UGA v Alabama - Here comes the Tide!

 

 

A Porcupine has 92,000 pricks on the outside.

 

 

It’s Georgia against Alabama Saturday night in Athens, and businesses all across the South have seen a drop in productivity this week.  Everyone I know is fired up about this game between the #3 ranked Bulldogs and #8 Crimson Tide and can’t wait for the weekend.  It’s been over 30 years since a pair of top 10 teams have teed it up in Sanford Stadium, and UGA and Bama haven’t been ranked this high going into the game since the 1940’s.  ESPN GameDay is in town and Coach Richt has called for the fans to ‘Blackout’ the game.  There are even rumors that the players may be in all black, not just the standard black jerseys, but head to toe black.  To borrow a Larry Munson quote, come 7:45 on Saturday, the stadium will be “worse than bonkers”.

 

To be honest, I’m getting pretty nervous about this one.  Alabama came out of the gate strong, the Tide kicked off the 2008 college football season by crushing the Clemson Tigers 34-10 on Labor Day weekend.  Clemson still has not recovered from that loss and Alabama launched itself into the spotlight as an SEC contender in what was supposed to be another rebuilding year for Nick Saban.  The Tide opened up SEC play last week with a 49-14 win over an Arkansas team that threw 4 interceptions and gave up 328 rushing yards.  Alabama has a fearsome running game and a very, very good defense, led by lineman Terrence Cody, who is just a few biscuits away from 400 pounds.  Listed at 6-5 and a conservative 380 pounds (he dwarfs the other 300 pound linemen around him), he may be the largest human being on the planet who wears a football uniform.

 

Georgia is back in Athens after making a 3,800 mile road trip to Tempe, Arizona, in a game against Arizona State that many so called experts picked as an upset special.  The Bulldogs completely dominated the game, cruising to a 27-10 win over the Sun Devils.  Georgia even left touchdowns on the field, they had the ball inside the ASU 10 yard line twice late in the 4^th quarter and ran 6 draw plays, choosing not to intentionally run up the score on the home team.

 

Looking at these teams on paper, they are almost mirror images of each other in their tendencies and talent at the skill positions.  Both are textbook examples of a classic SEC team, built on power running and a fast defense that stuffs the opponent’s rushing game.  You’ve got to dig deep to see where the strengths and weaknesses lie, so let’s take a look at some head to head matchups between the two and see who comes out on top.

 

Quarterbacks:

 

John Parker Wilson v. Matthew Stafford – Both are experienced veterans who haven’t been asked to do too much so far this year due to a devastating running attack for each team.  Stafford’s overtime TD pass against the Tide last year in overtime won the game in the only contest the two have played against each other.  Wilson has 12 losses as a starter, Stafford – only 4.  The defenses in this game will require excellent QB play, when times get tough on the ground Stafford’s the guy to make things happen with his rocket arm.  And don’t forget that quarterback draw he had a few weeks ago against South Carolina that set up Moreno’s game winning touchdown.

Advantage: Georgia

 

Receivers:

 

Alabama and Georgia have last year’s #1 and #2 high school receivers in the nation in Julio Jones and AJ Green, respectively.  Both wear number 8 and both have had an immediate impact on their teams.  It’s impossible to judge a true freshman after just 4 games, but it is safe to say these two kids are worthy of the hype they received coming out of high school.  I have to give just a slight edge to Green, he had a huge game last week on the road under a national spotlight.  The Arizona State game was his coming out party, going for 159 yards and 1 touchdown. 

Advantage: Georgia, barely

 

Running Backs:

 

Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno has 9 touchdowns and 455 yards, total team stats are 757 rushing yards and 11 TDs.  Glen Coffee for the Tide has run for 404 yards and 2 scores, and as a team Alabama has rushed for 947 yards and 9 touchdowns.  Coffee and Bama ran Clemson right out of the Georgia Dome to open the season, but Georgia has not lost a game since Moreno became the starter last year. 

Advantage: Georgia

 

Offensive Line:

 

Georgia is still struggling to find the right combination of players for the line, and they are way young.  Not to mention the Dawgs have moved reserve D-linemen over to the offensive side of the ball.  Alabama fields one of the best O-lines, if not the best, in the conference. 

Advantage: Alabama, no question.

 

Defense:

 

This is a tough one for me.  Georgia is just so fast, but Alabama uses Volkswagens as defensive linemen.  Both teams dominate against the run, but do it differently.  The Bulldogs use their speed to attack the ball, while the Tide stand there and dare you run at them.  Georgia’s emerging defensive leader is little Rennie Curran, Alabama’s Terrence Cody consumes Rennie’s body weight in steak and potatoes every week.  Both teams give up some yards in the air, but I contribute that to opponents simply giving up on the run, and in UGA’s case pulling the starters in the second half of some early season blowouts.

Advantage: Take your pick

 

Special Teams:

 

Georgia drives me nuts with coverage kickoffs, while Bama’s Javier Arenas has already taken a kickoff to the house this season.

Advantage:  Alabama

 

Mascot:

Georgia’s Uga travels via chartered planes to away games and has his own air-conditioned doghouse on the field at Sanford Stadium. When the beloved bulldog moves on to the football fields in the sky, his remains are placed in a vault in the stadium.  Alabama has elephants, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

Advantage: This one is a no-brainer.

 

Fans:

Overweight, middle aged, balding men wearing empty laundry detergent boxes on their heads versus overweight, middle aged, balding men wearing Knownshon Moreno ‘blackout’ game jerseys and hightop Reeboks.

Advantage: Push

Bonus – Beautiful Alabama coeds wearing Bear Bryant’s hounds tooth hats versus beautiful Georgia coeds wearing high heels and cocktail dresses.

Advantage: Every man in America is a winner!

 

Conclusion:

Georgia has a slight edge in my book, beginning with Matthew Stafford.  Both QBs will have their hands full in this game but Stafford is the guy I want as my field general.  His ability to fire bullets into tight coverage has moved the chains more than once in his career, and I have no doubt he will have to make the throws Saturday night.  And every time Knowshon Moreno touches the ball there is a potential ESPN Top Play in the making.  Add to that the atmosphere of a night game in Athens and I just have to pick Georgia for the win.  But I think it will be a close game with the winner unknown until the 4^th quarter.

 

On a side note:  On Tuesday, Georgia’s legendary voice of the Dawgs, Larry Munson announced his immediate retirement from the radio booth.  He has called Georgia games for over 40 years and has been the one constant in a program filled with highs and lows and seen coaches and players come and go.  Every game we watched on TV while I was in college was on mute so Larry Munson could paint the picture for us on the radio.  No Georgia fan will ever forget his famous calls, from “Run Lindsay Run” to the “Hobnailed Boot”. 

He will be missed.

 

On a side note 2:  As I type this #1 USC is down to Oregon State 21-0 at halftime and Matthew Stafford just called in to ask the idiot “Dr. Lou” how to be a better quarterback.  

What is this world coming to!??!

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