I believe LSU will be very tough to run on. Cooper is a fine redshirt freshman RB but He is no Herschel Walker. He will get some yards though. Also, True Freshman RB Kregg Lumpkin is a talent. My biggest concern is that they are young, our FB's are new and the OL are very young. However, all are extremely talented. So far, all of them look better than we expected this year. However, LSU will be our first test. I do not think Gibson will play. That is unfortunate. However, we have many good receivers...Brown, Gary and Johnson will all do well. Our starting tight end Ben Watson is doubtful. We will miss him but we do have very very talented backups. On defense, we will be solid. If Mauck makes a mistake he will pay. At the same time, I do not think it is possible to shut down Clayton. We have to play containment and score, score, score. This could be the best UGA/LSU game in years. See y'all later.
Its good to see this type of discussion before games. Thumbs up to the UGA fans that have come here to post. I think you are all wrong, but you do make valid arguments and good points. UGA may have the fastest, hardest-hitting defense we have faced all year, and maybe for the rest of the year. However, at the same time, the same could be said about our offense. I know we havent been tested, yet, and I know that we werent exactly an offensive power house last season. Though I do know that this is a whole new animal this year. We will score points, you can bet on it. Our offense is about a million times more efficient than USC's or Clemson's. The thing that concerns me is defense. They are number 2 in the nation in total defense at this point, but you all know as well as I do who the competition has been. Of course, most of those games emptied the defensive bench as well, so I would say we may be a good bit deeper than we thought to begin the season. One of my concerns going into the season was at the LB position, which I am now a lot more comfortable with. Let me explain that it is not because of the play of the LBs (which has been excellent), but rather the change in personel. Lionel Turner is a BIG MLB at 6-2, 257lbs, and I think he fills gaps niceley defending against the run. He also reacts quickly which makes up for his lack of speed (though he is certainly not slow for 257 pounds). I really really like the move of Adrian Mayes to LB. He has played on special teams every year he has been at LSU and has made some nasty hits on return men, even though he is only 6-1, 213lbs. Moving him to LB allows Travis Daniels to get on the field at safety, rather than sitting the bench behind two great CB's. I first saw Travis Daniels in the 2001 SECCG, and he looked like a veteran as a true freshman (shame he had to waste a redshirt year for that one game, but he deflected two passes that would have gone for TDs, so I think it was worth it). I think Daniels is probably a better fit at safety than Mayes anyway, and he has decent safety size at 6-1, 190. The reason I really like this move, though is because it creates a very confusing looking 4-3 scheme. Adrian Mayes was at safety, so he has good speed and has trained for coverage for the last 4 years. So we really have 5 DBs on the field at all times, one just happens to be able to play LB, as well. A lot of times, team's slot receivers or tight ends (depending on whether the safeties are in zone or man) get a mismatch against a slower LB. You cant do that against this LSU defense because the man you are trying to get the mismatch against is actually a safety. It remains to be seen whether Mayes will be able to stop the better tailbacks of the league, but like I said, he is a hard hitter, so I think he will rise to the task. I dont think anyone will be able to run up the middle on this defense, we just have too much size and talent up the gut. What worries me are the sweeps and tosses to the outside. I think we have a good game on our hands this saturday (actually a pretty good saturday, overall), and it will go a long way in proving the mettle of these teams.
Saturday Your big LB in the middle may be fast enough. Our new RB's are fast but they are new and may not yet have the vision to avoid him. Other posters seem concerned about the outside runs...is this a combination of speed at LB and DE's? Our D sounds a lot like yours. We will have experienced DB's and one of our LB's came from the safety spot (Thomas Davis). We may have a little more speed at LB abd you may have a little more experience at DB. Both DL's are good. This is a great time of year.
Mobile Bengal, That's why I mentioned the Georgia running game in the first place. David Greene has a decided edge when he can freeze linebackers who are watching for the run. From what you posted, it sounds like LSU may be bringing linebackers into the rush fairly often. If LSU leaves the weakside flats open to the short pass, guys like Cooper and Lumpkin are much more dangerous than the backs from WIU or Arizona. On the other side of the ball, Mauck will do ok if he has enough time in general. I have heard that he has average speed, so if he has to run, his percentages go way down. How Mauck performs when he is pressured will be a significant factor during key conversions. Pollock is most effective when he can force the opposing QB to hurry and make mistakes.
Yes, we have speed at OLB and at DE, but that isnt my concern. Spears and Hill have even dropped back into coverage a few time, and done well. That is quite rare in the college game. Actually Spears (6-4, 297, LE) was recruited as the No. 1 TE in the nation out of high school, but Saban converted him to DE because of his combination of size and speed. Amazingly, he was actually an All-State basketball player his senior year in HS, as well. Marquis Hill is a monster at RE at 6-7, and 295 pounds. The reason I am concerned with outside runs is because I have not been impressed with the rush from only four down linemen. Chad Lavalais is incredible, and he will get into the back field, but our DE's have not been impressive. They have been good, mind you, but not what we have all been quilty of hyping them to be. Now, this is their 3rd year as starters, so maybe they will finally live up to their billing. If they dont though, I am worried they will not be able to break off their blocks at the line on those outside runs. If that is the case, we will have to have production from our OLBs, both of which are fast, neither of which are big. I dont know how well they will be able to tackle the big tailbacks or break off blocks from the FB. Their speed may be their saving grace, though. If they can at least get to the back first and slow him down enough or take up a block for the rest of the D to adjust to the ball, we will be ok. I just dont think you can run up the middle because we have so much size and strength at DT and MLB.
What position does Max Jean Gillies play?? I think its either Right guard or Right Tackle. so that mean he will be lining up against LSU's best defensive linemen in either Lavalais or Spears. Spears is finally playing like he was a high school all-american and Lavalais should be first team all-SEC. Reason I ask is cause Gillies is the best Georgia O-linemen and it should be a good matchup too.
I believe that we've only seen the tip of the iceburg with Cooper so far. Cooper has only played 30% of the time and he is still on course to run for over 1000 yards. Not to mention the short flair passes. Your'e right about Clayton as well. He will score. But I also heard that his ankle may be bruised pretty bad making it difficult for him to cut as well as he normally does. Clayton is definately a player to watch during warmups.
It really depends on how much pressure we can get with a 4 man rush. If we can get a decent amount of pressure with just our 4 down linemen, we will probably show blitz a lot, and then drop them back into coverage. If not, I would bet most of the blitzing will come from MLB with the addition of a stunt here and there. One thing Saban has proven to the LSU faithful (and opposing teams) is that his defenses are disguised quite well. It rarely looks like the coverage/blitz scheme it actually is. So, I think our OLBs will be looking for those dumps to the flats. When you talk about Mauck, I can tell you havent seen Mauck at his best. His speed is better than average, though he isnt a speedster. However, in my opinion, his best two games as a Tiger were the 2001 SECCG (12 rushes for 43 yards and 2 TDs) and the 2002 UF game (15 rushes for 67 yards). Sure he had 305 yards and 4 TDs last week, but that was WIU. In both of the other games I mentioned he ran the ball a lot, and many times it was under diress. He was billed a running quarterback for most of the year last year. It wasnt until this year that he actually started looking like a pocket passer. One thing that he has greatly improved on is just throwing the ball away rather than trying to make a play. I agree that his performance under pressure will be key in this game, but you dont want him chased out of the pocket into the open field. One thing he does not do is throw INTs. Passing, he had 9 TDs against 2 INTs before he went down in 2002. So far this year, he has 8 TDs against 1 INT, and I think even that INT hit one of our receivers in the hands. Saban has made it known that he does not want Mauck running for the sole purpose of keeping him healthy. He is very dangerous with his legs, and it would not surprise me at all if we see the infamous QB draw from last season implemented for the first time this season against UGA. You guys are getting me PUMPED!
Max is the right tackle. Yes, that will be a fun matchup. I do not think we can run up the middle effectively except on an occasional misdirection. I don't think we will try often. Our guards pull very well. I expect lots of pitches to backs, passes to backs. I also expect some QB options if/when Shockley is in at QB. We need our slot back/Gary to have a big day on some short out passes. We also need our special teams to be special. They have been solid but nothing like last year.
