Thursday, September 20, 2007

Go teach the Bulldogs to behave...

Bama leads the series 35-23-3

Georgia rule - Richt weary of Alabama spies, closes practice access SI.com

GameDay to broadcast from Walk of Champions Tuscaloosa News

No game -- and no fishing -- for Munson AJC

5 keys to Georgia's win over Alabama Redandblack.com

Breaking down RB's Grant v Moreno ESPN
Running back is typically a leading position when it comes to freshmen participation in college football. This season is no exception. Through three weeks, four of the nation's top 52 rushers (quarterbacks excluded) hail from the freshman class. Two of those rookie standouts -- Georgia's Knowshon Moreno and Alabama's Terry Grant -- will square off in the key SEC interdivisional battle in Tuscaloosa this Saturday night. Neither Mark Richt nor Nick Saban has been hesitant to lean on their young premier backs to this point. So there's good reason to believe Moreno and Grant will play a critical role in the outcome of this weekend's game. In order to get a true feel for what to expect from these youngsters in such a pressure cooker of an environment, I broke down the tape of each back's biggest collegiate game to date. Not exactly a difficult decision considering there were only six games from which to choose. For Moreno it was the 16-14 loss versus South Carolina two weeks ago. For Grant it was this past Saturday night's 41-38 win versus Arkansas.

Georgia v Alabama
ESPNU
Georgia's offense has a lot of promising talent. But until it does some damage versus a legitimate opponent, how can anyone truly take this unit seriously? Sure, QB Matt Stafford and company have looked crisp in scoring 80 combined points against a bad Oklahoma State defense and a Division I-AA opponent in Western Carolina. However, in their only outing versus an SEC opponent, South Carolina held the Bulldogs without a touchdown, while Stafford connected on just 19 of 44 pass attempts with an interception. That's why we think Alabama, despite some personnel flaws on the defensive side of the ball, should be able to keep the Bulldog offense in check. The key is to follow the Gamecock's blueprint, which essentially is a bend-but-don't break approach. Like Alabama, South Carolina was overmatched on the perimeter versus Georgia WR's Sean Bailey, Mohamed Massaquoi and Mikey Henderson. So, instead of loading up the box versus the run and taking chances with lots of blitz-packages backed by man-coverage, South Carolina spent more time backed off in cover-2 zone looks. It led to a lot of underneath completions and decent rushing yards on the ground, but Stafford only average 4.8 yards per completion and Georgia converted only three of 18 third-down attempts. Because they are still comparatively inexperienced on offense, the mindset for Alabama's defense should be to force the Bulldogs to sustain long drives without making a mistake.

BamaNation Exclusive: scouting report on Georgia
The Georgia Bulldog’s season thus far has been one of happiness, then shock. They come into the game with a record of 2-1, starting with an impressive 35-14 over Oklahoma State, before losing a 16-12 heartbreaker to South Carolina, then dispatched Western Carolina 45-16. The Interesting note here is that this is the same Western Carolina team that we beat in our opening game, 52-6. Could the difference between the two games against the Catamounts being 10 points better on defense and 7 points on offense be a telling omen for Saturday’s game?

Alabama prepares for another tough challenge
Commercial Dispatch
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Coming off a thrilling, comeback win over Arkansas, Alabama coach Nick Saban and his team know there is little time to celebrate. “We are real excited.” said halfback Terry Grant, who was selected the leagues freshman of the week for the third straight time. “Most of the guys are excited. We have the confidence that we need. We have mature guys that know how to keep it 24 hours like Coach Saban told us to do. We have to come back in here and focus on Georgia instead of Arkansas.”Grant says the Tide coaching staff has sage advice after each win. “They tell us to go celebrate hard, and get it over with, because we're coming back in here (Mondays) to get ready for the next game,” Grant said.

There's more to talk about than Nick Saban Decatur Daily

Georgia: Getting prepped for Bama Bleacher Report

Tide trying to keep it rolling against Georgia Sporting News

The popularity of college football grows in the South Western Carolinian
The University of Alabama has won 21 SEC titles and a total of 12 national titles; they also have one of the richest football traditions in the entire country. In Tuscaloosa, just about every person you see is a die-hard Alabama Crimson Tide football fan. Everywhere you go, flyers and posters support the Crimson Tide.

UGA v Alabama College Football: Bama or Bust Athens Exchange
The No. 22-ranked Georgia Bulldogs are ready for the border rivalry against the No. 16- ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa, Al. on Saturday night. "I liked how practice went today, I talk a lot about how important it is to have energy out there, and we had it today," head coach Mark Richt said after practice on Wednesday. Coach Richt knows what he is talking about. Georgia is 22-3 under his leadership in road games and 1-0 in Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. The history between these SEC titans began in 1894 as Georgia took the first contest 30-6 in Columbus, Ga. Since then, Alabama has led the series overall with a record of 35-24-4. "I think there will be an awful lot of excitement there in that stadium knowing it will be a night game, knowing that the Alabama fan's are excited about the start of their season and knowing that Game Day is there," Richt added.

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