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Georgia Bulldogs Broadcaster Scott Howard · The Craig Way Show

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  Speaker 1: You've heard me say on the program quite often when
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  we have the opposing Kings played by play voice join
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  us for a few minutes. So and so is someone
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  I've known a long time or friends a long time.
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  If from the department of true confessions, I don't believe
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  that Scott Howard and I have ever had a chance
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  to physically face to face meet, and that even includes
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  with the Sugar Bowl because we were also swamped a
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  few years ago. So with that, I welcome the play
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  by play voice of the Georgia Bulldogs, Scott Howard to
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  the program.
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  Speaker 2: Scott, I really appreciate the time.
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  Speaker 3: How are you today, Hey, Craig, I'm doing well, And
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  that is one hundred percent correct.
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  Speaker 4: We have never met faith to face.
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  Speaker 1: I just I was sitting there thinking maybe basketball a
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  fewyears it now I don't think so, and so I
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  was trying to remember about that. But I'm really I'm
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  really grateful to you for coming on for a few minutes.
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  The first thing I want to ask is something whenever
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  I'm on with somebody else that they always ask about
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  the health of the Longhorn football team. And they've got
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  some guys banged up and they're hoping to have Isaiah
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  Bond back this week. They they know that they have
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  lost Derek Williams for the season the injury. We heard
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  that from Sark and they've got some other guys Banker,
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  but I know that in some cases, Kirby Sparts team's
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  got a little bit of a mash unit thing going on,
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  don't they right now with the injuries.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's been a lot to handle through the
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  first six games. You know, they're their running back room
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  is is down two guys now. Roderick Robinson hasn't played
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  at all this season. He had toe surgery in August
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  during training camp, so he he never even made it
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  to the first game.
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  Speaker 4: And he hasn't come back yet. Uh.
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  Speaker 3: And then last week against Mississippi State, Branson Robinson suffered
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  another knee injury. He's got an m c L problem.
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  I'm not sure if it was a tear or a
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  sprain or what. But he's going to be out this week.
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  So he's back off the shelf again. And Uh, Georgia
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  and the and the running backs are just down to
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  trevorytn Answer from Florida, who's missed the first game of
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  the year. He was quietly suspended I guess if you
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  want to call it that way. It was never announced
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  as such, but he had gotten into some off the
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  field trouble prior to the season and did not play
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  against Clemson in the opener. And after that, it's Cash Jones,
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  a walk on from Brock Texas, and two freshmen, well
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  really three freshmen and one who's only played any significant
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  amount of snaps, and that's Nate Frasier.
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  Speaker 4: So the running back room is.
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  Speaker 3: Is banged up, as is the offensive line. We're down
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  the center and a starting guard who is also the
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  backup center or was working to be, and so we're playing,
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  you know, technically our number three guy at center right
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  now and a backup guard. So most of the injuries
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  have taken place on offense too. There is one linebacker
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  that's out on defense, Smile Munden, who's a significant loss
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  as he is one of Georgia's leading tacklers and most
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  experienced players.
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  Speaker 4: So yes, they are. They're kind of a walking mash
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  unit right now. They're really banged up.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. Uh so uh.
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  Speaker 1: The The one other thing I was going to ask
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  about is when when there is a veteran football team,
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  even when guys get banged up and they're they're there
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  to help, I guess, kind of nurture and help the
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  younger guys grow a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: That sort of thing when.
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  Speaker 1: When you go through some early season h bumps, and
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  there was the tight game at Kentucky, then obviously the
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  Los Alabama and then bounce back with the win.
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  Speaker 2: How much do you see?
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  Speaker 1: I was impressed with what the Kirby Smart said in
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  his press conference about how, you know, his guys know
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  what they're supposed to do and and and we all
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  kind of there's an expectation of us getting everybody through
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  the difficult moments, injuries notwithstanding. So you kind of noticed
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  that with guys, not just Carson back obviously, but uh,
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  you know some of the other veterans on both the
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  offensive and dece eventsive side of the ball, having that
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  really take ownership when times are a little bit bumpy.
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  Speaker 3: Uh yeah, for the most part, you know, And and
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  the guys filling those those spots right now are are
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  not necessarily veterans on the offensive line. Michael Morris has
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  played a lot of snaps and he's the guy who's
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  playing it right guard now in plays of Tate Ratleige,
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  and you know he's he's one of those players that
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  has rotated in the offensive line over the last couple
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  of years, so he's he's not a newbie.
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  Speaker 4: But some of the other.
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  Speaker 3: Guys that are having to to to get some snaps
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  haven't necessarily played a lot. And and that certainly applies
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  on defense to to the linebacking spot. With Smile Mondon
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  out Georgia's last week, I think Chris Cole, who's a
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  true freshman, got the most snaps he has all season
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  in the game against Mississippi State. And Raylan Wilson is
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  another guy that's having to get snaps, and he's a sophomore, uh,
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  you know, and he's probably playing a little bit sooner
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  than than and a little bit more than maybe the
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  coaching staff would have preferred. But so it's not necessarily
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  all the veterans picking up the slack, you know.
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  Speaker 4: Some of these younger guys are having to come in.
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  Speaker 3: There and and thrown in the trial, thrown in the
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  fire by trial. So it's a it's a nice mixture
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  if you've got depth. Kirby's been complaining a lot about
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  the depth lately just because of all the injuries, because
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  that affects your depth and young guys may not necessarily
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  be ready to go, but you know, that's that's the
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  sport we live in, and that's why you have I
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  don't know, one hundred and twenty guys or whatever it
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  is with all the walk ons on your roster, so
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  you can kind of pick and choose and get guys ready.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I found it fascinating.
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  Speaker 1: A couple of things that Kirby mentioned in the news
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  conference with regard to he was asked about the portal
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  quite a bit, and I thought it was good where
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  he said, we're not really worrying about comparing ourselves on
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  how the portal is affects us and availability and rosters.
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  Then he said it's all over college football clearly and
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  how teams, how teams respond to that. And I guess
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  what it comes down to, Scott, It doesn't. It is
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  is the guys. If you're going to dip into the portal,
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  and most do unless your name is Dabos Swinny. But
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  most guys who dip into Coaches who get into the
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  portal are going to bring in guys that they want
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  and hope provide pretty quick results. We always say that,
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  I know you do with basketball, you expect the Juco
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  transfer coming in to be able to contribute right away
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  or something or transfer from another place.
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  Speaker 2: And that's part of the key, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: The guys that you're bringing in if you're working the
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  portal to make sure they can give you contributions because
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  of the nature of the game and guys getting hurt.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, And the thing with the portal is,
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  you know, in a lot of cases, I mean, you're
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  getting somebody else's back ups. I mean, that's why, that's
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  one reason why they're leaving. And whether they can come
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  to your place and establish a starting role or or
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  be featured a lot more than they were at their
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  previous stop.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, that's that's up in the.
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  Speaker 3: Air, and you know a lot of that is up
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  to the player. I mean, how how much work do
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  you want to put into that? You know, Georgia has
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  gone into the portal not a not a great deal.
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  But you know when they when they do look for
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  guys in the transfer portal, they are looking for immedia contributions.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, why else would you go in there?
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  Speaker 3: And and that's why a handful of George's receiving corps
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  is out of the portal. London Humphreys from from Vanderbilt,
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  kolbe Young who's right from Miami and right now he's
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  on an indefinite suspension so he's not available to play either.
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  You know, they got Michael Jackson from from usc and
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  you know, a couple of years ago Dominic Lovett from Missouri.
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  So you know, when George has gone into the portal,
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  it seems and I haven't done all the research, but
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  it seems like they're going for immediate skill guys that
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  can kind of help the cause, and most of that
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  has been in the wide receiving area, you know. And
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  Etn is another transfer from Florida, so the running back.
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  But you know, Kirby's philosophy is largely to develop to
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  recruit high school guys and develop those into what they
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  want here and not use the portal too much. But
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  you know, it's there, it's available, everybody does it, and
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  George is going to use it when necessary.
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  Speaker 1: Scott Howard, play by play, voice of the Georgia Bulldog,
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  joining us for a few more minutes here on sports
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  Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone.
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  Speaker 2: Scott, how would you.
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  Speaker 1: Describe the season so far for Carson back? I mean
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  sixty eight percent the completion percentage already over eighteen hundred
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  yards and fifteen touchdowns. He's averaging over three hundred yards
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  per game passing. How would you describe this season for
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  back at quarterback?
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  Speaker 3: I would say pretty tholid. I wouldn't say exceptional at
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  this point. I mean he's thrown some interceptions. Some of
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  those picks are on tipped ball, tipped passes. You know,
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  that's that's just kind of unfortunate. A lot of times
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  for quarterbacks. It may have been a good throw, but
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  you know, a defensive defensive player got his hand on
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  the ball, either at the line of scrimmage or at
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  the end of the pass play. But you know he
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  had his His yardage numbers are pretty good, but a
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  lot of that is a direct result of Georgia's offense,
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  which is you know, right now, I don't I don't
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  think it's comparable to what they've had the previous two years,
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  at least from a statistical standpoint. And when we talked
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  about the injuries they've had, and that's that's affected the
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  flow and especially on the offensive line. I mean, Carson's good,
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  he's a he's a very good quarterback. You know, as
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  far as the the All American and the number one
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  draft pick. All that talk we've heard, you know, for
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  months and months leading up to the season. I don't
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  know that we're seeing that right now. There's a lot
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  more season to go, and it could still get to
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  that point. But I mean, he's a veteran guy, extremely smart.
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  He knows George's offense very well, you know, and I'm
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  sure he's hoping he can play a little bit better,
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  a little more sound football, as well as the guys
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  around him. I mean, it's a team concept. It's not
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  just the one guy out there. So hopefully, if Georgia's
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  offense can play a lot better, Carson does as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious to get your thoughts on this phenomenon.
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  The obviously, the Red River rivalry around here is such
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  a huge game, the Texas Oklahoma game, and there's such
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  rivalry stuff that goes into it, such emotion and everything.
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  And so Texas goes up there and they play well,
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  especially on defense, play really really well, and when the
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  game and the fan reaction kind of, hey it's great
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  we beat to Oh my gosh, here comes Georgia. I mean,
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  and I was that kind of thing, is it? I
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  don't know, maybe because there's been a little more separation.
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  Does it seem odd to Bulldog fans? You had that
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  massive early season game with Alabama and then you have
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  to go on the road to play what at least
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  is ranked, for what it's worth, the number one team
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  in the country right now. What's been the response of
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  Bulldog fans? Is it one of curiosity? Since Georgia hasn't
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  been in Austin in a great many years.
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  Speaker 4: There may be some of that.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure the Georgia fans that are planning to
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  go on this trip are very excited. They love going
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  to new low castles, you know, and they've really traveled
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  well the last decade or so, and certainly since Georgia's
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  had the success it's had under Kirby Smart.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, Georgia travels very well. You know. Several years
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  ago we had the first.
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  Speaker 3: Ever trip to Notre Dame and that turned out to
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  be just a great event for Georgia fans. I mean,
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  I don't know that you know, there was a story
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  of twenty to twenty five thousand Georgia fans got into
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  that game at Notre Dame Stadium, so you know, it
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  was a little bit of a bulldog takeover.
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  Speaker 4: As they liked to brag about. And you know, fans.
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  Speaker 3: Turned it into a trip to Chicago and watched the
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  I think the Braves were playing the Cubs that weekend,
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  and coincidentally, the Falcons may have even been playing the
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  Bears that same weekend. So it was I mean, it
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  was the perfect storm if you were you know, from
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  this state as far as sports is concerned.
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  Speaker 4: So you know, it's similar to.
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  Speaker 3: That for this weekend for Georgia fans. They're excited to
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  be going to Texas to face the number one team.
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  You know, that's been that's been circled on the calendar
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  for a long time. When the schedule came out and
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  Georgia fans saw we go to Alabama, we go to Texas,
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  we go to Ole Miss. You know at the start
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  of the season, three top five teams, I mean, jaws
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  dropped open. Holy smokes, what's the SEC doing to us?
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  But you know that's that that the schedule, that's the
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  cards you've been dealt. So you know, the fan base
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  is enjoying that that kind of competition. They like those
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  games a lot better, I can tell you than UMass
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  coming to your place in November, I assure you the
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  Georgia Texas game is gonna be a lot more fun,
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  a lot more eyeballs, regardless of the outcome, you know,
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  than a D two team or a one double A
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  or SCS or whatever they're calling it these days coming
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  to your place late in the year, no doubt about.
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  Speaker 2: And like the Notre Dame weekend.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, if fans Georgia fans coming in are holding tickets
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  to the Formula One race on Sunday, they can go
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  out to the fot This town is good, just gonna
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  be lit because of all of that stuff.
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  Speaker 2: My only thought was, I hope they were able.
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  Speaker 1: To find hotel rooms because I'm hearing the price gallaging
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  was in overdrive this week from the Greater Austin area hotels.
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  Folks staying as far away as Houston one hundred and
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  sixty miles away, Dallas two hundred miles away, San Antonio.
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  What few rooms were available miles away? All that kind
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  of stuff, So hopefully they get to have a have
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  a good time on list. What's been your take final
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  thing here on what you feel the Bulldogs need to
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  do as much as anything else to to come out
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  of this game with a win for Georgia on Saturday night.
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  Speaker 3: We'll clean up a lot of their mistake you know,
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  clean up the turnovers, obviously penalties. I mean, george is
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  one of the most penalized teams in the league. Last
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  week against Mississippi State, I mean, we had a couple
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  of key third down drives where we you know, committed
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  a pass interference or had a defensive holding or something
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  that kept them going on third and long. And you know,
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  eventually you do that too many times, I mean you're
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  going to break on defense, and that kind of happened
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  to Georgia against Mississippi State, giving up thirty one points.
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  Speaker 4: To those guys last week.
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  Speaker 3: So things like that that they can clean up, they
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  can straighten up. And you know, from a strategic endpoint,
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  I mean, Georgia hasn't been running the ball like it
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  is known for. They've got i think the third fewest
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  rushing attempts in the SEC so far this season. That's
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  a that's a little bit of an oddity. They've you know,
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  relied on the passing game and the strength of that
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  with Carson Beck and the receivers that he's got, so
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  you know, it's more the same for that I don't
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  think there's gonna be a lot of surprises. Is just
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  trying to cut down on your mistake, uh and and
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  clean up some of those errors that they've that they've
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  had in the first six games.
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  Speaker 1: It's Scott Hour, the play by play voice of the
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  Georgia Bulldogs, and great to visit with you. I really
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  appreciate the time. Listen, we will meet face to face
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  on Saturday. I can promise you that in the in
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  the in the press, pox, I'll look forward to seeking
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  you out on Saturday. I hope you have safe travels
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  in here, and I hope you enjoy the weekend. And again,
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  I thank you for taking a few minutes to join
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  us on the program this afternoon.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you, Craig. I appreciate it, and we will definitely
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  see you on Saturday. You bet.
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  Speaker 1: That's Scott Howard, play by play voice of the Georgia Bulldogs.
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  Up next, we bring you this Today's this Afternoon's edition
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  of Inconceivable here on sports Radio AM thirteen, under the
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  Zone and the iHeartRadio app.