Tag: dawgs

Mecole Hardman’s agent Lil Wayne has big plans for Super Bowl rings

Mecole Hardman’s agent, renowned for several ventures outside of sports management, is confident the rookie will hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Kansas City Chiefs rookie Mecole Hardman is the only Georgia Bulldog playing in Super Bowl LIV. He extends the school’s 19-year streak of Super Bowl representation one year after four former players represented the University of Georgia in the big game.

Hardman’s agent, renowned for several ventures outside of sports management, is confident the rookie will hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Rapper Lil Wayne was the featured guest on an episode of the podcast Drink Champs; the interview was posted one night before the Super Bowl. Around 45 minutes into the interview, he was requested to give a prediction of the game.

“I’m got the Chiefs…because I’ve got a player on that team,”

Podcast hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN ask if he’s referring to a fantasy team.

“No, I have an agency.”

Young Money Entertainment was founded in 2005 primarily as a record label, but has recently branched into athlete representation, similarly to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

Following the podcast audience’s laughter, Lil Wayne further explained:

“Mecole Hardman. Number 17. He’s a Dawg and he’s a rookie, so I’d love to see him get a Super Bowl ring.”

N.O.R.E. proceeds to ask if Lil Wayne gets a ring if the the Chiefs win.

“Yeah. And I might make his ring look better than the [rest of] the team’s.”

Let it be known: The multi-platinum recording artist decrees that if his client earns a Super Bowl ring, he will to to pay out of pocket to further bedazzle a diamond-encrusted accessory already exceeding a worth of $40,000.

 

Georgia among four-star DE Jahvaree Ritzie’s top schools

The Georgia Bulldogs have made four-star defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie’s list of top schools. Ritzie plays football at Glenn High School.

The Georgia Bulldogs have made four-star defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie’s list of top schools. Ritzie, who plays football at Glenn High School, is a member of the class of 2021.

Kirby Smart and UGA will turn their focus to the class of 2021 following Wednesday’s National Signing Day. Georgia currently has the number one ranked class of 2020.

Ritzie is a recruiting target for UGA, who is from Kernersville, North Carolina. Ritzie announced his top schools via Twitter:

Ritzie is considering numerous schools including: Georgia, NC State, UNC, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State, Wake Forest, Duke, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Tennessee. UNC and NC State are considered among the favorites to land the four-star DE.

Georgia currently has three commitments in the class of 2021. The Dawgs currently have a commitment from North Carolina in the class of 2021 in Jared Wilson, who is from Clemmons, NC.

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Georgia football signee: Dawgs are ‘not done’ with this recruiting class

It seems as if those closest to the situation feel confident in the Bulldogs’ chances of reeling in more big fish.

With National Signing Day fast approaching, the Georgia Bulldogs already have 19 players enrolled from December’s early signing period.

After transfers, graduations, and draft declaration, this puts Georgia at a projected 82 scholarships out of the NCAA-imposed limit of 85 total. The Dawgs can sign three additional high school prospects, and more if any more scholarship players announce a transfer.

It seems as if those closest to the situation feel confident in the Bulldogs’ chances of reeling in more big fish.

Given that the Dawgs will replace four starting offense linemen, it’s appears to be a good sign that two offensive line signees are hinting at something.

For a Georgia offense anchored upon physical line play and powerful tailbacks, this is exactly what fans of the Silver Britches needed to see.

Former Georgia football OC James Coley set to join SEC foe

UGA now looks to hire a replacement QB coach to instruct Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman and freshman enrollee Carson Beck. 

After former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken was hired to perform the same role at the University of Georgia, former Bulldogs’ OC James Coley’s future was up in the air.

Is Coley now a co-offensive coordinator? Will he go back to coaching quarterbacks? Will he coach receivers?

It would appear none of these hypotheticals will come to fruition. James Coley will be the next tight ends coach at Texas A&M.

Bulldog faithful were introduced to Coley during Kirby Smart’s inaugural season as Top Dawg; Coley was hired as wide receivers’ coach in 2016 following Mark Richt’s removal in late 2015.

During his tenure in Athens, Coley graduated from a position coach to a co-offensive coordinator with Jim Chaney to a full-time offensive coordinator. He was demoted following a lackluster 2019 season during which the Dawgs’ defense stole the show.

Prior to the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl win against Baylor earlier this month, Coley admitted some of his shortcomings as OC:

“You know what? I’ve got to do a better job. I’m looking at myself hard, criticizing myself, and busting my tail to get those things better.”

So what will Georgia football’s offense look like next year? Without its beloved offensive line coach Pittman and its mildly maligned offensive coordinator Coley, it’s difficult to predict anything aside from “eh, maybe just a little different.”

In terms of points per game against conference opponents, hopefully it’s a lot different.

Georgia will now look to hire a replacement quarterbacks coach to instruct Wake Forest graduate transfer Jamie Newman and freshman enrollee Carson Beck.

Rival SEC commit visits Georgia football staff in Athens

Ole Miss pledge Daran Branch is in Athens for weekend to meet with Kirby Smart and Matt Luke.

The Georgia Bulldogs have a visitor on campus committed to a conference rival.

Ole Miss pledge Daran Branch is in Athens for weekend to meet with Kirby Smart and company. His primary recruiter is Matt Luke, former University of Mississippi head coach and current offensive line coach at Georgia.

It will be one of Branch’s five allotted official visits.

Branch, a three-star senior cornerback out of Amite, Louisiana, committed to Ole Miss on November 17, two weeks before Luke was ousted from Oxford.

The lengthy cornerback certainly fits Kibry Smart’s mold for an ideal defensive back’s size and has the speed, awareness, and ball skills to be a ball hawk at safety.

Georgia’s 2020 defense will return the vast majority of the team’s 2019 starters, but only have two cornerbacks (five-star Kelee Ringo and four-star Jalen Kimber, the latter of whom already enrolled at UGA) and one saftey (Major Burns, enrolled) in the 2020 class.

Branch previously committed to Miami in March. It seems like a spot is there for him in Athens given his relationship with Matt Luke, but his commitment will be one to keep on eye on in the next week and a half before National Signing Day.

Twitter reacts: Jake Fromm declares for NFL Draft

Fromm is one of the finest to ever suit up in red and black. Rightfully so, Bulldog Nation reacts with gratitude.

Georgia’s 2020 offensive rebuild just got a lot harder. Junior quarterback Jake Fromm, who started all but the first game of his collegiate career, has declared to forego his senior year and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.

Fromm finishes his career donning silver britches having won 36 games (including the 2017 season opener in which he relieved an injured Jacob Eason and never looked back) and heaving led the Dawgs to three consecutive SEC East titles, one SEC title, and a Rose Bowl victory along the way.

He is the third Bulldog quarterback to finish his tenure undefeated when starting against the Florida Gators. The other two: John Rauch from 1945-1948 and Buck Belue from 1979-1981.

He never lost to Tennessee or Georgia Tech, either.

The decision is surprising to some, as Fromm’s 2019 completion percentage was his lowest in his three years in Athens.

He entered his final season as a projected first round pick, but without three of his favorite receivers from 2018 and with new starters struggling to separate, Fromm has fallen in mock drafts.

Regardless of where he’s drafted, Jake Fromm is one of the finest quarterbacks to ever suit up in red and black. Rightfully so, the Bulldog Nation has reacted with immense gratitude.

 

Message board encroachment: TAMU fans discuss upcoming Georgia game

I spent the week exploring various Texas A&M message boards to get a feel for how Aggie fanatics view their football team. As often as I spend Saturdays glued to a television, I figured that it’d be best to get a feel for Georgia’s next opponent …

I spent the week exploring various Texas A&M message boards to get a feel for how Aggie fanatics view their football team. As often as I spend Saturdays glued to a television, I figured that it’d be best to get a feel for Georgia’s next opponent through engaging with the people who watch all sixty minutes every Saturday.

Considering this will be the first ever conference matchup between Georgia and A&M since they joined the SEC in 2012, neither team’s fan base has a much of a point of reference of how these teams stack up outside of statistical information we have available. After all, the last time these two squads had to worry about one another was in preparation for the 2009 Independence Bowl.

Among the most shared sentiments were the following:

Their fans feel that the Aggies are a very balanced team with no overwhelming strengths and no glaring weaknesses.

Several fans did say that if one unit is better than the other, it’s the defense, but only slightly. One Ag pointed out that, between last season and this one, they’ve had to replace their most productive tailback and tight end in school history with a freshman and sophomore, respectively.

As the fan noted, “If we cannot get the ground game moving or get decent production from tight end, our offense will get crushed,” acknowledging Georgia’s “stout” 2019 defense.

Other fans believe the offensive onus will be placed squarely upon QB Kellen Mond in getting the ball moving. He’s a solid pocket passer and has thrown for the third most yards of any quarterback in the conference behind LSU’s Joe Burrow and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, the latter of whom won’t play again this season.

What sets him apart from other quarterbacks Georgia’s defense has seen thus far in 2019 is his ability to extend plays and throw while rolling out beyond the hash marks. The Dawgs saw a decent bit of that in the most recent win at Auburn and contained it well, setting the edge and keeping a spy linebacker focusing on the signal caller.

“The entire offense plays at the level [Mond] plays,” one fan said. “We don’t really have any game breakers that can do it themselves.”

Kellen Mond is faster on his feet and more experienced than Bo Nix, but a number of A&M fans agreed that if there is one position group of weakness, it would be their offensive line. The Aggies have given up 24 sacks on the year. Compare that to Auburn’s 16 allowed. Now compare that to Georgia’s six.

If Georgia’s front seven can adequately pressure Mond behind his pedestrian offensive line, Texas A&M fans expect doom and gloom.

Looking on the other side of the ball, the Internet’s Aggies don’t fear Georgia’s passing game nearly as much as they fear the rushing attack.

I’m sure you can imagine that I came across some toxic and blatantly non-factual posts disparaging Jake Fromm. After one poster declared everything aside from Fromm’s career completion percentage as “totally unimpressive,” several more rational A&M fans pointed out that the Dawgs don’t go long often simply because of the “monsters” the Bulldogs showcase in the backfield.

Georgia’s offense has long been based on controlling the clock with a run-first offense balanced between three or more top-self tailbacks. Any Texas A&M supporter who can recognize this has admittedly watched more Georgia football this season than I have watched Texas A&M football.

Rodrigo Blankenship congratulates Georgia P Jake Camarda for winning SEC honor

Georgia football punter Jake Camarda’s earned himself SEC special teams player of the week honors and Rodrigo Blankenship was quick to congr

In Saturday’s win at Auburn, Georgia punter Jake Camarda’s performance earned him the honor of Southeastern Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. Camarda isn’t the first recipient of the award to suit up for the Silver Britches this season.

His teammate, kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, is no stranger to the award and was among the first to congratulate Camarda this afternoon.

This is the fourth time this season that a Georgia Bulldog has been named the SEC’s Special Teamer of the week. The other three were awarded to Camarda’s hype man Blankenship.

Camarda was called to punt 11 times for the Dawgs against the Tigers, averaging 50.7 yards per attempt including an early 67 yard bomb that stuck Auburn at their own goal line.

Blankenship recently called for Camarda to be recognized as game MVP in the Bulldogs’ win on The Plains.

In a defensive struggle that 1) was heavily reliant on field position and 2) resulted in a division-clinching win for Georgia, it’s hard to argue with Hot Rod. Jake Camarda came up big.

What we learned from Georgia football’s win at Auburn

Defense again stole the show for Georgia on Saturday as the Dawgs picked up their SEC East-clinching win in a trip to Auburn.

Defense again stole the show for Georgia on Saturday as the Dawgs picked up their SEC East-clinching win in a trip to Auburn. The offense sputtered, but came through when needed. What did we learn?

Georgia’s defense is historically great, but has its flaws.

Oh no, Georgia gave up its first rushing touchdown of the season. It took ten games for any team to accomplish that against the Bulldogs.

What really hurt Georgia over the course of the game? Slant routes. Auburn simply abused Bulldog cornerbacks with quick 10 yard gains early on in drives, and while Georgia’s defense eventually stepped it up and forced several midfield punts and fourth down attempts, the Tigers’ offense out-gained and out-possessed Georgia’s offense on the day largely due to their quick chunk plays.

LSU still needs one more win to clinch the SEC West, but regardless of whether Georgia will meet Heisman hopeful Joe Burrow or an Alabama squad who recently lost its star quarterback, the Dawgs’ secondary will have to tighten things up in Atlanta when facing either one of two Western Division powerhouses that are ranked within the top ten nationally in total offense.

Switching to a soft zone defense late in the game when your defense has dominated all day may not be a good idea.

Georgia had all the momentum going into the fourth quarter. With a 21-0 lead, Georgia’s defense switched from their smothering man defense to a soft zone, presumably so as to not give up any home run plays.

However, Auburn then scored two touchdowns within the span of three minutes and found themselves driving to level the score in the game’s waning minutes.

All’s well that ends well, but switching to zone and nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory likely shaved some time off Georgia fans’ lifespans.

In a defensive battle, Jake Camarda can be the difference.

The Bulldogs’ punter has had a good season, not a great one. Yesterday on The Plains, however, Jake Camarda looked NFL-caliber. A certain special teams specialist even called him the game’s most valuable player.

He averaged just north of 50 yards per punt against the Tigers, including a booming 67 yarder that pinned Auburn at its own two yard line. In a matchup which your offense requires you to punt 11 times (including NINE three-and-outs), consistency is key in allowing your defense to control the pace of the game.

Georgia’s offense revolves around the offensive line.

Okay, maybe we knew this much earlier on. That being said, they looked stout against an Auburn front seven who came into the game averaging two and a half sacks per contest. Georgia allowed just one sack, which became only the sixth sack they’ve allowed all season.

Jake Fromm didn’t look as crisp as he’s looked in the past, but his pass protection provided by the Great Wall of Georgia allowed him all day to throw. Perfect blocking and a perfect throw gave Georgia a first quarter lead it would never relinquish.

Fromm would later toss two additional beautiful touch passes to Brian Herrien and Eli Wolf. D’Andre Swift recorded yet another 100 yard rushing performance. The offensive line continues to stand tall, literally and figuratively.

D’Andre Swift is not a human, he’s a tornado.

We’ve seen Swift with some mean tackle-avoiding spin moves before, but his latest is absurd. How quickly he managed to turn that full 360 degrees blows my mind, and with a hand in his face and a tackler closing in, he casually trotted for a first down.

Overall, what did we learn? Them Dawgs is hell.