[Music] welcome back everybody to another episode of the junkyard dogcast I'm your host Jordan Hill got the whole crew with us Kip Adams and Ben W on this Friday afternoon as the countdown to week two continues for the Georgia Bulldogs Georgia is getting ready to play the Tennessee Tech golden eagles 2 o'clock pm eastern time on Saturday game on SEC network plus we're going to dive into this one uh we all understand what this matchup is going to mean for the Bulldogs obviously a huge favorite in this game but um still worth looking into this game still worth talking a little bit about what we expect to see what we want to see from the Georgia perspective and what you need to know about this Tennessee Tech Team and fellas I'll kind of get this one started Tennessee Tech pretty impressive in week one a 32-25 loss to Middle Tennessee a game that Tennessee Tech LED late they got down early I had a chance to go back and rewatch a good chunk of that game um things that stood out to me really liked Tennessee techs backup quarterback Jordan pots comes in the starter Dylan lable a Missouri transfer got off to a slow start gets hurt early in the second quarter looked like his shoulder he got sacked and and Jordan Potts comes in and plays really well 27 of 38 256 yards three touchdowns no interceptions we talked about this before we started this podcast the last touchdown he threw this might be one of the only names that Georgia fans who are listening to this are going to remember or recognize Jordan Yates the former Georgia Tech quarterback caught the touchdown he's playing receiver now H for Tennessee Tech I think he was at Sam Houston State the last few years um but Middle Tennessee comes back drives right down the field in the final uh minute of that game Frank Pleasant breaks off a 30 yard run to put Middle Tennessee up and the Blue Devils or the blue Raiders I should say wind up winning that game um but you know I let's just talk generally about you know this matchup and Georgia playing an FCS team you know coming off of a big win against Clemson in week one you kind of have to keep the focus and and not get caught up in the fact that you know the last I look this line is 53 and a half um so Kip just looking at this game what do you want to see from Georgia against a very clearly inferior opponent and uh what they need to accomplish in their second game of the season yeah I kind of talked about this in our uh what what we expect to see happen but other than coming out you know with no injuries which is obviously the goal for both teams in a game like this where the outcomes all but assured I want Georgia's offensive line to come out and establish their dominance I mean they should have a clear Talent Advantage up front faced one of the better defensive fronts they're going to face all season last week and it took them until the second half to get rolling this is a situation where there's really no reason why Georgia can't come out of the gate strong and you know establish their dominance in the Run game with this offensive line and get the offense rolling early we we talked about this last week with you know slow starts I mean they definitely dominated the second half against Clemson but there are going to be some games where you know they got to come out firing in all cylinders so you gotta know what that feels like and this is that game where the offense should be able to do whatever it wants you don't need to show them the whole Playbook but I I think it's a situation where you should be able to put a man on a man and win those one battles and have some long drives early in the game to where you can get those backups in and keep your starters healthy wanted to roll through some of the players that set out in that Tennessee Tech MTSU game again a really impressive performance in the first game of the Bobby Wilder era for the college football fans who watch outside of just the SEC Bobby Wilder a name you might recognized was that Old Dominion for a while had done a a good job there with the monarchs um wide receiver number 11 Ashley Maples made some big plays running back zero Jaylen Mitchell a Yukon transfer and was previously at Louisville before that um linebacker Cayman Spalding played really well both of those number zeros on both sides of the ball I would expect you know the Tennessee Tech C on those guys Trace Danley a defensive back number nine had a big interception in that game and you know looking at that box score I I was really expecting when you look at the stats to see something that made it very clear that this is how Tennessee Tech got back in this game because NTSU built a pretty significant lead I think at one point it was like 21 to2 um but it was kind of an even game you know both teams turned the ball over once um there wasn't a bunch of penalties you know it was really a situation where MTSU had a pretty good first half second half offense kind of went dormant open the door U for Tennessee Tech and then MTSU finds an answer late the biggest thing that I thought stood out as a weakness was you know it took a while for Tennessee Tech offense to get going and part of that was the quarterback situation and I'll be curious I haven't heard anything about uh the guy who started the game but I thought Jordan Potts was great 27 to 38 like I mentioned earlier uh Ben you were looking through their roster before we started recording I did want to let you mention another name that Georgia fans May recognize so before this podcast started I I said I was like I'm gonna be completely honest here I don't know that I could name a single player on Tennessee Tech roster then Jordan reminded me of Jordan Yates which was nice that was that was a good little reminder as well but then I'm scrolling down the roster and I see a red shirt freshman wide receiver McKai penck Jr now or McKai pennx sorry obviously I did the natural oh pen last name penx is this Michael pennock's Young younger brother sure enough it's m it's Michael pennock's younger brother I'll take this a step further you guys don't even know this I've learned I've learned a little bit more about this family I didn't realize that Michael pennock's dad Michael Pennock Senor he is in the Tennessee Tech Sports Hall of Fame as of like a month ago and he's one of their you know best running backs of all time my focus in this game now on Saturday has everything to do with is the penck family one of the football families of Georgia gonna be in Sanford Stadium on Saturday because I think that I didn't it didn't even occur to me that this was a possibility I know they've got their uh season opener on Sunday but it is in Atlanta so my eyes are now going be sort of facing outside the hedges than more so than between the hedges Ben usually has a photo gallery coming out of these games for recruits I'm gonna look and there's gonna like three photos of Michael pinnick or or even just people in Falcon jerseys for some reason at this game yeah I mean I I guarantee you when I put my photo gallery out if Michael pinnix is in attendance there will be photos of Michael penx in the gallery Kip as the resident number one Falcons fan any thoughts on on pinx the pinx family may be being in attendance on Saturday I hope we see more of the penck family on Saturday than we do on Sunday is all I got to say I mean uh you know I'm ready for that era to begin but I'd prefer to get a little bit of Roi on our offseason free agent signing before uh we get to see the penck guys Star in the field but hey now that that's kind of piqu my interest I think that's a you know when we're in the second half of this game and I'm watching the broadcast I think that's going to be you know what I'm keying in on is is how many times they go to the sideline the the because yeah that's definitely that's Celebrity Status right there so uh looking forward to to seeing uh you know maybe he gets in some snaps in this game as well so that that'd be good to see and let's be clear we have no confirmation whatsoever that Michael penx is going to be in attendance for this game I'm just I'm doing exact exactly what Kirby Smart tells us not to do and assuming everything I do want to point out that Michael Pen's brother did not have any catches in that Mt why do we have to go there Jordan why do we have to go there nobody we people just found out he existed like 12 minutes or 12 seconds ago they didn't have to know he didn't put up any stats last week I was all I was going to say been was that he's due so you're you're jumping the gun on the way he he's gonna when he shows out you're gonna look silly yeah you're right you're right uh some of things 200 wide receiver by the way I don't know I'm intrigued I'm intrigued yeah no I think there's plenty to to watch for there um just looking generally look again you know none of us are kidding ourselves this is not going to be a game you know we know the the differential you know the the difference in Talent between these two rosters and you know Bobby Wilder basically said so earlier this week I wasn't on that call with the media but he basically said you know I'm not you know am am I excited about going in here you know not not really but you know it's it's these kind of games keep FCS programs alive you know I think that the number is 500,000 that georg's giving Tennessee Tech for this game which honestly ly Georgia kind of got a good deal on that you usually see right about right around the million dollar Mark um but looking at Tennessee Tech I thought their run defense was really suspect against MTSU which I think Georgia's gonna take advantage of mtsu's lead running back had just about six yards a carry in that win so I think it's a situation where you know I think we're going to see a big ground game I think as big as that line is it seems like more often than not you know Georgia doesn't really like to rub it in against these teams I I'll ask you guys this and we can each take turns I don't think Georgia covers this 53 and a half spread that just doesn't seem like what Kirby would do Kip do do you think which way are you going on a 53 and a half line I would say that in my opinion the the game plan would be to get that clock done as quickly as possible and we just kind of saw it I think Auburn last week uh with Alabama A&M where they they went to the shorter quarters in the second half so you have to take that consideration and people might look at the score and go Georgia didn't cover but then did they even play a full football game and so if they do end up having shorter quarters in the second half then I mean yeah like I I don't I don't know if they break 50 what about CH been I kind of agree I mean to Kip's point I mean there we saw games week one that were shortened to 10-minute third and fourth quarters that made it so that it didn't even hit the 55 minute minimum or 55 minute minimum for some bets so that's what you would expect this game to look like I mean I think to your point you mentioned what Bobby Wilder had to say about it I think the the ultimate proof that this is not viewed as a game that Georgia feels like it could lose in any capacity is Kirby Smart's reaction to that commentary as well when he basically said well do they still want the check and it's like he he realizes what this game is and the purpose of this game and so you know I don't obviously expect any kind of football game in in any capacity but I I do think it's probably more likely to be running clock potentially shortened game I don't think George is gonna run up I think my score prediction was like 52 to six or something like that so that's you know around the spread but I don't think that they'll cover it yeah just follow up on that like I mentioned the Auburn Alabama a&n game being short and quarter and they still ran up what 73 points they have a lot more to prove than Georgia does I mean they got to get paid and Thor feeling confident they have to establish confidence in that passing game georg's team I mean there's not really anyone on the roster that they're looking towards the play important minutes that that has a lot to prove right now I think if anything you you I mean you have Trevor ATN playing but at the same point time I mean he's already kind of established as being a pretty solid running back so I just don't think there's a goal of we need to go out and do this whereas like I said the direct comparison of Auburn last week I mean they're they're trying to instill confidence in that whole roster right now I mean one of the things I'm excited about or hopeful for that happens is that we get to see some of these young offensive linemen I know we got to see them briefly last week but I think this is a game where you know second half third fourth quarter you're going to start to see who does Georgia Trust of those young offensive linemen I think you're going to get some weird combinations along the o line there in the second half when you look at games like this you always want to keep an eye on some of those younger guys like Ben was just talking about and I want each of us to give a guy that they think will have a big game on Saturday and I start and I'll point to Anthony Evans whether it's a big punt return I think more than anything I think we're going to see more snaps for him at wide receiver I'm really high on Anthony Evans I know that you know he he's a little bit back in the pecking order at receiver just because they've loaded up um you know a lot of it from the transfer portal but my eyes are on Anthony Evans I think he has a chance to to really have a big game I'm going to say he finds the end zone once and uh and helps Georgia in a big big way Ben what about you as there a specific guy you think is poised to have a really big game on Saturday well I'm going to give two names and that's going to annoy Kip especially if I take one of them but I I so for me the person that I'm going to be watching the closest is going to be Janelle Aguero just because he was not there last week we saw a ver different look in the defensive back field than maybe we were expecting you know throughout the course of fall camp and so I'm interested to see what he looks like we haven't seen a whole lot of him and you know playing in meaningful snaps in Georgia game so I'm excited to watch um him I'm also gonna give a similar answer if we're talking like later on in second half someone that I think could have some moments that'll get people going a little bit I'm gonna say sovi white I think that for S similar reasons to what you said Jordan I think that there's a chance that he maybe gets some special team snaps in the second half I think there's a chance that they try and get him the ball in the fourth quarter and he's someone that I've seen it happen when you get sovi white the ball he makes plays that's what he does so I don't you know if there's a game this year that I think he kind of cracks into that I think this is the one Kip you seem to have strong feelings about the sovi pick would would you like to expound on those I mean not only did he pick one of my guys I was playing on picking two as well and he picked both of them so this is draft order failure here for me um you know if if we're talking young guys because I think the obvious answer of what who like most people want to see probably get a lot of run is just Gunner Stockton just to see what he can do overall with the offense but sticking with young guys I think a guy that's really gonna probably stand out in this matchup is Jordan Thomas along the defensive line as far as just guys are in that rotation I think he's a guy that you he probably gets you know 25 to 30 snaps in this game and you know with the defensive line they're going to have multiple guys out again this week I mean we know that you know Xavier McCloud Jordan Hall are guys that we don't expect to play yet or you know I would imagine we lean towards out Michel Williams as well Warren Brenson you know probably a guy that I guess Jordan would probably list as questionable in his injury report if I'm guessing that's me admitting I hadn't checked it out yet which is a fail on my part um but but yeah I think overall uh this is where you you build your depth via experience and I just think Jordan Thomas is a guy that you know got uh I guess he came on strong amongst that long big defensive line group and you know got playing time maybe more than a lot of people would have expected and I think you you increase that now you rev it up because it's going to pay off later later in the season and yeah I mean just sticking with the wide receivers um I kind of want to see Jeremy Bel just because I think this is a guy that uh again you we kept hearing about George's brought in a couple of wide receivers Cobe got a lot of uh Pub Nitro Tuggle you know uh started to come on a little bit toward the end of camp but I I think Jeremy Bell's a guy that was uh right there with them as far as just being in that second the third group of wide receivers and is basically part of the wide receiver Hall at this point because I think he's exceeded all expectations I don't think the team considers him to be a walk-on at this point just because I think uh his athletic ability and what he's done his practice has impressed everyone so uh I I think that's a guy that I want to see because again looking forward with the roster expansions they're having they're going to have to make decisions possibly if they don't you know if they can't even have Walk-Ons they have to make decisions moving forward uh this is one of those eval games for a guy like Jeremy Bell that that might be a spot that you know he takes a a scholarship uh maybe for the you know for the next cycle so I think that those are two guys that I'm looking forward to seeing after the the two guys that been mentioned also I watched Jeremy belder in pregame and Mercedes Benz and my good I mean he looks he's a freak I mean athletically the things the way that he moves I mean he looks like a Georgia wide receiver for real yeah if people didn't remember this he was an Indiana commit at one point so I mean that I know that it's Indiana but still I mean that that says a lot and uh I know at one point during I think fall Camp um Georgia will provide photos from practice for us to use and there's one of him going up in mosson a guy and again I know it's just practice but he looks really impressive I want to make sure I mention this just because I think Kip mentioned Trevor etn for a moment we still don't know if he's going to play or not Kirby wouldn't say on Tuesday which again you know Falls in line with how Kirby has handled suspensions going uh forward and I've gotten a lot of questions about it I I think he will play but my biggest thing is it's not GNA matter I mean you know if he does miss this game Georgia is still in in good shape at running back and to kind of follow up on that I I want to see what chony Bowens does I want to see he's the guy of those freshman running backs he was the only one there during spring I want to see if he gets some run and we saw what Nate Fraser can do I don't think any of us have any questions about him but let's see what some of those other younger backs are able to do we will take a quick break come back uh actually wait before we get out of this let's keep the focus on Tennessee Tech and give our score predictions Ben did you say 52 to6 which way are you going with 52 to6 I haven't decided yet whether that's a blocked extra point or two field goals but I'll figure that one out between now and game time I'm going to go 45 to nothing just based on the defense last week against Clemson I think that they're poised to just take care of business um shut down uh this offense and and get to two and0 Kip you got a score prediction for this one I got a 49 nothing I think they do pitch a shut out I think the offense is is fairly effective in the Red Zone because um I mean I could even see Dwight Dwight Phillips getting in the end zone here the difference in speed right there could be very apparent they get him out you know in the boundary and he might be able to make a couple guys miss so I think you're going to get to see plenty of him and if etn is playing I think that's a situation where you know maybe he does get increased run early uh more than a guy like Nate Frasier or maybe even Branson Robinson just because uh hey you didn't see him last week so I just think they're you know uh he'll probably get extra reps he might only get five or six touches overall because again it's it's about getting out of the game as quickly as possible yes and getting out healthy well now that I got that play action in on you guys kind of kind of caught you guys off card we'll take a quick break come back and talk a little bit about FBS versus FCS games Ben's got some recruiting Intel we want to get into as well as Georgia gets ready for their home opener for 2024 [Music] [Music] well guys there was an interesting moment on Tuesday where Kirby Smart was talking about this matchup and specifically playing games like this as opposed to playing some of the instate teams and I thought it was interesting Kip brought up you know last week Auburn played Alabama A&M you know Georgia in the past has played uh lower teams like a Georgia Southern but it's been several years and off the top of my head I don't know that they've done it in the Kirby Smart era and I wanted to read this quote from Kirby asked basically about you know playing in teny Tech versus playing one of those instate teams um Kirby's quote not the slightest clue I can't give you good input I mean the schedule I have now as far as I know I inherited it if I didn't inherit it and I'm lying to you I don't know I didn't go down the schedule and say oh let's go play Tennessee Tech Over Georgia Southern or Mercer I mean I don't know that's probably a better question for Josh Brooks now I bring that up to say that we'll have a chance to talk to Josh Brooks on Friday afternoon they're having their board meeting and I know that that will come up but I want to get y'all's input on this would you like to see Georgia playing some of these Nate teams when they're playing FCS opponents and Kirby talked about this I think a little later in that press conference that you know he understands fans want to see a Notre Dame fans want to see a Clemson but playing these games helps these FCS opponents you know basically pays their budget or at least goes a big way a big long way toward it I would like to see Georgia play a mercer um I would like to see Georgia even go just to the group of five and I'm hoping in the next few years they play Georgia State and get a chance to see D McGee and play those games but I'm a big proponent of one playing these games to make sure these teams are able to continue playing football which Kirby made a big point of saying on Tuesday but let's keep that money in state and I feel like going back you know it felt like this all kind of stopped once Georgia Southern almost beat Georgia and I was like okay we're not doing that again and obviously now Georgia Southern's up in the Sun Belt so you know if if you wanted to play you know you could play kennth Hall State I already mentioned Mercer um several other options I would like to see that money stay in state to help those programs Kirby's talked a lot about how big Georgia football is going from high school but but obviously keeping an eye out and and taking care of some of those other teams in the state I'll start with you Kip do you have any strong feelings about you know these FCS games and specifically trying to play teams from the state of Georgia I can't say I have strong feelings about him because it's it is you know just a it seems like it's a kind of just required it's just something that you kind of have to do I mean like uh coach Wilder said it himself that he thinks his guess was that georg's nil Collective gets their budgets $20 million and his entire athletic department he said was $17 million and so yeah I do think that the current landscape is benefiting the players a lot more they have more ability to not only take care of themselves but to go where you know they think they have the best chance to thrive and that does have that trickle down effect where you know group of five and FCS programs are you know the Gap is just being moved even more so are we still moving towards that you know the breaking off of the the power program into their own conference at that point you know are they just playing them you know each other throughout the season so I think while we have it sure we definitely need to take advantage of it because we don't know how long we're going to have it into your point as far as instate programs that that's another recruiting Advantage for Kirby Smart if if he schedules a mcer if he schedules you know a Kennesaw State or any of the instate programs I mean those are people that have ties here you're helping those programs um you bring those programs in when you do like you had the big camp in Athens you know other programs were allowed to come to those camps in the past so you're always kind of you know establishing that friendship that connection with the other colleges and then obviously the other high schools as well because you're showing if you can't play here we do want you to play somewhere and you know that that just helps with all the High School coaches in Georgia and that's why Kirby Smart and his entire coaching staff is so highly respected every single high school they go in in Georgia because he is always thinking about that I need to take care of the people around me because you never know when I might need something you know some help from them in the future so yeah I think it just from from that standpoint I think it's it would be smart uh for Georgia to schedule those kind of teams but knowing that those are like five and six years in advance you schedule it right now we're not even sure if you'd be able to play that team moving forward that you know you see those games get canceled as much too but it's worth a try for sure and Kip hit on something right there that I was going to say you know in defense of Kirby I I do think that he's being honest of you know these games get scheduled well in advance think about the UCLA game that got cancelled not that long ago we were looking it up and uh we were on staff me and a couple of other people on the beat uh were at the student paper the red and black when the that game was first scheduled so that that's been a minute since some of those games have gotten on the Slate so you know I don't I don't have any ill will toward Cirby and say you know this is Kirby's fault that they haven't done this but I do think it's important Ben what do you think about you know scheduling inate FCS teams trying to kind of help within the state of Georgia for sure I mean so what are the options in Georgia Mercer and Savannah State are those the two FCS teams in Georgia Ken well I guess kenas State just moved up so I think that's probably it so I mean I'm a proponent of that like if you're gonna play these buy games and the point of it is to you know boost those programs up and to help them survive like I think playing instate matchups makes more sense and I realize to your point teams might have been scared away of it in the past because they're worried about losing but it's like if we're trying to act as though we're doing this for the spirit of the sport well guess what those teams playing competitive games against the best teams in the state is going to make those programs survive a heck of a lot easier than you know not choosing to not play them and so I think that you know Georgia should probably play Mercer and Savannah State and you know or every now and again I think Georgia Tech should do that as well like both of the like the key programs in every state should probably do that within their own state to try and help sustain the FCS teams and again I think that playing the instate matchups probably adds a little bit more juice to it that helps the programs more than just the money that comes along with the games I don't know I don't have any stats to back that up that's just my opinion on what The Vibes of it would be um but I I will say with the FBS teams like the group of five teams I mean I would love to see Georgia play Georgia Southern Georgia State Kennesaw State now like these are teams that I would love to see on Georgia schedule and I think that there's examples of that across the like I think that Tennessee and Memphis should be on each other their schedule more often than they probably are like I just think that those types of games we we've become so National as a sport and I get it that's not going to change that's only going further and further in that direction but I think if there's opportunities to schedule some of these more local ized you know traditional types of things I think it can just you know create some of that where you get some of that local flavor that you've maybe lost because of how National the sports gone yeah I mean I think you hit it on the head and my thing is like compared this like Georgia playing Tennessee Tech versus Georgia playing Mercer okay we know the outcome's going to be about the same but one you know playing an instate opponent that's that's pretty cool and two think about it from the Mercer side where I'm sure that whole roster is made up of guys who grew up Georgia fans you know who wanted to go to Georgia I I like the idea of that and to me being like what you said from the national standpoint I mean it kind of went back to the Clemson game last week I was glad Georgia played that because it's kind of you know it's not a rival like it like a Florida or an Auburn but Georgia does have history with Clemson to play those Regional rivalries to play those teams that are close by I think is worthwhile and you know I think Alabama has gotten a lot of heat because they don't really play a lot of inate teams other than auburn obviously um you know again I think there's probably some hurt feelings Over Georgia almost losing to Georgia Southern what was that 2015 but that's not g to happen now and they should get them back on the schedule and and uh you know it's it's good for the whole state of Georgia to play games like that definitely well Ben you had a chance to go see not to not to interject actually before I will also say not to be a total hypocrite when I say this I would also take a 12g game SEC schedule if they said that's what they were going to do too so just to just to be clear there's many schedule variances that I would accept and it's fair and I think it's also fair to think about if they do jump to nine games what exactly changes do they keep playing these FCS games you know something is gonna you know drop off what exactly is that going to be I guess we've drawn I guess our perfect world that we've drawn up now is nine game SEC schedule one group of five Georgia game one FCS Georgia game and then some kind of big Power conference neutral site matchup or something like that or home preferably I think I think that would be ideal what do you think of of that game plan Kip if the SEC moves to nine games so what were the three that were talking about because do doesn't is Georgia Tech Tech yeah Georgia Tech Georgia Tech throws kind of a yeah monkey Wren in that so um I thought I thought Ben was just being a hater and was considering them the group of five team grou of team they can didn't know if he was potentially trying to let them you know let them back in the conference that I don't know how well that would go over um at at this point but yeah I'm just bad at counting to 12 that's all it does get tough uh yeah I I think if if you keep Georgia Tech in in the schedule which I would imagine they would probably do I mean yeah that that gives you just one opponent you get EI it's either group of five or FCS that that's really all you have room for I mean because yeah you can do two but nobody I don't think anybody wants that I don't think anybody wants just like two small programs even though everyone could say we're playing nine games in this conference but I still think yeah you only you can only do one one a year and I I think that's probably enough because I like I said I think this is temporary I think down the road uh you're going to have fewer and fewer non-conference games I think it's just gonna all get combined just that's the the route we're taking so I I think you should schedule as many of these games as you can while you still can to try to help them out and just to try to you know give fans a different look I'm still kind of thinking about that Tennessee Memphis game you mentioned I don't know that seems kind of like a scary matchup uh I don't know if that's that's a lose lose uh for a program like Tennessee just because uh I don't know I don't think the gap between programs like that is is wide enough to where you put them on schedule yeah I thought of like Auburn and Troy and I don't I don't know I guess Troy just made a coaching change but Auburn may want to wait a few years before it really consider something like that we want to play these games like should like shouldn't we want to see like it doesn't yeah you might lose the game it's going to be a harder game like isn't that the point like shouldn't we as fans yes yes as the program as the ad probably not great my my thought is on Ben's Point like again I keep going back to Georgia Georgia Southern because that game was played quite a bit and then they almost you know beat Georgia if you're scared say you're scared like to Ben's point it's like so you don't believe your team can beat this team well I mean that that says all that really needs to be said in a situation like that hey if we want to grow the sport lower level teams being able to beat the bigger level teams in their own State can go a long way because that can definitely you know if a team like Memphis beats a team like Tennessee or a team like Troy beats a team like Auburn like I'm not saying it's going to have immediate recruiting implications but it's like there's more of a if you start playing on a regular basis and the matchup becomes a little bit more even it can definitely eliminate some of the talent disparity and if I'm not mistaken didn't Memphis beat Tennessee when Payton was there am I remembering correctly you know I don't have a memory like that I think that happened so that's probably another reason that game it's been played I think a few times since then but you know again don't be scared go play the game Ben uh you had a chance to go check out some high school football on Thursday night uh what did you get to see and give us some of the recruiting news tied along with it yeah so anytime There's Thursday night games in the state of Georgia God bless anybody who schedules them because it just means that I can get to multiple games in a week so I appreciate Savannah Christian and Oceanside from South Carolina the home of uh Monroe freeling by the way whose brother was a starting safety for them last night senior um not sure how many how much look he's getting but he was impressive athlete out there at the high school level at least um I was obviously going to see five-star defensive lineman in the 2025 five class Elijah Griffin primarily and then also the number four player in our 247 Sports rankings for the 2027 class lamian gon and I'll get to leaman in a second but he is just an unbelievable athlete to watch He's every everything that he's projected to be but talking about Elijah Griffin I got a chance to chat with him earlier in the day before their game and learn a little bit about some of the things that are going on with his recruitment so you can read more in detail about that at dog 247 I actually have another article that's going to be coming probably tomorrow morning just because of how travel schedule's working out so I apologize for the delay on that but just early tomorrow morning talking about his Georgia Clemson visit and how things are going with Georgia and some conversations that he's had with Kirby Smart recently that have made an impression around him but I think the big news item that came out yesterday was he's taking his official visit to Georgia for the October 11th to October 13th weekend so that's going to be the game weekend is October 12th against Mississippi State he has a top three right now it's USC Miami and Georgia he's already taken his official visit to the other two places um now he is going to take his visit to Georgia and I think the most notable thing about this visit October 12th is his birthday it's not a coincidence that he's taken his birthday weekend visit to Georgia he does still you know in terms of timeline for making a decision I don't think it is 100% clearcut that a decision is going to be made on October 12 I think that he has some conversations that he needs to have with Georgia during that official visit weekend if a decision comes you know at the end of that visit or shortly there after that visit it wouldn't surprise me at all if he did still feel like he needed to take some time to figure some things out with all three of the teams recruiting him I would also I could see that as a possibility as well all that said my crystal Ball's been with Georgia for Elijah Griffin for a long time Kips crystal ball has been with Georgia for Elijah Griffin for a long time I I saw Tom ly added one in there yesterday I think that that's the way that everyone sort of feels like it's trending and um I mean Trey Scott was at the game I I was out there last night Trey Scott was out there at the game last night as well he was supposed to be going to see some Junior College uh guys play that they're still tracking down here the end of the year ended up rerouting to come see Elijah Griffin and the fact that you know Georgia wants to get in to see Elijah Griffin as early as they did I think says a lot just about the priority level the fact that they wanted to make sure that their presence is felt very early on in September they're gonna feel it again very early in October so yeah I really like georg's chances uh with Elijah Griffin and heck of a player as well I mean he had had a couple you know several tackles for loss couple sacks last night just not the best uh weather either rain kind of sloppy game whatever he he had a really good outing I will also add Le Damian gon he's a sophomore I got to see him in his season opener last year as a freshman and I was blown away because in terms of like stat sheet productivity he outperformed Elijah Griffin in that game in his first career game as a freshman I actually asked Elijah about this yesterday when I was talking to him like what do you see from leaman and he was like I wish that I had the motor and the work ethic that leaman gon has as a freshman he says the the level of effort that he gives on every single play is Second To None of anyone that Elijah said that he's played with and I think that you notice that it doesn't matter what down it is what situation it is whatever I mean leaman giden works his tail off and when you see him he's only a sophomore in high school the Dude Looks like he could suit up and play college football tomorrow I mean he really is built well you can tell I mean Savannah Christian's an interesting program when you look at I mean they had Warren Brinson that was sort of there to help guide Elijah Griffin they've had Elijah Griffin there to help Guide leaman G now and you can tell they're all just they they fit the mold of what Georgia looks for and so too early to say anything with a Damen gon's recruitment I mean again he's a 2027 so coaches can't even directly call and text him yet um but just from relationships built from camps and visits over the years and things like that I mean Georgia's definitely going to be a tough beat for any five-star player from Savannah Christian it's going to be tough to beat Georgia out in those you mentioned a few minutes ago Ben Trey Scott looking at Joo defensive lineman I'm GNA kind of put you on the spot but we were all kind of amazed this week when seven Cloud popped back up on Georgia's radar now for folks who may not remember this seven Cloud I believe at one point was a Georgia commit uh that commitment wind up not sticking and he'd kind of Fallen completely off the radar to the point that no one really knew anything about him I know folks on the junkyard wondered if he was a real guy he comes back on the radar Georgia gives an offer what can you tell us just about seven cloud and uh what you've learned about it Well's my point about the jco defensive lineman I think that I mean you look at georg's class right now they've got if they get Elijah Griffin and Justice Terry I mean they might want to add another defensive lineman it could be more of an instate developmental piece it could be someone with a little bit more experience the jco route they could also certainly look in the portal just depending on what they want to do with numbers so I think right now we're in that part of the Year where all of these position groups are just building a little bit of depth on their recruiting board to figure out all right depending on how things go elsewhere like what you know what options are so seven Cloud definitely I'm I'm familiar with the legend of seven Cloud I'm not as familiar with the experience of it Kip was probably more directly involved as that was going on but um I did get a chance to talk with him this week and I haven't actually written like the story with quotes on that um yeah maybe later today maybe that's what I'll do right after we hop off here so so after you listen to this podcast today on Friday immediately go to dogs 247 to read about seven Cloud because he had some really interesting stuff to say um just kind of about what went on in high school and how he was ruled and eligible and then he went to the aaou basketball route and he kind of was out of football and then he had a Butler Community College coach who I mean there's you know how the coaching industry works there's coaching contacts and I'm sure that he had some people working on his behalf to try and get a jco back in on him and uh Butler called him said hey you want to still play football and he did not hesitate absolutely I want to hop in and play football right away got up to Butler Community College and actually and I was not aware of this at all last April Trey Scott had gone up to check in on him you know April 2023 so it's been over a year Georgia has been you know checking in on him going to going up to see him whatever he he was injured for most of last season so there wasn't lot of game action for him to get in um but yeah I mean the fact that they offered tells you that he uh I mean you watch the week one film of him he looks great I mean he looks like someone that you know can definitely still play football at a really high level and so I'm interested to see where things go he doesn't have a visit scheduled with Georgie yet but there is that long standing relationship with Trey Scott that exists so I think it'll be um interesting to see how that one plays out and I also don't think that he's the only Junior College option I mean I think there's I mean I've written about a guy named zavon Hardy that's been on a visit in the past as well he might take a visit at some point this fall I'm sure there's other Junior College names out there too the interesting thing about Jo you know those Joo offers is sometimes we hear you don't hear about them until it's about time for a decision to be made because they just operate in a little bit of a different world Kip what do you think about the latest twists in the seven Cloud Story I mean I I had to check the date when I saw the the post in the board um I you know this is not something that I haded my 2024 bingo card at all um but hey hats off to you guys that that did and honestly hats off to him I mean this you know he is obviously uh on a good path right now and my overall reaction to this because I also and we've seen more offers go out right now and I think it's kind of just telling us this is how Georgia is going to handle the increased roster size you know they are sending out more offers because they are going to sign more than they initially planned to in this 2025 class they're going to try to just uh you know increase that Talent level and I I think we're kind of just now getting into it I think there are decisions that are being made it's you know it's kind of on the Fly everything's being evaluated um because this time next year as of now it's going to be completely different but Kirby's not one to wait I mean he's usually trying to get in front of everything he can he did that with the early signing period he did that with the transfer portal and you know every chance that he gets to maximize his roster or any changes to how he can construct that roster he's going to make the most of it I think that's kind of what's what's going on right now so like I said I mentioned earlier with Jeremy Bell uh I think that makes a game like this even more important for him because he sees you know they're offering guys they're going to increase their scholarship roster and he probably would like to have one of those scholarships so and if not this is film he's putting out for his you know his next opportunity so I I just think that these are evaluations Georgia's board always had well way more this is not news on you know their defensive line targets or you know DB targets these new offers going out these guys were already on the board because that's what you do I mean if you're going to sign you know three cornerbacks then you probably Target you know 12 guys and focus on those 12 guys if not a couple more because you think all those guys can help you win football games the the guy that's number eight on your Quarterback board you know isn't a a dud compared to the guy who's number three that that's just not how it works so I think you know when you see new offers go out right now uh usually you know the recruiting fans analysis of that is oh no who do we miss on or you know what happened here and you all set to think about new evaluations people are just now putting out their film of this season and you know evaluations continue guys get better it's not a straight line so I think that's also part of it the the increased roster size is going to help Georgia and the bigger programs pay more attention to guys having senior Seasons or having Joo Seasons when usually during the season they just lock it down we've got everything we want let's start focus on the next class well this actually helps you know guys get offers uh the last their senior season or their Joo season that they wouldn't normally get well we'll wrap up the episode right there thanks to everyone who watch this live everyone who is watching or listening after the fact be sure on Saturday probably about an hour after the game keep an eye out we will have our postgame podcast and I can promise you that the sound the audio will be better than week one against Clemson we got that one taken care of be sure to go to dogs 247.com subscribe if you haven't already we got all kinds of Intel going into the home opener for the Georgia Bulldogs be sure to go to dogs 247 on YouTube subscribe there um subscribe to the junkyard dogcast on your favorite podcast platform and also go check us out on Tik Tok got a lot of videos there so for Kip Adams and Ben wol I'm Jordan Hill until next time take care everybody