Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: We got way away from the run last week. Richt wants balance, so look for us to return to the ground game some, establish it, then try and take a shot deep to get Stafford some confidence on those deep balls. Look for us to break a long one on the ground for the first time in a while too.

The WC Game Overall

By all accounts this should be a bloodbath. This is a I-AA team that went 2-9 last season including 0-7 in their conference. On this season they’re 0-2 including a loss to a I-AA team (hey, just like Michigan). If Michigan hadn’t lost to App St already, I might be tempted to say something like anything can happen or some other such coachspeak. I don’t think that’s necessary this time. Coming off our loss, we need to come out and establish some confidence on both sides of the ball. Richt is too nice of a guy to run up the score, but I look for him to try and make a point polishing as many of the rough edges as he can against live competition.

Ideally, I’d like to see some solid execution from the offense (really?). I’d like to see the WRs start making some plays in space again. I’d like to see Stafford on point like week 1. I’d LOVE to see him connect on a deep ball and don’t really care if it’s to a WR, RB or TE…just hit one, it’s been a while. I’d like to see Moreno or Brown break a long one. I’d like to see some holes for our RBs. I’d like to see a lot of 3-and-outs for their offense. I want us to create turnovers, with our young CBs or Reshad Jones taking in a few picks. I want to see Dewberry get involved and start making some plays. That’s a pretty long laundry list of things I want to see, and it would work for any game, but I think this week they’re feasible.

No matter what happens, we can’t read too much into this game, good or bad. Avoid injuries, put up some solid numbers and move on to the next opponent, who happens to be a traditional SEC power. Those are the goals. Don’t read too much into the results either. If we play well, don’t anoint us as “back” and ready to take on the world. If we don’t look like world beaters, don’t break out the sackcloth and ashes.

Positional Notes

With Kelin Johnson out, Reshad Jones will get the nod at safety this week opposite CJ Byrd. While Jones got a ton of PT against SC last week, this is the ideal game for him to get some more experience before we head into the bulk of our conference schedule, especially if Johnson is going to be out for an extended period.

Richt stated that he would start to rotate some OL this week to keep guys fresh. Look for Tripp, Vance and Boling to see time this week. Odds are you’ll see a lot more than just those two, but I think they’re looking to try combinations during live action to get a better feel for what we may actually have. Despite what the participation chart says for the SC game, Vance did indeed log a series at LT.

Look for the LBs to rotate more this week according to Richt. Washington has deservedly gotten a good bit of PT at MLB, but look for more of Dent and Gamble this week.

Kade Weston is starting to look like he’s ready to emerge as that monster inside threat we’ve lacked recently. He can collapse a pocket like no one else on our roster.

Tripp Chandler certainly showed why he was listed as the starting TE. Very solid effort from him.

Massaquoi certainly looks ready to have an increased role in the offense. He made an amazing grab on 3rd and 23 and generally looked solid all day.

Random Thoughts

I think I speak for everyone when I say that the audio difficulties really set a bad tone for the game. It was surreal sitting there and watching the videos with no sound. Very weird. We only have a handful of games there each year…you’d think we’d take the proper precautions. For our west coast readers, the PA system went out about 30 minutes prior to the game and didn’t come on until…well, I honestly can’t remember when it was…I want to say it was after halftime.

Speaking of halftime, in honor of this year’s halftime show, this week’s writeup was written to the ever so funky sounds of James Brown’s Live at the Olympia, Paris, 1971. That explains the extreme levels of funkiness this week.

OK, does the loser of Michigan-ND this week have to give up football? Both of them are winless. It’s like a dream…only with a loss to Spurrier…definitely not dream like. The problem is someone has to win that game. The same thing applies to UF-UT.

Is there anyway we can convince the folks at ESPN that whatever amount of time they’re allotting for college games clearly isn’t enough? So far, they’re 2 for 2 on screwing up the starts of our televised games, rewarding us with stellar matchups between Illinois-Missouri and a blowout finale to Boston College-NC State. It’s like they completely missed the rules changes impacting the clock and thus increasing game times back around 3.5 hours or more. They were probably covering Jimmy Clausen missing a class or some such meaninglessness.

More ESPN griping. In rewatching the game I realized that Moreno’s 50-yard jaunt occurred in the middle of a 3-way split screen thing with another game and a NASCAR race. What the heck is that all about? That’s absolutely ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Bob Davie saying folks are starting to compare Moreno to Herschel. Has anyone heard that or is that Bob just making assumptions again (like Notre Dame being relevant anymore)? I can’t imagine anyone making that comparison. Walker was a giant that was all speed and power. Moreno is smaller and shiftier. Garrison Hearst maybe, but not Walker.

Continuing the Bob Davie thoughts, that guy locks in on a thought each week. Last week it was ACLs. This week it was man-to-man coverage. It’s like he’s contractually obligated to work these things into each week’s coverage. Meanwhile his partner is busy blowing up his word-of-the-day calendar.

Alright, continuing with this year’s Road House theme, I have another correction to make. You’d think I’d never seen this movie before. There was some miscommunication with Chad last week on what exactly the role was that the gentleman in question played. Other loyal reader Maxwell Penn (the legend himself) was the first (of a surprising number) to point out that Locke’s dad was NOT a bad guy and in fact was the owner that hired Dalton to clean up the Double Deuce. I also dropped the ball on the obvious Dalton-Tanneyhill reference. Not sure if next week will be another Swayze movie or if we’ll go in an entirely new direction.

Have a safe weekend,
Jody