15 Thoughts is Moving on to Hate Week

Senior Day is always bittersweet. But we still have some football to play with this group of special men.

Georgia efficiently took care of bid’ness on Saturday. If you didn’t have a roster sheet, you might’ve been a bit lost.

It’s a little bit misty in here.

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But first...a PSA:

DAWGSPORTS: WHEN NEWS BREAKS, WE TRY TO FIX IT

Dan Mullen done. See you later, alligator.

Life comes at you fast. Faster if you’re a genius.

They’re celebrating on all the UF boards. The search will be very interesting. Stay tuned.

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1. After battling my horribad ISP and “Watch ESPN” streaming service only after I was able to link both back to my previously mentioned craptacular internet cable company which, by the way, completely sucks, I settled into my chair to watch the #1 team in the land play an completely overmatched FCS opponent. The fact that the #1 team in the land is on a streaming service in the first place at noon is why ESPN is the Devil.

2. The 4 most important things about a game like this is:

• Don’t get anyone injured.
• Injuries, don’t get any.
• Emerging victorious without any injuries.
• Injuries: Avoid them.

3. I missed our first possession when we evidently moved the ball right down the field and then threw a pick. I have yet to see the replay, but the ball was tipped and a Charleston Southern defender got a gift. I’m guessing this was the only blemish on an otherwise dominant first half.

4. So, CSU had 28 total yards in the aforementioned first half: 21 rushing and 7 passing. They also had 6 “3 and outs.” In the 2nd half, the Buccaneers acquitted themselves a bit better, nearly quadrupling their first half totals, ending up with 98 yards of offense for a total of 126 on the day.

5. I suppose games like these have value for the visitor: They get a big payday. Also, it’s an opportunity to see your team play at home on a beautiful day which is never a bad thing. The overall experience - and yesterday was cupcake Saturday - for the college football fan is not a good one, but these won’t go away anytime soon...

5A. ...and we have another cupcake next week.

6. When we look back on this season and the history of Georgia Football, this will be a moment for the ages:

Might we try this again in a more meaningful game in the near future?

7. I would liked to have seen J.T. Daniels play a bit more, but I guess the coaching staff saw enough. He still looks rusty and his timing is just a ¹⁄₄ beat off. But, on a few throws he did show his natural arm strength. I suspect he’ll get more reps next week down on The Flats.

8. Georgia is going to have to replace a ton of linebacker talent next season. The guys waiting in the wings got a chance to flex yesterday and for the most part what we saw was very encouraging. True freshman Javon Bullard is a Dawg to keep an eye on with a lot of upside and is one of Macondawg’s MVD’s.

9. Xavian Sorey is going to be another great player from his linebacker position and showed much during the 2nd half. He’s super fast and can hit. He’s also a freshman and his interception (really good) and then stripped fumble on the same play (really bad) is something that he will learn from. I’m sure he caught hell (good natured, I’m sure) in the locker room after the game. The only way CSU was going to score on us yesterday was on some fluke play. I’ve seen quite a few of them over my years and that was about as fluky as it gets. Fluke Skywalker made a house call.

10. Jamon Dumas-John (#10) had 3 total tackles, 3 solos and ¹⁄₂ sack. This kid is the real deal, too. Smael Mondon had 4 tackles, 2 solos and a sack. Chaz Chambliss and Marlin Dean also had some good moments in the 2nd half. By my count, 32 defensive players showed up in the stat ledger. That’s called clearing your bench.

We did not give up a defensive touchdown on the day. A lot of youth doing good here...

11. Speaking of clearing your bench, we rested virtually all our starters on both sides of the ball for the 2nd half. There’s a really good chance we’ll do the same thing next week against Georgia Tech. Conversely, Alabama was in damn game yesterday as they held off a very physical Arkansas team, 42-35. Bama has to play in Jordan-Hare against a reeling Auburn team next week. I don’t know how quickly this game could get out of hand, but seems to me that between now and the Big Tilt in The Benz, Alabama is going to have to expend a bit more energy then we will. Something to keep an eye on, anyway.

12. It was really good to see Dominick Blaylock get a few snaps on offense. He caught a couple of passes for 11 yards. Stats don’t matter here. This kid has to get his confidence back. Brett Seither was the leading receiver with 2 catches, 39 yards and a touchdown. Carson Beck actually got more snaps than Daniels, threw a pick and a touchdown as well. Twelve different receivers caught passes. Seven different “true” running backs toted the rock as well.

13. Georgia “only “ amassed 488 yards of total offense. Much of this was on short fields as the Dawgs fielded 9 punts for 150 yards. I thought Ladd McConkey looked particularly dangerous in his opportunities: Two returns, 62 yards and a long of 34. Kearis Jackson really wants to break one, doesn’t he? He got close a few times.

14. I can’t believe the home slate on the 2021 campaign is over. Every year I get older, time just compresses. You blink and another season is in the books. Next year, our out of conference slate of tasty pastry’s are Samford (uh, better not take ‘em lightly ;-), Kent State and...Georgia Tech. We do get Auburn and Tennessee at home. That, my friends, are the marquee matchups for 2022. That’s it. Seems like the home slate, COVID year included, has been really poor of late. We play Oregon to open things in Atlanta, but in 2022 we are on the road at:

• South Carolina
• Missouri
• Mississippi State
• Kentucky

15. So, we head 75 miles down the road to Bobby Dodd Stadium at Mark Richt Field (or, if you prefer, Sanford West) in 7 days. Tech gave the Fighting Irish a game, ultimately succumbing 55-0 in a contest that wasn’t that close. How Tech beat North Carolina is a mystery. How they beat Duke is a semi-mystery. They also beat Kennesaw State, an FCS school. I read somewhere that Tech is going to have to practice the silent snap count. In their own building.

The goal on Saturday at noon (ABC-TV) is simple: Win, and get out healthy. We don’t need “style” points or anything like that, but a huge margin of victory would be nice. If you have trouble getting your “hate” on, this ought to get your mind right:

Sociopath much, dude?

Need anymore ammo? Ludakit has you covered:

I realize this is but a small minority of their dwindling fanbase, of which I have family. But I really do hope we outscore them more than Notre Dame did if given the chance.

BONUS THOUGHTS:

• So, the change in Gainesville has been made. Dan is no longer going to hunch over the sidelines in Gainesville. At least Eli Drinkwitz was able to provide the perfect parting shot.

Troll par excellence!

• About a year ago, Florida’s Marco Wilson threw a size 14 shoe during a real, live football game. Scientists, sociologists, athletic directors and Tik Tok content influencers will be studying the ripple effect of this act for years to come.

• The only thing left is for Mike Bianchi to write Mullen’s epitaph. (Hey, I know Dan’s still with us, but he’s dead’r ‘n hell in Gainesville). I don’t know if it’ll be any good, but it’ll certainly be weird.
• It looked like Auburn would blow out South Carolina early and often. Then, Bryan Harsin started to coach. What in the hell was he doing on that 4th and 1 play when you have Tank Bigsby in the backfield and he was having a night (Tank: 22 carries, 164 yards)?
• Shane Beamer has ‘Sakerlina bowl eligible. Florida is not bowl eligible. Is this a great sport, or what?
• Goodbye Oregon. The PAC-12 has a sad.
• Hello again, Cincinnati? If we must.
• Notre Dame is rapidly rising up into a possible playoff spot. We’ve seen this movie before and it always ends in bloodshed.
• UTSA - That’s the University of Texas - San Antonio - won a thriller yesterday and they’re the best team in the state. I spent my childhood in San Antonio. Loved that town. I don’t think UTSA even had a football team back then, but I’m going to order myself a shirt because why not? And the roadrunner logo is on fleek.

Beep beep!

• The Egg Bowl is going to be epic next week. Who you got?
• That game up in Ann Arbor might be worth a look, too. I’ll be shocked if Michigan wins, but it’ll be interesting...for a while anyway as Ohio State seems to have found another gear.
• Alabama looks utterly mortal. They’re good, but they have some real issues and they’re the kind of issues that our team is built to expose.

That’s all I’ve got.

As Always, GO DAWGS!