The all-time ledger between Andy Landers’ Lady Dogs program and Georgia Tech is a lopsided 30-4 in favor of Georgia. Recent history hasn’t been nearly as one-sided. Since Georgia won the first 24 contests, the Lady Dogs have only enjoyed a 5-4 edge in the series entering Sunday’s annual meeting. In fact, the Lady Dogs had to win on Sunday for its senior class to avoid the ignominy of being the first at Georgia to finish with a losing record against their rival.

Georgia got the win. The 74-68 triumph moved the Lady Dogs to 7-1 on the year and preserved an umblemished home record in the series with Tech.

The game was every bit as close as you’d expect from two teams that have had a lot in common with each other lately. Tech has joined Georgia as a regular participant in the NCAA Tournament, and the Jackets have been just outside the upper tier of the ACC for several seasons. With a team featuring five seniors, you’d expect them to give Georgia a fight, and they did. A year after a poor showing in Atlanta, Georgia was up to the challenge this year.

Forward Jasmine Hassell led the way for Georgia with a career-high 24 points. Hassell was engaged in battle for most of the game with Tech’s
imposing 6’5″ center Sasha Goodlett. The Lady Dogs had good success double-teaming Goodlett in the high post, but the Tech senior still finished with 19 points. Jasmine James and Meredith Mitchell also scored in double-figures for Georgia, and James notched a game-high five steals.

Both teams built small first half advantages, and a little Georgia run at the end of the first half tied things at 33 going into halftime. The Lady Dogs built another small lead early in the second half and kept Tech at arm’s length before another spurt with about 7 minutes to go punctuated by a Khaalidah Miller three-pointer opened up a 12-point Georgia advantage. Some missed foul shots and timely outside shooting from the visitors got Tech back to within three points inside of a minute left, but Georgia rediscovered their free throw shooting and iced the game from the line.

If there was one thing that put Georgia over the top, it was Georgia’s ability to create more turnovers than they committed. The Jackets rely on full-court pressure and tight on-ball defense to create transition opportunites on offense. Georgia occasionally struggled with this pressure, especially when Anne Marie Armstrong had to sit during the first half with foul trouble. But much more often than not the Lady Dogs were able to work it up the court and get into their halfcourt offense. Thanks in large part to the successful traps of Goodlett, the Lady Dogs forced 20 Tech turnovers and created their own opportunities to run.

The remainder of Georgia’s nonconference slate is highlighted by a Las Vegas holiday tournament in a couple of weeks which includes a game against Gonzaga. The Zags were one of the surprises of last season’s NCAA Tournament and have another quality team this year. If they can get past that game, the Lady Dogs stand a good chance of entering conference play on January 1st with a 12-1 record.

We can dismiss any notion that LSU will be overlooking the game with their place in the BCS Championship a virtual lock. Despite the opinion that this game is now somehow without meaning, playing for an SEC title means quite a bit to anyone who puts on a uniform. Georgia’s absence from this game since 2005 has been noted, but LSU has experienced a lesser drought of their own. Few on the team were around in 2007, and everyone else has watched either Alabama or Auburn represent the West for the past three seasons. They’re about as likely to make light of their opportunity to be champions of the conference as Georgia was to overlook Tech last week.

In one of the more puzzling statements after the loss to Boise, the Dawgs claimed to have been rattled by the crowd noise in what was more or less a home game. Just so we’re all clear on this: LSU will have more fans on Saturday than Boise had. LSU fans are known for being a little loud. Hopefully the Dawgs will be more prepared this time.

We know both teams have a good defense. With that in mind, individual matchups are more interesting. Is Georgia well-seasoned enough up front to deal with LSU’s tailback rotation and pounding running game? Can they keep Jordan Jefferson’s mobility from being a factor? Rueben Randle is a beast, but only two LSU receivers have over 20 catches on the year. Can Georgia afford to cheat a little on Randle and Beckham?

When LSU gets into its power running game mode, they like to do it from one-back ace formations with two TE or from two-back sets. Against Arkansas it was noted that the Tigers often split out a third receiver instead of using that second tight end or blocking back. Because Arkansas wasn’t especially strong up front, LSU could get away with spreading the field without betraying their running game. The spread field opened up additional opportunities with the passing game and the occasional option play.

Georgia is certainly much stronger up front than Arkansas, so LSU will be faced with a few choices. The running game is still their bread and butter, so we could expect to see more power formations in order to establish the run against a good defensive front. At the same time, they’d forego the spread formation that made them more versatile and explosive against Arkansas. All of that depends on Georgia’s front playing as expected. If LSU can have early success running the ball, they’ll be able to spread out and put a lot of pressure on Georgia’s back seven or eight in pass coverage.

All sorts of things come to mind when Georgia has the ball. Can the Georgia offensive line that’s been so good in pass protection this month deal with a pure speed rusher like Mingo? Will the tight end be less of an option in the passing game if he’s needed to shore up the edge? Murray’s been much more efficient lately, but accuracy has never been his calling card. Can he get away with that against such a good secondary? Does that secondary lead Georgia to lean more on shorter passes, and can guys like Figgins or Charles be productive?

Can any tailback be counted on enough to develop a rushing strategy for this game? Will LSU’s Eric Reid be back? It looks that way. He’ll give them a more physical defensive backfield and make it tougher to run.

Will Georgia try their hurry-up? It was a train wreck in the season opener, but they’ve used it with more success during the year. It’s a reach to compare Georgia’s higher-tempo offense with Oregon, but the Ducks were able to put up yards on LSU. Just not points.

Turnovers and big special teams plays might seem like random events, but LSU has relied so consistently on them this year that they’re just about as reliable as 100 yards from a good tailback. We’ve seen everything from the fake punt against Florida to the kickoff return at West Virginia to a pivotal interception and punt at Alabama to the punt return against Arkansas. LSU can afford to get outgained in traditional yardage because it’s been so good at the margins. You don’t have to drive 80 yards when you’ve flipped field position with an interception or a long punt.

The challenge for Georgia isn’t just winning turnovers or avoiding special teams mistakes, though that matters. It’s doing those things in a way that create, if not points outright, an advantage that leads to points or changes how the opponent operates. That’s what LSU has done so well this year. Like a good defensive basketball team depends on a press to create easier transition chances, LSU effectively uses defense and special teams to score in spurts that bury an opponent.

Georgia has blocked a punt in both of Mark Richt’s SEC Championships. With Georgia retreating into a punt-safe shell after a couple of successful fakes, we’ll probably have to see if the Dawgs can win a title without a blocked kick. The Dawgs do at least look solid in the other areas of special teams. This is what I was just talking about though – it’s not enough to play neutral with few mistakes. Georgia needs those positive and point-producing plays from its defense and special teams to have success against an opponent of this quality.

If you look over the LSU schedule, the one game that gives more reason for hope than any other is the Mississippi State game. I don’t like comparisons using games from months ago – both Georgia and LSU are different and improved teams since then. That game though is the formula that gives Georgia its best chance to win. Play solid defense, don’t give up scores on big plays, make it a game of field goals, and do your best to get to the 4th quarter. Of course every other team has seen that film, and only Alabama was able to duplicate it.

Echoing what Travis had to say about Mark Bradley’s latest, one question pops to mind:

Can we expect a similar column the next time the ACC and SEC basketball tournaments come to Atlanta?

I mean – it’s arguable whether the football SEC Championship game matters in this season’s national title picture. It probably won’t, but there’s an outside chance that the margin might affect the final polls. Whatever. But every few years the city hosts basketball conference championship games where the only bigger thing at stake is whether or not some bubble team can get 2 or 3 wins to sneak into the NCAA Tournament. There is no greater set of moot exhibition games than during conference championship week in March.

Bradley can mock the fact that LSU’s outcome on Saturday probably won’t change much about their place in the BCS or where they’ll end up in January. Yes, that’s the case in this exceptional season. If it’s an example of a flaw in the BCS, it’s also a sign of things to come in a post-BCS world. If you want to see a football conference championship really become a meaningless exhibition, make it so that the favored participant is already assured a place in your postseason football tournament.

If you’re looking for tickets or just want to see where the Georgia section is, here is the distribution of seats (pardon the horrible orange and blue scheme). Georgia’s allotment is shaded blue; LSU’s allotment is shaded orange. Georgia will be the visitors, so the team bench will be opposite of both blocks of fans. Since LSU wears white home and away, the Dawgs will still be in red jerseys.

It’s a bit unusual in that the teams’ allotments are next to each other rather than across from each other. With both schools getting only about 16,000 tickets each, most of the tickets went to sponsors and the general public. The north side of the Dome should be a pretty random jumble of fans who got tickets through the secondary ticket markets. None of the premium mezzanine seating went to either school.

This is some pretty damning stuff about the insular culture at Penn State under Joe Paterno. In the context of the past month, it provides an understanding (though certainly not an excuse) of why even the gravest of crimes and behavior would be handled behind closed doors.

Much of the rationale behind the Penn State culture probably doesn’t sound all that foreign to fans of college athletics. Here are a few de-personalized excerpts:

The cops would call me, and I used to put them in bed in my house and run their rear ends off the next day. Nobody knew about it. That’s the way we handled it.

“(The football coach) would rather we NOT inform the public when a football player is found responsible for committing a serious violation of the law and/or our student code despite any moral or legal obligation to do so.”

(The football coach) felt that “it should be his call if someone should practice and play in athletics.” He said (the coach) felt the school had “overreacted” by deciding to allow reporting of off-campus incidents, and that the NCAA had gone “overboard” with new rules on academic-eligibility requirements.

You won’t have to look far to find support for those positions around your favorite team and its fans. Are the local cops overbearing? Would this all be better settled with a few 5 a.m. sessions of running stadiums? Is it time to draw the line on admissions committees and higher entrance standards?

It might look like a stretch to go from internalizing traffic tickets and tattoos to the kinds of things alleged at Penn State. Michael Elkon had an interesting piece a couple of weeks ago pointing out that it might not be that far of a leap. He suggests “that athletic departments at major universities are places where the default response to any wrongdoing is to try to handle it in-house and to avoid reporting it to the appropriate authorities.”

That’s probably true of a lot of organizations, especially those with a cult of personality where those charged with oversight have a stake in that cult. College athletics, argues Elkon, are particularly susceptible to “ignoring reality” because they’re already so adept at rationalizing the hypocrisies of amateurism and academic standards.

To that end, it helps if the decision-making can be decentralized to remove or reduce the temptation to abuse authority. Georgia is as at-risk as anyone for falling victim to this culture; just look at Damon Evans’ reaction to getting pulled over last year. Jan Kemp is no fan favorite, and the fallout from her case took years to overcome. It’s often a point of contention among fans, but many decisions have, by design, been taken out of the coach’s hands at Georgia. We’ve lost NFL-quality players to the admissions committee. Discipline for drug/alcohol-related incidents are mandated by the university and the athletic department.

There’s always a risk for those controls and systems to break down, especially if pressure can be brought from powerful coaches, boosters, or administrators. Often those left to make the decisions are villified, and it’s reasonable to expect that anyone who blew the whistle at Penn State might have been run out of town. We might not like the (relative) transparency and its short-term consequences, but operating that way does do a little to stave off bigger – and in the extreme case of Penn State, tragic – problems.

Via Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald:

Larry Munson died at his Athens home Sunday night with complications from pneumonia, his son Michael said through UGA.

Shelving what I was writing about the Kentucky game. Can’t think about yesterday or anything else right now. Prayers are with Larry, Michael, and the rest of the Munson family. As private of a man as he was, there is no more public symbol of what it means to be a Georgia fan.

It’s kind of becoming a broken record:

Due to unclaimed UGA student tickets, a limited number of tickets to this Saturday’s football game vs. Coastal Carolina are on sale to the general public…

Due to unclaimed UGA student tickets, a limited number of tickets to this Saturday’s football game vs. Mississippi State will go on sale to the general public…

Due to University of Georgia students starting Thanksgiving break this Friday, a limited number of unclaimed student tickets to this Saturday’s football game vs. Kentucky will go on sale to the general public…

Whatever the reasons, Georgia students have left tickets on the table for at least half of the games this year. There’s even an incentive to make sure that tickets get used or at least donated back into a pool for redistribution.

An unused ticket on a student account will result in a one point penalty “strike.” Three strikes in a given season deem that student ineligible for post season tickets (SEC Championship and bowl tickets) and the following season’s tickets.

For many students, the first SEC East title they’ve experienced in their time at Georgia is up for grabs. It’s also an opportunity to honor the seniors that have led the program back. It’s unfortunate that the students won’t show up in full force for a game of this magnitude – yes, even at noon and even against a bad Kentucky team. This isn’t what I want to be talking about before such a significant game and accomplishment, but it’s hard to ignore.

Of course not all students are apathetic. The ones who have shown up this year have been enthusiastic and vocal. It might just be a matter of there being too many tickets in the first place. As of 2008, roughly 18,000 seats were reserved for students, and I would expect the current number to be similar. Student seating includes parts of the West endzone and much of the northeast upper and lower decks. Greg McGarity should look at that allotment in the offseason and compare it to actual usage. Fans have recently had to pay in the four figures for new renewable season tickets, and a few more tickets added to that pool could ease some of the surplus demand.

There are ready-made excuses. The opponents suck. The games are too early. It’s Thanksgiving Break (although the dorms remain open until Sunday.) None of those excuses applied a week ago. Even with the biggest home game of the year, a national television broadcast, and a 3:30 start time, guess which sections were still half-full just minutes before kickoff against Auburn?

A South Carolina fan ventured over to a Kentucky board to try to give the Big Blue Nation a little self-serving pep talk. It wasn’t received quite the way he expected.

Some of our favorite Kentucky responses:

If you were in an elevator and went 20 flights up and the doors opened up to Hell……that would be UK Football right now.

Truth be told, I believe most of us would rather see Georgia win the East than Steve Superior.

I would never take pleasure in a UK loss but the fact that losing to UofG would ensure Visor Boy and USC wouldnt win the East would take some sting out of the loss. I absolute abhore Visor Boy. I enjoy anything that takes that smug smirk off of his face.

So many directions we could go after such a complete and enjoyable win Saturday. We’ll let others guide our thoughts…

“We’ll see how Georgia plays when they know they have to win. I have a feeling something good is going to happen to us.”
– Steve Spurrier, following South Carolina’s win over Florida

Spurrier was right and wrong. Yes, his team’s win earlier in the day and their solid 6-2 SEC record meant that Georgia absolutely had to win its final two conference games in order to advance to the SEC Championship. They would get no more help from the Gamecocks. But what Spurrier missed was that Georgia has played knowing it must win ever since that disappointing night in early September. The program and its coach have been in a must-win situation for almost a year now.

“We all knew how important this game was; we hear what everyone says…You can say you’re not thinking about it, but deep down you know what’s at stake.”
– Aaron Murray after the win over Florida

So if Spurrier was trying to apply the screws, he’s late to the party. Pressure is the normal condition for any major program, but the urgency at Georgia has been especially intense since the disappointing 2010 season ended on a stormy day in Memphis. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The survival instinct that kicked in led the staff to make some difficult but unavoidable changes behind the scenes. As Georgia imposed their will in the second half, I couldn’t help but think about the choices made and the work done in the offseason.

“We’re OK on the run game…”
– Gene Chizik, discussing his defense in his interview heading into halftime

Chizik was pleased with his run defense after the first half, but he lamented Georgia’s success on the downfield passes to the outside. True enough, Georgia struck often in the first half on back shoulder routes to the outside that were almost stop routes. Georgia hit one of these routes at the end of the Florida game, and they served Murray well again. Auburn almost always over-ran the routes even when, as illustrated by the CBS crew, there was another layer of coverage over the top.

Chizik’s confidence in his run defense was short-lived. The Bulldogs were successful running the ball right from their first possession of the second half. As a result, Auburn was limited to four drives in the second half. That’s not a good place to be when you’re down four scores to begin with. Georgia’s success on the ground meant that every Auburn drive had to produce points, and of course not one of them did.

The gold standard for soul-crushing drives remains the 11-minute monster that ended the 2002 Ole Miss game, but this weekend gave us something even better: three drives – all 10 plays or more and averaging nearly six and half minutes each. The Dawgs held the ball for over 21 of the 30 minutes of the second half. It might’ve been more entertaining to put up 50 or 60 points, but the act of watching Georgia run over and over for the entire half was thoroughly satisfying.

“I thought I went deaf for a second there.”
– Bacarri Rambo describing the noise following his interception returned for a touchdown

I was trying to think of a moment when I’ve heard Sanford Stadium louder. It’s tough. We can debate decibels, but it was one of those electrifying moments we’ve only had a couple of times in the past few years. There was no uniform gimmick. There was no coordinated celebration, just a spontaneous moment of enthusiasm after Rambo’s score.

It was a similar scene last year when Justin Houston scooped up a Tech fumble and scored. Houston’s score opened up a 14-point margin on the Yellow Jackets, and Sanford was rocking. But Georgia couldn’t maintain the momentum, and we were soon back in a one-point game. It was a similar scene against South Carolina earlier this year. Every good play was matched with a catastrophic turnover or breakdown that led to points and, ultimately, to the loss.

I won’t declare all that in the past because we’re only a couple of weeks removed from some pretty big momentum-killers against Vandy and Florida. For one night at least Georgia not only took advantage of opportunities to gain momentum; they also responded on those few occasions when momentum might be lost or even shifted back to Auburn. It started early with a strong response to Auburn’s lone touchdown. Murray was at his best, engineering a drive on which he went 5-for-5. His third down completion to a tightly-covered Orson Charles was placed perfectly, and the touchdown pass to Bennett was as good of a throw and catch as you’ll see.

Georgia remained stingy with what they allowed Auburn. There were no kickoff returns of note – itself a noteworthy accomplishment. Auburn didn’t have a chance at an onside kick after the first quarter. Georgia abandoned any notion of returning punts and gaining field position with their punt-safe defense, but that was the trade-off for closing the door on any potential fake punt. The Georgia defense also held firm after Crowell’s fumbles. Georgia scored 14 points after Auburn turnovers; Georgia’s turnovers turned out to be nothing more than speed bumps.

“You’ve got to make plays on defense this day and age. You’ve got to go stop people. To do that, you’ve got to attack them, be relentless in your effort and prepare during the week. If you do that, you have a chance to go make plays.”
– Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham

In a game full of so many big moments, you can’t really say the game turned on any one of them. Some are subtle: a favorable spot on Georgia’s very first series kept the opening scoring drive alive. Others are obvious: Rambo’s interception broke the game open. Though the game was already 35-7 at this point, I really liked what happened just before and just after halftime. If you go back to last year, this was the point in the game where Auburn flipped things in their favor. Trailing 21-14, they tied it up inside of a minute left in the second quarter. The Tigers executed and recovered an onside kick to start the second half, and soon Georgia was the team playing from behind. It was a huge 14-point swing that turned the game.

Late in the first half on Saturday, Drew Butler shanked a punt into the Georgia sideline (‘sup wid dat?). Auburn suddenly had their best field position since their scoring drive and an opportunity to grab a shred of momentum before regrouping at halftime. As Grantham exhorted, Georgia’s defense got the stop and didn’t even yield a first down. The Dawgs also held on the other side of halftime. The kickoff was a touchback. Auburn got 17 yards on one of Dyer’s few productive runs of the night, but Auburn’s attempt to open the second half with a score ended there. Georgia forced a punt and began to dictate exactly how the second half would go. Though Georgia’s drive stalled and ended with a short field goal, the Dawgs made it clear that there would be no huge swing of momentum in Auburn’s favor this year.

“We’ll hold out a little hope, but Georgia is playing awfully well now. You always have some hope. That’s a game we have no control over, so we’re not going to worry about it.”
– Steve Spurrier, on his team depending on a Kentucky win over Georgia

We’ll be magnanimous and let Coach Spurrier have the final word. He’s right: Georgia’s job is unfinished. Kentucky might be the SEC equivalent of a two-foot putt, but it’s still a shot that has to be made. It wasn’t nearly against the same odds, but two years ago Kentucky left Athens with their first win at Georgia since 1977. Part of my enjoyment Saturday night was the realization that Spurrier had to sit there and watch it, and hopefully he’ll have an equally-enjoyable viewing experience this Saturday.

The start times for the November 12th games have been announced by the SEC. CBS will have both chapters of a pivotal day in the SEC East. They’ll have the noon game in Columbia featuring Florida’s visit to South Carolina.

Then at 3:30 CBS will broadcast Auburn’s trip to Georgia.

The decision by CBS means that Georgia will know by kickoff exactly what they must do in their final two conference games. If South Carolina beats Florida, Georgia must beat both Auburn and Kentucky in order to win the East. If Florida wins, the Dawgs will know that they can clinch the division outright with a win over Auburn.

With pretty much every Georgia tailback headed to a one-game suspension or to the injured list, we’re faced with the practical challenge of fielding a running game this weekend. The good news is that Georgia is up against the nation’s 111th-best rushing defense rather than an SEC foe. Hopefully the line can create holes that random members of the Alumni Band could run through. But in terms of who will actually carry the ball, reports have focused on these three options. It’s not a stretch to imagine all three being used at some point.

1) Stick with the tailbacks on the roster
Brandon Harton and Kyle Karempelis are the two tailbacks on the roster who could see playing time. Harton is a former walk-on, and Karempelis still is. Neither are especially big guys (5’6″ and 5’9″, respectively.) We’re more familiar with Harton – he had some carries in garbage time against Coastal Carolina.

2) Use the fullbacks
Ogletree and Figgins haven’t carried the ball much, if at all, this year, but they’d be an option to run the ball especially in short-yardage situatins.

3) Look to other positions
Here’s where the fun starts for those of us playing fantasy coach. There are plenty of talented guys on the team who would love a shot at carrying the ball. It’s not likely to be someone from elsewhere on offense. Receivers are thin enough as it is, especially with Mitchell still out. They’re also not likely to waste the redshirt season of someone who hasn’t played yet. So we look to the other side of the ball. A couple have already carried the ball this year. Rambo has been an effective option quarterback for the scout team; we know he can run the ball.

Of the names fans and media are throwing out over the past day, one name – Nick Marshall – intrigues me the most. Follow my thinking here:

• I’d be hesistant to use a front line defensive player on all but a couple of carries. You don’t want to risk losing Boykin, Smith, and Rambo if the game can be won with other players. Even Swann is seeing more time on defense, so I’d hesitate to pull him over.
• Marshall has already burned his redshirt.
• The coaches have already considered Marshall on offense. I know this is mostly offseason recruiting bluster, but Marshall’s possible use in a “Wild Dawg” look was a topic back in May.
• Marshall, though a defensive back now, was an accomplished running quarterback in high school who would be comfortable running the ball. This isn’t high school, but it’s not as if he’s going up against Alabama’s run defense on Saturday.

If Marshall gains some experience on Saturday, this needn’t be a one-game experiment. With Samuel down for a while, there’s still a need at tailback going forward.

Most everyone’s thoughts are on the game in Jacksonville, but Georgia’s basketball teams will start their seasons with exhibition games next week. The teams will open the season with a double-header on Friday November 11th (the day before the Auburn football game). We’ll have season previews soon, but for now here’s information about the free exhibitions.

The Lady Dogs and Bulldogs get their 2011-12 basketball seasons underway with exhibition games next week. Admission to both exhibition games is free and all seating is general admission.

• Tuesday, November 1 Lady Dogs vs. West Georgia tip-off 7:00p.m.
• Friday, November 4 Bulldogs vs. Morehouse tip-off 7:00p.m.

Stegeman Coliseum gates will open 1 hour prior to tip-off of all home games this season, beginning with the exhibition games.

Just a few mid-week thoughts about the game…

Get healthy. Both Georgia and Florida enjoyed bye weeks last week, and both expect some key contributors to return from the list of the injured. Georgia fans are nervously watching every tidbit about Malcom Mitchell’s hamstring, and Florida plans to have their first-string quarterback. The Dawgs should be as healthy as they’ve been in a while, and they welcome back a first-string linebacker. The big question though is how the healed players will hold up. Will Brantley’s ankle survive a couple of hits? Will Mitchell be able to trust his hamstring at full speed on his deep routes? Can Crowell make it through a game?

Get a hold of yourself. The takeway from the Vandy game wasn’t what happened postgame. It’s that the team, and the defense in particular, couldn’t keep its composure against Vanderbilt. Georgia hasn’t even faced their three biggest rivals. The Dawgs will be poked and prodded for the rest of the season to see if those opponents can’t gain the same edge that Vanderbilt realized. We want the defense to play with emotion, get fired up, and even be a little angry. It’s a fine line – the Dawgs were on the right side of it after the pre-game barking with Mississippi State. It went a little differently at Vanderbilt. The Florida game brings its own emotions and tension. Whether you’re talking about frustration over the streak or digging up indignation over an eye gouge or dancing in the endzone, there’s no shortage of potential powder kegs. It starts with the coaches: Grantham’s fire needs to have a laser focus. He doesn’t have to match the other sideline in the unhinged department.

There’s another angle on composure, and it’s summed up well in this post. Aaron Murray still struggles with slow starts, and that continued with a 3-for-9 start at Vanderbilt before the offense got humming. Murray recovered to throw for 313 yards and lead Georgia’s comeback, but the slow start meant that the Bulldogs played from behind for much of the game. He was a freshman making his first start in his home state, so it’s reasonable that he was overexcited. Offense has come at a premium for Georgia in this series, and they’ll need Murray to be at his best out of the gate. Florida is dead-last in the SEC in turnover margin, but Bulldog turnovers have been one of the bigger stories in the past three meetings. If the beards live on for another week, the Dawgs should be in good shape.

Get in the endzone. We’ve pounded on the lack of offense in Jacksonville for years. Last year was a rarity in the series: Georgia managed to put a fair number of points on the board and still lost. Georgia has scored at least 20 points in every SEC game this year, but Florida will be one of the better defenses they’ve faced. Even in these lean years, Georgia has done well when scoring at least 24 points in Jacksonville. Key will be finishing scoring opportunities. Settling for early field goals has left Georgia with some uncomfortably close finishes against South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. A windy forecast on Saturday is just one more reason to hope that the Dawgs have better results getting 7 instead of 3.

Get rid of the excuses. Bernie has a good point here. Of course it matters in terms of preparation and strategy who Florida puts under center. But almost every year Georgia fans cling to some sort of talisman that will reverse the trend in Jacksonville. Just wait ’til {Lito | Taylor | Wuerffel | Spurrier | Tebow | Urban} is gone. It’s the nature of lopsided rivalries – we’ll take any perceived hope we can get. Now it’s Brantley. Forget about it, and just play ball.

This is best left to the professionals, but it’s worth keeping an eye on – no pun intended.

There is a strong hurricane – Rina – in the northwestern Caribbean forecast to become a major (Category 3) storm within a day. The current forecast is for the storm, albeit a good bit weaker, to be around the Cuba / Florida Keys area by the weekend. Important: none of the computer models are calling for the storm to come anywhere near Jacksonville. Still, tropical systems can have effects hundreds of miles from their center, so any change in the track, size, and intensity of Rina could have an impact on the game or your travel plans. That looks to be a remote possibility right now, and the National Weather Service out of Jacksonville isn’t very concerned yet.

The current NWS forecast for Jacksonville is about as ideal as you can get: Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 73.

The Red & Black caught up with Trinton Sturdivant, and Sturdivant spoke at length about his future plans.

When Sturdivant went down in the spring with his third ACL injury since 2008, it was assumed his playing career at Georgia was over. But Sturdivant told the Red & Black that there is “nearly ‘a 100 percent chance'” that he will return. Sturdivant, who has slimmed down to 255 lb. from his playing weight, would like to return to the team not as an offensive lineman but as a tight end.

Georgia’s tight end position in 2012 looks about as deep as it does this year. Aron White will be gone, but redshirting freshman Jay Rome will be ready to go. Orson Charles might return for his senior season, and Artie Lynch isn’t going anywhere. Sturdivant sees a potential role as “one of the blockers of the bunch.”

It’s not out of the realm of possibilities for a former offensive lineman to have the athleticism to play other positions. Michael Lewis in The Blind Side discussed how left tackles have evolved, by necessity, to become some of the more athletic players on their teams. Many, like Lewis’s subject Michael Oher, were basketball standouts. Sturdivant believes that he has the hand-eye coordination to be an effective tight end that does more than just block.

Given the recent attrition, it’s not really a numbers concern. Georgia should be able to welcome back Sturdivant while signing a full class. He’ll have to apply for a medical exemption that would grant him a sixth year of eligibility, but he’s the classic case for such an exemption. The real question is whether this is a wise move. With three major knee surgeries in his past, does he need to push his luck coming back one more time at a position at which the Dawgs will already have plenty of talent?

Sturdivant, already a graduate of the Terry College of Business, has plans to attend law school. His future should be bright with or without football. He still has to talk to Georgia’s coaches about his plans. It will be a long shot for him to get on the field, but he seems set on the idea. If that’s the case, we hope he has the opportunity to come back and go out next year with his final memory in Athens a win over Georgia Tech rather than crumpled to the ground on the practice field.