Dawg Sports - Georgia/Notre Dame Game Day CentralGeorgia Bulldogs. 2012 SEC East and state champions.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48665/dawgsports_fave.png2019-09-22T21:14:56-04:00http://www.dawgsports.com/rss/stream/206378282019-09-22T21:14:56-04:002019-09-22T21:14:56-04:00Keys To A Win Over ND? Met
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<figcaption>Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>When it came to what Georgia needed to do in order to beat Notre Dame, Georgia did it </p> <p id="plTaun"><em><strong>Embrace The Spotlight</strong></em></p>
<p id="tlpcqn"><em>Maybe it’s the self-disillusioning part of being a sports fan in the state of Georgia. Maybe it’s being through too many big games in the Richt are and seeing things fall flat. It’s hard to blame some Georgia fans for being nervous about this weekend, even if Georgia is a two-TD favorite.</em></p>
<p id="fqLP95"><em>A party environment, College Gameday, maybe the biggest home game since Yale came south in the 1920s not to mention a chance to show this team is ready for the big stage.</em></p>
<p id="bhJdjg"><em>No doubt, the spotlight is on Georgia this weekend. How it handles it will go a long way in winning, and that goes down to playing mistake-free, staying focused and not playing tight. Simply put, the Bulldogs just need to have fun and play loose.</em></p>
<p id="88uMNG"><strong>For starters, the atmosphere was unreal, even to witness on TV Saturday night. By and large, you didn’t see many jitters, aside from Tyler Simmons muffed punt. If he catches it, the game is obviously different. Combine that was his dropped pass later in the contest, and you can’t help but wonder if it’s all mental for Simmons, which would be sad to see on multiple levels. </strong></p>
<p id="cvxChr"><strong>The bottom line is that you didn’t see stage fright. Sure, you saw bad luck that had you thinking, “only Georgia could have a game this big and give up a fluke TD and lose multiple starters in the first half...”</strong></p>
<p id="e4Hh6G"><strong>In the end, Georgia was ready for the challenge. </strong></p>
<p id="36RNsJ"><em><strong>Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers</strong></em></p>
<p id="H4IlKe"><em>Momentum swings are everything in games like this, and those include turnovers.</em></p>
<p id="yKINX9"><em>Georgia needs to do two things in this department - take care of the football and sieze full advantage when the Irish do turn it over and make them pay. So far this year, ND turnovers are worth photographing because they don’t happen often. The Irish’s 3.0 turnover margin is best in the nation. When Notre Dame does have a miscue, Georgia needs to translate those missteps into points.</em></p>
<p id="BGlROf"><strong>Suffice to say, Georgia exceeded expectations here, coming away in the black in the turnover ratio on Saturday. Jake Fromm had a lot of a big-time plays - most important may have been that he didn’t turn the ball over once. </strong></p>
<p id="seox1z"><em><strong>Contain Ian Book</strong></em></p>
<p id="oSKwtl"><em>In the list of coming into the moment occurrences when these two teams played in 2017, high in that category was Roquan Smith absolutely flying all over the field, limiting Notre Dame’s big plays.</em></p>
<p id="7wMpw2"><em>Ian Book has big-play potential, and missed assignments and bad angles could open the door for him to realize that. Georgia has to prevent Book from breaking containment, limiting big-time gains that could tilt the scales toward Notre Dame.</em></p>
<p id="1T4X8H"><strong>You knew that at some point, Book’s legs would help him get yards, and Book did just that late in the game. Overall, he was contained - some of that had to do with the success in the crossing routes early in the contest - who can blame the Irish for going to that well so many times? </strong></p>
<p id="lrE25x"><strong>Still, Book’s ability to break big plays via the run never materialized thanks for Kirby Smart and Dan Lanning finding ways to have multiple defenders flying to the ball play after play.</strong></p>
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<p id="HKl1Tc">Go Dawgs!</p>
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https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/22/20879131/keys-to-a-win-over-nd-metLugnut Dawg2019-09-21T06:00:00-04:002019-09-21T06:00:00-04:00Gameday Morning Dawg Bites and Open Comment Thread
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<figcaption>Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The time to rise has been engaged...</p> <p id="5BWdLp">When you’re the #3 team in the country and you’re hosting the #7 team in the country, it’s time to get to work. When you’ve handled what’s been thrown at you to an exceptional degree and people are still questioning your mettle, it’s time to get to work. When you have a smoker and a fridge full of ribs that aren’t going to cook themselves, it’s time to get to work. When you have 14 hours until game time to kill and a liquor cabinet full of unacceptably full bottles, it’s time to get to work.</p>
<p id="ObBvY2">Let’s get to work: </p>
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<p id="Gqn9nV">And now, your Gameday Morning Dawg Bites: </p>
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<p id="PyPt8U">We’ll begin as usual with a few tidbits from Twitter: </p>
<ul><li id="7BbOMA">As always, if you missed the @GeorgiaFootball Game Trailer, it’s worth a view: </li></ul>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Week 4 Trailer | It Takes What It Takes<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ATD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ATD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoDawgs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoDawgs</a> <a href="https://t.co/hA1poL1LLe">pic.twitter.com/hA1poL1LLe</a></p>— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgiaFootball/status/1174835565885382658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2019</a>
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<ul><li id="SJq7OE">Also, the squad from Georgia Strength and Conditioning met up with a former Bulldog great for a bit of fun: </li></ul>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Just your average Friday pulling the <a href="https://twitter.com/CollegeGameDay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@collegegameday</a> bus with <a href="https://twitter.com/coach_sinclair?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coach_sinclair</a> and the Georgia strength and conditioning coaches!! <a href="https://t.co/M48qaQ86mD">pic.twitter.com/M48qaQ86mD</a></p>— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidpollack47/status/1175068286880550916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 20, 2019</a>
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<li id="wGMXg9">Speaking of Mr. Pollack, he has <a href="https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Article/Georgia-Bulldogs-Football-Kirby-Smart-David-Pollack-golden-era-135844504/">some thoughts</a> on Kirby’s Dawgs. Now, typically, one might dismiss this as a former player wearing red and black-colored glasses. But David Pollack has never been one to shy away from criticizing his alma mater... sometimes leading to accusations that he’s been overly critical. That no longer appears to be the case. I wonder what the difference could be? </li>
<li id="5xG48Z">At first, I was ready to dismiss <a href="https://929thegame.radio.com/articles/georgia-bulldogs-may-have-best-wr-duo-schools-history">this</a> as hyperbole... but I’m not going to argue with Terrance Edwards, are you? </li>
<li id="wKyWba">The Macon Telegraph has <a href="https://www.macon.com/sports/college/university-of-georgia/bulldogs-beat/article235243182.html">a nice profile</a> of <span>Mark Webb</span>, Jr. that is worth your time. </li>
<li id="3ssnJk">I’ll give it to the staff of SBNation’s Notre Dame site, One Foot Down, <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/2019/9/20/20875336/staff-picks-7-notre-dame-fighting-irish-vs-3-georgia-bulldogs-espn-college-football-gameday">they are not homers</a>. Kudos for some quality analysis and a range of opinions all based in what amounts to reality, given what we know at this point in the season. </li>
<li id="BvQwT5">Finally, Kirby <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-georgia-bulldogs-want-to-wreak-havoc-on-opponents-11568980795">introduces Havoc Rate</a> to the Wall Street Journal. </li>
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<p id="guwsaF">This is your Gameday Morning Open Comment Thread. Use it to kill the hours until the Dawgs take the field, give your thoughts on College Gameday and that ugly orange bus they’re sullying the natural beauty of our campus with, share your thoughts about tonight’s game, and dispense any information you see fit about your early morning plans whether on campus or off. Macondawg will be back a bit later with your afternoon threads and, of course, your threads for tonights epic showdown between your #3 <a href="https://www.dawgsports.com/">Georgia Bulldogs</a> and the #7 <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a>. </p>
<p id="Y8s7OM">Until then... </p>
<p id="lMyDGC">GOOOO DAWGS!!!</p>
<p id="xzWBbv"> </p>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/21/20876150/gameday-morning-dawgs-bites-and-open-comment-thread-georgia-bulldogs-notre-dame-fighting-irishRedCrake2019-09-21T00:10:06-04:002019-09-21T00:10:06-04:00UGA/Notre Dame visitor list jammed with top prospects
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<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOV 03 Georgia at Kentucky" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8y9IQs2EikXzgVuFgYVNyBRHFQQ=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65290693/1057021838.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>“How many five stars?!?!?!” | Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="gzTBeD">Do you want to be in Sanford Stadium tomorrow night to watch the Georgia Bulldogs take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish? Of course you do.</p>
<p id="VSgXt8">In that respect you are not unlike many of the best high school football players in America. From various media and social media sources we’ve been able to cobble together a reliable list of the prospects visiting Athens for the Notre Dame game and it’s a doozy. As many as 10 five star prospects from the classes of 2020 and 2021 should be on hand, as well as a ton of four star recruits. </p>
<p id="lBH5We">Of course the fact that a prospect is in town for this game doesn’t mean they’ll end up at Georgia. Many just want the chance to see one of the marque matchups of the college football season in what promises to be an electric night time atmosphere in one of the funnest college towns in America. But getting recruits on campus in this kind of atmosphere gives the coaching staff an ideal opportunity to pitch them on college life in the Classic City.</p>
<p id="TEs30B">Here’s a quick class-by-class breakdown of some of the key visitors.</p>
<p id="ei09yd"><strong>Class of 2020</strong></p>
<p id="1vngFa">Georgia is looking to sign 23-24 players in the class of 2020 and has 16 players already onboard. Those last 6-7 slots are, I suspect, largely taken behind the scenes if not publicly. And many of those committed prospects will be in town this weekend to watch their future teammates. Highlighting that group are five star tailback Kendall Milton, four star offensive linemen Tate Ratledge and Josh Braun, four star defensive linemen Nazir Stackhouse and Jalen Carter, four star corner Jalen Kimber, four star quarterback Carson Beck, and three star receiver Justin Robinson. Beck is actually on his school-funded official visit, the others are, as far as I can tell, here on their own dime.</p>
<p id="yaE9xA">Other significant visitors include Las Vegas prospect Darnell Washington, 247Sports’ #1 rated athlete and #13 player nationally for the class of 2020, who’ll be in town for an official visit. The 6’7, 256 pound Washington projects as a tight end, but in a nightmare scenario for defensive coordinators and 5’10 cornerbacks could honestly have the athleticism to slide outside from time to time.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">That’s just not nice <a href="https://twitter.com/_Dwfootball11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_Dwfootball11</a> <a href="https://t.co/6Ufu7eGXky">pic.twitter.com/6Ufu7eGXky</a></p>— Overtime (@overtime) <a href="https://twitter.com/overtime/status/1167982870977220608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2019</a>
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<p id="Og2I9H">Crystal ball predictions have had Washington signing with Georgia for some time, though I don’t know that I would expect him to make any public pronouncements this weekend, and I wouldn’t expect the rest of America to stop recruiting him even if he did. </p>
<p id="sCWkWA">Perhaps the most highly ranked prospect in attendance will be Hammond, South Carolina defensive end Jordan Burch. The #2 player in America per 247Sports (he was #1 for quite a while and may yet move back up) is the top strongside defensive end prospect in the country. At 6’5, 255 pounds he’s strong at the point of attack and a surprisingly athletic pass rusher. Clemson, South Carolina, and Alabama are the Dawgs’ main competition here, with many assuming that Burch was a lock to the Country Gentlemen. But Burch has been to Athens in April, June, July, and will be back this weekend unofficially. If you believe in “following the visits” as a recruiting indicator. it’s pretty clear that Georgia’s not out of this one at all.</p>
<p id="onVAjV">Also in the Classic City from out west will be Orem, Utah middle linebacker Noah Sewell. Sewell, the nation’s #2 ILB prospect and #22 overall prospect, looks about as close to a create-a-player in the middle and you’ll find. At 6’2 and 265 pounds he still runs as well as players 40 pounds lighter and hits like a 9 pound hammer.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Noah Sewell at 6'2 266lbs running a 4.75 forty <a href="https://twitter.com/Blessah_2?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Blessah_2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/polynesiabowl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PolynesiaBowl</a> <a href="https://t.co/u5kRqolfpj">pic.twitter.com/u5kRqolfpj</a></p>— Football Recruit. (@FootballRecruit) <a href="https://twitter.com/FootballRecruit/status/1147311356942569472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2019</a>
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<p id="g7AO8o">Sewell’s three older brothers have all played college football, including his brother, Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell. The Ducks are a competitor for his commitment, but so are the Aggies of Texas A&M as well as Alabama.</p>
<p id="M3mng7">Georgia will also play host to Schley County defensive end Zykeivous Walker. The four star prospect is the nation’s #155 overall prospect and #9 defensive end. Walker is as physically impressive a player as you’ll see and at 6’4, 270 pounds has the potential to play just about anywhere on the defensive front. Auburn and Florida have both made a strong push for his services, but I still think there’s a great chance he ends up in Athens.</p>
<p id="2NAaIr">And coming in from the great white north (actually, just south of Detroit) is Windsor, Ontario tight end Theo Johnson. Johnson is the #3 tight end in this class and the #1 player in Canada. At 6’6, 245 pounds he has the size to grow into a solid blocker but already has excellent hands and ball skills in the open field for a guy of his size. Georgia will likely look to pair him with either Washington or Marietta five star Arik Gilbert to form the best tight end class in America.</p>
<p id="o8xHfQ"><strong>Class of 2021</strong></p>
<p id="s8637O">Georgia only has two commits so far for 2021 and one, Honea Path, South Carolina safety Bralyn Oliver, will be in Athens. But the list of uncommitted prospects is impressive. </p>
<p id="2hdYqz">Five star offensive tackle Amarius Mims of Bleckley County will be making another trip to Athens. The massive (6’7, 295) junior is the nation’s #2 offensive tackle and the #2 prospect in the state for 2021. And while he’s visited Auburn, Clemson, and Tuscaloosa among other locales in the past few weeks, Mims (whose high school coach also coached Jake Fromm and Trey Hill at Houston County) has gotten a whole lot of attention from the Pitt Boss. </p>
<p id="O6wz6m">Five star safety James Williams of Opa Locka, Florida will also be in Sanford Stadium. Williams (6’5, 218 pounds) is the nation’s #4 prospect, and possesses a unique combination of size and agility that could make him a weapon as a hybrid safety/linebacker.</p>
<p id="Wa2vYi">Also in town will be the nation’s top junior defensive tackle prospect, Dudley, North Carolina’s Payton Page. Snagging the five star, 6’4, 320 pound standout away from Clemson and UNC is going to be a tall order. But getting him on campus for this kind of game can’t hurt.</p>
<p id="iWYQmK">Another five star prospect who’ll be on campus is dual threat quarterback Caleb Williams. The 6’2, 209 pound prospect is the #12 player regardless of position for the class of 2021 and looks like the top QB target on the Bulldog board. Georgia is the clear crystal ball leader for Williams’ signature. However he and his family have sought an offer from Stanford and some analysts believe an offer from the Cardinal would end his recruitment and send Georgia looking elsewhere at the position. This weekend will be a good chance for the UGA staff to sell the Williams family on Georgia as a total package to which they can commit.</p>
<p id="eLvAxg">Five Star corner Ga’Quincy McKinstry will make the trip over from Pinson, Alabama. The 5’11, 175 pound junior is one of the most explosive defensive backs in the nation, rated #2 nationally at his position and the #2 prospect in the state of Alabama. Auburn is perceived as the leader for his signature, but it’s a long way to December 2020. </p>
<p id="gLkvB0">Will there be any commitments over the weekend? I don’t know that I’d look for that, though it’s always possible. Again, 2020 is likely all but full unless some committed prospects head elsewhere. But this weekend is more about setting the tone for the classes of 2021 and 2022. Until later...</p>
<p id="xIv0ei">Go ‘Dawgs!!!</p>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/21/20875453/uga-notre-dame-visitor-list-darnell-washington-noah-sewell-jordan-burch-ej-smith-theo-johnsonmacondawg2019-09-19T14:00:00-04:002019-09-19T14:00:00-04:00What Advanced Stats Tell Us About UGA’s Matchup Against Notre Dame
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<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 09 Georgia at Notre Dame" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R-nZ7Xo4iO9-Cyu0oz8dwm9bqss=/0x0:2694x1796/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65280541/846356296.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Just so we al start out at the right level of hype. | Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>IF Notre Dame == Opponent THEN Gameface == TRUE </p> <p id="O9HqlI">*Author’s note: I’ve been informed that I made the lines for ND’s radar charts orange instead of gold as I’d intended. I’m very colorblind, a fact you all now know about me. In the spirit of this column’s ethos “Chase your bliss,” I’m not changing it. I think I got red right for UGA so that’s cool, I guess? (Thanks to my dear friend Austin, who likes me enough to click on my sports articles even though he’s not a sports person.)*</p>
<p id="WHOUrW">My normal approach to this space - insofar as you can establish a pattern after doing something three times - is to treat it as a place of learning. I generally want to keep everything focused on just one or two concepts, and slowly guide readers through my thought processes. However, as we approach this weekend, and the most-hyped home game at Sanford since at least 2007, I need to slightly deviate from my previous approach. I always want to match my energy level to the occasion, <strong>SO BUCKLE THE F*** UP. PUT YOUR GAMEFACE ON. NOW SLAP YOURSELF, DO IT, DO IT. NOW SLAP ME. I SAID SLAP ME. YEAH, NOW WE’RE READY. IT’S TIME FOR: What Advanced Stats Tell Us About UGA’s Matchup Against Notre Dame. </strong></p>
<p id="KpffvU">In the past couple of weeks I’ve received a lot of gentle, constructive, and fair criticism of what I’m doing here. The biggest issue readers have is sort of the problem with all statistical analysis, at any level: reams of numbers quickly become overwhelming. This isn’t a roadblock to just layman, as even professional researchers can become lost in the veritable seas of data needed conduct scientifically rigorous studies. To that end, I’ve spent the past couple of days experimenting with visual representations of the concepts I’m talking about, and settled on one popularized by the granddaddy of #sbnanalytics, Bill Connelly: the radar chart. </p>
<p id="n9bn8N">Radar charts, or spider-web charts, are an efficient way to quickly compare two sets of data across multiple criteria. So, for instance, if you wanted to compare the relative strength of two football teams using the stats that correlate most often to winning, you would make something like this: </p>
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<img alt="Look dad, we did it." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JK8Dv9e_uGcOwxqmHWG2QQdXPkk=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210815/Georgia_D_vs._ND_O_General.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA Defense vs. Notre Dame Offense Radar Chart</figcaption>
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<p id="wyQFfD">So let’s take a moment to orient ourselves with this kind of graph. Each axis measures a different stat based on national ranking. The interior of the graph is 140th ranked, and the outside edge is 1st ranked. So you want your team’s line to be closer to the edge. I’m very colorblind, but I still think I’ve managed to set it up so that each team has its own color (gold for ND, red for UGA). So whenever UGA’s line is outside of Notre Dames line, that’s a positive sign for the good guys. </p>
<p id="2IGo81">The image above gives us a comparative look at the game when Notre Dame has the ball. The usefulness of this chart, IMHO, is that it allows you to quickly discern what areas a given team may be successful in. Intuitively, that kind of awareness lets us paint a picture of what the flow of the game will look like. So let’s craft that particular narrative now using the chart above. </p>
<p id="tsKcpj">At the most shallow level, we can tell from this image that UGA’s defense faces a challenge, but they are certainly not going to be overwhelmed. That’s an observation of no small value because it lets us set the basic parameters of how we think the game will look. When ND has the ball, we can expect them to have some success, but UGA matches up well across the board where the Irish are strong. </p>
<p id="cT3oZ1">On a more granular level, UGA has performed well against passing attacks to this point this year. We can see that there is a significant gap between the SR surrendered by the Bulldog D, and the efficiency attained by ND’s passing offense. That tells us that, if these numbers are accurate, ND should struggle in consistently moving the ball through the air. </p>
<p id="6SNg0C">On the ground, however, this chart shows us that ND is actually slightly more efficient in running successful plays on the ground than UGA is at preventing them. This does not necessarily tell us that Notre Dame will run wild on the ground, but it should give us a hint that they may have success moving the ball. They will probably not, however, be able to consistently real of 8 - 9 yd. runs. UGA is currently surrendering a far lower Opportunity Rate (the percentage of runs that go for more than 5 yards). </p>
<p id="zSX2L0">So how is all this helpful? It helps us shape what we expect the rough contours of the game will be when ND has the ball. It doesn’t mean that, for instance, Notre Dame will never have an efficient passing drive. It just means that consistent success from the Irish through the air is aberrant based on our numbers. And if it happens, that’s probably a bad sign for UGA. </p>
<p id="eXJQHC">So when ND has the ball, we have an outline of how the game may look. Two relatively evenly matched sides, each having some slight to moderate advantages over the other. The picture when UGA has the ball, however, is starkly different. </p>
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<img alt="A thing of beauty " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ce775HjRqUCrqjxU8fHdmh8Snqo=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210909/Georgia_O_vs._ND_D_General.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA Offense vs. Notre Dame Defense Radar Chart</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="u6wDQZ">First of all, let’s just look at UGA’s plot here. Holy s***. The dawgs are formidable on offense to this point in the year. When your radar plot on one side of the ball is basically a regular polygon, you’re doing <strong>everything </strong>right. There’s been a low-boil narrative developing across Kirby Smart’s career that he, to a fault, wants to “impose his will” or play “man ball.” This has manifested and is driven by many, many predictable offensive calls in short-yardage and goal-to-go situations. I know that this narrative exists because I’ve been one of the main people driving it, along with <a href="https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/?s=run+the+damn+ball">Senator Blutarsky</a> over at <a href="https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/">Get the Picture</a>. To this point in the year, however, Coley and Smart have constructed a well-oiled death machine of offense. It’s hard to complain about the performance of a unit when they’re ranked in the top 15 of every major statistical category. That’s “runaway AI that only feeds on human sadness and blood” level of offense, and I, for one, can’t wait to see the violent path they reap on the way to sentience. </p>
<p id="Ds10dy">As for the matchup, despite my general preference that UGA evolve into a modern, pass-happy offense, this is definitely a moment where the Dawgs would do well to <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/9/13/6145823/run-throw-the-damn-ball-mike-bobo">Run The Damn Ball, Bobo</a>. We talked about this on our two preview episodes over at <a href="https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20873635/chapel-bell-curve-podcast-advanced-stats-college-football-georgia-notre-dame">Chapel Bell Curve</a>, but by far the biggest weakness on either side of this ND team is it’s run defense. It’s a genuine mismatch according to basically every data-point we have. </p>
<p id="hHwiCC">So what kind of narrative can we construct from these numbers? When UGA has the bal, they should be able to impose their will in the running game. Notre Dame’s strong secondary means that not only is this the most convenient strategy, it also moves the action of every play away from the the Irish’s best players, who are concentrated in the secondary. If UGA can have success on standard downs, and run when they want, I have a hard time imagining ND pulling out the win. Those are “if’s,” I’ll grant you, but they’re conditionals based on what we know UGA both wants to do, and can do. And when want and ability line up, success often follows. </p>
<p id="7nACZD">So what should we, as Dawg fans, be most concerned about entering this game? I think the answer to that is found in ND situational stats on offense: </p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Very specific" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZkpJZCeDNau8LsvN8-jgf7oGm60=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210960/Georgia_D_vs._ND_O_Situational_Down.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA Defense vs. Notre Dame Offense Situational Down Radar Chart</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="R5f6Ss"> One of the very few situations wherein Notre Dame has a <a href="https://www.si.com/college-football/2014/09/28/charlie-weis-fired-kansas-jayhawks-notre-dame">decided statistical advantage</a> is on first downs. Not only has there been a large margin in the performance of these two units, the Fighting Celtic People have been a top-ten offense in first-down situations. Most of the the advantages ND has over UGA are in situations where both teams are, at best, average, 1st down SR is the only area where ND is excellent, and there is a significant gap between the two teams. One of the most worrying signs possible in the early stages of this game would be to see consistent success on first down. This would open up the playbook for <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/search?q=ian+book">Ian Book</a>, ND’s senior QB. As more of a scrambler than a pure pocket passer, Book has shined when he can move in the pocket, keep his eyes upfield, and run against zone defenses. The unequivocally best way to put him that situation is for the ND offense to be successful on early downs. If we see that unfold on Saturday, particularly in the first frame of the game, that’s when we need to start worrying. </p>
<p id="tKw0Nq">Additional stats and charts attached below. I’ll catch you in the Classic City this weekend (maybe literally, find me, I’ll be with the band), but until then GO DAWGS!!!!<br></p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="it’s the big version" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lJMNE0ZQgVqcxtUVZhUFSZ1KGJc=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210984/Radar_Chat_Placemat.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA vs. Notre Dame Radar Chart Placemat</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Nr5XCP0v1Qu1MtJYcIrUPzCKpkE=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210987/UGA_ND_Preview_ND_on_Offense.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA vs. Notre Dame Matchup, Notre Dame on Offense</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2_7S-p5OE-sNv_wCP6Yx-hA4NTQ=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19210990/UGA_ND_Preview_UGA_on_Offense.png">
<cite>Nathan Lawrence</cite>
<figcaption>UGA vs. Notre Dame Matchup, UGA on Offense</figcaption>
</figure>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20870530/uga-football-advanced-stats-analytics-week4-2019-notre-dameNathan Lawrence2019-09-19T12:00:00-04:002019-09-19T12:00:00-04:00On Echoes
<figure>
<img alt="January 1, 1981:Sugar Bowl - Notre Dame Fighting Irish v University of Georgia Bull Dogs" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_Coemyk13PQJljZhYeQdoWCvhJs=/0x6:3613x2415/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65279444/103097208.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?”</p> <p id="j8na6n">The Cocktail Party is not often in November. One of the few times the rivalry game has fallen out of October a pretty incredible thing happened.</p>
<p id="ha4Yjl">It was November 8<sup>th</sup>, 1980 and a team from Georgia was about to pull off one of the most incredible results in the history of college football.</p>
<p id="rRtb7B">No, I’m not talking about Georgia.</p>
<p id="WLQC9T">I’m talking about Tech.</p>
<p id="BtUQDN">That November afternoon is steeped in my parents’ memory like nothing else. They tell me the story of being there as Scott went into the endzone and the story of one of their dear friends who couldn’t bear to look because he thought the whole season was coming apart.</p>
<p id="BqH9hM">But the other story they tell, without fail, every time we talk about the 1980 Cocktail Party is the story of walking into the game. </p>
<p id="sp8u77">Sometime before they reached their seats they were stopped by a man in red and black with a crazed look in his eyes. He grabbed hold of both of them and then shouted news that not a single damn one of their group of friends could have possibly imagined. It was an impossible thing to say. It could not be real. The laws of physics and nature and morality could not bear it to be true. But he shouted it at them all the same:</p>
<p id="OaxRNY">“<em>Tech tied Notre Dame.”</em></p>
<p id="SV4FFc">My parents thought he was on drugs. </p>
<p id="85juCo">They thought that until someone else stopped them and said the same thing. But again, it was the Cocktail Party, they were obviously just drunk. But then they reached their seats and they heard it begin to spread. I like to imagine the scene outside the stadium for all those who didn’t have a ticket. I like to think about the sound of people running from their radios to tell their tailgaiting neighbors who were already running from their radios to tell someone else. I like to think of the whoops and woofs and sounds of hands slapping into one another started to fill the air that afternoon in Duval County. </p>
<p id="xMhO8S">It began to dawn on my parents that this was real when people in red and black were hugging each other like news that the tide of some terrible war had at last been turned.</p>
<p id="cJ4X4C">The University of Georgia, who had been stuck in the middle tier of college football since the days of World War II, was now the only undefeated, untied team in the country. Georgia was going to pass <em>Notre Dame </em>in the rankings, and if they could just hold on a few more games they would meet them, surely, for the national championship. </p>
<p id="3K4gyB">It was and still is one of the most remarkable results in college football history—a bunch of beaten down fourth-stringers from a Tech team held together by spare parts and Bill Curry’s hair managed to tie the legendary Dan Devine and an Irish team made up of the finest athletes midwestern corn could grow. </p>
<p id="DXS4VM">So much wrapped up in that one little piece of information, shouted by an inebriated guy with a chaos in his eyes, spreading, like some sort of prophet, the word of a new day dawning: </p>
<p id="QdEDob"><em>Tech tied Notre Dame. </em></p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="g0vQTn">
<p id="rgzU3m">Georgia and Notre Dame are not connected often in the college football world, but when they are big shifts tend to be happening. </p>
<p id="1tWk5v">Georgia won its first national title in 1942. Notre Dame’s string of national titles would begin the year after, winning in ‘43, ‘46, ‘47, and ‘49 under head coach Frank Leahy. Wally Butts, Georgia’s coach during the same time, had the Dawgs undefeated in 1946, but had the misfortune of carrying that out in the year where Notre Dame and Army both went undefeated, apart from the time that they played each other to a 0-0 tie in Yankee Stadium. The Butts era would fade into the long wait all Dawg fans are familiar with, and Notre Dame would go on to win almost half a dozen more national titles before 1980.</p>
<p id="m2FQXu">This weekend Georgia and Notre Dame meet under similar era-defining circumstances. </p>
<p id="YpE1bJ">Both teams seem to be faced with the same two questions and either question could be true: “is this it?” and “is this all there is?”</p>
<p id="rlecCQ">For Georgia, the former weighs more heavily on the minds than the latter, and Kirby Smart has earned that. This feels like “it” in some major sense of the word. This feels like an era you will tell people you were there for, and even if the only thing Kirby ever did was win the Rose Bowl that surely would’ve been enough to merit telling the story. But there feels like there is more there—a lot more. And one of the surest ways to test that is to play a team like Notre Dame—a team that on paper they should beat—at home in a big game.</p>
<p id="A5Cqlz">But the latter question still looms too. The idea that despite all this power and all this momentum and all of the speculation that this year will finally be our year—that really this is all there is. The wait is the only thing that is real. </p>
<p id="XgstPD">That could very well be true, and if it turns out to be true you know that I will find a soul-crushing way to tell you about it. But, for now, we seem justified to focus on the former.</p>
<p id="xBDzq5">For Notre Dame, an appeal to the former question feels like self-deception. Notre Dame’s flailing efforts to return to the limelight continue to test one of the truest statements about America—that a group of affluent and committed white people can eventually fail upward into whatever they want, no matter the circumstances. </p>
<p id="xZHreD">Notre Dame has thrown more money at the problem than anyone can really measure. And frankly no one is quite certain what the problem is. It might be that Notre Dame isn’t in a conference at a time when the storylines, the debates, and the trajectories of the entirety of the college football world are set by conferences. </p>
<p id="ixlFQt">Notre Dame also simply can’t contend with the machine of Southern recruiting. Or they can’t quite develop the talent they do recruit. Or they can’t quite develop an identity or a culture or or or or or. All of these clichés and phrases that we use to gesture broadly at a complicated human reality we know must have an objectively true solution, but one that we’ll never be able to actually get at. </p>
<p id="Yobae3">To try and say what is wrong with Notre Dame is like looking outside at the rain. I ask you, “what did you see?” and you say, “rain.” And then I say, “how many raindrops did you see?” And you pause, because you can’t count them….but you <em>saw </em>all of them, right?</p>
<p id="5ENQ2O">Brian Kelly has been a balm for a team that, by all accounts, has looked like it wanted to implode for good at least two or three times in the past decade. </p>
<p id="scjKpo">The toughest thing for Notre Dame fans, and the members of the media who perhaps wax nostalgic about reading Grantland Rice memorializing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse for the first time, is that this really might be all there is. </p>
<p id="sm0tUm">Notre Dame might pull itself into the top ten occasionally thanks to their unquestionable advantage in perception. They might even beat Georgia on Saturday and really flirt with a return to glory. But one wonders if this is all there really is, at least for the forseeable future—getting buoyed by the perception of Notre Dame as the godfather of modern football only to be reintroduced, in the most public and humiliating fashion, to the true reality of modern football now.</p>
<p id="EcRgsY">Brian Kelly took a defense full of some of his only five-star recruits of the past decade to the national title game in 2012, and they were absolutely decimated by Alabama and lucky, frankly, that Saban called off the dogs late in the game. They were similarly routed late by Clemson last season in a game that I fear had most pundits growing leery of ever trusting an 11-1 or even a 12-0 Notre Dame again.</p>
<p id="8KjDWn">There are only so many times that Notre Dame can do this before the reality of the latter question sets in—that this really is all there is. That Notre Dame, the King of the Kings of Football is now something like a middle of the road Big Ten team. </p>
<p id="3vR8Yn">Still, the odd thing about the game is the former question is always in play, too. Kelly has them back in the top ten, they have recruited about as well as they can, and they have a favorable schedule if they can get by Georgia and beat Virginia. This could be another “it” in a series of “its” that is only rivaled by the likes of Alabama.</p>
<p id="5vQ4Ry">But Notre Dame hasn’t beaten a team in the AP Top 5 in <em>fourteen years</em>. They only have two wins against such teams in the past <em>twenty</em> years. Over the past decade Notre Dame is 18-20 against ranked teams and 3-12 against Top Ten teams. And you could make the argument that those numbers are as good as they are because Notre Dame doesn’t often play ranked opponents, and the ones they do play tend to be of questionable quality.</p>
<p id="FwSsaB">And perhaps it is fitting that Notre Dame comes to Georgia to try and work out some of this cosmic baggage since a Georgia fan will surely be the one to tell you that there is reason to hope.</p>
<p id="ee5yRn">No, we Georgia fans know the truth all too well. In this game, you can just keep falling. You think you’re done when Spurrier leaves and then all of a sudden they’ve hired Urban Meyer. You think the time is right for Richt after ‘07 and Nick Saban comes to town. </p>
<p id="KJwG4j">You can always keep falling.</p>
<p id="eCQ2GV">So two teams obsessed with their collective destinies—both eternal and athletic—will meet on the field to work all of this out. </p>
<p id="vL5oU2">Two teams held captive by the echoes of their past—either a past of tragic fate or the burden of a past you can never live up to—will crash into each other in primetime on CBS.</p>
<p id="GvsB6v">And I am sure nothing weird will happen at all.</p>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20870265/uga-notre-dame-storylines-series-record-1980jasonisasmith2019-09-19T09:00:00-04:002019-09-19T09:00:00-04:00Three Things That Worry Me About Notre Dame
<figure>
<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 02 Notre Dame at Louisville" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eghkQwDEe9jW_bj4ouSwG_TcvjQ=/0x0:3170x2113/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65278053/1167735632.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The collective college football world will turn its eyes to Athens Saturday night, with way too much bourbon available in local stores and way too much time to drink it before kickoff. And both teams trying to remove the stigma of “can’t win the big one”. What, me worry?</p> <p id="sXyd2G">Here is what I’m NOT worried about come Saturday night’s kickoff against the Fightin’ Irish of Notre Dame:</p>
<p id="Idcp3A"><strong>1)</strong> Getting James Cook to the edge, and really working the outside and edges. In the first game it was Demetris Robertson. He missed the Arkansas State game, and might be gimpy for this one. Is that a problem? No. Insert Cook. With more of a runner’s mentality, and pretty comparable speed to Robertson, we haven’t skipped a beat. </p>
<p id="oJjqRc">The zone reads, the jet sweeps, deep hitches, several bombs… the Georgia offense is really getting to the outside to help our plethora of playmakers find space. </p>
<p id="VKtJSQ"><strong>2)</strong> They seem susceptible to the run. And we do the run, very well. Very, very well. We’re grounding out over 286 yards a game. Is that against stiff competition? Nope. Yet that is countered by the fact our rushing also includes backup quarterbacks, 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> string offensive linemen, and our #5 tailback. </p>
<p id="xY3Eia">Notre Dame is giving up over 230 yards a game, at a 5.0 ypc clip no less. I think their front 7 are very serviceable. I don’t think they can go deep in that same front 7, and Sam Pittman’s boys will be lathered up and ready to move some earth.</p>
<p id="MMMVwP"><strong>3)</strong> Early scoring. Georgia has scored a touchdown on it’s first possession every game this season. Even with a new coordinator in <span>James Coley</span>, those first 15-20 scripted plays look tight. </p>
<p id="gTm1ad">Each game has been fairly balanced as well. Even early, there’s a good mix of run and pass. And considering the opponents, most of <span>Jake Fromm</span>’s numbers (which are tremendous) are from the first half. Same for D’Andre Swift. If we continue this trend, build momentum, get a few stops on defense, with that crazy Sanford Stadium night crowd… boy howdy, I’m drooling already.</p>
<p id="IJNEcr">Now forgive me, as I was weaned at the nipple of Larry Munson’s scratch on AM radio, so here’s what I am worried about:</p>
<p id="CSDrJN"><strong>1)</strong> Canadians. You never know when they’re going to sneak into your country and steal the spotlight. They’re not all Jesse Palmers, some of them can even play football. Like Irish wideout Chase Claypool. The syrup-licker from BC is 6’4”+, 229 lbs, and looks every bit like an NFL beast. I haven’t seen his speed, but his size alone has me worried. We’ve already given up one (and only one) touchdown to a big receiver (former Gator and current Murray St. Racer <span>Daquon Green</span>). </p>
<p id="PKnrBH">I’ve seen <span>Tyson Campbell</span> let opponents get behind him several times this year, and we’ve been fortunate to have pressure on the quarterback and some timely drops by the other team. We can’t count on being lucky against a team using a four-leaf clover as a mascot. </p>
<p id="2Rmeve"><strong>2)</strong> Ian Book. The Irish offense so far has faced the New Mexico and Louisville defenses (New Mexico is DFL in 2019 total defense). Our defense’s passing down Success Rate is 11%, good for #10 in the country. We haven’t faced elite receivers like the boys from South Bend, and Notre Dame hasn’t faced a secondary like the boys from the Classic City. </p>
<p id="yQAVWF">Despite averaging over 270 yards through the air, I’m more worried about his legs. He is the team’s leading rusher after all. There will be called run plays for Book, sure. Coach Lanning will also be sure to have our #5 nationally ranked run defense looking for those. It’s the broken plays and escaping the pocket for first downs that worries me. Considering we haven’t faced a running quarterback of this caliber so far, I think it will take a while for the UGA defense to find it’s groove in keeping contain on the mobile signal caller. And this will be the best offensive line we’ve faced by far. I recall <span>Baker Mayfield</span> running and throwing at will in the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/rose-bowl">Rose Bowl</a> in the first half behind a good O-line. In the second half, not so much. I imagine a similar scenario Saturday night. </p>
<p id="SrSk2t"><strong>3) </strong>Black Jerseys. I hesitate to mention this, as it seems to be a hot-button issue every fall. If I may, it represents more than just the jerseys themselves. It’s about the moment. More accurately, the memory. We have <a href="https://www.dawgsports.com/2017/11/10/16633512/the-day-sound-failed-remembering-the-blackout-ten-years-later">tremendous memories of victory, </a>and relive horrid nightmares about falling on our face in the national spotlight. I don’t want the jerseys to be part of this. </p>
<p id="m36mwo">We’ve already got enough juice to keep NE Georgia lit for a couple of weeks. It’s the highest ranked matchup of the season so far, ESPN is coming to town, CBS is sending their A-team, a night game, an historic opponent (and rare), and it’s reasonable to say this has national championship implications. That is plenty in my book, I don’t want to add jerseys to that mix. Let the jerseys stand on their own, and let’s win this like we should win it… by showing Notre Dame how to play football. </p>
<p id="Iko176"> </p>
<p id="Fp9KzD">Call me crazy, just don’t call me late for dinner. Sound off in the comment below on what worries you about the biggest game in college football so far. And as always…</p>
<p id="SOAzkd"></p>
<p id="BXDmY0"><em><strong>GO ‘DAWGS!!!</strong></em></p>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20872900/three-things-that-worry-me-about-notre-dame-georgia-bulldogs-sec-on-cbs-espn-gameday-three-and-ohGlimmerTwinDawg2019-09-19T06:30:00-04:002019-09-19T06:30:00-04:00Thursday Morning Dawg Bites is Flyin’ High
<figure>
<img alt="COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 14 Arkansas State at Georgia" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s2lk-Bvv8X0hq-3KOe_y5HW3xjA=/329x355:2024x1485/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65277346/1169221061.jpg.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>By the time you read this, I’ll be on-board a big ‘ol jet, wearing my new blackout shirt and getting ready to Par-Tay! I hope I don’t break my hip.</p> <p id="BXAIxf">I posted my usual <a href="https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/15/20867065/15-thoughts-wonders-how-good-we-really-are-go-dawgs-beat-notre-dame">“15 Thoughts”</a> on Sunday and was reminiscing a bit about some of the big non-conference games back during my years at UGA. I brought up the ‘82 BYU game and the ‘83 UCLA game. I cannot believe I forgot about the ‘82 Labor Day home opener with Clemson. That was an epic match-up of the last 2 National Champions of what was, at the time, yearly combatants. The atmosphere on that ultra humid, breeze-less night was electric. That ‘82 game had a ton of drama leading up to it: Herschel Walker had a broken thumb, it was the first night game in Sanford Stadium under the lights, and a nationally relevant game broadcast on ABC-TV long before any BCS voodoo and the current playoff system.</p>
<div id="C5w2Mc"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 75%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6xoBghxfEf8?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media; accelerometer; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="aIqPWC"><em>Here’s a bit of history on both the Clemson and BYU game to open ‘82. Coach Dooley’s voice was a bit on the hoarse side. No wonder.</em></p>
<p id="xFLCDO">Now, we’re only a couple of days away from <em>the</em> biggest non-conference tilt since 1982. The fact that it’s been almost 40 years since an out-of-conference home match-up of these proportions is a bit sad. You could throw Boise State in there from ‘05, I suppose, but that turned out to be just another rout. With the new, aggressive scheduling coming up for future seasons, this has been addressed and that is a very good thing. Anyway, Athens is going to be up for grabs and the weather forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures dropping down into the upper 60’s by the time everyone begins to file out. </p>
<p id="8s3HYB">Apropos of nothing relating to Football, this is my favorite album by The Cars. RIP, Rick Ocasek. </p>
<div id="7wOBML"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TH5pD6PaJBk?rel=0" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media; accelerometer; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="JdfunU"><em>This was part of the soundtrack of my youth...</em></p>
<p id="wBMaTM">Now on to some newsy notes and tiddly bits...</p>
<p id="eQ891q">In case you missed it, <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/"><em>One Foot Down</em></a>, Notre Dame’s SB Nation site had a <a href="https://www.onefootdown.com/2019/9/18/20869279/notre-dame-football-georgia-bulldogs-jake-fromm-kirby-smart-lawrence-cager-brian-kelly-rich-lecounte">friendly little Q/A with our very own Macondawg yesterday.</a> As always, our intrepid leader knocks it out of the park.</p>
<p id="Dyi8Qw"><a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516590&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fncaaf%2Fsec%2F2019%2F09%2F18%2Fnotre-dame-football-te-tommy-tremble-son-georgia-graduates-kirby-smart-brian-kelly-recruiting%2F2357693001%2F&referrer=sbnation.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawgsports.com%2F2019%2F9%2F19%2F20873196%2Fthursday-morning-dawg-bites-is-flyin-high-georgia-notre-dame" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Here’s a neat story on current Notre Dame tight end Tommy Tremble</a>, son of former Georgia Bulldog Greg Tremble. </p>
<p id="DHHd3J">Every team needs leadership. <a href="https://uga.rivals.com/news/kirby-smart-azeez-has-taken-over-the-room-">It sounds as if Azeez Ojulari (he’s not alone) has taken on a more vocal role in the locker room.</a> Hey, these guys are young but leaders are leaders. This is the kind of stuff that I love to hear and that not every team benefits from.</p>
<p id="Ckd23l"><a href="https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Article/Georgia-Bulldogs-Football-Dominick-Blaylock-bigger-better-things-135787166/">Dominick Blaylock continues to impress his coaches and teammates. </a> He’s a high character kid with an evolving skill set that is going to be fun to watch over the next several seasons. </p>
<p id="3otT7E"><a href="https://dawgpost.com/s/1687/all-eyes-on-ugas-biggest-recruiting-weekend-ever">Is this the biggest recruiting weekend ever?</a> Dean Legge thinks so. Hard to argue. </p>
<p id="0xwQrM">If you want to take a bath/shower and buy some Irish Spring, this particular store is literally having none of it. I’m a Lever Brothers fan myself. </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tough luck, Dill’s customers! Pick a different soap, this is <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dawgs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dawgs</a> country <a href="https://t.co/cDJbxjD9ld">pic.twitter.com/cDJbxjD9ld</a></p>— Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wes_nship/status/1173783883344732160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
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<p id="fU46NR"><a href="https://247sports.com/college/georgia/Article/Georgia-Bulldogs-Notre-Dame-Fighting-Irish-Davin-Bellamy-game-sealing-sack-135774594/">Everyone remembers Davin Bellamy’s critical sack of Notre Dame’s QB Brandon Wimbush </a>back in 2017 which sealed the deal after <span>Lorenzo Carter</span> jumped on the resulting fumble. <a href="https://www.onlineathens.com/sports/20190918/how-rodrigo-blankenships-notre-dame-moment-happened">However, Rodrigo Blankenship had to kick a clutch field goal to put us ahead in the first place.</a> Will history repeat itself on Saturday night?</p>
<p id="fQyBff">In Tennessee news, <a href="https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27638015/trash-talk-mattress-fires-flying-projector-lane-kiffin-year-tennessee">here’s the Lane Kiffin story of his time at Tennessee. The dysfunction may or may not be ending up on Rocky Top, but this article pretty much tells the story of how the Vols ended up where they are today.</a></p>
<p id="uLEYaZ">Have a great morning, err’body. </p>
<p id="2aROCL">That’s all I’ve got. See you in Sanford! </p>
<h3 id="XnKZLl">As Always, GO DAWGS!</h3>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20873196/thursday-morning-dawg-bites-is-flyin-high-georgia-notre-dameDavetheDawg2019-09-19T06:21:34-04:002019-09-19T06:21:34-04:00Chapel Bell Curve: The Luck of the Irish 2-for-1 Special Edition
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<img alt="University of Georgia Campus" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/56-doRLvkrbTMTz5uYaRS16DNJU=/0x428:3421x2709/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65277338/163953494.jpg.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by John Powell/Replay Photos via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>A visiting dignitary to preview our visiting dignitaries from South Bend</p> <p id="9OJIhT">The boys are back with not one, but two editions of Chapel Bell Curve. Highlights include:</p>
<ul>
<li id="E2GwPv">About 30 seconds of what was in real-time a 5 minute rant from Nathan about ecclesiastical Latin</li>
<li id="k1DI8N">Reasons why this is a big game (duh)</li>
<li id="SUxDgL">Nathan stereotypes CBC listeners</li>
<li id="QXIhci">What the stats tell us about the Fightin’ Irish</li>
<li id="V2rfE3">How these two teams match up from a statistical standpoint</li>
<li id="UP5bqr">Unitarian Transcendentalism </li>
</ul>
<p id="EFnfxn"><strong>&</strong></p>
<ul><li id="KgggoB">An entirely separate episode with a preview of the ND game featuring <a href="https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/">Get The Picture</a>’s <a href="https://twitter.com/mummepoll?lang=en">Senator Blutarsky</a>
</li></ul>
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<div id="0oI4hS"><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/7acd939a-4f9f-4cfc-b608-4deb1692f128?dark=false"></iframe></div>
<div id="SwWTKN"><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/915b490e-c47f-4dde-b259-a3e2eae0b49d?dark=false"></iframe></div>
<p id="LkiFJU">So give it a listen and a leave review here or at your finest podcastier. If you want to support a couple of stats Dawgs, check out our <a href="https://www.patreon.com/chapelbellcurve">Patreon</a> (we have cool benefits!). We’ll catch you this weekend in the Classic City for the big game, but until then, <strong>GO DAWGS!!!</strong></p>
https://www.dawgsports.com/2019/9/19/20873635/chapel-bell-curve-podcast-advanced-stats-college-football-georgia-notre-dameNathan Lawrence