Latest / Dawgs Down South / Episode 129: Georgia/Alabama Recap, Game Breakdown, MVP's, Week 7 SEC Power Rankings and AP Top 5

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Episode 129: Georgia/Alabama Recap, Game Breakdown, MVP's, Week 7 SEC Power Rankings and AP Top 5 · Dawgs Down South

• Ted Turner: Greetings, everyone, on this Sunday night. Welcome to Dogs Down South. I'm your host, Ted Turner. And man man, to be able to do the recap podcast for the day after the Georgia Alabama game, where Georgia sees victory. the streak is over. Georgia goes into Tuscaloosa and wins a hard fought battle 20 to 17 versus Alabama. well, Dog Nation, how does it feel? take a deep breath, enjoy this one. Let it sink in. the streak's over. the hex is a better word for it. The hex is over. for the first time since 2007, as I mentioned, Georgia's beaten Alabama in the regular season. Harry Smart went back to the place where he helped build a championship dynasty, brought his Bulldogs into one of the toughest environments in college football and walked out victorious. wasn't a perfect game. we're gonna go over everything. We're gonna keep it to a power 45 tonight. had penalties, had some fumbles, had some things that didn't go our way. I'm sure Bama feels like they had some things that didn't go their way, but I think we can all agree Gunnar Stockton delivered. Dwight Phillips Jr. stepped up. Mike Bobo found ways to move the football. Glenn Schuman made huge adjustments at halftime, delivered stops. Along with that defense, obviously. Kirby Smart finally got the regular season win over Alabama. So today we're gonna break down numbers, defensive adjustments, officiating controversy, what the victory tells us about Georgia's championship potential. So let's just get right into it. Game recap real quick. obviously when you look at the first half, Georgia opened the scoring with a forty three yard field goal from Peyton Woodring that later on Peyton would miss one that, you know, we kind of felt like it was a little bit of a dagger. Right. We felt like that one kind of hurt. but you know, got the 3 0 lead. Then we then we put together the 93 yard scoring drive. Gunnar Stockton connected with London Humphreys, 20 yard touchdown. That was an impressive drive, really impressive drive. It was kind of the first little ease of what the explosiveness looked like in the passing game. that was that Albin was very stingy with, very, very stingy with all night long. At that point. Georgia looked pretty comfortable at that point, right? 10-0. you kind of sit back and you kind of go, Well, you know, it's it's going well, but it we know it's not over, right? But it's a different, it's a different environment, right? this is a Georgia team that's coming to Tuscaloosa also in these games in the last few years. And and the first half is where everything's kind of measured. we either get to a certain point where we make a really great adjustment, so we make a really great run in the second half and it's just not enough. Or we give it all out on the field for two quarters, and whether it be OT, whether it be last, you know, last second play, last two minute play, but it had that feel once again, right? It really did. game changing moment. you know, Bama answered quickly. Keelan Russell connected with Marshall Pritchett for twenty twenty twenty-two yard touchdown. And then Bray Hubbard intercepted Stockton, right? Georgia went in halftime trailing fourteen ten, right? Second half, big adjustments, right? Big adjustments and a lot of people are like, well, you know, what what were some key adjustments? I do think that we the pressure got there a lot better. in the second half defensively, we continued to show Keelan Russell multiple looks. That was a key all night long. I mean, I don't think it was just halftime adjustments. Like Schumann being able to show all of those multiple fronts was huge. I mean, we were in and out of so many different fronts, it was it was incredible. Some would, you know, we lined up seven, eight on the front. Some would go, some would stay. it kept Keelan Russell, especially in the first half, in my opinion, very under wraps. so Georgia got the ball second half, 75 yard scoring draft, 17-14. then the 39-yard field goal by Alabama tied it up at 17-17. Georgia later had the opportunity to retake the lead, but Westbury missed the field goal we talked about. and then Georgia's defense forced Alabama to punt. Dogs took over, leaned on the running game. White Phillips Jr., Bo Walker. we moved the offense down. Woodring connects with a 23 yard. I I thought we were going to go to the tight ends in those in those areas. We'll talk about that in second. and then we we connected obviously 23 yard field goal. 2017, Alabama still had a chance. third and seven backed up. It's on 10 yard line. this is after obviously the the the EI call, which we're gonna talk about here in a minute. But third and seven, Gunner delivers an an absolute gem to Elias Williams. I love the play call. Three tight ends to the right. you got six seven, six five, and six three over there. And I just I just love the play call. It was really it was a really good play call. something we did with our our tight ends that I wish we would do more, in my opinion. But I'm not gonna complain about Mike Bobo. I thought the play calling was was pretty was pretty I mean, it was pretty amazing. I thought the play calling was spot on. a few plays later, is when Dijon Lee was flagged for the 15 yard personal foul, giving Georgia the automatic first down. And that sealed it. So you know, just curious discussion question for the night was, you know, was this Georgia's most important regular season win of the Kirby Smart era, or do you have another game at the top of your list? if if if viewers are looking on. I personally will tell you this this definitely is a hex off of Kirby. everybody, you know. Even in the chats during the game, everybody was like, Kirby has a problem with Alabama. Kirby can't beat Alabama. and fans have just garnered this intensity around this game. And I get it, right? You're tired of you're sick and tired of hearing Alabama owned you in the regular season. You know, Alabama in you know, you heard all the memes, you know, people can't pick Alabama. I'm sorry, people can't pick Georgia against Alabama, like because no matter how, you know, good of a team Georgia has and no matter How we feel about the game, it's it's just not gonna work out because it's Georgia, Alabama, and Alabama owns these regular season games. but but but we got it done. I mean, Georgia got it done. and incredible win. I know as a fan, just as a fan, I will tell you, it was so good to be able to just get that hex off of our back. Like it really was. It just felt I'm sure you guys as well, regardless of of what, you know, you're gonna hear it. a a lot. E I call, face mask call, a lot of things and we're gonna talk about the penalties, but all in all, man, you know, dogs a as we're sitting here right now, dogs are number one in the APN coaches right now coming into the Georgia Auburn week. that I will be getting a lot of I'm doing this one a little bit early, but and we're getting the midweek podcast out on Wednesday as normal, but We flying out Thursday morning for Georgia Auburn. So we'll be going live a lot. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, around Sanford Stadium for Georgia, Auburn. so make sure that you're hopping in on TikTok. We'll be live over there. And yeah, we could do some stuff possibly a little extra as well. statistically, now when you look at you know, when you look at penalties and you look at the things that Bama is just whining about right now, right? PI call, face mask, all these other things, what you really can't take away. From Georgia is the numbers. Okay. Final score, obviously, but total yards, Georgia four four fifty five, to Mama's three forty six. Rushing yards two six to one sixty one. Nate Frazier's not in those yards. Chauncey Bowens is not in those yards. That is Dwight Phillips. That is Bo Walker. And that's Chris Peel. So a lot of Bo Walker though, a lot of a lot of Dwight Phillips. Man, what a game by those guys. Passing yards two forty nine. Back Bama one eighty five. Yards per play. They're averaging about seven point five. Bama five point eight. First downs twenty-one for Georgia, seventeen for Bama. one passing touchdown. Sorry, I just lost my notes already. let me let me get back, let me lock back in. Hold on one second. And then third down passing TDs each had one penalty, seven for fifty-seven for Georgia, five for fifty for Alabama. I mean, dominated every category. So I don't I don't mean Alabama fans gotta look statistically at that and go, if you're hanging everything on a PI, the holding call earlier against early in the first half that should have been called that when when when Jordan Hall got held and the touchdown was scored, that took That would have taken a touchdown off the board. The P.I. wouldn't have taken a touchdown off the board. So so those are the those are the big hitters. the things that matter, biggest statistic takeaway, Georgia generated more yards, controlled the ground game, made enough defensive stops to win a close real game. One one caution, I would say. four fumbles were were all recovered by the Bulldogs. So the team finished with zero lost fumbles. so I guess you can look at it and be like, well, no, no turnovers were generated, but man. We really lived on the edge a lot, in that in that scenario. And there was a couple I just didn't think we got back. The Sokobi White Heldon one on the punt. I I didn't think we got that back. I mean, and and the kid was the kid was wrecked. He was wrecked. but talk about a team that picked him up not only through their play, but immediately on the sideline was huge. They know what Sokoby White Helpness is in this team, and what a what an incredible show of togetheredness over there the sideline. But the big debate question I have coming out of this part is, you know, Georgia, I felt like dominated the line of scrimmage. did they or or did we just make more plays when it mattered? me personally, I think there were times I saw, you know, the offensive line getting beat up a little bit, but and I and I definitely saw our defensive line they they got some push. but for the most part, at the end of the day, that's an improved that's an improved offensive line for Alabama. One of the things I said about Alabama at the beginning of the year was if they can run the football this year and the offensive line can be better, this team has a great shot. I thought the defense was going to be good coming in. I thought the secondary was going to be good. Felt good about their linebacker play. running backs were young, but I still felt good about that. Obviously Keelan Russell hasn't seen a Georgia defense like this. and the run game, so I felt like and even the passing game, like I feel like they still have dudes out there You know, Brooks, Coleman Williams. I felt like I felt like Bama had a has a complete team. in my opinion, I'm gonna do my power rankings, but I'm also gonna do my top five. This will be my first top five for me right now if I were voting in the AP poll, but I don't think Bama should be dropping much, if if any at all, though. So but let's talk about keys, all right? We talked about keys to victory, but let's talk about why Georgia won. Okay. I think battle up front. Even though I just talked about there were times that it just looked like we possibly were getting kind of moved around a little bit. I mean, when you look at 206 yards and averaging 5.3 yards per carry, I mean, Dwight Phillips Jr. is not the biggest back. Okay. And I thought, I thought both of these guys, Boat Walker and Dwight, had a really good day through the tackles. I think we we wanted to get the edges, but Bam is so good, man, on the edge. There, Cade Walmack is so hard to run outside on. They really are. The team speed. we tried. We were successful, but we got a we had a couple holding calls. I th I so I think we've you know, we we figured some things out and we figured out when we came out the third third quarter, we were gonna have to run the ball and we're gonna have to run up in the tackles regardless of who was running the ball. So so I think that production helped Georgia stay balanced. That that in in tune helped Gunnar Stockton, I think. Be able to throw the ball more efficiently, man. And I can't say enough about Gunnar Stockton. We're to talk in about him in a minute, but I think defense was able to create pressure. there was times, I mean, gosh. There were times when Keelan Russell we broke containment a couple times, and he's just so athletic, man. He's so sneaky fast. To not be kind of called a dual threat, he's very elusive, man. I would tell I would think Pat Mahomes wasn't a dual threat. I don't think they They try to run it with Pat Mahomes, but I think the same way. I think if he has to, he can. I think I think that's what Keelan Russell like gives you there. So I think we were able to create pressure. we recorded sacks. That was incredible. We're seeing that consistently throughout the first six games, you know, including the open drive sack. strip we stripped Keelan Russell, you know, Joseph Jonah Janye. Johnson recovered the fumble. that opening play established a huge tone off the off the rip. I mean, we said First half has to be maintained, established, and we can't let it get out of hand. Like we said it, we set it as a key to victory. The first half had to be under control. I feel like I still sat there at halftime going, man, really felt like, man, 10-0. How in the world are we down 14-10? but for the most part, I think in previous years, that's a better position to be than we were in like in other years at halftime. Stockton made some big plays. The third one. I would say is arms and legs wise, three for two forty-nine, connected on a touchdown pass and scored on a fourteen yard run as well. he wasn't flawless. he responded after the interception. there's a couple of questionable pressure hurry ups that I'm sure that when he looks at it, he goes back, he'll learn from. just a couple of rushes and I felt like off one leg he was trying to do way too much, right? In the heat of the moment, he's a guy and he's been in this game and He he's just trying to make a play. He's just trying to make a play. And he got lucky on one, the interception that was reversed, but for the most part, I I think he hurt them with his arm and his legs. And I I can clearly see the arm strength is much, much in tune, much better in tune this year than last year. four I would say we they responded to adversity. I mean, you look at the turnovers, you look at being down at halftime. You look at a couple of big plays that hit for Alabama that could have kind of sealed it for us. You look at the missed field goal. You look at all the adversity that happened to that game, right? Nate not being able to go. So right off rip, you know, there's adversity there. Chauncey's not in there. These guys could have looked and just been like, Well, you know what? We don't have Nate, we don't have Chauncey, we don't have Canyon, we don't have Tom. I mean, the list goes on and on, and they didn't, man. It was it really was next man up. So it really you know, tells the tale that Kirby talks about all the time is this team is deep. They're ready to go. It is next man up. The way that we like to get these players reps and practice and how we practice, it truly speaks to how they looked on the field on Saturday night, especially these young guys. finally, I would say Georgia finished. Okay. big part of of what Georgia's not been able to do in this game in previous years. Final drive, it required a third down conversion. I mean, Gunnar Stockton had to rip one. We talked about the play earlier. and the late personal foul was kind of the icing on the cake, but could it have gotten interesting? I mean, maybe. I mean, anything could have happened, but I mean, we're not gonna we're not gonna whine about we know we're not gonna whine about it, right? situational football was was just intact with all that. I think a combination of all five of those things are the big reason why Georgia came out of Tuscaloosa with a victory this year. not the Not the PI calls, not the refs. We didn't pay the refs. you know, that there was there was none of that. No Kirby Smart make the call. I mean, it just it w it is what it is. We Georgia's been on this side a lot. And I had a plan tonight. I had some pictures and video and things that nature, but it's just not worth it. It really isn't. Georgia in every statistical fashion won that game. I think if you go back and watch the game, we won that game. Physicality was Absolute incr absolutely incredible. I mean Kirby said it. I want them to feel us, man. And I think Alabama definitely went to that locker room going, Wow. Whether or not they still think they're the best team, I think those were the best two teams right there on the field in the country as we're as we're sitting here today. you'll see it in my power rankings, more than likely. And you'll and you you might see it in my top five. so let's go through real quick, how let's thought real quick. How good was Gunnar Stockton? Eighteen of twenty two, two forty-nine, one passing touchdown. We just said a fourteen yard rushing touchdown, eighty-one point eight percent completion rate against Alabama on the road. Man, like holy drop your I mean, man, just have the game, sir. Have a game. I mean, I love seeing this. This kid works his tail off. He's quiet, but he's not quiet from what I understand in that huddle and on that practice field and with those guys. Extremely humble, plays the game, goes about it the right way, and is just a team player, man. I I I can't say enough about Gunnar Stockton. If he's not in the and he doesn't care about this, but if Gunnar Stockton is not in your Heisman. Thought process, right? Just thought process. Like, you're not giving this kid the benefit of the doubt. Because it's based off of the best player in college football taking, helping take his team to another level and obviously to other levels as far as their goals. And he's doing that right now. But he's also statistically knocking it out of the park as well. averaging a l 11.3 yards per attempt. We talked about what engaged explosives. 1112, 13 yard plays. We were 11.3 yards per attempt, completing short passes, kept the chains moving on third down. You know, keeping Bam on the field was huge. made explosive throws, that 53 yard touch completion of Jaden Riddell that set up the touchdown by Humphreys was just a an absolute dot. I mean, you can't you can't place it any better. His ball placement, and it it didn't backtrack. From Vanderbilt. found ways to extend drives with his legs, second half touchdown run, put Georgia back in the front. Was he perfect? Again, I say this, no. Interception, maybe a second one was in place somewhere. There, but you know, quarterbacks are judged more on whether they make mistakes sometimes. They're judged, but I think they should be judged on how they respond, right? And he continued to just keep his head in the game, right? He knew he knew there was more minutes. He knew there was more time. He knew there was more opportunities. That he was gonna have to be out there. And if he calculated everything by those plays, there was no way he was gonna get in that game and take his team to victory. but he came back, you know, after multiple adverse situations, I would call it. Showed poise, accuracy, mobility, and he executed under pressure in one of the toughest environments in college football. Dwight Phillips Jr., man, man. Old peanut, man. Nate Frazier unavailable. Chauncey unavailable. He carried the ball 17 times for 120 yards, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. Holy cow, man. Wow. Wow. Outstanding production against Alabama for Dwight Phillips. So proud of that kid, man. He gave Georgia explosive runs, such good vision. I mean, you got to think they, you know, his size, it's just very easy to go look when I hit, when I hit something or when I'm supposed to be somewhere and And it's not there. I could just easily easily just be like, look, I'm I gotta go there, right? His vision was incredible. He bounced things out, he followed his blockers, spins, dives, jumps. I mean, the kid was elusive. his contribution also helped take the pressure off of Stockton, right? Georgia could run the football, move the chains, avoid becoming one dimensional, which we said had to happen. We had to be balanced on the road. If you would have told me that no Nate Frazier. No Chauncey Bowens, and we and we had to be balanced against Alabama defense. Every SEC team, in my opinion, when you're on the road, you have to be balanced. If you would have told me we were not only going to be incredibly balanced, but outrush Alabama with those guys, and they had everybody that they were supposed to have behind them, I would have told you I didn't, this was going to be very, very hard. So for us to excel, win the rushing game, win the passing game, and Georgia to come out with a victory. That says a lot about this team. That says a lot about this coaching staff. That says a lot about this fan base. It says a lot about this program. And so kudos to Georgia all around. What an incredible show of just absolute dominance from players that sometimes could complain, could could, you know, hop in the portal, could just be an absolute new absolute nuisance, but they don't. They stick in there. They show FPE. And they wait on their turn and when they get it, they knock it out of the park. And man, Dwight Phillips Jr. did it. Man, he did it. Mike Bobo, man, I my question to you is, was this one of Mike Bobo's best called games in his career? Okay. And I would say when you look back at it, you you probably go, Well, you know, there's a lot of different layers of what Mike Bobo's had to deal with. You look two years ago when Carson Beck was here and we struggle with our run game and offensive line. And what he had to do to make this offense productive, which I still think he did. Nobody liked how it looked. But man, it just goes to show what has to be done when you're not balanced. And then last year, where, you know, we didn't have as many explosive plays. We didn't really have it in us to, you know, we didn't have a lot of in my opinion, maybe it was guts, maybe it was taking a chance, maybe it was, you know. Getting back to the old Georgia football where we, you know, check you know, we we we run the football and we take away the run, right? And this year, you know, explosive plays and causing havoc. I mean, check, check, check, and check. And so I think for me, four four hundred and fifty-five total yards, seven point five yards of play against a highly ranked opponent, probably the second best team in the country right now. And I I think these guys could go blow for blow. If it was a five game series, it'd be blow for blow. but you know, 206 yards rushing with your third and fourth strength, right? 249s passing, that that's that's extreme balance, man. Like Mike Bobo deserves a round of applause. He deserves honestly if you just get off his crap for a couple of weeks. and I mean, Kirby always says it, we're we're one week away from humbleness, right? scoring drives. I mean, deal position was literally at a limit all night long. We started in horrible. field position, even when we decided to actually return a punt or a kickoff, we we got a holding call or a block in the back and we started the 10. We did not have the ideal field position all night. So I mean when you look at those things and backs against the wall after halftime again, you know, the question isn't whether Bobo caught a perfect game. He didn't. the question is whether he put Georgia in a position to beat an elite opponent. The yardage, explosive play, second half scoring drives It it all suggests that he did that. My verdict, I I think strong performance by Bobo, particularly in the balance between the running and passing game, the next step is improving ball security and converting more scoring opportunities into touchdowns. And I would say the red zone. I would say I'd say, you know, if I had one thing to pick away from there is if we get a couple of those in the red zone. And but I will say it would have been nice to get a touchdown on the board, not being picky. I had to be picky though. It'd been nice to get a touchdown on the board to go up 24-17 instead of the field goal, right? was the play calls bad? They weren't horrible, but I just don't know. Like I think I would have I'm I would have maybe tried a little bit more RPO, get Gunner's legs involved, roll him out, get some tight ends in play. I mean, we have 6'7, we have a lot of those guys that really can go up and get the ball. And that was my only small complaint, is I'd have loved to get a touchdown. I'm sure everybody would have. It's a lot easier watching Georgia play defense when it's if it gives up a touchdown, they don't lose the game rather than give them a touchdown and they just, okay, we're going to overtime, right? and then some brought up, you know, Schumann, right? Obviously. It's unfair to talk about Bobo without talking about Schumann. I think, I think the defense deserve recognition for I mean, Georgia bailed I mean, I'm sorry, the defense bailed the offense out a c a couple times. where we just kind of the drives kind of slowed and and they came down to, you know, where we just couldn't execute on third down a couple of times. We tried to get the run going in the first half. I I think it was huge when the interception happened and Georgia got Alabama off the field. They punted the ball. We played the you know, we played the we put we played the the yardage, you know, game, the field position games I'm trying say, sorry. It's late tonight. but Like I think the defense bailed the offense out numerous times. obviously fourteen points in the second quarter after halftime. Alabama managed to just a f have a field goal and was shut was shut out in the fourth quarter as far as touchdowns were concerned. the headline is that Georgia recorded four sacks and held Alabama to three hundred and forty six total yards, including a hundred and eighty five passing yards. Four sacks against his Alabama defense against his Alabama offense. Incredible. I mean, we wanted to get to the ball. We wanted to. This is Keelan Russell, too, man. It was hard. This is not a this is not a guy that's ha it's easy to get down. He's elusive. This line has improved. Offensive line coach has improved this offensive line. The scheme is better. so all in all, man, you you gotta give Schumann credit as well. What stands out to me though is you know, for all four quarters, Georgia did not. I mean, we they didn't really need to shut off shut Bama down, right? It needed to respond after the halftime deficit. Make critical stops when the game was on the line. Get off the field on third down was huge. That was huge. We had a couple of those where I was like, man, this is feeling like fast. You know, we would get you we would get into third down and four, third down and sixth. We would get a you know, I think we did have a face mask or I know there was one where he got loose, the second one was there's a just a couple of those plays that were just very man, up in the air and and kept them on the on the field. And but it was kind of bend not break, right? extremely, extremely I mean, a lot of people were not happy with the tackling, but man, it it was physical out there, man. It was really physical. People were really hitting out there. There was there was guys hitting out there. I mean, it was a it was not for the faint hearted out there. But, you a lot of people are going have questions, right? you know, what changed defensively after halftime? Probably for Schumann, right? You know, was the pressure up front the biggest difference? Did George do a better job limiting explosives? You know, how much credit should Schumann receive for the fourth quarter shutout? I would tell you that those guys played their heart out and Schumann doesn't ever none of these coaches ever get all of, you know, the the success. They're always gonna take on more more than likely the downfall of everything. As far as the success, the players have to have to go out and execute the scheme. I think Schuman, Schumann and Kirby, obviously Kirby's a defensive guy. There, there were some great adjustments made. and I mean, there had to be, right? I mean, three points. Three points in the second half. And this offense is good. All that everybody talked about all week was this offense. So and then Kirby, you got to talk about him. I mean, the streak's over, right? you know, this was just another win. It wasn't just another win on the schedule. psychological hurdle. We talked about it in the show last week as we did our picks. we said, is this a psychological hurdle that has to be gotten over? Right. And I'm gonna tell you, like this team, I'm gonna I'm gonna wait to the end. I'm gonna wait to the end to say that. but you know, now Georgia has another piece of evidence that it can win the it can win at Alabama, it can win in hostile environments, it can win when their their backs against the wall. puts Georgia in an excellent position in the SEC, strengthened his college football playoff resume. And, you know, Kirby said it himself, man. He gave a lot of lot of praise to the coaching staff, players, the wives, fan base, the cheerleaders, the band. Like he like he is so big on all that thing. so kudos to all of Dog Nation. It's a it was a big win for Georgia, big win for Kirby. can't say enough about Just how it feels as a as a fan, right? It just feels a lot better. And I and to be honest with you, I I s I just feel like a little kid right now because I've sat on the other side of this on this podcast on the day of or the next day. I mean, I interviewed Hudson Mason last year, after you know, Bama beat us at home. And it was not a I mean, it was fun. Love loved hanging out with Hudson and but it was tough conversation, man. We didn't think we didn't think we were gonna be getting that serious. but it was it was definitely one we had to kind of lock in on and and get through. And but man, kudos to Georgia. we're on to Auburn, right? But we're gonna hop in really quick to our my SEC power rankings for week seven. Maybe some surprises here, but I'm gonna fly through these. I'm gonna give you my top five. I'm gonna give you my final thoughts tonight, okay? week seven power rankings in the SEC 16. I have Arkansas. Arkansas Man, I felt like they played Tennessee really tough. I don't know if it was Arkansas playing really well or Tennessee just really not performing well, but I do know that Arkansas had a opportunity to win the game. I feel like I feel like when they punted the ball, there was just no way they were gonna get out of that. And, you know, so when you look at Silverfield and you look at the decision making for this team right now, and I I don't know. I keep saying this. but they also find themselves in these games. So it's hard to really dial in on if Arkansas is gonna be at the bottom for the rest of the year. But I will tell you that it's it just it just gets harder and harder for them. And I I I don't see them coming out of the bottom right now, but I also did not think this game would be close. So but I got Arkansas at sixteen, fifteen, Vanderbilt. You had to think that Jerry Curtis returning for Vanderbilt was gonna be a plus home game, old miss, twelve o'clock kickoff, twelve forty five actually. So the so the table was set for For Vanderbilt to come off a pretty productive day against Georgia in some areas. And they they really didn't show up, really didn't perform. Ole Miss had a really good good good day, and you know, Vanderbilt just didn't do really well. So I mean I have him at fifteen. I think Vanderbilt and Arkansas have a chance to flip the script when they play each other. So 14, I got Texas AM down here, man. Oof. Mike Elko and Texas AM are really struggling right now. Really struggling. and he's in a situation I think even he is not really proud of. I think he's talking a lot about media, he's talking a lot about fans, he's questioning a lot of things. And, you know, these are the things where you just gotta you gotta get through them. You gotta have hearts to heart, heart to hearts with your team. You gotta you gotta look at them and go, We need we need small victories, we need one game at a time, we need to finish off this season to where this season doesn't kind of predicate what's going to be for the rest of the next three or four years are some of these players going to be here, right? Or not. because the, you know, the portal changes it, it changes things every single week. not to mention how the SEC is mentioning possibly bringing back the old rule of where you have to sit a year. So that was in the works as of the last time I heard as well. But tough sled right now for Elko and then AM. And man, you got to start wondering, you know, was this off what was this, you know, Offensive coordinator play call, Solomon Wiggins wasn't the right call. Buster Faulkner was on the horn and you could have got Buster Faulkner and man, Marcel Reid, he looks worse than ever. I mean, it's just bad. thirteen, I have Auburn here on a bye week. Auburn's got two weeks to get ready for Georgia. They come into Athens this weekend at three thirty. We're gonna preview that game on Wednesday night to make sure you hop in and join that. So nothing really to talk about on the bye week with Auburn. Twelve, I did move South Carolina, I'm so sorry. I had it out of whack. So I I have Tennessee. Tennessee I have at twelve. So sorry. I I just feel like, you know, this is a a five and one Tennessee team right now that is struggling to produce on offense. They have a really good run game. I think the defense is good enough. but man, when you're one dimensional on offense, the defense can only do so much, especially when they're gonna run into more explosive teams than Arkansas and some of these other teams. And so I dropped them a pretty good ways this week. so I dropped them to twelve, eleven, I have Florida. Man, Florida's really f fallen back for me. I had at fourth. They fell back last week. They fall back again this week. It seems like people have the they kind of have the What do you call it? The I would just call it the answer for for Florida. Jaden Ball, the answer for Florida is they're taking Jaden Ball out of the equation. they're making they're making this one dimensional, they're making Aaron Philo win these games. and it's not boating as well because balance is not is not producing the way it was in the beginning of the year. And this secondary for Florida is really struggling right now. This defense in in in general is struggling. So I have Florida there. South Carolina, I moved South Carolina up to 10. big win. Obviously, they go in 33-19. Shane Beamer gets the team up. They actually get up in the first half. They don't lose, they don't lose the you know, they don't give it away the second half. They don't lose the the lead. And so kudos to Shane Beamer. I thought the defense looked better, I thought Laura Sellers looked better, and so South Carolina may have some life to them, right? the the schedule is actually decently doable for South Carolina. So you hope that, right? Because two weeks ago, this team, I mean, you literally last week, you know, Dylan Stewart is getting, you know, suspended indefinitely. He's sitting there wondering if the administration still has his back. I mean, it's just crazy to see how from one week to the next this can happen. And but I mean it's looking up for Shane Beamer and the staff. So I got South Carolina at ten. It's fair. It's week seven. It's sh it's it's how it should be. ninth. Woo, I moved Oklahoma up to ninth. Man, showing some life. Red River victory over Texas. man, defense, defense had a lot of those scores. I think, I think it proves what I said earlier in the year when Georgia played Oklahoma. That was one of the best defenses Georgia's gonna face this year besides Alabama. and I think the defense played really well. Special teams pulled a touchdown out, defense pulled a touchdown out, and John Matteer found Satania. Through really good ball to Satania and they kicked the game winning field goal to w to win Red River. So I have Oklahoma here. And man, I don't know if Oklahoma can continue to find an offense. His defense looks really, really good. but but shout out to to to Oklahoma and to Venables and his staff for just just finding a way in Red River. This is a big win for him and in Oklahoma and the staff. eight I got Mississippi State by week, but this week LSU and Mississippi State are neck and neck because they play each other this week. So this will be an interesting game. but the but a bi week, nothing to really talk about. There. Seven, I have LSU right in front of them. Man, they lose a hard really hard fall game. A lot of people have LSU higher, but I can't put LSU over Kentucky because I think if Kentucky beat him at home, I think they could beat him in a neutral site. but Kentucky gets I mean, Will Stein, man, he gets ballsy and goes forward again. on two point conversion and he gets it for for the second weekend in a row. You w what do you say about Will Stein, man? He's he has injected life back into Kentucky, man, instantly. Instantly. six, I dropped Texas to six, man. I I I just think when you look at the one loss teams between Kentucky and Texas, I just think Kentucky right now is hotter. Their offense looks better. The defense looks a little better at Kentucky. I think the defenses are kind of the same. You gotta wonder, man. You know, some of yes, a lot of those touchdowns were on the defensive and special team side of the ball, but you gotta wonder, you know, Texas is allowing an offense like Oklahoma to punch out game-winning drives. You know, you gotta wonder what's going on there. And then offensively, Sarkeesian continues to take this offense backwards. fifth, I got Kentucky. nothing really to be said here other than they're hot. They should be ranked this week. I think they are. I haven't really looked at the entire breakdown of the AP AP poll right now. this t tonight, but I think they should be ranked. man, Kentucky is a hot team and Kentucky has the opportunity to go ten and two. I mean, is Kentucky a playoff team? They might be. and Will Stein is the hottest coach in college football. I mean, go ahead and give him SEC coach of the year. I mean you give it to him right now and he deserves it. four, this is a tough one for me. I got Ole Miss here just because I think my third team on this list has played a little bit more complete than Ole Miss has, but it'll all pan out soon. I I know, but I got Ole Miss here. It's coming off that Florida game. It kind of makes that Florida loss look a little bit worse because fla how Florida's performing right now. So I got Ole Miss at four, but they did look good at Vanderbilt. Defense looked better, but it's Vanderbilt and it's hard. It's hard to really tell what's going on there. Vanderbilt's still physical, but I will say that it was really hard to tell if they really are back or not after that bye week. But but a good performance from Ole Miss. Trinidad Chamos looked good. They sh they they showed more balance. Defense looked better. Ywan Lacey back in that lineup and played well. third, I have Missouri. I think this is warranted. I think Missouri is a playoff team. I think Missouri's gonna be tough for everybody they play, including Georgia this year. Georgia gets them at home. This is another team on the slate that really nobody saw this year because everybody wondered, you know, with Ahmad Hardy out, what was gonna happen? Could Simmons put it together? do they have enough receiving depth? I mean, all the All the defensive continuity missing, with bringing all those guys into the portal. How is it gonna connect? But man, Eli Drink was just putting it together, man. I got him a third. big game this weekend, though. Big game this weekend. We're gonna pick him on Wednesday. Second, I got Alabama. I I think Alabama and Georgia obviously one and two. You got Georgia one. I think these two teams are very close, very neck and neck. And you could see him play again in the S C championship. Heck, you could see him play again in the playoffs. So I I think that's very warranted and and and I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you right now I'm gonna I'm gonna pick my top five AP wise, but it it's gonna probably be a shocker, but I I'm not picking it how the AP's voting it. Okay. I'm really picking it on how I think I I'm really picking it who on who I think the top five teams really are. That makes sense. I I I have like an honorable mention because I do think Ole Miss, even though I have them in my behind Missouri in my in in my power rankings, it's only based off of Florida. But I'll tell you, Ole Miss is my sleeper outside of that top five. Okay. But I have for my AP top five, I have Indiana at five. Okay. I have Notre Dame at four. I have Ohio State at three. I have Alabama at two. And I have Georgia at one. I think that's how it should be. we're not talking about politically correct, we're not talking about AP voters, we're not talking about well, what is this? I'm talking about when you look at these teams and how they've played and how they perform. I think that's the top five right now. But in closing tonight, I was gonna say it a little bit earlier, but you know, I think as we close tonight, when you look at Georgia and Alabama, when we kind of put it to bed, I I f I feel like from top to bottom, when you look at how Georgia won this game, when you look at missing Isaiah Canyon, missing Thomas Blackshear, when you look at missing Nate Frazier, mi missing Chauncey Bowens, and you look at the connectivity of this team and how they played and how they went about their business, it's huge. There's been plenty of years where this Georgia team would roll over in those scenarios. And I'm not talking about rollover as far as like quit. Georgia's never had a team that quit. but it just looked like that they got to a point where they had to do so much to bail themselves out of adversity that they had created, whether it be at home or away. And we've seen it happen. that that's where you were getting the the end of the game blunders and things of that nature. But you have noticed that when Georgia has controlled the narrative in the first half, every single time Georgia has come out victorious when they've controlled the narrative. I didn't say win the first half. I just said they didn't lose the game in the first half, right? But I want to close with this as I say that. You know, this this team just kind of does this team kind of feel like something familiar to you, right? When you look at kind of how Stetson Bennett had to be reined in, you know, such a great talent. elusive, you know, in it with his legs, could throw the ball, had a really good arm, you know, was very exciting to watch. You had to get him to the point though, too, where he didn't put us in bad situations, right? He was very in control of the game. that made him even more elusive and more unpredictable when he, you know, kind of limited the turnovers, right? And then you look at a defense that's solid in the trenches, great, really good run game, really good starting line. Really winning the trenches on the defensive line, great secondary. This team really kind of feels like one of those teams that are that are that Kirby can go and get it all with. It has that feeling. And so as I close tonight, I just want to say for dog fans out there that yes, we have a lot to improve on, but as we look at week to week, let's go into every week and not have the sky is falling scenario in our in the back of our mind. After one small thing goes wrong. Okay. We've shown this team can get out of out adversity. We've shown this team can do it on the road. We've shown that we have a quarterback that can deliver under adverse. We've shown we've had we have depth. We've shown that we have tough kids. and we've shown togetherness. We've shown we've shown brotherhood. And so I personally think that Kirby has the DNA in this team this year, do a lot of the things That he enjoys doing and coaching and I would say week to week preparedness to get this team to a national championship. And so I'm loving it. I'm not speaking too soon, but I really like the continuity and the togetherness of this team. hope you guys enjoyed it tonight. Georgia, Alabama is in the books. We'll put it to bed and we'll move on to Auburn. So if you haven't already done so, please go and follow and like us. We're on TikTok Dogs Down South. Apple Podcast 24 Hours Later, Dogs Down South, YouTube, Dogs Down South, and just about any other podcasting platform out there. Thank you for all of the support. we will be, I personally will be in Athens this weekend for Georgia Auburn. So a lot of content coming to you from Athens. We will do our normal regular show on Wednesday night. So make sure that if you want to catch it live, you hop on YouTube. And if you don't, catch it on Apple Podcasts. Thank you for all the support. You guys have a great rest of your weekend and a great Monday. starting for Georgia Auburn week and as always on Dogs Down South. Go Dogs.