jhay610

I was so frustrated watching this game. In addition to the above UGA went way too conservative with offensive playcalling way too early. It was very obvious early that there was nothing for Georgia between the tackles yet we saw the sprint draw into the teeth of the line time and again. I was quite surprised by the decision to run on 3rd and 9 late in the game with the ball and the 7 point lead given that earlier in the year in similar positions they were more aggressive (the Fla game immediately jumps to mind). It was way too early to try to play the clock as 2 mins is an eternity to drive down the field. Blair Walsh's inconsistencies finally cost the Bulldogs a game -- sad for him to close what was a stellar career with such a disappointing senior season. Richt was taking a gamble playing it ultra-conservative after the interception in view of the fact that nothing has been certain about a Blair Walsh field goal attempt this year. Still a successful year but some of the old questions still linger after this game -- particularly Bobo's playcalling and our tendency to go conservative too early and play 'not to lose'.

Ha. He even worked a Jimmy Buffet reference into his announcement. What a 'bro' move, bro.

Agree with all of this. My point was more to the OP's supposition that he 'could take over the team' and 'who is there to stop him?'. This is a good signing and he could be a contributor for us, but it's not 2003 -- the Hawks are not going to become T-Mac's team.

He is not going to take over the team. He is a role player at this point in his career; he knows that and so does the front office -- that is why he signed at the vet minimum.

UGA needed to play perfectly and win special teams in order to have a chance in that game. I think they just did not have the resolve or talent level needed to play LSU for 60 minutes when they left those plays out on the field and then saw Mathieu streak for the punt return TD. That singular play changed the tenor of the game -- UGA had dominated both sides of the ball to that point and held but a skinny 3 point lead to show for it. A 21-0 halftime lead was feasible and could have very well played out differently -- perhaps LSU begins to feel pressure and UGA, with momentum on their side, carries on fighting to the end in a close game. After the Murray fumble and subsequent Tiger touchdown, you could see UGA was mentally defeated, feeling it had done all it could and yet still trailed. I loved the initial aggressiveness and by Richt and Bobo -- they came out playing like they should've, with nothing to lose, and it was certainly unfortunate that they did not have more to show for their efforts. I could not understand why, however, UGA got conservative on the first drive of the second half when it was very obvious that Carlton Thomas was not going to be successful running into the teeth of that defense. Passing to set up the run had proven to be the only chance at success to that point -- to come out after the half and run two plays between the tackles set up Murray to fail with a 3rd and long. It was painful to see the game unravel in the 2nd half but that is how LSU wins -- they maul you for 4 quarters with their superlative depth until you are physically and mentally worn out. UGA has some players to compete with LSU's combination of size, strength and speed, but not nearly enough of them. It was instructive to see the line of scrimmage slowly shift from UGA's favor in the early parts of the game to sheer domination by LSU in the 3rd and 4th quarters. LSU was obviously the superior team but I felt like UGA could have kept it interesting if they played a perfect game. Mathieu is quite a player and his punt returns changed the tenor of that game -- he made the coverage look like high school walk-ons on the second big return. I am a UGA fan, but I actually wanted them to pull the upset more because it would have made even more of a mockery of the BCS to have two conference non-champs play for the title. As it stands, there is still plenty of room for controversy. If only Boise State would have gone undefeated this year..

I think Alabama is better but it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks -- they should decide it on the field. The BCS is the biggest farce in major American sports. The proponents of the system say that 'every week is a playoff game' -- if that's the case, then why are we having, if things play out as expected, a rematch of a playoff game that already happened weeks ago? If UGA had somehow pulled off the shocker yesterday it is very conceivable that LSU-Alabama would have happened regardless, so you'd have two non-conference champions playing for the national championship just 4 years after the talking heads said UGA could not play in the game because 'they didn't even win their own conference'. What a joke.

Maybe the thread should be renamed "The Official Countdown Towards Mark Richt's Contract Extension".

Are you guys kidding? When UK sees those red helmets with the black G on them they will involuntarily evacuate their bowels due to primal fear, just like they do every year [/sarcasm].

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. -- Mark LSU still has to beat Arkansas. I can tell you this: Georgia will have the better quarterback on the field and their defense looks better every week. If they can play their best game, we must now acknowledge that UGA can be competitive with anyone in that game. LSU defense is scary, but their quarterback situation is not so much. Arkansas would present a whole different set of problems.

I have to say Bobo's playcalling has not bothered me so much this year. He has actually drawn up some imaginative stuff that we haven't always been able to execute, but the holes are there. The old pattern of sprint draw, sprint draw, short pass has not come up so much to my mind. Now, he does not have the reputation as an offensive mastermind and AHF's point is a good one -- I can't see any top tier Division-I schools banging down his door if he was made available.

AHF -- agreed. Georgia would have to play a perfect game to have a shot at winning against either of those teams; they have yet to do that at any point during this season and there is NOTHING I have seen that would suggest they are capable of doing so. Special teams are an abomination right now -- UGA must WIN special teams to have a chance against either LSU or Alabama. At this point, that seems unrealistic as things would have to exponentially improve. Defense has been a consistent bright spot this year and you have to admit that the TG hire looks to be a huge win for CMR at this point. What would this season look like if Willie M were still running the show? I shudder at the thought -- CMR would be out by now, or at least would assuredly be gone by the end of this campaign. Offense is terribly inconsistent, as has been Aaron Murray. Crowell can't seem to stay on the field between nagging injuries and off-field shenanigans. This group has potential but they have yet to put it all together for a complete game and we have now turned the calendar to November (you are who you are?). Overall, in the context of the last few years UGA fans must step back and realize that this is shaping into quite a year for the Bulldogs, and no matter what happens from here on out, wins over Florida and on the road against Tennessee should be items to savor this offseason. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but realistically fans should be very pleased with the current position -- if not for horrid special teams play, UGA could easily be sitting on one loss. I think UGA fans have a tendency to expect too much of this group and think that the SEC East was a given coming into this year -- so easily they forget the (admittedly forgettable) 6-7 campaign that was waged just last year.

Fredi's quote about pitching to Pence with first base open and a .196 hitter on deck (Michael Martinez) with the season on the line was just, well, mind-boggling for a major league manager. I can't find it now, but he basically said that he thought about it, but the count was already 2-2 and if you walk him 'can you guarantee me that the next guy doesn't draw a walk or get a hit'. Wow. That is really the coup de grâce to the 2011 season. First of all, that the thought of intentionally walking Pence did not occur to Fredi until that deep in the count. Secondly, it confirms that the guy has no understanding whatsoever of probability. I can't believe that Fredi is this deficient in real life but he does not represent himself well in interviews.

So I'm not the only one.

Well the effort was a lot better and Crowell is the real deal. The defense played reasonably well and the Bennett kid looks like a decent possession receiver. They were probably 2-3 touchdowns better than South Carolina on Saturday but you can't give away 28 points on offense and special teams and expect to come out a winner. UGA took another hit at their thinnest position with the foot injury to Robinson. It is a bit discouraging that there are not more depth at this position and of course it is the one that is tested right from the start.

The line play was the most discouraging part; Richt has said as much in the aftermath (specifically the offensive line). We have heard for several years how big and physical the UGA offensive line will be, however this has not translated to game day. UGA got ZERO push on either side of the ball in the trenches. Crowell gained every one of those 60 yards on his own. Samuel still seems to have the ability to run into the first body he sees (either the back of his own linemen or the first defender through).

They won the rest of their schedule in convincing fashion after the celebration game (??). Poaching a successful coach at a mid-level program has worked in the past. I'm not sure how I'd feel about Kirby as the head man, although it seems he is headed that way somewhere, eventually. Seems Greg McGarity has done a good job so far; would be interesting to see how he does with his first major hire.

I have long defended Richt but there is now no disputing that the program has eroded from its apex in late 2007/preseason 2008 to lower tier SEC also-ran. From the home date in 2008 vs Alabama, when UGA got its doors blown off at home (after beating Bama in OT on the road in 2007), UGA football has been in steady decline. All of the goodwill that was built up over the offseason was undone within the first 3 quarters of 2011. It is not so much the losing (although that in itself is painful) but how they lose. We see the same patterns in every game with silly mental errors, blown assignments, wasted timeouts to get the correct personnel on the field, etc. Bobo's playcalling is also working everyone's nerves -- I am so sick of running sprint draws out of the shotgun on 1st and 10, 2nd and 10, and 3rd and short. While I am not surprised Kellen Moore was able to slice up Georgia's secondary, I don't understand how UGA's line got dominated by the smaller Boise on both sides of the ball. UGA perennially has top 10 recruiting classes yet this does not translate to success on the field. To wit, three of the best at their respective skill positions have come through the program in the last few years (speaking of Moreno, Stafford and Green) and this did not translate to even one berth in the SEC Championship game (although the 2007 season was very good). Richt's past success can only carry him so far. If he does not orchestrate a major turnaround this season (and the schedule lines up nicely for him to do so, although I wouldn't expect it based on what we've seen recently) I will expect him to be fired in the offseason, possibly before whatever lower-tier bowl game UGA plays in. In most cases it is counterproductive to fire a head coach during the season, although that could happen if the Bulldogs are terribly bad. I still count myself a Richt fan, but his time is running out. He needs to pull out all the stops to save his job and fast. If he needs to take back playcalling from Bobo, whatever -- now is not the time to worry about hurt feelings. He is paid over US$1m per annum + endorsements/perquisites to win games.

You're one of my favorites, Grey. I hope I'm still bringing it like you when I reach your age. Bless

Chipper's dad as hitting coach and Chipper as part time 3rd sacker and part time assistant hitting coach next year?

The emergence of Vizcaino as a viable RHP middle to late innings option out of the bullpen is huge for this team. Linebrink would normally have been put in that spot behind Lowe (last night) and the outcome would have very likely been ugly.

Obviously McCann can bat 3rd, but after an extended stint on the DL there is room for argument that he should have been penciled in a bit further down the card to get his sea legs back under him. No need for the condescension. Also, the comment is off base as the inning was the 6th, not the 5th, and he had to use the 3rd pitcher anyway when Linebrink was ineffective. If Fredi was worried about burning through pitchers he should not have brought in Linebrink straight off the disabled list to throw gasoline on a few metaphorical coals (4-1 game, runner on 1st with one out), particularly when it could be argued Beachy still had enough juice to finish the inning (Beach himself said that he didn't want to come out of the game). If he was so concerned about saving his bullpen he should have left him in there after a sac fly out. In any case, Linebrink was not the guy. After Linebrink gave up two line drive hits to put the tying runs on base and bring the go ahead run to the plate, the focus should have been getting out of the inning with minimal damage in a high leverage situation. The correct choice was to bring on a lefty to pitch to weak-hitting Tyler Colvin, but instead Fredi assumed that Linebrink could retire him after he had given no indication against the first two batters that this was a reasonable expectation. It was an odd sequence of events -- Beachy gives up two hits, and Fredi lets him pitch on, then induces the sac fly, at which point Fredi removes him in favor of a guy who has been largely ineffective and was pitching in his first live action in a couple of weeks (no rehab assignment after DL). Linebrink gives up a couple of line drives straight away and yet Fredi leaves him to face the lefty, THEN takes him out for another RHP after 3 runs were in. The only thing that is obvious to me is that Fredi is left wide open for second-guessing after this sequence.

Let's get two guys fresh off the DL into crucial spots in the game -- McCann in the three hole and Linestink relieving Beachy with a 3 run lead and a runner on 1st. I can't get my head around why Sherrill wasnt brought in to face the lefty Colvin after it was obvious that Linestink stunk.

Looks like Constanza is going nowhere: Fredi on the offense: "It’s been clicking pretty good. Obviously when you’ve got Danny doing what he’s doing, and Freeman, Bourn and Constanza, you feel pretty good about it. And you feel McCann’s right around the corner and that’s going to make us even better." Fredi on Constanza: "He puts the ball in play. You hate to see guys like that, with that kind of speed, hit the ball in the air. Get him in there. He stole a base. Disrupt the defense and hope that offensively we can create some runs." Danny Uggla likes Vrooom: "It changes the game," Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said of the presence of Bourn and Constanza. "Even when there is nobody on base and they are coming up to hit, you are creating pressure on the defense just from their legs alone." So does Tim Hudson [Huddy statistical analysis in bold]: "I'd rather face Barry Bonds than somebody like him (Constanza)," Hudson said. "I want somebody up there who is swinging and trying to hit homers. Those guys have a tendency to swing and miss. Constanza is pesky. He's going to put the ball in play. A ball on the ground is more than half the time going to be a hit. It's the same kind of approach that Ichiro had when he first came over and had his legs under him."

You're right -- he went 1-4 on Fri and 0-4 on Sat. Tony La Russa has also been known for batting the pitcher in the 8th spot in the past.

Actually he went 0-4 in his first start as leadoff hitter and then went 3-5 on Sunday. He went 2-3 last night. The result of the play is beside my argument that it was incorrect. To have a guy who has never seen major league pitching come up and bat leadoff is a tactical mistake. I am of course happy that he seems to be seizing his opportunity and I hope it continues. Interesting that Fredi put him in the 9-hole last night and had Jurrjens batting 8th.