I am gonna try and serve a fine dose of Kool-aid to my friends who feel obligated to check out The Corley Blog.
The Bulldawgs have a huge matchup in Starkville this coming weekend. The record of 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the conference puts this game squarely in the column of "MUST WINS"...I really don't disagree with that. At the same time if they go down to Starkville and lose I won't be overly surprised. Mississippi State has been tough this year, just ask Auburn and ..a team that most people would agree is playing better than my Dawgs.
Starkville is an interesting setting for a game too. I have not been personally , but through conversations and observations have come to think of the place as a place time forgot. That is not necessarily a bad thing, family diners, family businesses, community involvement, all totally focused in on supporting their hometown Bulldogs. An SEC third tier program in most eyes that exists in a backwater town that probably plays little brother in the state to Ole Miss and on a grander stage plays bumpkin cousin to the LSU's and Alabama's of the world. Their bell cow , " pun intended " is the cow bell that seems to be rung upon every inhale of oxygen and every growth of new skin cell for each fan. I think its a little quirky when compared to some towns that host big time SEC Football ...ie. Gainesville, Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, Columbia, Athens...I really can name the whole conference here right? But , I would love for Athens to be a little more like Starkville sometimes and a little less like Atlanta...am I right?
I have reason to believe Georgia can go into Starkville and be successful. This team still has huge depth advantage over the Maroon Bulldogs, and a little thing called pride that has been tarnished over the last two weeks.
I would be much more worried if we were in late October or in November and we were talking about two toss up losses and a tough game on the road.
The A.J. Green ruling is tough, but I don't believe that is any reason we should have lost either game. I believe his suspension just puts more emphasis on our coaches inadequacies in developing talent. I mean come on...Tavarres King, Kris Durham, Marlon Brown, Rontavious Wooten have pedigrees coming into college every bit as exceptional as what South Carolina or Arkansas put on the field the last two weeks. Where is the disconnect here? This is the one area of disappointment that is talked about too seldomly. Our Offensive Line was predicted to be one of the strongest in the Nation ,certainly capable of blowing off a pesky Razorback D-Line and hold its own with a stout South Carolina defense...but what happened? Where did the miles gained from the end of last year go? " I run this state " ? I saw where someone said it should be " I hit and run this state " with Waushaun's legal escapade. That is a great line, but our line is anything but great right now.
The Todd Grantham era has to be seen at this point as an upgrade over the Willie Martinez dark ages. The last minute defense from the Arkansas game not withstanding , these Dawgs are utilizing the team speed and athleticism on hand with athletes not recruited for the system. I believe if we can continue to recruit to our utmost capability we could be talking about a special defensive presence within two years. That seems to be a Georgia Bulldawgs hallmark, taking our eyes off the current and pining for the future.
That brings me to this season again, and our potential. We have some interesting things that could happen. Some of those things make me shudder and a few others leave me upbeat toward the future of the program.
First it starts in Starkville:
Both teams come in 0-2 in Conference Play after impressive opening day victories.
The Starkville Dogs bring a Dan Mullen multi oriented attack against the Dawgs with two different QB styles and a couple of receivers you have to keep account of. Their rushing attack has been down from previous years, but that is more a product of design as Dan Mullen looks to replicate his success from Florida.
My gut tells me that Georgia will play the field possession game with the Maroon Dogs and eek out a 20-16 or 23-18 type win. Don't be surprised to see Blair ( Walsh ) making Mrs. Garrett proud as he gets his kicks on and the Butler may be the one who utimately did it for the Dawgs as he is the reigning Ray Guy Award Winner who comes close to shattering balls on each and every kick.
A big road victory would cure a lot of evils for this Bulldog team, and would be a huge boost in the arm as they must go out west the first week of October to Boulder. The altitude could be killer on them, but a loss in Starkville would be far worse.
Tony's GEORGIA BULLDAWG FEARLESS FORECAST FOR REST OF YEAR RECORD:
7 -2 ...or final record of 8-4 headed to our bowl game. I initally thought 9-3 , but that would have been with a split of Arkansas , South Carolina.
The seat's gonna keep getting a little warmer if they don't get at least 8 wins this year. I will go on the record and say the Tech game is a MUST WIN for the Dawgs this year to keep the Dawg-Nation Happy!
It is what it is...thanks for letting me put brain cells to internet. Chill peeps.
