From Athens - This & That

I just hope that IC stays on a mission during the football season, I was so disappointed during the year last season. To be fair with IC I'm not sure that I for one did'nt have such high expectations for him that he could'nt meet them. I really don't think so but will be willing to give him the benefit of doubt and hope that he is ready to prove me wrong this year. It sure sounds like teammates around him are ready to get in his corner,and if they are, why not me? I really would like to see guys fighting to get in the game, it could be real interesting. GO DAWGS

Chief, I think that most all of us are looking for the same thing. That would be a change from the way some things have been done in the past.

stanger that is very good news about IC picking up the pace. Too much talent there to be wasted, guess Mark Richt's call for running back help did have an effect on IC. That is a good thing. Most of us at his age, one time or another needed someone or something to get our attention. Appears the incoming running backs have done just that.

Looking at the talent in the backfield, have a hard time not visualizing a two deep backfield, equal in talent, not missing on the very talented side of the issue.

I am a great believer that Quayvon Hicks is going to see the backfield in his freshman year as a fullback. I believe this young man is coming to play, not sit. Also like the idea being thrown around with RS playing the same position. Both big guys with a punch to back it up.

This could be the season that we are able to see more "ball control".

Maybe we will see some "creative" football coming from the offensive side. Some make mention of the offensive line, as I have done, but the offensive line can accomplish a lot of things when a team has the talent that UGA does lining up in the backfield. Let's face it, last season, IC or whomever, we did not put a lot of fear into some of the defenses we played against. Feel this offensive line will develop much quicker because of the young men behind them. Just a plain and simple football fact.

TampaDawg, thanks . . . all is good.

P.S. Would love to see Zander Ogletree named Captain of the Special Teams. He will also get time in the backfield this season. Fear does not register with this young man.

There is certainly a lot being said about rough house football and especially the way a certain NFL coach has been taking his game plan to the field. Read a lot of differing views, actually it puts into perspective just how some or many football fans and coaches think.

As long as this coach was with Washington and New Orleans, fans and media loved the guy. What we were seeing on the field was good old fashioned football, take your head off.

Coach leaves a team and fan and media interest seem to turn a bit sour on said coach. Point being, as long as the coach was with our team, there were no illegal hits, just football. As I have heard it described, the players are bigger, faster, more talented than years gone by, therefore as long as it was our teams player on the dishing it out side, all was ok. Looked different when said coach took on new employment and used the same tactics against his previous team.

One coach that I have total respect for is Tony Dungy as do many thousands of others. When he came out this past week and allowed himself to get into the fray, that had a lot to do with my thinking. TD is not a liar, or a crier, he is a great football coach and respects all players, not just the ones he coached. After the uprising in New Orleans, TD’s suspicions were answered and I commend him for stepping forward. He traced this type of play back to Manning and his neck problems, he had wondered, just could not put his finger on the depth of this coaches misbehavior. It is definitely out in the open now and from where I sit, I hope everyone involved, especially the coaches and owners get their butts tacked to the wall.

Deep down I believe that some of the recent rule changes involving hitting above the shoulders and protecting quarterbacks stem from this issue and this particular coach. Things like this travel faster inside the NFL gates than they do for those of us standing in the ticket lines. Commissioner has been aware of this for sometime, probably never be said publicly, unless forced and knew changes had to be made. Guess it gives all involved time to put their respective cases together. Media is going to live with this one for a long time. As will the rest of us.

Here is where I want to get to. Remember the chop blocks that were originally credited to Denver, then other teams started the same practice, you folks know who we are talking about when we talk chop block.

The team at this point in the SEC that is doing this has me and several thousand Georgia fans beside themselves, as well as the players. Franklin is teaching the same type football at Vandy that others have been doing before him in all of organized football. Remember how Kwame Geathers fired out at the Vandy center. Franklin’s boy was trying to cripple Kwame and Kwame took the issue up with fists. Good on Kwame. Not only Vandy, have seen the same coming from Auburn. Ask the young men that played for LSU against Auburn.

Love hard nosed football, but don’t go along with sucker punches. Sometimes that first lick is the deciding lick. You have all witnessed that. There is a storm brewing in Nashville, under the lack of guidance of Franklin. SEC better look long and hard at this volcano that is just before erupting. And it will . . . .

One last thought from those of us down this way. I sincerely hope that all of you and your families are safe. Lived in Alpharetta and had a business there once upon a time. Down this way we get hurricanes, we however get plenty of warning that the danger is being watched from its beginnings.

Should not say this but . . . chop blocks are like tornadoes, just appear and do great damage, especially to human life, real linemen play according to hurricane rules, no sucker punches.

Have not heard much about what happened in Athens this weekend, in time we will all know.

Go Dawgs, Spurrier has his eyes on #3, (in a row). . . .

Picked this piece up from Fox. Pretty impressive stats . . . eh. More and more this 2012 schedule is loaded with bumps in the road. Auburn and Florida will be tough . . . . one old fart's opinion. Some discussion on this board in another thread about #1's practicing against #2's on both sides of the ball. Did a little research and that was the case some of the time, not all of the time. Understandable at one point in time, not sure that is going to apply this season. Have a feeling that the coaches are going to give this offensive line the full treatment.

Buh-bye: South Carolina DE Melvin Ingram
Hello: Jadeveon Clowney

Clowney was going to be a playmaker this season no matter who lined up with him in the trenches. The fact that the big-play Ingram has used up his eligibility simply means that No. 7 is going to enjoy an even bigger spotlight in his second season in Columbia, S.C. He is as close to a sure-thing among defensive underclassmen as there is in America, a 6-6, 255-pound terror coming off the edge. Even as a backup in his debut, he still managed to rack up 11 tackles for loss, six sacks and five forced fumbles. Although you don’t get better by losing an All-American, such as Ingram, the Gamecocks might not be any worse. With Devin Taylor on one side and Clowney on the other, South Carolina will still boast one of the nastiest bookends around.

South Carolina in Columbia is going to be a game that will be talked about before and after it is played. Might be that our defense has had enough of Spurrier and his indirect slaps.

Also, we are going to Columbia with some running backs this year, might slow Jadeveon Clowney down a bit. Folks, play calling this season will be scrutinized more than any season that Mark Richt and Mike Bobo have been handling that side of the ball. Yes, say again, I know that we have Missouri first at their place.

Moving around on the internet and it is past me that some of the Dawg Nation think that our defense is going to be so good that we go undefeated. I was a teenager once upon a time also, all part of becoming a Dawg. Not sure I like being a bit more mature sometimes. Young folks are full of pp and vinegar and tomorrow only holds success . . . that is a good thing.

This 2012 group has a lot on their shoulders, both players and coaches. This schedule has some pot holes that need to be avoided and most of all paid attention to.

Coach'em up, let the youngsters participate. . . . . build that depth. Have to start somewhere, maybe this is the year.

yankeedawg1, a lot of what is posted here is because I went back and read the entirety of your thread. I particularly like the part about letting the offense and the defense get after it. Injuries some will say is the reason not to. Understandable. This offensive line playing against top notch Grantham talent will be much closer to winning in Missouri, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida and others on the schedule if they face the real deal.

IC.......

Mat drills are one thing.....taking a hit and WANTING to deliver a hit in the SEC is another.

I was probably the biggest fan of IC going to Athens.......now he's got to show me he has the GUTS to play SEC ball.

wlayton wrote: IC.......

Mat drills are one thing.....taking a hit and WANTING to deliver a hit in the SEC is another.

I was probably the biggest fan of IC going to Athens.......now he's got to show me he has the GUTS to play SEC ball.

I think this is one of the biggest questions the Bulldog Nation has this year. Is IC capable of being "the man"? Only time will tell. Personally, I am wondering does he WANT TO be "the man"?

With the group of guys that are on campus now, I am sure one will want to. The door is wide open. Just waiting for someone to walk through.