Georgia football fans can relate. The gridiron Dawgs could start any season 7-0, but the impending trip to Jacksonville always hangs over any aspirations for a championship season. The Lady Dogs started this season 16-0, and there were enough wins over ranked and quality teams to know that the strong start was no fluke. But fans knew that the grind of the SEC season lay ahead, and that included a visit from Tennessee – a team Georgia hadn’t defeated since 2004.
Georgia’s rapid turnaround from a disappointing 2008-2009 season was a much-needed shot in the arm, but it was clear that Georgia wouldn’t be “back” until they made a move to challenge the teams that have dominated the SEC over the past five years. That list of teams starts of course with Tennessee.
So Georgia’s 53-50 win over Tennessee Thursday night was an important statement by a team that many hope will be the start of a return to national prominence for the program. The game was a clinic of defense – no surprise for a Georgia team that has leaned heavily on its defense this year. Tennessee, with a tall and athletic backcourt, was able to extend a frustrating 2-3 zone and control the glass. Georgia did a strong job of frustrating Tennessee’s guards (only a combined 14 points for the starting UT backcourt) and creating turnovers.
An energetic game that saw a 30-30 halftime score settled into a slugfest as both teams turned up the defense in the second half. Neither team led by more tha four points. With five minutes left in the game, Tennessee led 41-37. Neither team had scored in almost four minutes. Through 15 minutes of second half play, Tennessee had scored only 11 points, and Georgia had managed just 7. Ashley Houts finally knocked down a three-pointer with just under five minutes remaining, and that shot seemed to break the logjam on both ends. The teams traded baskets and even the lead until Houts fed a great pass to Porsha Phillips who found herself in perfect position to give Georgia the lead for good inside of a minute to play.
With the game on the line, Georgia turned to its defense. They smothered Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee’s sharpshooting guard, on each of UT’s final two possessions. On the first possession, Jasmine James was able to force a steal, and Georgia pushed the margin to a more comfortable three points. That three point lead allowed Georgia to focus on its perimeter defense, and again Bjorklund was unable to get off a shot that might’ve tied the game.
It’s a great feeling to be back on top of the SEC. A program that was in dire straits last spring has new life, and they’re relevant again – as relevant as any team can be this year in the hulking shadow of UConn. National media are talking about them again. “This is Georgia’s tradition,” coach Andy Landers said. “This is why I hope these players chose to come here.”
The win over Tennessee is great by itself. but it’s more important for the possibilities it creates for the team. They’re at the top of the SEC standings at this point in the year for the first time in several seasons. They know that they can get knocked off that perch in a single game – a blowout loss at Vanderbilt last week reminded them how quickly things can turn if the defense relents just a little.
Ole Miss is next up for Georgia, and the Rebels are right there with Georgia and Tennessee as the only SEC teams with one conference loss. They’ve already scored an upset of LSU and beat a good Mississippi State team last night, and they feature Bianca Thomas – the SEC’s leading scorer who just hung 42 points on LSU.
The crowd was exceptional for the Tennessee game and was as loud as Stegeman has seen – men’s or women’s – in several years. Hopefully some of those people liked what they saw and decide to come back – Sunday’s game with Ole Miss is at 1:00.
Tennessee postscripts…
– With the win, Georgia already has as many victories this year (18) as they did all of last year.
– Jasmine James had another cold night from the floor after hitting an early shot, but she came up big again at the end. She hit a three-pointer in overtime to bail out the team against Kentucky, and she dropped in another huge three-pointer with 93 seconds left against Tennessee.
– For some reason, halftime was only 15 minutes instead of the usual 20.
– Georgia substituted sparingly. Andy Landers only used two players from the bench for a total of seven minutes.
Not much of course, but the Dawgs – a unanimous pick to finish last in the SEC East – do share one bit of ignominy with the traditional ACC powers. As of today, 2+ months into the season, neither Georgia nor Carolina nor Duke has won a true road game. Last night’s upset of Duke by N.C. State in Raleigh kept the 0-fer going.
Duke will be the first team with a chance of breaking up this unlikely trio when they visit Clemson this weekend.
Bulldog tennis great John Isner won his first career ATP title last week at the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand. He’s followed that up with a strong start in the Australian Open. He’s won two matches, including winning in straight sets in the second round, and has advanced to the third round. He’s one win away from the Sweet 16 of the Australian Open, and it would be the second straight major in which he’s advanced to the fourth round (after last year’s memorable US Open run which featured an upset of Andy Roddick).
ESPN sat down with Isner after his first round win at the Aussie Open, and he was properly attired.
This might mean something to those who are regular visitors to Amelia Island: Florida House Inn in downtown Fernandina Beach has closed, apparently due to delinquent taxes. The hotel dates from 1857 and “claimed to be the state’s oldest operating hotel.”
The addition of Todd Grantham and Scott Lakatos to the Georgia defensive staff leaves Georgia one short of the maximum number of assistant coaches allowed by the NCAA. Rather than adding a fourth defensive coach, it’s been floated that Georgia might persue a dedicated special teams coach. We’ve learned this week that Mark Richt is “still working through” that decision. Both directions have their arguements, but here are the key points in favor of each:
For a special teams coach: Georgia has several bright spots on special teams (kickers especially), but there have been enough breakdowns over the past few years to suggest that a more cohesive approach to special teams could help. Fabris caught most of the criticism for special teams breakdowns, but all coaches had some responsibilities for some area of special teams. There is too much advantage in having the kickers and guys like Boykin to see it countered by an ad-hoc approach to kick coverage and returns. Richt should bring in a dedicated special teams coach to oversee the details that would make sure those hidden yards end up in Georgia’s favor.
For another defensive assistant: The Bulldogs will be implementing a new defensive alignment and scheme with new coaches. This transition will be especially challenging for the front seven – it’s not as simple as dropping a rush end into an outside linebacker spot. Richt should maximize the coaching resources available to ease that transition and get this new defense performing in time to show big improvement in 2010.
My opinion: go with the defensive coach. You’re spending $750k on a new defensive coordinator. You don’t want to make an investment and a statement like that about the defense only to shortchange Grantham when it comes to the people he’ll need to implement his defense.
It’s not that special teams don’t deserve attention, but Richt has to ask himself whether those areas can be shored up with a different approach or if it really will take one person overseeing all areas of special teams. Georgia has had successful special teams under Richt using the coaching-by-committee approach. In the case of kickoffs, it’s possible that not adjusting to the new reality of college kickoffs can be fixed with a fresh perspective. It’s also possible that there are qualified assistants out there with significant experience in certain areas of special teams – Fabris was such a coach.
There’s also nothing preventing Richt himself from taking greater ownership of the special teams. It’s not that he has nothing to do, but he also doesn’t have positional or coordinator responsibilities. Head coaches working with special teams (Beamer, Meyer) isn’t unheard of.
Mississippi State 72 – Georgia 69. It hurt. Georgia twice led by 13 on the road in Starkville and appeared to have the game in hand. Inability to get the ball upcourt against pressure combined with deadly outside shooting by MSU allowed the hosts to erase Georgia’s late lead and eventually win the game. MSU finished the game scoring 21 of the game’s last 26 points. Georgia has played three good SEC teams to the wire, but they haven’t been able to notch that first win yet. They’ll get another chance on Wednesday against Tennessee. 8-8 overall, 0-3 SEC
Georgia 73 – Arkansas 63. The Lady Dogs rebounded from Thursday’s ugly loss at Vanderbilt with a convincing win at Arkansas. The final margin was ten points, but Georgia led by as many as 25 late in the second half. The biggest difference from Thursday’s loss was backcourt production. Ashley Houts and Jasmine James combined for 22 points, 19 assists, and just 3 turnovers. At Vandy, they managed a combined 14 points, 6 assists, and 6 turnovers. Freshman Jasmine Hassell’s 14 points matched the production of the two starting post players. This was a potentially dangerous game: Arkansas stunned Georgia in Athens last year, and the trip to Fayetteville lay between two important games against Vanderbilt and Tennessee. 17-1 overall, 4-1 SEC
Lakatos hired as defensive backs coach. Georgia announced the hiring of Scott Lakatos on Monday. He’ll coach the secondary. Lakatos was at UConn since 2004 and has primarily coached in the northeast. UConn has had a decent defense over the past few years (especially relative to the talent in place), and their pass defense was a big part of that. He’s also put several players into the NFL including Tyvon Branch and Darius Butler. We’ll learn more about Lakatos after a Monday afternoon teleconference. With the hire of Lakatos and coordinator Todd Grantham, Georgia has one remaining vacancy on its staff.
Alabama 196.275 – Georgia 195.5 The Gym Dogs started off the new season with a relatively shaky win over Stanford, and SEC rival Alabama handed them their first loss of the season over the weekend. Losses in gymnastics aren’t as devastating as they are in other sports – your average score matters more than outright wins or losses. You can look back at the 2005 team that lost four straight meets during the season and rebounded to win the SEC and national titles.
Commitments honored Georgia commitment Da’Rick Rogers of Calhoun was named the MaxPreps Small Schools National Player of the Year. Rogers, one of the best prep receivers in the nation, visited Athens over the weekend and by all accounts had a good visit. There’s still some concern whether he’ll visit Florida, but for now Rogers continues to be committed to Georgia. Meanwhile, safety Alec Ogletree of Newnan and defensive tackle Garrison Smith of Douglass were named Bobby Dodd national players of the year at their respective positions by the Touchdown Club of Atlanta.
At issue were the six assistant coaches Tennessee still had under contract, many with multi-year, guaranteed deals. Cutcliffe would have had to retain at least some of those coaches if he came to Knoxville, which meant he would have had to leave some of his current Duke staff behind in Durham.
Cutcliffe’s loyalty to his assistants essentially got him fired at Ole Miss, and it seems to have been the sticking point that kept him from leaving Durham this time. Multi-year contracts can be valuable in attracting a top-quality assistant to your program, and Tennessee made headlines last year for breaking the bank to put together their all-star staff. The money tied up in those assistants though is now coming home to roost, and it has prevented them from landing the next name on their list.
We’ve since learned that Tennessee will reportedly hire Derek Dooley from Louisiana Tech. It would be a great move for Vince’s son, but Dooley will have a tough job of selling his program to fans when they realize that they’ve gone from someone with the career success of Phil Fulmer to Lane Kiffin to someone who is a career 17-20 as Louisiana Tech’s head coach.
We wish Dooley well in the Corleone sense – that is, as best as his interests don’t conflict with ours. But since he’s coaching at Tennessee, those interests will clash early and often. Hopefully he knows better than to come looking for assistants in Athens.
Grantham will be replaced by former Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni.
According to Phillips, “this came up” – apparently meaning Grantham’s decision – at 9:00 Thursday morning during the Cowboys’ practice.
Grantham’s deal is for 3 years at $750,000 per year according to Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com. That would make him the third-highest paid defensive coordinator in the nation.
Grantham stated that he looks forward to bringing a passive, uninsipred defense to Georgia that opponents would salivate over on film. No, actually, Grantham said this:
“I would like to thank Coach Mark Richt and Damon Evans for the opportunity for myself and my family to be part of the University of Georgia community,” said Grantham. “I’m very excited about being part of a staff that will work tremendously hard to return Georgia football to one of the premier teams in the SEC. To the fans and boosters of the University of Georgia, I understand the passion and standard of excellence expected. I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against.”
It sounds good…looking forward to seeing it in practice.
A few more thoughts:
In December, the Banner-Herald reported that “Athletic director Damon Evans said this week that Georgia would be ‘competitive,’ in attracting candidates for any openings with salary and possibly offering multi-year contracts.” Some were skeptical just how willing Georgia would be to open up the checkbook, but the outcome shows that Evans meant every word of it, down to the multi-year contract – a first at Georgia for an assistant.
Along those lines, I would imagine that Mike Bobo and his fellow assistants are smiling today. They’re not going to have their salaries more than doubled to $750,000, and they probably won’t see multi-year contracts. But the value of being an assistant at Georgia just went up today.
Grantham’s decision to remain with the Cowboys probably won’t matter with recruiting. Georgia has plenty of great recruiters elsewhere on the staff. What mattered from the perspective of recruiting is that the uncertainty was removed. Grantham has everything up to videoconferencing at his disposal once the dead period ends should he need to contact anyone. Do we cheer for the Vikings regardless?
Grantham, considered a 3-4 proponent, will surely be asked about what scheme he plans to bring to Georgia. I hope his answer goes something like this: “I have experience working with both a 4-3 and 3-4 defense, and I don’t intend to decide that right now. We’ll spend the next few months meeting with and getting to know the players in the program and decide as a staff which personnel and scheme gives Georgia the best chance to field a competitive and successful defense in the SEC.”
Along with assembling the rest of the staff, we’ve heard rumblings about changes coming to Georgia’s conditioning program. We’d expect that to be wrapped up within the next two weeks as mat drills and pre-spring conditioning usually kicks off around or just before Signing Day.
Wade Phillips had some very nice things to say about Grantham: “He’s grossly overqualified to be the defensive line coach. I knew that he would be a coordinator pretty quickly or even a head coach – he’s got all those qualities.
Grantham won’t be put to the test for another 7+ months, but for now Georgia has the man they’ll charge with rebuilding the Georgia defense that had deteriorated over the past couple of seasons. Fan reaction has been almost overwhelmingly positive, though it’s hard to tell how much of that has to do with relief over this long process finally coming to an end. The reality of getting down to work and producing results will come soon enough. For now, enjoy the weekend and tune in on Sunday at 1:00 to see Grantham’s current team and defensive line in action.
Gaines, signed to a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz, came up big at the buzzer last night in a win over Cleveland. Not a bad way to get your first career NBA three-pointer on a night where he scored 9 points in 9 minutes on 3-3 shooting. Hopefully Jerry Sloan and the Jazz will heed the advice of the TNT broadcast and sign him for the rest of the season.
Tom Dienhart, national senior college football writer for Rivals.com, is reporting that Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach Todd Grantham has signed to become Georgia’s defensive coordinator. According to Dienhart’s Twitter account,
Grantham’s deal is signed. it is for 3 years. he will be third highest paid DC in the nation.
Of course this announcement is just the beginning. Just a few of the questions we’ll be asking:
There are still two other openings on the Georgia defensive staff, and Grantham figures to have input on those vacancies.
It also remains to be seen if Grantham will remain with the Cowboys during their NFL playoff run.
Given Grantham’s background as a defensive line coach, it also will be interesting to see how those duties are allocated between he and Rodney Garner.
Grantham has experience with a 3-4 defensive alignment, but will he bring that look to Georgia? Do the Dawgs have the personnel to run a 3-4?
You’ll learn plenty about Grantham over the next few days, but start with the Grantham bio on Wikipedia. He has both college and pro experience, and he’s worked with both Frank Beamer and Nick Saban. The Leather Helmet Blog also has comprehensive biographical information. If you’re a Rivals.com subscriber, don’t miss this endorsement from Beamer.
Grantham has been defensive coordinator one other time in his career. From 2005-2007, he was the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns – a position he chose over interest from Nick Saban in Miami. He got results, but he was fired after a disappointing 2007 season under some strange circumstances.
I won’t consider this over until he actually shows up in Athens, but it’s a relief to start to see the end of the process. I don’t care about the snark and hand-wringing from the Atlanta media, but some concrete news is important with fewer than three weeks left until Signing Day. We’ll see how Grantham (and, soon, the rest of the staff) play on the recruiting trail, but at least Mark Richt now has an answer for those questions.
Georgia’s perfect 16-0 start has featured wins over some tough competition, but all of their biggest wins have come at home. Their highest-profile road test so far might have been at Clemson – one of the lower-division ACC teams.
That changes tonight when the Lady Dogs head to Vanderbilt. Basketball fans – men or women – know that a trip to Nashville is rarely routine or easy, and Vanderbilt’s women’s team has enjoyed a strong couple of seasons and some success over Georgia. They were ranked not far behind Georgia in the mid-teens just a week ago, but consecutive losses have them at #24 currently. They’ll be motivated by their losing streak and the danger of falling out of the SEC race at an early point in the season.
With their other marquee SEC games against LSU and Tennessee in Athens, this is probably the toughest true road game Georgia will face all season, and it will be a significant challenge to Georgia’s unblemished record. The game is on Fox Sports South at 8:00 ET.
We’re disposed to treat a program in the position of Georgia basketball with kid gloves. That’s with good reason – any team has to be evaluated relative to expectations. Everyone realizes that the team is still building and that there’s only so much with which the new coaching staff has to work.
At the same time, the game is about absolutes. Wins and losses. Plays made or not made. Our guy matching up against their guy. In that world of absolutes, Georgia blew a good opportunity to knock off another ranked team last night. Georgia’s lack of depth was painfully obvious, and several good opportunities to score down the stretch were left just short at the rim. For a team with legitimate postseason expectations, it would have been a devastating home defeat that would loom large in March. For Georgia, it was a missed chance to land a big early SEC win and sustain the energy and enthusiasm that has been building in support of the program.
I doubt Mark Fox is very happy this morning. He was quick to distance himself from any of the patronizing pat-on-the-back stuff after the Kentucky loss by writing that “you’ll never cut open a winner and find they are good losers.” At any level of competition, these kinds of losses gnaw at you whether or not you were expected to win. It’s no consolation to Fox or the team, but it’s saying something that we’re left to dwell on the handful of plays that made a difference in a close game with nationally-ranked teams.
There was plenty to like last night. The start – even with the turnovers – was about as good as you’re going to see from Thompkins and Georgia. The Dawgs hung in and led at half despite playing Mississippi’s up-tempo style. They didn’t wilt when the Rebels made a push to start the second half and built a seven-point lead. They worked hard on the offensive glass to create 16 offensive rebounds. Travis Leslie contiunes to develop. Even when the shots didn’t fall, the offense created plenty of good looks even with the game on the line.
Georgia’s held their own against three ranked teams. Actually, if Missouri can handle Oklahoma this weekend, each of Georgia’s last five opponents will have been ranked at some point this year. But it doesn’t get easier with this stretch behind us. Mississippi State started the season in the polls and beat this same Ole Miss team. Tennessee and Florida are well known. Georgia has a lot to take from its results over the past week, and the consistency is encouraging, but landing that first SEC win is still a very important step in keeping things moving forward in Fox’s first year.
Burks said Wednesday that any customer who brings in an “It’s Time” T-shirt can get 20 percent off the purchase of a new shirt. Burks said he’ll ship the old shirts to Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake on Tuesday.
Lane Kiffin, Norm Chow, and Ed Orgeron are all reuniting at Southern Cal. Will it turn out to be a pretty successful reunion along the lines of the Eagles or will it be more like David Lee Roth rejoining Van Halen?
Lane Kiffin and staff escape in the recruiting helicopter to avoid the rioting masses in Knoxville.
I’ll start with a more serious thought – instead of rioting or protesting, Tennessee fans and students should be partying. They’ll take a hit in the short term, but it pains me to say that they’ll be better off without Kiffin than they would have been with him. Put it this way – after everything shakes out I would wager that Southern Cal is looking for their next coach before Tennessee is. We know from boring stability here at Georgia, and – while it has its pitfalls – it’s not all bad considering.
My first thoughts upon hearing the news went right to two people: JaWuan James and Lance Thompson. James is a standout offensive lineman at North Gwinnett who committed to Tennessee over Georgia. I have no idea if he’d reconsider, but he’ll have to make a decision soon: James is one of several early enrollees already on campus, and classes are set to begin. There are (unconfirmed) reports that those early enrollees would preserve their eligibility and be able to sign with another team if they don’t begin attending classes. Ed Orgeron is certainly working that angle as he tries on his way out the door to poach several of them. No doubt the door would still be open for James at Georgia; he’s one of the nation’s best prospects at a position of need for Georgia. As for Thompson, the Georgia native was Tennessee’s linebackers coach and has been a successful defensive coach for several area programs. Yes, he has a long relationship with Georgia Tech, and it will be interesting to see whether Paul Johnson puts Al Groh on hold to consider the availability of Thompson. I don’t think Thompson would be a candidate for the defensive coordinator position at Georgia, but he’d be a slam-dunk upgrade as linebackers coach. We don’t know whether he’s been offered a chance to head west with Kiffin, but his background, family, and recruiting contacts are all here in the southeast. He might not even leave Tennessee. There’s a timing issue also – Georgia has floated the idea that the new defensive coordinator will have input on the other defensive coaching vacancies, and Thompson might be off the market by the time Georgia settles their coordinator search (all the more reason to wrap that up ASAP).
One of my favorite observations last night came from Chris Brown of Smart Football. “Anyone else find it weird that thse all star USC coaches all are back, but now under Kiffin instead of Carroll?” Think that’s a pretty important detail?
Then there’s the classic message board comment: “Like getting a divorce from a stripper.”
Of all the names that are floated for the Tennessee job, David Cutcliffe strikes the most fear into the hearts of Georgia fans. We know why. I think we can relax though. First, I’m not so sure he gets the call, though he probably should. Other than it being unseemly to leave a program after one year (ahem), why didn’t they go after him when they had an opening last year? Is his health still a consideration? Also, Cutcliffe the coach seems to have slightly less juju over Georgia than Cutcliffe the coordinator.
Along those lines, it’s not 2004 anymore. I understand why fans are excited to have Norm Chow back at Southern Cal, but his star seems to have faded somewhat from those glory days. You can blame the players and situations around him over the past five years, but then you’d also have to admit some pretty poor career decisions.
Lady Dogs’ turnaround season continues with big win over Tennessee
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