15 Thoughts on “Charity Saturday” and a Sluggish Georgia Offense

So, what do we make of a lackluster 33-0 victory over a completely outmatched, but tenacious Samford University football team? More positives than negatives. Let me explain...

1. There are quite a few football programs waking up this morning with a big, fat “L” on their resume and are a lot lighter in their respective wallets. Now, I’m all for being generous to the needy, but damn!

• Texas A&M lost to Appalachian State 17-14. The Mountaineers get the win and walk away with $1.5 million. Some of this money might have to go towards rebuilding efforts in Boone.

If I’m a TAMU booster, I’m saying Jimbo Fisher should have to pay App State out of his own damn pocket...

• Marshall beats Notre Dame, the Irish burn Rudy in effigy and then has to write The Thundering Herd a nice check for $1.25 million. Money well spent.
• Georgia Southern collects about $1.4 million after dispatching Nebraska 45-42 in Lincoln. Really, who didn’t see this coming?

This is mildly NSFW...

• No surprises here...except it probably took a season too long to do the deed.

2. Do you like to gamble? Not many 10-top teams covered the spread on Saturday, FWIW:

3. Let’s get back on point regarding our little tête-à-tête with Samford. Simply put, one side of the ball was focused. The other side clearly was not. The defense pitched a shut-out against an overmatched offense, that still had a little bit of wiggle. That’s the 9th shutout since 2016 - the most in FBS. Not bad. The offense certainly moved the ball, but it was lacking the joie de vivre of last weekend, certainly.

4. The first play from scrimmage, at least to me, set a tone when A.D. Mitchell tweaked his ankle and came out of the game. As reported earlier, Kirby said A.D. could’ve returned but was wisely held out which gave some young’uns an opportunity to show out, which they did to a degree.

5. Stetson had a “solid” day, at least statistically, completing 24 of 35 passes for 300 yards 2 scores (1 running). But even The Mailman’s delivery at times was a bit “off,” kind of like when you get your neighbor’s mail. Yeah, there was a delivery but it wasn’t quite right. He overthrew a few balls and seemed to suffer a post-Oregon hangover like much of that side of the ball.

Good thing “Big 0” is 12 feet tall. We know what we have. Just gotta’ execute...

6. Does the lack yards gained between the tackles concern you? Here’s the thing: Samford’s guys, especially on defense, came to play. They’re going to let it all hang out and were motivated from the opening snap, to their credit. We did move the ball, but red-zone production just wasn’t there. Woe to the offensive line this week in practice, as Kirby has a few “talking points” that should be a bit spicy. And that’s a very good thing.

7. Georgia amassed 352 passing yards and 127 on the ground for a total of 479. Kendall Milton led the way with 10 carries for 85 yards. Fifteen different players caught a ball, including Dillon Bell’s first touchdown of his career. Dom Blaylock caught a pass...the first in a long, long time.

8. Bottom line: We won. Outside of Mitchell’s tweaked ankle, win the game and come out without any injuries.

9. Why reveal too many things in a week-2 matchup against a cupcake? The play calling was vanilla by design. We just didn’t execute for a good part of the day. The real season begins next week in Hell Columbia. I think Todd Monken probably has an idea how he’s going to exploit a Gamecock defense that surrendered nearly 300 rushing yards to Arkansas.

10. The defense, on the other hand, seemed focused with guys flying all around the ball. Mykel Williams registered his first sack of his career, Smael Mondon led the team with 4 tackles (3 solo). Twenty three of 25 Dawg defenders that saw action recorded at least one tackle. Dangerous Dan Jackson had a nice strip for a fumble (Xavian Sorey recovered) and at some point needs to be put on scholarship.

11. Do the lack of sacks (1) on the season concern you at all? Arkansas sacked Spencer Rattler 6 times yesterday. I think Kirby challenges his defense to get after that aspect a bit more, but you cannot argue with the overall results after two games.

12. Cupcake games are anomalous. Often times the talent alone is enough, like it was Saturday. There was an obvious lack of emotion from the crowd on a cloudy day where the predicted rain never materialized. The post-opener hangover probably played a part and, with all due respect to Samford who played very well, especially on defense, the opponent. Another thing to consider is the relationship that Kirby has with Chris Hatcher. Just win. Respectfully. Mission accomplished.

13. It’ll be different on Saturday. Kirby has enough film to review to make sure his guys are focused. Senator Blutarsky feels the same way as I do, too. The only thing that concerns me is the noon kickoff because there ain’t nothing hot like ‘Sakerlina hot. Dewpoint and humidity was invented in a lab down there, you know. It’s a Fact! Conditioning will be key.

14. Is there anything better than watching Florida come back down to earth with a thud? As “meh” as I felt about our lackluster win, this alone gave me all the feels. Gators Eat Boogers.

Nakobe Dean needs to sue Kentucky’s #1 for copyright infringement...

15. I cannot watch an Alabama game without knowing that, at some critical point during the contest, the refs are going to blow a call that has great impact. Sometimes, it’s significant enough to actually affect the outcome. Texas probably wins this game if Quinn Ewers doesn’t get hurt, but that’s football. However, there were a few calls that were head-scratchers (Note: Bama was flagged 15 times on Saturday - the most since Saban’s 2007 team). Anyway, was this ultimately the difference in the game? Was it a penalty?

What am I missing here?

That’s all I’ve got.

As Always, GO DAWGS!