Typically, we here at Dawg Sports deliver your recap of matters you may have missed at the end of the weekend, but, as you may have noticed, the Georgia Bulldogs will play their first football game of the 2012 season one week from today, so, if all goes according to plan, tomorrow should mark the resumption of regular weekly in-season programming here at the old weblog, which means you are getting your regular roundup in the form of a Saturday sports summary this week.
We have good news and bad news, so let’s start with the bad news. Last night, in Lawrence, the Georgia soccer team suffered its first loss of the season, and its first ever against the Jayhawks, when the Bulldogs dropped a tight 1-0 contest to host Kansas. The Red and Black were out-shot, 11-9, and the home team had more saves, 3-2. The Athenians will be back in action tomorrow against South Dakota State.
That brings us to the good news. Lizzy Stemke’s Georgia volleyball team started its season with a win, taking the Red and Black’s opener against Georgia Southern, 3-1. The Ramsey Student Center was full on Friday night for the first day of the Bulldog Invitational, and the 1,009-strong crowd saw Coach Stemke’s Classic City Canines claim the first two sets, 25-23 and 25-21, before the Eagles took the third set, 25-19. The Bulldogs thereafter dispatched their guests expeditiously by a 25-10 margin in the fourth set. Tirah Le’au and Lauren Teknipp had a dozen kills apiece, while Brittany Northcutt notched a double-double with 14 kills and ten digs. Next up for Georgia is a home date with Troy at 7:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
The Red and Black’s gridiron road opener appears increasingly intriguing, as the Bulldogs’ conference clash with the Missouri Tigers looks to pit weakness against strength. We already know Georgia’s secondary will be at least somewhat shorthanded against a talented Mizzou receiving corps and a potent Tiger passing attack, but, with yet another Missouri offensive lineman suffering an injury, the Tigers figure to be at less than full strength against a stout Athenian front seven. How well the two teams’ respective depleted units fare against the best the opposition has to offer will be the decisive storyline of this game.
Ere the Red and Black get to the Mizzou game, though, they first must take care of the Buffalo Bulls. Toward that end, Georgia practiced in shells for two hours this morning, after which Mark Richt made a statement with which I, personally, am 100 per cent fine: “The defense seemed to be much more interested in winning today than the offense.” While I have no quarrel with anyone who reads that and says, “I blame Bobo,” my response is an entirely different three-word phrase . . . one popularized by Gus Grissom in the movie “The Right Stuff.”
Finally, Coach Richt has announced this week’s game captains. These are they: Aaron Murray, offense; Abry Jones and Shawn Williams, defense; and Ty Frix, special teams. I would make an “O Captain! My Captain!” reference here, but, really, do I strike you as the sort of person who would quote a Walt Whitman poem about Abraham Lincoln? No. No, I do not. Instead, therefore, I will simply ask the rhetorical question, “Are you ready for some football?”
Go ‘Dawgs!