Explain the Franklin/Vandy Love to Me

The non-sense around James Franklin's "men of honor" quotes (or misquote, if you have any reason to believe him) continues.  We all know it was Kiffin level douchebaggery when he said it. Also, he knew exactly what he was saying, when he said it, and that he did so intentionally.  We all thought it interesting on the day he said it, since he had gotten one of those men to leave North Carolina after the kid began orientation.

Yeah, Larry Fedora isn't impressed:

“What does [Franklin] say about the kids that were committed elsewhere and de-committed from their places to go to his place? That’s my comment. What is his comment on those people? He’s got someone in his recruiting class that did that very thing. He’s saying those guys are not men of honor? Basically, he’s saying he has got kids in his own recruiting class that are not men of honor. He said that, and I didn’t.”

Hey, I love me a good pissing contest.  My money is on the guy who is named after a hat, as opposed to an asshat. Blutarsky, as per usual, has a good take on that side of it.

My question is this: What about Franklin's actions suddenly make him some cult hero or actually make Vanderbilt a force to be reckoned with? Just talking to the casual Georgia (or SEC, for that matter) fan, you would think he signed a Top 10 class.  He did...Top 10 in the conference. Yes, they were more competitive than normal, but they beat no team with a winning record.  The closest they came was their game against Georgia.

Someone is going to have to explain to me why Franklin isn't Lane Kiffin, but with a lesser coaching pedigree. Is it because of his 'We aren't going to take it' attitude and the fact he wanted to fight Todd Grantham?

What I saw was a team that was undisciplined to the point of danger and that had the inability to close. Definitely sounds like Kiffin to me.

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Stand by Your Man

Putting aside Clay Travis' histrionics interesting take (go find your own link) over what Coach Richt 'might have said' during the exchange, I do have a bone to pick with Richt.  Dude.  Stand by your man.

Hey, I get you are trying to diffuse a situation.  I get that Franklin is Jim Schwartz a whiny titttybaby for getting so up in arms over anyone saying anything after all of the shenanigans his team pulled during the game.  I also get you need to man up and apologize for things getting out of control.  I am sure commiserating with the crying child is not the right way to go.

Not the best moment for Coach.

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UPDATE:
Ok, I've had an hour to mull over the video (and to watch it again several times).  After doing so, I have calmed down and also removed the hittroll's link above.  If you want to read Clay Travis, you can find it on your own.

As for my further thoughts, my problem with Richt remains his giving Franklin a passie to calm him down.  Thinking about the heat of the moment, Richt was just trying to get off the field when Franklin starts his soliloquy on respect.  He just said whatever to get him to quiet down.  The harsh 20/20 of hindsight says he should have smiled, said nice game, sorry about the confrontation...or 'WHAT IS YOUR DEAL?!?'...either would have been fine...and gotten his team to the locker room.

I'm still not happy about the comment, but I believe Richt wasn't intentionally taking Franklin's side over Grantham's.  No way he could have since he could have had any of the facts outside of the few that are sprinkled into JFrankies fit.

Vanderbilt Review

The Good:

• Pass offense. Vandy came into the game only allowing ~200 yards per game.  Murray had 326.  We are still plagued by the missed connections on the down field plays, including one off the hands of one receiver and another catch out of bounds that should have been in bounds.  
• Pass blocking. I didn't give the line enough credit.  Murray had plenty of time to throw nearly the whole game.  It showed.
• Pass defense.  Vandy wasn't going to light it up by going down field, but we held them to season lows in completions and QB rating, against season highs in attempts and interceptions.  All of that with the punter and RB a combined 2 for 2 and 78 of their 149 passing yards.
• Abry Jones, where passes go to die.
• Jarvis Jones. He only creates havoc and gets held.  Nothing less.

The Bad:

• Misdirection and delay recognition on defense.  I wondered when this game was going to happen.  One of the downsides with an aggressive, but young, defensive squad is that they can get caught out of position on QB runs.  We saw that happen time and again on Saturday.  I have confidence in Coach Grantham to work this out, but the problem is the need to do so quickly, since we'll face at least two QBs and offenses that dream about these kinds of defenses before we are done.
• Run defense in general.  Zac Stacy was lonesome on some of his runs.  I mean he wasn't even looked at until he had five yards.  
• False starts on the wildcat.  Dudes, stop screwing up our trick plays.

The Ugly:

• The spirit of Fabris.

The day after Drew Butler's eligibility runs out, Coach Richt should by him a gold watch.  Drew might have literally have saved his job with that tackle on the blocked punt.  

Also, you will note I didn't include the personal fouls and such in here.  I am not saying we should ever commit those types of penalties. I am saying, after watching the replay, I can't find grave fault with the players for committing them.  There was a crew of folks out who didn't perform their job very well that could have nipped a lot of this in the bud early, but didn't.  That John Jenkins got warned for his tackling is a good sign of what that crew was looking for.

Finally, and clearly, we aren't at the level I thought we were.  Vandy exposed our run defense.  I'd hate to be on the defense this next week two weeks with the way they played.  Can't think Grantham is going to be a pleasant person to be around.

TD

Mid Week Thoughts

We find ourselves at the beginning of a four game SEC binge that will end with the open date on October 22nd, the week before the Georgia-Florida game.  Three of the games are on the road, including this weekend's tilt at Ole Miss.  Fortunately, there are only snippets of stuff to talk about.  Unfortunately, there are only snippets of things to talk about.

• Injuries...or not.  Who cares?  Someone is unavailable, someone is unavailable.  I didn't get the bruhaha about Rambo in the Boise State game.  I don't get the bruhaha about Tyson against Coastal.  If I am Coach Richt, I call Bill Belichick for pointers on how to handle this, if for no other reason than to gig the mainstream media a bit more.
• SEC Expansion...or not.  Hahaha, guys.  You got me. So it isn't Mizzu or WVU.  Oklahoma isn't going to the Pac-1X. Hey, wait a minu...nah.  Not buying it.
• Mason to get playing time...or not.  Ok, now it is getting serious.  Hey, if Mason is a better option than Murray, then fine.  Play the kid. If Murray is the better option, there is plenty of stuff for Murray to work on that only playing will help.  Ask South Carolina how the 'you're my guy, wait this other guy might be more my guy' thing is going.
• Nutt will get fired after this week...or not.  If Georgia administers a Vandy style beating on them (did I just type that?), it could happen.  I still say it comes during their off week after they go to Fresno.
• Vandy is fo'real...or not.  This week at South Carolina will tell us a lot about that.  Of course, if Garcia throws five ints against them, not only will Spurrier pull Garcia's arm off and beat him with it, Vandy wins.
• LSU takes a big step forward this week...or not. Crazy haha vs. Just Crazy, in the coaching department.  You figure out which one is Holgorsen and which one is Lesticles. 

What did I miss?
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