This week we have a late Georgia 3-2-1 Report. Unlike the folks at Aaron Overhead Doors, I can’t be counted on for anything on time.
Three Observations
3. Have a seat. Cade Mays is the focus of a lot of gnashing of teeth this week and I get it. This guy was headed to Tennessee his entire life ... right up until it became inconvenient to do so. As the Vols were searching for every trailer park and Denny’s parking lot for anyone who would take the head coaching job, Mays decided to be a Bulldog, thinking that was in his best interest. He was also looking at Clemson. Who could blame him?
And it has to be noted, he was a Damn Good Dawg. Cade busted his tail, played hard, even started. Last year, against Tennessee, Mays walked out of the UGA locker room to warm up early with the other Bulldog centers and quarterbacks. The minute he walked out of the tunnel in Neyland Stadium, the early crowd started booing and jeering. Cade heard it, clapped his hands and nodded his head. He had dreamed of playing there for Tennessee, but instead he was being booed. A month prior, when asked why he chose Georgia over Tennessee, he said, “If I am going to work this hard, I want to win a national championship.”
A week after the Sugar Bowl, a game in which Mays was smiling and hugging his Georgia teammates, news leaked out that he was transferring to Tennessee. Georgia had stopped recruiting his younger brother, but the Vols were going to take Cooper, the other Tennessee legacy. The Vols were winning under Jeremy Pruitt and Mays’ father was suing UGA over his inability to operate a folding chair. In other words, if Cade headed back to Knoxville, he could fulfill his lifelong dream of playing for the Volunteers, just like his father, a team captain, did. He could be on the same team as his brother. He wouldn’t have to answer any odd questions about his dad’s lawsuit or the embarrassing personal notes continued therein. All of which is very convenient. Again.
The UGA players are not holding a grudge. They like Cade and want what is best for him. There is some teasing, but it’s good-natured ribbing that all guys do to each other that many women find appalling. Georgia fans might consider him “Benedict Cade.” But I think he is a kid pulled in different directions from his family, his friends and two schools he likes. Regardless, the Georgia players will offer no quarter and will not expect any, because you can always be friends after the game is over.
2. Backpedal alert. Don’t you just love all the pundits who told you that Stetson Bennett had no chance to ever be the quarterback at Georgia? To hear UGA beat writers tell it, Bennett would need a step stool just to take the snap from Trey Hill. He’d be lucky to get even the garbage time snaps he received last year. In fact, Bennett didn’t need those snaps as they would be much better used by getting Carson Beck or one of the other QBs some experience of handing the ball off or taking a knee. Now those same experts are changing their stories faster than parents do when their nightmare-having, five-year-old walks in on them while they are “wrestling.”
My favorite line was that Stetson Bennett was the fifth-string quarterback. So he went from No. 2 last year to No. 5. Yeah, and also, I don’t like pie. Or “wrestling.” No, the click-bait corps just proved that they can make assumptions. When Kirby Smart said Bennett was running the third team in the initial scrimmage of the fall, they took that to mean everyone with the first team (D’Wan Mathis, JT Daniels and Jamie Newman) or the second team (Beck) must be ahead of him. It couldn’t be that Smart already knows what he has in Bennett and wanted to see what the others could do (eyeroll). Heck, I heard one pundit on the radio claim that Bennett wasn’t even on scholarship.
Now all these guys are backpedaling faster than Eric Stokes can on his best day. We get long-form stories on the fact that he is the fourth of his namesake or that he once wore a postal service hat to a camp...
Well, better late than never.
3. Sunshine State Covid Cops. The two narratives that I saw repeatedly after UGA drubbed Auburn last week were both fan-related. Never mind that Georgia had just pantsed the No. 7 team in the nation. That didn’t matter. No, what mattered was that UGA snuck in another 20,000 fans on top of the 20k that were allowed. Oh, and according to experts who pull for the Florida Gators, no one was wearing a mask in the stands.
So they think Georgia just had one giant Covid contamination party and flouted the SEC guidelines on attendance. When photo and video proof were shown to counter these narratives, they were dismissed out of hand. “How dare you bring facts into this argument?!?” screamed the frothy-mouthed Gator fans who had appointed themselves blackboard monitors. Countless pictures and videos of fans spaced out and wearing masks were all ignored because of one still frame of the obviously contaminated student section. You know, those filthy students who had 66 positive tests this week out of a 50,000 person university.
That is not to say that the students didn’t congregate together down at the front of the stadium where they knew they could get on TV. Or that they took off their masks (as they were told they could once they got to their seats). But who is surprised at students not following the rules? The same Gator students who hide ziplock bags full of Canadian Mist in their diaper bags are going to lecture the UGA administration for not having snipers shoot the unclean maskless?
I think what they were really worried about was how loud that 20k people could get and how strong the defense looked.
Two Questions
2. What is the real deal? I was told the other day that offensive lineman Netori Johnson might opt out of the season due to concerns over Covid-19. Johnson is a big man and he has diabetes. He has a child as well. The day after, I was told that Johnson wasn’t at practice. When we asked Smart about it, he said Johnson was working on his grades. Academics tripped up Ben Cleveland back in December, along with some other players who were out for the bowl game. It happens. I think it best to take Smart at his word here. But is Johnson the only one? We broke the news that Walter Grant, a former starter, didn’t make the travel roster for Arkansas. I think he too may be having issues. Georgia could really use him this week against a strong running game.
1. When will Kirby catch a break on the quarterbacks? If you read Dave’s Stat Crunch articles, then you may have noticed the part where he pointed out that in three of Smart’s five seasons at UGA, the quarterback who starts Game Two is not the quarterback who started Game One. Be it Jacob Eason getting hurt, Eason supplanting Grayson Lambert, or Mathis being pulled in favor of Bennett, the Game One starter seems to have the longevity of an expensive bottle of bourbon at a Georgia tailgate. Even when Smart did have a set starter in Jake Fromm, he was dogged by questions about when would we see Justin Fields in the game.
For a defensive coach, Smart just seems to have an unreal amount of drama surrounding his quarterbacks.
Prediction
Georgia will likely be without Jermaine Johnson and James Cook this Saturday. I think both could play if needed, but my guess is they won’t be. UGA is loaded at the tailback spot. Kenny McIntosh may be the best of all of them, despite only being a lowly four-star. Zamir White, Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards can easily carry the load. On pass rush downs, Georgia has so many options that guys like Nolan Smith head over to the scout team just to get more practice reps. There is no need to chance Johnson or Cook aggravating something that is healing. Let them sit out this week so they are completely healthy when the Dawgs head to Alabama next week.
P.S. I invite all of you to tune into the Watch Along show tomorrow. Have Coach Donnan on your tablet, phone or laptop as we break down the game in realtime:
Three Observations
3. Have a seat. Cade Mays is the focus of a lot of gnashing of teeth this week and I get it. This guy was headed to Tennessee his entire life ... right up until it became inconvenient to do so. As the Vols were searching for every trailer park and Denny’s parking lot for anyone who would take the head coaching job, Mays decided to be a Bulldog, thinking that was in his best interest. He was also looking at Clemson. Who could blame him?
And it has to be noted, he was a Damn Good Dawg. Cade busted his tail, played hard, even started. Last year, against Tennessee, Mays walked out of the UGA locker room to warm up early with the other Bulldog centers and quarterbacks. The minute he walked out of the tunnel in Neyland Stadium, the early crowd started booing and jeering. Cade heard it, clapped his hands and nodded his head. He had dreamed of playing there for Tennessee, but instead he was being booed. A month prior, when asked why he chose Georgia over Tennessee, he said, “If I am going to work this hard, I want to win a national championship.”
A week after the Sugar Bowl, a game in which Mays was smiling and hugging his Georgia teammates, news leaked out that he was transferring to Tennessee. Georgia had stopped recruiting his younger brother, but the Vols were going to take Cooper, the other Tennessee legacy. The Vols were winning under Jeremy Pruitt and Mays’ father was suing UGA over his inability to operate a folding chair. In other words, if Cade headed back to Knoxville, he could fulfill his lifelong dream of playing for the Volunteers, just like his father, a team captain, did. He could be on the same team as his brother. He wouldn’t have to answer any odd questions about his dad’s lawsuit or the embarrassing personal notes continued therein. All of which is very convenient. Again.
The UGA players are not holding a grudge. They like Cade and want what is best for him. There is some teasing, but it’s good-natured ribbing that all guys do to each other that many women find appalling. Georgia fans might consider him “Benedict Cade.” But I think he is a kid pulled in different directions from his family, his friends and two schools he likes. Regardless, the Georgia players will offer no quarter and will not expect any, because you can always be friends after the game is over.
2. Backpedal alert. Don’t you just love all the pundits who told you that Stetson Bennett had no chance to ever be the quarterback at Georgia? To hear UGA beat writers tell it, Bennett would need a step stool just to take the snap from Trey Hill. He’d be lucky to get even the garbage time snaps he received last year. In fact, Bennett didn’t need those snaps as they would be much better used by getting Carson Beck or one of the other QBs some experience of handing the ball off or taking a knee. Now those same experts are changing their stories faster than parents do when their nightmare-having, five-year-old walks in on them while they are “wrestling.”
My favorite line was that Stetson Bennett was the fifth-string quarterback. So he went from No. 2 last year to No. 5. Yeah, and also, I don’t like pie. Or “wrestling.” No, the click-bait corps just proved that they can make assumptions. When Kirby Smart said Bennett was running the third team in the initial scrimmage of the fall, they took that to mean everyone with the first team (D’Wan Mathis, JT Daniels and Jamie Newman) or the second team (Beck) must be ahead of him. It couldn’t be that Smart already knows what he has in Bennett and wanted to see what the others could do (eyeroll). Heck, I heard one pundit on the radio claim that Bennett wasn’t even on scholarship.
Now all these guys are backpedaling faster than Eric Stokes can on his best day. We get long-form stories on the fact that he is the fourth of his namesake or that he once wore a postal service hat to a camp...
Well, better late than never.
3. Sunshine State Covid Cops. The two narratives that I saw repeatedly after UGA drubbed Auburn last week were both fan-related. Never mind that Georgia had just pantsed the No. 7 team in the nation. That didn’t matter. No, what mattered was that UGA snuck in another 20,000 fans on top of the 20k that were allowed. Oh, and according to experts who pull for the Florida Gators, no one was wearing a mask in the stands.
So they think Georgia just had one giant Covid contamination party and flouted the SEC guidelines on attendance. When photo and video proof were shown to counter these narratives, they were dismissed out of hand. “How dare you bring facts into this argument?!?” screamed the frothy-mouthed Gator fans who had appointed themselves blackboard monitors. Countless pictures and videos of fans spaced out and wearing masks were all ignored because of one still frame of the obviously contaminated student section. You know, those filthy students who had 66 positive tests this week out of a 50,000 person university.
That is not to say that the students didn’t congregate together down at the front of the stadium where they knew they could get on TV. Or that they took off their masks (as they were told they could once they got to their seats). But who is surprised at students not following the rules? The same Gator students who hide ziplock bags full of Canadian Mist in their diaper bags are going to lecture the UGA administration for not having snipers shoot the unclean maskless?
I think what they were really worried about was how loud that 20k people could get and how strong the defense looked.
Two Questions
2. What is the real deal? I was told the other day that offensive lineman Netori Johnson might opt out of the season due to concerns over Covid-19. Johnson is a big man and he has diabetes. He has a child as well. The day after, I was told that Johnson wasn’t at practice. When we asked Smart about it, he said Johnson was working on his grades. Academics tripped up Ben Cleveland back in December, along with some other players who were out for the bowl game. It happens. I think it best to take Smart at his word here. But is Johnson the only one? We broke the news that Walter Grant, a former starter, didn’t make the travel roster for Arkansas. I think he too may be having issues. Georgia could really use him this week against a strong running game.
1. When will Kirby catch a break on the quarterbacks? If you read Dave’s Stat Crunch articles, then you may have noticed the part where he pointed out that in three of Smart’s five seasons at UGA, the quarterback who starts Game Two is not the quarterback who started Game One. Be it Jacob Eason getting hurt, Eason supplanting Grayson Lambert, or Mathis being pulled in favor of Bennett, the Game One starter seems to have the longevity of an expensive bottle of bourbon at a Georgia tailgate. Even when Smart did have a set starter in Jake Fromm, he was dogged by questions about when would we see Justin Fields in the game.
For a defensive coach, Smart just seems to have an unreal amount of drama surrounding his quarterbacks.
Prediction
Georgia will likely be without Jermaine Johnson and James Cook this Saturday. I think both could play if needed, but my guess is they won’t be. UGA is loaded at the tailback spot. Kenny McIntosh may be the best of all of them, despite only being a lowly four-star. Zamir White, Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards can easily carry the load. On pass rush downs, Georgia has so many options that guys like Nolan Smith head over to the scout team just to get more practice reps. There is no need to chance Johnson or Cook aggravating something that is healing. Let them sit out this week so they are completely healthy when the Dawgs head to Alabama next week.
P.S. I invite all of you to tune into the Watch Along show tomorrow. Have Coach Donnan on your tablet, phone or laptop as we break down the game in realtime:
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