If you have the time, head over to join the fun at 2:00. David’s been doing a great job of coverage this fall, and if you’re not reading his site…oh, who am I kidding? Of course you are.

Georgia Southern (6-5): –

Central Michigan (8-3): CMU’s hopes for another MAC title came down to a single game on Wednesday, and they came up short. They led undefeated Ball State in the 4th quarter, but a pair of late touchdowns flipped the game, and a final drive ended on an interception. It was a thoroughly entertaining game, and it did well to illustrate that the best MAC teams have no business anywhere near the BCS. With the conference title out of the picture, the Chippewas can aim for 9-3 and hope for a bowl bid. THIS WEEK: Lost to Ball state (Wed.)

South Carolina (7-4): Even the strong South Carolina defense didn’t come to play in Gainesville. The ugly loss does take a bit off of what had been a nice turnaround, and they’ll have to win the in-state rivalry to avoid settling for just a winning season. THIS WEEK: BYE

Arizona State (4-6): It wasn’t quite the 60-point beating other teams put on Washington State, but the Sun Devils had few problems routing the Pac-10’s worst team. Even though their current two-game winning streak came against horrible teams, it’s still good to get back in the saddle. Now they have consecutive wins and a bye week to get their heads straight for season-ending games against UCLA and rival Arizona. They’ll need to win both to have a shot at the postseason. THIS WEEK: BYE

Alabama (11-0): After consecutive losses to Mississippi State, it had to spook some Alabama fans to be down again in the second quarter last week. Defense and special teams took care of that, but you expect a bit more from an offense that seems to have all of the pieces. No chance they overlook the Iron Bowl. THIS WEEK: BYE

Tennessee (3-7): There’s not much left to play for. The fans have moved on to the ongoing coaching search. All that’s left is avoiding the program’s worst season in history. Tennesse scraped by Vanderbilt and Kentucky last season, but the close games have been going against them this year. THIS WEEK: @ Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt (6-4): Congratulations to the bowl-eligible Commodores. They brushed off the Florida loss and won a road SEC game to get over the six-win hump. In fact, half their wins this year have come on the road, and the ability to win away from home is often the hallmark of a quality team. Even more impressive, the win at Kentucky assured Vandy of finishing in the top half of the SEC East. Vandy is certainly legitimate and interesting to watch, if only to see D.J. Moore. With the sixth win out of the way, the story becomes how far the team can go. Will Vandy fans for once outnumber Tennessee fans in Nashville? THIS WEEK: Tennessee

LSU (7-3): In 1994, the Kentucky basketball team pulled off "the greatest comeback in college basketball history" when they rallied from 31 points down in the second half to beat LSU. LSU was on the other side of an incredible comeback last week when they stormed back from a 31-3 second half deficit to beat Troy. Over / under on the number of LSU fans who will claim they stayed and supported the team through the end of the Troy game is 125,000 – roughly the same number who claim to have sat in the rain to watch the thrilling finish of Georgia’s 1996 win over Texas Tech. The question now is whether LSU was simply caught sleepwalking or if they are in trouble against teams like Ole Miss and Arkansas. THIS WEEK: Ole Miss

Florida (9-1): Georgia fans can find small comfort in the fact that the Dawgs at least hung with Florida until halftime. The Gators have just had to take the field to get Vandy and South Carolina to lay down. It’s going to be very, very ugly this week for the Citadel. Will Tebow play at all in the second half? THIS WEEK: Citadel

Kentucky (6-5): It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Wildcats. They found new life in quarterback Randall Cobb, but they’ve come up just short when given a chance to win games against Georgia and Vanderbilt. They have that critical sixth win already, but a loss against Tennessee in the season finale would leave them at 6-6 and a pretty unattractive bowl team. THIS WEEK: BYE

Auburn (5-6): The big question: where the heck was Mario Fannin at the end of the game? He didn’t just score Auburn’s two touchdowns earlier in the game; he also scored in Athens last year. Instead Tommy Tuberville chose to "split carries" and had the ineffective Ben Tate in the game. Tate was the target on the game’s final pass, but he couldn’t come up with it. There’s more going on with the Auburn offense than just the coordinator. THIS WEEK: BYE

Georgia Tech (7-3): The divisional and conference titles are still in play, but it’s amazing that a team can be one game away from either an outside shot at the title or finishing .500 in the conference. That’s where Tech is, and it will be decided tonight when they host Miami. Tech has had the Canes’ number lately, but this year’s Miami squad is rounding into form towards the end of the season. Expect to see some good defense on display. THIS WEEK: Miami (Thurs.)

I suppose I should add my congratulations to Bulldog alum Will Muschamp on the occasion of his impressive promotion and raise. Some will be disappointed that he won’t be coming back to Athens in some sort of coaching capacity, but we’ve been just fine when he’s on the other sideline lately. I understand that they are making the move with Muschamp’s career trend line in mind, but is he who they would hire if there were a vacancy today? I doubt it.

I do find it interesting that among the universal “no-brainer” reaction to this announcement that there hasn’t been much discussion raised over one issue.

It was only a week or two ago a report from the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport was all over the sports news. The biggest item getting play from that report was the number FOUR – the number of black Division I head football coaches.

Of course the coach-in-waiting thing isn’t necessarily a barrier to improvement in this area – Joker Phillips at Kentucky is Prince Charles to Rich Brooks’ Queen Elizabeth. But as long as the number of black head coaches remains an issue, will the practice of naming a successor beforehand come to have the appearance of a way to get around a more thorough interview process without appropriate attention given to minority candidates? Will groups like the BCA begin to speak up about the practice?

Anyway, it’s not even a given that Muschamp will end up with the head coaching job. Sure, he has a nice raise and the promise of the top job when it becomes available, but I don’t see this move as much more than a way for Texas to lock up a promising coordinator. Muschamp could still leave whenever he likes, but now it’s likely not to be for another coordinator position, and it would have to be one heck of a head coaching opportunity to renounce the throne in Austin. For now, it means that Tennessee and Clemson can go pound sand. Down the road, we’ll see.

I made the call back at the beginning of the year that one of these things is going to happen sooner or later to one of these coach-in-waiting deals.

• The program fires the current staff before the old coach has a chance to step down, leaving the successor without a job he assumed was his.
• The fan base grows weary of the outgoing coach and everything about the old program. The successor is seen as a slipcover on worn-out furniture.
• The successor loses luster as an assistant before the transition can take place, leaving a program stuck with a guy they didn’t even want as an assistant.

None of them seem very likely right now when applied to Texas, but Mack Brown is still a relatively young guy to be making this move. We’ll see how the fans feel about Brown and Muschamp in five to ten years.

USA Today: College athletes studies guided toward ‘major in eligibility’

You mean that in the name of the APR and graduation rates student-athletes are being steered towards easier majors? Who would have ever seen that coming? Read the article for an insight into the wonderful world of unintended consequences and human nature.

The bottom line of course is that the NCAA is more or less powerless to do anything but wag their finger at the practice. So long as the student-athlete is making academic progress in a legitimate course of study at a member school, there is no differentiation between a social sciences major at Kansas State and a biochemistry major at Columbia.

“There are limits to what the national office can, and should, do,” (NCAA President Myles Brand) says. “Anything to do with the academic programs really falls entirely within the purview of the individual institutions.”

After an opening win over SC-Upstate on Friday, the men’s basketball team laid its first egg of the season on Monday night. The Dawgs lost 74-53 to Loyola-Chicago in the opening round of the preseason NIT. The game was tied at 29 at halftime, but Georgia was outscored 45-24 in the second period. For reference, Loyola lost to Division II Rockhurst in their season opener.

The SEC Tournament aside, this is the kind of rubbish performance that had people more than ready to make a change last March. If there is a saving grace, it’s that Howard Thompkins didn’t play as he continues to work back from injury. It should be a different and better team in there, but even he is not going to help much on nights where the Dawgs shoot 1-for-12 from outside and get a combined 13 points from the 9 players who weren’t Terrance Woodbury or Travis Leslie.

NBC is challenging Notre Dame and Syracuse fans to participate in a bit of environmental competition centered around NBC’s “Green Week“.

NBC challenged both Notre Dame and Syracuse to get as many people as possible to join their Carbon Rally teams.

“You basically sign up and you can elect to take personal challenges,” Long said.

Challenges may include making sure tires are properly inflated and driving more “delicately,” without pushing the gas pedal more than necessary, Long said. The school that gets the greatest number of people to join its team wins $10,000, Long said.

If they want to go beyond silly symbolism and the fuzzy math that will be necessary to declare this game “carbon neutral”, I can’t think of a better way to show a commitment to the planet’s well-being than just agreeing to skip a completely meaningless game between an irrelevant Notre Dame team and a Syracuse team that’s beyond awful. Forget inflating tires – keep the Syracuse plane on the ground, tell the subway alums to stay home and plant a tree, and skip the mountains of gameday garbage. Trust us, the game won’t be missed.

Even if they can’t get the game called off, NBC can do the right thing in the name of their own cause and pull the plug on the broadcast. Even the TV crew has a carbon impact on the game – everything from travel to power needs – and every little bit counts. Do the right thing, NBC…for the good of the planet and college football.

Green caught 5 passes for 81 yards and had the game-winning reception to lead Georgia over Auburn. Green’s emergence as a playmaker has been one of the biggest positives to come out of the 2008 season.

Also a tip of the hat to Vandy’s D.J. Moore who was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week. He could have easily received consideration for Offensive Player of the Week as he hauled down two touchdown receptions in the Commodores’ landmark win at Kentucky. On defense he now has six interceptions which ties him for the national and SEC lead.

Link: SEC Honors

A memo from an agency developing a campaign for ESPN’s college basketball coverage hit the news this week. The idea was to have a person representing the school working an ESPN phone bank getting people from their school to watch ESPN’s college basketball coverage. The result was stereotyperiffic. ESPN killed the campaign after learning of the memo.

I’m shocked – SHOCKED – that a New York agency mostly overlooked the SEC for an ESPN college basketball marketing campaign, but it’s probably for the best. The banjo music would have been distracting. But don’t deny you laughed a little knowing chuckle and got an instant visual upon reading this…

[ TENNESSEE ]

FEMALE. Tennessee is orange crazy. The ice tray in her orange fridge, that freezes the water she dyes orange, is that orange. The party girl cowboy hat she wears is a white and orange zebra print. The tattoo on her lower back is Pantone 3 for that Tennessee orange. The only thing that’s not orange is her dog, which is the mascot Smokey. Did we mention she’s crazy? A slutty girl who would hang out at the cowgirl hall of fame.

Your defending SEC Tournament champions open the 2008-2009 season this Friday night. Sounds good to say, doesn’t it?

But like the tornado which triggered the unforgettable championship weekend back in March, the whirlwind finish of last season is a distant memory. It’s back to work for Dennis Felton’s squad, and they’ll try to make progress against an incrementally tougher schedule and looking to replace their starting backcourt and two leading scorers from a year ago.

Departures

It was a treat getting to watch Sundiata Gaines for four years, and he’ll be missed. He did many things well, but of course the most important was his ability to create offense when the halfcourt set broke down. That was usually a blessing, but it was also sometimes a curse as the offense stagnated and waited for Gaines to take on four defenders by himself. Center Dave Bliss was the other senior, and, to borrow a phrase from Dennis Felton, it was gratifying to see a healthy Bliss emerge as a quality player and leader towards the end of the season. The bad news is that his eligibility ended just as he came into form.

Two players are no longer with the program for other reasons. Guard Billy Humphrey was dismissed in June, and forward Jeremy Jacob left the program over dissatisfaction with his role.

The departures leave the Bulldogs without their leading scorers from a year ago (Gaines and Humphrey). They also leave the Dawgs very thin and young in the backcourt without much proven scoring ability.

Arrivals

As the Dennis Felton era continues, you hope each subsequent recruiting class is better than the last, and that seems to be the case this year. Georgia has added quality freshmen up front, on the wing, and in the backcourt.

The highlight of the incoming class is dynamic forward Howard Thompkins. He’ll be counted on to contribute immediately at a spot that’s already a strength of the Georgia team. Thompkins brings a developed offensive game to Athens with the ability to shoot the jumper or get position and score in the post.

Drazen Zlovaric will be an interesting addition on the wing. The Serbian native will bring a little European style to the team and can play away from the basket. His size and athleticism will be a unique matchup for opponents.

Dustin Ware is the heir apparent at the point guard position. Travis Leslie, at 6’4", is a little small to play the 3, but his athleticism is his calling card. Leslie probably won’t be the answer when it comes to outside shooting, but he is a leaper that can attack the rim and throw down some impressive dunks.

Guard Ebuka Anyaorah was expected to be a sharpshooter from outside, but he’s already been scratched for the season with an injury.

Returning Players

The strength of Georgia’s returning players lies up front. Forwards Jeremy Price (8.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG), Albert Jackson (7.4 PPG and 6.4 RPG over the last 20 games), and Terrance Woodbury (11.0 PPG, 33% 3PT, 4.1 RPG) will be the core of this season’s team and can match up with most frontcourts in the SEC. Chris Barnes (2.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG) also returns from an injury-plagued freshman year to provide depth down low.

The returning players in the backcourt were supporting cast members last year. Corey Butler (3.0 PPG) made a name for himself with high-energy defense and some timely shots. Zac Swansey (3.9 PPG) was one of the heros of the SEC Tournament, and he’ll take on a much greater role this year at point guard. Troy Brewer (2.7 PPG, 30% 3PT) is another option on the perimeter, but he saw very limited action as a freshman.

Schedule

The schedule has never really been a point of pride under Felton, but it’s more ambitious this year. The Dawgs are participating in the Preseason NIT, and the quality of competition will depend on how far Georgia advances. Purdue, Oklahoma, Boston College, and Davidson are all potential opponents. There will be the usual early season cupcakes, but there will also be games with Illinois, Virginia Tech, Missouri, and Georgia Tech. We should know plenty about this team before SEC play begins.

Speaking of SEC play, the Dawgs will measure up early on against its SEC East peers. The first three conference games include Tennessee and Kentucky with a road game at Vanderbilt squeezed between them. One late road trip could prove problematic: two of Georgia’s last three conference games are at Arkansas and Kentucky. If the season comes down to needing some wins late in the year, it’s usually tough to get them in Fayetteville and Lexington.

The SEC

It projects to be on the whole another weak group of SEC teams, and what strength the SEC has is heavily tilted towards the East. Tennessee and Florida are the only SEC teams in the preseason top 25. Kentucky and Vanderbilt also get mention. LSU and Alabama are unranked but receiving votes, and that’s about as good as it gets for the West.

What’s noticable this year is a real lack of star power. There are some great players in the league, but there is no Chris Lofton or Shan Foster. The top five players in the SEC might be Nick Calathes, Devan Downey, A.J. Ogilvy, Patrick Patterson, and Tyler Smith – again, all really solid players but none comes with the superstar package.

Injuries

As we mentioned above, freshman Ebuka Anyaorah is out for the year. Several other players are dealing with minor, though nagging, injuries entering the season. Thompkins has battled a stress fracture, a knee sprain, and now a sprained ankle, and it has impacted his conditioning. He is not expected to play in the season opener. Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes each had offseason surgery, and Barnes still isn’t 100%. Albert Jackson went down with a scary injury in last week’s exhibition, but it proved to be only a sprained ankle, and Jackson should be fine. Woodbury has had ankle issues of his own.

Outlook

Can Georgia get quality point guard play, and can anyone hit the three with any consistency? Those backcourt questions are keeping dampers on expectations and hopes for the team until answers can be found. Fans expecting a significant leap forward building on the end of last season might be disappointed. Losing the top two scorers leaves a big vacuum, and it’s questionable whether or not the Dawgs can find the firepower to compensate. The preseason consensus again has Georgia fighting to remain out of the basement in the SEC’s tougher division.

A lot will be expected of Woodbury in particular. He came on strong in the postseason last year, and he’s one of the few players on this team who can generate offense inside and outside. If the perimeter game struggles, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dawgs ask Woodbury to take on the role of the shooting guard at times. Whether that would mean a bigger look with three post players or sliding someone like Zlovaric or Leslie in at the 3 is a situational decision up to the coaches, but options like that have to be considered if, as expected, offense is slow to come from the smaller guards. Still another option is to play Ware and Swansey at the same time and let Zac try his hand at the shooting guard position.

Unless the backcourt surprises, success will require big nights from the frontcourt as well as transition opportunities created by defense and rebounding. The frontcourt can expect to face some compact zones until someone proves they can bust the zone from a deeper three-point arc.

I’ll be thrilled…with an 8-8 or better finish in the SEC and an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

I’ll be disappointed…with anything like last season’s 4-12 SEC regular season. It’s way past time to move forward.

I expect…between 6-8 SEC wins and an overall win total somewhere around 16-18. I’d like to at least split the four games with Illinois, Mizzou, and the two Techs. They should at least win the first game of the NIT, and it will be a good test to see if this Felton team can do better away from home than some of his others.

I realize that my expectations don’t call for an encore in the NCAA Tournament. The result is that we can likely expect the return of the same discussions about the future direction of the program which the tournament run helped to silence (temporarily) last year. It’s generally accepted that the SEC Tournament title saved Felton’s job, but did it buy him anything more than one more year?

Basketball season tips off this weekend (we should have our season preview tomorrow), and that’s all the excuse I need to post a picture of Kentucky’s new basketball uniforms. The Wildcats have pretty much become to basketball attire what Oregon is to football uniforms, so these new unis should come as no shock. They manage to pay tribute to everything from Secretariat to deceased equipment manager Bill Keightley. Even the freaking shorts have special significance:

In addition, on Kentucky’s white uniforms, a blue and white checkerboard swatch is centered on the waistband of their shorts and features eight individual “boxes.” Emblazoned in seven of the eight squares are the numbers ’48, ’49, ’51, ’58, ’78, ’96 and ’98, representing championship seasons for the Wildcats. The “empty” eighth quadrant serves as a reminder of the school’s legacy and motivation for the current Wildcats to ensure another year is soon inscribed within it.

Touching. One more square and you could put Paul Lynde in the middle. Here’s the new jersey:

Kentucky’s uniform experiments really took off in the 1990s. Here’s a reminder of some of the best, most of which are modeled by Tony Delk.

Georgia Southern (5-5): –

Central Michigan (7-2): Fans of the Chippewas can skip their cardiologist appointments. Four of CMU’s seven wins have come by three points or less. Still perfect in the MAC, they enter a key stretch in conference play. They will play on consecutive Wednesday nights against Northern Illinois and Ball State. The big question is the availability of QB Dan LeFevour. LeFevour has been banged up for the past month, and a starter still has not been named for the NIU game. Brian Brunner has been stellar in relief, and his line against Indiana was outstanding (35-53, 485 yds, 4 TD passing, 1 TD rushing). THIS WEEK: @ Northern Illinois

South Carolina (7-3): The good news? South Carolina has won 6 out of their last 7 and has deservedly returned to the rankings after a solid win over Arkansas. Beat Clemson and it’s at worst an 8-4 season with a decent bowl ahead. The bad news? Enjoy the trip to Gainesville. THIS WEEK: @ Florida

Arizona State (3-6): If you need to heal what ails you, play Washington. ASU was able to end a six-game slide by pulling away from the Huskies. It’s noteworthy that the pass-happy Sun Devils got it done with 182 rushing yards against Washington. They should also win this weekend’s game with Washington State before making a final push towards bowl eligibility. THIS WEEK: Washington State

Alabama (10-0): Alabama’s in the position we "enjoyed" at the start of the season. Sure, they’re #1, but everyone seems anxious for them to lose and make way for the real contenders. But unlike Georgia, Alabama keeps winning and won’t let go of their top ranking. Will they slip up before the showdown with Florida? Not likely, but that’s why they play the games. MSU did pull the upset last year. THIS WEEK: Mississippi State

Tennessee (3-7): Despite the resignation of Phil Fulmer, the Vols still had a shot at a bowl bid if they won remaining games against Wyoming, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt. In any other year, those would be gimmes, but this is no typical Vol season. Wyoming, who might be looking to replace their own bird-flipping coach, came into Knoxville, collected their paycheck, and left with an ugly 13-7 win. Rocky Top has hit rock bottom. What’s left for the Vols? Two things: one – play spoiler in Vanderbilt’s quest for bowl eligibility. Two – extend the 23-game winning streak over Kentucky. A Vol loss in either game is going to make a bit of history. Oh – and no Tennessee team has ever lost eight games in a season. THIS WEEK: BYE

Vanderbilt (5-4): Is the Tennessee game Vandy’s best last chance for that elusive 6th win? The Commodores are reeling and weren’t in the Florida game for more than 5 minutes. THIS WEEK: @ Kentucky

LSU (6-3): Georgia fans can relate. The defending SEC champion turns things over to a freshman quarterback who starts hemorrhaging killer interceptions. Sound familiar? It’s a down year relatively speaking, but the Tiger defense has kept it from being worse. LSU will be back, and things could be much worse in a rebuilding year. THIS WEEK: Troy

Florida (8-1): Florida’s starts against Kentucky and Vanderbilt made me think how good of a job Georgia did in the first half of the WLOCP. The Gators are doing whatever they want to in the first half these days, and if you give them an opening in something so minute as punt protection, they will exploit it in painful repetition. With the defense playing well, the Gators could most weeks survive an off game from the offense, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem that’s going to present itself. Two years ago it took a few blocked kicks to survive South Carolina’s trip to the Swamp. THIS WEEK: South Carolina

Kentucky (6-4): The Wildcats have to be wondering one thing: did they find something in Randall Cobb, or was that just the Georgia defense? The passing game wasn’t especially explosive, but who needs it when the most basic of running plays will move you up and down the field? Kentucky had a pair of eight win seasons with Andre Woodson. They’re two winnable regular season games away from eight wins and a decent bowl bid without Woodson and with a quarterback situation that would make Auburn and Tennessee hesitant to trade places. Not bad. THIS WEEK: Vanderbilt

Auburn (5-5): Auburn played to its strength and saw Kodi Burns and a trio of tailbacks lead the way to 290 yards on the ground in a 37-20 win over Tennessee-Martin. The story is incomplete without noting that this was a 27-20 game in the 4th quarter and that Auburn rested a few defensive starters. Auburn, though down, still has plenty of motivation in its final two games. Not only are these the traditional rivalry games; Auburn must also win at least one of them to avoid a losing season and avoid missing out on the postseason. THIS WEEK: Georgia

Georgia Tech (7-3): Tech’s ACC title hopes took a big hit with Saturday’s loss at UNC. Though the season has been positive to this point, the Jackets are just 1-3 in their division of the ACC and hold none of the tiebreakers they’d need even if they can beat Miami. Without an FSU fumble, we’d be talking about a team that lost three straight. Tech won’t play another Saturday game until their visit to Athens; a Thursday night home game with Miami wraps up their conference slate next week. THIS WEEK: BYE

The Georgia defense has been the focal point of conversation this week, and with good reason. Some go right to coaching. Some note a few key injuries. Others question leadership. Then there’s the lack of big plays from the defensive ends and defensive backs. I think pwd does a good job of laying out the situation here. Lots of different takes on things, but the common tie is that no one is happy with the play of the defense.

That dissatisfaction includes, as you’d hope, the players themselves. Corvey Irvin, Dannell Ellerbe, and Rennie Curran challenged the defense on Monday in a player-only meeting. What came out of the meeting was in part encouraging but also a little disturbing.

First, credit the players for taking ownership of the problem and showing some leadership. It’s not too late to end the season on a strong defensive note. In 2006, the defense was left for dead after allowing a last-minute Kentucky scoring drive. The defense bounced back, started creating turnovers and big plays, and was a big part of Georgia’s memorable wins against Auburn, Georgia Tech, and Virginia Tech.

The disturbing part is that here we are again hoping, for the third straight year, for a November turnaround from the defense. Players come and go, but this is a song we’ve heard before. You’d hope and expect, given the national expectations of the program entering the year, not to hear something like this from Rennie Curran ten games into the season:

“We’ve got to do everything in practice the same way we would in a game. We’ve got to quit joking in practice when we miss an assignment. It’s not funny any more and we’ve got to stop thinking that it is. We just can’t go out there in the game and turn on a switch and be an amazing defense.”

Now I trust no one has the impression that Georgia practices are Keystone Cops routines with a laugh track. Coach Garner more than anyone on the staff gets after his defensive linemen. What we’re talking about is a more subtle erosion of focus relative to the level of competition. These are practice habits forged in the offseason, and I doubt what Curran is talking about is something that has just now come up.

Mark Richt on Sunday was a little defensive and even became somewhat pedantic about the performance of his defense. He deflected questions about scheme by remarking (correctly) that "people don’t get it" and most fans don’t have a clue what the defensive call is on a given play. That’s very true; most people criticisng the Georgia defense think that "cover everybody" would be a better coverage call than "cover one". It might help to know that a fire zone has nothing to do with parking, but even dumb fans could see that something wasn’t quite right with the defense at Kentucky. Darryl Gamble indicated it had something to do with preparation.

“We really didn’t prep for (quarterback Randall Cobb) to run the ball as much as he did,” linebacker Darryl Gamble said. “We really didn’t think that was a main focus and wasn’t really prepared for it.”

The execution and talent angles hold a lot less water after a statement like that. It’s true that the Kentucky option was a new look, but no one should have been surprised by the Kentucky offense running the ball and Cobb doing a lot of that running. In his first start of the year at Mississippi State, he ran the ball 12 times. When he replaced the starter at Florida, he rushed 9 times for a team-high 52 yards. He averaged 4.3 yards per pass attempt in each of those games. What exactly did the Georgia coaches expect to see?

Just in case anyone is unsure: Auburn and Georgia Tech like to run the ball. A lot. Even from the quarterback position. It would be nice if that was a main focus of practice over the next few weeks so that the defense might be prepared for it.

Congratulations to center Ben Jones. By my tally, he is the first and only true freshman to be so recognized this season (because who would be so crazy as to start a true freshman, let alone two, on an SEC offensive line?). There have been only four underclassmen to earn this SEC honor in 2008, and Georgia has had two of them (Boling was the other).

This line is going to be absolute hell in a year or two. As it is, this makeshift line is leading the way for the offense that is #1 in the SEC in passing and total yards and #2 in scoring. They’ve had their shaky moments, but so far it’s been another incredible job.

Call me selfish, and I know it’s not looking likely, but I really want to see Stafford and Moreno operating behind a healthy line with a little bit of age on it. Will we get to see that – any part of that – in 2009?

There will be plenty of time to say something about the defense. Things are very, very wrong right now, but the priority right now is to find a way to finish out the season successfully with the personnel and coaches we have.

I will say this: as poorly as the defense (and special teams) played on Saturday, I do credit the defense with coming up with the plays in the 4th quarter to hold Kentucky off the scoreboard before and after the Dawgs got back in front. That doesn’t excuse the performance the rest of the game, but when the alternative is a repeat of 2006, you take what you can get.

Last week I put much of the loss on the offense. Red zone ineptitude, killer turnovers, and missed opportunities contributed to a colossal meltdown. The job done by the offense this week against a decent defense deserves as much praise as they received criticism last week. Key points:

• 5-for-5 in the red zone. All touchdowns. Great to see.
• Stafford with zero interceptions for just the second time since the Arizona State game. At the scene of one of his toughest days two years ago, Stafford showed tremendous poise and playmaking ability to lead Georgia to the win.
• Massaquoi’s redemption. Someone who has played so hard all year didn’t deserve to be remembered for two fumbles. It’s only fitting then that MoMass earned redemption with a 77-yard reception to set up the winning score and cap off a career day.
• Line improv. Justin Anderson’s injury was the latest in a series of blows to the depleted offensive line. It wasn’t pretty, but the line with Josh Davis filling in held together well enough down the stretch.
• A.J. Bryant Green. Georgia’s freshman phenom didn’t have a reception until the 4th quarter, but he made sure they counted. His first, a 42-yard strike, set up Moreno’s third TD run and put Georgia ahead 35-31. Green’s second and final catch will be one for the ages. If, and it’s an if, Stafford comes back for a senior season, I have to think part of the reason will be to play another season with Green.
• Moreno’s ownership of the red zone. Folks, that was why we hated to see Knowshon come out of the game. There is no player with a better nose for getting to the end zone. Moreno now has 15 rushing touchdowns on the season. In less than two years of action, Moreno has 29 career touchdowns – good enough to tie him with Frank Sinkwich for 4th on Georgia’s career rushing touchdown list. With four more rushing touchdowns this season, Moreno would tie Garrison Hearst’s single-season record of 19. Dare I say that if Knowshon returns for his junior year, Herschel Walker’s Georgia and SEC record of 49 career rushing touchdowns would be in play.

Defense or no, that kind of offense will be good enough to take Georgia the rest of the way. Can we get an encore on the Plains?

It sounds incredible on the brink of another 1,000-yard season that Knowshon Moreno would be taking questions, and even some heat, about his endurance and drive, but that’s where we are this week.

After taking questions about it all week, there can be no doubt now that Knowshon is aware of the chatter about how often and under what circumstances he takes himself out of games.

It’s reasonable to consider then that the questions and criticism will be there in the back of his mind when the situation comes up again this week. Will that affect his decision and keep him on the field for another play or two? Will that be to Georgia’s benefit or detriment if he really does need a break? Is it a decision focused on the short-term that could impact his freshness later in a game?

My biggest problem isn’t with the latitude given to Knowshon; he’s earned it and knows his limits better than anyone. It’s with this statement by Moreno: “Why be in there when Caleb is in there and he can do the same job that I can do?” With all due respect to Caleb and Knowshon, King has yet to show that he can do anywhere near the job that Knowshon can whether the job is running or blocking. Is Knowshon at 80% a better option than King at 100%? I think so.

I grant that Knowshon is probably being gracious towards a teammate, and King definitely has plenty of talent. There are situations and even entire series where resting the starter makes plenty of sense. The challenge for Moreno is recognizing those situations where, even at less than 100%, he’s the right guy to have on the field. More often than not those situations are in the red zone where Moreno has as good of a nose for the endzone as any back we’ve had for a while.

One has to think that Knowshon plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder this week.