FanPost

5 Quick Thoughts on Week 1




Football is back! And yesterday was a great day! Before I talk about my short and probably terribly uneducated takes, I want to take a moment to apologize for my role to everyone involved with the, admittedly mild (you should see what goes on elsewhere troll-wise) shenanigans last night. Hate to have been a part of an exchange that marred festive atmosphere.

Thank you to those on the masthead for all that you do to provide us with a great community to share here online.

That said, I am ecstatic about what I saw last night. There is talent across the football team, the defense was absolutely playing below its talent level, and I don't think our DB talent level is nearly as bad as some folks may have believed. Anyway, time for 5 quick things from my west coast perspective.

1: Hutson Mason: It is early in the season. He was a giant question mark. for the moment, I am not concerned with him any longer. Is he a step down from Murray? Absolutely but almost anyone would be a step down from Murray. I was terrified that we were getting another Joe Cox, or Joe T. III. We are not. There is talent around him; talent that can elevate his performance so long as he makes smart decisions.

I did not see any glaring weaknesses from yesterday. He did make a couple of risky and/or questionable decisions, but nothing glaringly stupid that I saw. And that is an important distinction. Given the team we have, his arm strength and skill set, I expect for him to be tasked with not giving the game away through the air, and keeping the defense honest when they attempt to stack the box. And I expect him to get better at that as the season goes on. All in all, we could be much worse of at QB than we are, and I'll take it.

2: The Coaching Staff: I have something of a love hate relationship. Mike Bobo reminds me of a comment I read in a book about MacArthur once: "When was good, he was very good. When he was bad, he was awful." And that about sums Bobo up. It felt like he called two separate games yesterday, one of which was brilliant, one of which was...less so.

Further, the longer he stays at Georgia, the more he starts to feel like a HCIW. I know that's a non concept to most folks around here, but every year he is still here, I get a little more worried about that. And I'll be honest: I don't want that. I would really like to see Mark Richt building a coaching tree these next few years. Maybe there's more out there from him than I've seen, but I'm not tracking any head coaches that he's developed, and I'd like to see his ethos more prevalent in college football.

I'm happy with the Pruitt hire. Have been since it was made, and last night cemented it, at least at this snapshot in time. He made adjustments, and his scheme was simple enough that no one really looked lost out there. We were complaining about cornerbacks not getting their hands up last night, not about them being out of position or getting burnt. I can't tell y'all how big that was for me. And the adjustments, I can't remember us doing that with much success in recent memory. There's a long road yet before the season's end, but the coaching staff right ha me excited for what this team can do.

3: The Runningbacks: I made an early on guess as to why we hadn't seen a certain running back last night. It got treated like a definitive statement. The guess was wrong. I'm strangely comfortable with that. We have four super talented running backs across two year groups. And they have complimenting skill sets. We have two hard running smash mouth backs capable of going right through tackles, and we have two backs that run hard, but will make guys miss as well.

And all of that is without even looking at guys below number four on the RB depth chart. We still have Douglass, who is not without ability, and this Imack kid, who looks scarily talented as well. Hopefully Marshall wasn't seriously injured, he limped off at one point, and maybe its just that he is being cautious and does not have 100% faith in his knee yet. But we'll want the option he presents as the season goes on. Hopefully all these guys stay healthy, but having 4-6 running backs you can hand the rock to is a luxury that most teams simply do not have.

4: Todd Gurley: Yes he deserves his own point. He is one of those special players who changes everything when he is in the game. It doesn't matter necessarily, where he is on the field or what he is doing, bet it the power I, alongside the QB in the shotgun, or in the endzone on a kickoff (yes I don't like it when we put him there, you won't convince me otherwise, and yes I'll still celebrate when he rips off a 100 yard TD return. Get over it.) You have to account for him, and expect that he is going to get the ball. It completely changes the complexion of the game.

Georgia is a different team with him, than without him. He is a transcendent player. He runs over people, he breaks tackles, he makes good defenders look silly in space, and he moves the pile like a fullback on those rare occasions that he gets mobbed. And there's a player behind him who looks as close to his level as we're llikely to see. Some of that is probably the Gurley effect late in the game, with defenses already tired, but I expect we'll see Nick Chubb come into his own as the season goes along. The other running backs will have their moments, but Always there will be Todd Gurley. His presence on the field opens up myriad options for the offense. His absence on the field subconsciously signals defenders to relax, creating small mistakes that other players will exploit.

His one shortcoming (if we can call it that) is one that can be accounted for now given the depth at running back, he can be spelled to keep him fresh for late game heroics, avoiding the gassed out moments we've seen in the past. And that has to be terrifying for defenses.

5: The Defense: Last year, I'd have said something like "we stink" and that'd be that. This year, after admittedly only one game, I see signs of junkyard coming back to Athens. Aaron Davis apparently hasn't played football since 2012 due to injury. Well he had 4 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery last night. How's that for making a comeback?

The defense as a unit improved. The Cornerbacks weren't burnt, and didn't look last. They looked like they belonged, and if they didn't look like a bunch of 4 star talents, they at least played like they belonged at a top tier D1 program. And after last year, I'll take that, especially if they continue to improve.

Adjustments. Georgia essentially scored 31 unanswered points from Todd Gurley's return to the end of the game. The defense pitched a second half shut out. Coach Pruitt is getting the message across and the unit is responding. We lamented the pressure early, and he recognized (not that our laments had anything to do with it) and fixed the problem. He found ways to get pressure and reduce Clemson's air attack. He found a way to stop the run. Most importantly, he got red jerseys swarming to the football and we saw tackling improve as the night went on.

The talent across the defense is scary, especially when it plays as a defensive unit, and not as a collection of talented individuals. I am very excited to see what comes next. Mark Richt's tweet in the wake of Grantham's exit may well prove to have been prophetic.

I did not touch Special Teams, I'm taking a wait and see stance on that unit. But these are my five quick thoughts following the game. Please, let me know: good, bad indifferent. And thanks for reading.

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