Monday ‘Dawg Bites Hasn’t Taken A Buy Out (But We’re Listening)

In the words of the late, great Jerry Reed, we’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there. It’s five short days until the ‘Dawgs close out the SEC slate against the Tennessee Big Urnge. At some point in there you should probably block off time for work and family, maybe a couple of hours of sleep. That means you need your Georgia Bulldogs news hot, fast, and delicious. We’ve got you covered.

* Vegas has installed the Dawgs as a 10 point favorite on the road against Tennessee. That may seem like a relatively paltry line given that Georgia just keelhauled the #9 team in the country and the Vols got absolutely embarrassed by Missouri in Columbia, 36-7.

But Neyland Stadium remains among the toughest places in the SEC to play. And while these Bulldogs have looked solid in Sanford Stadium, they have only played two true road games (Auburn and Vandy), neither of which was a rousing success. Personally, I see this as a gut-check game for the Vols. It’s now officially a disappointing season for our neighbors to the north. It will be interesting to see how they respond to that reality. Do they salvage the season by knocking of the champ? Or do some Vols spend the afternoon quietly mulling over their transfer options?

* Over at our Tennessee-loving sister site, Rocky Top Talk, the frustration is palpable. It’s also understandable. The Vols were a two point favorite on the road, and while the score was close until the fourth quarter, Mizzou physically dominated the Fightin’ Heupels, stuffing a Tennessee rushing attack that has averaged over 200 yards per game and allowing only 83.

* Elsewhere in college football you’ve probably heard that Texas A&M finally jettisoned Jimbo Fisher on his life raft of cash, firing him in the midst of his sixth season at “Old Army.” The whacky Covid season (9-1) was the only one in which he ever lost fewer than four games, and the Aggies never seriously sniffed an SEC West title despite jumping into the NIL era with both feet, seven arms, a deuce and a half full of cash, and no regard whatsoever for decorum.

Expect the names thrown around in this search to be among the silliest you’ll ever see during coaching silly season.

Also, it should be interesting to see how the Aggie players react to the news. This is really the first big-time program reboot of the NIL era. There were a lot of rumblings when Fisher signed the nation’s top recruiting class in 2022 that the big NIL deals that helped make it possible required players to hang around College Station for at least three years. I suspect we’re about to hear some airing of dirty laundry. I also suspect that some of the elite players who’ve been underdeveloped in Aggieland will now be looking at programs like Georgia, Alabama, and Ohio State to round out their collegiate careers and get developed for the real pay day: the NFL Draft.

* In non-gridiron news, shout out to Mike White and his Hoop Hounds, who downed North Carolina Central 64-54 to move to 2-1 on the young season. It’s been a bit of an up-and-down campaign so far as the transfer-heavy Dawgs lost a disappointing opener to Oregon, then pulled off a solid win over Wake Forest before knocking off the NCCU Eagles. We should soon get a good idea of where this team is in terms of gelling, as the Red and Black will travel to the Bahamas on Friday for the Baha Mar Classic, opening with #13 Miami.

We’ll be back later with more Bulldog goodness. Until then, enjoy attacking your day, and…

Go ‘Dawgs!!!