Chuck tells us what Georgia is doing better than anyone else in college football.  Plus the Boise State two-deep.  http://www.stationcaster.com/player_skinned.php?s=87&c=672&f=490961

 

 

Check out Chuck Oliver's CFT HERE!

“ . . . so Malzahn decided to leave Auburn, take a pay cut in the range of $400,000 per year and become head coach at Arkansas State.”

 

That’s the final line of the story, but what came before? What led the most sought-after assistant coach in America (at one point) to leave a monster program in the big, bad SEC and put on the headset in Jonesboro, Arkansas and call plays for the Red Wolves?

 

Go back to week three of the season, with Auburn on the road playing Clemson. Auburn went into that game with the same offensive approach it had for the previous two seasons: quick, quick, quick, keep the pace up, get to the line, snap the ball, get ready for the next play. Score a touchdown or punt the ball, usually in about four plays. Meaning, regardless of the outcome on offense, the defense would be back on the field almost immediately after coming off.

 

In 2010, that was fine. Auburn was normally up by double-digits and even if the defense wasn’t great, there was always the chance that after it gave up 40 or 50 yards of field position Nick Fairley would blow up the line of scrimmage, cause a turnover, knock a quarterback out of the game . . . a little something for everybody, am I right?

 

By halftime that Saturday, Chizik knew that approach wasn’t going to work anymore and, as a head coach has the full right to do, approached his offensive coordinator with a simple directive: slow it down. The thinking was, “We don’t have anywhere near the depth on defense that we did last year, much less the talent, and when we play a team like Clemson that ALSO wants to run 85 or 90 snaps in a game, we’re gassed and have no shot. So slow it down.”

 

So Malzahn did. He scaled back the passing attack, slowed down the pace and went much more ground-and-pound than he really wanted to. And, for at least the next couple of weeks, it worked. Included in that was easily the best win of the year, beating the Top 10 South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia. Auburn ran the ball a staggering 67 times, held it for nearly 36 minutes and got out of town with a 16-13 victory. And then the season started to fly off the rails.

 

A 3-4 finish was comprised of three wins against mediocre to outright horrid competition and four blowout losses to Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Alabama. In those four losses, Auburn combined to score 45 points. In 2010 against Arkansas, the Tigers put up 65. Obviously, the problems went far beyond Cam Newton leaving for the NFL. And Malzahn knew it.

 

A quick summary of the situation, as it relates Malzahn:

 

- He was the highest paid assistant in the nation, but wasn’t being allowed to “do what I do.”

 

- He made a huge mistake in not taking one of the offers that came this past January, specifically being head coach in the SEC at Vanderbilt. Blowing off any interest from Maryland, not a great move on his part, either.

 

- If, under decree from the head coach, he continued to slow it down, it was going to hurt his future earning power even more, which means he needed to cash in whatever reputation, panache, etc he still had as soon as possible.

 

- He had a full season to get a very up-close view of Clint Moseley and Kiehl Frazier. It’s a complete guess if either of them will improve enough to give Auburn a legitimate quarterback option for the 2012 season. If Malzahn stayed, there was a very real chance his ability to get a head coaching job would be hurt even more.

 

- His options had already been reduced from SEC and ACC schools calling to a team from the Sun Belt, and not much else, burning up his cell phone.

 

- Coach the Red Wolves, he gets to go home.

 

- $850,000 is a lot of money in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

 

The final part of this reasoning is to win 20+ games over the next couple of seasons, get back on the radar of bigger schools in bigger conferences and move on to the phase of his career that he should have been at already. In the end, it was an easy decision for him.

 

 

 

After Georgia’s loss Saturday night to Boise State, the proper first response is, “Give credit to the kids in the white jerseys. That’s a very good football team.” The next several responses, however, are aimed at the shortcomings of a Bulldogs team that was lacking in so many of the very things we heard would be better in 2011.

 

- Georgia’s physical conditioning

Much was made about Joe Tereshinski being hired as the new strength and conditioning coach. By the end of February everyone around the program was raving about Coach T’s program and how it would equate to stronger, better conditioned players, especially in the 4^th quarter.

 

Reality: 4^th quarter?? Less than three minutes into the 3^rd quarter Georgia’s defense was sucking air, with multiple players grabbing their pants between plays or tapping their helmets to get a replacement on the field. At that point, Georgia called a timeout to simply get organized vs. the BSU hurry-up, as well as give its defense a chance to catch its breath.

 

- Year 2 with Todd Grantham? MUCH better . . .

One full season with the 3-4 under its belt, UGA’s D would come out breathing fire in 2011. Add in a stud transfer from USC and some immediate help from either true freshmen or a certain 350-pound JUCO lineman and you’re talking MAJOR improvement over last season.

 

Reality: Jarvis Jones looks like a genuine Bad Ass. John Jenkins? Maybe, but it’s too early to tell with only one game on his UGA resume. Todd Grantham, however, has far more than one game on his UGA resume and it IS fair to begin the evaluation of his performance so far.  It’s not good.

 

Before last season Georgia made Grantham the 3^rd-highest paid defensive coordinator in the country and I can’t think of one victory that afterward we all looked at each other and thought, “Wow! UGA brought it today on defense!” There are only six wins to choose from and we can agree to throw out La-Lafayette, Vanderbilt and Idaho State. That leaves three. Versus Georgia Tech UGA gave up 541 yards and 34 points. The defense was slightly better against Kentucky, surrendering a mere 423 yards and 31 points. The final victory since he arrived in town was at home over a sub .500 Tennessee team where Georgia’s offense scored on seven of its first eight possessions and hung 41 points on the Vols.

 

The disturbing truth is that a year and a game into his Georgia career the most memorable moment for Grantham was acting like an 8^th grader in trying to intimidate Florida’s kicker before a field goal attempt. By the way, in that game UGA’s defense gave up 450 yards and 34 points to a Gators team whose biggest challenge all season was moving the ball and scoring.

 

The most damning evidence came Saturday night: Kellen Moore threw 34 passes. Georgia finished with zero sacks.

 

-  The coaching staff is just fine, as-is

I was stunned this past January when Mark Richt said he didn’t feel any changes to the coaching staff were warranted, but what the team needed was . . . better nutrition. Yes, I’m serious.

 

After offensive line coach Stacey Searles left in January to accept the same position at Texas, Will Friend was hired from UAB to replace him. Other than that, no other changes were made to the staff and it’s important to note that Searles wasn’t fired – he left. After the offensive line was as underwhelming as any unit on the team for at least the past two seasons, Richt evaluated the situation and declared, “No problem. We’ll stay as is.” Eating more fruits and vegetables and taking a multi-vitamin each day, THAT’S what this team needed to turn it around.

 

Reality: Georgia’s offensive line was whipped by the Broncos d-line all night long. Boise State was quicker off the ball, more physical and just nastier. Aaron Murray was sacked six times and harassed the entire game by BSU defenders charging past an offensive line that includes Top 5 NFL prospects at both center (Ben Jones) and guard (Cordy Glenn). Just as bad, the offensive line was the most undisciplined unit on the entire team, getting flagged for four false start penalties over the course of the game. In a building that was, realistically, 90% UGA fans.

 

No, the season isn’t over. And no, I don’t have any idea how you fix this many fundamental problems in the six days leading up to Saturday afternoon vs. South Carolina. Georgia has some very real, very concerning shortcomings. And it appears in the eight months since the Liberty Bowl loss to UCF, virtually none of them have been corrected.

This past spring I was asked to host a new series on CSS titled “After the Whistle,” which would be a 30-minute conversation with college coaching legends from the south. Gene Stallings, Pat Dye, Bobby Cremins, Vince Dooley, you get the idea. We begin each installment by bringing the viewer up to date on what that person is doing today, and then spend the rest of the time going through his playing and coaching careers, personal life, where he grew up, etc. It’s turned out to be the most fun thing I’ve done in my 11 years in the industry.

A few weeks ago we thought former Clemson and Arkansas head coach Danny Ford would be a great subject, so I called a friend of mine who lives here in Atlanta to get Coach Ford’s cell phone number. John, my friend, is a Clemson graduate from 1988. He has no experience in the sports media industry, he didn’t play college or pro football, he has never worked in a university’s athletic department. He analyzes financial markets and, while he does quite well in his profession, there’s exactly zero reason he should have Danny Ford’s cell phone number. However, John is a long-time Clemson season ticket holder and after a game a couple of seasons ago he was eating in a restaurant in town following a home game and who walks in other than Danny and his wife. Long story short, they begin talking and Coach Ford gives John his number, saying, “Call me anytime!” That story should be unbelievable, but if you know Danny Ford you know he’s a slightly “different” individual and what happened that night is more than plausible.

After John had rattled off Coach Ford’s digits he tacked on, “And be sure to ask Coach what he thinks of that slime ball John Swofford!” I knew the back story there, dating to the early- and mid-80s when Clemson football went on probation (more in a minute), but thought that the level of hatred twixt Clemson fans and Swofford had dissipated. Um, not quite.

Through various e-mails, phone calls, texts and even an in-person conversation this past weekend at C-USA Media Days in Memphis (complete stranger, staying at the Hilton where the event was and started talking at the registration desk), I’ve learned Clemson fans not only remember the specifics of what happened, but some have been pining away for Swofford’s comeuppance for nearly three decades. The root of such long-standing anger? In a nut shell . . .

Swofford has been commissioner of the ACC since 1997 and, by any measuring stick, has done an outstanding job. Expansion, a conference championship game, skyrocketing television revenue, all on Swofford’s watch. However, before he became ACC commissioner he had served for 18 years as Athletic Director at North Carolina. Which is his alma mater. Which gave him a front-and-center seat when Clemson’s problems with the NCAA were reaching a conclusion in 1982.

Fact: Clemson was guilty. The football program as a whole had violated NCAA rules in regards to improper recruiting inducements, extra benefits to student-athletes already on campus, unethical conduct, etc, most of which occurred over two seasons when Charlie Pell was head coach in 1977 and 1978, a portion of which continued after Ford took over. This all came to a head in November 1982 when the NCAA imposed two years of recruiting sanctions on Clemson, as well as a two-year bowl ban and two-year television ban. That’s where it was supposed to end. Then Swofford stepped in.

In a behind-closed-door meeting called by Swofford and including every athletic director in the conference . . . except Clemson’s . . . the now-ACC Commissioner stated, essentially, that the ACC was a hallowed collection of academic institutions that shouldn’t be sullied by the rule-breaking of one member institution interested only in winning. Therefore, Swofford continued, all should agree that what the NCAA handed down simply was not severe enough. Even though Clemson, one of their own in the league, was at its lowest point ever, the ACC should add another year of sanctions. (No, I’m not kidding.) Swofford and his counterpart from Duke led this initiative and were ultimately able to garner enough support from the rest of the conference to make it so. Only Wake Forest and Maryland were opposed to further punishing one of their fellow ACC members and the representatives from both schools walked out of the meeting when Swofford suggested the vote be taken anonymously.

Which brings us to 2011. The NCAA hammer is about to fall in Chapel Hill. Will John Swofford be consistent now that it’s his school on the business end of sanctions and probation? Is the integrity of the entire league threatened by UNC, as it allegedly was by Clemson in 1982? Given what’s transpired over the past year at North Carolina – academic fraud, agents, trips, jewelry, cash, etc. -- , it far surpasses anything Clemson was guilty of. The bottom line is the commissioner’s response will be very telling in regards to what type of leadership the conference has right now and what type of man is at the head of it.

 

 

Chuck Oliver

When Auburn landed running back Rudi Johnson out of Butler Community College before the 2000 season, Tiger fans were expecting him to be a plow horse that could complete the change-over from a finesse, pass-happy, sling-it-around sort of attack that former coach Terry Bowden had favored to a dust-covered, between-the-tackles approach that fit not only the football philosophy of new head coach Tommy Tuberville, but also his personality. At season’s end, Johnson had done that and quite a bit more.

As Auburn put together a 9-win season and received an invitation to the Citrus Bowl, Johnson set a school record for carries in a season with 324 and finished with 1,567 yards on the ground,  the second-highest single-season rushing total in Auburn history. Then . . . Auburn and its fans “lost.” 

Johnson, who had spent two years at Butler, announced that his JR season at Auburn would be his only season at Auburn and off he was to the NFL draft. This was bad news in every way, as the Tigers had lost a potential Heisman Trophy candidate for 2001 and the man who would be the centerpiece of its offense. Then . . . Auburn and its fans found out that sometimes “losing” isn’t really losing.

A senior tailback from Etowah High in Attalla, Alabama also saw Johnson’s announcement and, though a commit to Phil Fulmer and the Tennessee Vols, he decided to back off of that and consider Auburn. Johnson leaving early meant playing time was available and 18-year-old Carnell Williams wanted every one of those carries for himself. Four years later Carnell Williams had amassed nearly 4,000 yards on the ground a school record for rushing touchdowns. All because Auburn had lost one final year with Johnson.

Fast forward to November 2010.  Alabama already had losses to South Carolina and LSU, so rallying to win the SEC West and play for the conference title was out of the question. Shoving Auburn’s perfect season and Cam Newton’s Heisman pursuit off the tracks was still on the table, however, and Bama had a seemingly insurmountable 24-0 lead as the Iron Bowl approached halftime. We all know how the game turned out and one key play in the Tigers’ comeback may wind up benefiting the Tide to the point that more space is needed on the shelf reserved for crystal footballs.

The 70-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Terrell Zachary to start the second half should have been deflected by Alabama safety Mark Barron at the very least, if not intercepted. He had run step-for-step with Zachary, was in perfect position between the receiver and the ball and, at 6’ 2” with incredible leaping ability, the pigskin was going to be his. Except . . .

As we found out after the game, Barron had injured his right pectoral muscle in the first half and simply couldn’t lift his right arm to intercept, bat away or do anything else to the pass. He continued to play, but when the extent of the injury was found Barron not only missed the bowl game a month later, but also decided to pass up the NFL draft, rehab after surgery and return to Tuscaloosa for the 2011 season.

Alabama lost the game that day and it was as tough a defeat as most Tide fans can remember. But as I mentioned earlier, any shot at the national title or even the conference championship game was already gone and unlike most schools, that’s essentially all Bama and its fans are interested in. So, what if losing that game last season winds up helping you win 12, 13 or even 14 games this season? Mark Barron is good enough that his return could make the difference.

I’ve already mentioned his height and jumping ability. He also weighs 215 pounds, has very good hands (10 picks over the past two seasons) and is an extremely hard hitter, actually throttling down on that part of his game following his freshman year to ensure his technique improved and that he would be less likely to miss tackles going for the big hit. Speed-wise, things are good: mid-4.5s, which allows him to cheat up towards the line of scrimmage to support the run and still drop back into coverage once he reads pass.

The short answer is Barron is probably the second-best safety prospect slated for the 2012 draft and as good as Dont’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Nico Johnson and some of the linemen are, Barron could be the most talented and most important defender on the entire roster. I say that last part because the Bama secondary, while long on skill, got blistered at some very inopportune times last year. In large part to Barron returning for one more season, I don’t see that happening nearly as often in 2011. Combined with the rest of the defense and the talent that returns on offense, a national title is absolutely a possibility for the Tide this year, and that will go a long way toward making up for any “losing” last November.