News

Munson's opening comments: The SEC East will again be at stake. But now we may have to go on the road without Terrence Edwards. Three weeks ago, before all the injuries hit, how good were we? The Dawgs don't need a week off, they need a month off.

CMR on injuries: Definitely without Edwards and Gary. Edwards out 3-6 weeks with separated shoulder. We hope to have Gary in time for a bowl game. As for LBs, we've been holding C. Clemons out, but he played some last night. Boss's knee was sprained. We don't think it's a severe injury, but have to wait to see how he responds this week.

With Edwards and Gary out, it will be a different game; very much of a fistfight. Edwards had 10 TDs and Gary 4, as compared to Musa with 5 TDs.

Jevarious Smith (replacement LB) was out there doing a great job and was on the field for a lot of plays in the Ole Miss game. He did the best job of all the walk-ons in timing and lifting.

Munson loved that last 10-minute drive. CMR didn't realize it was that long until the coach's TV show. It was tremendous because it kept the ball away from Eli.

Sean Jones will return punts and we'll have tryouts for the second teamer, just like we did a couple of weeks ago.

We were hoping to play freshmen, but not always in vital situations. The guys who have played have played well. Lots of them aren't freshmen anymore.

CMR not sure what we'll do yet to move the ball. Coaches will meet after the show to discuss a game plan. We may have to be creative. Right now, the offensive staff is breaking down various situations. CMR will get with them after the show and other media obligations.

Auburn's RB is extremely physical. Brown is not the same style as Cadillac, but just as effective.

It would be nice to have some time off. The moment you take some time off for rest, you get behind in preparation and then panic. We'll stay the course with what we've been doing to get through this 10-game stretch.

First caller asked about the schedule - CMR said he'd love to have an open date before both Florida and Auburn.

As for second chances, it's unusual to lose a game like Florida and not have to readjust your goals. CMR recounted some things Arthur Marshall (honorary captain for Ole Miss game) told the team that Coach T used to talk about - how freshmen were just glad to be there, sophomores are looking for stats, juniors are just joining the team and seniors just want to win. We will really have to lean on the seniors this week.

The guys understand what's at stake (regarding a call hoping we don't lose to Florida twice). The seniors don't get a chance to play Florida on the field again, but can have an effect on the season. We're more concerned about Auburn.

Mario Raley and Brian McClendon will play - CMR thinks both are ready. McClendon got lots of time in this game and had a catch. Raley has also gotten more time. Also, Reggie Brown and Michael Johnson will get chances against Auburn. Another caller seconded that, especially regarding Brown and Johnson.

We won't be running up and down the field scoring touchdowns, but we will develop a plan to find holes. It could well come down to whose running games, defense, and special teams play the best. It will probably go right down to the wire. While CMR knows the running game will be important, we will need to also make plays with the WRs. If you become one-dimensional you're in trouble. Also, it again seemed like a conspiracy that every time we tried to go to Watson, we'd overthrow it or he'd be double-covered.

Browning is one of our fastest players, but he fumbled a couple even in practice last week against the scout team. He will be a fine player once he learns to hang on to the ball.

DJ is athlete enough to jump to another position, but CMR thinks it would be difficult to do it and be comfortable. If there is a way for him to do it, he would. A later caller thinks we should have a package with DJ at QB in the red zone. CMR has been hesitant to change QBs in the middle of a drive. You hate to have a guy go all the way down the field then have something happen if you make a change. It may be because someone else makes a mistake.

Sometimes CMR wishes he was an expert. He just knows he's got two talented players who can help Georgia win; he is just trying to work it out so it works best for everyone and doesn't hurt the team.

Greg from Gainesville questioned three officials' calls (roughing the kicker, spearing by Ole Miss player against Shockley not called, and an Ole Miss TD where the RB may have fumbled trying to go over the top) and hopes CMR will send a tape to the SEC office. CMR said the coaches do send tapes in every week. The tapes include both calls and no-calls. Again, officials are human just like everyone else. CMR will critique officials when the day comes he coaches a perfect game.

Claudia from Columbus reminded CMR she called Goff in 1994 and asked him to kick Auburn's butt (we tied undefeated Auburn 23-23). It was the only time she had ever called Bulldog Hotline before tonight. She then asked CMR to kick Auburn's butt on Saturday. Lots of callers from Columbus emphasized how bad they want to beat Auburn.

Another caller reminded CMR that Auburn exists only to hate Bama and screw UGA - they have cost us one national title and nine SEC titles.

The injuries have hurt us in special teams. We struggled returning kicks with Gibson out and have struggled returning punts with Gary out.

CMR thought last night was Gibson's best game as a Dawg, in all facets. He blocked well, caught every ball and ran routes well, playing with high energy. When he had a couple of weeks off, he missed it and realized how much he enjoyed playing this game.

What if we're in a situation like last year, on the one-yard line with no timeouts. We'd probably take a quick shot at the end zone, but you can't throw an interception or take a sack in that situation.

About coaches with long tenures, CMR said he isn't sure in this day, but he hopes to have a long tenure. But nowadays you have recruiting cycles where you might have big classes, but then some small ones, then some injuries and guys leaving for the NFL and suddenly you have few seniors and little leadership one year.

CMR will give our guys every chance to win, and has no idea why the Ole Miss coach did not call timeouts late in the game. It may have been that we kept getting first downs and that will take the wind out of a team's sail. CMR then reminded a caller about how the Auburn-Ole Miss game ended, with an Ole Miss rally falling just short.

CMR thinks recruiting is going very well; we have about 17 commitments and the players left on the board are outstanding. We have a good chance to meet all of our needs. If we win Saturday, we'll probably have more that want to come than we can take. Another caller told CMR he had a great time at camp over the summer and is trying to get better using what he learned at camp. CMR says they work guys hard at camp and HS coaches love seeing their players improve.

Joe from McDonough gave feedback on how a prospect was treated; the prospect enjoyed the Dawg Walk and got visits from Coach Fabris, several players, and Georgia Girl Melanie Brown was wonderful as their hostess. CMR said again that they get more comments from prospects on the Dawg Walk then anything else. Also, the Georgia Girls are a first-class group; they do a great job and we also got them new uniforms this year.

Later, a caller asked CMR about a particular JUCO player but CMR had to remind the caller that NCAA rules prohibited him from talking about recruitable players. (Some on the DawgVent thought that caller was a notorious Tennessee fan.)

About 'slow starts', as a caller wondered - sometimes both teams come out with a lot of juice and are showing new things. We did score on our first drive, but on the second and third plays we had missed assignments. Fortunately Greene scrambled for a first down then we settled down.

CMR made a point to hire coaches with a lot of high energy; it works out for him to stay calmer. Some of those assistants can really get after guys, but the mixture works out.

Auburn has made a living this year being physical. Munson begged him again to not scrimmage this week but CMR just laughed.