Monday ‘Dawg Bites: Climbing out of the rubble.

It's a new week, with a new opponent, and new challenges. Okay, that's not true. It's the same challenges all over again. Before we tackle them, let’s take a look at what's going on in Bulldog Nation, and elsewhere in college football.

Seth Emerson looks at Georgia’s loss to Ole Miss by the numbers. It probably won't make you feel better. Among the low lights: Georgia is fighting for the bottom slot in the league in sacks allowed, and is the only SEC school converting less than half its field goals.

In the midst of the torching of the UGA secondary on Saturday sophomore Deandre Baker saw his first extended time at corner. Kirby Smart sounds noncommital on whether we’ll see that continue. But there's no denying that the UGA secondary, thought to be a strength going into this season, has weak spots subject to being exploited.

Want to feel better about where things are headed in Athens? Don't read this post by Senator Blutarsky. The challenges facing this coaching staff are many, and not all of them are subject to quick fixes.

I said it before, I’ll say it again: the law of averages dictates that Kirby Smart won't win as many games as Mark Richt did in Athens. Because on a percentile basis, no one ever has. But while you and I may be interested in Smart’s success, and we want him to succeed, Greg McGarity’s entire career is tied up in it. Yet there's precious little evidence that McGarity will do what's necessary to help Smart help him.

But hey, it could be worse. We could be LSU fans at the dawning of the Ed Orgeron era. It sounds as if LSU fans saw this one coming at some point. Though four games into the season is pretty eye-opening timing. no matter how you feel about his ouster, there's no doubt that the SEC will be a little less interesting without Senor Hat.

Brian VanGorder also got the ax as defensive coordinator after Notre Dame’s 1-3 start, capped by a 38-35 loss to Duke. While the Irish defense has certainly given up more than its share of points, I tend to believe that firing a coordinator 4 games in is indicative of some shortcomings on the part of the head coach as well. But don't hold your breath for Brian Kelly to take any heat for this one.