Dawg Bites stayed up a little late last night watching LSU perform the football equivalent of a hunter's gut shot on a trophy deer (it was slow, inhumane, but ultimately fatal) and then watching Ole Miss do the decent thing and just put Texas A&M out of its misery in the first 15 minutes. But the end result is that we're moving a little slow this morning. Be that as it may the college football world doesn't stop turning. Here's the news you need to know this morning around Bulldog Nation:
Georgia 34, Missouri 0: That was the worst offensive performance in a long time - Rock M Nation
Bill Connelly of Rock M Nation is one of the great college football statisticians of our time. I don't just say that because I've had the pleasure of working with him at SB Nation, I say it because, holy heaven, the guy knows his stuff. So when Bill doesn't even really have to slice and dice the data beyond looking at field position and turnover margin to tell you that the Missouri offense didn't get it done yesterday, you can bet the Missouri offense didn't get it done. Some of that was the Bulldog secondary playing easily its best football of the season, creating actual, live coverage sacks. They also effectively snuffed out any sort of big play potential, something which we knew was critical to being in this ballgame. Combined with a workmanlike, efficient performance from the offense and special teams play that was actually special, it was devastating for the Tigers.
You're darned right the Georgia Bulldogs played angry over Todd Gurley's suspension. I have no problem with the 2014 team cultivating an "us against the world" mentality. It's a trope that's worked pretty well for Mark Richt-coached teams in the past. I just don't know if it's sustainable as a source of motivation in the long term.
Nick Chubb carries rushing weight in Todd Gurley's absence - The Red and Black : Sports
I don't think giving Nick Chubb the ball 38 times a game is healthy or sustainable in the long term. But on this day, without Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall, or Sony Michel available, it was the right move and one Mike Bobo deserves credit for making.
This week's AP top 25 ballot: Magnolia at the top | Bulldogs Beat with Seth Emerson | Macon.com
Seth Emerson does on a weekly basis what all AP voters should do, and makes his ballot public for the world to see. This week he has Mississippi State and Ole Miss 1/2 at the top. Fair warning, my SEC Power Poll ballot will be likewise constructed, though I had to think long and hard about which Magnolia State club to put up top. I was more impressed by Ole Miss last night than I have been in any game this season, including last week's win over Alabama.
The other Gurley scandal | Get The Picture
The Senator notes some of the interesting socio-economic aspects of the Todd Gurley situation, and says what some of you have been saying in the comments here at Dawg Sports: Todd Gurley's legacy in college athletics may not be only his superlative play on the field, but also serving as the right poster child at the right time and ultimately spurring larger action on the subject of amateurism in college sports. I don't think anyone's comparing Gurley to Rosa Parks just yet. But movements need not only leaders but symbols. And Todd Gurley looks exactly like the symbol for what's wrong with the NCAA's entire state-sanctioned monopoly.
Dean Legge on Twitter: "If you missed the shot of Douglas flipping in for the score here it is."
Do people still do computer wallpapers? If they do then this one is going to be pretty popular in the coming days.
That should last you a while. We'll be back this afternoon and evening with more analysis of yesterday's win and any Todd Gurley news that breaks. Until then . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!