Tuesday Morning ‘Dawg Bites

It’s Tuesday of Hate Week, folks. Time to rise and shine with a good cup of Joe and dig into your steel cut oatmeal while reading some Dawgly notes of interest of bits-of-tid. Let’s go...

Deandre Baker was back at practice on Monday and doing those things that defensive backs tend to do in practice, although his right ankle was still heavily taped, although he did not seem limited. Baker was playing very well prior to his during the Vanderbilt game. He’s a sophomore, an up-and-coming young player with a knack for the football and an important piece of the defense going forward. Good to have him back...hopefully at 100% (or close to it) on Saturday.

Jim McElwain has some very kind words regarding Jacob Eason. Remember, Florida got Eason on campus shortly before National Signing Day, but #10 stuck with his commitment to Georgia, undoubtedly realizing that Athens is way cool and Gainesville is, well, indeed a swamp.

“Quarterbacks making their first start against Florida have not beaten the Gators since Greg Talley in 1989.” - Fansided

The above quote is just plain sad. Time to flip that script. Florida opens as a 7 ¹⁄₂ 6 ¹⁄₂ point favorite on Saturday (this’ll change. Betcha.). Do the Dawgs have any kind of an advantage over the Gators, other than palatable school colors? Maybe. I’m thinking this could be a 13-10 type of game. This, of course means, it’ll be a 45-42 shootout.

It is no coincidence that Isaiah McKenzie’s production has taken a drop in the last few weeks. Someone else had better step up on Saturday. We sure could use some special teams magic out of #16 on Saturday.

Exhale: Roquan Smith and Natrez Patrick will not be suspended. The two were suspected of using marijuana after their dormitory resident assistant called campus police who investigated, found some paraphernalia, but did not file charges. The university conducted their own inquiry and concluded - after drug testing and negative results for both players - that there is nothing to see here and it’s time to move along, much to the dismay of dog-catcher wanna be Jeff Schultz.

It sounds like Georgia isn’t the only team looking for offensive line consistency, as the Gators are looking to build upon some success they’ve recently discovered.

Kipp Adams over at 247 Sports gives us a breakdown on how the true freshman are acquitting themselves so far this season. As one would expect, it’s a mixed bag of results. It is also very revealing how much youth is truly playing and gaining experience that might begin to pay off this season. The immediate future looks a lot brighter than the not-so-distant past.

That’s all I got. See you in Jacksonville.

As Always, GO DAWGS!