Week 4

Going out to beat Arizona State to was kind of like having to ace an addition test on a Monday morning after being drunk all weekend, it is only tough because of the circumstances.

UGA was clearly the better team on Saturday night and would be on any night against the Sun Devils, but the fact that we traveled across the country to do it made it more impressive. This was, as Coach Richt described, a 'business trip'. The Dawgs definitely took care of business.

The Dawgs came out slow offensively but the defense showed early and often that Arizona State was not going to be able to run the ball. Rennie Curran played outstanding once again, showing his uncanny knack to move laterally with the play and then explode to the ball to make a stop. I was very impressed with the defensive line as well, the got solid pressure on Carpenter all night and racked up 4 sacks.

On offense, AJ Green made it official, he is a bad man. He made a couple of beautiful catches across the middle which really kept two of UGA's 2nd quarter scoring drives going. Stafford was excellent as usual, I can't imagine ever saying anything to the contrary. He threw all over Arizona State and as usual, would have had even better numbers if people could stay on their feet or catch. Knowshon...what can I say? His first touchdown was simply an amazing athletic feat. Taking off from the 4 yard line to land a yard + deep in the end-zone, are you serious Knowshown? Do we need to get you a cape? Also, Moreno should've had 3 TD's, the refs screwed him on one in the 4th quarter.

Speaking of the refs...I hate to be the guy to cry about officiating but for heaven's sakes, they were terrible. Granted we made too many mistakes and did commit some dumb and costly penalties, but they made numerous questionable calls and missed a number of infractions committed by Arizona State. I saw a number of blatant holds by Arizona State that were not called. One in particular was on 2nd down and goal on AZ State's first drive of the second half. They ran a screen pass out right and their receiver blocking had his arms completely extended with a fist full of jersey. If that call was made, they likely end up having to kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown on 3rd and goal from the 2 yard line. Anyway, it doesn't matter I guess. We won, we dominated, we were better, and so on and so forth.

And now the fun part starts. A blackout in Sanford Stadium for a night game against a Top 10 opponent. Alabama has looked good, they are very strong and powerful on their offensive and defensive lines. UGA will have to play very well to win and I expect them to do just that. I heard Mark Richt addressing the team and coaches on Saturday night after the game. He talked about going all out for one week, everybody just toughing it out for 7 days with their best effort to get ready for Alabama. For some reason, the energy of him and in the room put me at ease. I am calm and feel we will play well and win fairly handily on Saturday night.

One final thought: Being that everyone knows Saturday is a blackout and that the team will wear black jerseys-is it kosher to berate and belittle any UGA fan not wearing black?