Keep him home, Falcons

I’ll be transparent here. My NFL allegiance is not with the Falcons. Sure, I want them to do well as an in-state team, but I’m an NFL fan first of the team that plays at the same site of the WLOCP.

Still, the Falcons have a tremendous chance to ignite a whole other base by doing one thing tonight – drafting Todd Gurley.

Is running back the team’s most pressing need? No, but if Thomas Dimitroff is a bright as he is at times perceived, you can shore up defense in the later rounds and snag up Gurley at No. 8.

Now, Gurley alone would not put fans in the seats (winning does that). But, it would draw in an entire group of fans that have either ignored or casually followed the Falcons for Years. The Falcons mismanagement over the years has at times passed over UGA products. But you don’t pick a guy solely because he sells a few tickets and jerseys. You pick him because he will help you win games.

Gurley, however, would do both.

No matter where Gurley goes, some of the Bulldog Nation follow. It’d be great to keep that energy in Atlanta.

Go Dawgs!

Lugnut Dawg

Post USC-East takes

Maybe it was the emotional exhaustion of another grindfest in SEC play…or maybe it had something to do with an eight-week old girl in the house, but I somehow drifted into an unexpected nap on Sunday afternoon.

So after all that, and some time to let everything from Saturday sink in, here are a few takes.

– Was the decision to not run Todd Gurley four times at the four-yard line a knuckleheaded call by Mike Bobo? Probably (Of course, it didn’t help that officials botched the intentional grounding call…more on that later). But I’m more than willing to give Bobo some slack. This offense has averaged more than 40 points or so the past three years. If you would have told me we’d roll up around 40 points the first two games this year with a hovering above average QB and ZERO deep threats at receiver, I’d gladly take it. This team has some shortcomings right now. Mike Bobo is not one of them.

– The defense showed how far of a hole it has to dig out of. When you have inexperience, you can have the greatest coaching in the world, but it cannot compensate with lack of experience. There is talent on defense, but that talent has to grow up in a hurry. A few players that did not want to do it ‘The Georgia Way,” who are not worth mentioning, may help this team long-term, but they put it in a tough spot short-term. This defense will get on the right track. Hopefully, it will be before it is too late. Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins were non-factors against South Carolina…but the Chickens going max-protect had a lot to do with that.

– Did the referees cost Georgia the game? Yes and no. It baffles me that as much revenue as the SEC pulls in that it has no problem that its officials continue to embarrass the conference. And this is not only a Georgia gripe. Ask Kentucky’s fans, as well. An awful holding penalty call cost Georgia a touchdown and Heisman-highlight clip from Todd Gurley, and the intentional grounding call was an awful miss too.  For whatever reason, the SEC does not think its important to have quality officials. It is laughing all the way to the bank. The league, its teams and fans deserve way better. At the end of the day, though, you have to assume in every game you are not going to get certain breaks and have to play well enough to over come them. Georgia did not do that. Which brings us to…

– Football is a funny and illogical game sometimes. How Marshall Morgan’s field goal streak ends with two misses in the second half baffles me. If he makes one of them, it’s a tie game. If he makes both, Georgia wins. On the road in this conference, you have to make your own breaks and take advantage. Georgia did not do that.

– Despite many comment section and Facebook postings after the game, this season is not over. It’s a tough pill to swallow to lose to the HBC, but this team still controls its own fate. USCe will lose at least once more this season. More often than not, you won’t run the table in this conference, it just won’t happen as much as you want it to.

– I’m avoiding the call-in shows on Monday.

– You can’t pin this loss on one facet. It was a team loss. There were breakdowns on offense, defense and special teams that contributed to the loss. This team has a week to get better and heal up against Troy and take on what will be a pesky Tennessee team.

– Can we replace Uncle Verne?

Go Dawgs!

Lugnut Dawg

Last week was nice, but…

From the moment that Georgia’s 2014 schedule was released, one positive that jumped out was this week’s open date. The schedule-makers slotted Georgia with an open date between two brusing matchups – last week against Clemson and next week’s road trip to South Carolina.

While the Gamecocks will go up against a pesky East Carolina team, Georgia can rest up and guys such as Malcolm Mitchell and John Theus can get closer to being healthy.

Still, the open week could be a bad thing.

The Bulldogs are coming off of an impressive win last week against Clemson. Georgia has risen in the rankings, and very, very early talk of National Title hopes and a Heisman Trophy contention for Todd Gurley has been kicked into high gear.

Georgia’s fans have an extra week to reflect on how impressive the Dawgs looked last week – and the players have more time to hear about how good they looked.

Georgia’s season may be defined in how well it handles the open date. If it lapses this week, the Bulldogs could leave Columbia next Saturday 0-1 in SEC play, and the Clemson win would be little more than a nice win over an old rival.

It’s great to win, but that win cannot define a season.

Anyone remember 2004. Georgia whipped LSU in a much-anticipated rematch. The next week, a lackluster performance against Tennessee cost Georgia the game as well as the SEC Eastern Division title. Or as Georgia head coach Mark Richt said, “we lost the wrong game.”

Last week was nice for Georgia. But it’ll pale in comparison if the Bulldogs don’t come out with a win following this weekend’s open date.

Lugnut Dawg