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New sponsor (the “new” AT&T), same phone no (888-773-2947 .. 888-77DAWGS). But there is no volume on “hold”. Nothing like opening game jitters…

Munson’s opening remarks - college football grabbed everything and no one missed it – App. State went up north and upset Michigan. And Texas, with all those bodies, had to sweat with Arkansas State. The Dawgs looked like one of the faster teams we’ve had around here last Saturday night. Now South Carolina comes in. The whole conference may peek over its shoulder at our scoreboard this weekend.

Munson thought most things went right Saturday night. CMR thought a lot of things went right but we did enough wrong to know we have work to do. In particular, when we got a substitution penalty they still were left with 4th & 1 or 2. If that had given OSU a first down it could have helped them get going. The OL played solidly but Matt didn’t always have time and sometimes the runners didn’t have much room.

Give credit to the defense for how well they played and how fast they played. The coaches get credit for substituting enough to keep playing fast. Speed can do a lot – especially on defense. CMR noted we were able to sub a lot .. five man rotation and DT and 3-4 at DE. Some young LBs got to play too.

Injuries – Lumpkin will have surgery on his thumb tomorrow. He may be able to play some special teams before he’s able to play TB again. The doctors will put a good cast on his hand.

Jeremy from Memphis starts the year and wants to know about redshirting. He mentioned Ohio St. and Wake Forest in particular. CMR thinks a guy should play right away if he can be a second teamer. Last year Asher Allen & Prince Miller played and we redshirted the other nine defensive players.

Guys like Stafford last year and Trinton Sturdivant this year came in at the midyear and got a good amount of practice and classwork in. Normally, someone who redshirts is more likely to graduate but someone who comes in at the midyear has a better chance too.

I noted OSU’s effective directional kicking (once they snapped it to their punter instead of into the stands). Richt thought their punter was outstanding, once they got over the bad snap. About the only thing you can do with a single safety is put him right in line with where the punt comes from. You could go two safeties. But if they kick it out of bounds there isn’t much you can do.

CMR was pleased with the conditioning. Camp was brutal because of the heat but we’re staying fresh with the subs.

Munson asked about T. Brown coming back so fast. CMR thinks Brown looks better than he’s ever looked. He’s a better runner now and is more patient. He’s waiting for blocks to develop. Plus, as a kick returner .. when a guy tears his ACL returning kicks, then he wins the job back and takes it right up in there, that’s impressive. Richt also mentioned that Brown is taking 21 hours this semester in order to graduate, so he can concentrate on NFL combines after the season ends.

Jeff in Bloomington, DE applauded Richt for helping our guys to win in life as well as on the field. CMR thinks if we can help build better men we will have a better team. If we can agree on things like honesty, unselfishness and teamwork we’re in good shape. It helps that we have good assistant coaches and good leader. We played one game and played well. Let’s hope we can keep it going.

Paulson in Athens notes that when the best SEC teams play out of conference we look good on the line. CMR thought we looked really good on the DL – both ends and interior. We had five guys rotating at DT, all playing with high energy.

On offense, everyone believes in Stafford. Plus Sean Bailey is back making plays, Tony Wilson and other guys were making plays, Brown (of course) and Knowshon Moreno.

Paul in Alabama asked about how we’d do vs. SC. CMR noticed things we still need to work on. Our placekicking protection was shaky. We couldn’t get an extra first down late in the game. It didn’t matter in this game but in another game it could. It was a solid performance but there are still things to work on.

Mike in Tifton asked about Israel Troupe. CMR said he and Walter Hill were likely to redshirt. Aron White could still get in. He’s not quite heavy enough at TE though.

Ronnie in Buckhead asked about Darius Dewberry, and why Stafford seems anxious to throw quickly and sidearm. Dewberry was cramping in his legs. CMR was surprised more guys didn’t.

Stafford threw more than one ball off balance. A lot of that was protection and there were guys close to him. But there were times he could have set up and didn’t.

Munson asked about the App. State upset. CMR said that helps the I-AA teams. He would rather play a I-A team that is used to losing a few times a year. Teams used to winning at any level are dangerous.

Derek brought up App. State as well. CMR said there are no plans to drop the ASU game from the schedule.

Jerry from Milledgeville is concerned how light our DEs are. CMR - Battle looks closest to the right size. Howard is only 6-0, 235. If you go against bigger guys it will be interesting to see how we hold up. We cross-trained Jarius Wynn at DE in case we need more size and also Brandon Wood. Wood got in Saturday and made a tackle at DE. Football is a game of leverage. If you get low and have good position you can fight off a guy who might be bigger and stronger.

William in Augusta asked Richt what he thought about Munson. CMR said there’s no one like Munson. Munson joked that if Mikey ran all the punts back that way it makes him sound good. Richt still looks back on that Hobnail Boot play that will be remembered forever and that he was coach. That means a lot to him.

Mark in Lavonia- asked about kickoffs from the 30 and other kicking. CMR noticed OSU was coming through our right side on all our PATs. The quickest way to let another team back in is to block a kick, scoop and score.

Rachel in Athens (had to be reminded to turn her radio down) asked what CMR does on down time. CMR talked about their family vacation to Honduras this past summer. Otherwise, try to relax and spend time at the lake.

Jack in St. Simons thanked Munson for his great calls (especially when he was in the service during the Herschel era). He also asked about white shoes and thinks players look faster in them. CMR said kids are funny .. if you have white shoes they asked for black, and if you have black they ask for white. Sometimes he’ll use it for incentive, like in 2002 when we went to black shoes for the SEC title game.

Munson asked if its true that a player in an all-white uniform looks bigger. CMR said maybe so, and noted people think black looks slimming. So maybe white does make a guy look bigger – especially the gut.

Kevin in Athens wondered if Stafford’s helmet was too big last year. CMR thought maybe helmets get fitted when guys have a full head of hair, then the freshmen get their head shaved by upperclassmen.

Blach in Dublin thought Moreno did a super job and thinks he should be returning kicks, not risking another Brown injury. Richt said Moreno, Asher Allen and Brown are all working on kick returns. We have the right guys for punt returns. Both Brown and Moreno were productive. Munson wondered if Moreno was highly rated coming out of HS. CMR said he scored the most TDs ever in New Jersey football.

Bradley in Statesboro wonders about the young OL. CMR – you can only go as fast as your OL can go. We don’t want to put a lot of pressure on them for one on one blocks in the passing game. We’re doing more zone blocking in the running game.

Gary in Macon – recruiting philosophy with all the young depth. CMR: OL – we have lots of depth but no experience. DT – we have depth and experience. But you have to keep going. Competition is a great thing for your team.

Chris in Brunswick wonders if CMR has a book to recommend and asked Munson for suggestions on commentating on HS game. CMR said he doesn’t think there is a book he could recommend. It is basically his experiences at FSU plus things he has learned here. He’s been approached about writing a book but doesn’t think he’s ready. Munson joked that the guy better watch out for the speed – it would drive him crazy.

Gilbert in Social Circle wanted to compliment the defense. CMR thought they made great adjustments at halftime to the no huddle OSU was using. Then B. Miller made a big hit on their running back and that was the end of it. Munson remembered when CMR first tried running the no huddle and the SEC “sat on it.” Richt laughed and said now officials are letting it go more to help speed the game up.