FWAA All Americans
Drew Butler has won the Ray Guy Award and has been named to several All-American teams already. There should be more to come. The Football Writers Association of America named their team and Drew indeed was honored again. This is a team I actually was fortunate enough to make in 1980, my senior year. Of course, Drew is just a sophomore and may well have other chances to make this team again. Oh yeah, Drew’s dad Kevin made this team also, in 1984. In looking back on that group I was a part of, I am reminded of how many notable names were on that team. Some of the best to ever play the game on the college or pro level, especially on defense.
Check them out.
OFFENSE
QB 9 Mark Hermann Purdue 6-4 190 Sr. Carmel, Ind.
RB 24 Freeman McNeil UCLA 5-11 216 Sr. Carson, Calif.
RB George Rogers South Carolina 6-2 210 Sr. Duluth, Ga. HOF
RB 34 Herschel Walker Georgia 6-2 215 Fr. Wrightsville, Ga. HOF
WR Ken Margerum Stanford 6-1 175 Sr. Fountain Valley, Calif.
WR 80 Dave Young Purdue 6-6 241 Sr. Akron, Ohio
OL 72 Nick Eyre BYU 6-5 276 Sr. Las Vegas, Nev.
OL 73 Mark May Pittsburgh 6-6 282 Sr. Oneonta, N.Y. HOF
OL Louis Oubre Oklahoma 6-4 262 Sr. New Orleans, La.
OL 68 Keith Van Horne USC 6-7 265 Sr. Fullerton, Calif.
C 57 John Scully Notre Dame 6-5 255 Sr. Huntington, N.Y.
DEFENSE
DL 99 Hugh Green Pittsburgh 6-2 224 Sr. Natchez, Miss. HOF
DL 39 E. J. Junior Alabama 6-3 220 Sr. Nashville, Tenn.
DL Derrie Nelson Nebraska 6-2 220 Sr. Fairmont, Neb.
DL 77 Kenneth Sims Texas 6-6 265 Jr. Groesbeck, Texas
DL 90 Hosea Taylor Houston 6-5 265 Sr. Longview, Texas
LB 51 David Little Florida 6-1 228 Sr. Miami, Fla.
LB 63 Mike Singletary Baylor 6-1 232 Sr. Houston, Texas HOF
LB 98 Lawrence Taylor North Carolina 6-3 237 Sr. Williamsburg, Va. NFL HOF
DB 5 Kenny Easley UCLA 6-3 206 Sr. Chesapeake, Va. HOF
DB 42 Ronnie Lott USC 6-2 200 Sr. Rialto, Calif. HOF
DB John Simmons SMU 5-11 188 Little Rock, Ark.
SPECIALISTS
K 5 Rex Robinson Georgia 6-0 215 Sr. Marietta, Ga.
P 3 Rohn Stark Florida State 6-3 195 Jr. Fifty Lakes, Minn.
Coach of the Year ……………………..Vince Dooley, Georgia
Outland Trophy ………………………….Mark May, Pittsburgh
Grantland Rice Trophy………………………..Georgia Bulldogs
Here’s to you, Drew!
The Georgia Bulldog’s Drew Butler won the Ray Guy Award last night. Quite an accomplishment for the sophomore from Duluth. I have encouraged both Drew and kicker Blair Walsh on this blog since this summer. I felt good about Drew’s potential to replace Brian Mimbs. I had no idea he would have the record setting season he enjoyed.
There came a point that I didn’t want to talk about it on here. I was afraid I would jinx either he or Blair, who had an equally phenomenal year. Drew punted 50 times for an average of 48.84 yards per punt and a net average of 42.84. This net figure that won it for Drew as the selection committee chose the three punters with the highest net averages at the time of the nominations for finalists.
I must say I am amazed that Drew went the entire season with out a shank of some sort. I didn’t see every single punt, but I am almost positive every single punt was at least good, while most were very good to awesome. That is unbelievable. To go an entire year without a bad kick? Unheard of.
Congratulations Drew, you deserve all the accolades that you are receiving.
AP Lazy Picking All-SEC
The Georgia Bulldogs had three 1st team All-SEC members announced by the AP today. WR AJ Green, LB Rennie Curran and P Drew Butler were easy choices as they were statistically superior compared to other players. By statistically superior, I mean “most” or “highest”. AJ was second in yards per game recieving(83.4). Rennie led the league in tackles(122) and Drew far outdistanced the other punters in gross average by over five yards(48.8). Net punting was a little closer. So far so good.
Kickers as you know are different, all the way down to how you judge who had a better season or career. Obviously the AP voters chose Leigh Tiffin over Blair Walsh because Tiffin had 29 field goals and Blair only made 19. Forget the fact that Tiffin had eleven more attempts than Blair. Forget the fact that Tiffin actually had misses of 36, 39, 43, and 49 yards and three missed PAT’s. He also had a long kick of 50 yards. Forget that Blair on the other hand missed one kick of 32 and one of 55 yards, period. He did not miss a PAT(37-37). He was 4-5 from over 50 yards with a 50, 51, 52 and a long of 53 yards.
Blair also had 17 touchbacks on 67 KO’s(25%). Tiffin had 13 on 89 KO’s(15%). There is no easy and quick way to know how many of these kick-offs were deep attempts, so I’ll just leave it at face value. Georgia fans know Blair was not allowed to kick deep at times, so his numbers could have been even better.
To make a long story a little shorter, Blair got hosed. I’m sure he knows it, and numbers don’t lie. He should have been 1st team.
Tiffin had better not win the Groza Award. That should probably go to Kai Forbath of UCLA, who is 26-29 on field goals. All three of his misses are from over 50 yards. Not bad.
Congratulations Blair on an All-American type year, much less All-SEC.
Kicking Duo Could Be Best Ever
Georgia Bulldog fans have had very little to cheer about in 2009. That fact is magnified by the fact that potentially two of the team’s most decorated players could be the kicker and the punter. I think that’s awesome, the rest of you I’m guessing, not so much. That’s understandable. But today, both Blair Walsh and Drew Butler were named as finalists for the Lou Groza and Ray Guy awards, respectively.
This is an amazing thing.
Drew joins Michigan senior Zoltan Mesko and Florida junior Chas Henry in competition to be named the nation’s top punter. UCLA junior Kai Forbath, Alabama senior Leigh Tiffin and Blair are all vying for the distinction of the nation’s top place-kicker.
Good luck guys!
Spread the Love Folks
The Georgia Bulldogs’ 31-24 win over Auburn was a very pleasant surprise. Particularly after spotting the Tigers 14 points on the first two possessions. It was looking bad for the good guys, but then A.J. Green got hurt. Wait, did I say that right? Like it was a positive thing? I would never wish that on anyone. I hope A.J. heals up quickly, we need him, but to persevere and win without him was huge to me.
Early in the season A.J. was our team, making catch after miraculous catch. To progress to a point where we can beat a pretty good Auburn team without him is immeasurable. The growth of our O-line and running backs is gratifying to see. The young receivers like Israel Troupe having their chance and making the most of it. Tavares King could be an awesome compliment to A.J. Green in the future.
I have to also say that the defense came to play. The Auburn no-huddle offense and what I bet were scripted plays really put us on our heels. The third possession seemed to stop the hemorrhaging and whether it was swagger or something else, it was fun to watch. Even though there could have been more, the two interceptions were a delightful change of pace as well.
Blair Walsh continued to impress with his sixth career field goal over 50 yards, with four this season. This kick moved him into a four-way tie for second place in career field goals over 50 yards. Alan Leavitt, The Blogger himself and Brandon Coutu also had six. If he continues to have the opportunities and stays healthy, obviously he is on pace to break a very special record held by Kevin Butler(11). The younger Butler(Drew) had a disappointing night, only punting for a 47.4 average on 5 punts. His season average plummets to 49.0. I guess being on the Ray Guy watch list went to his head. Just kidding folks.
I tell you, Dawg fans have been super critical of the coaching staff, sometimes for good reason. My belief is when they pull things together you should acknowledge that as well. The sign of good coaching is when a player and/or team gets better over time. This team has gotten better the last four games, the Florida game notwithstanding. They may win out, which I would not have predicted 48 hours ago.
Randall Cobb of Kentucky gave us fits last year and Tech is a well oiled machine, but shtuff happens, as we have seen all too often this year. Maybe we can make some shtuff happen and make someone choke on their Thanksgiving leftovers. You know who I’m talking about!
A Proud Crazy Uncle
Okay, okay Georgia Bulldog fans, I have held off long enough. I have been holding back believe it or not. But someone called me on it earlier in the week, and I really should put in my two cents. This season of frustration has had it’s bright spots and today is my day to discuss a couple of them.
The Dawg’s kickers, Blair Walsh and Drew Butler have each excelled this year. I have written a great deal about my faith in these guys to perform at a high level, especially Blair. This being Drew’s first year of being the man, I believed he would do well. I am sure no one predicted Drew to lead the nation in punting at nearly 50 yards a punt. Just today, Drew was listed as a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award for the nation’s top punter. This is on the heels of Blair being listed as one of twenty semi-finalists for the Groza Award for the best kicker in the nation. What a rare accomplishment. Both kicker and punter on the premier watch lists.
Blair is 13-14 on field goals with three over 50 yards. He is tied with Auburn’s Wes Byrum for best FG percentage in the SEC at 92.9%. He also leads the SEC with 14 touch-backs. In my humble opinion, this combination of stats mean All-SEC, even if another kicker has more attempts.
No matter what else happens, both of these young men have been recognized nationally as being among the best in the business and I am one proud crazy uncle.
Keep it up guys!
Georgia Punting in Good Hands
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Drew Butler. No, he was not a bouncing baby boy on his Dad’s golden leg. It was not even in youth soccer. It was Drew’s senior year at Peachtree Ridge HS. The Lions were in the midst of their co-state championship run. They were playing one of my customers Campbell HS.
I was there early to see warm-ups. I had heard alot about Drew and I knew he was a top prospect to kick in college. It took just a few minutes for me to come to one definite conclusion. But more about that in a minute. I saw Peachtree Ridge escape with a win against Campbell and later watched them tie Roswell for the 2006 AAAAA Co-State Championship.
I didn’t actually meet Drew until the following May, after he had signed with Georgia after considering good options at Duke among others. Peachtree Ridge had become a customer when I followed Bill Ballard from Tucker. Drew had just finished kicking and working out when I ran into him outside the fieldhouse.
I asked him then if my conclusions about him were correct. While a very solid kicker in high school, I felt right away that Drew was a more natural punter. He confirmed that immediately, stating that his wish was to punt at Georgia. By that time, Blair Walsh had committed to UGA and it was Drew’s contention that Blair would kick and he would punt.
Drew has been in the program now for two years and has gotten much stronger. Gordon Ely-Kelso was a four year starter but Brian Mimbs “grew” into his role as a punter. Heck , he walked on at UGA to kick and with Brandon Coutu in the fold, he saw the writing on the wall. He shifted his focus and became a very good college punter. Drew will be ready also. This does not mean there will be no bad kicks. There are always bad kicks with every kicker and punter. Surely you remember a few bad punts in recent years and we survived most of them. It’s what you do the next time out that matters.
Short term memory loss is essential to be a successful kicker.
Now I have to work on long term memories.
Can you say Bluebonnet Bowl?
Tell me what you really think!