It’s the Friday Tailgate, the open thread in which we do what we have to do to make it through those last exasperating hours before the Georgia Bulldogs kick it off between the hedges. It’s a place where you can pull up a chair and shoot the breeze with your fellow ‘Dawg fans about anything or nothing at all. It is, in short, just like your Saturday tailgate except you can set up any time you want and unlike the Athens-Clarke County authorities we don’t care what you drink your beer out of or even if you do so on the sidewalk. With no further ado, Maestro, hit us with the tailgatin’ music:
When you play an opener against a school like Louisiana-Monroe the goal is smooth sailing that doesn’t wear you down before the real fun starts. After all Georgia begins conference play in two weeks after a brief road trip to play Vanderbilt, which lost a close one last night to fellow Conference USA denizen Western Kentucky.
The truth of the matter is that the more exciting an opener against Louisiana-Monroe is, the more of a disaster it becomes. If you let a team like the Warhawks hang around you can expect commentators covering other games to start mentioning the score more often. The #UpsetWatch hashtag starts showing up in your social media stream. It’s no fun at all. The goal then is simple: get out there, get the job done, and get out of Dodge.
With that goal in mind I thought this might be a good week to revive one of my favorite Friday Tailgate games, Over or Under? For the uninitiated, it’s really simple. I offer a numerical proposition regarding this weekend’s game and you tell whether you think the reality will be "over" or "under" that number. For example, I offer that Nick Chubb will carry the ball 0.9 times tomorrow. If you believe that he will carry the ball at least once you’d take the "over" (1.0 is more than 0.9, or so I’ve heard). If you believe for whatever reason that Nick Chubb will carry the ball fewer than 0.9 times (in other words, 0 times) you would take the under, and likely be subject to haughty derision from your peers. But then that’s life. If you wish, we encourage you to also give your rationale, especially if you think it’s particularly novel.
So everybody clear on the rules? Good. Let’s get started: I ask you, commentariat, over or under?
1) Greyson Lambert will throw the ball 19.9 times.
2) Brice Ramsey will throw the ball 9.9 times.
3) Faton Bauta will throw the ball 4.9 times.
4) Nick Chubb will have 0.9 rushing attempts during the fourth quarter of tomorrow’s contest.
5) Jeb Blazevich will have 4.9 receptions on the day.
6) Jay Rome will have 4.9 receptions on the day.
7) The Bulldog defense will rack up 3.9 sacks on the day.
8) Leonard Floyd will be responsible for 1.9 sacks.
9) The Louisiana-monroe Warhawks will accumulate 249.9 yards of total offense.
10) The Georgia Bulldogs will win this game by 39.9 points.
So there you have it. Let’s hear your thoughts on each of these, as well as your general thoughts on tomorrow’s game, life, love, and barbecue. You know, the important stuff. Until later . . .
Go ‘Dawgs!!!