Murray Keeps Dawgs On Top

Blessed with two backs capable of being stars in the SEC and all five starters returning on the offensive line, it would seem the Georgia Bulldogs' best chance of taming the Tide and playing for the last BCS crystal football rests squarely on the burly shoulders of their prized two-back attack.

It's easy to see why you might think that. I mean, just look at these guys.

Gameplan: Georgia vs Clemson

Photo by rylan8t

 Each week I will offer a pre-game  breakdown on one of the best college football games of the week. This is not so much a prediction of who'll win more than about what type of plays they'll use to get there. Remember, it's about the journey. 


Last year, we were force-fed promos of what was sure to be an "exciting"and "thrilling" opener to the college football season between Michigan and Alabama.

College football's winningest program back on track with fiery Head Coach Brady Hoke and Heisman hopeful Denard "Shoelace" Robinson against the defending National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide.

All This Talk of Destiny



Hard luck square, George McFly

George: Lorraine, my density has popped me to you.

Lorraine: What?

George: Oh, what I meant to say was...
Lorraine: Wait a minute, don't I know you from somewhere?
George: Yes. Yes. I'm George, George McFly. I'm your density. I mean... your destiny.

George McFly, one of cinemas most insecure, nerdy wimps, could have about-faced, mumbled some obscenities under his breath and not gathered himself to take another run at the lovely Lorraine Baines in "Back to the Future". Known to all as the sci-fi geek equipped with a laugh that could clear a room, it’s safe to say McFly would have had better luck with natural selection rather than convincing Baines to date him (much less not explode into laughter anytime she looked at him).

And for some reason, when I remember this small exchange, I’m reminded of this year’s edition of the Georgia Bulldogs, and what’s still attainable if only they finally assert themselves like the clumsy McFly did.

We compare McFly’s initial fumbled attempt at conversation, which on a scale is somewhere between inaudible and verbal diarrhea, in correlation to the Boise St loss to open the season. The grand stage was set in Atlanta, only to end sloppily against the winningest college program over the past few years. The injury bug also hit UGA during the game which became a common thread for the season. But, It was a game Georgia could lose—the SEC Championship was still in sight.

The next shot at serendipity came with the Gamecocks coming to town. This would be Georgia’s toughest SEC opponent of the year, and it also doubled as a rivalry game. Much like McFly gaining his footing in the beginning the second time a round, the Dawgs bounced back from their season opening loss to outplay the Gamecocks. But outplay as they might, they did not outscore the visiting team. You gotta stay focused from start and finish to end with a win, or in McFly’s case, to construct a comprehensible sentence.

The very second the wrong word came out again, McFly, or Georgia for that matter, knew its safety net had disappeared. And just as the memorable klutz somehow instantaneously fired out the corrected word, somehow these Dawgs persevered through five straight SEC games, climbed over and through suspensions/injuries/maturity issues/Preseason All-American candidates forgetting how to kick the ball, and landed back into destiny’s driver seat.

The courtship for Lorraine was not won in the diner that day, but a seed of belief was planted in her heart. For no matter how faulty, square and lame McFly indeed was, he really thought he had a chance with her. That same seed has been growing in these Dawgs since September 10th. And whether they were right or wrong at the time to believe it, he made his statement, and they won their games. And sure, there are other scenarios that could play out and still land UGA in Atlanta again on Dec. 3rd, but I doubt the Dawgs give up the keys this time.



Games to Watch


No. 10 Virginia Tech @ No. 21 Georgia Tech-Thursday-8pm-ESPN

Great Coastal division matchup with both teams coming off bye weeks

No.1 North Carolina vs Michigan St.-Friday-7pm-ESPN

Basketball on an aircraft carrier. This should be interesting.

No. 20 Auburn @ No. 15 Georgia-Saturday-3:30-CBS

The Bulldogs now have the keys. Sure hope that car don't sputter.

New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons-Sunday-1:00-FOX

The Falcons can't afford to lose this one at home. Rise up!

Interview: Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News



Mike DeCourcy

I had a chance to catch up with Mike DeCourcy, National College Basketball writer for Sporting News about the college teams in our region and what to realistically expect from them this year. You will notice that South Carolina is left out of this exchange. That’s because when your leading scorer also plays football for a team that will probably make a New Year’s Day bowl game, its safe to say that it’ll be a tough year for the Gamecocks. There’s your explanation.

On Clemson:

“I think Clemson has a real opportunity here. Beyond the top two teams (Duke and North Carolina) I don’t think there is a great team. Florida State has good components and could be that third team, and then it really thins out from there. Clemson has some veterans in Andre Young, Milton Jennings and Devin Booker. Those guys have been role players in the past. I think Jennings has the potential to be a significant player in the ACC, and we saw some really good play from Andre at the end of last year. So I think they have a chance. The fact that there are no other GREAT teams beyond those top two gives Virginia, Clemson and NC State a chance. If you listen to your coach and build team chemistry you can win those games. That’s the way Clemson has to approach this season.”

On Georgia Tech:

“The talent drain out of the program subsequent to Paul Hewitt leaving has been fairly substantial. And it wasn’t really that great of a base to begin with. Georgia Tech begins at square one with Brian Gregory. I like Brian a lot. He’s a great person. The one thing he was never able to do at Dayton was take full advantage of the power of his brand. They were always good, but being very good to excellent always seemed to be a bounce of the ball away. At Tech, he has a stronger brand now, stronger talent base, so the margin for error is greater. Because if he’s a little off what the potential is at Georgia Tech, that’s still pretty good. It’s up to him if he can translate his recruiting base from the Midwest to the South (he worked at Michigan State and Northwestern before coaching at Dayton). He’s an appealing personality and a very good basketball coach.”



Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rivals.com

On Georgia’s star frosh Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:

“Pope is a tremendous talent. He’s probably the best pure basketball talent Georgia has had in the program for at least five years, and possibly longer than that. This is a gifted young man. A Top-15 player coming out of high school, and somebody they can build around.”

On Georgia losing Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins, and also what those players lose as well: “They lost a ton into the abyss of this lockout. If those guys (Leslie and Thompkins) were back, they would be better served to be playing basketball now, to be coached, to be developing. So many guys made the mistake of jumping into that lockout. Especially the guys who knew it was coming, and knew they probably weren’t first round picks. And as much as Georgia is paying a price for them leaving, so are they.”

Metro Spirit 9-8

Prep Rehash

If you happened to get to the Lakeside-Thomson game during halftime you didn’t miss much in the first half. As a matter of fact, you were right on queue. Both offenses combined and exploded for 70 points in the second half of the marquee Week 2 matchup that Thomson won 57-39. There were also plenty of penalties to go around—Thomson had 20 of the combined 32 by themselves! Mark Weidenaar lead the rally effort in contributing with over 400 yards of total offense, but fell short after the defense gave up two late touchdowns to the Bulldogs.

Washington County (AAA) did an incredible job keeping Statesboro (AAAA) on the ropes for as long as they did. The Golden Hawks held the lead into the 4th quarter until Statesboro’s Quan Daniels ran for the go-ahead touchdown on a 3 yard run with 11:26 left in the game. WACO’s QB William Walker, who passed and rushed for over 100 yards apiece, was knocked out for a crucial down in the 4th qtr. The backup threw an interception for a touchdown, tipping the balance of the game. Statesboro snuck out with a win in this one with a 31-26 finish.

Grovetown continued its ascension into the upper echelon of Columbia County teams with a 28-14 win over Evans. It was another great game for the Warriors who capitalized on a muffed punt late in the 4th quarter to get the ball back and let Jamal Cummings (18 rushes for 138 yards, 2 TD)—who battled cramps throughout the game—slam the door shut on a 42 yard run to seal it for Grovetown. Eddie Johnson for Evans had another solid game (11-16, 174 yards) but could not get enough run support to pad the scoreboard. We also got introduced to another Grovetown running back, Terrell Hughes, a sophomore who came in for the cramping Cummings and totaled 11 carries for 114 yards and a TD, which came on a 82 yard scamper in the 4th quarter. With the win, Grovetown ran the table in both their non-region games for the first time in school history.

Not too much to say in the Lincoln County-McCormick finish from last Thursday night. Well, except that after playing a tremendous first half until the 4:00 mark in the 2nd quarter, McCormick decided to ditch the revolver and go with a gatling gun to shoot themselves in the foot with. It was tied 13-13 until Lincoln County went on a 43-6 run.

Games to Watch

Augusta Christian @ Ben Lippen- Friday 7:30

ACS heads to Columbia to see if they can continue their outstanding start of the season and move to 3-0.

North Augusta @ Lakeside- Thursday 7:05 TV: Comcast 380, Knology/Atlantic Broadband 246

A Who’s Who cast of local talent will be on display in this offensive showcase. We’ll see which team packs the better defense. Getcha popcorn ready!

Greenbrier@ Hephzibah-Friday 7:30

The start of a grueling slate of games for the Wolfpack as they take on Lincoln County and Lakeside after getting this talented Rebel bunch coming off a bye week.


College Games to Watch

South Carolina @ Georgia- Saturday 4:30pm- ESPN

How bad did Georgia look against Boise State? Bad enough that with a loss here, Mark Richt will be taking is talents anywhere but Athens. True Story.

Notre Dame @ Michigan- Saturday 8pm- ESPN

It’s that team I love to hate heading to the Big House in primetime. Can’t wait to see which team blinks first. Should be a fun one to watch.


Catawba @ Coastal Carolina- Saturday 6pm- No TV

That’s right! Keep up with local folks like former Strom Thurmond star, USC transfer Aramis Hillary, junior quarterback who was named Big South Offensive Player of the Week after going 10-13 for 130 yards in the air and rushing for 61 yards with two touchdowns. On his longest pass of the day, Hillary connected with sophomore receiver Matt Hazel, former North Augusta standout, on a crucial 39 yard completion in the Chanticleers 30-23 win over the Furman Paladins.

Metro Spirit 9-1

Prep Rehash

For the Evans Knights, it wasn’t that we thought they couldn’t produce points; we just weren’t sure where they would come from. With only three offensive starters returning, chemistry was the main concern entering this season. Team speed on defense seems to be their fastball this year. The surprises started with Sophomore running back Stephon Jacobs, who ran for 213 yards and three touchdowns in his first varsity start. Evans also got stellar play out of—then reserve—quarterback Eddie Johnson who went a perfect 7-of-7 for 81 yards and added 36 yards rushing on eight carries as well. What was most impressive for the Knights thought was after only scoring a touchdown in the 1st half, they found their momentum and exploded for 26 points in the 2nd half to get the 33-19 win at home. And not to put too much stock into one win for the Knights, but Coach Marty Jackson-- at least for this week-- will be able to ditch the pencil and use a pen to fill out his starting lineup.

Lincoln County enjoyed an exciting matchup in their 2nd game of the season. They took on Abbeville, which is Lincoln County coach Larry Campbell's hometown team, had won 14 consecutive games and beaten Lincoln County the past three seasons. The win was in comeback fashion as the Red Devils trailed 13-10 at halftime against South Carolina's reigning Class A champion. To solidify the win, the Red Devils relied on quarterback Denzel Gunby (9-16, 117 yards, 2 TDs) and Zireycus Letman ( 5 Rec, 72 yards, TD) who also intercepted a pass to setup the go-ahead TD early in the 2nd half to prevail 24-13.

The areas best team, the Burke County Bears, are at it again. Led by dual-threat QB Corey Mayton and RB/WR/DB Montres Kitchens (88 yards of total offense, TD and 2 INTs), but the Bears beat a Top 10 team in Baldwin with the help of excellent run defense. They held the Braves to just 16 yards rushing on 14 carries. Thereby completely eliminating any type of run game Baldwin might have had and making them more predictable on offense. Burke County also proved they can finish a game early in the season against a respectable foe with their 14 points in the forth quarter to put the game out of reach at 31-14.


Games to Watch


Statesboro @ Washington County- Friday 7:30

3rd best team in AAAA heads to Sandersville to give the talented, but lower classification Golden Hawks all they can handle.

Thomson @ Lakeside- Friday 7:30

We see how Mark Weidenaar performs against a tough Thomson bunch, and also what Head Coach Jarrett Troxler has up his sleeve.

Evans @ Grovetown- Friday 7:30

Grovetown has had a lot of down time since their thrilling 28-24 win over Greenbrier on August 18th. Evans is riding high from their great 2nd half performance against ARC. This will be quite the battle for both teams.


College Games to Watch


Western Carolina @ Georgia Tech- Thursday 7:30pm ESPN3

If you can name me five Tech players/coaches that are not named Barry Bostic or Paul Johnson, you might have a problem.

Georgia Southern @ Samford- Saturday 7:00pm

What do you have planned for your second season, Coach Monken? After leading Southern to their first NCAA FCS playoffs semifinal appearance since 2002, and beating five ranked teams throughout the season, he’s got the diehards back in Paulson Stadium after they started going to Statesboro High School games and inhaling Crown Royal to forget the Chris Hatcher era at GSU.

Georgia vs. Boise St (Atlanta) - Saturday 8:00pm ESPN

UGA is the dawg—like what I did there?-- in this one as the boys of Boise come into town looking to add a SEC team to their resume in hopes of playing for the National Championship at the end of the season. Georgia is underrated this year based off of last years losing season. Don’t be surprised if they pull out the victory, the speed on the defense this year will surprise you. And if you can’t make the game and are in the area, drop by the parking lot for the tailgate, somebody’s bound to have a drink for ya.

Metro Spirit 6-2

Rarely is a team that finishes fourth in their final conference standings considered a success. I mean seriously, what would you call a team that has a 31-30 record?

Average? Mediocre?

Now what if I told you that the fourth place finish was really just between six total teams--not twelve. That's right. Out of 12 total teams in the conference, the Georgia Bulldogs finished fourth only on their side of the division! Wow. For a state that pumps out elite high school baseball prospects on a perennial basis, it looks as if this season has been quite a disappointment. Until last weekend, when the Dogs won three consecutive do-or-die games in the SEC tournament to punch their ticket to the NCAA Regionals in Corvallas, OR.

Rest assured, while deflating at times earlier in the year, how the Diamond Dogs have finished this season has been nothing short of inspirational.

It starts with being in the SEC Eastern division. Georgia shares the same division with the defending National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks--who ended the regular season #1 in the land. Their only serious mark coming into the year was where their quality starts were going to come from. With the departure of their one-two punch: Sam Dyson and innings eater Blake Cooper, the Gamecocks needed Omaha savior Michael Roth (11-3, 1.17 ERA) to transition from situational relief pitcher to solid starter. Which he did swimmingly.

In addition to enduring sights and sounds from the title holder on a weekly basis, the Dogs also had Baseball America's Preseason #1 ranked team (Florida), and a team with arguably the best weekend staff in the country (Vanderbilt) in their division. Both teams spent time as king of the mountain at some point during the year as well.

Then there is the schedule, which just so happened to be the toughest in the nation.

"We pride ourselves on playing a tough schedule," Coach David Perno said. "It probably helped us make this run [in the SEC's]."

The Bulldogs played 34 games against Top 25 opponents. They also won 16 of those games against the likes of #9 LSU, #10 UCLA and #16 Baylor. Georgia was #1 in the nation in both categories.

Hey, at least they led the nation in a few things, right?

When scrounging up a silver lining for the tough draw of divisional opponents and demanding non-conference schedule, at least the Dogs knew what they were getting into before the season started. But what happened during the rubber game against Florida State on March 6th cast an ominous shadow on the team very early in the season.

In the third inning, there was a soft line drive hit into the left-center gap of the outfield. With not much air under it, left fielder Zach Cone and center fielder Johnathan Taylor both sped after the sinking line drive. Instead of one player calling for it, both players dived and collided into each other. Cone got up with a bleeding head, dazed and disoriented. Taylor had no such luck.

The top of Taylor's head hit Cone's hip, breaking his neck. He was paralyzed.

So now, Taylor, who led his team with a great work ethic and a dynamite smile on the diamond is doing the same and inspiring all with his dogged rehabilitation efforts.

He is their rally cry! He is their strength!

He is the constant reminder proving win or lose this weekend, no outcome can dismiss what they did this year.

He is the inspirational call to arms in a season that's been far from average.