Friday Morning ‘Dawg Bites

Good morning, all you Dawgly Dawgs and Dawgettes. Yet again, you’ve made it through another work week (almost) and if you’re like me, you’ve got that little pang of nervousness in your tummy. It’s that familiar little tickle that is only reserved for a hated rival.

A lot of people are not giving Auburn much of a chance on Saturday as their offense is really showing the ill-effects of the Bryan Harsin Experience. Offensively, the WarTiglesPlainsMen essentially have a 3-pronged offensive scheme. Run the ball, run the ball and maybe pass just kidding run the ball. What Auburn does have going for them is a secret weapon. It’s an Orange-Out! This is precisely why the color orange is banned in my home from August 1 through February 1 every year. It's the verboten shade on the color wheel of life.

Auburn rarely deploys the orange jersey. About the only game I truly remember where they wore the orange was way back in 1980. It didn’t work out then, and it’ll be shocking if it works out now. Here’s a little bit of history from that game. I couldn’t find complete video of this game, but queue this YouTube footage at the 2:17 mark. This is the trailer from the excellent “1980 Dawgs: The Inside Story of the National Championship Season.”

At this point in the game, if memory serves, Georgia was trailing Auburn at the half and needed a spark. Defensive back Greg Bell (#20) charged through Auburn’s punt protection and blocked a kick that big Freddie Gilbert caught on a bounce, spun around and scored setting us up for an eventual victory while clinching the ‘80 SEC Championship. Notice in that footage that Auburn was wearing orange jerseys. Somehow, I remembered this for no particular reason about 15 minutes ago. I can’t recall anything I did earlier today, but remember this detail from a game 43 years later. Weird.

Georgia vs. Auburn should never be played this early in the year, either. It just doesn’t feel right.

Georgia is breaking out a fresh look themselves with a slightly different take on their traditional road whites. I like the collar.

This is Georgia’s first road game in a place that can either be as hostile as anyplace in America. Throw out the record. Auburn’s crowd will be loud...at least for a while. How you feeling about the game?

Georgia’s defense ranks last in sacks in the SEC and 111th in the nation, with only 1.25 per game. I think this is largely by design, but personally I’d like to see this number improve. Crash Davis once said that “strikeouts are fascist.” He probably felt the same thing about sacks, too.

What’s a baseball clip doing in a Georgia Football blog? It’s Crash Davis, man.

Here’s a quick look at a statistical comparison between the two teams. Auburn is giving up almost 300 yards per game...through the air. I think Brock Bowers is going to go off.

That’s all I’ve got. See you Sunday with an attempt at a thought or two...

As Always, GO DAWGS!