Latest / Dawgs Down South / Episode 116: 5 Keys To Game 1, Lane Kiffin Drama, Xzavier McLeod Exit, Kirby Presser

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Episode 116: 5 Keys To Game 1, Lane Kiffin Drama, Xzavier McLeod Exit, Kirby Presser · Dawgs Down South

• Ted Turner: Greetings everyone. Welcome to Dogs Down South. Happy to be with you tonight. It is game week. Week one in college football. Fish, welcome. How are you, man? Adam Fisher: I'm great dude. I'm pumped. It's game week. Game week. It's finally Ted Turner: It's finally here, man. Adam Fisher: here. Ted Turner: It's finally here. Crazy, man. We have been pumping these podcasts out all summer long and leading up to this week and you know, we got a fun filled show tonight, but I think, man, some of the I'm looking forward to Thursday night when we do picks 'cause that's a fun night, but I really like the idea of you know, talking about the history, right, behind history, but maybe just all the feels, right, of Sanford Stadium and college a game day on a college campus, specifically Georgia. but man, it's just like the pageantry, right? It's the things that go unchecked with everything going on in the world with NIL and you know, Congress and suing the the SEC and fifth years of eligibility and it really gets overshadowed the pageantry of college football. Would you agree? Adam Fisher: Yeah, but you know what? That's one of the best things about it. And that's kind of what separates it from the NFL more than anything now than it ever has before. Because, you know, like it's turning into you know, the college players are, you know, calling themselves professionals. You know, it's not they're not amateurs anymore because they're making, you know, lots of money to play now, you know, it's pay for play. And, you know, that's awesome. But, you know, the the little things like you were talking about, like, you know, the tailgating and I know they do that in the pros, but I mean in college it's just it's different, you know, it it's different and that's that's what separates, you know, college from the NFL. It makes it better in my opinion. Ted Turner: Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent agree, man. I I I can't agree more and you know, I know that the last few years due to scheduling where we had opponents on the schedule that were, you know, specifically Oklahoma, right? Two years ago, and had to move things around because obviously Oklahoma joins the SEC and things of that nature, but You know, we're gonna talk about it tonight. I mean, this whole show tonight's gonna be based around like what does Georgia need to try and accomplish, other than obviously winning the football games. That's the first and foremost. But what does Georgia need to accomplish in these first two to three games? We're gonna break down, you know, who to look for and what what we think against Tennessee State on Thursday night a little bit too as well. But tonight kind of wanna dive in like four or five things we think that Georgia needs to really focus on. To have a productive game one, two, and three leading into what we think is going to be one of the more harder opponents on our schedule this year coming to Athens later on this month, and that's Oklahoma. But before we do that, speaking of reasons why scheduling and joining the SEC and things of that nature, man, I know everybody has heard about this. I know everybody's probably maybe even tired of hearing about this, but you know, it would not be I I don't think we should bypass the fact that, you know, right now Georgia can do everything right. I think every team can do everything right in the SEC but LSU as far as taking the podium and sounding off in the past two or three weeks. I mean, even Eli Drinkowitz can hop on the mic and completely obliterate the NCAA and he's not the talk of college football man. And it's because our friend Mr. Lane Kiffin man will not get out of the spotlight. i w I mean, just first thoughts on this fish. I mean, we're gonna dive in a little bit, but what's first thoughts on all this crap going on with Kiffin and LSU? Adam Fisher: Yeah. Something's wrong with this dude, man. Like he he just likes pushing buttons and that's what he's doing. And I don't know if it's even about being right or being wrong. I think he's just doing it because he can. And this is this is his persona. This is his MO and there's nobody around to keep him in check. Nobody's you know, reminding him that what he's doing is stupid. Like he's unchecked. You know, so he's just Doing whatever he wants to do. You know, he's exploiting loopholes, which I agree and I admit, you know, loopholes shouldn't exist. You know, whoever wrote these rules should have done their due diligence and made it put it in the literature, you know, and spelled it out, you know, A B C what you can and can't do, and not left area like gray areas, you know, because unfortunately that's what there are and that's what he's exploiting. And he's some sort of whiz kid at doing that. You know, I'm not I'm not trying to praise him because I'm tired of him and I'm tired of his crap. And I he's about got he's he's got it to where there's actually talk of like, you know, LSU not being a part of the SEC anymore. Like that's where this is headed. Maybe not that exact route, you know, that's what's gonna happen. But LSU's in trouble, man. Like, unless they back down, like I don't know what's gonna happen. Ted Turner: Like, and here's my thing, like, are these players even really worth all this? I mean, you know, are they worth all of this stuff going on? I mean, think about this. At the end of the day, it's not like Arch Manning went went to the NFL not gonna play. But I mean, for for for that matter, let's let's go let's dig a little deeper. Let's talk about somebody who's in the NFL. It's not like Fernando Mendoza, the first pick this year who It's not going to be starting for the Raiders, right? So that's that's going to be Kirk Cousins and but it'd be different if Fernando Mendoza was like, I'm not going to be starting. Maybe he knew he wasn't going to be starting. Maybe he's fine that he wasn't starting, right? But like it's not like Fernando Mendoza coming back to Indiana where it's like, Yeah, man, we might want to go battle the courts and really push this and, you know, even if it's worth that to them, we're talking about like a tight end, tight end two, three, I mean, you know, an extra defensive lineman here or there, like It it starts to it starts to make s make me well, let's I you what. Let's hear from old Lane and let's see what I mean Lane Lane also I mean, I don't know about you, man, but Lane just he just he just tells some stuff sometimes and just makes stuff up as he goes. But I think for for the listeners, let's let's hear what he had to say in his press conference. Okay, right there. I gotta stop. Okay. Here's my thing, man. First off, This ain't the NFL. Th this this is Adam Fisher: No. Ted Turner: clearly not the NFL. I don't care how you sit there and you go, Well, we can argue that they're paid like the NFL and we can argue this, but Adam Fisher: Transm. Ted Turner: It it is it is absolutely absurd the bull crap he's talking right now because it's not the NFL Adam Fisher: Yeah. Ted Turner: and the edge and what can we do to have this university win. Whatever happened to the fact that at the end of the day there is a there is a pageantry on the right going on, wrong word. There's a show on the right going on. But on the left there are student athletes who come to a university. The only people that are involved in this, by the way, are the athletes. When I go to watch a college football game, I'm not thinking about how they're paid, how their how their how their NIL deal is wor is is worked out. I'm not thinking and the players are not running around thinking about their NIL deal. They're at the end of the day, it's business and tell you what, man, like it makes you appreciate like on a level of nobody should put Kirby's smart name in their mouth. this year any years about how he handles practices and how he handles his team and how he deals with some of this stuff because you know, when you hear his pressers it's like, what do you talk I mean, th there was a there was a question about like getting down to the one five and it w he was like, We we don't we don't have to get down to anything, man. You don't you don't know how our roster's built. Like you have no idea how our rosters but I know there's, you know, legally this is what you gotta do, how you can travel and things of that nature, but far as I'm concerned, and by the way, like we're good. We're we're not taking any of these guys. We're good. Like it's just it's I mean, free to chime in on that, but man, I'm that just that just gets me pumped in a bad way. Real bad way. Adam Fisher: This whole situation does. I mean, like he's sitting there trying to rationalize what he's doing and he's trying to compare college football to the NFL in which there's no comparison. It's a different thing. The only similarities are that people are getting paid and some of the a lot of these players have agents. You know, well these kids deserve to get paid. I mean, there's a lot of money floating around out there that was just going who knows where. You know, and not to where it needs to go, which I agree a hundred percent. These kids are why all these companies and universities and things are making all this money, they deserve to get paid. but he but to hear him sit there and say so when he asked his leadership committee on his team, do you think that consists of a lot of second and third string people whose whose jobs aren't on the line 'cause they're wanting to bring in outside guys? Do you think he, you know, is asking the guy who is gonna be sitting on the bench or might lose his spot on the roster because they want to bring in a couple of people that are uneligible? Like is he asking them what their opinion is? Do you think those kids don't care that they've worked their butt off all summer to be there and to get that roster spot? And then they're just gonna bring in these guys who couldn't cut it in the league to take their spot? And and the another thing is this is a like these are third string, second string dudes that they're bringing in. Like these aren't even guys that are gonna help. Like these aren't five star, you know, this isn't, you know, this isn't Jackson Dart trying to come back or this isn't, you know, whoever, you know, trying to come back and get it like Jalen Carter. What if he wanted to come back and get that last year of eligibility? He didn't feel like playing for the Eagles this year. Is that cool? Like is that what is that what we're doing? You know, that's it doesn't make sense. Ted Turner: Listen, man, I w we're gonna pick these games Thursday night, but I'm gonna go ahead and give you a pick ahead of time. I hope Dabo rolls in to Baton Rouge where game day's at and just blows them the hell out of the water, bro. I I I've never you'll never I I never thought I would say Adam Fisher: fifty two zip. Ted Turner: that, but it would be poetry. Poetry if Dabo Adam Fisher: Yep. It would be karma and god I hope that happened. Ted Turner: it it would be Like this is Dabo who has been drugged through the mud about his inefficiency to use the portal, his inefficiency to manage NIL, all these things flying under the radar the radar Dabo. It would be absolute pageantry to get your excuse my language, to get your ass kicked on your own home field with game day there, and by the way, you're probably breaking some rules. That it's not said and done yet whether the SEC could go we just maybe don't need L S U anymore. Right? I mean, it's a joke, man. It is I can't believe it and it's it like you said I think you said it very well, man. Like something's wrong with him, dude. That's something's wrong with him. He can't just come and coach, right? Like I watch Kirk Adam Fisher: It's pathological. Ted Turner: Yeah. Absolutely pathological. It's it's it's a s it's to be studied. You know? It's to be stu like like we watch these like Netflix dramas on like Well, what drove him or dro what drove her to do this? What drove him to not shut his mouth? Or what drove him to be like, Well, we kinda need some. I mean, let's go out there and let's let's get us some NFL players. I mean, we can. You know, you know the old saying, and I mean mom used to tell it to me, is like, even though you can doesn't mean you should, right? Like Adam Fisher: Yep. Yeah. Ted Turner: you can do what you want, but that doesn't mean you should do what you want. I mean, you have free will. You know, we could anyway, Adam Fisher: No. Yep. Ted Turner: so that's the whole the whole life lesson, man. But anyways. I don't want to give him any more time. I just thought that we would need to give him about eleven minutes to troll him because he loves to troll other people, man. But he is right Adam Fisher: Yeah. Ted Turner: now the laughing stock of the SEC and college football. There's nobody and mark Adam Fisher: Nope. Ted Turner: my word, the rest of the season, there's nobody that can come to the bottom of the barrel that I can talk about more in a negative way this year than Lane Kiffin. And I tried my best at the beginning of the year. Me and you both did to give him The benefit of the doubt, he's a good offensive mind. He somehow finds out to get the you know how he can get the best out of people, players. But this is a freaking joke, man. This is an absolute joke. moving along though to stuff that makes more sense. Fish, obviously you saw and and I already have had a lot of viewers, there's blowing up the TikTok stream with the question about Xavier McLeod. came out that he's stepping away from college football more more so like a kind of like a like a retirement type thing coming out and I know everybody wants to hear this big drawn out story behind Xavier McLeod, but Fish, you heard about this, this is probably what this hit this hit actually yesterday afternoon, right? Adam Fisher: Yeah, I didn't hear about it until just a little bit before we went on. Ted Turner: Yeah. So here's the scoop with it with Xavier. And we'd only we only know so much. I mean, there's always underlining information that we no matter how much media and anybody can read up on or have somebody boots on the ground as I call it that knows what's going on. you know, a lot of what's being said is that, you know, Xavier McLeod is obviously a more tenured guy in that room. outside of football, he's had some things go on. That's not things don't mean negative. you know, and and and I think he's just came to a point where he might have been like, look, if I'm gonna be sharing time with a lot of these young guys, I'm seeing myself on this list of players where I might not get substantial playing time, even though I'm an older guy and being trusted with starting on this team. That doesn't mean I'm gonna be the most effective guy and come the end of the season I'm not gonna be a guy that possibly can get drafted, right? And so maybe he just kind of looks and goes between health, between personal life, between a year that we know I mean, we love it as college football fans, but it's a long season, right? And you gotta dedicate a lot of stuff to the game. And so nobody really knows the underlining stuff, but and I don't think you would know it and you know, if but I think he just got to a point where he looked and he goes Maybe I'm battling, can I do this with health slash seeing some guys that are outperforming him? Maybe younger guys, and going, Am I gonna can am I gonna con you know, put everything into the season and be four months, five months in my life and at the end of it, I'm still not gonna be anywhere closer than where I am right now to the NFL or anything other. what's your take on that? Adam Fisher: I mean, i I I hate to see him go 'cause I liked him, you know, the d you know, the second he transferred over from South Carolina. You know, I've been a big supporter of his. And, you know, last year, you know, he had a lot to do. Like he could have been defensive V P in that old miss game. You know, they drove Ted Turner: Yes. Adam Fisher: down and scored five in a row on us, I think, right? And then, you know, on that drive after that, the first time we stop him, he's got a deflected ball, I think, on third and long or something like that. And then, you know, he gets us off the field and then, you know, the game spins in our favor after that. You know, that was a huge play. Then I was a big fan of his and I hate to see him go, but yeah man, I mean whatever his reasons are, you know, you can't knock him for it. You know, he made a decision. I'm sure he thought about it. I'm sure he talked to Kirby about it. And I'm sure that he's getting all the support he needs and you know more power stealing. Ted Turner: Yeah. I agree, man. I mean, you do have I mean, i he's gonna be missed. I mean, but you do have some really young depth there. I mean, obviously you look at, Adam Fisher: yeah. Ted Turner: you know, a possible of a breakout year from Elijah Griffith, you look at you know, if we can get a you know, a healthy interior with some of these young guys between J. J. Hahn and or I don't know how you pronounce it, Hannah. you know, you look at Hall, you look at the the new the five star kid that we got this year who I heard is very twitchy, who is quite possibly a maybe he's doing some really good things, Valdeen Sone. so Adam Fisher: Mm-hmm. Ted Turner: you look at some of these guys and and and they're they're gonna be pushing him really hard, right? Nazir Johnson. Adam Fisher: Yep. Yep. Ted Turner: you know, these guys are are are pushing very hard and, you know, Tracy Scott asked a lot of them. So I'm I'm I'm gonna like I said, I wish him the best, but you know, barring, you know, playing Talk. I mean, at the end of the day, there has to be some underlining to it. And I think I think some of it might be that he's looking at depth and he's going, Am I missing to devote five months of my life and, you know, I'm gonna be in the same spot I was, you know. So not for us to know, but sad to see him go. And last bit of information, obviously there was news that actually, you know, Kirby even talked about it with Dylan Bell, you know, Sunday made the fifty three man roster for the Vikings, but the bad news is he came back today and the Vikings had a little bit of a change of change of heart, man. So you know Dylan Bell's back on the market and I hope that kid mean he that's he's such a you know, Kirby talked about they asked him at this pressure, they're like, Why why do you think a guy like, you know, Dylan Bell was able to make that roster coming in as an undrafted free agent and he said it. He said he said practice. He said that kid's gonna Adam Fisher: Mm-hmm. Ted Turner: practice. He's got he's got Uber talent, whether it be running the football, whether it be catching the football, whether it be you know, a football mindset w you know, hit and his practice etiquette and and we and he feels like Georgia gets them ready for the NFL. but it's hard, man. Like you're talking about fifty three man rosters of all these guys in professional football. I mean, you as me probably did some fantasy draft. I don't know if you're are you in a fantasy league this year? Adam Fisher: Not this year, no. I haven't well I haven't gotten in one. I did last year though, I enjoyed Ted Turner: I mean like I did my draft and you start looking at some players and you're like, Man, why why isn't this guy on somebody's roster? And it's like, Man, it's the NFL, man. Like there's I mean, college football's deep, but this it's the NFL. So we wish him the best. I know Dylan actually is another guy that follows the Dogs Down South podcast on TikTok. so a lot a lot of Georgia players that are moving and grooving and moving places, we wish them the best. But fish, let's hop right in week one. Obviously Tennessee State this week and I thought it would be cool to look at what we need to do. I got five things that we need to accomplish between Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, and then even going on the road against Arkansas before we hit back with Oklahoma. Now let's let's let's put a precursor out there. We're not we're not looking ahead. We're just talking about like if we we could sit here all day and go Well, really it's gonna be nice because we're just gonna be able to hit somebody else, right? Other than the opposing defense on our, you know, our side. But but I think there's some a a a certain amount of things besides the scoreboard too for dog fans that they wanna see, right? And so I want to throw some things out tonight who to see if we can maybe line up with what you're thinking. maybe if you're in the chats, I know we got a couple people that are watching right now. You can you can jump in the chats if there's anything that you think you might want to see happen in these first three games, you can let us know. and then Thursday night, do not forget to join us Thursday night. It's our it's our regular night of preview. We'll preview Tennessee State, a little bit of what you might see from them on their player side. but also we will pick every single SEC game like we always do in the SEC as well as a couple of the bigger games happening on week one. There's not many. But I'm very I'll I will put a precursor out there to go. I'm very interested not only in Clemson and LSU, but I'm also very much interested in the Old Miss and Louisville. That's gonna be a good game as well. that's on a that's on a Sunday. Baylor Auburn as well. Yeah, that's on a Sunday. Adam Fisher: That's on Sunday, right? Yep. Ted Turner: Then Baylor and Auburn, looking forward to that one as well. Fish number one. One first thing I think we have to do one of these first three games is I think we've got to figure out our offensive identity, right? We've heard so much. Over the fall of explosiveness, wide receivers, tight ends. We still want to run the football. We still want to be effective in those areas. But I think in the great big scheme of things, one big thing we have to like look at is what is our exact identity? And are we just stumbling we can't be just stumbling upon these things because Western Kentucky and and Tennessee State are not great against the pass or You know, we can we can line up and just hit in the nose and run the ball, but we we need to figure out what our offense wants to be and who's gonna be the people that we can depend on going forward. you wanna dive into that a little bit? Adam Fisher: I mean, it's exactly right, because right now, we have no idea who we are offensively. I mean, we've got a bunch of different skill guys from last year. The only thing that really made the same is our backfield. the running backs, we we kinda, you know I'm hesitant to say, but we kinda know what to expect from them. Our O line as well. You know, we know that they've, you know, beefed up, gotten a lot better, got another year of experience under their belt. We got some guys coming in. We got Zachai Helton that's supposed to be, you know, he could be our breakout freshman on offense this year, which would be great, be kind of crazy. Offensive lineman, right? You don't really see that a lot, but that could be us. I mean, are we gonna have to be run heavy or are wide receivers gonna pan out? Are they gonna, you know, develop and you know, grow into the players we hope they can be, you know? Are we gonna have a breakout in the wide receiver room, you know, somebody, a standout who comes out of the clock, you know, their shell this year and just dominates and takes control, you know. are we gonna be tight end heavy? Like we we we there's so many questions. And you know, I'm glad we have three weeks, you know, of games we should win, you know, before Oklahoma, 'cause that's gonna be that's gonna be Ted Turner: Yeah. Adam Fisher: a hell of a game. Ted Turner: Yeah, we gotta figure out like you know, we gotta figure out who we're gonna be going to it when we need a catch, right? Third down. I mean, do we wanna be in these positions? No. Or is this a game where we would love to come out and not see them go past the fifty every drive and us, you know, executing on every drive and score on every drive? Yes. That is the ideal thing. But initially, too, what you have to see in some of these games. Especially because I think in s in one of these teams I think we're paying like one point five million to come and just breathe in in Sanford Stadium. but like yeah, who Adam Fisher: Just come exist. Ted Turner: right? Who are we gonna go to on third down when we need a catch, right? What are we what are we looking Adam Fisher: Exactly. Ted Turner: at as far as, you know, first downs? Like are we you know how are we how are we addressing how we calculate these big plays, right? Are we just lining up and going, okay, well This is Tennessee State, so we should be able to just throw the ball. I don't think we can line up and do what we did during G Day, right? So I think it's huge to get some flow going. It's huge to get some tempo going. It's huge to get the defense as well to playing in rhythm. and and so I I just think that's the top thing on my list right now is who are we and who's our identity. Greg's in the chat. What's up, Greg? Greg asks, how deep. on the O line. man, you know, I'll answer the question real quick. So Kirby, Kirby and his pressure yesterday said that he's confident that the first two lines on the offense, so first about first, who goes first and who goes second, all of them are playing anywhere from three to five positions. That's huge, man. So we have three to five position groups in the first two layers of the offensive line, which means if I'm Zachai Helton, well let's take Juan Gaston, for instance. So we saw it last year. He played a little guard, he played a little tackle, mainly you know, right. He played right guard, right tackle, and he did have a few snaps at center. so these guys are asked to be versatile. So I feel good about the line depth. I think we're I think we're three deep, honestly, in some areas on the line. And some really, really talented. I mean, Nikina Boko is how you gonna keep him off the field, man. He's a freshman between him and Zakai. I mean, geez. I mean, those are freshmen that were not in this lineup starting last year and are adding value to to an already good offensive line room. It ain't like it's not like whoever was going to be in that right guard position come Saturday was going to be, you know, it's like, well, we gotta go to a freshman. No, he's just he just beat him out, which is wild. so just a little bit on that question. number two, I think Here's a different take on this. Okay. I didn't want to just look at it and go, We got to figure out our wide receiver room. No, no, no, no. Because we've been talking about this all summer long. So I wanted to look to kind of land it like this. We need to develop consistency at wide receiver. Who's going to be consistent, role playing people? We all know that Kirby likes to roll five, six, seven guys, depending on situations. We got to figure out who's going to be consistent. Georgia needs reliable go to guys that Gunner can look at and go, When I when I'm looking at this, I can trust it. I can trust it, right? What what do you think about that, Fish? Adam Fisher: A hundred percent agree. you gotta have continuity with somebody. You know, I hope that he's had, you know, all off season in the summer and fall to develop, you know, some to where he knows, you know, where they're gonna how sharp they're gonna cut their, you know, slant or, you know, when they're gonna break off on a post or you know, he can just lob it up there and, you know, trust that they're gonna be there. it's gonna take time, which is another thing, you know, or another reason why I'm really glad we have at least two hands down, easy dubs, you know, before we get, you know, Arkansas. I don't wanna take too much away from Arkansas, but I think they got a they got a lot going on over there. And I don't think this is going to be their rebuild, like their year to get back on the scene. so that's probably gonna be a win too. And we're gonna need all that time, I think, you know, to to see what we got because right now nobody knows. Like we don't know what we got at wide receiver right now. Ted Turner: Yeah. Yeah, and I would even add to that, like the three things you want like like I'm looking for like who can get open on third down, right? Who's gonna be a person that can get off man coverage, that can be a a game changer in that area, who can make contested catches, right? In order to be a really good receiver in the SEC, you're not catching clean passes eighty percent of the time. Like you're gonna be in traffic. And so who can catch the balls and who can stick their head in there, you know, and make and make catches that are gonna be hard right to get to. Third thing is who can turn a five yard pass and a twenty five yards? Like who can be that guy to go, I'm not just a possession wide receiver. Everybody wants to know well who's gonna place a Zachariah branch. Whoever can do that. Whoever can Adam Fisher: Sokovi. Ted Turner: catch the ball. Yeah. Whoever can catch the ball and make twenty five out of it. And the last thing I tell you is is the early part of the schedule fish The reason this is so important is because there's I mean, you would think there's no pressure on these guys, right? You got two games that are not even SEC games to go out there and and to see, okay, where do I line up? Also, there's not going to be any coaches on the field. There's not going to be anybody in their ear holes, right? This is just them and football. And you're going to see how they adapt to drops, how they adapt to hits, how they adapt to missing a block. They have to they don't have a coach in their ear going accountability, accountability. How can they hold themselves accountable in a lot of those areas? Greg says, Do our backs have fifteen hundred yards out of the backfield for the year? early in the year I predicted around I predicted we might get two thousand, right? I mean, I think fifteen hundred is a doable thing between Chauncey, between Dwight, between Nate, and maybe even Bo. I mean, a lot of a lot of Lot of stuff come out of camp. Yeah, a lot of stuff come out of camp Adam Fisher: Can't leave Bo out. Ted Turner: the last two like scrimmage two and scrimmage three about Bo. And and Kirby said it. Bo lacks a little bit of speed that the other guys have, but he has vision and he has really low to the ground leverage that that gets him some they get him some really good takes. I think Bo's gonna be good for us. anything else on that on that second one right there, Fish? I mean, as far as I mean, I think receiver, I think that how he worded it was We worded it as as I've lost myself. Man, notes just start to blur. develop consistency at wide receiver. Consistency. Who's gonna who's gonna step out and be guys that we can leave and go, okay, as we go into this game, we saw this and this sounds like a guy who's gonna really be able to to handle what what's coming at him in that area. Number three. this one's gonna we we we we could probably we could probably talk a lot about about this one. I think this is a a very, very much so a key one. Dominate the line of scrimmage. Now, I will tell you, Georgia has been notorious every year for if you can tell me a game where the line can actually just take over. Take over. Georgia is not losing some most of those games. I i I mean, I was watching the I don't know about you, but the other night I I'm catching these replays as I'm scrolling on the TV. And I caught the old missed game the other night. We lost that game because Pete Golding figured out how to leverage. They figured out how to leverage us on offense on the offensive line. There was a it was nothing talent on talent. It was it was towards the end when Gunner took a c those couple of sacks, it was the leverage on the offensive line. it wasn't out schemed. It was the leverage they were getting, but dominate the line of scrimmage. What do you think, Fish? Adam Fisher: I agree and you know, I I b I wish Rich was here could speak on this 'cause I bet this would be his favorite key to our season to speak on. the You're right. I mean, like, you know, fourth quarter, I love like some of those drives, some in the twenty twenty two championship run, especially that Tennessee game. Like we had the game in control, but that fourth quarter I think we had like a eight minute drive to finish the game. Like, you know, just leaned on and just beat down and imposed their will and, you know, just ran the ball, dean conducted the whole way down the field and, you know, put the game, you know, out of reach. I love seeing that. It's not exciting, it's not pretty, you know, but it's dominant. And it's, you know, it's soul crushing, you know, to a defense, you know, that can't get off the field and I love that kind of football, that kind of physical football. That's been Georgia football for as long as I can remember. Ted Turner: Yeah. And and you know, at the end of the day, man, like, that's both lines. I I look at that Adam Fisher: Mm-hmm. Ted Turner: kinda I'm gonna say both lines, like I mean, there's definitely one down here that's gonna get us into the other part, but like dominating, right? Dominating that word is is I'm not I didn't say when. I didn't say we didn't say when the when in the trenches. We said dominate the trenches against these guys. Like we do not need to see iffy blocking. We do not need to see busted you know, gaps. We do not need to see anything other than we are leaning on the offensive line. We are leaning on the defensive line to allow these running backs and these linebackers to run free. one thing I'll add to it is is when Georgia is at its best, it controls the line of scrimmage. That's when Georgia's Adam Fisher: Yep, easy. Ted Turner: at its best. Easily. when you look at creating movement in the running game, but you also look at Giving Gunner the immediate presence to trust the pocket in the first few games to try and deliver what Georgia wants of him this year, and that's for him to try and hang a little longer to see if we can create some explosive plays. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like Gunner for eight yards, but I also like Gun I also like a receiver that caught the ball from Gunner for 28 yards, right? So I think those are those are huge, but also can we create an identity with multiple receivers just catching the ball. Like, I mean, don't you just feel like I can't even go back to I think I think there there might have been some days, there might have been some like Jake Fromm type days going back to where I just used to look and go, it was like it was like hit after hit after hit consistency in the passing game, the flow of the game, the flow of the move downfield. they're not always explosive, but like when you can sit back there and you can see numbers the entire time and pick people apart and get him in that comfort level, I think that's huge, man. It it gets you it gets you so solid so that it's like, okay, like I'm feeling it. Like I'm feeling it. I can see it. This this this seems easy. I think we need to create moments like that for Gunner in these first three games so he can feel and trust what that feels like. Do you agree? Adam Fisher: Well, yeah, a hundred percent. But you know, when you to speak on Jake Fromm, you know, Jake Fromm had Sonny Michelle and Nick Chubb in the backfield with him his freshman year, which was his best year at Georgia by far. Like he seemed to kinda trend down every year after that. His sophomore year was a little less spectacular than his freshman and his junior year was just awful. well by by a starting quarterback in the SEC standards, I should say. but you know, we that's and that goes ties into the run game. Like we gotta get that established. There's gotta be a healthy respect for what we're about to do to keep these guys on their heels. They can't just be pinning their ears back, no, that Gunner's gonna, you know, got to drop back to throw it 'cause we can't run the ball. You know, so they're just sitting back and you know, they're sit they're just waiting, you know, and they're dropped back in coverage, you know, s you know, six or seven, dropping into coverage every time and you know, Gunner has no choice sometimes. You know, our running backs got to get we've got to get the ground game going, man. That's gonna have a lot to do with Gunner's success and his ability to, you know, make big plays. Ted Turner: Yeah, I like it. Man, I'm gonna tell you, there would be nothing I wanna see more than us to play action, first play of the game at against Tennessee State and just drop a dime. I if if that happened, Adam Fisher: That would be so awesome. I would love that. Ted Turner: if that happened, I'd be like, buddy, this is gonna be exciting. I didn't say it's gonna Adam Fisher: Well here we go. Here we go. Ted Turner: be good, I said it's gonna be exciting because that means we are a a crap ton less predictable this year, right? Adam Fisher: That's right. Exactly. We gotta be. That's you know, we gotta be mysterious. We can't just go out there and be vanilla. Ted Turner: I like that word. Mysterious. I like that word. Adam Fisher: Yeah. Ted Turner: all right, let's move to four. This one is a is a really this is a really key one for me right here. and these aren't really ranked as far as more important than important, but this is probably up there number one, number two for me. Get the defense communicating at an elite level. Talent, great. Speed, great. But in college football, we know this busted assignments can completely change the outlook of a game. We had plenty of busted assignments in the secondary two years ago where I feel like was one of the most struggling years for it was almost like one of those years where we was like it was a gap year of y we had young players, NIL was kinda coming around, Georgia wasn't really paying w and and we and we went through it that year, you know. I mean, that was year we lost to Alabama, you know, in the in the SEC championship and you know, so on so forth. But I feel like this is a great opportunity the first few games. To see all this great talent on the field, but to get them, you know, in a groove of going, Hey, I know where I'm supposed to be. I know what my assignments are, and when we are clicking on all four cylinders, when that's happening, and we can take that talent and then just push it forward, and it's gonna be a nasty day if that happens. It's already gonna be a hot day. We can make it really nasty if we Adam Fisher: Mm. Heck yeah. Ted Turner: do that. Thoughts? Adam Fisher: Yep. Yeah. just think, dude. Okay, so this is year three for KJ, year three for Ellis. Raylan's been there for five years. What is this? His fifth year, fourth, fifth year. Chris Cole, this is year number three for him, I believe. all these guys have been here for a long time. We've got a lot of experience on that side of the ball. a lot. And you know, these guys know each other better than most other defenses know each other. I guarantee it, just because of the continuity they've been able to put together over the years. Like that's not it's not nothing to say that these guys have been together for, you know, two, three plus years. that's that's a big deal. And that's gonna have a lot to do with where these guys, you know, how these guys communicate with each other and you know get each other in the right position to make these big plays that we're hoping they can make. Ted Turner: Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent, man. And and also don't forget, you know, in a day and age of college football where there's so much communication on the field. I mean there's in there's in helmet c you know, mics, there's you know, shot clocks now, there's iPads, you can you can literally go on the sideline and you can get an iPad update and see coverage and see everything right then and there. so then within a five play series, six play series, you just came off and you may have had the worst series you could possibly have. Now an offense has adjusted, they've seen what you're throwing at them. Now you have to be able to, like you said, we have to be mysterious. And I I love that word. We have to be able to camouflage things, but to make, you know, some of these dime nickel formations, man formations look different. We have to be able to and the only way to do that is to have your assignment, you know, right because we can't line up and do what we're what's called, we're never gonna have the opportunity to actually line up and do something that can keep can keep the the offenses off balance, per se, right? Adam Fisher: Yes, sir. Ted Turner: and last thing of that that matter is is the the number one reason why I think too, as you're as you're going through Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Arkansas, we know it's gonna be a very much a defensive battle in in game four against Oklahoma. And I Believe me, if if you if listeners are listening right now, we we've been there, done that, got the t shirt on. Kirby does not look ahead. We're not looking ahead. We're just saying, what do we want to see coming out of these three games that really keep us polished to be really ready for the meet right there in the middle of our SEC schedule, right? That comes in. Adam Fisher: Yeah, I mean these are cle these are cash for clunker games for lack of a better term. You know, these are these are games that we should win. These are games that I mean, come on. Everybody that watches college football knows what kind of games these are. These are games to make things right, to fix holes, to fix things that are going on that are going wrong, that might not be fine tuned yet coming out of Fall Camp. And we I hope we take full advantage. Ted Turner: Right. Agreed. last but not least, another another important one, probably the most important one. I said there was an important one, I said there was the most important. obviously come out of these first three games healthy, confident, right? We wanna we wanna escape the injury bug as we get into SEC play. so I think it will be a heavy dose of, you know, in this order, win the football game, obviously. We wanna see pure domination in some of these games. And I know we've sat here before and I mean, I don't wanna see this, but I don't wanna have to find reasons to be like, well, we're we're w that was good. Well, that was good. I just wanna be able to look sit back and go, Damn, man, it is not going well right now for Tennessee State. Right. Adam Fisher: Exactly. Ted Turner: I don't wanna have to make excuses. Well, it's like it's game one. Like if I make that excuse on Saturday, I can tell you one of these things ain't happening. Right. And that's the least Adam Fisher: Yep. Yep. Ted Turner: of our concerns and worries. but you know, things you wanna see in that is we don't we don't need to prove anything. week one, week two. we need to play well. We need to get things accomplished as far as offense, defense be nice to hit somebody else. But like Tennessee State isn't just gonna come in here and not put pads on. I mean they have I mean, I've heard the quarterback, we're gonna preview the quarterback on Thursday, but I've heard the quarterback's pretty damn elusive. Like he's he's got a really great understanding of the offense. He's he came through them in the portal. He's he's athletic. He's gonna, you know, he he reminds you of not I'm not saying this because his arms this good or but he reminds you a little bit of like a Trinidad Chambless where he can hurt you with his legs or he can hurt you with his arms. So like we're not just playing, you know, the J V football team from, you know, Athens Academy. So sorry if anybody from Athens Academy listens to this podcast. but you know that's just how it is. But you know, finding out, you know, who can be trusted in big situations, who we're rolling, keeping healthy, staying hydrated, it's gonna be upwards of ninety five plus degrees that day. So there's gonna possibly be some cramping. We we just need to stay we need to be healthy, right? Adam Fisher: Yep. Yeah. Ted Turner: thoughts on that, fish? Adam Fisher: Yeah, our depth is gonna get a lot of playing time. And that's another part of these games where you know we want to get up to a big league. No Austin P bull crap, okay, where it's like fourteen to seven heading into halftime or ten to seven going into halftime, getting stopped in four consecutive tries on the goal line, you know, right before the half. Like that's not what we need to see this year. That's not I don't want to see that. God, heaven forbid. but yeah, see, but we need to get up to a big lead, take our starters off. field and let our number twos and our threes and you know whoever go out there get some valuable snaps because you know playing to what you're talking about you know the the help of the team heaven forbid somebody get hurt we want to have the guy behind him has had some snaps, he's experienced, you know, he knows what to do, you know, he knows what's going on and can step in and there's not much drop off. Ted Turner: Yeah. Yeah. Hundred percent. So let's pull it all together. So for all of our listeners, five things we just went over five things Georgia needs to do to be successful in these first three contests of the season that we feel like is a is lead up games to the meat of some of our toughest games on the schedule. We we said it we talked about one, establish a clear offensive identity. You know, who are we gonna be? you know, how are we leaning on the run? Where does this explosive, you know, these explosive pass passes fit in? How are we using the tight ends? Like what is our identity? Who what are what do we think we're gonna be known for and look like this year in in a nutshell? Number two, we need to develop dependable weapons at wide receiver. Who's gonna be the go to guys on third down? Who's gonna be the guy on second and long where maybe we botch a snap or you know, we we maybe don't get we don't get as much on the run as we wanted to and we're gonna have to get back five or six or seven yards? That used to be a Zach, you know, a Zach Branch or a Cash Jones that would could catch the ball out of the backfield or could make a play and get us back to respectable third and five, third and six. Who are these guys going to be? Number three, dominate the line of scrimmage. Did not say play well. Did not say play, did not say win on the line of scrimmage. Dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides. Georgia is most dangerous as a team when we are seeing domination from the offense and defensive line. four is get the defense communicating and executing at a championship level from a fact of being able to see them by themselves, no coaches on the field, making the right calls, making the right adjustments, not blowing assignments because the worst teams will beat you that way if and the best teams will definitely beat you that way. And then the last thing we just talked about is basically we just need to come out injury free. We need to be healthy, coming out of that, get through the first three games confident and battle tested. Make no mistake, Fish. I mean, at the end of the day, we're we're putting the pads on. This is a real game. So we're not overlooking by any means. We're not. I mean, we're taking this head on. I I I will tell you that there's a lot of things that have led me the past ten years as a Georgia fan to go, we don't take any game on these schedules for granted. Kirby will not allow it. I think as a fan base, we've started to kind of develop that mantra as well. but hey, Final thoughts, Fish. I mean, we're we're gonna be live again Thursday. Thursday's gonna be a really cool show, man. We're gonna kick it's kinda like the kickoff for us, right? we're gonna be I love doing the picks. We're gonna I mean it's gonna be a lot Adam Fisher: Me too. Ted Turner: of games because you don't have any SEC team playing each other this this week. So it's so it's sixteen it's sixteen SEC games right there, right? so I it's more like who do you think might get upset in those sixteen games? And then obviously the bigger games. We're also gonna talk a little bit about the just like we talked about earlier, the pageantry of of football at Georgia, what to expect, what are some of our favorite game day moments. and just kind of get the season going off with a little nostalgia, right? So it's gonna be a fun show Thursday night. Please join us, you sometime between six thirty, six forty five. We go live on on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and then obviously Apple Podcasts and Spotify twenty four hours later. but before we do that, before we press on into Thursday night, we finish out tonight, Fish, what are your any final thoughts? I mean, as we're as we're coming in to kind of This is it, man. We're coming into week one. We've seen some college football. Like any final thoughts before we really get into putting the pads on, man, and calling the dogs and and hopefully these fans, man, I I don't know about you, man, but it's gonna be hot. But Kirby kinda nonchalantly said it. He's like, Who's gonna stay out there in the in that heat? Because we've seen some Adam Fisher: Yeah. Ted Turner: very depressing numbers at some of these college football fields. Now, this ain't Georgia that we're talking about, some r at some of these other stadiums. You know, I know we have w we have the best fans in college football, but Adam Fisher: Yes, sir. Ted Turner: who's gonna stay out there and who's gonna, you know, root the team on through whether we're up or whether we're god forbid it's close or not. But final thoughts tonight, Fish? Adam Fisher: it's here, man. You know, we finally get to, you know, turn on the TV and hear something talk, you know, hear people talking about football and they're not talking about litigation, courtrooms, suing, kicked out of conference, you know, well that ain't going away anytime soon 'cause Thursday the whole Lane Kiffin Lane Lane sucks. Anyway, that's I'm just ready, dude. I'm ready for actual football and not all the political Ted Turner: Yeah. Adam Fisher: business end. talking of it 'cause that's what the off season is for. And I really Ted Turner: Yeah, I'd agree. Adam Fisher: hope this doesn't drag into the real, you know, the regular season too much. Hope it doesn't take away, you know, from all these kids and these fans that have been waiting and working so hard all summer and fall, you know, to get here. And, you know, I I'm just I'm glad it's here, man. I'm ready. Let's go. Ted Turner: Yeah. I don't I don't think it will with Kirby man. Like I just love I just love the demeanor on the podium. if anybody hasn't checked out his presser from Monday, it's pretty hilarious because he talks about the heat and then there's a reporter that mentioned he talks about he's like, Yeah, the the fans and if the reporters, you know, can get out of their office off their office cubicles and come out in the heat where we're at and one of the guys gets sarcastic with him and says, Well, you're gonna give me a sideline pass and he Yeah. And then he literally said, and I quote, I'll put your ass out there in the game. I thought that was just classic Kirby. Right? Classic Kirby. Adam Fisher: I'd go. Give me a press pass, baby. I'll be on the sideline. I don't care if it's a hundred and twenty degrees. I'll be out there in flip flops in a tank top. Ted Turner: Classic Kirby, man. Adam Fisher: Mm-hmm. Ted Turner: All right, fish. Well, we're gonna wrap it tonight, man, on that. That's really fun show, man. I think those are all just th that's things for our fans to hear, man. Like as you're coming into this, I really feel like if we hit a home run with all five of those things, man. We have a lot to be proud of coming out of these first two or three games. We're going to break it down in detail for you on Thursday night. So looking forward to that. Looking forward to picking all of our games. So thank you guys for joining tonight. And for myself, for Fish, for all of Dog Nation. I hope you guys have a great rest of your week. Looking forward to Thursday night as we count down to the first game of the regular season for Georgia and college football in general. So for myself and Fish, you guys have a great night. And as always, on Dogs Down South. No dogs. Adam Fisher: no.