Pre-season Blog Poll Draft

Take a look and hit the comments if you think there's something that doesn't look right....

Falcon Blog Ballot - Week 19

Rank	Team	Delta
1	LSU Tigers	--
2	USC Trojans	--
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
4	Oklahoma Sooners	--
5	Oregon Ducks	--
6	Georgia Bulldogs	--
7	Florida St. Seminoles	--
8	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
10	Michigan Wolverines	--
11	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
12	Clemson Tigers	--
13	Michigan St. Spartans	--
14	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
15	Central Florida Knights	--
16	Texas Longhorns	--
17	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
18	Wisconsin Badgers	--
19	Oklahoma St. Cowboys	--
20	Stanford Cardinal	--
21	TCU Horned Frogs	--
22	Virginia Tech Hokies	--
23	Kansas St. Wildcats	--
24	Florida Gators	--
25	Ohio Bobcats	--

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Yesterday's Clawson Briefing--Kickers!!

Coach Clawson had some quick comments after practice yesterday, and there were a couple of interesting notes that I thought the Nation would be interested in....

First, kickoffs will be handled by Anthony Farinella.  You will remember that Farinella was a late recruit addition on signing day and he was noted for being able to really drill kickoffs.  That was under the old rules, and with the kickoff now bumped out to the 35, you have to figure a guy with a good leg can get a bunch of touchbacks, which is better for everything.

So, Farinella will do BG's kickoffs.  Here's Clawson's reason why:

"He kicks it further than the other guys."

Nicely done.

As for FGs, the job is still open between Tate and Stein.  He says they are both better than the guys we had last year, which is cool, since one of them (Stein) is a guy we had last year.  Anyway, Tate has a better leg and Stein is more accurate, and that's the dilemma.

This is just me, but teams have used a separate kicker for short FGs and XPs and another one for long FGs. I would think that might work pretty well.

Finally, there was some talk about Matt Schilz, where he stands, and whether it will be difficult to determine his progress.  He said that he would be thrilled if Schilz threw for 1,000 fewer yards and we won 5 more games, and that, of course, is 100% true.  If we won 5 more games (making us 10-2) there is nothing (repeat nothing) on a statistical basis that would diminish how thrilling that would be.

Hopgood Suspended for Florida...

The Sentinel Tribune is reporting that Jordan Hopgood has been suspended for the Florida game for a violation of team rules.

The S-T reports that he was arrested on August 17...

Hopgood was arrested in the evening of Aug. 17 and charged with sell/furnish alcohol to a person who is underage.

He was coming back from an injury that caused him to miss the last 3 games of last year.  He had just started taking live snaps during the recent scrimmage and figured to be a part of the RB mix for BG.

Fall is coming!!

Or is it here??

First Day of Football Non-Camp

The football team is now out of "camp" and into regular practices.  You can go to bgsufalcons.com and see what Coach had to say, which wasn't too much from a newsworthy standpoint.  I'm sure the players are looking forward to hitting someone else and I'm sure Coach is interesting in talking about it and I'm sure we're ready to hear about it.

Anyway, Falcon Fodder in The Blade touched based on the injury situation.  The only two players Coach listed as "out" for Florida where Hunter Maynard, who we learned earlier this week would be out for the season and Sr. co-captain Bart Tanski, who broke his collarbone.  Tanski will miss six weeks, but (as reported in the Sentinel yesterday) will make the trip to Florida as a captain.

No word on Ronnie Goble, who is injured but has (by inference) not been ruled out for Florida.

Note also that David Kekuewa is pressuring Chip Robinson at C and they may split time there.

Depth Concerns Emerge on D-Line

Just a note here, as we see the team move toward the opener in Florida.

There's no other way to say it except that the way teams play today, you need a bunch of d-linemen.  I don't really understand it, but if you watch a game, they rotate d-linemen constantly, almost on every play.  (The part I don't understand is why they don't do the same for o-lineman, but they don't).

So, you really need 8 d-lineman.  Coach has said the same earlier in the Fall.

BG left the Buffalo game last year and returned 5 players who had game experience:  Chris Jones, Darius Gilbert, Jarius Campbell, Ted Ouelette and Hunter Maynard.

With Gilbert's suspension and Maynard's injury, that's down to 3.

If you decided you needed a 4th, you do have true freshman Mike Minns who is listed on the roster at 317 pounds, so he could be game ready, but that appears to be about it.

So, you're left with either trying to push a three-man rotation, or moving Minns up...or, I guess, moving one of the guys from the edge inside.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but for our defense, it is very important.  We have to be able to stop the run and that begins up front.

One last note.  By all accounts, Chris Jones is setting up to have a beast of a season.  If that pans out, he will draw double teams, which will at least allow the other guy to have an easier assignment.

Falcons Hold FInal Scrimmage

The Falcons scrimmaged yesterday for the final time before life action starts on September 1 in the Swamp.

I listened to Coach Clawson's presser.

The biggest news is the running game, and he spent a long time talking about it.  He first noted, to no one's surprise, how poor a short yardage team we were last year.  As a fan, I might add that it wasn't just last year, but anyway.

He says we have five "playable" running backs.  Samuel is the starter, with Pettigrew, Hopgood, Givens and Martin also being capable of being productive.  Hopgood saw his first "live" action in the scrimmage.

Samuel is small and you always worry about injuries, but with the depth, he won't have to take the carries that, for example, Willie Geter did, and if he is injured there are backs behind him.

Coach was especially happy with the short yardage play.  He talked at great length about a play where Pettigrew saw a small crease and gained 2 yards on a 4th and 1.

I think there are roles for all or most of those guys.  For example, I can see Samuel getting most of the carries from the base set with Givens spelling him.  Hopgood would run the wildcat (which he was really good at) and Pettigrew would be the short yardage and redzone back.

Running isn't just about the backs.  Coach continues to be pleased with the progress of the offense line, which he says is stronger and playing in a more cohesive manner.

It is hard to estimate how important it will be for the team to be able to run the ball.  Short yardage conversions are just part of it.  Because we have an unsettled receiving corps, running the ball moves defenders close to the box and gives the receivers the opportunity to work against fewer guys, which will help them out.  Also, it will take pressure off Schilz and allow us to see what he has on a more functioning team.

Beyond that, coach was pleased.  He liked the energy.  And, he said that both the offense and the defense won parts of the day, which is the way you like it.

One last note.  Hunter Maynard is out for the year.  Bart Tanski injured his shoulder.  Goble will be back next week, they hope.  A couple CBs sat out as a precaution.

Maynard played as a true freshman, so he can now redshirt this year and have three years left.