Bulldogs Beat Tech 38 - 0

The Georgia Bulldogs beat Tennessee Tech Saturday by a score of 38 - 0. To be cliche, the game was not really that close, nor should it have been. A win is a win, but once again there were several "coach-able moments".

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="305" caption="Washaun Ealey runs in for his second touchdown. (Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com)"][/caption]

Perhaps the biggest positive of the day was seeing the coaching staff yank players out of the ballgame for committing penalties. Hope this trend continues, for that will make the next delay of game penalty interesting.

The penalties that preceded those yankings were the biggest negative. Logan Gray failing to take advantage of his opportunity was another sore spot for me. Bacari Rambo did not start.

The defense dominated an inferior opponent. Regardless of opponent, Montez Robinson and Cornelius Washington both looked great,

On offense we were able to run at will, racking up over 300 yards. Pretty much everything Mike Bobo dialed up was working. There were a few execution problems, notably with the blocking from our fullbacks.

Joe Cox did not throw an interception. Drew Butler made the most of his light workload. Braden Smith is about as fast as a human can be. Wow. It was also good to see another team struggle to cover a tight end, both Orson Charles and Aron White had nice days.

All in all it was a good day to be a Georgia Bulldog, 38 for the good guys, goose egg for the bad.

Enjoy it, Dawg Nation, for Auburn is coming Saturday night. Get your hate on!

And now the Ulcer Bleeds

The Georgia Bulldogs are suffering through the worst season of Mark Richt's career. As bad as the season has been, I am afraid it will pale in comparison to how bad things are going to be in the off-season.

We ran a BUI poll giving you the reader the opportunity to give a thumbs up or down to every member of the coaching staff. The results were not that surprising. I plan on doing the same poll following the season and comparing the results.

I bring this up because my readers, by a large majority, gave Rodney Garner a vote of approval. Not much of a news maker given his reputation as a recruiter and all of the talent he has sent to play on Sunday. There was a solid handful of Garner critics via email or direct tweets. No one dared go public with any criticism of Garner. Until now.

Kensingtondawg delves into the narrative that many in the Bulldog Nation have dared not go.

Richt Should Fire Garner First! « The Grit Tree

However, Martinez should not be the only defensive coach shown the door. In fact, Rodney Garner should be the first coach let go. According to sources close to program, Rodney Garner is a “cancer” on this staff, and one of the reasons Kirby Smart is not on this coaching staff today is due to a falling out with Garner.

I too, have been told of problems within the coaching staff that center upon Coach Garner. In fact, this led me to predict Coach Searels would leave before Coach Martinez. Bringing John Lily in, an excellent recruiter in his own right, should serve to mitigate some of the jeopardy we face in future decisions regarding Coach Garner, but I am less than excited by the prospect.

Despite President Obama's election, we are not living in a post-racial America. In things as nasty as college football recruiting, we can all be assured any slighting of Garner will be used against us.

It is what it is. I love to get your thoughts on the situation.

A Look Around the Dawg Webs

I don't care to make any predictions about tomorrow's game, except to say we will not be wearing black.  In the mean time, let's take a little surf through the Dawg webs.

I certainly hope Scott over at "Stuff of Legend" continues to share his thoughts with us regularly. I enjoy his calm, rational take on the Dawgs. He has been a virtual shaman to me throughout this trying season.
The Stuff of Legend: What passes for a Florida recap these days...

Now, for the promised announcement: I don’t know how much “Dawg” blogging I am going to be doing in the near future. Don’t get me wrong…I still love this team, will be pulling like mad for 9-4, and I still live and die with this bunch.

Bernie shares with us the bright side of tomorrow's cozy gathering, watching Wooten is at the top o'da list.
Bernie's Dawg Blawg: Who's That Comin'... (yawn..) Tenn Tech

I'll be there to see what the intensity is like, how Wooten and Brown do withGreen in street clothes, what Logan Gray does when not thrown to the wolves, what the rotation is like in the secondary, some more sick kicks by Blair and Drew...and to show my little girls once again the awesomeness that is Sanford Stadium.

Buck Belue gives us his insight into how he handled the '79 season. He somehow fails to mention the turning point of that season. I think we ended up starting a freshmen quarterback.
Buck's Blog: How to Handle The Criticism

You really do circle the wagons and insulate yourselves from all the negativity. The focus is to fight your way out of it. Work harder. Study harder. Practice harder. You know, grind. Losing sucks. Nobody has any fun. I felt bad for the seniors, who had put their hearts and souls into that season, only to see it spiral out of control.

"Can you say 'embattled'?  Good, I thought you could."
Georgia roundup « Get The Picture

In lieu of a Tennessee Tech preview (seriously, should there be anything more to say than “don’t get hurt during the Dawg Walk”?), I thought I’d toss out a few unrelated items for your consideration.

David Hale talks with Mark Richt about his other best friend on the staff, Coach Van Halanger. My guess is Kevin "Chappy" Hynes is next in line to draw fire from the faithful.  More important to me, however, is Richt's statement that Baccari Rambo will not be starting, and it doesn't sound like there is anything he can do to move ahead of a senior.
Bulldogs Blog: Notes: Richt Downplays Conditioning Concerns

For the past month, Georgia’s coaches have given redshirt freshman safety Baccari Rambo increased playing time and have been pleased with the results. But despite the struggles of starters Reshad Jones and Bryan Evans in coverage against Florida and Tennessee, Richt said it’s unlikely Rambo will move past either veteran on the depth chart.

“I don’t know if he’ll move into the starting lineup but he’s earned playing time and he’s playing well,” Richt said. “He’s continued to practice well, and that’s good, good for us."

C&C get right to the point with regard to Coach Richt's selective accountability.
Catfish and Cornbread: Accountability

Earlier this week, we heard from CMR that Washaun Ealey won't start Saturday because he missed a block against FL that led to one of our 4 interceptions on the day. Richt wants to hold #24 accountable for his missed assignment and give Caleb King the start this Saturday. That sounds great and I like the players dealing with consequences for their actions on and off the field.....

But, where the hell is the accountability for the rest of the team??? How many times have we seen our senior safety and senior CB get burned for TDs this year? How about holding our 5th year senior QB accountable for flinging 2 passes towards the sidelines and not getting the ball out of bounds when he could have just eaten the sack (once against UT and then against FL on Ealey's missed block)? How about sitting our whole offensive line for not opening up a single hole all year long (minus Samuel's long run vs. ARK)? How bout firing Willie's ass for letting our defense become progressively worse every single year since he took over the defense 5 damn years ago? If we are going to start holding everyone accountable for mistakes, we can't start and stop with Ealey.

A few thoughts from a Hunkered Down Dawg.
Hunker Down Dawg: Predicting a Dawg Victory

Without a dominating defense, you can't win with mediocre QB play. You definitely can't win with poor QB play. In our losses, QB play has been medicore to poor. However, to be fair, Joe played great against SC (minus the pick six) and Arkansas. I hope he has a few more of those type of performances left - namely against Auburn and Tech.

For all you basketball fans, be sure to subscribe to Daugman's Chronicles, where it is always basketball season.
DaugMan's Chronicles: Sundiata Gaines Selected #15 in D-League Draft

The D-League held their annual draft today. Sundiata Gaines was picked at #15 by the Idaho Stampede.