Malcolm Mitchell's place

During last night's game, when I wasn't just generally losing my mind over the widespread ridiculousness on display, I found myself wondering where Malcolm Mitchell's proper place is in our lineup.

After we pushed the ball to him early on offense, he disappeared, other than to make another bad punt return decision. Meanwhile our receiving corps doesn't seem to need his help. Tavarres King and Michael Bennett are making plays, and we've got Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten as the next options at wideout.

Not too shabby.

Now, obviously Mitchell is talented enough to crack right back into that lineup and play a prominent roll. I hate it for whoever that costs time, but that's football, and we're running enough four and even five wide sets to get everyone snaps.

But ask yourself: Do you feel more comfortable about Rantavious Wooten / Marlon Brown as the third receiver on the field, or about Branden Smith as one of your starting corners?

I'm sure there are things to worry about, but I don't see them

I'm trying hard not to judge too much on a Vanderbilt game, or any of our other early season games for that matter. But, damn, that looked like a complete team last night.

The offense looked like it was entering juggernaut territory. The defense showed more than enough nasty to beat Vanderbilt. We get our last few starters back, and I expect we'll be solid favorites for every game between now and the SEC Title game.

I don't know that I've ever seen a stronger early season performance from The Dawgs, with the possible exception of 2003, when we opened so strong against Clemson and South Carolina, only to fall short against LSU.

I'd still like to feel great about the offensive line. Freshmen kickers aren't ideal. I anticipate development along the defensive line to further compliment Jarvis Jones.

But we seem to have a playmaker, or playmakers, at every level of the defense. We have a strong and balanced offense and an experience quarterback. I believe, for the first time in a long time, my expectations for the Bulldogs were too low, and I'm very impressed with what we've seen so far.

Bulldogs: Help bring GameDay to Montana

A request from Hoppy Hopkins, our man in Great Falls, Montana, which you now know to be a hotbed of UGA support:

There is a Facebook page pushing ESPN's College GameDay to come to Missoula, MT for the annual Cat/Griz game in November. College Game Day has never been to Montana. The Cats (Montana State) are currently #2 in the FCS poll and the Griz have a storied tradition as well. The nickname of this game is "The Brawl of the Wild" and it dates back over 100 years. Would you guys mind plugging the FB page on your blogs? I would just love to see GameDay come to Montana, and I know a big push from the Dawgnation would certainly boost the numbers for this cause.

Hoppy is correct, College GameDay has never been to Montana. Let's keep this newly confirmed Georgia-Montana connection going. Go like that Facebook page and help bring Gameday to Montana Nov. 17.

There are no obvious GameDay-type games on the schedule that date, with the potential exceptions of Oklahoma/West Virginia and Oregon/Stanford, so this can absolutely happen, depending how the season plays out. Let's get behind Montana on this, because Bulldog Nation loves Montana, and Montana loves the Bulldogs.

The Montana Project

I suspect most of you have already seen The Senator's post today on the results of The Montana Project.



I hope folks enjoy the video, and my thanks go out to Hoppy Hopkins and his team for a great job. I hope folks realize how time consuming it can be to edit a video like that, not to mention the time spent shooting.

When we conceived this idea there were a lot of folks asking to contribute financially. But primarily because of Hoppy and another Dawg in Montana (K. Shockley, who provided the helmet and covered shipping costs) there weren't really expenses worth spreading around.

But because I know the Bulldog Nation is a generous one, and because I believe ridiculous gestures should be paired with meaningful ones, I propose a way for Dawg fans to contribute to this effort, which is really  just about confirming and increasing UGA's reputation. Please join me in making a donation to a Montana-based charity.

Hoppy has suggested the Great Falls Public Schools Foundation, which works with the local schools in Great Falls, where he lives and where the video was shot. If you like, send them a check and write "From Montana's friends at the University of Georgia" in the "for" line. Their mailing address is:

Dave Crum, Community Connections Manager
c/o Foundation Donation
Great Falls Public Schools
1100 4th Street South, Great Falls, MT 59404

Hoppy says it's a worthy cause, helping students and teachers alike.

The season ends, or it gets interesting

Hyperbole?  Sure, a little. You can lose to Missourri and tell yourself it was all the suspensions, then  still win the SEC East. But you won't believe that in your heart, and it certainly won't get you through Atlanta with a win.

Given our expectations  this year, this game is as all or nothing as a conference opener gets, and we need a big game from the offense today. We need to buy time, and can't afford to trade losses for it.

Gurley highlights, o-line a very big concern

Given that I had convinced myself in the last few weeks of the preseason, for about the 10th year straight, that the Dawgs really could win the SEC this year, I was disappointed in what I saw Saturday. Because that's not how Alabama handles its business week one.

It'd be nice if the administration would work to avoid noon games when it's 175 degrees, though. And Buffalo was not as bad as I was led to expect. There were good parts to that team, if not impressive ones.

Speaking of impressive: Todd Gurley is a beastman. Check this interview / highlights package in which Gurley, unprompted, references Herschel Walker, and it comes off as awesome.
 

It's a race between Gurley and Alabama running back T.J. Yeldon for freshman of the year, and I say that with no disrespect to Keith Marshall, who looks like he can get it done, too.

I'll leave specifics alone beyond that, except to hope Aaron Murray has discovered his long range touch for good this season, to be happy Rantavious Wooten is making plays, to note strong games from Tavarres King and Michael Bennett, and to hope the suspensions and injuries resolve themselves quickly.

Because that defense didn't look championship caliber to me, I don't care how many guys were out. And that offensive line performance ain't gonna cut it.