In honor of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, me and the boys from
Catfish and Cornbread got together and put together a little Q&A for your enjoyment.
JJ and Bop are both contributors to Catfish and Cornbread which is wholly dedicated to their first passion: University of Georgia Athletics.
I hope you enjoy the interview, and please check out
my portion of the interview at their site. CFB365: A real simple question to start things off. What is up with Georgia's defense this season?
JJ: Its a combination of coaching, attitude, and players - in that order. You really don't have enough space available on this blog to explain all the problems, primarily pertaining to coaching and attitude.
Bop: It is embarrassing and pathetic. We have completely lost our identity and our swagger. The talent is still in town, but the fundamentals and hustle are gone. The players are honestly not getting the coaching they deserve. Blown coverages and missed tackles are a common theme. We gave up 30 points once in the first half of Richt's tenure in Athens (to the BCS Champion LSU team in the SEC title game). Now we give up 30 points a game almost every week.
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CFB365: After the Tennessee game, Mark Richt joined the growing ranks of SEC coaches that have had to deal with Lane Kiffin's big 'ol mouth. His statements about Georgia weren't as inflammatory as his remarks about Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, but they were controversial nonetheless. As a Georgia fan, what's your take on Kiffin and the Vols?
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JJ: This will be unpopular with most Georgia and Florida fans, but I actually admire what Kiffin is doing. I think most of that lies in the fact that as a Georgia fan, I wish our own head coach was a little more "out there" with the program, especially when UGA doesn't have a product on the field that can speak for itself positively. Tennessee is likely to finish 6-6 at best this season, but they'll be the most publicized 6-6 team in the history of college football, and Kiffin will recruit like a madman because of it. If he doesn't win eventually, he'll be fired regardless of how much he runs his mouth.
Bop: I just refuse to ever have any respect for a coach that recruits and signs a kid that was an accessory to rape. It blows my mind that kid got a scholarship. I'm all for second chances, but not in that situation. T. Kyle King over on Dawgsports.com said it best: Lane Kiffin has a famous father, a hot wife and a career record of 8-18 (.308). He has no quarterback prospects for the forseeable future and he doesn't have the luxtury of playing a Willie Martinez defense more than once a season.
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CFB365: Richard Samuel only has 200 more rushing yards than Caleb King on twice as many carries this season, with 80 of those yards coming on one run. Why is Samuel still getting the bulk of the carries over King?
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JJ: Two reasons: Samuel had a monster August (albeit working out against the UGA defense), and King spent the majority of the same month in a green jersey and hasn't really gotten healthy since. Most UGA fans really expected Samuel to have a great season, but all he's proven so far is that he still needs alot more experience to be an SEC caliber back. King is probably the most polished ball carrier on the roster, but he's been hobbled by just about every injury imaginable since early in his senior season of high school.
Bop: Honestly, it started out because of a preseason injury to Caleb. Samuel locked the position down by the time the opener came around. Then a broken jaw in the LSU game caused King to miss more time. Caleb came back and scored a couple against Vandy, but no one really knows who will get the most carries in any given game. The true freshman Washan Ealey is as good a guess as anyone.
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CFB365: Speaking of the running game, did you honestly think that Georgia would miss Knowshon Moreno this much? I've always been used to the Dawgs reloading at the running back position, but that doesn't seem to be the case this season. Is this more to blame on the backs or the O-line?
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JJ: A perfect storm of events. King being hurt, Samuel not living up to expectations, some ridiculously strange substitution patterns by the offensive coaching staff, and an extremely disappointing offensive line, have all played a part. But it is probably the offensive line that has been the biggest issue. Even losing its most talented piece (Trinton Sturdivant) doesn't excuse how poor they've been so far.
Bop: Yeah, Knowshon was just special. OLine was our supposed strength this season, but they have probably been the biggest dissapointment all year (besides the total lack of anything close to competitive defense). I did think we would miss Knowshon more than say Stafford, but I , like you, expected us to reload a bit quicker than has happened. If the line gets back to being a force, I would expect a better performance out of one of our backs than we've seen so far this year. I'm just hoping it happens in Jacksonville or Atlanta.
| CFB365:What's your assessment of Joe Cox's play up to this point? What do you want to see him improve on? |
JJ: Cox has been about as good as could be expected coming into the year. Most UGA fans would say that they expected him to be a better game-manager (i.e. throw less interceptions), but those same UGA fans probably didn't expect that he'd be throwing the ball as much as he did either. With a decent running game and a half-decent defense, Cox would have been alot more effective. There really isn't much more you can ask of the kid under the circumstances.
Bop: He's an acurate passer who's best part of his game is his deep ball. I think Joe is a good quarterback and a great Dawg, he just probably lacks in overall talent from the quarterbacks we've had since we had to play walk-on Cory Phillips or since the days of Mike Bobo. Really, I'm not sure he is going to improve much more. He's capable of dropping 300 on anyone. Getting the ball to our TE's and throwing as many in the direction of AJ Green is ideal.
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CFB365: Tim Tebow will almost certainly break Herschel Walker's SEC TD rushing record within the next few weeks. I won't ask your thoughts on the record, but I would like to know: As a Dawg fan, what is your perception of Tebow? Overhyped? Overrated? Product of the media?
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JJ: I think any player that has as much exposure as Tebow does is probably overhyped. I wouldn't call him overrated....during his 3+ seasons in Gainesville, Florida has been the premier national program, and he is the unquestioned leader of the team. In this age of ESPN, the hype is understandable. I just wish one of the esteemed SEC officials would throw a flag on him one time when he puts on his chest pounding, hands in the air show after a first down that he seems to do at least once per game. Let's just say we've seen UGA players call much less attention to themselves this season and receive extremely damaging penalties for it.
Bop: He's overhyped, but so was Georgia great David Pollack. My brother hit the nail on the head during Tebow's heisman year. He said "Florida has their David Pollack, the problem for everyone else is that their Pollack plays quarterback." He's not a product of the media and he's not overrated, in my opinion, because the sumbitch produces. And he wins. Of course if ole lady luck shines on the Red & Black this weekend, his record against Georgia could end up being 1-2.
| CFB365:I've frequented a few Georgia message boards recently, and I was surprised to see so many fans putting a little heat to Mark Richt's seat. Is the patience running thin for Richt in Athens? |
JJ: I think what you're seeing is the vocal minority. 90% of UGA fans would never even want to think of getting rid of Richt, regardless of what happens the rest of the year. That said, there are quite a few fans that are getting a little anxious to see him make some changes to his staff, some of whom believe it would have been a no-brainer to make those changes before this season. This coming offseason is going to be different than anything Richt has gone through thus far, and how he handles it will determine the rest of his career in Athens.
Bop: Yes it is. His loyalty to assistant coaches has always been admired. It has helped Georgia year in and year out in the recruiting wars. The problem now is that our coaches are getting taken to the woodshed on Saturday afternoons. The Tennessee debacle was probably the nail in the coffin for Defensive Coordinator Willie Martinez. Almost every quarterback we have played has shattered their previous career high in passing yards against us. We made one of the worst quarterbacks in league history (Crompton) look like a frontrunner for the heisman. Either heads will have to roll come winter or Richt's seat will be blazing hot. My God, we lost to Lane Kiffin.
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CFB365: One thing Florida and Georgia have in common this season is bad officiating by Marc Curles and his crew. In Florida's case, it helped. In Georgia's case, not so much. As someone who has been on the wrong side of the bad calls, do you think the punishment (suspension until Nov. 14) is good enough for these refs?
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JJ: Personally, I think Curles should have been fired and the rest of his crew suspended for the remainder of the season. The personal foul penalty on AJ Green was bad enough, but for the head referee to blow a personal foul penalty the following week in a game that close, just proves that he isn't a quality enough official to be working at the highest level of college football. The questionable interference calls (or non-calls), I can live with. Stuff like that happens in every game. You just cannot throw that flag against the Arkansas D-lineman without knowing absolutely for certain that it was the right call. The fact that other members of his crew didn't try to correct him makes them all culpable.
Bop: I just wish we could find a way to have full time refs. We are the SEC, we should have the best of the best. Problem is, we probably have the worst. And what's worse is it's beginning to look fixed. Not saying it is...it just looks that way. When the head of officials in the SEC is a Tech grad and you add the history with Al Ford (Gator grad) and the Jasper 'fumble' in Atlanta in '99, it's a recipe for doubt and anger. Just know this, after the AJ Green celebration penalty against LSU, if Tebow does anything remotely celabratory after a first down, the boo birds will be out in full force. It won't be directed towards Florida or Tebow, but venom will spew towards the refs from the Georgia faithful after that LSU game.
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CFB365: Georgia seems to be the only team in the conference that is willing to travel out of the South to play a non-conference opponent. This is a good bragging point for Georgia fans, but a loss to a team like Oklahoma St. can really cause some damage. In a college football landscape where the SEC is seen as being so dominant that these cross-national road games are nor necessary for a strength of schedule argument, do you feel that Georgia should take it easy in the future?
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JJ: I don't think one home and home every 2 years with a out of conference BCS team (other than natural rivals like Georgia Tech for Georgia and FSU for Florida) is too much to ask for any team. That gives you one tough road game every other year. That would give an SEC team 2 tough OOC games and 2 cupcakes.
Bop: Nah, I like it. Actually, I love it. It's good for the Georgia brand and keeps us in the national spotlight when others are playing I-AA's. The Arizona State game last year, the Oklahoma State game this year and in '07, the Boise State game a few years ago were all as good as it got on those Saturday's. We go to Colorado next season and have Oregon and our old rival Clemson back on the slate in the future. I'd love a Michigan or Texas matchup in the future also.
| CFB365:I really hate that corny Lou Holtz locker room speech segment that ESPN shoves down our throats every week. So its only right that I ask you to participate in a little role play. Pretend you are Mark Richt. What are you telling your team in the locker room before they head out onto the field? |
JJ: I'd tell them that despite everything bad that has happened this year, all the public criticism and ridicule, the Dawgs have a chance to salvage the entire season, maybe even the entire program this weekend. If this UGA team has any heart, any pride in the uniform they are privileged enough to wear, those words should be plenty of motivation.
Bop: I'd tell them that I want to see everyone celebrate after our first score....
Georgia game by clobbering Knowshon Moreno as he tried to break through the line. Brandon should be well rested after sitting out last week's game with a sore groin. I feel bad for Richard Samuel.
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