News

Munson opened tonite talking about college football almost went down on both knees Sat. FSU & Penn St. getting beat, USC needing all the luck to beat ND, Bama beating Ole Miss on the last play, and so on.

UGA was struggling with Vandy as another starting DL went down in the second qtr. What the Dawgs can do to save the defense isn’t all up to the coaches. The defense, which has been very good, may only be a shadow of itself the next couple of games, maybe three.

Munson immediately expressed his concerns about the defense to CMR. CMR – we do have a few guys banged up. But that’s when other guys get an opportunity to prove they deserve more playing time .. like Swain and Elmore, who haven’t played a lot, and are now getting that opportunity.

Ark. likes to run it right at people .. they lead the SEC and are close to the top 10 in the nation in rushing. They do it mostly with power football as opposed to having a QB running around like in prior years. They have a frosh RB who was rookie of the week. They’re a big-time speed team too.

Munson noted Vandy ran it a few times up the middle after Golston went out. CMR said they had a couple of new scheme things we hadn’t seen before. We also didn’t tackle well for the first time this season.

A fan asked Munson to ask CMR about taking a big OL and moving him to defense during this emergency. But CMR doesn’t think we have enough backup OL and there is so much difference between offense & defense at this level.

CMR also said we didn’t get to see much of those wild finishes. CMR did see what happened to Mich. St. just before halftime vs. Ohio St. and thought it was terrible for the MSU coaches.

Jim in Cumming opened tonite’s callers, and thought DJ played another great game. CMR said there is no doubt. We would have had to kick some FGs if not for DJ’s ability to move around in the pocket. On one of the TDs, he was running for his life to his left, put on the brakes and hit McClendon with a strike. The caller also asked about the jumbo formation? CMR said we hadn’t run that set much, but a bit differently this year, using 3 TEs. Milner is now the “wham” blocker and is a good enough athlete to do that.

Barron in Cleveland admits he’s looking ahead to Fla. & Aub., and asked CMR how he keeps the players from doing that. CMR says it's easy this week once the players see the film. CMR thinks Ark. is a faster team than us and probably just as physical.

Walter in Atlanta had a new trick play idea – an onside kick, where the kicker trips, and the guy besides him kicks an onside kick.

Jeremy from Memphis was impressed with the large fan turnout at the Vandy game, and asked about the line of scrimmage, and worried about playing 11 straight games next year. CMR thinks depth on the lines is good enough, though the DL has taken a couple of hits. That’s why this past recruiting class was crucial to get lots of linemen. Blake Barnes is like lots of young QBs across the country – trying to get better w/o getting many snaps. You have to work hard on fundamentals and footwork. Hopefully he’ll earn some playing time next spring.

Chris in Bartow is impressed with CMR’s sideline demeanor. CMR says he doesn’t get too emotional (his wife thinks he’s a pessimist). Anytime something goes wrong, if it can be corrected, do so immediately and move on. Otherwise, what do we have to do to make up for the mistake and what we can do next to help us win.

Chris in Rome asked if DJ checked to P-44 on the TD pass to Southerland. Yes, and we had run that two plays earlier. We checked to the Haynes play seeing “quarters” (four across) coverage. But the MLB isn’t inclined to follow the isolation play on 3rd down. We might could have hit it if DJ had thrown a perfect ball. But since the LB didn’t come downhill, Brannon lost faith in the route, DJ scrambled and Brannon found a soft spot and got open for DJ to hit him.

Jeff in Roswell is impressed with our WRs and how DJ is spreading the ball around. CMR says they are doing a nice job. Last game DJ hit 10 different receivers and has hit as many as 12 in a game. Sean Bailey made a big catch, MoMass and Harris have been playing well, and CMR ran down the WR lineup. We’ve had very few dropped balls the last 2-3 games.

Larry in Athens asked about Cedar Shoals alum Quentin Moses – CMR says he’s playing fantastic. CMR wonders when opponents will do more to scheme on him, kind of like when Pollack first burst on the scene. Anderson has a shot to play in the Florida game and Kedric hopefully by Auburn.

Nipper in Winder simply had a few comments for CMR and thanked them for the sacrifices. (Nipper and CMR were little league baseball teammates way back when.)

Munson noted next year’s schedule with 11 straight games. CMR doesn’t like the way the new 12-game thing turned out.

Thomas in Stone Mtn. asked what CMR looks for in linemen. CMR says there is not a magical height or weight. The smallest are about 6-2, 280 or so. Then we have guys like Max and Roland. If you’re not big, you better be physical and athletic. CMR has seen good HS guards turn into good fullbacks.

Jeff in Delaware thanked CMR for bringing UGA football back onto the national scene. CMR is glad people like him are getting to watch us .. meaning recruits all over the nation are getting to watch. Munson added he knows people who live near Yosemite National Park who listen to all our games on the internet.

Chris in Blue Ridge asked about how much Vandy was holding, saying he could see it from the stands and why calls weren’t being made? CMR tries to alert the refs that someone is getting held a lot. Lots of times when the defense is working, CMR might be talking to Coach Bobo about opponents’ fronts and what to call the next series. Then a defensive coach might grab CMR and point out what’s happening.

Jeremy in Cartersville asked about a playoff. CMR understands in a perfect world you may could have a 16-team playoff. But that means up to four extra games. CMR thinks that is way too many games. You may get a true champion, but you would lose lots of pageantry around the bowls and perhaps the best regular season in any sport. Every Saturday in college football is very exciting.

Bart in Knoxville noted a recent CMR quote about being fired up about being left out of the BCS title game. CMR says he could live with being left out but would feel awful for the players and fans. But he would be fired up about being undefeated.

Quint in SC just thanked Munson & CMR for all their hard work.

Austin in Blackshear asked Munson about the sign for the frequency of the FM broadcast on the road (he couldn’t find it in Knoxville last week). Munson wondered if the SEC or somebody made them take the sign down and thinks it’s a question for the engineer.

Mike in Macon (Bama fan) says CMR is nothing but a class act and a great ambassador for college football and UGA. CMR says Bama has a good one themselves. Mike also thanked Munson for being such a huge asset to college football.

Munson kidded CMR about curse words on the golf course or something…CMR admitted to letting a few rip in front of the team once in a while. He’d later apologize for the words but not for getting after them. He told a story about waiting once for a camerman to clear before talking to the team. (Munson was further kidding CMR about doing that with his wife on the sidelines as a water girl.)

Ben in Aiken, SC thanked Munson for years of memory and asked about Dick Payne .. Payne is doing fine. He asked about MoMass – CMR says he brings lots of energy and works real hard, but still occasionally makes mistakes. CMR also likes how we spread the ball around.

Keith in Plant City, FL wonders how hard it is to keep athletes in check in this day and age. CMR doesn’t think it’s a whole lot different. What is different is stuff like the internet and different ways information is spread. CMR thinks every newspaper has people watching the police blotter and campus; it has become a sport in itself. Also someone can’t wait to tell someone else stuff then it ends up on the Dawg Vent or someplace. The guys have to understand they’re high-profile people and hopefully they’ll learn from experiences and become fine people.