15 Thoughts Tried to Suit Up on Saturday

Some observations on our game

1.  Right out of the gate, J.J. Green got tossed out of a the game for playing football targeting.  I really thought he led with his shoulder on the hit to Troy receiver Chandler Worthy as he flew in from his safety spot to knock the ball out of the receiver's hands.  I think the only thing J.J. was guilty of was being about 3 inches too short.  Crew lead official Marc Curles really does his best work in Sanford Stadium.

2. Some injuries to report:  Quincy Mauger suffered a shoulder stinger during Troy's initial drive and had to leave the game.

Keith Marshall is going to have an MRI to see how serious his knee injury is on a play that, quite frankly, looked to be season ending at the time.

The early word on it is that it's not real serious.  You always have to get MRIs to verify, but we're not sitting here holding our breath so much. We think it's pretty solid structurally. - Mark Richt

We're all hoping this is the case.  It sounds like Mauger's stinger won't hold him out too long.

3. While I'm talking about the few negatives, I'm not entirely sure what the point of playing a handicapped Nick Chubb was, do you?  His bad thumb was wrapped up like the business end of an Ankylosaurus.

I love dinosaurs.  Charlie Weis is my favorite...

This seemed way too risky for any reward to me.

4. While I was left scratching my head at the decision to play Nick Chubb, I had no issues with Todd Gurley only playing a few series in the first quarter before taking a seat.  There was absolutely no benefit to keeping TGIII on the field once he broke a sweat, unless stat-padding is going to garner Heisman votes.  Six carries and 73 yards later, his day was done.

5. Isaiah McKenzie is just fun to watch, wherever he lines up on the field.  He's just a hop, skip and a jump from taking it to the house.  He's got great field vision to go along with fast-twitch quicks and a pretty good top-end gear.  This return is so very reminiscent of a high-school game I saw him play in last season in south Florida where he runs about as far laterally as he does vertically to score.  That's okay, he's in good shape.  Just marvel at how he anticipates his blocking.  Fun times ahead, folks.  iMac™...we got the first one!

Isaiah McKenzie takes it off the hop, hops into the endzone. http://t.co/q1zRdR1MxF

— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) September 20, 2014

6. I realize that Troy's run defense is pretty awful, but watching Sony Michel slash his way to 155 yards on only 10 carries is pretty impressive.  Sony really hits the hole at full speed, doesn't he?  Michel is very strong and reminds me a bit of Knowshon Moreno in that he is tough to bring down after initial contact and gets YAC.  Having big 'ol Greg Pyke help out doesn't hurt, either.  That was fun to watch.

7. Hutson Mason played sparingly but was efficient during his brief time on the field, going 8/11 for 97 yards and a nice slant touchdown toss to Kenneth Towns.

8. Brice Ramsey showed off his impressive arm, particularly on his 6 yard strike to Michael Bennett.  That ball had all kinds of spice on it.  Ramsey certainly looks the part, and is more mobile than one might realize.  He should've been picked on a forced throw later in the game, but that's why you get reps in these types of games.  I'm sure Mike Bobo has already broken down the film with him.  Overall, he looked good.

9.  Faton Bauta certainly isn't afraid to take a hit, scoring on runs of 7 and 1 yard in the 4th quarter.  Might we see some situational packages inside the 10 later on this season?  Anytime you force a defensive coordinator to consider stuff like this, it's a good thing.

10. Are we going to call it the Wild Dawg or Wild Cat?  It's decision time, folks.  Sony Michel looks simply dangerous when taking a direct snap and reading the defensive ends.  He's no amateur at this, either.  It was a huge part of his high school offense.

10A. I hope we can get some of our deep-threat receivers back.  Soon.  We might be pretty good if we do...

11. The defense still has some issues in the secondary to be sure, but pitching a shutout against anyone in today's wide-open game is still impressive.  How nice was it to see Tramel Terry pick off a pass in the end zone midway through the 3rd quarter?  We were +2 in turnovers, with a nicely created strip fumble by Rico Johnson that Aaron Davis recovered.  This is Jeremy Pruitt's calling card:  forced turnovers.  Maybe it'll start revealing itself more going forward.

Other observations from the day that was...

12. Alabama was clearly the better team and it showed when the Tide pulled away from Florida in the second half...but what an ugly game for 3 quarters.  Florida's offense is still a mess, and their quarterback isn't exactly a certain Florida legend's most favorite:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Put Jeff Driskel on the bench please, I have seen enough.</p>&mdash; Emmitt Smith (@EmmittSmith22) <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmittSmith22/status/513458747289907200">September 20, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Do you think Florida has any pressure in a few weeks when they take their 1-ring offensive circus to Knoxville?

12A. Gary Danielson has an uncomfortable man-crush on Lane Kiffin.  It is beyond weird.  Oh, and Uncle Verne called #42 for Alabama "Tim Kimbrough."  I swear I heard this.

13. What was Jameis Winston doing anywhere near Doak-Campbell stadium on Saturday?  More to the point, what was Jimbo Fisher doing allowing this flake to be anywhere near the field?  If he wanted to sneak into the game, he should've borrowed an old Clint Trickett jersey or something.  He really wanted to play.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>And now, your moment of zen. <a href="http://t.co/JwQ2vQDywA">pic.twitter.com/JwQ2vQDywA</a></p>&mdash; SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNationGIF/status/513540179173183489">September 21, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

14. Clemson fumbled deep inside FSU territory late in the game.  They were in position to win it.  The epitome of Clemsoning.  Once that game went to overtime, I literally turned off my TV.  I knew it was over, and it was.

15. Mississippi State almost let a bleauxout get away from them.  If this game had another 1:30 left in it, I'm pretty sure the Bizarro Bulldogs would've found a way to lose.  They held on, and Tiger Stadium never seemed so sad on a Saturday night.  Nevertheless, it'll be a nice resume reel for Dan Mullen to show Jeremy Foley in a few months.

I didn't catch the west coast games last night, but understand that Hubert Owens somehow sneaked into the Washington State - Oregon tilt and blew a pass interference call.

I think Vanderbilt would have beaten South Carolina if their only plays would've been kickoff returns.

We got Rocky Top coming to town next week.  It's another no-tailgate special.  We need to RTDB and put 'em away early.

As always, Go Dawgs!