Season 2 Volume 3: The Sea of Red

This is a long one but stay with me my friends. As the dawgs gave their best in South Bend, so too must I give mine.

Intro

If anyone needed a reminder of how hungry Georgia fans are, ask the 40,000 people that took over Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night. I am always really proud that I graduated from the University of Georgia and I find myself eager to tell people where i studied. But I think everyone would agree that being a passionate Georgia football fan is hard work. In the midst of what can be tough days, there are moments that remind you how lucky you are to be a part of this storied SEC program. In 2005, a 13 year old stands at the top of the Georgia dome, overwhelmingly proud of a career backup QB beating a highly favored LSU team in the SEC championship. In 2006, a fired up 14 year old celebrates a Tra Battle superman dive into the end zone to wrap up a rout of #5 Auburn. In 2008, a high school sophomore witnesses the worst day of Colt Brennan’s life and heads out to bourbon street post game. In 2013, a defensive student assistant is on the field as Zach Mettenberger overthrows Odell Beckham Jr on 4^th down as Georgia awakens the nation. And then, on Saturday night, a married post grad takes in a one point win with his wife on the road against the most storied football program in the country. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but damn that was cool.

Take Ownership

Georgia had four rising seniors declare they were coming back prior to the beginning of this season and all four had huge games in South Bend. A core element to a successful team is obviously senior leadership that takes ownership of the team. Recognize your responsibility to go make a play in a big moment. Lorenzo Carter, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel all had tremendous performances. But Davin Bellamy beat pre-season All American Mike McGlinchey’s ass all night long and finished off the night in the game’s biggest moment with a sack fumble. Go get that money Bell.

Stay Involved, Stay Employed

I’ve watched the game several times since Saturday and I noticed something very familiar. In the two years I was at Georgia, Coach Richt became less and less involved with the intricacies of both defensive and offensive play calling and execution. On gamedays, he was obviously the overall game manager but other than that, had little to add. He obviously identified this as a problem, as he took over offensive play calling after his move to Miami. Every single time the camera focused on Brian Kelly, he looked like a distant participant. Not once did I see him speak into the headset or offer a player any coaching. From an outside perspective, Kelly needs to be less argumentative with reporters and more involved with his team. I’ve seen the outcome of a familiar situation and it ain’t good for the gipper.

The Rodrigoat Blakenship Story

So cool to see Rodrigoat announce to the team that he had received a scholarship following his game winning field goal Saturday night. Chauncey Manac’s transfer allowed for an extra scholarship and despite Ken Blakenship’s best efforts to screw his son over, the GOAT was able to land the scholly. I’ve really enjoyed the rec spec legend come to life over the past two years but I have known of Rodrigo for a while. Although he was a few years younger than me, we attended the same high school (Go Raiders). See, back then, he was just known as Rodrigo. He was somewhat of a legend as the middle schooler would take the field for hours after high school practice, constantly judged and coached by his father like a Russian Gymnast. Father Ken Blakenship was an English teacher and one weird cat. I was not surprised in the least when Ken decided to tangle with King Kirby over the scholarship issue. As Rodrigoat lined up for what would end up being the game winning field goal, I had a quick flashback to the Walton practice fields and a sense of calm came over me. The Goat had pictured and dreamed of this moment and now all that was left was to tighten the specs and split the uprights. It was pure….and Ken was finally pleased. Good for you Goat, good for you.

Offensive Play Calling

I’ve seen so many people jump on the “terrible playcalling” bandwagon. Look, Chaney is no Mike Bobo, both in stature and offensive play calling ability. But I also don’t think he called a terrible game by any means. I actually liked a lot of his key calls. Let’s take a quick run through:

· Wild Dawg- Before we get into some of his nice calls, let’s point out something that isn’t working. I really like the concept. We have too many playmakers on offense not to have a package and it also makes D coordinators prepare for another offensive aspect. But you have got to show a pass wrinkle off of it for it to be a viable offensive piece. Pick the guy with the best arm between Mecole, Sony and Herrien and chuck that thang deep to Nuata. I’ll take credit when it happens in the next few weeks. Win-win

· 1^st and 10 Reverse to Mecole- this is a very simple play in the heart of the game but I thought it was genius. Dawgs had the ball up 1 with 3:07 left in the game. Instead of something safe between the tackles we run reverse to Mecole and completely open up an aggressive defense. If you lose yards, you still run clock but you have a great opportunity to soften up the D on 1^st down. Love it.

· Shot after Zo7 fumble recovery to Mecole- we do not take enough shots after big defensive plays and I loved this one. The defense is often lagging or unorganized after a sudden change. Perfect time to through a 50 yard bomb to Mecole that he……dropped. Excellent play call. Mecole is not a natural receiver but he is an electric playmaker. Give it some time

· Screen to Sony on 3^rd and 9- Nice playcall to open up an aggressive defense in the 4^th quarter. If Sony doesn’t slip he is still running. Execution is often the part that fans conveniently forget when it comes to play calling

· Chaney is still adjusting to the run game- overall, I thought it was good play calling in the run game but it’s clear that Chaney still wants to punish people in the power run game. While he doesn’t have the bodies just yet, it is clear that this year’s OLine is more talented and has a much higher ceiling than last years. Should continue to improve and they better if we have a chance

That guy is a DUDE

Ok, don’t crucify me if I don’t mention everyone. We all know that 27, 1, 7 (Zo) and 78 are dudes. And when I say dudes, I mean guys with NFL potential or college game breaking ability. Let’s cover some up and coming dudes that are making a case for themselves to get paid

7: Swift is a DUDE. This guy can break the game wide open and did in South Bend. He needs more carries no matter how he gets them. I told you in the preseason edition, I told you after week one. Give me all the D’andre Swift stock

6: Wims is a DUDE. I guess we need to get used to Wims using that big ole body to go up over someone and grab at least one a game. He had the body out of JUCO and it was all about when he would put it together. Well it’s put together like a fully completed lego now boy so sit back and enjoy it

3: Roquan is a DUDE. Roquan is the best overall football player on our defense. He is the modern linebacker. Lean dude who can play the pass and RUN. See you in in the league next year Roquan, my sweet prince

4: Mecole is a DUDE. He hits kickoffs so hard and is a menace on offense. We will see more and more of the offense built for him and he will take at least 3 punts/kicks back for 6 by the end of the year. Count it

20: JR Reed is a DUDE. What a freaking steal. Don’t let anyone fool you, we only took JR to help us with his cousin, Deangelo Gibbs. Turns out JR stole lil cuzzo’s spot at star and is a freaking DUDE. JR is going to play on Sunday’s. He has elite closing speed, tackling ability and a tremendous feel for the game. What a blind pickup and only a redshirt sophomore.

92: Cam Nizialek is the MVP DUDE. This guy has been unreal and the biggest weapon for Georgia in this young season. An unbelievable transition from last year. He put ND on their own 19 to go win the game. Tough spot. Keep bootin em kid and go ahead and pair that free Columbia undergrad degree with a free Georgia Master’s. I envy you.

Emerging DUDES: Terry Godwin, Tyler Clark, Solomon Kindley, Walter Grant, Richard Lecounte, Andrew Thomas

Samford Preview

Ok so I watched game film from Samford’s last 12 games. Lulz what a sad life that would be (and used to be for me). I know nothing about Samford. But my lack of knowledge will in no way prevent me from making a score predicition. That would make me a quitter. Dawgs 34 Dogs 13

Bucky’s Easy Money of the Week

Last Week: 4-1

Overall: 33-24-1

Bucky’s Easy Money of the Week was hot last week. Real hot. Trajectory is opposite of current bitcoin status so you know it’s real.

That one felt good. See y’all next week