Cocktail Thursday: Troy Trojans Edition.

Well, that was certainly not what we were hoping for. However, tomorrow is another day and today is in fact another Thursday. And if you're Georgia Bulldogs have a football game this weekend, then you probably have something to be nervous about, and could use a drink. Allow me to help.

There are certain professions which lend themselves to candor. Doctors. Accountants. Taxidermists.There are some folks who you need to tell it to you like it is. Football coaching is one of those vocations. While "coach speak" is a time-honored tradition, when you ply your trade in front of 90,000 people, there is precious little room to hide. Either you done good or you done bad. And everybody knows it. You might as well come out and say it.

Georgia Defensive Coordinator Jeremy Pruitt offered this week that his staff done bad. He described himself as "embarrassed" that his unit gave up 38 points, and pointedly admitted that when your offense scores 35 you ought to win the football game. To Coach Pruitt's credit, he may be taking an inordinate share of the blame from offensive and special teams units which had their own lowlights.

But he is not incorrect in saying that his unit had serious problems executing in certain situations. The refreshing part about Pruitt's remarks is that he did not simply say "our players did not execute". I've heard that from Todd Grantham and Willie Martinez. Still not impressed with that excuse. Instead he made it clear that he and his coaches need to do a better job of making sure players execute, and under certain circumstances putting them in a better position to execute.

All of which brings us to this Saturday's match up against the Troy Trojans. Perhaps you have heard, the members of the Troy football team are certainly good at many things. Unfortunately in recent weeks one of them has not been football.  The Trojans sport an 0-3 record, including a truly embarrassing loss to FCS nonpower Abilene Christian. This is not a game that the Georgia Bulldog should lose. In fact, this is not a game that should even be much of a game by halftime. The only thing that will allow it to be much of a game at that juncture would be the Georgia Bulldogs own self-pity and or lack of focus.

I believe the best way for the coaching staff to prevent that calamity is to keep things simple. Focus on assignments. Take this week as a chance to get better while showing a level of pride and intensity which you expect from a national playoff contender. If the Georgia Bulldogs come out of the gate and put a whipping on the Troy Trojans, I will be pleased. This is not a game that moves you up in the national rankings, helps you do anything substantive in the Heisman race other than pad your stats, or improve your strength of schedule. There is really nothing to do other then take care of business and move on, or not take care of business and be lampooned for it. It's that simple.

So for this weeks cocktail, we are going to keep things simple as well. No macerated fruit, no obscure mixers, nothing remotely arcane. This weeks cocktail is scotch. Scotchy scotch scotch. Pour one, any number of fingers of your choosing. Sip it slowly and deliberately. Repeat if necessary.

And feel free to use the comments to let your fellow Dawg Sports readers know of your favorite scotches, scotch rituals, and scotch-fueled stories. At least those for which the statute of limitations has expired. Feel free to also use this as the open common thread for tonight's ESPN Thursday night football game between the Kansas State Wildcats and the Auburn WarPlainsDuffelBagToters. Until later. . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!