in the week when I mentioned the start of the new TV season, I forgot about two of the best shows on television: “30 Rock” and “The Office.” They kick off tonight. I’m also going to try to start watching “Modern Family,” and hope I won’t be too far behind having not watched the first season.

And of course, for all the “Breaking Bad” fans out there, I’ve now started the second season. So I’m getting there.

- For everyone up in arms about a declaration that the recession ended last year: Anyone following SEC coaching salaries would be under the impression there never was one.

- Finally, in honor of what you’re going to hear a lot of on Saturday, enjoy.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trust me the recession is real and it has NOT ended.

I have always thought the SEC east champion would have two losses. The West winner will have one loss.

Anonymous said...

From another UGA Blog:

"What’s up with our play-action? If we’re under center, we’re going
to be running play action. Saturday we had 24 pass plays called under
center. Of those, 21 were play action and the other three were 3-step
drops."

We are ranked #11 in the SEC in rushing with 104 rushes for 384 yards
(3.7yards/rush and 128 yards/game)

CAN RICHT EXPLAIN THAT?!

Anonymous said...

Ask BoBo the magnificent - I'm sure he has an answer however weak it may be.

gatorhater27 said...

"… I find it amazing that Georgia hasn’t had a three-game losing streak in two decades. At the program I just got done covering, South Carolina, they had a word for a losing streak of three or more: November."

Very nice, Seth.

Anonymous said...

Seth, I think you may have just won the Internet. November. Well, done, Sir.

Anonymous said...

Finally a decent, intelligent, and very entertaining article. I almost forgot you were the "new" guy there for a second. Keep it up and will be saying, "Hale? Who?"

Anonymous said...

Seth, do you think it's possible for USCe to use the death of McKinley as means for motivation?

Anonymous said...

Disagree on Ryan Mallett. 6-7 QBs do not make it in the NFL. Especially ones that make poor decisions under pressure. Late first round but not the franchise money.

SEC is deep but down. Bama is the class, everyone else playing for second. Not much difference between 2-8.

Willb said...

Nice article Seth like someone else said thought I was reading David hales for a second. Considering that evreryone here thinks he's the god of blogging congrats! I would like to see more articles like this. The Sc comment is gonna get a lot more people liking you around here.

Willb said...

As far as Mallett goes I'm not quite sure yet. I've heard he has some character issues. Mainly lack of film study which in the nfl is huge. Personally he is the finest pure pocket passer I have seen a ga team go up against. Can anyone else think of one better? Off the top of my head I can't. Also Seth just wondering do you watch the best show ever Dexter? It's debuting this Sunday!!!!!

Willb said...

Well I guess Peyton manning is better! Ii forgot about him i was thinking more recent. Btw I haven't seen the stats in a while how did Peyton do against Ga? I forget.

Chris said...

Willb, did you watch Boardwalk Empire this past Sunday. Very excellent show.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

i don't think i can really believe the C Washington time in the 40 back in the spring. he got outran by a punter saturday(on the dropped snap). the punter had to run about 20 yds to get that first down, and Washington couldn't cut him off with the angle..and i thought Murray was supposed to be accurate. don't let that 62% mislead ya. i keep seeing Durham having to wait on balls, and King, Troupe and Brown making great catches on badly thrown balls...

jack

Anonymous said...

Jack- you also have to consider some dropped balls when murray hit a few in the numbers. No excuswe for that other than the curse on UGAs WRs. That has happened for over a decade. Guess it balances out and the 62 seems accurate to me. Not gonna' make excuses for the kid but he is a freshman that just played in his 1st 2 SEC games. I see him growing and think he'll be a ringer in the near future. My 1 cent.

Willb said...

No I haven't seen boardwalk empire yet. I have been looking forward to it though. Does it live up to the hype? Everyones talkin about it like it's gonna be the next sapranos. Hbo tends to put out the best shows in my opinion. My favorites being the wire, oz, and curb your enthusiasm.

Anonymous said...

Well one reason you won't see Arkansas, Aunurn, LSU, and South Carolina in top 15 is because the only game that won't be played is lsu and sc. The rest play each other and will drop out of the top 15

Anonymous said...

You're not convinced that Auburn is legit yet, but you are convinced that South Carolina is? We'll see how SC does on the road in conference. I think not well. After all, they are South Carolina.

Chris said...

Willb, even though I have only seen one episode, I think it will def live up to the hype. I don't know why, but I tend to really like these period shows and movies. Created by the creator of The Sopranos and directed by Martin Scorsese. I'm trying to get everyone to watch.

Willb said...

Can someone answer a ga history question for me. Was the 82 sugar bowl loss to Penn state basically for the nat championship? I know there wasn't really a nat title game back then but if they won it would they be nat champs? Also how many times have ga been in the hunt for the nat title going into the last week of the season. I have only seen a couple of years with my own eyes since im only in my 20"s. Our 13-1 year and our 11-2 year when a lot of crazy stuff happened at the end of the year to help us. I think we would of beaten anyone in the country in a nat title game in those two years. A lot of ga fans who say we don't win nat titles need to look at those years. We were prob the best team in the nation those two years.

DawgCPA said...

Very nice work, Seth. Are you starting to get comfortable with us now? Learning better to ignore the infamous anon?!
Also, I have enjoyed the in-game blog as well. It's gone from being a treat when Hale started it, to getting annoyed when you don't update it quick enough!
Enjoy Stark-Vegas!