It Could Have Been Worse: South Carolina Gamecocks 17, Georgia Bulldogs 6
by T Kyle King on Sep 12, 2010 12:15 AM EDT
in Football
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PrintPerhaps it’s because I came within a single goal-line fumble by Washaun Ealey of predicting the final score exactly, but I actually was more encouraged than discouraged by Saturday afternoon’s result.
Yes, I regret that the Georgia Bulldogs lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks, but I have no fear that the program in Columbia is about to surpass the program in Athens on a perennial basis; the Palmetto State Poultry simply are a better team than the Classic City Canines right now, and they proved it on the field of play. They did that in 2007, too. How’d those seasons shake out for both squads? Don’t read too much into this one result; credit the Gamecocks with the victory they earned, then move on from there.
Thanks to my mentality that, when you expect the worst, your only options are to be proven correct or pleasantly surprised, I came away from the game feeling a good deal better than many of my fellow Bulldog fans, at least based upon the comment threads. Here are a few positives to take away from the game:
- Georgia was the less penalized team, drawing only four flags for 25 yards. While the two false start penalties were annoying and the illegal block in the back on the punt return was maddening, no penalties were drawn by the defense. The ‘Dawgs played penalty-free defense last week, too, which pretty well refutes any argument that Todd Grantham’s charges are undisciplined. The penchant for penalties that defined the Bulldogs’ defense under Willie Martinez slowly but surely is going the way of the dodo. Good things will follow from this.
- Aaron Murray clearly shows great promise. The young quarterback completed passes to seven different receivers in the course of going 14 of 21 for 192 yards. While his performance was far from flawless, he did quite well in his first road start against an SEC team that fields arguably the best defense he will see all season. Like Quincy Carter, David Greene, and Matthew Stafford in their respective rookie campaigns, Murray failed to throw a touchdown pass against South Carolina; unlike those three signal callers, Murray also did not throw an interception.
- The two teams were even in turnovers. As backbreaking as Ealey’s goal line fumble was, it (unlike the similar turnover at the end of last year’s Kentucky game) simply was the result of the ball being jarred loose, rather than caused by miscommunication.
- Despite being on the field for more than 35 minutes on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the South, Coach Grantham’s defense got better. South Carolina’s longest and best drive of the day was the Gamecocks’ first one, which covered 79 yards in 16 plays and ended in a touchdown. The Palmetto State Poultry also put together offensive series of 42 and 62 yards before the break, tallying 14 points in a first half during which the ‘Dawgs forced a single punt. The home team’s four second-half drives produced two punts, a fumble, and a field goal. The tackling needs to improve, but the scheme is sound, the players are getting to the football, and second-half adjustments are being made and are paying dividends. They’re getting after their asses, which is the first step; getting them to hang onto their asses is coachable.
- The most surprising part of the reaction in the comment threads was the level of bile directed at Mike Bobo, which strikes me as odd, given how much complaining there was a few years ago that Mark Richt needed to hand over the play calling to a full-time offensive coordinator. Frankly, I don’t care whether play calling is "imaginative"; I care whether it works. The Nebraska Cornhuskers’ play calling was awfully predictable during the Tom Osborne era, but not a lot of folks could stop it. In the six games prior to this one, the Bulldogs scored 38, 31, 27, 30, 44, and 55 points, respectively. The offensive line needs to play more consistently, but the "first down bomb" criticism simply isn’t accurate. Georgia ran 20 first down plays against South Carolina on Saturday. Ten were running plays: Ealey rushed for 38 yards on nine first down carries and Carlton Thomas had a single first down carry for one yard. Five of those first down carries were in the first half and the other five were in the second half. Murray dropped back to pass on the other ten first down snaps, producing four incomplete passes, five completions for a total of 89 yards, and a sack. Two of the first down incompletions were in the first half and the other two were in the second half. One of the first down completions (for five yards) was in the first half and the other four (for 84 yards) were in the second half.
- Georgia and South Carolina have a history of low-scoring ballgames. 26 of the first 62 series meetings, including seven of the first nine in the Mark Richt era, were settled by margins of seven or fewer points. Defensive struggles have been the norm in this series, as the winning team has scored 20 or fewer points eight times in the last ten contests. The Bulldogs’ offensive output against the Gamecocks is in no way indicative of the sort of season Georgia is going to have; Georgia scored 13 points against South Carolina in 1980 and won the national championship, whereas Georgia scored 41 points against South Carolina last year and went 7-5. Does anyone think the Arkansas Razorbacks’ defense---or the defenses of any of the other teams on the Bulldogs’ schedule---will hold the ‘Dawgs to six points? Give the Garnet and Black their due; they’ve been consistently solid on defense for most of the last decade.
In a close game in which the mistakes, from offsetting penalties to offsetting fumbles, largely canceled one another out, the better team won. I never expected Georgia to beat the best South Carolina squad of the Steve Spurrier era in the Bulldogs’ first road game of the year with a freshman quarterback and a new defensive scheme. On the whole, I was pleased with the defense and encouraged by Murray.
Take a deep breath, Bulldog Nation. Things were never as good as they seemed a week ago, and they’re not as bad as they seem now. We have the right quarterback, we have the right defensive coordinator, and it’s going to be all right. Heck, there’s half a chance we’ll get this one back in the record book, anyway, but, for now, we’re right where I thought we’d be, which is down, not out, and pointed in the right direction.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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The phrase "whistling past the graveyard" comes to mind. . .
1) The third down playcalling was atrocious
2) Scoring a lot against Tenn. Tech, UK, 2009 AU, GT, 2009 TAMU, and ULaLa isn’t much on which to hang your hat
3) The absolute lack of physicality from both lines of scrimmage was appalling. We haven’t been a physically imposing football team since 2004-2005
UGA has been trending downwards since 2005. There’s little empirical evidence to suggest the program is pointed in the right direction. Nothing that happened today changes that.
downer
come on man, have some faith
When you meet the Georgia Bulldogs your gonna feel the bulldawg bite!!!!
by BulldawgBite on Sep 12, 2010 1:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Faith in what? We haven’t had a “feared” offense in at least 5 years.
I’m absolutely and completely sick of it.
Faith?
In its last 20 games, UGA is 12-8. That is Kentucky-like record. In its last 21 SEC East games, UGA is 10-11.
Since 2005, UGA has been on a steady decline, and nothing about yesterday’s game indicated that Richt has changed that.
Except for that #2 ranking in 2007 and
The 10 win season in 2008, right?
by MaconDawg on Sep 12, 2010 2:36 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Are you really citing the 2008 season. . .
Really? The season where we played 2 good teams, and had our doors blown off by both of them? The season where we had 12 point halftime lead at home against GT, and lost? Yeah, going 9-3 in the regular season with two of the best offensive players in UGA’s history is hardly something on which to hang your hat. Further, the defense was god awful that year, and it spilled over into 2009. So, yes, in fact 2009 represented part of the steady decline.
I alos love how some of our fans still cling to that 2007 team – the one that lost to South Carolina at home, and got killed bu UT thereby losing out on a chance to win the SEC. That was one fortuitous fumble at Vandy from being just like 2006/2009.
Yep, one fortuitous fumble at Vanderbilt.
Y’know, unless you count the dominating victories over Florida and Auburn.
I appreciate your willingness to concede the fact that the steady decline of which 2009 was a part was a steady decline in the Georgia defense, which was addressed by the firing of three coaches and is in the process of being corrected.
Go 'Dawgs!
Sure, I'm excited about Grantham. . .
But I am not convicned that sloves all of our problems. CFB is a dynamic thing, and programs have to keep up or they’ll get passed by in a sickening way. See e.g. Bame 2008 and UF the last 2 years.
The defensive changes were needed, but something also needs to be addressed about UGA’s complete lack of physciality on both sides of the ball. This is especially true if we are going to continue running a pro style offense, which requires a physical, nasty OL. Certainly one that can push the ULaLas of the world around.
As to 2007, it was wonderful beating UF and AU like we did. Would have been a lot nicer if we hadn’t spent the first half of the year killing ourselves. Championship seasons start in September. 2007 represent an opportunity missed. Vince Dooley has commented on how special SEC Championships are, and we were too talented and good in 2007 to miss out on a chance to play for one. Somehow that gets lost in translation.
I’m new to this blog, but I’ve certainly noticed that you’re a guy that is aware of the historical aspects of colleg football. SEC Championships are historical markers. They are very special. That 2007 should have, at the very least, played for one. So, while those two victories were truly special – AU and UF are our biggest conference rivals – those victories should have come in a quest for something bigger.
So you'll put blame on the team for one fortuitous fumble,
but yet you won’t concede that the very same 2007 team was one (ONE!) field goal away from going to the SEC Championship and possibly National Championship on three separate occasions? If South Carolina, Vanderbilt, or Kentucky make a field goal instead of missing it/having it blocked, we’re going to Atlanta. I understand being negative, but atleast be negative with perspective.
by hailtogeorgia on Sep 13, 2010 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Seriously?
I remember that season well. Are you seriously trying to say that wer a great team that year because THREE other teams miss field goals they should make, thereby eliminating us from the SEC championship game. I thought great teams won on their own merit, not on another team missing or making a field goal!
I didn't say anything of the sort.
Our 2007 team was very good and could have won the national championship, but that wasn’t my point. My point was that if you’re going to say that the 07 team was one fumble away from being just like 06 and 09, then you must also concede that it was one field goal away from being in the SEC Championship.
As for your “seriously?” moment, do you seriously think that every championship team has won the games based solely on their own merit and not on another team missing or making a field goal? If so, that’s absurd. LSU doesn’t even sniff the National Championship in 07 if West Virginia AND Missouri don’t wet the bed in the same week to end the season. Sure, great teams do well because of their own accomplishments, but there’s a fair amount of luck involved with almost all of them.
by hailtogeorgia on Sep 13, 2010 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions
well written counselor. Especially to be selling the glass half full argument.
My thoughts on Coach Grantham are well known. I loved the hire before the season, then it was like extra molasses sryup on your IHOP pankcakes when we got our other two defensive hires. I consider this a fine start on D. All that is needed is a little more aggressiveness and wrapped up tackles.
We did improve numerically with penalities and turnovers. By a lot. A whole lot. However, as in the past, those penalities and TOs came at the absolute worst times, killing very good drives and potential scores. I dont expect zero, but however we get it, we need the timing to work in our favor sometimes. Hard work is the key to garnishing luck. We still got to work at it.
I can say honestly I havent been a Bobo fan from the start. I never liked having a bulldog QB in that position. I was even hesitant with CMR giving up play calling, but began to see it was a necessary next step. And it’s clear to me that things with Bobo aren’t going that well, afterall, Coach Richt took him out of the booth and onto the field to try and change things. I don’t see Coach Bobo as coaching up great QBs, that is a CMR speciality for sure. I will say it is, as someone posted, very hard to evaluate the offense when fundamentals are falling through, just as I have said is hard to evaulate the defense when the offense hangs them out to dry so often. But ultimately, I didnt think Bobo “unleashed the playbook” and I also thought (and have thought) he is behind in the playcalling. We just dont seem to anticipate what our opponents are going to do on defense in a timely manner.
The three time outs called in 8 minutes of the third quarter really reaks of lack of something. Inexperience with the system? Youth on the D and at QB? Piss poor proper prior preparation? I don’t know for sure. But it was really bad.
I hope not to see the Wild Dawg ever again. It is so blatantly obvious that Ealey is going to run it up the middle, and it was a last year fad I never believed in anyway. I call the wild cat – high school football.
For Murray, this was a pretty good start. He has very good potential. I hope to see his feet and head moving more and more as well as his pump fakes and play action get better timing and more finese. His pass throws were slightly off the mark, not really hitting receivers in stride, but they were good looks and it seems he “gets it” that you have to lead the amazingly fast SEC ball catchers. And the best thing: He threw the ball in the stands more times in one game than Cox in a season. And he learned this from his game last week. The kid is trainable, and that is damn good.
I hope this sounds calm and reasonable. I obviously harbor no ill will towards Coach Bobo I just dont think he matches the caliber of our other coaches and the talent of our players. Coach Richt, in my opinion, needs a Mark Richt to his Coach Bowden. Either that or get a lot more involved.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
TT, maybe you got your answer here:
From Tim Tucker at the AJC:
Georgia’s offensive performance also raised glaring questions, which Richt and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said will be answered in part by less conservative game plans for redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray.
That would both say the play calling was lack luster today and also they look to address it.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Also, a Richt quote from over at 247
"You’re trying to, ‘Let’s make sure we can run the ball, be his best friend, all that kind of stuff,’ and call things that maybe don’t take a awful lot of thinking as far as progressions, just try to get him off on a good note," Richt said. "But he’s handled everything very well, and I think he’s prepared to just run the system as we have it and take care of the ball. … And if we’re going to have a chance to beat a team like Arkansas, who’s very prolific offensively, we’re going to have score points. Not just that game, but throughout the rest of the year. So we’ll just let the kid play."
on the timeout issue:
Richt said the second and third timeouts were because "we just didn’t do a good job in our substitution, and that’s coaching, too."
"That falls on our ability as a staff to get the right guys out there at the right time," Richt said. "It could have helped us at the end, certainly. I don’t know if it would have been the difference, but it probably could have helped."
It seems that I found my answers to the timeouts, and also I like it that CMR is taking responsibiity. It was obviously a coaching issue, I just couldnt wager how much was the players inexperience. The post game quotes from CMR seem to clarify the play calling on Offense was sub par, but perhaps intentionally, and there were problems with managing players. I am not happy about it, our coaches should do better, but taking responsibility and working to fix it is a sign of goodness to come.
I feel much more positive now. Took Coach Richt to talk me down.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
You raised reasonable questions, tankertoad.
It’s fair for you to expect the head coach to answer those questions satisfactorily.
Go 'Dawgs!
Agreed.
I’m very disturbed to see you acting so rationally, however.
Where’s the rage? Where’s the summarily jumping to apocalyptic conclusions?
I mean, it sounds like you don’ t even want to fire Coach Richt or Russ, tankertoad.
by vineyarddawg on Sep 12, 2010 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Glad to see that answered.
It was inexplicable as I watched it unfold before me. Glad to have an answer, but to me it indicates a lack of preparation.
With the east in disarray this year, everyone knew this was an important game. It did not appear that we prepared like it was an important game.
Well stated, tankertoad.
That’s a lot more lucid than I am at that hour of the day. Nice job.
Go 'Dawgs!
Thank You, Kyle
For providing some common sense. UGA fans knew that our inside rush defense was going to be weak. Why couldn’t we wexpect the best offensive mind in college football history-who has the next great SEC tailback-to recognize the same and gash us?
If Willie was the DC, this game would have resembled the last two trips to Knoxville instead. Bottom line is, inspite of all that went wrong in the game, the Dawgs still had an opportunity to put themselves in a position to win the game.
www.grittree.wordpress.com
by Corbindawg on Sep 12, 2010 12:43 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I have been warned not to go to the AJC lest I get mad, however
today, I am just intrigued. Basically everything over there says “AJ Green”. I used to call this “reporting on reports.” Many reporters dont watch games in total, let alone live, and watch teams consistently, so they just pile onto what other reporters have said.
Here, at DawgSports, basically no one thinks AJ Green not playing came close to costing us the game. And the articles (and responses) here are much fresher, more in depth, and more sound both on UGA knowledge as well as football smarts.
It’s no wonder papers dont sell. We do a better job here of talking about UGA sports than paid professionals.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Sometimes when its just a job and not a passion
that’s what you end up getting, low quality product that is spewed from a lazy mind. i know because i’ve produced second rate mish mash material that i never cared about i just did because i had to.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
by Southern Dawg on Sep 12, 2010 1:25 AM EDT up reply actions
OK, I'm not going to say we would have won the game with AJ
But if the AJC is overemphasizing his importance, we are underemphasizing it over here. AJ Green = Double Coverage = open receivers elsewhere. This is a huge benefit to a freshman QB with a good arm on the road. While AJ may not have caught a single pass, his presence combined with what appeared to be decent pass protection would have been a useful weapon against a potent USC backfield and undoubtably would have improved our offensive production. The whole game is different when you are not having to scheme defensively against a star player.
That's fair, hbtd.
I just think the same is true of Weslye Saunders, who’s torn us up before, too. We didn’t have to contend with Saunders, they didn’t have to contend with Green, and it’s a wash at the end of the day.
Go 'Dawgs!
You have a point,
I really don’t like sitting up at the tippity top of the stadium but there is a reason coaches sit up there and lackey’s film up there. Pass coverage was not good. Once Carolina got the ball and because they had Lattimore they didn’t have to pass much and I think Spurrier called as conservative a game as I have ever seen him call - thankfully they didn’t throw the ball much. If they had, I think they would have torched us. DB’s were often out of position and playing far off the receivers. We will have to take care of Mallet at the line of scrimmage, we won’t beat him in the backfield.
The Tom Obsorne dog doesn’t hunt. That was a whole different universe of sports back then.
That was before spread offenses, the internet, moneyball, the full professionalization of college sports, and all sorts of other developments that have completely changed the game.
Furthermore, even those teams of his won because they absolutely dominated in talent by a ridiculous degree. Their offensive lines just pushed people around like they were children.
When your O-line totally destroys the other team, you then have the luxury of a vanilla offense. We ain’t got that.
TK, I like your blog, but there is a rut you are in that is super repetitive and annoying as hell:
1) You openly pride yourself on this hackneyed cliche “well I expected the worst so I’m either going to be right or pleasantly surprised.” What a horribly negative attitude. How about just be honest instead of this silly hedging of your bets.
2) In advance, you are the hyper-pessimist, picking is to lose as often as possible.
3) Afterward, you are hyper-optimist, excusing blatant failures on the part of our coaching staff and using your apriori pessimism as “proof” that you aren’t a “homer.”
Well I’m here to say the Emperor Has No Clothes. This little gimmick you have is totally played out. I love your blog, I love your analysis when you aren’t engaging in the above silliness, so as a reader I ask, politely: please cut it out.
By the way, read the above by filtering out any asshole/shitty tone from me. Sorry for that. I’m just really bummed out. Not that we lost to SC, just that we clearly have no offense, and my fear of the last 5 years seems to be fact: we have a terrible o-coordinator. And considering what it took to replace our D-coordinator, I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel.
I appreciate your frustration and share it, Muckbeast.
Don’t worry about it; I understand.
Yes, I play up the “hyper-pessimist” angle for the sake of humor, largely because it’s been a rough three years for Bulldog athletics across the board. While I exaggerate, I’m generally honest unless it’s obvious I’m being sarcastic (e.g., I didn’t really think Georgia Tech would beat us 222-0 last year).
I’ve said all along that I expected us to lose to South Carolina and Arkansas before putting it together and going 7-2 through the rest of the schedule. With a defense learning a new scheme and a redshirt freshman quarterback, that seemed reasonable to me before, and, having seen them both in action, with their positive and negative attributes, it still seems reasonable to me. Other reasonable people may see it differently, and they are welcome to say so here.
I concede that my attitude is bad, but it’s a defense mechanism I’ve developed to avoid disappointment. I freely admit that you’re right about my outlook; I look forward to the day when things are good enough for me to jettison that approach, but, for now, we are where we are. I understand why Georgia fans who expected to win yesterday view the glass as half-empty today; I expected us to lose yesterday, so I see the glass as half-full. When the situation is different, my reaction is different, which is why I argued repeatedly for Willie Martinez to be fired.
In short, since I know I’m not able to provide X’s and O’s analysis more sophisticated than (or, in many case, even as sophisticated as) that of many regular readers and commenters, I don’t presume to provide insights that lie outside the ambit of my abilities. I try to provide honest appraisals and reactions from the standpoint of the fan, and to allow as much latitude as possible within the bounds of propriety (and sometimes slightly beyond, when circumstances warrant) for folks to express contrary views.
That said, I try to respond to reasonable constructive criticisms, particularly from regular commenters, so I will bear your points in mind next week. I appreciate the feedback, and especially the follow-up comment clarifying the spirit in which it was intended.
Go 'Dawgs!
Thanks for understanding my message. And even linking to it in a new post!
I felt really bad 5 minutes after posting the “pissy” one.
I’ve loved UGA for so long. I graduated from UGA law school.
I just want to enjoy a season for once, start to finish. I’m sick of constantly feeling like we are rebuilding or that the “timing just isn’t right.” :(
As Mr. Spock once said to Dr. McCoy:
“I’m sure the captain would simply have said, ‘Forget it, Bones.’”
(Yes, I’m a geek, but it seemed appropriate.)
Go 'Dawgs!
Thank you, Kyle.
I hate losing to Spurrier, but let’s be real: expecting a win against South Carolina this year was/is crazy. You had to see this coming. We took a redshirt freshman QB on the road to play his first SEC game in a seriously hostile environment. We completely overhauled our defensive staff, and in our second game in a brand new scheme faced a coach who was once considered one of the brightest offensive minds in college football (who just happens to hate UGA and prep his team harder for us than just about anyone else). We played the best team Spurrier has ever had at South Carolina without our best offensive weapon.
On paper, this had the potential to be a statement game for South Carolina, and after their first drive it looked like it might be. Instead, we held an offense that dominated the first half to 3 second half points and came within a couple of dropped passes or a fumble in the red zone of making things very interesting.
Coach Bobo’s playcalling was too conservative, especially on third down. When you have the best kicker in the country, there’s no reason not to pass the ball on third down when you’re well within field goal range. It sounds like Coaches Richt and Bobo get this, and they’re going to fix the “problem” by opening up the playbook a little.
On the other hand, Aaron Murray threw for almost 200 yards without a pick. Matthew Stafford is probably the most gifted signal caller we’ve had at Georgia in my lifetime, and his stats in his first game against SCar look awful by comparison (8-19, 171 yds, 0 TDs, 3 INTs). I can’t help but think CMR and CMB had Stafford in mind when they drew up this week’s gameplan — throwing so many picks early on got into Stafford’s head, and we had to sit him for a stretch midseason. We really don’t have the option to sit Murray this year.
Last year, Georgia tied Arkansas for first place in scoring offense in SEC games. With Joe Cox. Let that sink in for a second. Joe Cox is a damn good dawg, but he had no business being a season-long starter in the SEC. And yet, in SEC games, we scored as many points as a team led by NFL-bound Ryan Mallet and coached by certified offensive genius Bobby Petrino. Coach Bobo is doing something right.
If you were really heartbroken by this loss because you genuinely thought we would win, you probably shouldn’t even watch next week’s game. It’s going to take a minor miracle for us to win. You know what, though? Our defense is just going to get better and better — when’s the last time you were able to say that?? — and so is Aaron Murray. By the end of the season, we’re going to look like world-beaters. GoonerDawg thinks “UGA has been trending downwards since 2005.” I agree. In terms of wins and losses, we’re going to hit bottom at about 3:30 next Saturday. After that, the sky’s the limit.
GO DAWGS!!!
Great Recap
We may look back someday and say the doom and gloomers were right, but they’re just emotional. Let’s face it, we did the best we could with a new defense and new QB. What happened last year is not relevant.
by mdhenshaw on Sep 12, 2010 10:56 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Sacks and other things which don't make me want to scout structures from which to jump.
I was encouraged by the sacks. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe we got to Garcia five times including one which resulted in a fumble.
My limited understanding of the 3-4 is
1) hit quarterback
2) quarterback makes bad decisions
3) intercept results of step 2
Encouraging then that we did get to step one. Unfortunately Garcia continued to make good decisions with the football. “Garcia continued to make good decisions” ranks very highly on the list of sentences which I thought I would never write. Carolina did a good job of getting the ball into the flats and allowing their enormous wide receivers to be enormous and they ran draw looks effectively. Good job by them of getting their atheletes into position to be atheletes. It didn’t result in anything spectacular, but they moved consistently.
So before this rambles any further, some folks have noted a lack a physical play by both lines. Perhaps, but at the speed of the d-line/linbackers yielded some positive results.
Also pass protection was pretty good on our end.
by The Quincy Carter of Accountants on Sep 12, 2010 11:55 AM EDT reply actions
Rambo injured
Is Rambo injured and if so does anone know when he will be 100%. I noticed yesterday he never made a hit and often times backed off completely even before the play was done. Just seemd like an injury thing.
More thought on AJ Green impact
AJ Green = double coverage = more open receivers = more completed passes = more first downs = openning up of defense for the run= offense on field longer = defense off field more= Marcus Lattimore off field more.
What I love about football is that it is a team sport and all the pieces are interconnected. None of the positives from AJ being on the field have anything to do with completing a pass. It is all about the potential to complete a pass.
While we could have won if defense had tackled the way they should and gotten USC off the field, if Ealey had not fumbled, if we had run the ball better etc etc. . . . . . .
WE MISSED AJ GREEN.
It would have been a much different game if he were in it. Maybe not a victory, but a much different game. Hope the NCAA reconsiders.
Offensive overreaction
I think the argument that Bobo doesn’t know what he is doing is absurd. The fact that Georgia was tied for 1st in offensive production last year(despite Joe Cox and the turnovers and not discovering a running game until late in the year) makes that argument laughable. If Bobo can get production with Joe Cox at QB then he has earned some trust from me.
Sometimes you play a good defense that limits your offenses ability to produce and be effective. This is especially true when your field position is poor as our was most of the day. .Saturday was a day like that.
I was encouraged by the way the defense played. We made adjustments in the 2nd Half, got pressure on the quarterback didn’t have large numbers of ill time penalties. The defense got penetration but failed to tackle a running back who is exceptional. I’m reserving judgment on our run defense until after the Arkansas game.
The defense kept us in the game. When was the last time that happened? There is no such thing as a “good loss.” However, there are things we can take away from this loss that are positives and signs that we are improving on areas we have been woeful in the past.
Thanks, Zaxby.
The calm, rational approach is tearing it up in this comment thread today!
Go 'Dawgs!
I'm really depressed about that game yesterday, Zaxby...
… Can I come over to your place and get some chicken?
by vineyarddawg on Sep 12, 2010 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice.
Last week was chicken, though. This week, it’s barbecue. Feasting on the flesh of the enemy, and all that.
Go 'Dawgs!
All are welcome
Your all welcome at my place for Chicken. I understand how people could be disappointed in the loss but if you want to see some real profiles in disillusionment I’d check out any local GT message board or blog right about now. I don’t usually go in for comparative misery but those the Tech folks seem to be having some serious second though about Paul “Intentional Offsides to stop the clock” Johnston.
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