Georgia’s players are damned if they do and damned if they don’t when it comes to their reaction to a loss. If they turned confrontational and started on the whole “in the arena” business again, things would be ugly enough. But even when they fall on their own sword and own up to poor play, that too sometimes just doesn’t sit very well.

I do appreciate Rambo admitting to leaving a lot in the locker room and noting a need to step up his play. The Rambo vs. Evans question was at the heart of many fans’ dissatisfaction with the defense and the staff last year, but Rambo hasn’t exactly been dominant or sharp so far in his short time as the starter and leader of the safety position. It’s not exactly Tebow’s Promise, but at least he’s not pleased with his current level of play.

Darryl Gamble’s assessment might be more troubling.

“I’d say it was maybe a little effort and a little bit of guys being shell shocked out there in their first SEC game – a lot of guys weren’t ready for it.”

Not ready for their first SEC game? What? Pretty much all of the defenders who played Saturday, save Hamilton and a few others, have seen SEC action before. This wasn’t Georgia State going to Tuscaloosa. This was a noon start in Columbia for a ranked SEC contender against a team the Dawgs had lost to once in the past seven years. And they were the ones shell shocked? How in the world has this happened from a team ranked #1 just two years ago?

Not being prepared, focused, hungry, and unfazed in such an important game is a big deal. Again, it’s a program problem. Put alongside the sub-par play from the offensive line, and it wasn’t a team prepared to compete for important early-season position in the SEC East. It’s a laziness we put on a certain group of coaches last year, but the problem persists. It hasn’t been long enough to let a culture change kick in, but steps in that direction we thought we saw in Week One were erased the second that the next opponent started pushing back.

Talk about rededication and fiery Sunday film sessions now rings about as hollow as it should have back in 2008. Enough talk.

Unfortunately, it’s our next road game. Georgia’s September 25th game at Mississippi State has been set for 7:00 ET and will be televised by FSN. For Georgians, that means Fox Sports South.

After three straight noon-ish starts to begin the season, Georgia’s fourth and fifth games (@ Mississippi State and @ Colorado) will each kick off at 7:00 ET.

A day later and I’m still not sure what to make of the game.  Georgia never trailed by more than 11 points, and they spent much of the game within a single score.  Still, the challenge to come back seemed as steep at times as it ever did in the blowout losses of the past two years.  Credit to South Carolina for taking it right at Georgia, and credit especially to a freshman tailback that had one of the most impressive SEC debuts you’ll ever see. To have a chance Georgia needed a spark on offense, and it wasn’t going to come from the 2005 Georgia/Florida gameplan. 

Spurrier and Lattimore can cackle about the zone read as if it were some sort of brilliant strategy, but Georgia had the players in position time and again to challenge Lattimore, and that first contact often came at or behind the line of scrimmage.  Lattimore’s more important observation was one that’s sure to be repeated and stewed over by disgruntled Georgia fans:  "Our offensive line was in better shape than their defensive line." Georgia was pushed around on both sides of the ball, especially on the lines.

It wasn’t just the defensive line.  Georgia, from the line to the secondary, put on the worst display of tackling since the 2008 Georgia Tech game.  Even a safety who came to Georgia with the nickname "Hitman" was among the many leading with their shoulders and bouncing off a more physical freshman tailback.

The lack of physical play wasn’t limited to the defense.  Georgia had trouble running between the tackles for the second time in two games.  Again the line had much better success on outside running plays and in pass protection, but the push just wasn’t there – especially in the second quarter when the game began to get away.  It’s interesting that Richt singled out the guards on Sunday.  The guards of course are key to those interior running plays.  It’s hindsight now, but I wondered how much Cordy Glenn, a solid All-SEC lineman, was knocked down by a preseason bout with mono.  He’s recovered the weight, but it takes a lot out of you. Key I think to this problem is the return of Trinton Sturdivant.  If Sturdivant is able to contribute, Boling becomes another option at guard and can really beef up the rotation there.

Yet with all of the negative things that were going on, this was a one-possession game for much of the second half.  You’re not going to win many games scoring six points, but you stand a fair chance of winning many games giving up just 17.  We’ve spent the past two years tearing our hair out over defensive meltdowns that saw opponents put up 30 points in a single half.  We can debate whether it’s better to get lit up or suffer death by a thousand cuts, but the defense did at least keep things from getting out of hand waiting, waiting for the offense to finally get going.

More positives? I liked the pass coverage. Yes, there was a longer pass completed and a few others just missed.  Generally though Garcia was at his most uncomfortable in straight passing situations, and there were even a few coverage sacks.  The Dawgs didn’t give up the big play.  For all of Lattimore’s success, South Carolina only managed around 100 yards of second half offense, so there were some adjustments. Adjustments, fewer penalties, turnovers, all of the things we’ve asked for were there, but it wasn’t enough as the basics of tackling and any consistency on offense eluded the team.

Then there’s Murray.   

Without getting into the details of the game, Murray’s effort was good enough that coaches "think he’s prepared to just run the system as we have it." In other words, opening up the offense and putting more on Murray’s shoulders.  Now much of that depends on the supporting cast.  A team that can’t run the ball effectively is going to be inconsistent no matter who’s under center.

It’s good that the staff has come to that realization about Murray, and maybe it took two games of actual experience for them to see what he can do.  But if Richt and Bobo ever end up on any kind of hot seat, their hesitancy in situations like this will prove to be central.  A friend last week joked that Bobo should be told that A.J. Green was playing anyway, referencing the Israel Troupe play against Auburn last year.  South Carolina felt more than comfortable putting the game on a freshman tailback, and I doubt they cared very much how well he pass-blocked.  I’m glad to see Murray ready to take on more, but it’s not as if he showed up on campus this August.  He was an early enrollee in 2009 and has been through two spring practices and spent over a year and a half with the team. It took an unproductive loss at South Carolina to understand his capacity for running the system?

The comments about Murray and the interior line do make me wonder if this team will struggle with an identity crisis.  Bobo put it plainly: "we were gonna play to our strength: The play-action pass and the running game." It wasn’t just the fans who anticipated a good running game to develop behind a veteran offensive line.  I don’t expect the Dawgs to go 5-wide for the rest of the season, but the promise of a more involved Murray does make me question if we, the media, and even the coaches have the strengths right.

There’s a lot of football between now and the October 2nd game at Colorado, but residents of Boulder have a lot more on their minds this weekend. The largest wildfire in Boulder County history is currently raging in the highlands to the west of Boulder. The town itself and the CU campus itself isn’t threatened yet, but the fire has displaced many residents and has captured the attention of everyone in the area. As many as 9,000 residents are on standby for possible evacuation. At least 169 homes have been destroyed, and the fire currently affects nearly 6,500 acres in the hills and canyons west of Boulder. Westerly winds have pushed smoke across the town, and strong winds make it a difficult fight.

I had heard during the summer that the full Redcoat Band wasn’t making the trip to Columbia. That seemed strange because 1) the Athletic Association isn’t hurting for cash and 2) the full band typically makes all trips that can reasonably be made without an overnight stay. That includes the Alabama schools, Tennessee, South Carolina/Clemson, and of course Tech.

Sure enough, the Red and Black reports that just a pep band will be supporting Georgia at South Carolina. Did Georgia suddenly come up short of cash? Did a greedy athletic department want to sell those seats to fans? Nope. It all has to do with other SEC schools and some contrived notion of fairness:

“The rest of the athletic associations in the SEC are hurting a little bit, whereas ours is sitting on a budget this year so we are all right…So to be fair to everyone, they cut one of our band trips because all the other band organizations cut their band trips by one.”

Are you kidding me? Because some other SEC programs have to cut back band trips, the school will voluntarily hold back its loudest group of supporters in a key SEC opener on the road. South Carolina will have enough of a homefield advantage without keeping 3/4 of the Redcoats home. Why have a successful program and a budget in the black if you’re not going to use that advantage? Georgia isn’t going to cut back its recruiting budget or its facilities plans because some other SEC school can’t keep up, so why do it here?

I know UGA has made kneecapping itself into an art form, but this is ridiculous.

Georgia junior wide receiver has been suspended for four games by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff for violations of NCAA agent benefits rules. What exactly happened?

According to the facts of the case submitted by Georgia, the student-athlete sold his Independence Bowl game jersey to an individual who meets the NCAA definition of an agent. Green has repaid the $1,000 value of benefits to charity.

The ruling is consistent with NCAA guidelines for reinstatement following the receipt of improper benefits:

(a) Value of the benefit ranges from greater than $100 to $300 = 10 percent withholding condition and repayment.
(b) Value of the benefit ranges from greater than $300 to $500 = 20 percent withholding condition and repayment.
(c) Value of the benefit greater than $500 = 30 percent withholding condition and repayment.

UGA can and almost certainly will appeal. It would be interesting to see why Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus received only a two-game suspension after receiving benefits totaling $1,787.17. Green’s infraction involved a smaller dollar amount, and he’s already repaid the money. Hopefully the resolution of the appeal will be as speedy as Jeremiah Masoli’s was last week. If Green’s suspension is not reduced, the Oct. 2nd Colorado game would mark his 2010 debut.

For now, Georgia must prepare to play its next three games without Green. The receiving corps will benefit from the return of Tavarres King this week, but otherwise it’s the same group that took the field for the opener. Georgia had to play much of the end of last season without Green, and they had mixed results. Georgia defeated Auburn, Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M without their star, but they fell to Kentucky.

The biggest changes for many of us will be the new tailgating rules that were announced back in the spring. The Banner-Herald has a front-page story today as a reminder of the new rules. Many expect the rules to all but kill off tailgating on North Campus, but it will be a while before the impact is felt. With the first two home games kicking off before 12:30, tailgating will be subdued anyway. Any evaluation of the new rules made before the Tennessee game will be very premature.

For those tailgating elsewhere on campus, they’ll still be affected by several new rules:

• No pull-behind items (trailers, cookers, etc.)
• No golf carts or ATVs
• No parking on sidewalks (expanded to include Carlton St.)
• The ban on setting up tailgates (tents, tables, etc.) in parking spaces will be reemphasized, to include those areas controlled by the Athletic Association.

Fans with any questions about tailgating rules, parking, or traffic plans should visit the Gameday Gameplan site.

Construction will affect two permitted campus lots. Hull Street will be temporarily closed from Baxter Street to Florida Avenue, and the Baxter Lot can only be accessed through the East Hull lot. The Physical Plant lot is being repaired, but no spaces will be lost…you’ll just be in a work zone.

Once at the stadium, fans on the north side won’t be able to miss the new Reed Plaza. We’ve talked about the Reed Alley project many times here over the past couple of years, and now this facility eight years in the making is finally available for fans to enjoy. Access to the stadium from the Gate 2 area around the curve of the north stands will be improved.

Regrettable vendor choices aside, the new Reed Plaza and its 30,000 square feet should be at least as big a shot in the arm to the north side of the stadium as the reconstructed Gate 6 project was a few years ago. It’s just more of everything – more space, more restrooms, more concessions options, and did I mention more space? Though the project will be dedicated on Friday, sources in Athens are telling us that some finishing touches might not be in place in time for the opener. Regardless, the plaza will be open and usable on game day.

Once inside the stadium, fans will have access to a new text message system to deal with everything from unruly fans to medical emergencies. If you need help inside the stadium, text DAWGS, the issue, and your location to 69050. There was an interesting post on the DawgVent a few weeks back about enhanced cell coverage inside the stadium from many of the major providers…I’ll believe it when I can send a text out.

There are a lot of good ideas going into the improvement of Sanford Stadium, but this isn’t one of them: 

Other newcomers to the Sanford Stadium concessions partners include southern-favorite Sonny’s BBQ. Offering a range of options such as pulled pork, BBQ chicken and many others, Sonny’s BBQ will be available in the Gate 7 Plaza and the West End lower level.

First of all, with all of the great BBQ in north Georgia, Sonny’s? Was the McRib on the short list?

But is Georgia’s marketing department that desperate for cash or just oblivious to the fact that their latest concessionaire is the spawn of Gainesville? Sonny’s founder Sonny Tillman isn’t just a casual fan of the hometown team either.  He’s a Bull Gator – one of Florida’s highest circle of athletic boosters.  He’s also endowed a scholarship for the university. That’s extremely generous of him, and he’s long since sold the company, but how tone-deaf are the decision-makers at Butts-Mehre for even considering this deal?

Aaron Murray

How will he overcome the whole freshman QB thing? There’s enough coming out of practice to make any on-edge Georgia fan that much more nervous. Murray’s talking about his nerves and being too amped up. Richt is downplaying expectations. All this to remember that, yeah, the guy’s a freshman. You don’t want to read much into scrimmage stats, but it’s encouraging that he’s cut down on (or cut out even) the interceptions. What remains seems to be a little accuracy problem. We don’t know it it’s nerves, drops, the new defense confusing things, or a combination, but the numbers are there. He’s had one impressive scrimmage throwing 12 for 21, but most of his scrimmages so far have been around or on the wrong side of 50%. That said, I’d gladly take accuracy issues starting out if he continued to avoid the turnovers. A few incompletions might kill the occasional drive, but you can punt your way out of that situation.

Waushaun Ealey, Caleb King, A.J. Green

Can they stay healthy for the entire season? The big question is the same for all three of these standouts. An injury delayed Ealey’s debut until the season showed signs of slipping away. King earned much respect by playing with a freaking broken jaw. The Murray-doesn’t-have-to-do-much line counts on a solid running game carrying much of the load, and the Georgia running game is much better with both Ealey and King able to go. Green’s season was cut short after the Florida game, and it’s hard to imagine Georgia losing to Kentucky with him in that game. With “when in doubt, throw it to #8” as the default instruction for young Murray, #8 needs to be on the field.

Josh Davis

What the heck got into him? No one, and probably not even Mark Richt, would have told you at this point last year that we’d owe a lot of Georgia’s late-season success to Josh Davis stepping in at right tackle. The first step in finding a successful line was Clint Boling moving to left tackle sometime around the Florida game. Vince Vance and then Justin Anderson were supposed to be the answer at right tackle. But it was Davis who got the call and started the final six games at right tackle. The line finally solidified around a Boling-Glenn-Jones-CDavis-JDavis group that coincided with (or led to, if you prefer) the emergence of the running game late in the season. Two healthy backs didn’t hurt either. The question for 2010 is whether Davis can keep up that level of play as Sturdivant is eased back in. If so, a nice tackle rotation of Boling, Sturdivant, and Davis will let Aaron Murray sleep well.

Aron White

Can he make strides at a crowded position? Orson Charles deservedly gets plenty of press, but guess who’s led Georgia tight ends in TD receptions in each of the past two seasons? While the world waits for Charles to take a big step forward as a sophomore, White’s entering his junior season. I doubt we’ve seen his ceiling, but opportunities could be limited unless Georgia uses more multiple tight end formations. That possibility has been floated by the coaches, and it makes sense – White can make plays and has more receiving touchdowns to his credit than anyone on the team not named A.J. Green.

Shaun Chapas

Can he finish his career with a strong season? Chapas showed promise as a freshman in 2007 and added some receiving yards in 2008. But injuries slowed him last year, and his role in 2010 is uncertain. Fellow fullback Fred Munzenmaier is the one named as a possible third option at tailback while Ealey is out. If Georgia increases its use of a 2 TE set to maximize the production from that deep position, the fullback is usually the odd man out. The Dawgs aren’t going to forget the I-formation any time soon, so there will still be plenty of playing time for the senior.

Georgia has sold its last ticket for the season opener, and all six home dates in 2010 are now sold out. That means that every home game since 2001 and every home game under Mark Richt will have been sold out.

Of course tickets sold and tickets used are completely different things. The ticket market for the opener is very soft, and I wouldn’t be surprised that the opponent plus the early start time means a lot of empty seats at the start and the conclusion of the game.

Seth Emerson’s doing a fine job on the Hutson Mason watch, so I respect his opinion that “the team will try to go as far as it can this year without having to burn (Mason’s) redshirt.” He’s obviously closer to the situation than I am. It just makes little sense to me why a redshirt is even still on the table. I know I’m beating this into the ground, but it’s a very important role on this team, and the quarterback position is one of the biggest question marks on the offense this year.

We already know that Mason would get the call if Murray were to get injured. So the only question now is whether or not to burn the redshirt and play Mason in the situations when you’d expect a backup to take over.

Mark Schlabach nails the answer: “Richt has to play him. Can’t risk no experienced backup QB if Murray goes down.”

Every coach struggles with the opportunity cost of redshirting players. Jim Donnan has probably second-guessed himself a dozen times about not playing David Greene in 2000. Having Knowshon in 2006 would have been nice. But there’s also the risk of wasting a year of eligibility with a few garbage minutes as a freshman which would cost the team a possibly productive redshirt senior.

It might be unfair to Hutson Mason’s hypothetical potential four years from now, but the team has an immediate need for him to play. Marc Weiszer followed up by noting that Logan Gray has been working strictly at receiver. He’s simply not prepared to play quarterback in any meaningful capacity. Garbage time against Louisiana-Lafayette might not prepare Mason for the situation of coming off the bench in a key SEC game, but it would still be infinitely more game experience than he has now and would have if the redshirt remains an option. Of course we’d rather Mason be able to redshirt, but the coaches can’t wait until the instant that Murray is unable to go before they start preparing their contingency.

Georgia won’t lack for QB depth any time soon. Even if Murray develops into a viable pro prospect as soon as next year, he doesn’t have the prototypical size that would make him a sure thing to leave. Christian LeMay is on his way in next year. Richt’s track record suggests he won’t have any problem finding yet another quality quarterback prospect or two over the next three to four years.

There’s also the Logan Gray angle to consider. He obviously wants to play receiver. He won’t start. The best chance for him to get on the field is pretty much the same time you’d expect the backup QB to start getting snaps. Coaches might maintain that Gray could still see time at QB, but consider how little sense that makes: you’d be moving a guy who’s prepared all summer at one position to another position at which he’s received zero preparation and practice for months.

The other alternative is to play Murray the entire game. With the depth situation as thin as it is, of course the coaches won’t take that risk if the lead is sufficient. We’ll see a backup. It will be Hutson Mason.

If you’ve been with me long enough, you know that I grew up a North Carolina fan. I wear Red and Black now by conversion, not by birthright. But I still keep up with the Tar Heels, and it’s almost a sense of deja vu with what’s been going on in Chapel Hill this summer. All we need now is an awkward ESPN interview with Butch Davis pleading his case to Lee Corso and promising that “it will all come out.” Consider:

– The affected programs are the secondary sport at the school (if that high).

– They bring in a big-name journeyman coach who has moderate, but not great, success.

– The scandal starts with a relatively minor thing. At UGA, it was Tony Cole. At UNC, it was the agent. Jim Harrick probably could have survived Cole, and Butch Davis wasn’t going to get much heat over the agent.

– But then the academic scandals hit. Georgia had a fraudulent course with players getting improper benefits (though it was just a glorified PE class). UNC now has Davis’s nanny allegedly writing papers for multiple players. Several key players and starters are potentially involved.

As for reaction? Georgia of course set fire to the hoops program, cut incoming recruits loose, and is just now recovering. UNC has been cooperative and are investigating on their own, but something tells me UNC won’t be so quick to fall on their own sword. I wonder if we’ll see Jeremy Schaap stalking Butch Davis from behind a dumpster as Davis leaves his office.

Both programs even have an assistant taking much of the heat. The Dawgs had Jim Harrick, Jr. UNC has John Blake.

UGA and ISP have released details for radio coverage of the 2010 Dawgs.

The biggest change: long-time sideline reporter Loran Smith will be replaced by Chuck Dowdle. Loran will still remain a part of the broadcast team and handle co-host duties for the pregame show.

There will also be more coverage of the team available to satellite radio subscribers. In addition to play-by-play on Sirius XM, the Bulldog Brunch and Bulldog Hotline will now re-air on XM 199 and Sirius 213 (see the announcement for dates and times). As we mentioned earlier, the simulcast of WSB radio on 95.5 FM joins 750 AM as the flagship radio station for the Dawgs. ISP is also taking over production of the Bulldog Brunch, formerly a WSB production.

You can see all Bulldog Radio Network affiliates here.

Marc Weiszer has more information on other broadcast changes at the ABH.

Earlier this month junior fullback Josh Sailors became the fourth walk-on football player to be awarded a scholarship this year. For Sailors and the others it’s a well-deserved recognition of the effort they’ve put in and the contributions they made as walk-ons.

But what it also means is that the Bulldogs entered the week with no more than 81 players who signed for their scholarship. That number dropped to 80 yesterday when offensive lineman Jonathan Owens was granted a medical disqualification.

The discussion of oversigning and grayshirting and all of the tricks used to get to the magic number of 85 scholarship players isn’t new. It shouldn’t be easy to forget that these are young men with educations and futures at stake, but we do. Even the console game with the NCAA’s name on it demands that you outright “cut” players. I’d much rather my program undersign than oversign and have to yank or defer a scholarship, but there is definitely a tradeoff and a cost for not playing the game.

The advantage isn’t just the two or three players signed over the limit by another program. Remember that Georgia has at most now 80 players who were considered scholarship-quality when they signed, and the 87 or 88 at the other school all merited an offer. So the difference is more like seven or eight players versus a program that oversigned by a couple. Eight players from an 85-man roster is just under 10% of the team. It’s a third of a recruiting class for any given year.

Of course Mark Richt didn’t know that he’d be five scholarships under the limit. Owens and Banks had battled injuries for a while, but you can’t anticipate a medical disqualification. You can’t foresee the backup QB’s spring break indiscretions. It does seem to be a given though that there is some amount of attrition each year. Every coach has to play inventory manager and balance the 85 scholarship limit against his best guess at attrition. It’s clear though that some are more aggressive at chasing that limit, and it’s not hard to be cynical about how some of the “attrition” eventually comes about.

Again, I’d rather be a little under the limit rather than over because of the human element. It’s all business, but that’s not what coaches say when they’re in the living room. But we can’t ignore that under the current rules coming up five short of the limit isn’t all that great of a situation either. It’s a great story for the deserving walk-ons who see their effort recognized, but 80 scholarship players is borderline probation.

It’s still all about the future in Detroit, but Matthew Stafford has given teammates and fans many reasons to like him on and off the field.