Latest / Dawgs Down South / Episode 135: GA/FLA Recap, Elite Defense, Bobo Worries? SEC Power Rankings, CFP Rankings Tuesday.
Transcript
- Ted Turner: Welcome in, welcome in everyone to Dogs Down South. Hope you're doing well tonight on this Sunday, post world's largest indoor cocktail party. Georgia defeats Florida in Mercedes Benz in Atlanta for the first of I guess you would say home and away. Georgia, Florida. this one was in Atlanta, obviously. Next year's will be in Tampa. but Georgia took care of business, but the final score for a lot of people, I don't know, maybe doesn't tell the whole story per se, right? So we're gonna definitely probably mix in more of an overreaction Sunday with this as well, because I mean, for some fans out there, I don't know, maybe they just haven't been around Georgia football in its entirety to know that Kirby Smart is a defensive coach and a lot of the offense by Mike Bobo is direct is directly reflecting what it takes to Play complimentary football. And so I know some fans don't believe in that. And we're gonna get down to it, but rivalry game improved their position heading into November, Georgia did and showed that their defense can carry them against I think quality competition. I think Florida has some good wins under their belt. They're they're still they're still molding together. athletes all over the field for Florida. Obviously Aaron Philo started the game, but a lot of people said Tremel Jones should have been the starter. I don't know though. and and then, it was discussed that Tremel Jones has an injury. We really don't know what that injury is. Some Rawl kind of shared that it was definitely an injury and he wasn't he doesn't want to give anybody else an advantage. I'm not too sure what that was about, but but kind of the discussion we want to have is kind of we break the ice tonight, is is Did Georgia look like a national championship contender on Saturday? that's where our fan base is, right? at least our power typing fan base and our our couch coaches on Saturday are at. And I would tell you that, obviously after the A P rankings came out today and Georgia's in second, you know, a lot of our fans are looking going, Okay, well we beat Florida, but you know, a performance like that by the defense, that's national championship caliber defense probably looked like on Saturday a defense you could stack against the top, I don't know, five defenses in the last twenty years at Georgia. It was just that good of a performance by the defense on Saturday. Maybe a little bit to be I don't know, left out there as far as the the the offense is concerned. We're gonna kinda talk through it and and talk through maybe what everybody's feeling on the offensive side of the ball. And a lot of it's not really based off of the win. But a lot of it's based off of what's down the line, right? You see Ole Miss and the offense is starting to click, however, you know the defense is still ha has their woes, and then you look at South Carolina who's starting to come around on offense and and play complete games, and I will tell you that I didn't really have a lot of belief in Shane Beamer being able to go into Oklahoma and win that game on the road. And they all only won it, but they did it in in pretty good fashion. a pretty easy fashion if and and the Norse sellers looks like a quarterback who is capable of doing what he should have been doing for a long time, as well as Georgia Tech in there that's not having as as great of a year, but rivalry's a rivalry and anything can happen. And so obviously fans are basing a lot of this off of what's ahead of us, which is which is totally fair. but I would tell you that, Georgia's defense is definitely championship ready. the offense, do they still have some things to prove? We're gonna talk about it little bit. in my opinion though, did did Florida ever really threaten Georgia in any way, shape, or form? I think when you look at the game plan and when you look at maybe what was to be desired by the offense, I think there was a lot of there was a lot dictated by the twenty four zero, right? The turnovers by the defense they created and you know, we had the kicking blunder early on, and you started to scratch your head and go, okay, is this gonna be a day where It's just the, are we gonna drag this out today? Are we gonna get going coming off of the loss to Auburn? It seems like we haven't played in forever and the first thing we do is we kinda get the ball and we we kinda wanna I think the first couple of possessions look pretty good. I thought I thought the play scheme looked pretty good. I thought we did some things we wanted to do and we go to kick a field goal, we stall out by a holding call and from then it just starts to feel that way until the turnovers and the defense starts to really stifle Florida. and and so I don't know. maybe it did change. we're gonna get into it, but but let's let's let's stay on the defense, right? 'Cause we 'cause I'm sure we're gonna end on offense, but in my opinion, the defense controlled the game physically all day long. Limited Florida scoring opportunities. I mean, I would beg to differ that. That was some really good coverage by Khalil Barnes that allowed the touchdown and two point conversion was weird as well. it it feels like you ran around forever and sometimes luck of the draw when coverage has to continue to cover that long. And so those eight points. Kirby even if you saw him, he he fell on the ground during that whole thing and you look at Khalil, he he got he got blocked, the for the first three, four yards, got pushed really hard and The expectation is now for him to recover and turn around in a two, three yard span and play the ball. I don't know, man. That's just hard. He's getting jammed pretty well and and I thought he made a pretty good defensive play, but it was fifty fifty and it didn't go George's way and that gave up the only touchdown of the day. And so, would you have loved to come out of there and not allow Florida to score and break their, their scoring streak as far as a touchdown? I don't know how many games it is, but but yes, of course. But I'm my my concern is is I think what Georgia fans may be seeing is is I think it there's there's some play calls in there that dictated us being up twenty-four to zero. knowing what we have ahead of us at Ole Miss, I think Kirby's been very methodical about what he puts on tape this year. I think also Kirby sees the injury front and goes, We just got some of these guys healthy. KJ obviously playing probably little dinged up. but trying to get this Nate probably looked the best he's looked since he came back from his injury. and so I I just think I think Kirby's playing the long play, but we're gonna get into it. Glenn Schumann put together a a really good game plan for Florida as well. I think he prepared for both. I obviously think Florida early on gave us some opportunities to put ourselves in great situations to score. But, defensive position groups deserve the most credit, in my opinion. the defensive line, we set it as keys to victory was we're gonna have to get off blocks and we're gonna have to be able to win up front with four. I thought we did that. I thought we did a really good job with that all day. man, it it that was my key to victory was can we get pressure with four? Can we get off blocks in the front four keep it clean so that the linebackers can play clean and man. Did the linebackers get the opportunity to play clean? and I would even say like, let's talk about which defensive group actually deserves the most credit. Me personally, I mean, we we obviously had we had the pick by Ellis that was kind of Aaron Philo serving one up. I have no idea what he was thinking there or what he was doing there, but he serves one up. But once again, pressure. really great gap. scheme as far as defensive line and stunting and what we were showing. I absolutely love the three man front where we really spread the three man front completely out. And then we overhauled one side of the line or overstacked one side of the line and it it created some problems. So I I love how we disguised a lot of blitzing package. I loved how we backed out of blitzes and I learned how we I learned how the defense had I loved how it adjusted throughout the day. There were times when when Rayland had the had the green light, but you saw him see what had worked earlier in the game and some of those slant routes and you saw him against Tremel Jones back out of those and take away those slants and it really put Tremel Jones in a very tough spot where he had to hold on to the ball, you know. Him being a young guy, I mean I he he's definitely a first or second read type guy. And that was taken away from him. after, some adjustments and I think there was just a lot of key things on defense. I would tell you that key defensive groups, even though a lot all of deserve a lot of praise, but a lot of praise to the defensive line, man. They're coming around. You did see Valden Son in there. I kinda called that one. he was in there a good bit and did some really good things. man, I I I I know he had the one call where it was it was really borderline, man, the late hit, you know. I think we would we would have got off the field, but it was borderline man. I mean he you could even see him kind of let up. But you know, Kirby told him that's on you. Young player, he needs to kind of know know that one. But I I love the defensive line, a couple of sacks out of that group. I I just feel like that is a huge key to getting deep into the rest of the season as far as winning opportunities the rest of the in in the in the SEC. And as far as the playoffs, I think that's what's gonna have to happen. That's that's really gonna have to happen. and then of course, I I I really think I mean, it's hard the whole defense, but I would have to give the second thumbs up to the to the linebacker core. I mean, just very athletic. I mean, Chris Cole, obviously the scoop and score. I thought Justin Williams plays made some nice plays in the red zone a couple of times, and I I really thought that Raylon Wilson did a really good job in Yeah, just being in the heart of that defense and making those adjustment calls. And he's a good kid. He's a he's a very smart kid as well. And we talked about, how that six man blitz and if it came the same way every time and it differ didn't get there, it was gonna it was probably gonna cause more problems for us. And I loved how we mixed and matched that sometimes. We came, sometimes we didn't. Sometimes we mixed it up, like I said, we overloaded one side of the line. And then sometimes we even faked it. And I thought that put us in some in some really good situations. So kudos to Glenn Schumann for dictating a lot of that stuff. the ability to the ability to run the ball for for Florida was not there. we set a key to victory. I even when when I had the the the pod last week with Mason. you talked about Jaden Baugh runs the ball. if that's successful, this is gonna make this game very interesting and it never was interesting. 'cause Jaden Baugh didn't run the ball. Georgia really locked him down. We said that was a key to victory. And so, when Georgia's sitting there twenty seven to eight, I think my three key to victories keys to victories were getting pressure with four check. The second one was keeping Jaden Baugh contained, limited. When he goes for ninety to a hundred yards, they win. I think he was under forty yards rushing. we're gonna hit the stats here in a minute to be right on point. But and the third one was for Gunnar to get off early. And I thought Gunnar did some good things. I I think we were a little bit we're a little bit tough on the offense, but we'll see. I I know my Bobo haters are they were they were alive and well after Saturday. but my hot take is I trust George's defense against anybody in the country right now. I really do. the question is whether the offense can get I didn't say like I say the w whether the offense Can be trusted, but can they give us enough help if you know, if it becomes a shootout? So Georgia ran for 217 yards, Florida ran for 54. Florida had four turnovers, man. I I would definitely tell you that was one of the main reasons this game wasn't even close. passing yards, 101, barely a scraped over a hundred. Total offense, three eighteen to two fifty-two. Forty-two rushing attempts. Passing was 13 of 23. 19 first downs to 15. Third down conversion, six of fifteen. only four penalties for thirty-two yards, eight for seventy-eight. Two individual performance worth w that are worth discussing. Nate Frazier, sixty seven yards and a touchdown. Dwight Phillips, same exact yardage, sixty-seven rushing yards on eight carries. Gunnar Stockton, 101 passing, no touchdowns, no interceptions, 45 rushing yards, and Bo Walker, rushing touchdown, Chris Cole, the scoop and score. the the question is is what happened to the offense, right? That's the question at least Dog Nation is asking. you know, the good. Let's talk about the good real quick. The good was two hundred and seventeen rushing yards against a team that in my opinion is better against the run than they are the past. It definitely was something coming in that was picked apart. one of the worst passing defenses. Not only in the SEC but in the country, especially on the back end. we averaged five point two yards a carry, two rushing touchdowns, no interceptions from Gunner. So we didn't really we didn't really partake in the turnover battle with them. the running game controlled the tempo, in my opinion. Now the here's the bat that everybody's really talking about that's really gonna gauge into where we go now from here. 101 passing yards, no passing touchdowns, five passing five passing first downs. Too much dependence on the running game, maybe, is what people are thinking. Not enough explosive passing plays. The offense didn't consistently turn its opportunities into touchdowns as far as in the passing game, right? Now, it is it it's a particularly interesting number that Georgia had forty two rushing attempts compared to twenty three passing attempts on a Florida team that was we just talked about it, they were probably historically this year better against the run, in my opinion. was that a deliberate game plan to control the game, protect the lead, keep Florida's offense off the field? We did mention that that ball control was gonna be huge, or is Georgia unable to establish a passing attack? I'll kind of slide off script real quick. I mean, of course I was in a lot of the group a lot of the chats and particularly a lot of people are just like Mike Bobo is the worst play caller in the history of college football. he's terrible. why are we throwing so many screen passes? Why are we I I I got into a conversation just it was it was I could tell where it was gonna go, so I backed out of it. I really I'm not the person to hop in these conversations with a gentleman on one of the one of the one of the boards and he he said we we've thro we've thrown so many screen passes, I don't even understand. And and I explained, I I don't I don't know if we're calling screens. As a matter of fact, I do think that we need to have that in our bag more. We have actually done a pretty good job this year as far as explosives vertically and I think that ten to twenty yard range we've done a really good job with as far as vertical this year. But I do think that there's much to be desired for the horizontal game that was so great for us last year. And we did try that. the last few games and I I think that's something that we need to have in our bag. But I think they're more RPOs. they're they're looking and going, we our goal is to pick up five or ten yards here on first down, whether we hand the ball off or whether we we have numbers on the outside. I think the biggest thing is is that the difference in the blocking this year on the outside, I think a lot of teams are looking and going, We're having to line tight ends up out there and when that happens it kinda it triggers people to go, hmm, why do they have tight ends out here, not wide receivers? I do think we're throwing to the tight ends out there. R Ridell got targeted. I thought it was borderline a PI. but so we're not just lining them up out there and just blocking with them, but I think when we do throw out there and the wide receivers are out there, like we have to sustain blocks. We have to pick those things up and I think Gunner has to make sure and put us in the right play call. it's RPO, but it's it's not necessarily just RPO to the horizontal. And so there was a couple of times that, if Gunner looks and he pumps, we we we have some really interesting things open there. I would I would challenge you guys to go look at film study on that. However, I don't think those hurt us. If you go back to the the play where we pretty much, ran the ball down Florida's throat. Got it down to, I don't know, inside the 20, and we throw the we throw the pass outside of Tallinn Taylor. It's blocked. If he doesn't get it knocked out right there, it's probably a touchdown. And then nobody's talking about that. They're like, my gosh, look at this. Tallon Taylor's the new, you know, Zachariah branch. They're they're not if he doesn't get it knocked out of his hand right there, which was a great play by the corner for Florida. I I think he's house and everybody's like, my God, Bobo is such an incredible play caller. And Look at the offense, man. We're just clicking on all four cylinders, but he didn't. And so now, but Mike Bobo's the worst play caller. And then, we we decided to keep Gunner, on some runs, where we're more in a in a in a in a 12 package. And, I I think, honestly, I think we looked at Auburn a lot last week and went, man, it's nice having that extra blocker out there, right? Gunner can do that. If we can be if we can play clean, we can block it, then we're not really putting him in. Gunner's not, he's definitely not the size of Byron Brown, but I think I think we're doing things to evolve the offense. But also, we're up 24-0. I'm gonna say this, and I I think I think Kirby's done this the entire year. It's like this is a long play. This is a long play. This is a team that has injuries. That needs to get well if they're gonna make this run into November really strong and they're gonna make a run to an SC championship and they're gonna make a really deep playoff run. You have to play the long haul. He did it in practice this week. Instead of having Bloody Tuesday, he had, freshman and sophomore scrimmage. And he tried to pick out some guys that could help us, that we think can help us, you know, for the future. And then he had kind of had a more like a bloody Thursday, had a little had a had a strategic day on Wednesday and then I so we're doing things different. Kirby, it it it just sometimes it gets weird, man. Fans are like, what is Kirby doing, man? Why are we practicing hard eleven days and we have injuries and we we're doing this and we're doing that. It was a it it's like I when I'm on the boards, it's like I look and I'm just like, you know what? We have some of those fans that it's just like it's just never good enough, man. It's never good enough. And I understand what you're talking about. You're like, well I just want us to be I want us to look like the number two team in the country that can go out there and beat anybody on any given day. And I would tell you that, does it really matter as long as we're if if we win a national championship, is anybody gonna look back and go, Man, we we only had we only had a hundred and one yards passing, man. I don't know. That's just not a good enough national championship win for me, right? I would tell you there was a lot of offense out there on Saturday from a lot of different teams. There's a lot of offense from Oklahoma State. If you if you watch that offense, that's fun to watch. But they also gave up forty plus points. And it's like they lost, right? Indiana, I mean, those games came down to field goals. But I would tell you that Indiana's given up more yards and they're not scoring as many So it's like what's changed about that offense? Is is is now the national championship Indiana from last year, do they suck now on offense too? yeah, I don't think Fernando Mendoza and Hoover, I don't think they're the same quarterback by any means, but there's still some playmakers on that offensive side of the ball. Their offense is a little different this year, right? I think offenses are are challenged a lot more. Or a lot more than ever now, right? Because there's there's every avenue to scout the offense. It's like you got iPads on the side. You got coaches that are in the boxes watching plays, different coaches. You have four or five different people on the sideline that are just counting personnel and they're tracking stuff left and right. And, you got people that's like, Hey man, this quarterback is the closest that possibly you can get to Tremel Jones. This quarterback's the person that there's so much scouting that goes into defending offenses now. It it's really, really, really hard for offenses to be effective. And most of these schools that have really great offenses, I don't know about you, but Ohio State has a lot of great skill players. Probably have one of the best receivers in the country. Might have a receiver that is could be playing on an NFL team right now, but he doesn't have a quarterback that can get him the ball. Right? Is that the offensive coordinator's fault? I I don't know. At some point in time the player's gotta go out and execute, is what I'm saying. and we're gonna get into that more. Let let's let's but let's defend Bobo a little bit, okay? Let's defend Mike Bobo. Georgia ran for two hundred seventeen yards. Georgia controlled the entire game. Stockton didn't turn the ball over. He wasn't put in the situation to turn the ball over, carried the ball a lot better than he did against Auburn, obviously. Georgia was playing with a lead for the mostly the entire afternoon. there was no reason to take unnecessary risks if the run game was working. That's that's just me. Right? And the only reason Tallinn Taylor gets that ball, I even went back and go, why aren't we running the ball? Is because you look at the box and you gotta you gotta you can't just beat our heads up against the wall. You gotta look and go, okay, at some point in time this is an RPO. There's no intention really throw the ball. The intention is to get the ball in the perimeter and get the five or ten we're looking for and continue to move the football at a good pace. That's it. Cause I even had to bite my tongue because I was like, why don't we run the ball there? But I was like, okay, it's an RPO call. I'm sure Gunnar saw it and was like, look, we got numbers over here. Guy punched the ball out, made a great play. I I I think he deserves I think Bobo deserves credit for that. For leaning on the running game and controlling the game. However, Georgia cannot become a one dimensional offense and expect to beat the best teams in the country. I get that. That's what everybody's saying. Okay. If I had to lay it out for you with less griping and complaining, I would say, just say it as this you're concerned that we can can we hang with some of these teams that have really good offenses. I would say if the defense is holding some of those really good offenses, now yeah, we can hang with them. It's complimentary to football. you know, I would say the debate is, is Bobo calling games to win or is he calling games to avoid losing, right? I I I think he's I think him and Kirby are I mean, they're best friends outside of the workplace. And I I think they know each other well enough to go like, what can win football games? I would tell you that for Georgia fans, what you hate the most is the fact that We're not going out there and we're not throwing for 500 yards and holding offenses to under a hundred. That's it. It's not the best looking thing you've ever seen, so you're disappointed. You want your cake and eat it too. You want the defense to be elite. You want the offense to put up five hundred yards of offense through the air and running the ball and all these other things. And it's like I I don't I don't know what team in the top we're gonna look at the the college ball playoff rankings here that are coming out Tuesday in a minute and I can we can go down but I I don't know who's doing that. I don't know who's doing all three super effective. Miami gave up a ton of points to North Carolina the other night. Almost lost that game. That's North Carolina. That's the number one team in the nation. Okay. I would beg to differ that Florida would be Florida would be highly favored against North Carolina and the ACC. Period. I think Florida would be favored against USC. I really do. They were they were the I think they were the seventeenth ranked team in the nation before they played Georgia. So that USC team beat O Ohio State. Yes, they don't they didn't have a quarterback. Not my problem though, right? And no offense, nobody's giving them the way out because you're Ohio State. You should be able to have a good backup quarterback, right? Should. Too bad there's NIL those remember I talked about a couple weeks ago, ones or threes. So so I know your debates are is he is he calling games to just avoid losing? Does Stockton need more freedom? I think he has the freedom. I think he's one of the main reasons Talon Taylor gets that ball and Bo Walker doesn't get that ball. And then are are the receivers getting enough opportunities? And I would say yes to that too. Gunner had some great throws to Craig Dandridge, right? the one that Craig Dangers still almost caught was tipped at the line of scrimmage. But I just man, we're just really, really I I don't know, man. Twenty seven to eight. Twenty-seven to eight. you know, but I would you know, is it is it the but the the question I would ask you before we get off this and move on though, is the play calling a problem or is the execution a problem? I I saw some really great formations, really great formations Some eye candy, some runs that I was just like, whoa. There was a Dwight Phillips run one time that I just was like, Man, that was they even said it from the booth. They were like, There is so much going on in some of this. But I'm gonna t I'm gonna give you my hot take on the offense that nobody wants to hear. But I'm telling you, I think Kirby Smart is playing this for the long haul. He's playing it for the long haul, man. You have Ole Miss Pete Golding, kiss coming up week at night, in Hottie Toddyville. Okay. Then you have South Carolina. And then you have Georgia Tech. And then you might have an SSG championship game in there, depending on the outcome of those three games. I think Kirby's playing this for the long haul. He's like, I how about 24-0? I don't have to load a tape up. I don't have to load this tape up for anybody to sit here and scout. I just mentioned it earlier. It is so hard to for offenses to come in because there's so many ways to prepare for offenses. There's iPads. There's real time stuff going on where defenses are coming off as well as quarterbacks are able to come off and be like, what's happening? Where are they at? What are they doing? There's so much technology or so many coaches that are being paid to sit in a booth and watch and count players and talk about what they do in zone, talk about what they in man, talk about tendencies, scouting reports. And guess what? That's going on right now, tonight. Pete Golding is watching every single bit of that. They will be so ready and prepared. And I can't even tell you that they might have started looking at it last week because they played Auburn. I don't know. Who knows? I would say to to end this little kind of section off of Mike Bobo, Georgia doesn't need to score forty points every week. They don't. but it needs to prove it can score thirty against a team with a good defense without relying on defensive touchdowns. I think that's what everybody wants to see. Okay. That that's to be fair. That's to kinda side with you on that. let's let's let's move into What I would say coming out of this game, just my final thoughts before we kick into power rankings and then to college ball playoff. my final thoughts is you look at Georgia, Florida, you look at the matchup, you look at every single thing everybody was talking about Florida coming in here. They were thinking, Man, Georgia loses to Auburn, does does does Florida also have an opportunity to come in and kind of establish themselves? Summerall comes in, gets his first, Georgia, Florida victory and changes the dynamic of this game and everything's going. he has the athletes, he has Buster Faulkner. Buster Faulkner was supposed to come in and just do amazing things. And he has caused, he has caused Georgia some headaches. He has. But I would tell you when you look at this entire game from top to bottom, Georgia control this game, whether it's turnovers or not. Part of football is winning the turnover battles, okay? Part of football is kicking field goals. Part of football is running the ball effectively, but also part of football sometimes is understanding that you're winning this game handedly, and there's no reason to do anything out of pocket other than just go out there. And when the clock hits zero, be the team with the highest score, move on, get healthier, get hot. Because the team that's going to win the national championship in the playoffs is going to be the healthiest and the hottest when they hit the playoffs. Period. That that's it. And I would tell you, as ja as Georgia fans and as dog fans, coming off that Auburn victory, we wanted to see a lot of things. We wanted to see the defense play better. We wanted to see our front line get off blocks more and be active in the run game. And and we just we just kept one of the best backs probably in the country. To under 40 yards. Let me rephrase that. Our defense just kept one of the best running backs in the country to under 40 yards. Okay. We can very easily take the bait of Mike Bobo over here to understand that we just did something that a lot of people have not been able to do. But kudos to Georgia for understanding, too, that at the end of the day, there's just no reason, what did you want to see? We're up twenty-four to zero. Did you want to see the offense scoring fifty on them? I think that I think that's maybe what a fan wants to see, but coaches understand the the the they understand the assignment a little bit better than than us fans. They understand that W's is the goal. Nobody remembers statistics when when W's happen. Nobody nobody really remembers statistics when W's happen. Okay. When L's happen, everybody loves to just churn the statistics up. So listen, I'm fine with how it turned out. I'm not freaking out on Mike Bopo right now. You shouldn't either. Okay, in Kirby we trust. And you damn sure shouldn't be freaking out on Kirby Smart right now. Because there's a lot of people right now that that would love to have Kirby Smart. Florida State would love to have Kirby Smart because Mike Norville just got fired today. Florida State would love Kirby Smart. I I would I would make the different that ninety nine point nine percent of the teams out there, if they have the opportunity to get rid of their coach right now and take Kirby Smart, they would honestly think about it. They would. Regardless of what situation they're in. They would think about it. 'Cause we're gonna we're gonna get into these power rankings soon. And there's some teams that would really love a good head coach. That would really love a good head coach and the SE C as well. let's hop in. I'm gonna I'm gonna give I mean We're going to do that. I'm not going to talk much about Ole Miss because we're going to do it in our regular show coming up, but definitely going to be huge time slot, man. 7 30 Saturday night. Georgia's already an early three point favorite that game. But let's let's roll out my SEC power rankings rolling into week 10. 16, man. 16. I got Vanderbilt three and five. They did not play. nothing really much to talk about with them. It's gonna be really tough. I do think that we have the we have the is it the Vandy, Arkansas or Vandy, Mississippi State? I don't know, game coming up. So that's gonna be wild, but not much to talk about with them. Fifteen, I have Arkansas Man on Arkansas had the opportunity to continue what it's been do what it did the previous week. And I I mean, man. Arkansas still struggling to just find continuity to find consistency in everything they're doing. I just I just think Arkansas's overmatched in a lot of areas right now. I think, Silver Fox, Silverfield, whatever his name is, I just think he needs to I think he needs some recruiting. I think he needs some guys under his belt. I think they need to open them open their checkbooks a little bit over there if they're gonna want to get some athletes in there that can compete. But right now I just I have them at fifteen and I I don't know if they'll go any higher this year. Fourteen, man, Mississippi State. He slipped down here to fourteen with me. man, Camario Taylor, no Camario Taylor, and this this offense just it's just not clicking, man. It just doesn't click the same. It it's I don't know, man. does this the biggest question is does Jeff Levy get a is he gonna get out of jail free card or a buy because Comario Taylor goes out? I don't know, man. it's tough. It's really tough right now in the defense, even the this Zach Arnett defense that showed improvements. Man, they're having to be on the field a lot more and they're showing they're showing some weak a lot of weaknesses actually. this is this is a team without Camario Taylor right now. They're just going backwards, really are going backwards, I'm concerned. Thirteen Texas A Not much to say about Texas A and we're gonna get to see a little bit more of them, but this is a team that is it's it's the same thing, struggling right now. Really struggling at the quarterback position. And I think the quarterback position, as we talked about earlier, I I I said there's there's two things I trust in November, and that's quarterbacks and head coaches. Quarterbacks and coaches. And right now, it's hard to to to really find where Elko is coming from because the defense at times is trying its best, but it's it's it's getting overplayed and overmatched a little bit with the consistency of the offense being able to move the football and and just and just sustain drives and keep them off the field. So this is the best I got for them right now at thirteen. Auburn, I got you at twelve. Whew, man. you know, you come in, two games, LSU, tough schedule. they got Georgia. I don't know how this team beat Georgia. I'll be honest with you. I just I really don't. I just really don't. I don't know. Probably this is gonna be the most head scratching moment for a long, long time for me, how how Auburn comes into Athens. and beats Georgia. I just don't know. What whatever they produced those two games did not show up on the field of the last I'm sorry. Whatever they produced against Georgia has not shown up on the on the field of the last two games. But it could have been more Georgia and less of Auburn. I got Auburn at twelve. Oklahoma, man, struggled. Struggled. And Venables is man does does beat in Texas get you through this year because you're dropping games the defense is even starting to struggle now a little bit. The mighty defense that was keeping you afloat is starting to struggle. this this worries me here. I got you at 11 10. I dropped Florida to 10. My concern with Florida is what quarterback are they going to go with for the rest of the year? you got three losses. There's possibility for there, I think there is possibility for some three loss teams in the college football playoff. I don't know how many. I think one man. I think one is a good possibility. I think two is a stretch. But Florida, th they got they they they got a lot they got a lot of decisions to make, right? what's the quarterback that's gonna put them in the best shape but is Tremel Jones after ta after hearing summer all is Tremel Jones even healthy enough? Or are they just pushing him? I d I don't know that Philo looked Philo looked shook and he's had some of those moments before when when Jaden Baugh is not able to run the football and keep him in rhythm. And he has to carry the game. He has not done a good job with it. I think Tremel Jones did a better job with it, but I also think Georgia put Tramel Jones in a lot of situations. Texas wasn't able to put him in. So I got I got Florida at ten. next I have man, this this is tough. I got Missouri at nine. you know, just kind of steady Eddie. I think Missouri Missouri's got a little tough little road. Obviously, Ahmad Hardy comes back. He didn't really get a lot of touches, but I think Missouri's just kind of safe here. You know, six and two. it it's the safe. I mean, I would tell you I have a three-loss team above them right now. And and some people have these guys higher, but I don't trust them that much yet. But, you know, at the end of the day, I think South Carolina deserves to be. in that eighth spot. And so I have them at eight. They're five and three above a six and two team, but I think they're just hot right now. I think at I think at max capability with the North sellers, these receivers, Nick Harper, this defense, I I think South Carolina, I mean, they're they're a three loss team that, you know, if South they're a lot of people are saying if South Carolina wins out, if they deserve to be in the playoff, I mean they would have to go through Georgia. They would have to go through Clemson, which I don't know, that's that's a tough game or Florida State just made it more than I will tell you that the quarterback for Clemson looked a lot better than the other quarterback that's played before, but this is safe for me at eight right there. Alabama, I'm sorry, Tennessee I got you at six. or did I say seven? No, seven. Alabama I got I mean Tennessee I got you at seven. I just think head to head wise, I think on a neutral field. I know you I know Alabama I know you beat Alabama, but I'm just concerned with I think Alabama has a better chance to peak. That's it. I know head to head, you already beat them. It was in Knoxville though. And and all these is all they're always based off of head to head for me. So Alabama, I have at six. I have Texas at five. I think Texas is safe at five. Still a little concerned. obviously they go in and beat Mississippi State handily, but concerned with can Arch Manning keep up the consistency, tough schedule remaining out. for the year, but for right now, what was good to see was the run game. And the run game's been better and that definitely will help Arch. but still a lot to play for for Texas and but I think they're safe at five. I have Ole Miss at four. I think defensive inconsistencies are the biggest thing for me. No Keywon Lacey. I don't know if he'll be back for Georgia. We'll get into that. earlier in later on in the week, sorry, excuse me, but I think they're safe here and I think a lot of it's based off of just the defense. I think the defense is not and maybe maybe Pete Golden might be looking back going, I really wish maybe somebody would have been calling the defense so I could be more of the head coach. That's the only thing I can think of right there. three, I got LSU. I think LSU's peaking at the right time. I think LSU is honestly a playoff team in my opinion. I think LSU's looking really good. They're getting healthy. They may get Wit Weeks back very soon. St still very dangerous. LSU's dangerous right there. Kentucky, you gotta put Kentucky right here, right? they've earned it. They've you you would have said, Okay, well, this win, maybe this win, but now seven when you look at seven and one and you look at Kentucky, they gotta be there. I got at two. I think that's fair. and I have Georgia at one, elite defense. Kentucky six straight wins. but I just think Georgia would beat Kentucky on a neutral field. So that's why I have them here now. the last thing tonight, Tuesday, obviously college football first college football playoff rankings will come out. This is where things get very interesting. Committee's first rankings come out Tuesday, November 3rd. These are predictions, not official rankings. This is basically when they'll get in and look at kind of how they would stack right now if the playoffs started. They're kind of doing that on a week-to-week basis now. So the AP will kind of just be a I would guess say a just a reference point maybe to where that'll be. The the big difference is is the conference championships will not stack no matter where your ranking is. So if you're ranked one through four, you're in those spots. So so I'm gonna kinda give you what I think it'll look like coming out on Tuesday and we'll see if I'm right. I don't know. I think this is I think this is where we're at and I think the only thing For me, is that you know, that Boise State is getting in at twelve. but if you look at the rankings, obviously I'd have a whole miss there. but I would tell you right now, Ohio State looks a lot less challenging. problems with the quarterback, I don't know if USC played that good the other night or the quarterback was just that bad. They're going to continue to struggle if they can't run the ball. This the a lot of teams are going to put eight, nine in the box and force Ohio State to beat you. So I think that's going to move Ohio State. It's going to move them out for me. That's that may sound crazy, but I just see the teams I see above them are legitimate right now. Right now. so I would have Boise right there at twelve. I would have Ole Miss at 11, Texas at 10, Alabama at 9, Notre Dame at 8, Indiana 7, BYU 6, UCLA 5, Utah 4, Kentucky 3, Georgia 2, and Miami 1. Okay, so if it was coming out today, 1, 2, 3, 4 would get the bye. And that would obviously put Boise going up against UCLA, which would be an interesting game. it would put Ole Miss going up against BYU. That would be an interesting game. Texas going up against Indiana. Wow, that would be really interesting. Alabama going up against Notre Dame. So that's where I have it. The other SEC teams, I think, to watch, obviously, Tennessee. I had LSU in there. It's gonna get very interesting right now. Even South Carolina and Florida. your three lost teams that are very interesting are obviously South Carolina. And Florida, I think South Carolina would have to go through Georgia, but if they won out, that would be incredibly interesting. let's let's ask the tough questions though, right? w when you look at the great big scheme of things, this is a Georgia team that's getting healthier. they're coming off of the bye week. They had a really strong win this week. And we have a night game coming up against Ole Miss, and I think this is gonna be a This is gonna be where we can see where Georgia's really at this part of the year. I think you look at a Georgia team coming in that is healthy, on the road, favored by three. this defense is still doing what it's doing. I think Georgia has a really good opportunity. because I think this defense is an elite and I think elite defenses or defenses at least with a pulse on how to play Trinidad Chambliss has done a pretty good job this year and put him in a situation where he has to win the game by himself and if nobody's helping him, he's fallen short multiple times this year in that avenue. So we're not gonna dig too far deep into that though. so in closing, I'll I'll give some just you know Georgia handled business against Florida defense showed us what championships football looks like. but we move into November, the questions surrounding this offense are getting a little bit louder. And I get that. And I think a strong showing would be really good for us in Ole Miss. I think we're gonna need to. I think we're gonna need to put up some points, but I I like the defense. I like where we're at. I I would tell you that Trinidad Chambless is probably the best quarterback in the SEC and probably a top three quarterback in the in the country right now. So it's gonna be a huge challenge. Mike Bobo, you know, he's got some things to figure out. I I think. Or does he? You know, or does he? I I don't know. I I I kind of have his back and him and Kirby by going, we don't need to put anything on film really, right? We're playing the long haul. And maybe that's how it worked out. as a dog fan, you would hope that, right? But Gunnar Stockton has another level that he needs to reach as well. I think I think he made some good throws. I think he made some good runs, but at times, you know, we looked like there was more out there. There was maybe we're playing it a little bit safe, right? I think the games where he's come out and really just let it go have been games that have been really great offensively. And we've had those games this year where we've been really solid. We spread the ball around to ten, eleven, twelve players on offense. And so they're they're out there, even against good defenses like Oklahoma. but as we move into November, you know, I think the running game is if we if we're getting if we get a healthy Nate. If we're getting Bo Walker to come along and to get I would say proven and to to get what's the word for it? To kinda to kinda get more of a vet feel with mixing in Dwight Phillips and who knows if we could get Chauncey back in the mix of that, man, that could be a scary running back room of what was supposed to be going on earlier in the year. we still don't have an update on Chauncey, although he moved to the questionable list for Florida, I thought was a head scratcher, so But Tuesday we find out where Georgia stands in the eyes of the playoff committee. doesn't really matter yet early on. There's a lot of games to be played and the dogs are still in the hunt, firmly in the hunt. That's the good news. November is when championship teams separate themselves from everybody else. And so Georgia's gonna have that opportunity, in the next three weeks. And so, I hope you guys had a great evening. I know sometimes weekends can happen where I just think sometimes we can overthink things, you know. understand that y you wanna see a dynamic of the offense that I guess is untapped or unplugged and you really wanna see that and it's it's not it's not sexy and it's not admirable like some of these fun and running guns are and but I would I would challenge you to go pull some video from the top ten teams I just mentioned. it it ain't it ain't just it ain't easy out there. It ain't easy. Defenses are getting a lot better. There's a lot more going into, you got basically this week when Georgia starts Ole Miss, a lot of our defensive staff and our and our support staff is already starting to look at South Carolina and some of Georgia Tech. And maybe even, maybe even deep into what does it look like for who might land if we win these games, who might land in the SEC Championship. Do we need to start looking at that? they're really playing a ways ahead. And so and so when when you get into these weeks, a lot of these coaches are getting all this information dumped on them from weeks and weeks and summers full of just digging up tape on these guys. Okay. so I I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't fret yet. I don't think I don't I don't think the offense is is gonna be based off of this showing at Florida. That's just me. But make sure and if you haven't done so, if you'll do me a favor, follow us on Dogs Down South. We are on Spotify, we're on Apple Podcasts Dogs Down South, as well as as well as YouTube Dogs Down South. Our Facebook pages. We're just about on every podcasting platform out there. So whatever you're comfortable, whatever your choice of platform that you use, go find us. Dogs down south. We'd love to have you. can't wait for our weekly show. We'll preview Ole Miss. We'll pick our SEC picks for the week. It's gonna be a great weekend heading into November. It's officially the holiday push. And so we're getting towards the end of the year where these games make a lot of noise as far as the outcomes. And so it's gonna be a fun November. that being said, I hope the dogs hope the fun is because the dogs are are winning most of them, if not all of them. But Make sure you join us throughout the week for our our weekly show. And hope you guys have a great start to your week. And as always, on Dogs Down South. Yo Dogs.