24Sep/096:45 AM

Chatting With C&C

By Justin Karp

The guys from C&C are back.

If you’ll recall, last year at this time, we exchanged a spirited question and answer session with the all-world Georgia blog Catfish and Cornbread.

We had so much fun that we decided to do it again.

This year, you get a two-fer: both Bop AND JJ from their site have taken a stab at my hard-hitting and squirm-in-your-chair questions.

Or, in reality, I asked them where to find good looking girls and how to avoid barking fans. Either way. There’s no difference.

You can check out my answers to their questions by clicking here; you’ll see how I explain how much hurting Thomas Weber hurts and why the Devils don’t honor Jake the Snake with a “JP16″ patch.

Also, before we get going, I also want to give a shout to Bernie’s Dawg Blawg (GREAT name…just…seriously GREAT name) for whom I also answered some questions for. Those guys loved The Library and Gordon Biersch.

Anyway, let’s get our chat on…again. Take it away, keyboard cat! I mean, C&C!

PFN: I’ve been told that Bulldogs fans bark at anything and everything. Can you confirm this? It’s harmless, right?

JJ: Absolutely harmless….unless you see a big, bald guy with a bulldog face painted on top of his head barking uncontrollably. Best to steer clear of him.

Bop: Yeah, you’re gonna hear some barking and it’s pretty harmless. You’ll also experience an unofficial-official Georgia chant that starts with “What’s that coming down the track?” The little Southern Belle dressed to the nines barking at you might be the thing that shocks you the most.

PFN: Much like ASU lost their longtime starting QB, the Bulldogs are still riding the wake of no longer having Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. 52 points against Arkansas doesn’t hurt though. Tell us how Joe Cox is doing in your view and how the new stable of RB’s is filling in for Knowshon.

JJ: Joe has gotten progressively better in each game he’s played in, culminating so far with a performance in Fayetteville that I don’t think anybody would have expected from him at any point this year. If he continues to improve that much each game, watch out. Realistically though, he’ll probably come back to earth once UGA gets into the meat of the SEC schedule. Either way, in 2 short weeks (since the OSU game), Joe has gained the complete confidence of the UGA fanbase. Running back has been a little more of a mystery. Richard Samuel has shown flashes, but fumbling twice against Arkansas has him halfway in the doghouse. Caleb King was one of the top RB prospects in America 3 years ago, but didn’t get his first action this season until this past weekend. He looked very good and will probably get more carries against ASU. This is a deep group of backs, maybe the deepest UGA has had since the mid-80s.

Bop: Joe Cox had his coming out party last week at Arkansas. The question is was it because the Razorback defense is the worst in the SEC. He throws a good deep ball and if he continues to play within himself and get it to #8, he will have a decent season. The biggest dropoff is definitely at Tailback. No one has come close to bringing to the table what Knowshon did. The young Richard Samuel is a power back with great speed, but right now he seems to the vision of a great TB. He also might be getting in the coaches dog house over his tendency to fumble. Caleb King is the interesting one. He’s been plagued with injuries since his senior year in high school. He showed promise last Saturday in his first action this season after struggling with hamstring issues. Youtube him and you’ll see why we all hold out hope that he becomes the back he was his junior year of high school.

PFN: Last year, Rennie Curran was a beast in Tempe. He still randomly shows up in my nightmares, in fact. However, this defense has been less than stellar through 2009 thus far…what adjustments are coaches making to keep opponents off the scoreboard?

JJ: “Less than stellar”…..you’re awfully kind. Truthfully, within your question lies the problem…..nobody can find where any adjustments are being made. Lack of a pass rush seems to be the biggest problem, but the secondary looks absolutely dreadful at times. Whatever the problems have been, none are the fault of Rennie. He’s been a rock. I’ve been having nightmares myself of what this defense would look like so far this year without him.

Bop: Rennie Curran is one of the best open field tacklers I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, our talent on defense is getting wasted. To be blunt, we are bad. The first half of Richt’s tenure in Athens we gave up 30 points once (to the ‘03 BCS National Champion). Opponents are averaging over 30 now. It’s a bad situation for a program that prides itself on defense and a fan base that would rather win 14-7 than 52-41. Erickson must be licking his chops.

PFN: Just like us, Georgia seems to be beaten up along the offensive line. Give us an update on what we can expect from the Bulldogs pass protection and run blocking, especially against what is proving to be a pretty sweet looking front seven?

JJ: Most Dawg fans would probably say the offensive line has been a slight disappointment this season. It was expected to be the strength of the offense by a wide margin, but one could argue that it has actually performed poorest of any UGA offensive unit through 3 games. (That said, we were holding it to a higher standard than the others.) They’ve just been largely inconsistent. Much of that might be due to the fact that there are some guys who were practicing at a few different positions in the offseason, and they are now just getting settled into one spot. The loss of Trinton Sturdivant in Stillwater hurt tremendously. Stupid penalties (false starts, holds, etc) have been rampant, which is surprising for a Stacy Searles (UGA OL coach) unit. Eventually you have to believe they are going to put it all together, and this offense could actually be better than it has been.

Bop: Coming into the season, OL was our supposed strength and they are finally rounding into shape. We lost our star LT Sturdivant for the second straight season in the opener with a knee injury. The group is young, but very solid. Center Ben Jones is a beast and Junior Clint Boling is arguably our most underrated player in years. Whereas we have severe deficiencies in coaching in a couple places on defense, our best coach could just be OLine coach Stacy Searles. Look for the young pups up front to jump offsides a couple times a half though.

PFN: Where should ASU fans look to go for the best tailgating on the Georgia campus? And where can single guys like me find a sweet group of friendly Southern girls?

JJ: North Campus should be nice this weekend, given that it looked like nuclear winter after the South Carolina game. In the past 2 weeks there has been a full-scale effort on the part of UGA to curtail the lack of clean-up among tailgaters, especially for night games. Tailgating has taken quite a hit on the UGA campus in recent years due to construction and the administration’s quest for the almighty dollar. You can still find some great spots (although they are fewer), but you have to get there early. Regarding the gals, just keep your eyes open and walk in a straight line toward the stadium (which is the center of campus) from wherever you happen to be. They’re all over the place.

Bop: Start early and soak it all in. Things will start around 7am and really pick up by 11am. I’d highly recommend walking from the Arch through North Campus down to the bridge overlooking the stadium around the middle of the afternoon. We’ve got a rough reputation as rowdy fans from a lot of our long time hated rivals, but you should see the best of our fanbase. Go talk to people and they’ll share food and drink all day. To the second question…you’ll find them everywhere, they don’t call Georgia the peach state for nothing.

PFN: How about post-game festivities? Can we all crash at the C&C Headquarters?

JJ: Great question…and I’ll take this opportunity to plug Gift Horse, the official band of C&C. They’ll be playing Saturday night after the game at Farm 255, located at 255 W. Washington Street downtown. Stop by and check it out.

Bop: Go downtown after the game. This is what is great about Athens, Ga. The ultimate southern college town with bars around every corner. Cops are everywhere so stay out of fights, but you should love the post-game festivities. Grab some food at some place like Little Italy’s (order a #1 hot, all the way) if needed. For those that want a nice meal, there are plenty of good restaurants to choose from. All are welcomed to crash at C&C Headquarters…but I have a feeling you’ll be chasing the local scenery til early morning hours.

PFN: We can only hope…we…can…only…hope.