Thursday, October 30, 2008

Q&A with Catfish and Cornbread

The good 'ol boys of Catfish and Cornbread were nice enough to partake in a little Q&A session with me today. I've been a big fan of their blog since I stumbled across it a few months back. If you ever have the urge to find out if Richard Seymour was still an asshole in college, or how good Robert Edwards was before his catastrophic knee injury, or even how far Matthew Stafford can really chuck a keg, I suggest you check 'em out.

C&C was nice enough to allow me to weigh in on a few topics as well. Please take a look at their site and feel free to leave comments professing my awesomeness.


Q..A.J. Green came into Athens with all kinds of hype. It seems he has lived up to expectations thus far. How has he revitalized UGA's passing attack?

C&C: Well, he's definitely lived up to the hype. I'm comfortable saying he is already one of the best wide receivers to play between the hedges. If he stays healthy, he should shatter all of Georgia's receiving records. Nobody will ever mistake Georgia for WR U. Even Hines Ward spent half his time in Athens at quarterback or tailback. Over the years the Dawgs have had a hard time putting a legitimate homerun threat at WR. Green has completely changed that. He has helped revitalize the passing attack by having another talented option on the opposite side of senior Mohamad Massaquoi. It's well known the problems UGA receivers have had at dropping passes throughout the Richt years too, which have seemed to come at the worst times in recent WLOCP games (2002 and 2005 really stand out). With AJ and MoMass those dropped passes seem to be in the past. Another thing Florida fans will notice this year is that Georgia focuses a lot more on the wide receivers in the passing game instead of the tight end threats that Georgia has had in the past.


Q. Finally it seems Georgia's much-maligned offensive line has started to get it together. What's the key to their recent success?
C&C: Stacy Searles, Stacy Searles, Stacy Searles. Our offensive line coach is arguably the best position coach nobody has heard of. The man is a miracle worker. He's in his second year at Georgia after CMR hired him away from LSU. He is the mastermind behind a lot of the dominate LSU lines of recent years. Last year he did it with 2 true freshmen and a redshirt freshman as starters. This year he's working his magic with all underclassmen, including two more true freshmen as starters. Because of season ending injuries, Searles is on his 3rd left tackle of the season. Also, it needs to be pointed out how great of a player Clint Boling has been. He started as a true freshman at guard after coming in as an under the radar recruit. He has since moved from guard to left tackle to fill in for all the injuries and hasn't missed a step. Watch the true freshman center Ben Jones too. He plays with bad intentions. Reminds me of a David Pollack.

Q.Last year, Knowshon Moreno completely dismantled the Gator defense. Do you see him having another big day in Jacksonville?
C&C: I think this goes along with the previous question. If Georgia's young offensive line can get lathered up, Knowshow will go off again. If Florida can manhandle Georgia's young pups up front, it could be tough sledding for Moreno. Florida jumping out to an early 2 score lead would be an ideal situation for the Gators to slow Moreno (see Alabama game). The facts are, Moreno is 14-1 as a starter for Georgia. He has only be stopped once (Bama) and slowed down once (tech). He has over 2200 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns in his year and a half playing in Athens. If he gets under 100 yards Florida is winning. Over 130 yards and Georgia is winning. In between those rushing numbers and it probably comes down to one of the FG kickers at the end.

Q. Outside of Moreno, no other Bulldog impresses me more than Asher Allen. How important is Allen to the entire Bulldog team?
C&C: This is a very keen observation on your part. Asher is the real deal at corner. He doesn't have blazing speed, but is as technically sound a corner as has ever played at Georgia. He is very sound in the running game too. One of his best strengths is his ability to be such a physical corner. Now because of this, Georgia fans have watched with frustration everyone we play pick on the wide corner opposite Asher. Allen is extremely important to the Georgia defense and team as a whole. Simply put, he is one of the most important leaders on the team. Look for him to possibly get a punt return in also as we rotate about 3 returners each game.


Q. Saturday's game is already being hyped as the most important WLOCP game ever. Where do you think this particular match-up ranks among the all time greats?
C&C: I can see how this WLOCP could be considered the biggest ever. Obviously there are the implications of what the winner gets…outside of a miracle – the SEC East title and a trip to Atlanta, not to mention the inside track to an at-large BCS bowl and a decent shot at the chance to play themselves into the National Title game. For those reasons it's as big as ever. In the rivalry it's as big as ever also. It's well documented that from 1990-present Florida is 15-3 in the rivalry and from 1971-1989 Georgia was 15-4. Most those games were due to outmatched coaching on one side or the other. I don't believe that is the case anymore. Should Georgia win, it will be 3 of the last 5 and finally 2 straight. The mental block of Florida would probably be put to bed. Should Florida win does it become same song different verse? Yeah, it's huge.


Q. I ask all my Georgia friends this question: Do you like the game in Jacksonville every year, or would you prefer a traditional home and home series?
C&C: I love the game in Jacksonville. Heads should roll if the game is ever played home and home. Even the Jacksonville and Georgia Dome theory is a crock. The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party is an institution. It's what we have that makes this game different from all others. My grandparents went to the game in Jacksonville for 24 straight years. My wife and newborn daughter are on our way to St. Simons as I'm answering these questions now. There is nothing more important in SEC football than one word…TRADITION. The WLOCP in Jacksonville is one of the finest traditions in America. Dawgs flood Amelia, Jekyll, and St. Simons with family and friends, playing golf, fishing, and partying in anticipation of the game in Jacksonville. As undergraduates about 10 of us with dates would always stay at a friend's great place in Ponte Vedra. I pray the powers that be never take it away. That atmosphere before the game could never be duplicated anywhere else. The college football eyes are always on this game where the stands are split 50/50. I also know how great this game and location is from a players perspective. It's like having a bowl game in the middle of the season.


Q. Of course I have to ask about the celebration. What's your take on the whole thing? Is it really fuel added to the fire, or just old news?
C&C: "It was a bad deal. It will forever be in the mind of Urban Meyer and in the mind of our football team. We'll handle it and it's going to be a big deal." – Classic. I do think it added fuel to the fire. The biggest thing though is Georgia winning the game. Georgia and Florida splitting the last 4 in the series is a bigger deal to the rivalry than the celebration. The fact is that the celebration will go down in WLOCP history though. Another thing that Florida fans should know is that that stunt was the coming out party for 'Evil Richt'. Georgia fans had always wanted CMR to show more fire. It endeared him to the fan base as much as anything ever has.

Time to step up!


Here's a group of Gators (not named Tebow or Harvin) that need to step their game up this weekend against the Dawgs. If we can just get a couple of these guys to produce on Saturday we should reclaim the WLOCP.




Joe Haden - CB

Up until this point, true freshman Janoris Jenkins has outplayed Haden at the corner position. Rockstar did come through last week with a couple of near interceptions, but he is not playing up to his ability. I still think Haden has the ability to be an All-SEC type player. Perhaps a breakout game against UGA will get him on track.















Brandon James -RS

Brandon James was easily the Gators' MVP during the earlier part of this season. After the Ole Miss game, however James hasn't had an outstanding game. Winning the position battle against Georgia will go a long way for the Gators on Saturday. If James can return to his early season form, the Gators could possibly dominate.










Louis Murphy - WR

I don't really think it's Murphy's fault that he's not having that great of a season. Personally, I think Tebow locks on to Harvin way too much. If Timmy can stop undressing Percy for one second and through a god damn fly route to Murphy, I would be satisfied.














Terron Sanders - DT

Knowshon Moreno is gonna get his on Saturday. There's really nothing the Gators can do to stop him. The key to the game defensively for Florida will be getting pressure on Matthew Stafford. I really like the way Sanders has come on as of late. I look for him to continue that trend and provide some pressure up the middle. It doesn't hurt that ends Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Cunningham will be getting double teams all game long.

















Emmanuel Moody -RB

Even with the emergence of Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey, I still believe Moody is the best all around back we have. The Dawgs have a very speedy linebacker corps. Demps and Rainey might not get the chance to reach the second level too often. This game could be a trademark moment for Moody. I have never seen Moody go down after first contact. Those extra yards will be huge this weekend.


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Jim Rome speaks the truth!

Here's the Pimp in the box's take on this weekend's monumental match-up:


Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Weekly Picks

Last Week - 36-14

Overall - 396-99


A pretty respectable week I must say. You can call me the Bill Fitch of picks. I'm racking up the wins, but the losses are creeping up on me....

Last week I correctly picked Rutgers for the second straight week. I believe I might be the only person in America that didn't give up on the Scarlet Knights. I also had the Tar Heels over BC, which was ol' Herbie's upset pick as well. We won't discuss my pick of Washington over Notre Dame right now.

Here's this weeks gems.



Buffalo @ Ohio
Houston @ Marshall
South Florida @ Cincinnati
Northwestern @ Minnesota
Wisconsin @ Michigan St.
West Virginia
@ Connecticut
Central Michigan @ Indiana
Miami (FL) @ Virginia
Air Force
@ Army
Michigan @ Purdue
Auburn @ Ole Miss
Kansas St. @ Kansas
Tulsa
@ Arkansas
Kent St. @ Bowling Green
Colorado @ Texas A&M
Eastern Michigan @ Western Michigan
San Diego St. @ Wyoming
Pittsburgh @ Notre Dame
Kentucky @ Mississippi St.
Fresno St. @ Louisiana Tech
Arkansas St. @ Alabama
Missouri
@ Baylor
Hawaii @ Utah St.
Florida @ Georgia
Iowa St. @ Oklahoma St.
Florida St. @ Georgia Tech
Oregon @ California
Clemson @ Boston College
Duke @ Wake Forest
Iowa @ Illinois
Temple @ Navy
North Texas @ Western Kentucky
Washington St. @ Stanford
San Jose St. @ Idaho
Florida International @ UL-Lafayette
BYU
@ Colorado St.
Washington @ USC
Boise St.
@ New Mexico St.
Louisville @ Syracuse
Troy @ UL-Monroe
Tennessee @ South Carolina
Texas @ Texas Tech
Nebraska @ Oklahoma
TCU
@ UNLV
Tulane @ LSU
UAB @ Southern Miss
Rice
@ UTEP
Utah @ New Mexico
Arizona St. @ Oregon St.
East Carolina @ UCF

Upset Alert:

West Virginia over Connecticut - The Mountaineers are still perfect in conference play, and last I checked they still had Pat White and Noel Devine in the backfield. I like Bill Stewart to get his first signature Big East win in this one.

Virginia over Miami(FL) - Is there any team in America that has improved as much as the Cavs since the season started? Virginia was making an argument to be the worst BCS team, now they're on a crazy winning streak. I like Al Groh's bunch to knock off the Hurricanes, who have yet to look that impressive.

Texas Tech over Texas - I'm mainly picking this one, because I subscribe to the theory that no BCS team will go undefeated this season. Texas Tech absolutely dismantled Kansas in the second half last Saturday. I think the Red Raiders defense will surprise everyone and get after Colt McCoy.

Arizona St. over Oregon St. - The Sun Devils need this game in the worse way. I know it's incredibly tough to win at Oregon St., but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Arizona St. takes this one.

Monday, October 27, 2008

CFB 365 Power Rankings

Rank

Team Name

Record

Next Opponent

1

Texas Longhorns

8-0

@ Texas Tech

2

Alabama Crimson Tide

8-0

Arkansas St.

3

Penn St. Nittany Lions

9-0

@ Iowa

4

Texas Tech Red Raiders

8-0

Texas

5

Oklahoma Sooners

7-1

Nebraska

6

Florida Gators

6-1

Georgia

7

Georgia Bulldogs

7-1

Florida

8

USC Trojans

6-1

Washington St.

9

Utah Utes

8-0

@ New Mexico

10

Oklahoma St. Cowboys

7-1

Iowa St.

11

Boise St. Broncos

7-0

@ New Mexico St.

12

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

8-0

@ Arkansas

13

TCU Horned Frogs

8-1

@ UNLV

14

Ohio St. Buckeyes

7-2

@ Northwestern

15

Ball St. Cardinals

8-0

Northern Illinois

16

BYU Cougars

7-1

@ Colorado St.

17

Missouri Tigers

6-2

@ Baylor

18

LSU Tigers

5-2

Tulane

19

Florida St. Seminoles

6-1

@ Georgia Tech

20

Michigan St. Spartans

7-2

Wisconsin

21

Minnesota Golden Gophers

7-1

Northwestern

22

Oregon Ducks

6-2

@ California

23

North Carolina Tar Heels

6-2

Georgia Tech

24

South Florida Bulls

6-2

@ Cincinnati

25

Connecticut Huskies

6-2

West Virginia

26

West Virginia Mountaineers

5-2

@ Connecticut

27

Kansas Jayhawks

5-3

Kansas St.

28

California Golden Bears

5-2

Oregon

29

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

6-2

Florida St.

30

Maryland Terrapins

6-2

@ Virginia Tech

31

Central Michigan Chippewas

6-2

@ Indiana

32

Northwestern Wildcats

6-2

@ Minnesota

33

Boston College Eagles

5-2

Clemson

34

South Carolina Gamecocks

5-3

Tennessee

35

Air Force Falcons

6-2

@ Army

36

Cincinnati Bearcats

5-2

South Florida

37

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

5-2

Pittsburgh

38

Louisville Cardinals

5-2

@ Syracuse

39

Virginia Tech Hokies

5-3

Maryland

40

Arizona Wildcats

5-3

@ Washington St.

41

Fresno St. Bulldogs

5-2

@ Louisiana Tech

42

Miami(FL) Hurricanes

5-3

@ Virginia

43

Oregon St. Beavers

4-3

Arizona St.

44

Navy Midshipmen

5-3

Temple

45

Iowa Hawkeyes

5-3

@ Illinois

46

Kentucky Wildcats

5-3

@ Mississippi St.

47

Pittsburgh Panthers

5-2

@ Notre Dame

48

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

4-3

Duke

49

Vanderbilt Commodores

5-3

Florida

50

Ole Miss Rebels

4-4

Auburn

51

East Carolina Pirates

4-3

@ UCF

52

Auburn Tigers

4-4

@ Ole Miss

53

Nebraska Cornhuskers

5-3

@ Oklahoma

54

Rice Owls

5-3

@ UTEP

55

Duke Blue Devils

4-3

@ Wake Forest

56

Troy Trojans

5-2

@ UL-Monroe

57

Virginia Cavaliers

5-3

Miami(FL)

58

Western Michigan Broncos

6-2

Eastern Michigan

59

Wisconsin Badgers

4-4

@ Michigan St.

60

Stanford Cardinal

4-4

Washington St.

61

Illinois Fighting Illini

4-4

Iowa

62

Kansas St. Wildcats

4-4

@ Kansas

63

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

3-5

Syracuse

64

Houston Cougars

4-3

@ Marshall

65

Colorado Buffaloes

4-4

@ Texas A&M

66

Northern Illinois Huskies

5-3

@ Ball St.

67

San Jose St. Spartans

5-3

@ Idaho

68

Clemson Tigers

3-4

@ Boston College

69

Arkansas St. Red Wolves

4-3

@ Alabama

70

Indiana Hoosiers

3-5

Central Michigan

71

New Mexico Lobos

4-5

Utah

72

Memphis Tigers

4-5

@ SMU

73

Tennessee Volunteers

3-5

@ South Carolina

74

Arkansas Razorbacks

3-5

Tulsa

75

UCLA Bruins

3-5

Oregon St.

76

Texas A&M Aggies

3-5

Colorado

77

Nevada Wolfpack

4-4

@ Fresno St.

78

UNLV Rebels

3-5

TCU

79

Buffalo Bulls

3-4

@ Ohio

80

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns

4-3

FIU

81

Colorado St. Rams

4-4

BYU

82

Hawaii Warriors

4-4

@ Utah St.

83

Arizona St. Sun Devils

2-5

@ Oregon St.

84

Baylor Bears

3-5

Missouri

85

Akron Zips

4-4

Toledo

86

UTEP Miners

3-4

Rice

87

Purdue Boilermakers

2-6

Michigan

88

Marshall Thundering Herd

3-4

Houston

89

Temple Owls

3-5

@ Navy

90

Mississippi St. Bulldogs

3-5

Kentucky

91

North Carolina St. Wolfpack

2-6

@ Duke

92

Florida International Golden Panthers

3-4

@ UL-Lafayette

93

Florida Atlantic Owls

3-5

North Texas

94

Army Black Knights

3-5

Air Force

95

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

3-4

Fresno St.

96

UCF Knights

2-5

East Carolina

97

New Mexico St. Aggies

3-4

Boise St.

98

Tulane Green Wave

2-5

@ LSU

99

Michigan Wolverines

2-6

@ Purdue

100

Bowling Green Falcons

3-5

Kent St.

101

Ohio Bobcats

2-6

Buffalo

102

Iowa St. Cyclones

2-6

@ Oklahoma St.

103

Kent St. Golden Flashes

2-6

@ Bowling Green

104

Wyoming Cowboys

2-6

San Diego St.

105

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

2-6

UL-Monroe

106

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

2-6

UAB

107

Toledo Rockets

2-6

@ Akron

108

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

2-6

North Texas

109

Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks

2-6

Troy

110

Idaho Vandals

2-7

San Jose St.

111

Miami(OH) Redhawks

2-6

@ Buffalo

112

Eastern Michigan Eagles

2-7

@ Western Michigan

113

UAB Blazers

2-6

@ Southern Miss

114

Syracuse Orange

1-6

Louisville

115

SMU Mustangs

1-8

Memphis

116

Utah St. Aggies

1-7

Hawaii

117

Washington Huskies

0-7

@ USC

118

Washington St. Cougars

1-7

@ Stanford

119

San Diego St. Aztecs

1-7

@ Wyoming

120

North Texas Mean Green

0-8

@ Western Kentucky