I personally feel that line play is the key to any football game (I know this isn’t breaking news, but bear with me) Any average quarterback can be made to look like a world beater if he is given enough time. Conversely, all the arm strength and accuracy in the world doesn’t help if a QB spends every down running for dear life. Throughout the first few weeks of the season, we tried to excuse what were obviously the two biggest weaknesses of the Dawgs-pass protection and pass rush. We all figured that the defense would unveil a galaxy’s worth of stunts and blitzes once the chips were down. We all wanted to believe that Stacy Searles could once again work his magic on a young and rapidly diminishing offensive line. Throughout all this, the fact remained that the defenses we ran against GSU and CMU were the rule, not the exception, and the offensive line was struggling, particularly up the middle. As much as I tried to convince myself that the our talent advantage at the skill positions would carry UGA to victory, I never truly could. I couldn’t shake myself of my undying belief that strong line play can cover any weakness, while weak line play exposes them. In the end, that maxim proved to rule the day.

Basically, all the warning signs were there. We saw the kinds of havoc that the Bama defensive line could wreak. We knew that their offensive line could open up holes that any running back could walk through and still get a first down. I did my best to ignore the fact that their biggest strengths matched up with our biggest weaknesses. However, as a fan of my team, I tried to dissuade myself from the obvious fact that UGA was outmanned where it mattered most, and rarely can a mismatch at those positions be overcome. I feel that we are all guilty of that somewhat.