Georgia Bulldogs: 2012 DE Prospect Leonard Floyd Chooses Dawgs

Leonard Floyd has given his verbal commitment to the Georgia Bulldogs for 2012. The defensive end from Dodge County made his announcement this morning and cited a desire to focus on school and football as his reason for getting it done this early in the game.

Floyd's announcement comes less than 24-hours after Markuss Eligwe—one of the state's top linebacking prospects—selected FSU over both Georgia and Florida.

Floyd has the reputation as one of the Georgia's best pass-rushing prospects in this season's class and will be a nice addition to the 3-4—whether he plays OLB or DE has yet to be determined. Coach Grantham has already expressed a desire to place him at outside linebacker, but there is admittedly some work to be done with Floyd, technique wise, before he will be ready to assume that role.

Floyd is Georgia's sixth commitment and he chose the Bulldogs over both Alabama and Florida.

RIP UGA VIII: What Has Happened To The Uga Line?

After hearing the sad news that Uga VIII passed away, the first thought that came to mind was, "what is going on with the Seiler's Uga line?" Let's recap it briefly, just for the sake of conversation:

Uga's V and VI both died of congestive heart failure, but both lasted for better than nine seasons as Georgia's mascot.

Uga VII took over the mascot duties in August 2008, but died suddenly in November of 2009 of, again, heart trouble. He was only 4-years old.

The unexpected death of Uga VII left no time for a replacement to be readied so Russ, the brown speckled English bulldog, took over in the interim while the Seiler family prepped a new Uga for the 2010 football season.

Uga VIII, who came to be known as "Big Bad Bruce" was formally introduced to Georgia Bulldog fans in September of 2010. By December of that same year, it was announced that he was suffering from gastrointestinal problems and he would be unable to travel to the bowl game.

That gastro problem later turned out to be cancer—lymphoma specifically—and in mid-January it was learned that Uga VIII was receiving chemo for his illness and responding well.

Today, he too is gone.

So, the natural question has to be, what is going on with the Uga line?

While you hate to seem insensitive to the situation of the Seiler family—the Uga's are their family pet after all—you have to start asking the question of when it becomes time to stop breeding dogs from that particular line of Uga's.

Full disclosure, I know nothing about dog breeding, nor am I qualified to assess the overall health and viability of the dogs in the Seiler's care. As a matter of fact, I am no more privy to information than the next person, but from the standpoint of a person who has come to love all the things that Uga represents to the university, and its fans, it seems logical to wonder what is going on?

Why are the Uga's living for shorter and shorter periods of time?

While I am nowhere near ready to take PETA's stance and call for a robot dog, I must admit, I am starting to wonder if we all need to be concerned about the viability of having a living mascot on the sidelines going forward.

What say you?

Related articles

• Georgia mascot Uga VIII dies of lymphoma after first season (sports.espn.go.com)
• Russ Returns To Throne With Untimely Death Of Uga VIII (sbnation.com)
• Georgia mascot Uga VIII diagnosed with lymphoma (nytimes.com)

Georgia Bulldogs Football: Ranking The 10 Best Performers In The Win Over Vandy

The start of the game was reminiscent of the start of Georgia's SEC season—wildly inconsistent, out-of-sync, and frustrating.

The offense found it difficult to get going, thanks in large part to the frequent stoppages of play and early on, it seemed as if the Bulldogs would be regressing back to the mediocre brand of football many came to expect during their four game losing streak (three timeouts used in the first six minutes).

However, the Bulldogs dominated that other team from Tennessee, both offensively and defensively, pitching their first shutout of the season and running all over and through the Vanderbilt defensive front—A.J. Green didn't even have to get his super hero clothing dirty on Saturday as there were plenty of big plays and familiar playmakers to go around.

So who made the cut for being the most productive on the day?...

1. Washaun Ealey, RB

Ealey ran with purpose on Saturday, breaking tackles, driving the pile, and making running lanes appear even when there didn't seem any. He even managed to hold onto the ball inside the five-yard line—the place he's struggled all season long—and score a touchdown.

He finished the day with 17 carries, for 123 yards, and one touchdown (7.2 ypc).

Note: Vanderbilt was the team Washaun Ealey broke out against last season as well. From that point on, he became a force in the Georgia running game, rushing for 595 yards and three touchdowns the remainder of the way.

2. Carlton Thomas, RB

Thomas finally hit pay dirt in the redzone, scoring twice on the day—once on a nice 15-yard run led by the blocking of center Ben Jones and, for the second time, on a nine-yard run late in the third.

He still isn't going to be the guy between the tackles but you have to applaud his efforts on Saturday.

Note: Those were the first touchdowns of Thomas' career. 

3. Kris Durham, WR

What more can you say about Durham?

Whether he was gaining yards on the first big passing play of the game (55 yards), or leaping above three defenders to pull down an ill-advised pass from Aaron Murray, the senior has given the Bulldog faithful everything he's got this year, and his four catch, 112-yard performance on Saturday just gave the fans yet another reason to smile.

Note: Durham averaged 28.0 yards per reception for the game, bringing his average, on the season, to 20.6. 

4. Aaron Murray, QB

He didn't have to run it much, but he stepped up and made a couple of really big plays from the pocket, a 48-yard strike to A.J. Green which led to a touchdown and a 22-yard completion to Aron White during a 16-play, 86-yard drive to end the first half.

The redshirt freshman ended the day with 287 yards and two touchdowns.

5. Uga VIII

How can you not mention Georgia's newest member?

"Big Bad Bruce" was a baaaaadddddddd Dawg on Saturday—bad meaning good—as he started his tenure both undefeated and, as coach Richt pointed out, "unscored upon".

6. The Defense

Wow.

Sure it was Vanderbilt, but that means nada—keeping a team off the board is impressive, no matter who they are or what they've done this season. After all, even Louisiana got on the board against Georgia in the first game of the year.

The Bulldogs held Vanderbilt to a total of 140 yards (82 passing and 58 rushing), 1-of-11 on third downs, and eight first downs....eight! Not to mention, they were +2 on the day after forcing an interception and a safety.

Note: Georgia is currently ranked 39th in the nation in turnover margin. They ended last season ranked 118th. Also, over the last two games the defense has allowed 14 points, 409 total yards of offense, forced five turnovers, and held the offense to 7-of-24 on third downs. 

7. Drew Butler, P 

That's the Drew Butler that Bulldog fans know and love. Butler averaged 49.0 yards per punt on the day.

8. The Offense

The Georgia offense has looked significantly better over the last two weeks and yesterday, against the Commodores, they totaled 547 yards of total offense (315 yards passing and 232 yards rushing). Add to that, they dominated the time of possession (37:15), and averaged better than 11.0 yards per passing play.

Note: Over the last two weeks, the Georgia offense has totaled 949 yards of total offense and scored 84 points.

9. The Offensive Line

There is still some improvement to be made in both pass protection and run blocking, but you have to give a nod to the reconfigured line which features a confidence-gaining Trinton Sturdivant at left tackle and an impressive Kenarious Gates at right guard.

10. Tavares King, WR

He's quietly having a good season for the Bulldogs at his position and caught four passes for 70 yards on Saturday.

What say you?...What caught your eye about the team on yesterday.

Georgia Bulldog CB Jordan Love Arrested

Jordan Love, a redshirt freshman, was arrested last night after failing to cooperate with law enforcement and charged with misdemeanor obstruction of justice. 

According to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tim Tucker, UGA Police responded to a call about three individuals shooting fireworks near an on-campus dorm. Upon arrival, they questioned the perpetrators and Love, who was allegedly among the accused, "was arrested for obstruction for not giving his name and date of birth."

He was released this morning on a $5,000 bond from the Clarke County Jail.

Love was listed as a third-string cornerback on the depth chart at the end of spring and was hopeful to make an impact in 2010. Given the relative lack of depth at the corner spot, it was a realistic possibility—his potential was trumpeted here in February—but his status will remain in doubt until we hear from Mark Richt.

Coach Richt has already shown that he is not willing to take chances on players who get into trouble with the law. Montez Robinson, Zach Mettenberger, and walk-on punter, Trent Dittmer have all been dismissed from the team during this off-season.

Will Love suffer the same fate? 

Just when it seemed that the actual football team was starting to shake the negative glare off their collective helmets, this happens. Coach Richt has to be shaking his head—I know I am.

(UPDATED 1:21pm): According to MSNBC, Love may not face any charges at all, UGA police chief, Jimmy Williamson is stating that there may have been a communication breakdown in the interaction that Love had with law enforcement. Love, apparently, either would not or could not divulge his middle name. The officer on the scene interpreted his inability to offer that information as evasiveness.

However, according to Williamson: 


"there are personal reasons why, and I don't want to divulge the circumstances, but talking to those people (Love's parents) -- the point they made seems very reasonable. The officer didn't know those facts at the time. We will make that known to the court and let the court decide based on what is known now."

Perhaps everything will work out for the best after all—that would be nice. 

Nash Nance is Still Talking About Georgia....And The AJC is Still Listening!

Today, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution (AJC) saw fit to run a "story" on current University of Tennessee enrollee, Nash Nance.

In the article, Nance alledges that Da'Rick Rogers change of heart had something to do with some 'bad dealings' with the UGA coaching staff. He even states that he had no idea that Rogers was going to sign with the Vols until signing day.

First of all, I'm over the Da'Rick Rogers saga. I was over it the day after signing day because he wasn't a Georgia Bulldog. I still wish him well at the University of Tennessee and I do hope to see Georgia get the best of that match-up this season when the two teams meet 'Between The Hedges'.

That said, I was a little confused as to why 1) The Atlanta-Journal Constitution was interested in anything Nash Nance has to say about Georgia—nearly six months after the fact, and 2) Why this story is, curiously, cropping up after the signing of Georgia's tenth commitment.

The AJC has not endeared itself to Georgia Bulldog fans because of stories like this; they seem filled with nothing more than bogus fiction—masquerading as fact—and that seems to serve no other purpose than to "stir the pot".

In my opinion, the Nance-Rogers saga is over and it has been over for those in the Bulldog Nation for a very long time. Perhaps the AJC should write about something other than the rants of a kid who, more and more, it sounds like is just a bit upset that he didn't get an offer from Georgia—despite his relationship and connection to Rogers.

Plus, not for nothing, but is he really implying that the Georgia coaching staff was any shadier than that of Lane Kiffin? I'm just saying...because, well, ya know....if anything sounds shady, that does.