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Welcome to the Sunday Morning Hangover, where we cope with the joys and sorrows of yesterday. Here are ten items of note from Georgia’s 31-3 blowout of No. 17 Mississippi State to get you rolling.
Song of the Week:
Walking in the park. Grantham. Frightened of the dark. Some kind of solitude is measured out in you. You think you know me but you haven’t got a clue.
Was the Offense Offensive?
Not. At. All.
From the first throw to the final moments of the game, the offense did what it needed to do. Props to Jim Chaney for taking the Chaney Chains of Jake Fromm a bit. That opened things up. A slew of positives from this game against an allegedly elite defense:
- The offensive line looked as strong as it has at any point in the past few seasons.
- The offense surpassed 400 yards. This is a trend now (for at least two weeks). I put this after bullet-point 1 above because that seems the best way to tip the cap to the big uglies.
- Fromm was incredibly impressive. A few drops hurt hum but he still hit on 9 of 12 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Who knows what the damage may have been if the margin of victory wasn’t so wide.
- Chubb looked close to Old Chubb in my opinion. Sony Michel looked like a tank. D’Andre Swift is quickly becoming a star.
- Seeing the tight ends getting involved made me downright giddy.
- Todd Grantham looked like a joke.
Was the Defense Defensible?
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The defense was absolutely stellar. I had my doubts about the prowess of Michael Vick Cam Newton Nick Fitzgerald (as expressed here), and Mel Tucker’s defense made him look downright pedestrian. Statistically speaking, he wasn’t any better than any other QB Georgia has faced this year. He completed fewer than 50% of his passes while tossing for 83 yards (a measly 2.9 yards per attempt), 0 TDs and 2 INTs. He ran 10 times for just 47 yards and no scores.
Aeris Williams never got rolling (11 carries for 24 yards) and neither did any other portion of the Mississippi State offense. The fleaflicker to open the game will be the SportsCenter moment, but the highlight of the game was the final stop as time expired and the giddiness from Georgia’s sideline that ensued.
How Special was Special Teams Play?
All Hot Rod jokes aside, Blankenship was fantastic. He kicked the ball into the end zone consistently and nailed a deep field goal.
No news is good news and that’s starting to become Georgia’s identity on special teams. Never thought I’d say that.
Stat of the Game
3.
That’s how many points Mississippi State scored this week. Last week, the Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs scored 37 against LSU.
Something You Really Shouldn’t Read Into
This game as a whole shouldn’t make you overly confident. As I said in Friday’s column, I don’t think Mississippi State is a great team. They were getting a bump for beating a team (LSU) that was presumed to be good, but LSU is probably trash.
A huge, convincing win is huge. A top-25 win is huge. A win in front of crucial recruits is huge. But we don’t know much more about Georgia than we did yesterday morning.
Please don’t mistake my trepidation for a lack of satisfaction. Just know this Mississippi State team is probably not a Top 25 team. Georgia should beat less talented teams convincingly at home.
Something You Really Should Read Into
We might actually have a quarterback controversy on our hands. For the first times since taking over for Jacob Eason, Fromm looked the part of starting quarterback. Don’t get me wrong, he was impressive in his first three contests. But he looked like “the guy” against Mississippi State.
This could get interesting.
Goal Check-In
At this point, everything is still on the table for Georgia. The Bulldogs are 4-0 and look head and shoulders above the rest of the SEC East. Matching and surpassing last year’s win total of eight seems like a lock. Winning the division seems like the likely scenario, and you could argue that Georgia has looked like the second-best team in the conference (behind Alabama) year-to-date.
As a fan, you couldn’t ask for much more in four games — especially given the unexpected personnel change at quarterback. That combined with how not-great Tennesee, Florida and South Carolina have looked has to make you feel good.
What the Other Guys Did this Week
- Tennessee barely survived against UMass. That was hilarious.
- South Carolina barely survived against Louisiana Tech. That was hilarious.
- Florida barely survived against Kentucky. That was hilarious (but the streak remains).
- Alabama rolled Vanderbilt 59-0.
Premature Prognostication
The Tennessee game is always one of those games. It’s not quite a trip to Jacksonville, but it’s equally likely to produce carnage (be it a loss or just a slew of leg injuries). But this Tennessee team looks thiiiiiis close to self-destruction. I think Georgia may help that cause.
Georgia 38, Tennessee 17