re: Bama v Dawgs

I watched Morgan warm up after halftime at AU, and he missed a 25 yard attempt by at least 20'. I have no confidence that his issues are completely behind him. I do, however, like the range he provides (a long of 52), especially in a dome, and his improvement is promising.

As for punting, Georgia is 13th in the conference in net punt average at 35.8 yards per punt and 12th at 40.6, if you use average punt. In contrast, Alabama is 7th in net punting at 39.1 and 5th in average punt at 43.9. To make matters worse, Georgia is 13th in punt return average at 6.7 yards per return, compared with 6th for Alabama at 10.2. While Barber has done better, his average suggests that he is not flipping field position. Further, punts inside the 20 are not indicative of the ability to boom a punt that flips field position.

As for fair catching punts, which was caused by Mitchell's inability to handle them, Georgia is giving up opportunities for big plays and 5-10 yards of field position. Over the course of the game, those yards add up and force the offense to drive that much further. I agree that it has not been an issue, yet, but given the talent on this team (Scott-Wesley, Marshall, Gurley, King, Connley), Richt should use special teams as an opportunity to win games.

When Ace took that punt back 70 yards, it put UGA down 21-0 and allowed USCe's defense to pin their ears back and dominate. Last week, Beckham took a punt 89 yards and changed the LSU v. OM game. Last year, Mathieu changed the Arkansas and UGA games for LSU. If you believe fair catching is the answer, then you are completely eliminating a phase of the game that results in electrifying, back breaking scoring opportunities. Alabama has not eliminated punt returns from its arsenal of weapons used to win games, and that is an advantage for them.

I want Georgia to win but would not be surprised if special teams caused UGA problems.