Paul Johnson supposedly had this quote at last night’s signing day festivities:

“We’re sure going to try and beat (Georgia). Heck, I’ve hated them since I was at Georgia Southern.”

It’s obvious why Johnson would develop such feelings for the Bulldogs and not for Tech – it would be hard for a Georgia Southern coach to work up a hate for a program that won’t even play the Eagles.

Following last night’s loss to Vanderbilt, Georgia junior guard Billy Humphrey was arrested for underage possession of alcohol.

Humphrey is obviously in a world of hurt right now. You could sense the frustration and disappointment about his injury in his comments following the South Carolina loss. His struggles have continued in the two games since, and unfortunately it looks as if he chose the wrong escape route from his troubles last night.

Humphrey is suspended indefinitely, and he will face at least a mandatory three-game suspension due to an alcohol-related arrest. Georgia’s offense sputtered without a healthy Humphrey, and one has to expect that the scoring difficulties, especially from the perimeter, will continue during his suspension. The trio of Swansey, Butler, and Brewer will try to hold down the position.

It’s silly to fault Dennis Felton for Humphrey’s transgression; remember that suspensions for alcohol-related incidents are athletic department policy and are out of the coach’s hands. Still, it’s a disturbing trend that we’re starting to see off-court drama begin to take over the Georgia basketball program once again.

Dennis Felton was brought in to win, graduate players, and, above all in the wake of Jim Harrick, clean up the image of Georgia basketball. He managed to do well in that direction for a few seasons; it isn’t the case now. If you saw any recent game, you know that the team hasn’t quit on Felton or the season. Still, Felton will be fighting a perception soon – if he isn’t already – that he is losing control of the program. Even an incident completely outside of his control like Humphrey’s arrest adds to that perception when it’s stacked on top of everything else that has happened to the program in the past year.

The history books will list the New York Giants’ Kawika Mitchell as a South Florida Bull, but the Super Bowl XLII defensive standout originally signed to be a Georgia Bulldog in February of 1998. With Signing Day Eve upon us, here’s a refresher on the linebacker class that Georgia inked ten years ago. Even considering transfers and attrition, it stands as one of the Bulldogs’ best positional hauls in a single recruiting class.

• Boss Bailey: Bailey played as a true freshman, making an impact in the 1998 Peach Bowl win. A knee injury on the opening kickoff of the 2000 season seriously affected the rest of his Bulldog career (not to mention Georgia’s 2000 season). Bailey broke through in 2002 with a senior season that was key to Georgia’s SEC title run. He has been a starting linebacker with the Detroit Lions since he was drafted in the early second round in 2003.
• Tony Gilbert: Gilbert wasn’t the highest-rated of the bunch by any stretch, but he got every bit of production he could out of the talent he had. As a senior in 2002, he tied for the team lead in tackles and was named second-team All-SEC. He was a 6th round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in the 2003 NFL draft. Since being released by the Cardinals, he has had a successful career with Jacksonville.
• Charles Grant*: Yes, a linebacker. Grant was athletic enough to play everything from tailback to defensive end, but the current New Orleans Saints star was considered a linebacker on the recruiting board. He left Georgia for the NFL after his junior season in 2001 and was a first-round pick of the Saints in the 2002 NFL draft. By the way, here’s to a speedy and complete recovery for Grant.
• Jessie Miller*: Miller and Grant were the biggest academic risks in the group, and though each did not qualify out of high school, Miller was the real academic casualty of this class. After earning some playing time as a freshman in 1999, Miller was no longer with the program in 2000.
• Kawika Mitchell: As we mentioned above, Mitchell signed with Georgia out of Winter Park, Fla. but transferred after to USF his freshman season. Various rumors cite homesickness or a girlfriend back home, but he went on to have a solid career at USF and is now the only Bull with a Super Bowl ring.
• Will Witherspoon: ‘Spoon was a fan favorite from the moment he shocked the world by signing with Georgia out of Florida. His signature play was batting away a two-point conversion against LSU in 1999, but Will had a consistently strong college career and quickly caught on in the NFL. After joining the Carolina Panthers as a third-round pick in the 2002 NFL draft, he signed with the St. Louis Rams in 2006 and was named the team’s MVP following the 2007 season.

* – Grant and Miller did not qualify in 1998 and were re-signed in 1999.

I wanted to wait for confirmation before posting news like this, and we have it now. I received this e-mail on Monday evening:

Earlier today, a dear friend and a former UGA walk-on was killed in an automobile accident in the Watkinsville area.

Josh Willis, a walk-on Long Snapper (#69) who was a member of the 2006 Chick-Fil-A Bowl Champion Georgia Bulldogs football team, was in a fatal car wreck on his way back to Athens after spending the weekend at his parents home in Americus, GA.

Josh could make anybody smile and was a pure joy to be around. He put his all into Special Teams and enjoyed life to the fullest at UGA. It seems so unfair because JW didn’t partake in all the destructive activities in Athens yet has had his life cut off in a freak accident. We as his friends are trying our hardest to not be selfish and trying to trust God and his will. It’s just hard!

The Willis family of Americus and all the people who know and love Josh are in deep need of your prayers in this tough time.

God bless Josh and his family and friends.

It’s a melodramatic title, but when you consider the week that the Georgia men and women had, it rings true. It was a crappy week to be a coach, player, or fan of either Georgia basketball team.

The men’s Wednesday loss at South Carolina wasn’t televised, but a lot more people got a look at the Dawgs on Saturday. Say what you will about Dennis Felton (and this is apparently the time for even the media to start taking gratuitous shots), but Georgia was in great position to beat Kentucky and had dozens of good looks at the basket, even down the stretch. If an open perimeter jumpshot isn’t a quality shot for a starting wing or guard in the SEC, it’s time to cash in the chips.

No, I’m not thrilled with the decision to bench Price. Kentucky did have more success when a post other than Bliss was in the game, and Price probably could have helped that situation. Sundiata Gaines’ comments about Price’s attitude show that Felton isn’t being capricious, but at some point these guys have to enjoy playing the game and coming to work on the court. The team has taken enough hits this year with attrition and injuries to have a player vs. coach stare-off add to the drama.

A Vanderbilt team that struggled to beat Auburn in Nashville limps into Athens this Wednesday. Vandy played great ball to start the season, and they have quality players in the post and on the perimeter. But with a trip to Florida waiting this weekend, Vandy is Georgia’s best chance to stop the losing streak until South Carolina comes to town next week.

SEC Men Power Ranking

1. Tennessee: Tough to win in Starkville, and they did.
2. Florida: Back down to earth after a trip to Arkansas.
3. Kentucky: First road win of the year didn’t come easy.
4. Mississippi State: 2 straight losses, but they host Alabama next.
5. Arkansas: Pelphrey’s team finding their stride.
6. Vanderbilt: Got a shaky win over Auburn to end two-week losing streak.
7. Ole Miss: Say goodbye to the Top 25.
8. South Carolina: Two wins in a row after an upset in Oxford.
9. Georgia: Missed two good chances for wins.
10. Auburn: Upset of Ole Miss looking less impressive by the day.
11. Alabama: Hanging on above LSU.
12. LSU: Only SEC team with just one win.

Lady Dogs

Only Tennessee has more NCAA Tournament appearances than the Lady Dogs, but it became clear over the past week that earning even that annual birthright will be a struggle for this year’s team. Two conference losses leave Georgia at 3-4 halfway through the conference schedule. Without an improbable upset of LSU or Tennessee, 8-6 is the best case SEC finish for the Lady Dogs. That assumes they’re able to win on the road at Arkansas, a team ranked earlier in the season, and win a rematch with Auburn, a team that blew Georgia out by 30 last month.

Arkansas this Thursday is a key game in the season. The Lady ‘Backs were ranked earlier in the year but have struggled to a 2-5 SEC mark, most recently giving South Carolina their first conference win. LSU is waiting for Georgia next Sunday in Baton Rouge. Andy Landers has had only three 3-game losing streaks in his 30 years of coaching, but right now it looks as if they must beat Arkansas to avoid an unprecedented 5-game slide.

SEC Women Power Ranking

1. Tennessee: Win at Duke just another feather in their cap.
2. LSU: Rolling. Defensively dominant.
3. Vanderbilt: Control their own destiny for 3rd place.
4. Kentucky: Big win over Georgia, but still must play LSU and Vandy.
5. Auburn: Hanging in there around .500.
6. Georgia: Reeling, and the SEC is showing no mercy.
7. Florida: Could be a bubble team if they can land a good win.
8. Ole Miss: Win over Bama ends 3-game losing streak.
9. Arkansas: Bad loss to SC drops them to 2-5.
10. Mississipppi State: Best of the bottom group.
11. South Carolina: Recorded their first SEC win.
12. Alabama: Now that South Carolina has a win, Bama’s back in the basement.

Congratulations to Danny Ware, Kawika Mitchell, and the rest of the New York Giants.

The college football blogosphere will no doubt be inundated over the next few days with opinions about what this improbable outcome means for a college football playoff.  Did the 10-6 Giants even belong in a championship game with an undefeated Patriots team?  Is it inevitable that a college football playoff would put a 7-5 conference champ in the position to win a few games and end up playing for all the marbles?  Is the winner of a playoff really the best team?

Other than the fact that I’m a Giants fan, I don’t have a problem with the outcome, and here’ why:

• The Patriots, Cowboys, and Packers had every chance to win the title.  None of the top teams in the league were denied access to the process, and for that reason any debate about the league’s champion ended when Eli Manning took a knee.
• If we accept a playoff, we have to accept the “any given Sunday” risks that come when you actually play the games and let the process play out on the field.  Sports doesn’t follow the scripts, the oddsmakers, or the computers.  An outcome that seems less-than-optimal isn’t an indictment of the process.
• Beating four increasingly-difficult opponents over a month’s time isn’t to be dismissed as merely “getting hot at the right time”. You have to sustain a pretty high level of play over a significant length of time.  In the case of the Giants, that had to be done completely on the road.

On its own, this was an incredible game, and a thrilling finish.  The Manning-to-Tyree pass will take its place among the pantheon of legendary NFL plays, and Eli Manning finally has a legacy of his own. 

In an act sure to go down in history alongside “freedom fries” as bold legislative stands, the Georgia legislature took the time to weigh in on the BCS.

The state House voted 151-9 Friday to urge the NCAA to create a playoff system for college football, adopting a resolution that calls the current system “dysfunctional.”

…The resolution, which now goes to the Senate, calls the BCS system “the greatest disappointment of the 2007 college football season.”

Awesome. Can’t wait to see the outcome of their American Idol vote later this month.

But if the legislature is going to stick its nose into college football, there are much more pressing matters they could deal with such as this abomination they allowed to slip through:

The Lady Dogs found a way last night to make the men’s 56-point performance at South Carolina on Wednesday look like the output of a Tarkanian UNLV team.

Georgia gave up only 47 points to Kentucky…and lost 47-44.

They scored 17 points in the second half, and that includes a garbage layup at the buzzer.

After going up 36-27 with 13 minutes remaining, the team made just one more shot until Ashley Houts’ layup as the clock expired.

Tasha Humphrey scored 20 points for Georgia, but even she was held to just six points in the second half. Kentucky doubled down on the Bulldog star, and Georgia’s perimeter players were not quick enough to make the Wildcats pay for the extra attention paid to Humphrey.

It is impossible to describe just how wretched the Georgia offense was. If it wasn’t missed shots, it was turnovers. Really bad turnovers. Everything from Ashley Houts’ unforced double-dribbling along the sideline to Megan Darrah throwing the ball away on Georgia’s final opportunity to tie the game.

When you’re a successful coach like Andy Landers, watching (and pointing out) the same mistakes over and over is maddening. He reached a breaking point after the game and pulled the team into the postgame media conference to let them hear some very candid and pointed public criticism.

"We don’t fight," Landers said. "I have a hard time correcting mistakes. And quite honestly, our accountability is not really great. All that’s my fault. I’ve got to figure out how to get all that straightened out. We don’t like to be accountable. We’ll call momma. We’ll call daddy. We’ll call you if we think we can get you to agree with me on a bad idea. …I’m an ineffective coach. I’m not doing a very good job."

From what I’ve seen over the past couple of seasons, he’s right to be frustrated with the players. But the scary thing is looking beyond this year. What is this team without Humphrey and Darrah? The program signed a single guard in the fall signing period without much fanfare. There are a couple of post players sitting out this season – one due to injury and one due to transfer rules – but neither seems to be the impact player that Humphrey is. The long-term outlook for the program is another post for another day, but it’s not a pleasant subject, and Landers has plenty to answer for himself.

Getting back to the present, the Lady Dogs have only a couple of days to rebound and get ready for a rematch with Vanderbilt on Sunday. Vandy jumped out to a 16-0 lead and led by as many as 20 before Georgia made a game of it in the second half, getting as close as 6 points before Vanderbilt sealed the 67-59 win. 24 turnovers – including 9 by Houts – did in the Lady Dogs.

Halfway through the SEC regular season, the Lady Dogs must beat Vanderbilt to avoid sinking below .500 in conference play.