Georgia Dawgs Coming to Town (Hide the Crawfish!)

The game SEC fans have circled on their calendars since the schedules came out is upon us this weekend.
Saturday afternoon when No. 11 LSU (5-1, 3-1 SEC) faces No. 9 Georgia (6-1, 3-1) at Tiger Stadium. A loss by the Tigers and they effectively cede the SEC West to Alabama. A victory by the Dawgs and they can remove one hefty rook from the chest game which is their schedule. SEC immortality awaits (Florida's got one more loss in them, and Alabama's loss is coming speedily).
Georgia has a habit of going nuts on an opponent once every season. Last year Florida got their bell rung. This year it has yet to happen, but precedent is against the Tigers. In the 2005 SEC championship game a No. 3-ranked LSU team went to Atlanta and got pimp-slapped by the Bulldogs 34-14.
They did what no other SEC team could do: Knock 260-pound JaMarcus Russell out of the game.
LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson recently recalled the humiliation.
"It was a real bad feeling," guard Herman Johnson said. "Nobody liked that plane ride home, everybody was real upset. I've wanted to play them ever since that game."
This year Georgia, as good as they are, is struggling to find an identity. This year there's no soldier boy, the blackout didn't work, they need a gimmick. What will it be?

Miles Takes Swipe At Razorbacks?

Les Miles, earlier this week, got cussed out by a caller on his show for erroneously pronouncing the name of tomorrow's opponents. Instead of saying “Arkansaw” he said “Ar-Kansas” — in which the last two syllables are pronounced like the No. 2 team in the nation, Kansas.
Miles, who was surrounded by a larger crowd than usual due to the March On Baton Rouge that dozens of fans took part in to show him support, calmly admitted he’d been mistaken earlier and pronounced the Razorbacks state by its proper name and acknowledged the caller's concerns.
“I certainly understand that in that criticism,” Miles said.
But was he being callous? Was he trying to throw salt in the wound, as they say? Miles has been known to badmouth an opponent before GameDay so you never know with this guy. On the other hand it could have been an honest mistake.
Miles coached seven seasons at Oklahoma State, which is located one county away from the Arkansas River. That major tributary of the Mississippi River is, in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma, pronounced “Ar-Kansas,” the same as in Arkansas City, Kansas.
In any event, the Razorbacks and Darren McFadden have probably already heard of the slip and coach Houston Nutt probably has posted the comments up in their locker room.
"I think they're mad," Miles said when asked about the Razorbacks.
"I think they want to play better. We'll have to play a lot better to stop Arkansas. Certainly with Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, that's two very talented men with the ball in their hands. It's something that we'll concern ourselves with I promise you."
And they should be. Coaches around the SEC know about No. 25 and No. 5.
"They are about as good a combination at running back that I can ever remember in college football," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, whose defense allowed 291 yards to the pair in a 41-38 win.
Way to go, Les. You just luuuuv doing it the hard way.

Have You Told Your SEC Coach You Love Him Today?

I thought about this yesterday as serious momentum grew to have a planned March On Baton Rouge to show support to LSU coach Les Miles. Does the SEC have the best coaches are what? I mean, if Tommy Tuberville leaves Auburn for Texas A&M, then Auburn will be the poorer for it, and the real fans know it. If our man Les Miles goes to Michigan, then .. well, .. just when you get a perennial superpower ... it ... it just aint fair!
So, have YOU told your SEC coach how much you love him?
I mean, you got Mark Richt at Georgia who can pretty much run for governor in the Peach State right now (who needs water, they can drink Koolaid. RED Koolaid!). And the coach has changed his whole persona lately and is giving love as well as getting it. No vision solidified this to me more than the tongue-thrust he gave his wife after the Florida game. His players have responded to his loosy-gooseyness by going out and playing some serious ball for him, and as I said before UGA is the SEC's Most Dangerous Team, and it goes all right back to Richt. He's gotten some flak over the last few weeks from other coaches and commentators about how he's conducted himself and allowed the Bulldogs to conduct themselves (the 15-minute excessive celebration against Florida?), but the fans, the people that matter absolutely love it, so we've got to give it to him.

Same goes for Florida Coach Urban Meyer. Even though his star has fallen a little bit since the Gators have been shut out of the BCS and SEC title chase, Urban has gotten some serious love from the fans in Gainesville this year, and he's deserved it. Not only has he faced the toughest expectations of ANY coach this year (how many coaches have been told it's repeat or bust?), he's managed to put together a still-feared college football team. And did I mention he manages Superman?
Other coaches deserving of love: Sylvester Croom, Nicklaus Saban, Rich Brooks, Steve Spurrier.