Not that it much matters, but as I go to bed after the Oklahoma/OSU game, it occurs to me that any Dawg fans up late watching ESPN may be able to catch up on the rest of the day’s events without having to sit through much (if any) coverage of today’s game. The Bedlam game was just one big 60 minute highlight reel; the outcome of that game will ensure endless discussion of the role of the BCS in the Big 12 South; Sylvester Croom is out at MSU; Lane Kiffin is in at Tennessee; USC probably just put the last nail in Charlie Weis’ extraordinarily hefty coffin; and oh, by the way, Plaxico Burress SHOT HIMSELF IN THE LEG.

Not metaphorically. Like, with a gun.

So if you night owls want some sports highlights but don’t want to relive this afternoon, it should take ESPN a few hours to get around to this game.

Injuries have played a role in the failure of this Georgia team to live up to expectations. However, the offensive line has been hit hard by injuries, yet Stacy Searels appears to have found a way to get his players who are healthy enough to play to perform well as a unit and Mike Bobo appears to have found a way to put together an effective offense despite the loss of some key players. This is called coaching.

Could not have said it any better. So, I’ll let those words speak for themselves.

Excellent post, Kyle. Among my group of friends, I have been one of the very few people who have been arguing for patience and forbearance with Willie Martinez. In the past, I had argued that the results were more important than how many points we gave up to get there, and that Coach Martinez didn’t deserve much of the flak that was consistently fired in his direction.

The numbers just don’t lie, though. Your post does a great job of laying out your point, but look at our victories last year, too, not just the defeats. Our defense gave up 30 points to Florida and 34 points to Troy. And while I’m not in the mood to reflect on the 51-point debacle against Tennessee in 2006, that game stands as a lasting tribute to our DC’s ability to make adjustments at halftime, as well.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about how Coach Martinez seems to have lost the ability to make second-half (and intra-half) adjustments. How can we keep getting our doors blown off on defense game after game without realizing something is wrong? I applaud the players for trying take some of the heat off of their coach by claiming that they just can’t execute, but that’s not a sufficient explanation for the results we’re seeing on the field.

Willie Martinez has been the recipient of much patience and grace from his superiors, and from many fans in the Bulldog Nation, despite a string of subpar performances. After this year’s showing, however, along with the fact that 2 of our 3 losses are directly attributable to the defense, I would be very surprised if the fiery bald man was still standing on the Georgia sidelines next year. (Erk Russell he ain’t… that’s for darn sure.)

You’re making the same mistake Miami fans made after their shellacking last week. Because Tech employs a running offense, you assume it should be as straightforward to defend as, say, Tennessee or Auburn would be running the ball 49 times in a game. That the only explanation for giving up 407 yards rushing must be poor coaching.

Was it poor coaching that allowed GT’s defense to give up 407 yards passing? Of course not! It was excellent offensive play calliing by Mike Bobo, and outstanding execution by Stafford, Massoquoi and Georgias offensive line. It wasn’t poor defensive coaching that left your receivers open, it was good route running.

Paul Johnson’s triple option is as varied and adaptable with its running attack as Bobo is with his passing attack. Just because it’s on the ground doesn’t make it simple to defend. Just ask Miami. And FSU. and Mississippi State. And give us a little credit.

If memory serves me correctly, Sly Croom was a defensive coordinator before becomming head coach at MS. State, the graveyard of head coaches. During his college career he played defensive end for Bear Bryant. As Martinez has proven himself unfit for the defensive coordinator position, if Richt, either on his own (I am not hopeful), or at the behest of the powers that be, fired Martinez, does anyone think Sly Croom might be a good choice coach to replace him?

I stand corrected.

What an edge going into a game — if you score 18, you’ll win. Dorothy: Find the ruby red slippers.

Why can’t we go out and pay this man what it takes to get him back?

DC of the Falcons ain’t that great of a job. Pay the man!

I know. I’m dreaming.

While it is generally seen as blasphemous to suggest we hire anyone who once donned the color orange as it relates to SEC football, a pretty darn good coordinator who lives in Knoxville is soon to be looking for a job.

With Monte Kiffen soon to join his son on Rocky Top, John Chavis is soon to be available. And while Tennessee has been abysmal on offense this year, their defense has remained stellar with the majority of points surrendered being the direct result of being put in a short field situation by their inept offense.

Of course, natural talent has a lot to do with it but when I see Jerod Mayo make 21 tackles last Sunday for the Pats at the next level and I see Eric Berry making those Thomas Davis-type hits week end and week out, I see a fundamentally sound defense whose players are constantly put in a position to succeed.

….And speaking of Rocky Top, get ready for it to be a three-way SEC race again in two years or so. While Lane doesnt have the experience necessary to win right away, Monte sure does- and with Ed Orgeron joining them back in his comfort zone- in the living room recruiting and far away from X’s and O’s- I am very concerned that the sleeping giant in the mountains is soon to reawaken.

I have not been a WM fan since day one and I agree with your comments. To say the least, teh defense has been sloppy, undisciplined and the talent has dropped since WM arrival. VanGorder’s defenses carried us in many ways throughout his tenure, while WM has been the weak link in the chain since his arrival. I know that Richt is a man of loyalty, but he must grow a pair and make the call for change.

it’s damn hard to find a new and better one. Sometimes it takes trial and error. Sometimes (all the time) it takes a mountain of luck. Van Gorder returning would be great – in some ways…..but where is his heart? And how long would he stay? And what is his contract with the Falcons? He left for his own reasons – he would have to return for his own reasons, and not for the money, but because it is where is heart is.

We have some time. We have 2-4 months of time. And the trigger on firing Willie, IF it happens (i am not assured it will) will not be until after the bowl game, if we keep some decency. We also need Willie even if we get a new DC because there is a lot of work to be done in the off season. We can’t have a pissed off CWM that makes a delicate situation even worse.

I do expect some coaching adjustments and reassignments however. Especially in the special teams arena. Maybe even a new hire in certain areas.

and i want the jersery of number 9 (i know his name, i am never mentioning it again in my life) burned. i dont want to see him on the field again.

The tackling and the lines of attack were just absolutely pathetic on defense. And the special teams just added to it.

sorry for venting – getting upset. Seeing the replays made it even more clear how pathetic the defense was.

We gave up more points in the third quarter alone than we had in any of the seven straight victories. (17 was the most Tech had managed.)

We also gave up more points in one game than we had given up not just in any TWO consecutive games in the streak, but in fact in any THREE consecutive games. (17, 7, 17, 13, 7, 12, 17.)

Yeah, they have a new coach and a new offense. They still ain’t that good.

I feel like one of the few Dawg fans (although there are no doubt more; I just haven’t met them) who has defended Martinez this season. I never called for his head after Bama (everybody gets one pass), or Florida (that’s a great offense, and we put the D in some bad spots) but after our performances at Kentucky and coming off a bye against Tech, there is just no reason to continue this failed experiment. If the talent isn’t on the field, as some posters are implying, isn’t that also a reflection of the coaching at some level? And considering WM is a former secondary coach, how can our secondary be so enemic, and so pitiful at tackling? Ultimately, I’ll support CMR in whatever he decides (I think he’s earned that much from Bulldog nation), but I sure hope that he doesn’t let his loyalty hurt the team in what could be a promising 2009 campaign.

Can we all just agree that Brian Van Gorder isn’t coming back. Sure, we’d love him to come back, and Bama would love to have Bear back (before this year, at least) and Notre Dame would love to have Knute Rockne back, but it’s something in our (and his) past. So let’s all just agree to look more intelligent and stop asking about Van Gorder.

The SC dc is from South Carolina, he not going to move again. Anyone on here who is suggesting the lack of talent is CWM’s fault is incorrect. Recruiting is assigned to the entire staff by area/ region not by offense or defense.
Another overlooked issue is turnovers. In our 3 defeats we are minus 2, minus 4 & minus 1. Exactly how does one credit Coach Martinez defensive coaching abilities to an interception returned for a touchdown and a fumble inside the 25 year line? In Jacksonville we gave Florida a short field 4 times (2 of which I believe were inside the 10 yard line) which they all converted to points. Simply using point totals to draw a conclusion is not a thorough evaluation. Do you think Paul Johnson is considering firing his DC for giving up 45 points? For the season we are minus 2 in turnover margins. Take away one turnover from yesterday and the outcome changes and the tone of this discussion changes.
 What happens before the snap falls on the coach, what happens after the ball is snapped is left to the players. Yesterday’s defensive game plan and field adjustments appeared to be solid since we were able to stop them 2-3 times in the second half. Unfortunately the offense was not able to utilize the defensive stops and turn them into points. How were you able to rate these unproductive offensive snaps less significant than the defensive ones? Yesterday, tech made 2 long TD runs down the sideline. Both times the corner either was blocked to the inside or took an incorrect pursuit angle, leaving the sideline free. I can say with much confidence that the 1st day of high school football practice, a cornerback is preached to NEVER give up your outside position & to force the play back to the middle. On one of the long TD runs (in the fourth quarter), our safety decided to try and bump the RB out of bounds instead of tackling (a technique this particular player has used all year). If you want to say that this is a reflection of Willie Martinez’s lack coaching, for not teaching tackling, I leave it to all of our coaches to identify who the best 11 are based on the Monday through Thursday practice performance. Sometimes the best position player has a deficiency in their game. Coaches have to game plan around such deficiencies as best they can. 21 of tech’s points can be attributed to bad post snap decisions. 7 of tech’s points were directly from a turnover and another turnover gave them a short field.
From year to year team chemistry and leadership are vital to success. To support this Corvey Irvin had a post game comment that indicates the players lost focus in the second half. All the sideline instructions provided can not materialize if the players are not focus on the job at hand. Corvey’s comments reflect that there was not a personality in the defensive huddle that could get the attention and focus of the other players. During bowl preparation, off season conditioning, spring & fall practice lets hope that a vocal leader emerges that can impose a take charge attitude and a nasty disposition to our defense. This would cure all the ills that can be found in a 9 to 10 win season.
A football game cannot be broken down into 1 play here or there. Every snap of the ball has an impact on the next and ultimately on the outcome. 18-21 year old young men will make good & bad decisions during a football game. Sometimes their talent and/or teammates can overcome mistakes. Sometimes it does not. This is the nature of College Football, no blame needs to be assigned.

GREAT ARTICLE AND BEAUTIFULLY DONE!!

Agree with everything Kyle has said but we would all be remiss if we did not seriously discuss Special Teams. Since the last minute loss to LSU some years ago in Baton Rouge when we went ahead and then kicked to them giving them the ball on the 45 or so, have we once kicked the ball into the end zone? We were doing that when I was in school (with our toes tied up/kicking straight on)! There has got to be someone on the squad that can kick the ball that far. Others feel the same way?

as I rode up the elevator Saturday, the only person in it other than my wife was Mike Cavan. I remember when he puked his guts out in the huddle in the Sugar Bowl. My how time flies. For those of you who don’t know, I don’t have a skybox, but get invited to one game a year and this year I selected the Tech game. Yes, many of the individuals on the field allegedly playing defense for the Dawgs executed poorly Saturday, and I presume that the DC must take the blame for that; however, those same guys executed fairly well in the first half. They WERE prepared. Unfortunately, they fell into the “we got it won” trap at halftime and couldn’t recover. The offensive Dawgs also fell into that trap__see their POOR performance in the 3rd quarter also__but they were able to recover due to superior talent. I have to believe that the defensive coaches teach fundamentals of tackling__not “chest bumping” or “blocking” to try to bring down a runner__certainly they teach that one’s “arms” should be utilized.
    I have never been sold on Martinez, but I think Saturday was a prime example of our guys just thinking at halftime: “It’s the same old Tech, we’re ahead by 16, and we can put it on autopilot.” For some reason, it has been my observation over the years that UGA doesn’t play well ahead. When UGA took the opening kickoff Saturday, marched easily downfield and scored a touchdown, I turned to someone in the skybox and stated: “We’re going to lose this game__that was too easy.” I’d like to see some statistics on the number of times that UGA has received the opening kickoff, scored a touchdown easily on that drive, and wound up losing the game. I’d say >50% of the time we come out on the short end of the stick.

We knew Stafford, Moreno, MoMass would keep on scoring like we did in NOLA, and heard the stories about Green (all true!) and King (uhhh…maybe true?) would make us contender. But did you REALLY believe pre-season #1? No O-line, injuries, and a weakened D-front would take the field against THE toughest schedule in the nation. Two losses to the real #1 & #2 teams in the country (no apologies to overrated Big 12) and only 1 loss vs. SC, AZ-ST, LSU, AU, TN, upset minded KY & Vandy and, of course, Tech. That’s 9 – 3 and the SEC sportwriters knew it…so did we, but did not want to believe. Next year was the year to look forward to, at least on paper, until we now must also accept we’ve likely wasted our shot with Staff and KnowMo.

I believe CMR will learn and adapt…he has shown the ability to do this so far. This year was tough with great weapons, next year will be tougher now that our best weapons will be gone. Defense must be fixed, and since WM ain’t leaving, we’ll see how well the off-season goes as our first big test is at OSU in Boone’s palace.

P.S. Is there really any need to go to Cap1 to beat another 3rd-rate Big10 team?

Javon Ringer just opened up an early Christmas present- it was a game tape of UGA and GT.

it is very disturbing to me that a person can continue to use methods or schemes in preforming his job that didn’t even work in the games that we have won (we being dawg fans and players). If I had one thing to say to Willie it would be plan and simple zone prevent dosen’t work not even in high school . All it does is prevent you from winning the game. You would think when he sees the otheir team scoring points over and over again it wound make him think oh maybe its time to change to maybe man to man or if you see the qb can’t throw accurate under pressuse then guess what bring pressure and just more than the d-line its common scense. I would like to know why we keep letting him cost us games. Can someone please let me know why he can’t see what is very clear to the rest of us