Well Spring Practice is over and the long grueling march towards September begins. G Day wrapped up everything in a nice little bow for the Georgia Bulldogs.

- Lots of scoring but as Marc Weiszer tells  us, nothing to worry about defensively.

- By all accounts the Running Backs have had a nice spring. Yesterday confirmed that as Ken Malcome got the start and looked good gaining 32 yards on 8 carries. His Touchdown run was legit SEC stuff. Isaiah Crowell looked good too. Even though he was doing it against the reserves I thought Richard Samuel looked rather beastly in his second half performance at running back.

- The offensive line still has some work to do as expected. However I thought the #1 unit held their own against the #1 defense.

- I was interested in seeing how Christian Lemay looked and he has most definitely improved from last year. That being said Hutson Mason looked really sharp.

- Justin Scott Wesley had a nice day catching the ball  O(3 catches for 46 yards) and Jay Rome showed some serious wheels for a big guy on his late game touchdown.

- Special teams are probably the hardest thing to judge during the spring and not much to report from G Day other than we need a real punter. Miss you already Drew!

Really not too much to day other than that. The first team defense looks like a legitimate championship unit and Aaron Murray looked confident.

Only 19  more Saturdays without football you guys.

Clean Old Fashioned Hate. Here is all you need to know about the 2011 version:

The Senator questions those big ‘ol brains Tech folks are always bragging about.

Dawg Sports reminds us why we call it Clean Old Fashioned Hate.

Tyler at the Georgia Sports Blog airs a few grievances and sets some things straight for out friends on North Ave.

We check back in with Dawg Sports who serves up some secrets to beating the Jackets.

Tech will honor Larry Munson in a pre-game ceremony. A little class looks good on you Tech.

And then there’s Paul Johnson who sometimes forgets to stay classy.

Tech Blog From The Rumble Seat gives us graphs!

My thoughts on the game:

- Stop the “belly” run up the middle. If Tech is able to get some traction up the middle it opens up everything in their triple option attack. The belly play is what makes the triple option tick. Georgia has been stout against the run all year and of course Tech’s #2 rushing offense will give the Dawgs a stiff test. Georgia also has to stay disciplined as Tech will throw lots of mis-direction at you. Geathers, Jenkins, Tyson, and Jones will need to have a whale of a game.

- The Dawg defenders have to keep their cool. Tech will cut block, they will, it’s what they do. Georgia can’t afford to get frustrated and retaliate and get penalties or even ejections. Vandy cut blocked all night and we all remember what that led to.  True cut blocking is legal, but defenders hate it when it happens.

- Tech special teams have been as bad as Georgia at times so that hidden yardage on special teams could factor in if either team can benefit from a big play.  Georgia has cleaned up special teams since the Florida game and solid special teams play will be needed on The Flats.

- Hopefully the offense got the turnovers out of their system against Kentucky last week.

- Who will play running back? I think we will see both Crowell and Thomas. As we saw in 2009 it can be a sound strategy to run, run, run, and run some more to keep the triple option on the bench. Georgia had to throw to run against Kentucky. That probably won’t work against Tech as Al Groh will throw all sorts of pressure at Aaron Murray.

- I haven’t mentioned Orson Charles in a while so I will mention him now. Tech has had some trouble matching up against athletic Tight Ends this season. Orson had a big games last year against the Jackets so he will be a key to watch for in the passing game.

Beat Tech

Georgia looked sloppy but got the win over Kentucky 19-10 to secure a spot in the SEC Championship game.  My thoughts on the game:

-  The Auburn Hangover effect was pretty evident. The team looked sluggish and it just felt very blah  in the stadium. It didn’t help that Crowell got knocked out of the game on the first series. You could feel whatever energy was in the stadium get sucked out as Crowell limped to the sideline for seemingly the 837th time this season.

- As I alluded to on Friday Georgia couldn’t afford to turn the ball over. Georgia did turn the ball over four times and it made the game much closer than it should have been. Fortunately for Georgia, The Cats turned it over four times as well.  Kentucky’s costly fumble late in the third quarter set up Georgia with a short field for the Dawgs only touchdown of the day.

- With Crowell going out early and Carlton Thomas held out for a violation of team rules for 432nd time the Dawgs were razor thin at running back. It took a while to get going but eventually some running lanes opened up in the second half for Brandon Harton, who wound up with 101 yards rushing on the day. Georgia really missed Richard Samuel yesterday. File that last sentence under things I never thought I’d type.

- Murray wasn’t sharp 16-29 with a TD and a pick, but I doubt the game plan called for close to 30 passes. The situation at running back put Georgia in a throw first situation and Kentucky was able to get some pressure. Georgia left a lot of points on the field as they went back to stumbling in the red zone. Missed opportunities really kept Georgia from putting Kentucky away in the first half. Georgia lived on the Wildcats’  side of the field they just couldn’t get it in the end zone.

- You can’t say enough about the defense and particularly Jarvis Jones. Kentucky’s offense didn’t make a peep in the second half and Jones was nearly un-blockable. As the world famous  Jordan Byce says, Jarvis Jones is just a ball of hate.

- All in all this a game that the 09 and 10 Georgia teams would have found a way to squander. You could sort of see this kind of performance coming as most of the talk leading up to the game already had Georgia in the Dome. Give Kentucky credit they showed up ready to play. The Cats just didn’t have enough in the tank.

- I know play in  the SEC East has not been a thing of beauty this season, but this division title was much needed for the Georgia program and the Dawgs should be congratulated and they will have a fighter’s chance at whomever wins the West.

On to Tech. Go Dawgs

Well that was fun. We finally see what happens when Georgia puts a complete game together .  Georgia whipped Auburn in all phases of the game en route to a 45-7 wood-shedding of the Tigers from East Alabama. A few thoughts on the game:

- When Aaron Murray is on, he’s the best in the SEC and he was on Saturday afternoon. Efficient, accurate and all that good stuff. In my humpble opinion his best effort as a Bulldog.

- Murray continued to spread the wealth as seven different Dawgs caught passes.

- Offensive Line Coach Will Friend deserves a ton of credit, his group has gotten better every week. The Georgia O-line protected Murray well and opened up holes in the running game all day long.

- Georgia finally got that back-breaking defensive score they have been looking for all season. Rambo’s pick six blew the game wide open and Auburn never had a shot from that point forward.

- The Dawg defense continued it’s excellent play, never allowing QB Clint Moseley and the Auburn offense to ever really get anything going. Their opening TD drive was the only time the Tigers moved the ball all game long.  The only negative for the defense getting nipped again by mis-direction on Auburn’s lone score of the ball game.

- Special teams were solid, not great but solid and that is a huge improvement.

- I have some great Auburn friends, but man did the Tiger crowd do a disappearing act at halftime, I think their band was all that was left.

- It’s time for Gene Chizik to man up and do the right thing; Retain Ted Roof!!

- Some Georgia students were making it rain with dollar bills with Cammy Cam’s face on them. Auburn fans were less than amused. All in!

- Not much to say other than wow, here Georgia is with a shot at the SEC East just needing to knock off Kentucky next week.  Criticize Georgia’s schedule all you want, but this team has gotten better each and every week. It’s great to be having fun during football season again.

Until Next time, Cheers!