Reason #738 Why Tech Sucks: The Case of the Missing Stafford

Clearly there isn't much to write about lately, so why not take a gander at what's going on in the wizarding world of Georgia Tech?

First, we have the big news about Tech's strong showing at the 2011 NFL draft.  The Buzzing Bees had one player drafted, RB Anthony Allen, in the 7th round (officially pick #255) by the Baltimore Ravens.  You would think that running back might be the only position not hampered by Head Wizard Johnson's triple option offense when it comes to time to join the pros, but I'm thinking that would be a wrong assumption.  Just look at ESPN's recap of the Raven's picks, including this one sentence summary of Georgia Tech's Allen: 

"Allen will need some development and coaching as a runner coming from the triple-option scheme at Georgia Tech."

Sounds to me like the triple-option is considered a liability, not just by the NFL, but by scouts and media like ESPN.

In other Tech news, you may have heard that Matt Stafford was throwing passes to Calvin Johnson and Chad Ochocinco the other day on Tech's fields.  Here's a story that mentions the event and includes a photo of the three NFL players together in the Bobby Dodd governmental assistance structure for the football challenged.

Photo credit: @ochocinco himself

But if you're like me and you love to check out Georgia Tech websites looking for things to laugh at, you may have also noticed a post on Tech's official blog page.  The headline of the post reads "Megatron and Ochocinco," the short paragraph is about how two of the best receivers in the NFL worked out on campus, and it then has a nice little photo of Calvin Johnson standing with Ochocinco in the Tech stadium. 

But wait a second... there's no mention of Stafford anywhere in the post, and that photo happens to be the same photo of the three players that can be seen on the site I linked previously... except with Stafford cropped out.

Photo credit: Conspicuous Cropping Done by playatgatech.com

Really, Georgia Tech?  You're that offended by all things Georgia that you have to crop the 2009 #1 draft pick and starting Detroit QB from your photo AND the story?  

I assume this means any Tech fans who root for the Lions try to imagine that Stafford does not exist, and that whenever Calvin Johnson catches a ball, it was chucked miraculously into the air by a Tech-designed robot that probably looks like this.  Sure, it probably helps that Stafford has barely played in the past 2 years due to injury, but they still have to imagine it every once in a while.  

Keep on Ramblin', you wrecks.  

G-Day Trend: Today's Game a Bad Omen?

First of all, I think G-Day 2011 was a success in all the right ways.  We got to see the defense do well in the 1st half, and the offense turn it on in the 2nd.

Aaron Murray looked excellent, going 12 of 17 for 122 yards and a TD, while the backups Mason and Lemay (and even walk-on Parker Welch) looked pretty solid themselves.  Although Ealey and incoming hopeful star Isaiah Crowell weren't playing, Caleb King looked good with 30 yards on 5 carries and Ken Malcome had similar numbers (7 for 39) and a TD.  The receivers didn't look spectacular, but they looked like a solid group that should be able to get things done with Murray throwing it to them.  Orson Charles and Tavarres King, while not of AJ Green caliber (but who is?), are still capable of being SEC stars themselves.  And of course Branden Smith was the star of the offense (is that right?) while catching and running the ball.  The defense had plenty of standouts from Alec Ogletree (7 tackles), Reuben Faloughi (3 sacks, 3 TFL), Chase Vasser (7 tackles), and walk-on Connor Norman, who had 5 tackles and a very nice interception.

Now that that's all out of the way, WHAT ABOUT THE OMEN?

Last year I noticed a trend from recent G-Day games that showed how higher scoring spring games generally lead to better seasons.  Based on the point scoring, last year's G-Day seemed to predict between a 9 and 10 win record for the Dawgs.  But there was one problem: in the previous five G-Days, the Red team always won, but in 2010, the Black team won.  I wondered if that could lead to some bizarro Bulldog season with catastrophic consequences.  Unfortunately, it did.

Below is a chart of each G-Day, first listing the points scored by the winning team, then the total points in the game, and the following season's record.

2011: 18 points (29 total) ????????? (Black team wins)
2010: 17 points (24 total) 6-7 record (Black team wins)

2009: 13 points (16 total), 8-5 record

2006: 14 points (24 total), 9-4 record

2008: 17 points (20 total), 10-3 record

2005: 21 points (33 total), 10-3 record (winning SEC)

2007: 34 points (55 total), 11-2 record

Last season was filled with catastrophe.  First, there were plenty of off-season arrests through the spring and summer, then a crazy NCAA investigation led to the Dawgs losing AJ Green for the first four games.  Very unfortunate fumbles and other strange happenings (along with just plain bad coaching or play) ended up in a losing season. 

So while a few more points were scored this year at G-Day, which would alone predict between a 10 win season, the Black team has won again.  Things are different this year, though.  While in the past, the Red team has almost always been the first team offense, this year the teams were drafted and randomized, so the winner doesn't really matter as much.  So far, this has been a great spring for the Dawgs, with no real bad news and a "Dream Team" recruiting class.  So maybe things will turn out different in 2011.  The good news is, this entire trend is hopefully ridiculous and only worth discussion for fun.  

I'll just hope that the 2011 Bulldog squad won't worry about any trends or records from the past, put last year's catastrophic results behind them, and look toward an SEC Championship (and perhaps more) in the fall.  

Kids "Calling the Dawgs" in UGAnda?

Not an April Fool's joke, I promise.  The April Fool's joke appears to be the fact that I actually posted something.

Watch awesome video below:

UGA Returning Percentages 2011 Edition: Rushing

Yes I am reusing my photos.

So now football practice has resumed and it's springtime, which means there's really not going to be any real news other than funny little anecdotes and interviews with players/coaches for a while.  That means it's time for the fun stuff: NUMBERS.

You may remember last year when I looked at the numbers of what percentage of yards, touchdowns, tackles, sacks, and other fun stats were returning for Georgia's team. Maybe the most exciting fact I found was that UGA was returning EVERY rushing yard from 2009 to 2010.  Of course, that changed slightly when only days later running back Dontavius Jackson decided to transfer, leaving us 38 yards shy of that achievement.  But still, I thought that the returning rushing experience was a great sign for how the team would perform in that area in the fall of 2010, and I even found an interesting pattern that showed a correlation between large returning rushing percentages and success in the following season.  Needless to say, that didn't turn out to be the case in 2010.

But why not look at it again for this year?

Going into 2011, UGA is once again losing very little from the rushing department (percentage-wise).  This is mostly due to Georgia losing no running backs, but both experienced fullbacks (Shaun Chapas, Fred Munzenmaier) have departed, along with AJ Green and Logan Gray (both having a handful of rushing yards last season).

Even with those four players leaving and taking a total of 118 yards with them, the numbers look very, very nice.

• UGA is losing about 6% of the 1854 rushing yards from 2010, which means a return of 94%.

• Shaun Chapas did have 2 rushing TDs in 2010 which accounted for 9.5% of the 21 total rushing touchdowns, so without those, UGA returns just over 90% of rushing scores.

Now of course in 2010, the returning rushing percentages didn't account to much, which was unusual according to recent trends.  We'll have to wait and see if things will be different this season, and we have yet to see how Ken Malcome or new recruit Isaiah Crowell might contribute to the rushing numbers.

Bulldog vs. Husky: Real Puppy Fight (YouTube Video)

A quick YouTube search reveals many previous battles between Bulldogs and Huskies.  This is clearly a long, underrated rivalry in the history of dogs.

The Fake "Dawgs" Must Go Down Tonight

As you may or may not know, the University of Washington likes to refer to their mascot, the Huskies, as "Dawgs."  Firstly, the word "dog" is no where in their mascot name.  As many have said, they aren't the "Huskiedogs."  Washington fans like to claim that the "w" in "Dawgs" stands for Washington.  Then I ask them what the "a" stands for.

Second, their live mascot (named Dubs) isn't even a real husky.  It's a malamute.

What are these people trying to pull here?  Their mascot is a farce.

Of course, no one outside of Washington really calls them the Dawgs (while it's universally known that the true Dawgs are UGA), and it's likely that not many know of the malamute named Dubs, while Uga is the most popular mascot in the country.  And clearly "Dawgs" is a word modeled after the Southern pronunciation of "Dogs," as in part of the word "Bulldogs."

In a match between the real Dawgs and the Huskies MalamuteDawgs, there can only be one true Dawg.  Let's do this UGA.

Aaron Murray: Football Assassin (YouTube video)

I'm being told by multiple sources that this is a video of Aaron Murray attempting a QB trick shot on the beach in Key West for spring break.

My question: Did he fail.... or succeed?