Nevada Dawg

I am not saying this to gloat in any way but.... The Orange Bowl today reminded me of the Georgia-Oregon game and the TCU Natty beatdown last year. My great Duck buddy drove down from Lake Tahoe to cheer on the Dawgs with me, and like the two aforementioned games, we left the game on but talked and speculated about other things from before halftime. I hate blowouts and would rather see a white knuckler any day (though my heart might disagree).. Georgia was trying to send the playoff committee a message, but on their own behalf, not FSU's. I, of course, know why Georgia was not selected and am good with that, as are the Georgia players based on post game interviews today. But you are never going to convince me that this Dawgs team is not one of the four best in the country. I have absolutely no quarrels with the four teams in the field and wish them well. I could even root for the Seattle Dawgs in the playoffs, much as that might offend Duck partisans. But my prediction is that the two B1G teams as they have been called here lose to the two so-called SEC teams in the semis. I welcome the opportunity to eat the ceremonial crow if I am wrong on both counts.

TXDuck, "watching paint dry" was exactly the descriptor I used while texting back and forth with my great Duck buddy. He said to me on Missouri's first drive in the 4th Q that he thought that the paint was drying. Missouri's offense is normally far from inept, and what passed in the first three quarters was a testament to the quality of the OSU defense. But, I was not surprised to see Missouri break through late in the game and win this one--in fact I made a small wager that they would win. Things could have gone the other way had the QB not been hurt, but OSU wasn't moving the ball much when he was in there. Missouri has been underestimated on this board and elsewhere all year long. They really are legit. qa is a testiment to the quality of the OSU defense.

My opinion, if anyone cares, is that non playoff games in our new era are almost meaningless for calculating the relative strength of conferences. So many teams field squads that bear faint resemblances to the regular season rosters that I am not surprised by anything I see these days (except Northwestern upsetting anyone) . Plus, aggregating teams in their respective leagues the year before they get there (e.g., Washington in the B1G, Cal in the ACC, Texas in the SEC) seems a major stretch for me. Just my $.02. Still, comparisons will be made, meaningless as they may (or may not) be.

I just started watching this one in the second half. Looks to me that Arizona wants to be there more than the Sooners, but I could be wrong from the limited amount of play I have witnessed in this one.

If the Ducks aspire to be elite, they sure as he-- better beat Liberty, a team with a SOS ranked 133 of 133 FBS teams. As I have heard it said in Athens, "You are either elite or you are not. Trite perhaps but true.

I don't know the Ducks roster well I admit, but I can see how a talent with multiple years of eligibility would be very attractive if the team has no absolute stud QB already there to be developed. This comment has nothing to say on the subject of immediate portal rankings, but not all guys taken are necessarily valued for their immediate contributions. I suspect Lanning is savvy enough to see such future value in Dante Moore, I applaud the pickup.

If I remember correctly, Bama and Georgia played in the regular season in 2019 or 2020. The last time Bama played in Athens was 2008.

Ole Miss is killing it in the portal all right. Rebs probably have the most favorable schedule among the legit SEC contenders this next year and they are rolling the NIL dice to try to secure a decent seeding in a 12-team playoff. Nolen could help them achieve this objective, but they had better hope that an outsize NIL stipend doesn't mess with team chemistry which I have heard is pretty favorable at present, The main Georgia boards have a bunch of coaches and other talent evaluators on it--guys that break down film to back their opinions, good or bad. The buzz there about Nolen has been that he is uber talented but rarely plays to his potential. Lanning and, to a lesser extent Kirby Smart must think they can bring out that desire to excel or they wouldn't have offered. but the guys on the Georgia boards, at least, think this is a very risky recruitment.

Sorry. Just passing along some info that may or may not have legs. I';dactually be surprised if Nolan ends up in Athens, but it is not impossible.

Can';t say if anything will come of it, but smoke on the Georgia boards tonight that the Dawgs are going to make a pitch for Walter Nolen. I believe that he would be a "plug and play" in Athens, and Georgia has put five first-round defensive linemen in the NFL in the past three years.

My very good Duck buddy in Nevada told me about the game when the Ducks, ahead 31-0 at the half, lost in OT. I refused to believe him! When I asked who that comeback team was, he replied "I don't remember; I repressed it."

Why not believe in a football Natty? Even though they didn't win one in 40 years prior to 2021, most of the Dawg fanatics knew more were coming if they could just live that long. Now they expect to be in the mix EVERY YEAR and may well be as long as Kirby Smart is at the helm. I love CDL's bamboo watering metaphor by the way. He learned how to build rosters in Athens and is putting those lessons in play as we speak.

I have no idea where Troy will be drafted, but if he runs a 4.3 at the combine, his position will be high--well worth coming out for. If his "contested catch" ratio is 50% or higher, he could well be taken later in the first or early in the second round. Good luck young man!

Oh Dawg!! I hope that he is drafted in the first 40 picks, and for his own sake, not by the Atlanta Falcons!

I've said it before and will say again, if ever there was a year to commence the 12-team playoff, this was it. In the future, there will still be bitter arguments about committee decisions, most of which, I'd guess, will center on seedings rather than who the top 6 or 8 teams are. Can't wait.

I'm guessing that this is pure unadulterated clickbait.

The portal is a strange beast. Thus far, Georgia has always lost more guys than they add. The players they lose are mostly (but not always) guys that have been around for at least two years and don't see themselves as starters in the year to come. As they are typically talented football players, they understandably wish to see the field before their careers expire, and the Georgia coaching staff often assists them in finding placements suitable for their talents. The fewer guys who are taken in the portal are known commodities that fill gaps in the Dawgs roster for the year to come, and sometimes for longer. Most Georgia fans approve this limited use of the portal. Some call Georgia's approach a strategy for culling the roster to make scholarship room for all the incoming recruits from high school or elsewhere. Recognizing that everyone "culls" to some extent, this is the new normal in college football. At Georgia, scholarships are not dropped just because a player has not made much of a contribution so far. And, in fact, non scholarship players still get combine NIL stipends that pretty much pay all their expenses. But the bottom line is that most players opt to transfer if they feel their talents are not able to show through where they are enrolled. I may be rambling too much here, and if so, I apologize. But I see the post-season portal activities as a process that I am very much interested in, even though we occasionally lose a guy (e.g., receiver A D Mitchell to Texas last year) who made two of the most critical post season receptions in Georgia history that propelled the Dawgs to the 21 and 22 Nattys, and who played a major role in getting the Horns into the playoffs. I understand this transfer as A D is a Texas boy who had family considerations in Texas and so, Dawgs fans were OK with this BIG portal loss.

I think that Georgia wins this one handily if..if..if There are not important opt-outs and Kirby can get them fired up to play in Miami. Thus far, their hasn't been much in the way of complaining about being left out by players as far as I have heard. That could suggest the guys have a chip on their shoulders or, alternatively, are disinterested in the game, the latter of which will spell trouble. In 2018, Georgia got passed over for a playoff spot in favor of Notre Dame, who, in turn, got boat raced in their semi. The Dawgs played Texas, and I could tell from the first two possessions that they didn't want to be there. Texas jumped out to a sizable lead that the furious Dawg rally late in the second half couldn't overcome. It was really an embarrassing performance for Georgia partisans that you don't often see from Kirby's teams. So the question is which Georgia shows up as well as who shows up. I know of no significant opt-outs at this time, but it is early. One of the biggest buzzes surrounding the team right now centers on whether Carson Beck comes back for another year. The quick transfer of 5-star QB Brock Vandergriff to Kentucky suggests that Carson is probably coming back as Brock would have been the likely successor had Carson decided to declare for the NFL.

Yeah I watched that one. It was a total blowout.

The only thing Brock lacks is experience, He has a very good arm and is a legit dual threat QB. But I hear several sources say that, as of today, he is likely to remain in the SEC. Kentucky may well be a good option.

Disagree with regard to Michigan, Fuskies are good enough to beat the Wolverines IMO, and even if they didn't, it would be a close game. Georgia? Fuskies may well have been boat raced had the Dawgs made the playoffs and had a month to get healthy. For a somewhat less than enthusiastic Georgia in a non playoff game, this Dawg Bowl would be closer. But Hey, these games will not be played this year so probably nobody cares.

I fully expect Alabama (or Georgia if they had won) to be playing Texas for the Natty. I am OK with what happened yesterday given the injuries Georgia had on the offensive side of the ball. I am not saying Georgia would necessarily have won had they been healthy, just that I would have liked to have watched that game. But you play with whom you have and so that I can say hat's off to Alabama for gettng her done. I am disappointed for the Ducks in their draw on Jan !. Dawgs partisans expressed similar concerns when Georgia drew group of 5 opponent Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl in 2020. Even with Georgia playing with only one or two opt-outs, they won that game only by converting a last play field goal. So I hope the 2023 Oregon Ducks will show up motivated to play in this game as it will be Liberty's Super Bowl and they are good enough to embarrass a Duck team with multiple important opt-outs.

I considered this one as well.. However with likely opt-outs, it is unclear what we might be measuring, if you get my drift.

I thought about this one as well. The only problem is that the game would likely not be played by the 2023 versions of the teams that had such wonderful seasons and be a true measuring stick.

Yeah I was surprised at the general tone of comments on the Talk'n Dawgs site tonight after the Dawgs loss to Alabama. It was a great game, was reasonably well officiated, and both teams had an opportunity to win in the last five minutes. Bama got it done; There were a few mitigating factors I could mention, and some posters did bring up, but in my opinion, those are losers' laments. I was very surprisingly OK with what went down and can congratulate the Crimson Tide. It is nice when you can breeze through sets of comments without having jerks ruining things with their ridiculous rants and ravings. I'd like to thank Charles for shielding us from the majority of hotheads and trolls. It has to be a tiresome job.