Sunday, September 28, 2008
At least it's not so crowded on the bandwagon
Since our team needs a healthy dose of duct tape and haywire, I thought a moment of reflection was called for.
The loss to Alabama was brutal, wasn't it? It reminded me of the Sugar Bowl against WVU and a couple of semi-recent Auburn games. Got bitch slapped to start the game, and then finally started to respond after the half. The clock rules seem to make it difficult to do so.
Regardless, I still thought the fans showed a great level of support despite what happened in the first half. The stadium looked full until the end of the game. We got outplayed, outcoached, and caught a bunch of bad breaks- all of which we were severely punished for by Bama. They essentially played mistake-free. Dent's two roughing the QB, shanked punts, missed assignments on defense, AJ Greens bizarre fumble, poor kickoff coverage, dumb penalties, injuries. The list goes on. Is this what happens when you're too amped for a game of this magnitude? The blackout motivated Alabama and it made us press, which resulted in some of the poorest performance and bad luck I've ever seen in a top 10 game like that.
Dannell Ellerbee's injury was huge, expecially since it happened on the third play of the game. Defense seemed to always guess wrong, and not only that, get burned BADLY. Moreno's injury robbed our morale. Not having a tight end (both got injured) is going to be a big deal, but it does mean that the offense will have to adjust and no one else knows how we're going to do that.
But if the battle was lost, the war is definitely not. I still think we could have won the game if we hadn't shown up 30 minutes late. We have everything to play for, and I still think we have a chance at winning it all this year. Consider that we control our destiny in the SEC East (as does UF) provided we can beat UT. The bye week couldn't come at a better time. If we can keep winning, we're still right there. We just have to believe. And quit wearing black jerseys.
Friday, September 26, 2008
The difference
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Dawgs' dirty laundry, interesting numbers
I don't believe that everyone has it out for us, just Penn Wagers. I know we commit too many penalties, and it's really going to hurt us badly at some point down the road. But, at least three of these penalties are questionably bad even by PAC-10 standards.
- Chop block, Knowshon did it, but why?
- Holding, Tripp Chandler tackled a guy after Caleb King goes by.
- False start on Boling, gave a little flinch at the goal line.
- Offside, Weston tried to jump the snap.
- Roughing the passer. Wynn pushed the guy on his right shoulder pad, and gets called for a facemask, personal foul, 15 yards. Now come one, how is that roughing? I think the refs thought he was going to pop him across the had, and he laid off. Gave ASU an automatic first down, and they go on to score a field goal.
- Illegal sub, we had 12 men on the field. We're actually lucky this wasn't illegal participation.
- Leaping. Demiko Goodman makes a 2 hop high jump to try and block a FG and lands on another UGA player. I've NEVER seen this called like this. He was outside the 1 yard. This was on a field goal that they made, they took the penalty and threatened to score a touchdown. Would have changed the game significantly. "Leaping-a defender running forward and leaping in an attempt to block a field goal or a point-after try lands on other players on either team. The penalty is not called if the defender was within one yard of the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap.
- Tripping. Give me a break! Massoaquoi falls down and looks like he accidentally trips up AJ Green a little, but how can this be called a 15 yard penalty? This was a 5 yard run for AJ, would have been 2nd and 5, instead became 1st and 20, we wound up having to punt and they got no points out of it.
- Illegal shift on the line.
- Defensive holding. Asher's not doing anything that they weren't doing to MoMass or AJ, get an interception, and they call it back.
- Holding. I know they say that you could call holding on every play, but when the guy gets a clean block into the QB where you make the play? I know we hold from time to time, but it wasn't so this time. Watch the replay.
- Delay of game to back the kick up.
BTW, on the third and goal where Moreno scored and they didn't give it to him, PWD on Georgia Sports Blog points out that ASU had 12 men on the field. The youtube video was pulled (as most of them have this year). I went back and watched the game on ESPN 360 (it's free, and they have replays of every game on ESPN affiliate networks, not CBS though) and sure enough they did. I'm still convinced that Knowshon got in, DESPITE the 12 defenders. Nice NO CALL. I know it's part of the game, and we have with it. It just drives me crazy when bad officiating impacts a game like that.
- Four weeks into the season, we've got 43 penalties, averaging just under 43 per game, while our combined opponents have 19 penalties.
- The only time we haven't scored in the red zone was last week when the clock ran out.
- We're outscoring opponents 17-0 in the first quarter. Bama is outscoring them 64-0. D better look sharp early, because if we have to make a huge adjustment, we may be playing some catchup ball.
- We have yet to throw an interception. Stafford still has the highest passer rating in the SEC.
- We've given up 183 yards total against the run this season. That leads the SEC.
Next week: BLACKOUT vs Bama. I wouldn't have done it, but I'm not the coach or the players. Regardless, it's going to be a big game and big test for us. Thinking about how they beat Clemson, they forced them into passing and getting away from their running game. Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't beat them with the pass. I'm pretty sure we can if we have to, but we shouldn't have to or want to.
Monday, September 22, 2008
If you only knew.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Lobster Mac & Cheese?
My mise:
2 lobster tails (BILE-LOW by my house usually has frozen ones on sale, 2 for $9.99)
1 can of lobter bisque
Equal amounts of half and half (equal to the can)
Orzo
Marscapone
Chives
Tarragon
Truffle oil
S & P
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
Cook 1 cup of orzo according to package directions, drain, rinse under cold water to stop cooking and set aside. Meanwhile, bring the bisque, half-and-half to a simmer over medium-low heat. Poach lobster tails in this concoction until barely cooked thru (about 10 minutes). Preheat oven to 350.
Transfer lobster to a cutting board and strain mixture thru a sieve into another bowl. Remove lobster meat from shell and coarsly chop. Add enough of the liquid to make the orzo just a bit soupy, then stir in about 1/2 a container of marscapone (softened). Add salt, pepper, minced chives and truffle oil to taste. Stir in lobster meat.
Transfer mixture to your favorite gratin dish, top minimally with bread crumbs and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly. (If your mixture isn't soupy at the beginning, the orzo will absorb the sauce and the result will be dry.)
I served with Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay and a salad of mache and parmesean with a simple vinegarette.
JW
Highland Grits Recipe
Grits:
4 cups bottled water
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 cup stone-ground grits
2 T butter
1/4 cup Parmigiano
White pepper to taste
1 large egg, beaten
Sauce:
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
2 shallots, minced
1 bay leaf
1 dried red chili pepper
2 oz country ham trimmings
1 T heavy cream
1 stick butter, cubed
2 T Parmigiano
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Tabasco
Topping:
1 T olive oil
2 thin slices of country ham julienned
1/2 cup chanterelle or other mushroom cut into 1 inch slices
1 shallot minced
thyme leaves for garnish
For grits: Bring water & salt to a boil. Slowly add grits, reduce heat and cook stirring frequently for about an hour. Remove from heat & add butter, cheese, pepper. Then stir in the egg. Transfer grits to buttered 4 to 6 oz ramekins. Heat oven to 375. Place grits in deep baking dish, pour hot water halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake covered with foil for 15 minutes, uncover and bake 20 minutes longer until tops are GBD
For sauce: saute wime vinegar, shallots, bay leaf, chile, and ham bringing to a boil. Cook until 1 T of liquid remains. Reduce to low, stir in cream, then wisk in butter bit by bit. Strain into sauce pan. (NOTE: I used tasso instead of country ham for the sauce). Keep warm.
Topping/garnish: Heat oil in saute pan over medium-high. Add ingredients and cook 3 to 4 minutess until barely tender.
To finish: Unmold grits onto serving plate/bowl, turn brown-side up. Ladle some sauce around grits and top with topping. Sprinkle thyme leaves to garnish.
You can make grits an hour ahead of time and reheat in a 400 degree oven.
ENJOY!
JW
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Goodbye Summer
Caprese salad
2 large tomatoes, the best you can find
Mozzarella cheese
Chiffonade fresh sweet basil leaves
High quality EVOO
Balsamic vinegar
Salt, pepper to taste
I usually will slice my tomates either in rounds or in quarters, salt them, and let them drain some of the water, concentrating the flavor. I don't typically seed them unless the juice is over the top. Cut your cheese however you want (I happened to do little sticks this time), drizzle with balsamic vinegar and EV olive oil (something STRONG). Finish with basil, salt and pepper. Some people don't like pepper on tomatoes, but I do. I also go a little heavy on salt, but it's so complimentary to tomatoes, that I don't mind.
A more classic way to do it is to have round tomato slices, full basil leaves, and round cheese slices stacked on top of each other. The colors are representative of the Italian flag (Margherita pizza?). Then put your finishing touches on it. Either way, it can't miss!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
French Laundry at Home
Highlands Baked Grits! Mmmmm!
The recipe is quite cumbersome for grits, but well worth it and the result is almost identical to the restaurant's version. There is an alternate recipe on Epicurious, that has only a fraction of the ingredients used in Southern Table, I would recommend the book version...damn good!
Here's my mise:
I won't give the full details, but basically, you slow cook stone ground grits for about an hour until creamy. Stir in some parmesean and egg. Place the mixture in ramekins and bake for about 45 minutes in a water bath (like a custard or creme brulee). In the meantime, you make a tasty, buttery sauce and make a topping of mushrooms and julienned country ham. The results are phenomenal. My mom requested this for her birthday. I made these with a stuffed pork loin, collards, and molten chocolate cakes for desert. The grits stole the show :)
As in my previous post: if interested, I will forward the whole recipe. JW
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Give them Dawgs a bone!
We played ugly, and we won. How bad did you feel last year? That's right, move on. I thought these players won the game for us, though.
Brian Mimbs That was the punt of his life, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Why was Kevin Butler's kid in there punting? Overall, Mimbs had a great day and helped save it.
A.J. Green Whatever he's got on his hands, he needs to give it to a couple of other guys. But seriously, this dude is for real. The long catch on third down was a good catch, but but the short one on third down where he reached pretty far behind in midair was better.
Matthew Stafford He occasionally would help get us in some trouble, but the vast majority of the time, he bails us out. The pass to AJ on the right side was so accurate it was unreal. I bet there are a bunch of pros out there that would like to be able to throw a ball like that but can't. Curiously, I heard Richt talk about how Stafford comes to the line of scrimmage with something like 2-4 plays. If he audibles, he gives hand signals to switch to certain plays, if you watch carefully, you can tell just about what kind of play we're about to run. Let's put it this way: if I can figure it out I'm pretty sure that Tennessee and Florida can. TheQB "choice" zone read scramble for 30 yards, how huge was that?
Blair Walsh Welcome to the big time. 2/2 in his first SEC outing. Without those field goals, it's a different game. I wish we hadn't had to kick them.
Knowshon Moreno The touchdown run as many of runs all night were just will and determination. We're lucky to have him on our side, because I can imagine he's a nightmare to defend.
Reshad Jones It's a good thing he saved the game, because he had a few miscues that were hurting us. Coverage, late hit (nervous refs), missed interception, etc. In the end, he made the play he had to make.
So now, ASU, who is fresh of a loss to UNLV, football powerhouse that it is. Tickets are cheaper than they were, that's for sure! I made the early mistake of looking at the polls, and I need to stop doing it. UGA just has to take care of what it can control, and see what happens at the end. There's a lot of games to be played between now and then. I still like our chances! Thank GOD there's Chik-Fil-A in Arizona, that's all I've got to say.
HBTDGATA!!!!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
By the numbers: rank(ing)
Week 1
AP Top 25
1. USC (21) 1-0 1,539
2. Georgia (20) 1-0 1,506
3. Ohio State (15) 1-0 1,497
4. Oklahoma (2) 1-0 1,432
USA Today Poll
1. USC (23) 1-0 1,462
2. Georgia (20) 1-0 1,442
3. Ohio State (10) 1-0 1,385
4. Oklahoma (2) 1-0 1,344
1. USC (33) 1-0 1,577
2. Georgia (23) 2-0 1,525
3. Oklahoma (2) 2-0 1,458
4. Florida (4) 2-0 1,438
USA Today' Poll
1. USC (34) 1-0 1,481
2. Georgia (18) 2-0 1,454
3. Oklahoma (3) 2-0 1,370
4. Florida (3) 2-0 1,306
Thursday, September 4, 2008
You can't spell suck without USC!
Good for Vandy winning against a ranked opponent at home for the first time in 16 years. You have to wonder about what it feels like to be their coach. Pretty good tonight, at least.
The main thing that got me thinking was the replay of the missed field goal that they had against UT last year. We were a foot from going to the SECCG and possibly playing in the BCS Championship. I wonder if the pollsters (who are fickle women with regard to UGA love) would have vaulted us up there had we won the SEC last year. I doubt it, they probably would have put USC. Just a word about that game: USC didn't sub until 1/3 of the way into the fourth quarter when they were already blowing out UVA. And all these ridiculous excuses about how UVA is in a BCS conference. They're awful. I bet GSU would've given 'em a run for their money, and maybe could have beaten them. No defense. USC had one play for negative yardage. Little offense. They scored one touchdown, and punted all day. They looked worse than UGA at the UT game last year. As if we don't already know it, it's a ratings ploy to get #1 playing #2, like a lot of people aren't already going to be watching that game. I wanna see what happens if we win the SEC with 2 losses, OSU wins the big 10 with 1 loss, USC wins the pac(k) 10 with 1 loss. That's right MFers. Sugar Bowl vs the big east winner or some other at-large mystery.
Ultimately, though, we have to quit playing FCS teams or non BCS conference teams. And the best part is regardless of how well we do or don't do this year, we could be better next year. Think of who's going, who might stay, and who's coming in.
Anyway, if I recall, GSB said it some time ago, "they've got a Jasper, a Casper, a Smelley, and a Succop. That just sucks." Of course, bad karma for me, and they're sure to win, unless we score 15 before they do.