Nevada Dawg

I think that on one of my first posts here, I indicated that I am a big Lanning fan and congratulated Duck Nation on landing a first-rate coach. Yet I have cautioned before to not have unrealistic expectations in the first year or two. It takes a while to assemble a championship roster with great players across multiple classes. I think that Lanning has the energy to accomplish this. Hey, aspirations to shoot for the moon are great and are the kind of energy that great programs all have. But don't burden a young and developing coaching staff with unrealistic early EXPECTIONS. If the staff becomes as good as I think it can be, you'll get there.

I think that the spread is high but not by much. I may put my money where my mouth is with a (small bet) that Oregon covers. I also think that the Georgia offense is much better than many Duck fans seem to think it is. Interesting tidbit I learned today: Last year's Dawgs scored more points in SEC games than did any other SEC team. Much of that offense is back along with two talented wide receivers who were injured last year. Add in TE Arik Gilbert to go along with Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington and any defense in the land is going to struggle with this team. Oh and the Dawg defense will be very formidable. So the bet I referenced above is far more of sign of respect for the Ducks than it is any concern about the capabilities of the Dawgs.

Both are good players in my opinion, but I think that Sewell has the greater upside. Nice debate to have though.

I loved Bo Jackson, even though he played for Auburn, a bitter rival. I didn't attend many baseball games at Georgia, but the most memorable was one involving Bo Jackson. In that game Bo hit three of the longest home runs that I have ever witnessed anywhere. All were over 450 feet and one was measured at 480 something feet. Bo was a man playing with boys on that particular day.

Lot of SEC hate here, and I get it given the way the SEC has dominated college football in the later BCS and the playoff eras. But until the other power 5 leagues regularly show that they can compete, any separate playoffs excluding the SEC will have to put an asterisk beside the name of its champion. Anyone who has followed my posts on this forum knows that I have argued for more parity in college football. I'll say again that an expanded playoffs is a realistic contributor to that end. Growing up in Pac-12 country where I lived and died Pacific Coast football, I truly want to see College football west of the Mississippi river being able to strut its stuff on the national stage. In my opinion, it serves neither the SEC or college football in general to break away--and for some of the reasons posters here have mentioned. The vast majority of people who primarily for an SEC team would scream bloody murder at the prospect of balkanizing college football. That is an inappropriate proposal in my humble opinion.

Let's see; Georgia fans' colorful representations of the gators. There are many others that are especially profane/obscene. One thread on the Dawgnation site has a whole thread entitled Florida Hate Zone. It currently currently has 2,900 posts and counting. But many Georgia people simply refer to Florida as the "lousy, stinking Gators" and/ or proudly label themselves as a G8R H8R, letting it go at that. one rival.

I get a kick out of this forum and learn a lot about the Ducks in so doing. Sounds to me like Duck fans' attitude about OSU match almost exactly that of Georgia Dawg fans about Georgia Tech, once UGA's biggest rival. Now they are the "little brothers". Florida is the equivalent for Georgia fans of what the Seattle Dawgs are for you guys. Interestingly, I did not know this before perusing this forum. I would probably have guessed that your most hated rival was USC just given USC's historic dominance of the conference.

Is it not likely that the PAC-12 will respect a couple of well-entrenched (bitter) rivalries for each team, say Oregon State and Washington for the Ducks, and go with a round robin with the remaining teams? Every team in the SEC has one permanent cross-division rival that it plays every year: Georgia's is the Auburn Tigers, Florida's is the LSU Tigers, for example. Most SEC fans would prefer to add another permanent cross division rival and play 9 rather than 8 league games. No one likes paying significant $ to come watch an SEC team slaughter a FCS team. Some of these match-ups are as cruel as a baby seal clubbing. I am confident that should the SEC do away with divisions, each team may have 2-3 permanent rivals and 6 games each year from a round robin schedule. The way it is now is that some cross-division rivals almost never play each other. Georgia has played Texas A$M exactly once since A$M joined the conference. That is silly. I hope everything works out with the division less structure. One thing is sure: it will take some getting used to.

I applaud the optimism of Duck fans on this topic. It reminds me of the tremendous enthusiasm Dawg fans showed when Kirby Smart was hired by Georgia. Many of the posts in that period were, frankly...delusional. Kirby arrived in Athens with a stacked roster. Yet his team finished 8-5 in that first year. It took a while for returning players to adjust to a new coaching staff. It took a while for Kirby to learn how to manage the game clock in crunch time. And it took a while for him to develop confidence in his own decision making. I am not saying he was a deer in the headlights, but he didn't always give the impression of being on top of game situations. Three of his losses came by a total of something like 8 points. A couple of those were due to coaching brain cramps in my inexpert opinion. Expect some missteps in a first year Duck fans: it happens to the best of coaches. Many of you may not know that even Nick Saban was something like 6-7 in his first year at Bama. I don't know how the Ducks will fare in Lanning's first year, very well I hope. But I can almost guarantee that the team will be better, perhaps much better, by year 2 or 3.

Where did you get this information DanLDuck (as if I could snag one of UGA's allotment, LOL)?

I posted the target article to Charles because I knew it would generate discussion and raise a few hackles. I grew up in California and was a lifelong fan of the PAC-12 and its predecessors (Remember Snow White and the 7 dwarfs) and have watched its gradual slide in the football arena over the past 20 years. There are several reasons for that in my opinion but that is beside the point. Given the system we have, two few teams have a realistic shot at the playoffs. Sure an Oregon or an SC will occasionally break through and land one of the coveted 4 spots. But recruiting out West is going to have to be a lot better for that to happen consistently. Comparing talent on rosters of Pac 12 teams begs the issue. Dudes want to play with dudes, and this is why Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas A$M, Clemson, Notre Dame and (formerly) Oklahoma were so darned attractive to recruits. You don't build championship rosters with a few 4- and 5-star recruits. You need bunches of them in all your recruiting classes. I love college football but it is becoming a bit stale. I want to see more conferences represented (especially the PAC-12) and the 12-team playoff format is a way to get that ball rolling. The cool thing about that proposal is that the first-round four games would be played in the home stadiums of the higher seeded teams, with the top overall four seeds getting a bye. Talk about juicing fan enthusiasm! If more recruits see more teams in the playoff picture, this should help to diminish the view that "I have to go to one of the 5 or 6 schools listed above to have any chance of my team being relevant." Over time, this may level the talent playing field and eventually give more schools a realistic shot of winning a Natty now and then. Every one of my points can be counterargued, but the status quo is not good for college football. Oh, and I get the indignation over the "lead the meek to water" quote in the target article. I felt it as well.

Couldn't agree more with this post. Beating Georgia, which has an experienced and top notch coaching staff, in Mercedes-Benz no less, is, in my opinion, a far more impressive feat than winning in the Horseshoe last September. A win there gives momentum that's hard to beat, last year not withstanding, and gets the Ducks serious playoff attention that will be invaluable if they can win the PAC-12, even should they stumble once along the way. I also believe that barring catastrophic injuries, a Duck team that can beat Georgia in Atlanta will cream Utah later in the year, provided that they continue to improve, which Lanning will preach. Having said all this, there is the small task of actually beating the Dawgs.

I think that Nix is head and shoulders above Emory Jones.

Lots of guys on the Bulldawgs recruiting blogs really want Malik. Should be a good one, but Georgia is trending for several top wide receivers I am led to believe, owing to the rumors that top rated QB Arch Manning may be committing to the Dawgs.

One thing I can guarantee about the game on September 3 at the Benz is that Dan Lanning runs the Ducks on the field with a plan for winning that contest. The second thing I can guarantee is that Kirby knows this, will not take the Ducks lightly, and will not let his players be guilty of that sin. I am expecting a fun and competitive game, and yes, honesty compels me to believe that the Dawgs will find a way to "get er done". Having said this, I think that if the line continues to favor Georgia by 15 points, I may be tempted to place a small bet on the Ducks, perhaps to win back part of the dinero I may have to shell out to a scalper to get into the game.

Lots of people still say "whoop" down South.

Big shout out of congrats to Kayvon whose play I admired very much.

Not McDawg but the defensive cupboard is well stocked with talent. The lack of experience here almost guarantees a drop off on defense, but Georgia's unit is always very good and will be again this year. I am most concerned about the interior linebacking crew which is very inexperienced. Kirby will probably challenge that group a great deal this summer with one of his catchy slogans like he used this year, i.e., "You're either elite,...or you're not"!

Thanks for the compliment Charles. I love this forum because, unlike others I visit and enjoy, there is none of this bull of posters going after one another in ridiculous pissing contests that can absolutely slay an ongoing thread. I feel perfectly comfortable commenting on others' posts here because the people here are all about college football and not at all about protecting their ego. Man I hope that it will stay that way.

Good to hear that Lupoi wants his guys to be confrontational--Lanning's style exactly. I'd love to see the body language among Duck defenders that characterized Georgia last year-one screaming "You can't move the ball on us"! Back that attitude up with clean aggressive play and no trash talk is ever necessary.

Jon, I wouldn't have taken you for a southerner but your comments (and from Aiken no less) have convinced me. I second McDawg's point about Dawg fans lovin their spirits. In fact, the leading Dawg blog even has a Bourbon thread which I enjoy very much. Sure wish McDawg had told us where the beautiful vista from his house was located. Looks like the view from my cabin that I had when I lived near Blairsville, GA. Y'all may get more of us Dawg fans on the forum as the game in Atlanta draws nearer. Most who bother to visit will be very cordial and are serious college football fans. One of my best friends is a Duck grad and fan. We hope to head East for the game in September. On the subject of H & H series, Georgia has scheduled a number with football powers for the next 10 years, and I know many Dawg fans who would love to travel to Eugene for a game. So you never know what could happen.

Agree that Bowers is more of a hybrid. Georgia has a freshman Bowers-type clone TE who also got mega-Reps in the Spring owing to Bowers and Washington's injuries. He looked sensational and got enough Reps to contribute this season as a true freshman. His name is Oscar Delp. I know I sound like an overbearing "homer", but I truly believe that the Georgia tight end room is the best position group on the team and just possibly the best tight end grouping in college football history. Barring injury, all four of these dudes will play, and play well, in the NFL in the years ahead.

I fully expect UGA will have some growing pains early on defense in 2022. The question is: Will the Ducks' offense be far enough along under a new staff to exploit them? Fair warning: I also expect UGA's offense to be better than last year's edition which averaged just under 40 points per game. Also, expect to see at least some 3 tight end sets if necessary, as the boys manning that room are huge, fast, have great hands, and are demons as blockers. So CDL's charges had better be good to stay in this one. Don't get me wrong. I am not dissing the Ducks--I actually expect them to be at least as good as last Year's edition if they can avoid the glitches that teams show early on under a new staff. Shoot, Georgia had its share of hiccups in Kirby's first season at the helm.

In replying to Drake's comment above, I am sure that I speak for the vast majority of Georgia fans in wishing Dan Lanning success wherever he might have landed, even at GA Tech or Auburn. The reaction to the successes at former assistants Sam Pittman (Arkansas) and Shane Beamer (South Carolina). have been very favorable. I root for both coaches except on the Saturdays in which they take on the Dawgs. Knowing what I know about Nick Saban, who was called Satan by some of the more volatile posters on the bulldawg blogs, I suspect that he takes great pride on the achievements of his many successful assistants, two of whom (Jimbo Fisher and Kirby Smart) have won their own Nattys. On September 3, Kirby will be rooting for a strong showing by your Ducks, even though he will be doing all he can to beat them while the teams are between the lines. Great coaches are wired like that.

As someone who has followed recruiting very closely since I retired, I can tell you that the recruiting agencies are really not anywhere near the gospel on a players likely success in football, at least. At Georgia, the staff pays far more attention to the staff's evaluation of players, which are often at wide variance with the agencies. Case in point: Bulldawgs defensive linemen Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt will be first-round picks in the NFL draft on April 28 after having entered Georgia as middle of the road 3-star recruits. Tray Scott, Georgia's defensive line coach, went to bat for both of them over much higher rated prospects because he thought sky was the limit for the each of them. Plus, the pay recruiting sites pull all sorts of crap like stealing a recruiting star from several 5-stars who were already committed to elevate uncomitted 4-stars to generate "clicks" from fans of the teams in the running for these newly arisen 5-stars. The ability to generate "clicks" is one primary means by which recruiting analysts are evaluated The top teams do indeed trust their own evaluations of players.