Welcome to Tuesday, SEC Champion Bulldog fans! And not just any SEC Championship winning Tuesday, but a SEC Championship Tuesday full of attrition. As my SEC Championship celebrating daughter summed up, “Beck is broke.” But at least we can lean on one thing… the SEC Championship.
Carson Beck is considering treatment options for his injured throwing elbow, suffered on the last play of the 2nd quarter Saturday afternoon. The only thing we know for certain is that Beck is injured and there is no timetable for his return.
If I could wear a Georgia visor for a moment, let me assess the situation. The minute you say your quarterback is undergoing surgery or is done for the season, your opponent(s) will start building their game plan around the alternative – in this case Gunner Stockton. Knowing this tendency, and realizing your opponent(s) has to play a game against each other in less than 2 weeks, and only then can they turn full attention to UGA with just 10 days and a major holiday, maybe you don’t release more information than is absolutely necessary while still absolutely truthful. Will they prepare for a 3,500 yard gunslinger, or a baller with a great running game? Or will they have to prepare for both? If the SEC mandatory availability reports don’t apply to the post season, maybe you sit on any new developments as long as possible, maybe pushing health information privacy laws as the reason. It’s just a thought.
Georgia used 3 different players to throw passes Saturday, and we might need more come New Years.
We also have concrete news on Brett Thorson. The unofficial tackling coach from Oz will undergo knee surgery in the coming days and has booted his last pigskin this season. Over the past 7 seasons, I can’t find a Georgia Bulldog punt not made by Jake Camarda or Brett Thorson. Like Macondawg’s line for Peyton Woodring, Thorson was a Godsend. Time to start stretching out those hammies boys, we’re gonna need every leg in the locker room.
Before we turn to more unavailable Bulldogs, let’s see what the intrepid folks at the Red & Black have to say about Saturday’s game. I agree with most of their position group decisions, but I’ll quibble with the wide receiver grade. If only 2 WRs had catches, and 8 catches barely surpassed 40 yards, that doesn’t deserve a passing score.
First we heard of Julian Humphrey entering the portal. And now Michael Jackson is going to beat it off the wall of the transfer portal. Don’t get upset, it’s just human nature. The senior transfer was criminally smooth in his 3 years at USC Sr. but never gained traction in Athens. He wasn’t bad, yet he wasn’t good enough to crack the lineup. And he’s out of my life.
Nitro Tuggle has joined him in testing the transfer waters. This one has a little sting to it, as the true freshman showed some flash in the November game against Tennessee. He appeared in all 3 games since then, including the SECCG, but did not record a catch and was not targeted.
For a silver lining, I remember the wise words of Aldrich Killian who said “the good news is, a high-level position has just been vacated.” Signing 5 wideouts last week seems like a good start. The transfer portal now needs to giveth, instead of just taketh-ing.
If you thought Dan Jackson was a terror on the gridiron, get a load of him at Camp Sunshine. And Meals on Wheels. And the Thumbs Up Mission. #17/#47 has been named to the SEC’s Community Service Team for 2024.
The new men’s college basketball rankings were released yesterday, and there was a big shakeup in the polls. The good news is that the SEC is well represented. 9 of the top 25, half of the top 10, 3 of the top 5, and the top 2 teams are conference brethren of Georgia. The bad news is two-fold: 1) we have to play these guys at some point. And 2) the 8-1 Bulldogs aren’t ranked. I guess recency bias has the voters holding back a bit. But if UGA beats Grand Canyon Saturday in Atlanta at the “Hoopsgiving” tourney, expect some more respect for Athens.
That’s it for this morning, folks. Let’s hope we don’t hear anything else from the training staff, the portal media staff, or the ACCPD. Did I mention Georgia won the SEC Championship? I sure meant to. Forgive me, and as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!