Dawg Blog

Dawgs will show up!

Posted on Jan 1, 2009 by Vance Leavy  | 

1 Comment

Happy New Year’s Dawg fans!

Will be in Orlando for the game and I’m confident that our Dawgs are anxious to make a statement that will close out the 2008 campaign in style.

Knowshon goes off and MoMass and A.J end up with 1,000 yards on the season by the final whistle!

Will report after the game. Until then, GO DAWGS!

Tagged: dawgs fans, knowshon, momass, go dawgs

Lackluster Bowl Games

Posted on Dec 31, 2008 by Andrew Miller  | 

1 Comment

UGA football is great from August-November. Occasionally, we will play for the SEC Championship and December becomes relevant. In recent history, by the time January gets here, our final game of the year is completely lackluster. To prove my point, I’ve looked at all of the bowl games we’ve played in since Jim Donnan took the helm in 1996. Why is it so rare that we play a team ranked higher than us? The following list is a compilation of the rankings of each team prior to the bowl game. Only 3 times in those 12 years has UGA played a bowl game with an opponent ranked higher than the Dawgs, and none of those games were bowls to hang your hat on.

1997 Outback Bowl: UGA # 12 vs. Unranked Wisconsin, 1998 Peach Bowl: UGA # 19 vs. # 13 Virginia, 1999 Outback Bowl: UGA # 21 vs. # 19 Purdue, 2000 Oahu Bowl: UGA # 24 vs. Unranked Virginia, 2001 Music City Bowl: UGA # 19 vs. Unranked Boston College, 2002 Sugar Bowl: UGA # 4 vs. # 16 Florida St., 2003 Capital One Bowl: UGA # 11 vs. # 12 Purdue, 2004 Outback Bowl: UGA # 7 vs. # 16 Wisconsin, 2005 Sugar Bowl: UGA # 8 vs. # 11 West Virginia, 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl: UGA Unranked vs. # 14 Virginia Tech, 2007 Sugar Bowl: UGA # 4 vs. # 10 Hawai’i, 2008 Capital One Bowl: UGA # 17 vs. # 18 Michigan State

It just seems that every year, after exciting SEC conference action, all we get is a downer in the bowl season. Even in those years when we win the SEC crown, we end up with a complete dud of a game because of silly conference bowl tie-ins. The SEC season is great, and thanks to Damon Evans we are now scheduling excellent out of conference regular season games, but I’m ready for some panache during the bowl season for our Dawgs. Under the current system, the only way to guarantee an epic bowl matchup is to play for the National Championship. 2009 is time to man up and get it done so we can all go to the Rose Bowl and play a game that actually matters.

Happy New Year to all and Go Dawgs! ...............to Pasadena, CA in January ‘10!

Tagged: lackluster bowl games

Bulldogs loved and lost in 2008...

Posted on Dec 30, 2008 by Cheri Leavy  | 

0 Comments

It would be remiss to ring in the new year without looking back and paying respect to those we lost in 2008. Many of us were blessed to have known and loved some “Damn Good Dawgs” that passed away in 2008.

Lamar “Racehorse” Davis was a football great in the 1940s alongside Sinkwich and Trippi. He lived in my hometown of St. Simons and I was fortunate enough to know him and be the recipient of many a devilish grin and funny tale.

Jack Turner was a former Georgia baseball (1951) and basketball (1951-52) player who generously gave back to UGA athletics with his time and resources. The Turner Soccer Complex bears his name as well as the endowments for 10 scholarships for football, men’s and women’s basketball, gymnastics and baseball.

Former UGA assistant football Coach Frank Inman who served from 1962-79 was the consummate coach. He even coached his board of directors of the Sea Island Company Golden Isles Bowl Classic—a junior college bowl game that he organized to benefit middle school sports in Glynn County.

Was there a jollier bulldog than Leroy Dukes? He was a UGA letterman from Vince Dooley’s first football team in 1964. He was a tremendous supporter of Bulldog athletics.

Athenian and super dawg fan Andy Gibson passed away. Many know him from his family business George Gibson’s Menswear. Sistee Williams passed away during this football season. She was a proud UGA graduate with two sons and all of her grandchildren attending UGA as well. Her husband Jimmy Williams played for Georgia.

And last but not least, let’s not forget our beloved mascot, Uga VI. He was the winningest dog yet reigning over 8 seasons with two SEC Championships in 2002 and 2005. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He led a good life.

Let’s take a moment to pause and give thanks for these fine friends. Please feel free to add thoughts on these and other fellow bulldogs we lost in 2008.

Tagged: frank inman, lamar racehorse davis, jack turner, leroy dukes, bulldogs

Goodell Clears Confusion: No Rookie Salary Cap

Posted on Dec 29, 2008 by Austin Keeble  | 

2 Comments

Rumors have been circulating recently about a wage scale for rookies beginning in the 2010 draft. NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, told ESPN recently: “There will be no change in our current [rookie pool] system, at least until 2011. I’ve explained that to some college head coaches, athletic directors and league commissioners. Any underclassman who is hearing differently is probably hearing it from an agent or from another source who is misinformed.” This could weigh heavily on the decisions of Moreno and Stafford. A rookie salary cap would prevent many players from scoring the ridiculous amounts of guaranteed money afforded to first-year players out of college. Both Stafford and Moreno are projected high in the draft and stand to gain megacontracts. At least they know the same opportunity will be afforded to them following next season should they decide to stay.

This and That

I’ve been looking at Michigan State’s regular season, and it seems eerily similar to our results.

Sat, Aug 30     at California            L 31-38     
  Sat, Sep 6     Eastern Michigan        W 42-10     
  Sat, Sep 13     Florida Atlantic       W 17-0     
  Sat, Sep 20     Notre Dame             W 23-7     
  Sat, Sep 27     at Indiana             W 42-29     
  Sat, Oct 4     Iowa                    W 16-13     
  Sat, Oct 11     at Northwestern        W 37-20     
  Sat, Oct 18     (12) Ohio State        L 7-45     
  Sat, Oct 25     at Michigan            W 35-21     
  Sat, Nov 1     Wisconsin               W 25-24
  Sat, Nov 8     Purdue                  W 21-7     
  Sat, Nov 22     at (7) Penn State      L 18-49

Like the Dawgs, Michigan State lost [badly] to the two quality teams on their schedule. In addition to getting annihilated by two BCS Bowl opponents, MSU lost a close one to a solid non-conference foe. UGA got blown out by Bama and Florida [two BCS Bowl teams] and lost a close one to non-conference Tech. I still think that top to bottom, the SEC presents a much more difficult and physical challenge, but the similarities are worth noting.

Tagged: goodell, rookie, nfl, michigan state, moreno, stafford

Searels Stays with the Dawgs

Posted on Dec 28, 2008 by Austin Keeble  | 

1 Comment

Stacy Searels is all Dawg. According to reports, Searels, already fourth on the payroll of UGA football coaches [$235,400], took some convincing from Richt and Athletic Director, Damon Evans. Searels, a graduate of Auburn, was being courted by his alma mater to join Gene Chizik’s coaching staff. In typical Stacy fashion, the offensive lineman are muzzled and refused to comment to the press beyond, “Michigan State is a great team and we’re looking forward to the challenge”. We probably won’t get a quote from the man himself, but I’m sure glad that he’s sticking around. Three freshman lineman garnered all-SEC Freshman nods from the coaches under Searels’ instruction and his presence is instrumental to their continued success. In addition, Rodney Garner and Tony Ball are staying on staff despite similar speculation concerning their departure.

Historically, Coach Richt rarely loses a member of his coaching staff and prefers stability over the “who’s hot now” that has dominated college football coaching in recent years. Richt has repeatedly stated that he hopes Athens is his last stop and doesn’t seem to promote any sort of dramatic change. Apparently, Damon Evans feels the same way. Searels, along with all other coaching assistants, will receive a raise in the offseason. The fans appreciate the winning seasons, but some would argue that a little change wouldn’t be such a bad thing in reference to our defensive and special teams performance this past season. At least we’re not Auburn, Tennessee, or any combination of programs that dramatically underachieved this past season. If you consider our preseason #1 ranking, I suppose we dramatically underachieved as well, but at least we still get another shot to impress on New Year’s Day. It’s that kind of consistency that has delivered multiple 10-win seasons since his arrival. What is it about Mark Richt that just screams stability? Is it the years of tutelage under Bobby Bowden or is this simply his natural disposition? In any case, the Dawgs managed to navigate December without any dramatic changes to the coaching staff.

This and That

A.J. Green, Andrew Williams, DeAngelo Tyson, and Bruce Figgins have all been limited in practices down in Orlando due to injury. All are expected to play on New Year’s Day against the Spartans.

Tagged: searels, richt, garner, ball, michigan state, damon evans