Well, I was wrong again. Now, this should come as no surprise. If the dawgs lose, I will have been wrong in my pre-game assessment. This is not to say that before the season I believed we would win every game. No, in fact I told many people I believed we'd be a 10-2 team with a loss to South Carolina and one more, and a win over Florida. I still believe we will likely finish in that manner. Florida isn't impressing me...and really shouldn't be impressing many. South Carolina has their program going, and Arkansas was more up to the task than I gave them credit for. Still, we could and should have won that game.
But we didn't. No, we're 1-2, and for the first time in Mark Richt's tenure, we're 0-2 in SEC play. Now, many bloggers across the Georgia fanscape will be blasting Richt, talking about how he should be on the hotseat. They'll be saying "Same Old Georgia" and things of that nature. Why? Because when negativity starts to set in, it's next to impossible to reverse. It will take a mid-season turnaround the likes of which we haven't seen in years to be able to get people on the positive train. There are things we should realize as a fanbase though.
First, while the defense gave up the score that broke our backs in the fourth quarter, they played a much better game than a year ago. Mallet threw for a bunch of yards, but it took big busted plays to beat us. Mallet threw three touchdown passes. That's two less than last year. He got a cheap one early and a cheap one late. For the majority of the second half, he was ineffective. Remember that, because it's going to come back with bite later in this blog. Still, we're in the first year of this new scheme, three games in, and we can see some improvement from defensive production a year ago.
HOWEVER
Where was the pass rush? This 3-4 scheme that is supposed to create so much confusion and so much pressure came up particularly lacking this week. We didn't have Mallett on the run too much. When we did, he frequently made bad passes. We had what, one sack? That's terrible. We absolutely HAVE to get more pressure. It's very likely that the guys are getting into the swing of the season. Sometimes as a pass rusher, you get into a rhythm of going against your guys in practice. You learn their tendencies, and develop your own in order to beat them. This becomes a problem when you face a different guy in the game who blocks you in a different way. Or, perhaps they were simply scheming the hell out of us. I don't know. I do remember us not getting to Garcia as well as I thought we would, too. Admittedly, some of this may be due to the fact that I'm coming in with higher expectations than I should, but still - I have to think if AA schools can get to Mallett, we should be able to.
Where were the turnovers? Rambo dropped one. Dent dropped one. If Dent keeps his hand on the ball, they never go up 7-0. If Rambo holds on to his, they don't get a field goal at the end of the first half. That's ten points we could have and should have prevented.
What's with the busted coverages? Ok, Week 1 - Bacarri Rambo gets sucked in on a double-move by a tight-end and gives up a touchdown. Week 3- The entire defense gets sucked in on a 3rd and 1 playaction, and Mallett hits a man so open, he could have stopped for a swig of powerade on his walk into the endzone. Maybe Arkansas was just fortunate there. They had a 3rd and 6, and a different play call before an offsides on UGA gave them the third and 1 which lead to the score. What's that? A penalty hurt us? No surprise. Still, we weathered it and scored on offense.
The next time they scored on us they were helped by a host of penalties again. But, it wasn't until a 3rd quarter wheel-route by their runningback exposed Justin Houston's inability in coverage that things became really scary.
Still, we weathered it, came back and tied the game. We stopped Arkansas, and got the ball back with a chance to win. When the offense puttered out, it was up to our defense to stop them again. We were woefully inept in our attempt. Mallett sliced the defense apart and hit a wide open Greg Childs who (like those before him) walked into the endzone untouched.
Arkansas scored on three big pass plays, all of over 20 yards. All three came on busted coverage. All three were a result of baiting an overly aggressive defense and then capitalizing on that aggressiveness. If you're going to play aggressive defense, you have to be able to get it done. You have to make sacks, you have to make picks, otherwise, you're going to be hit for big plays.
Still, I believe that in the long run, the move to the more aggressive style will pay off. These guys will get better, they will learn. Cummings will learn when to jump a route, and when not to. The pass rushers will learn how to get off blocks and make sacks. Dent and Rambo will learn how to hang on to interceptions. When you play a style of defense that forces the other team to have to make the big play, you will usually come through. Unfortunately today, we faced team who was able to hit on those big plays when they became available. In short, we just aren't good enough at it yet.
And still, we could have won that game.
But how were we still in it?
Well, somewhere towards the middle of the fourth quarter, Mike Bobo realized what he needed to do to win. He realized that I-Formation Play Action wasn't the way to move the ball against this team. He realized that the best playmaker on his offense is #11, and he should put him in the best position possible to make plays. That position ISN'T taking a snap, then turning his back to the line for a fake before turning around to locate receivers. We haven't developed a running game in the first three weeks of the season. Even against ULL, we didn't run the ball particularly well. But, we have a quarterback who's doing a pretty good job of hitting his receivers. So, maybe, just MAYBE we should be using the pass to set up the run instead of vis-versa. Our line has definitely been better in pass protection than in running, despite the pre-season hype.
Don't get me wrong, Murray got hit today, and hit more than I want to see. His pocket collapsed more times than I care to remember. Still, he kept his head about him (for the most part) and didn't do anything too careless. In fact, at times I felt he was too careful. One play that sticks out in my mind is when the pocket held decently, he moved up into it, all his receivers were covered, and he could have run...but instead he moved, planted, and then got sacked because the line can't hold blocks for ten seconds. Had he run three steps, we would have had a first down, as it was 3rd and 1. Still, for the most part, the line gave him time to throw.
Murray's biggest error of the day? The 1st down interception he threw coming out of the half. That pass was way off the mark - completely atypical of Murray.
Still, our defense stopped them on the ensuing possession, so the damage was minimal. Then, in the final quarter, Murray had two fantastic possessions. He showed calm beyond his years in leading two fast touchdown drives, tying the game and putting us in a position to be able to win. Then, when we got the ball back, Bobo screwed him over a bit. Why do I say that? Because on third and 4, Bobo called a play where a tailback is responsible for cutting a man coming off the corner. That's no big problem...but you usually see cut blocks like that on plays when the ball will come out fast. You see blocks like that when a quarterback is going to take a three step drop and fire a quick slant or in-route for a first down. But, every receiver in the progression was running running a deep route of some sort. There were no short outlets. We needed four yards to keep a winning drive going. Instead, the man who Ealy cut was able to get to his feet and sack Murray.
Now, perhaps I'm being too rough on Mike Bobo. I've been one of his proponents for a long time, and maybe that's because of my personal relationship with him, I don't know. It's entirely possible that the 3rd down in question featured a route combination that included a slant or quick-in, but the receiver didn't run it. Perhaps it was a slot-option, and the slot receiver chose the wrong route. I don't know. What I do know is that it makes no sense to have no short option on 3rd and 4 at the 50 with less than two minutes and the nation's best kicker. We really only needed another 15 yards to secure the victory. How do we not call a play that has SOMETHING at the first down marker?
But, that's not the first call I took issue with. Long before that call was the 3rd and 9 playaction. Absolutely no one bit on the playaction - because we hadn't been running the ball well at all. Also, there was the "Wild Dog" stint with Ealy taking the snap. I guess this thing is here to stay, and I can see where it might have some limited success....but I don't think it's a sparker. I don't think it's the formation and play selection set you use when you're in a hole. Maybe when you're tied, or only up by one, you throw something like that in to catch someone off guard. But when you're playing uphill, why would you want to tip your hand in that way? If Ealy is lined up there, one of two things is happening. Ealy is running it, or he's handing it off. That's all.
Although, I did see a possible wrinkle on the one he handed off. It's possible that in the future, we'll see Ealy hand it off to the Slot coming in motion, then he'll pitch it to Murray who will throw to an open receiver downfield because nobody would see that coming - except for the guy who just typed it into his blog, and the 27 or so folks who read it. Murray came back on a fake reverse, and I can just see Bobo calling for the reverse-pass in that lineup. Why? Because it's a crazy gimmick play that will fail 95% of the time, but when it works, you look like a frikkin offensive genius.
My problem with that - if you need a play like that to win you a football game, you haven't done a great job scheming that game. I think THAT was my main beef with Bobo today. I don't know, maybe it was getting rocked in the face during pre-game that threw him off. Still, for the first two weeks of the season, Aaron Murray has been the brightest light on the UGA offense. On his first drive, it was his pass to King and then his own athletecism on a bootleg that put the Dawgs in the endzone. How, then, do you not FEATURE him during the game? Give him a chance. Line the kid up in shotgun and force Arkansas' pass defense to stop you. It wasn't going to. If they drop enough people into coverage to take away that option, then you hit them with the draw. Bobo has a flaw, and it is the identity crisis of this offense. He believes this team is a tough run-it-down-your-throat team which can use that to open the playaction. He's wrong. This team is a pass-first, then hit draws and misdirection and screens team. He isn't scheming correctly, and until he does, we aren't going to be successful.
Something else - I have to put blame on either him or Mark Richt for this one - I understand they practiced with AJ Green getting snaps with the 1s and 2s all week. That's dumb. He took reps away from kids who were going to be playing. There was no reason to believe AJ's suspension would get lifted. Even if it did, I have a hard time believing he would have suffered greatly from not getting those reps. He knows his routes. He knows the plays. He ain't gonna forget how to catch. In this situation, you practice the kids you KNOW will be playing, and if Green gets to go, you consider it a bonus.
We didn't need Green to beat Arkansas. Is it a different game if he's on the field? Yes. Do we win the game with him in it? Very likely. Could we have beaten them without him? We were a blown coverage and a better catch attempt by Marlon Brown from doing so.
And that's the last thing I'll talk about - finishing. Champions finish ballgames. We've had some teams under Richt who really did that well. This year's squad isn't doing that yet. Against South Carolina, we were down by 8 in the fourth. Striking distance. Our offense didn't score when it had the ball, and our defense allowed Lattimore to take the ball down the field to inside the ten. Then, USC secured the win. Today, when the offense finally woke up, the defense made the stops necessary. But, with the game on the line, both sides of the ball failed. Murray got sacked, then Cummings jumped a route and watched a ball sail over his head to an open receiver behind him. Still, Boykin returned the kick far enough to give Murray a shot at the endzone. His pass was knocked down, directly in front of Marlon Brown, who got his fingers on the ball, but couldn't secure it.
And that has been the story of this team so far this year. They aren't finishing. Against USC, they didn't finish tackles, they didn't finish drives. Against Arkansas, they didn't finish the game. Great comeback, but for nothing more than growth.
Still, this team will grow. It would have been easy to roll over and die this week...but we didn't. We fought back and fell short. These types of games pay dividends. No one believed UGA would win the national title this year, and most didn't believe they could make a run at the SEC. I may actually be the only person who believes they can still make a run at the SEC. I'll blog about THAT tomorrow. Until then, I'm disappointed, but not dejected. The Dawgs will play better football, and they will win games - ten or eleven of them.
I had a friend tell me, "Arkansas is a bad team, and we're worse." I disagree - Arkansas is a good team, and we aren't quite that good yet. One thing that has been good to see - we haven't looked uncompetitive in our losses. Now, the question is how we take the step up to the point where we make our opposition look uncompetitive against us. I'll say it again - the last time UGA had a Redshirt Freshman qb, we weren't amazing. The next year, we were next to unbeatable. This team's going to go through growing pains, but it's all going to pay off.
Go Dawgs.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
UGA - ARK....Different Flavor, Same Satisfaction - VICTORY
Whether you're thinking about the year before, the day before, or the play before, you're living in the past. Stop it. Those of you out there who believe the Arkansas team that will show up in Athens tomorrow is the same Arkansas Joe Cox and Co bested last year in Ark are sadly mistaken. These are not the same teams. Last season, Mallett was playing in his first season as a Razorback. His game against UGA was only the second for Arkansas, and his first ever SEC contest.
And he played well. The kid threw for a season-high 408 yards, and five touchdowns. He had a similar game against Troy at the end of the season (405 yds, 5 TD). Simply put, the kid can throw. I had a friend send me an email with his home/away splits from a year ago. Upon first glance, I thought..."Yes. The kid is 0-4 away from home. He's very comfortable in the confines of Arkansas, but outside he gets rattled." He was never over 45% passing, never threw more than 1 TD on the road, and had negative yardage on the ground in each contest - he got sacked a bunch. I thought - he's just not a road-gamer. Then I realized his away games were against AL, FL, LSU and Ole Miss. Now, while Ole Miss isn't known to be a rock-solid defensive team, they still have a good home crowd. But the other three, well...No team has gone into Tuscaloosa or Gainesville and left victorious in a while, and Baton Rouge is one of the most unfriendly places in college football. So, Mallet and Co were fighting an uphill battle from the onset.
Looking over the home statistics, I see that Mallett nearly had a season-low in completion percentage against UGA, but had season-high TDs and Yardage. How do I explain that? Easy. Do you remember that game? Cox and Mallett were just tossing up grenades, hoping they'd hit. Luckily for the Dawgs, we also had weapons in the legs of Blair Walsh and Richard Samuel. Samuel's lone highlight from 2009 was an 80-yard run that none will soon forget.
"DUKES! You said to stop living in the past, but all you've done is talk about it."
I know, I know. I'm pointing out what people SHOULDN'T be thinking about. It's a writing tool - look, stop criticizing and just read my words!
So, here we are - 2010. Mallett's on the road against us now. Do I think we'll see a similar contest from 2009? No. Why? Well, I take it back a couple of years to 2007. Georgia and Alabama, two very evenly matched teams - played into overtime, and UGA walked away with a victory. Fast forward a year later, UGA was ranked #1 preseason, and was 4-0 heading into the game against an AL team once again regarded as very similar to UGA. UGA was beaten handily by Alabama. Saban's defense shut us down in every conceivable way (and our defense helped them out by granting free first downs on personal foul penalties a few times).
"Whoah, Dukes! Are you saying Arkansas is gonna beat us down like Bama did in Athens??? You're a prick!"
No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying the defense that allowed Mallet to throw so freely is no longer in Athens. Jones and Evans, a talented and yet inept safety duo have pushed forth to the NFL. Willie Martinez has floated over to the Big Xii (I think the "ii" is appropriate), where he can blame poor coverage schemes on the "high-octane offenses of the conference." Jancek and Fabris are....Well, who cares, really? I can't be certain of this (because my stat sheets are at home and I'm sacrificing valuable work time to write this) - but I feel like our sack totals for the first two games of this season may rival the first HALF of '09. Anyway, this ain't the same defense. Did we get gashed last week by a stud runningback? Yes. But, on the upside, Garcia threw for 313 yards and 2 TDs against us a year ago. This year? 165 and none. Sure, they didn't NEED to throw this year like they did last year...but the result is still nice to see. We also sacked Garcia 5 times - and the Razorback O-Line has definitely shown itself to be less than stellar so far this year.
What should we be looking for this week against AR?
Well, I don't think their defense has improved by leaps and bounds. They opened last season with a huge win over a patsy opponent, giving up only ten points, and thought their defense would be up to the task of stopping Georgia. They weren't. Our defense, on the other hand, has shown a great deal of improvement over last season. Even though we won against South Carolina last year, our defense didn't look particularly strong, and in the loss against OK State, we were anything but solid. The Dawgs D played a bad half of football last week, and it cost us the game. Grantham's adjustments in the second half kept us hanging around until the final minutes. He's learned. He's taught. Things will change this week.
On the offense, the AR beat writers are saying the Razorbacks are more balanced now, with a "stable" of running backs. Through two games, Mallett has 700+ yards passing, and AR has less than 300 yards rushing. Yeah, that's incredibly balanced. In case you're not good at math, that's over 70% of the offensive production from the pass.
Chris Low says we have to stack the box and force Mallett to pass.
Um, that's like saying I have to put both gloves on my belly, and force Tyson to punch my face. I don't think it's going to be tough to make that happen. I disagree whole-heartedly with Low. I don't think we stack the box. I think we play the true 3-4 defense. You send PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE at Mallett. Why? Because his o-line isn't great, and he does throw interceptions. He's averaging a pick a week to crap competition. What happens when he faces a strong-D that is highly turnover-focused? Force him into fast decisions. Blitz, blitz, and when they're ready for the blitz, BLITZ SOME MORE. Look, I'm old-fashioned. I come from the school of, "It's hard for QB to beat you from his back."
I want to see Mallett pounded into the turf.
I want to see Murray throwing the ball.
I want to see our O-Line open holes.
I want to see Houston, Dent, Robinson and Washington playing "Meet me at the QB"
I want to see Boykin, Rambo, Hamilton and Cummings playing "That's My Ball, Bitch!"
I want to see the Dawgs ROLL the Hogs.
And I firmly believe that's what I'm going to see.
Georgia by 17. Go Dawgs!
And he played well. The kid threw for a season-high 408 yards, and five touchdowns. He had a similar game against Troy at the end of the season (405 yds, 5 TD). Simply put, the kid can throw. I had a friend send me an email with his home/away splits from a year ago. Upon first glance, I thought..."Yes. The kid is 0-4 away from home. He's very comfortable in the confines of Arkansas, but outside he gets rattled." He was never over 45% passing, never threw more than 1 TD on the road, and had negative yardage on the ground in each contest - he got sacked a bunch. I thought - he's just not a road-gamer. Then I realized his away games were against AL, FL, LSU and Ole Miss. Now, while Ole Miss isn't known to be a rock-solid defensive team, they still have a good home crowd. But the other three, well...No team has gone into Tuscaloosa or Gainesville and left victorious in a while, and Baton Rouge is one of the most unfriendly places in college football. So, Mallet and Co were fighting an uphill battle from the onset.
Looking over the home statistics, I see that Mallett nearly had a season-low in completion percentage against UGA, but had season-high TDs and Yardage. How do I explain that? Easy. Do you remember that game? Cox and Mallett were just tossing up grenades, hoping they'd hit. Luckily for the Dawgs, we also had weapons in the legs of Blair Walsh and Richard Samuel. Samuel's lone highlight from 2009 was an 80-yard run that none will soon forget.
"DUKES! You said to stop living in the past, but all you've done is talk about it."
I know, I know. I'm pointing out what people SHOULDN'T be thinking about. It's a writing tool - look, stop criticizing and just read my words!
So, here we are - 2010. Mallett's on the road against us now. Do I think we'll see a similar contest from 2009? No. Why? Well, I take it back a couple of years to 2007. Georgia and Alabama, two very evenly matched teams - played into overtime, and UGA walked away with a victory. Fast forward a year later, UGA was ranked #1 preseason, and was 4-0 heading into the game against an AL team once again regarded as very similar to UGA. UGA was beaten handily by Alabama. Saban's defense shut us down in every conceivable way (and our defense helped them out by granting free first downs on personal foul penalties a few times).
"Whoah, Dukes! Are you saying Arkansas is gonna beat us down like Bama did in Athens??? You're a prick!"
No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying the defense that allowed Mallet to throw so freely is no longer in Athens. Jones and Evans, a talented and yet inept safety duo have pushed forth to the NFL. Willie Martinez has floated over to the Big Xii (I think the "ii" is appropriate), where he can blame poor coverage schemes on the "high-octane offenses of the conference." Jancek and Fabris are....Well, who cares, really? I can't be certain of this (because my stat sheets are at home and I'm sacrificing valuable work time to write this) - but I feel like our sack totals for the first two games of this season may rival the first HALF of '09. Anyway, this ain't the same defense. Did we get gashed last week by a stud runningback? Yes. But, on the upside, Garcia threw for 313 yards and 2 TDs against us a year ago. This year? 165 and none. Sure, they didn't NEED to throw this year like they did last year...but the result is still nice to see. We also sacked Garcia 5 times - and the Razorback O-Line has definitely shown itself to be less than stellar so far this year.
What should we be looking for this week against AR?
Well, I don't think their defense has improved by leaps and bounds. They opened last season with a huge win over a patsy opponent, giving up only ten points, and thought their defense would be up to the task of stopping Georgia. They weren't. Our defense, on the other hand, has shown a great deal of improvement over last season. Even though we won against South Carolina last year, our defense didn't look particularly strong, and in the loss against OK State, we were anything but solid. The Dawgs D played a bad half of football last week, and it cost us the game. Grantham's adjustments in the second half kept us hanging around until the final minutes. He's learned. He's taught. Things will change this week.
On the offense, the AR beat writers are saying the Razorbacks are more balanced now, with a "stable" of running backs. Through two games, Mallett has 700+ yards passing, and AR has less than 300 yards rushing. Yeah, that's incredibly balanced. In case you're not good at math, that's over 70% of the offensive production from the pass.
Chris Low says we have to stack the box and force Mallett to pass.
Um, that's like saying I have to put both gloves on my belly, and force Tyson to punch my face. I don't think it's going to be tough to make that happen. I disagree whole-heartedly with Low. I don't think we stack the box. I think we play the true 3-4 defense. You send PRESSURE, PRESSURE, PRESSURE at Mallett. Why? Because his o-line isn't great, and he does throw interceptions. He's averaging a pick a week to crap competition. What happens when he faces a strong-D that is highly turnover-focused? Force him into fast decisions. Blitz, blitz, and when they're ready for the blitz, BLITZ SOME MORE. Look, I'm old-fashioned. I come from the school of, "It's hard for QB to beat you from his back."
I want to see Mallett pounded into the turf.
I want to see Murray throwing the ball.
I want to see our O-Line open holes.
I want to see Houston, Dent, Robinson and Washington playing "Meet me at the QB"
I want to see Boykin, Rambo, Hamilton and Cummings playing "That's My Ball, Bitch!"
I want to see the Dawgs ROLL the Hogs.
And I firmly believe that's what I'm going to see.
Georgia by 17. Go Dawgs!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
And then there was the offense.
Six points.
Six Points.
SIX FRIKKING POINTS.
All summer long, the team walked around saying "7-5" "7-5" That was supposedly their motivation coming into this season. That was what pushed them through the grueling mat drills. That's what had the receivers running routes and the linebackers doing tackling drills on their own. "7-5" became the mantra of this team.
Well, I hope they've been repeating "6 FRIKKING POINTS" all week. There's no excuse for that.
13 Points. That's what Southern Miss scored on South Carolina. Now, true that Southern Miss only scored 6 points until the final quarter when USC's deep reserves were in, and SM tossed a pass up to a 6'6" receiver, still the fact remains. UGA was outscored against USC's defense by Southern Miss.
That ain't Bulldog football.
People around the bulldog nation have already begun the talk. "Bobo is a Richt Disciple. Richt is too soft. Bobo is too soft. Bobo doesn't know what he's doing." These people are idiots. I know Mike Bobo. Mike Bobo was a graduate assistant when I was in my Junior year on the team. Even THEN Bobo knew more about football than 99% of the college football fanship. Now, we're a full decade removed from that. If you think Bobo didn't call a good game, raise your hand.
Now...if your hand is in the air, grab a nearby blunt object, and bring it down quickly onto the back of your head.
(pause)
Ok, now that the sensible people among us are still conscious, let's move on. UGA had limited possessions in the UGA-USC game. Normally, you can count on about 6 possessions a half, twelve possessions total. In an SEC game, you'll be lucky to come away with points on half of your possessions.
UGA had 4 possessions in the first half, only scoring on 1. We can be happy with neither the fact that our offense picked up only three points, nor that we scored on only one out of four posessions. Still, you can't fault the play calling. The first drive, in fact, looked fantastic. The first five plays were runs by Ealy, who gained 30 yards on those runs. We had moved from our own 30 to their 40. Then Murray made his first SEC road-game pass attempt, and hit Marlon Brown for a first down. Murray would end up 3/5 on the drive, but it was his last two attempts that would prevent the TD for UGA. On first at ten at the SC 16, Murray threw just a bit behind Orson Charles, and Charles couldn't pull the ball in. Had he done so, Murray's first "unfriendly confines" drive would have ended in a touchdown, the game would have been tied, and Georgia fans would feel a good bit different than we did. But, that didn't happen. Two plays later, Charles mishandled a short dump-off from Murray, and because he failed to bring it in cleanly, the USC defense converged on him before he could pick up the first down.
We settled for 3. Georgia wouldn't touch the ball again until 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter. On first down, Murray threw the ball just a bit too far for Isreal Troupe, but Washaun picked up 8 solid yards on second down. So, it's third and two. This is when people get picky on Bobo. Bobo called a pass play. Murray rolled to the right, and had a man, but a spectacular play by USC Defensive End Devin Taylor threw off his timing, and forced him to scramble a bit. Then Taylor was able to catch Murray from behind. We punt.
We force a punt and get the ball back. Then came the decision to put Ealy in to take direct snaps, and fail to gain a first down. Ealy did gain 6 yards on first down, but the two subsequent plays netted only 3 more yards. I don't know how that's going to be a successful look, unless he actually chooses to hand it to Smith on one of those plays. At any rate, we punt again.
They score another TD.
Our next drive ended after three plays when Aron White missed a catchable pass that would have been a first down. Another punt. We shut them down, and get to the half. Ok. Halftime. Regroup.
UGA came out like GANGBUSTERS in the second half. A combination of completed passes and steady runs took the Dawgs fifty seven yards down the field in a little over five minutes. It was a solid drive. The Ealy ran for only one yard. Then Murray threw incomplete. Then came a call that baffles Joe Everyman any time it comes. Bobo called a QB draw on third and 9 from the USC 14. Why make that call? Why put Murray in the position to have to pick up 9 yards with his feet? Well, because it's unexpected. That's the ONLY reason to call a QB draw on a 3rd and long. Sometimes you'll call it throughout the course of a game to slow down a pass rush. But, USC had not been getting to Murray. No, this call came purely because Murray is a playmaker (possibly the best one on the offense at the moment), and he was being given a chance to make a play. He just came up short. So, three points...but a solid drive.
On USC's next drive, the inevitable finally happened. A flustered Steven Garcia coughed up the ball. I knew it would happen at some point, even said as much in my pre-game blog, and I was happy to see the prediction come true. When it happened, I saw this as the moment the game would turn. I had watched Murray leading our team against their Defense, and had a feeling he was about to really turn it on and leave them in his wake.
Three plays, three complete passes and 73 yards later, UGA was staring at second and goal at the USC 3. The play came in, the Dawgs lined up, and I could feel the call. It was going to be Ealy into the endzone. Then, came the wiggle. I don't know if it was a twitch, an itch, or just a son of a b&%*h, but Isreal Troupe moved in his stance, and the Dawgs were penalized five yards. On the next play, Ealy fumbled the ball away, and the game turned on a dime.
UGA forced a punt, but the Gamecocks changed the field position well. UGA started from its own ten, and couldn't get going. Three and out. Dawgs forced another punt, but then suffered another three and out. When USC stole the ball from UGA in the third quarter, I believe they may have stolen our belief as well. I just don't know if the offense was Man Enough to rise to the challenge in that situation. They'd been playing from behind all night. Everytime they'd put together a good drive, something had happened to prevent highest success. It just didn't seem to be their night.
Did they give in to doubt? It's possible. I don't know.
What I know is, they had much to be happy about, and much to learn from. I also know Bobo called a good game. For one reason or another, the boys just didn't quite execute like they needed to. But they'll improve. They'll get better. Hey, if nothing else, Murray didn't throw an interception, didn't make any crazy decisions, and didn't put his team in a position to lose the game. Now he's faced it. He's stared down the barrel of an opposing SEC crowd, and he looked good doing it. That's going to give him confidence. He's only going to get better, and as he does, so will this offense. Watch for great things, you're going to see them.
Go Dawgs.
Six Points.
SIX FRIKKING POINTS.
All summer long, the team walked around saying "7-5" "7-5" That was supposedly their motivation coming into this season. That was what pushed them through the grueling mat drills. That's what had the receivers running routes and the linebackers doing tackling drills on their own. "7-5" became the mantra of this team.
Well, I hope they've been repeating "6 FRIKKING POINTS" all week. There's no excuse for that.
13 Points. That's what Southern Miss scored on South Carolina. Now, true that Southern Miss only scored 6 points until the final quarter when USC's deep reserves were in, and SM tossed a pass up to a 6'6" receiver, still the fact remains. UGA was outscored against USC's defense by Southern Miss.
That ain't Bulldog football.
People around the bulldog nation have already begun the talk. "Bobo is a Richt Disciple. Richt is too soft. Bobo is too soft. Bobo doesn't know what he's doing." These people are idiots. I know Mike Bobo. Mike Bobo was a graduate assistant when I was in my Junior year on the team. Even THEN Bobo knew more about football than 99% of the college football fanship. Now, we're a full decade removed from that. If you think Bobo didn't call a good game, raise your hand.
Now...if your hand is in the air, grab a nearby blunt object, and bring it down quickly onto the back of your head.
(pause)
Ok, now that the sensible people among us are still conscious, let's move on. UGA had limited possessions in the UGA-USC game. Normally, you can count on about 6 possessions a half, twelve possessions total. In an SEC game, you'll be lucky to come away with points on half of your possessions.
UGA had 4 possessions in the first half, only scoring on 1. We can be happy with neither the fact that our offense picked up only three points, nor that we scored on only one out of four posessions. Still, you can't fault the play calling. The first drive, in fact, looked fantastic. The first five plays were runs by Ealy, who gained 30 yards on those runs. We had moved from our own 30 to their 40. Then Murray made his first SEC road-game pass attempt, and hit Marlon Brown for a first down. Murray would end up 3/5 on the drive, but it was his last two attempts that would prevent the TD for UGA. On first at ten at the SC 16, Murray threw just a bit behind Orson Charles, and Charles couldn't pull the ball in. Had he done so, Murray's first "unfriendly confines" drive would have ended in a touchdown, the game would have been tied, and Georgia fans would feel a good bit different than we did. But, that didn't happen. Two plays later, Charles mishandled a short dump-off from Murray, and because he failed to bring it in cleanly, the USC defense converged on him before he could pick up the first down.
We settled for 3. Georgia wouldn't touch the ball again until 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter. On first down, Murray threw the ball just a bit too far for Isreal Troupe, but Washaun picked up 8 solid yards on second down. So, it's third and two. This is when people get picky on Bobo. Bobo called a pass play. Murray rolled to the right, and had a man, but a spectacular play by USC Defensive End Devin Taylor threw off his timing, and forced him to scramble a bit. Then Taylor was able to catch Murray from behind. We punt.
We force a punt and get the ball back. Then came the decision to put Ealy in to take direct snaps, and fail to gain a first down. Ealy did gain 6 yards on first down, but the two subsequent plays netted only 3 more yards. I don't know how that's going to be a successful look, unless he actually chooses to hand it to Smith on one of those plays. At any rate, we punt again.
They score another TD.
Our next drive ended after three plays when Aron White missed a catchable pass that would have been a first down. Another punt. We shut them down, and get to the half. Ok. Halftime. Regroup.
UGA came out like GANGBUSTERS in the second half. A combination of completed passes and steady runs took the Dawgs fifty seven yards down the field in a little over five minutes. It was a solid drive. The Ealy ran for only one yard. Then Murray threw incomplete. Then came a call that baffles Joe Everyman any time it comes. Bobo called a QB draw on third and 9 from the USC 14. Why make that call? Why put Murray in the position to have to pick up 9 yards with his feet? Well, because it's unexpected. That's the ONLY reason to call a QB draw on a 3rd and long. Sometimes you'll call it throughout the course of a game to slow down a pass rush. But, USC had not been getting to Murray. No, this call came purely because Murray is a playmaker (possibly the best one on the offense at the moment), and he was being given a chance to make a play. He just came up short. So, three points...but a solid drive.
On USC's next drive, the inevitable finally happened. A flustered Steven Garcia coughed up the ball. I knew it would happen at some point, even said as much in my pre-game blog, and I was happy to see the prediction come true. When it happened, I saw this as the moment the game would turn. I had watched Murray leading our team against their Defense, and had a feeling he was about to really turn it on and leave them in his wake.
Three plays, three complete passes and 73 yards later, UGA was staring at second and goal at the USC 3. The play came in, the Dawgs lined up, and I could feel the call. It was going to be Ealy into the endzone. Then, came the wiggle. I don't know if it was a twitch, an itch, or just a son of a b&%*h, but Isreal Troupe moved in his stance, and the Dawgs were penalized five yards. On the next play, Ealy fumbled the ball away, and the game turned on a dime.
UGA forced a punt, but the Gamecocks changed the field position well. UGA started from its own ten, and couldn't get going. Three and out. Dawgs forced another punt, but then suffered another three and out. When USC stole the ball from UGA in the third quarter, I believe they may have stolen our belief as well. I just don't know if the offense was Man Enough to rise to the challenge in that situation. They'd been playing from behind all night. Everytime they'd put together a good drive, something had happened to prevent highest success. It just didn't seem to be their night.
Did they give in to doubt? It's possible. I don't know.
What I know is, they had much to be happy about, and much to learn from. I also know Bobo called a good game. For one reason or another, the boys just didn't quite execute like they needed to. But they'll improve. They'll get better. Hey, if nothing else, Murray didn't throw an interception, didn't make any crazy decisions, and didn't put his team in a position to lose the game. Now he's faced it. He's stared down the barrel of an opposing SEC crowd, and he looked good doing it. That's going to give him confidence. He's only going to get better, and as he does, so will this offense. Watch for great things, you're going to see them.
Go Dawgs.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Being Man Enough...
A few years back, just after I graduated UGA and left my beloved Dawgs behind in GA as I headed west, a challenge was laid before the Bulldogs. It was said that they weren't "Man Enough" to beat Alabama. All they did was go out and whip the Alabama Crimson Tide.
I am a Bulldawg. I am Man Enough to admit that I was wrong about the game this past week. There is no way I could have foreseen the level of ineptitude I witnessed on the part of our defense on the first half. That's not to suggest I was happy with the play of our offense, but it was the total collapse of defensive technique from week one to week two that overshadowed it all. Don't get me wrong - I'm going to get to the 6 points scored total later in this blog - but the lack of fire and fundamentals on defense were far more disappointing to me.
Marcus Lattimore is a good back. He is strong, he has great balance, he has great low-end torque. He's everything you want in a Jeep. Our defense made him look like an M1 Abrams tank on Saturday. For the entire first half, and for the final drive of the game, our boys were just that - boys - playfully batting at an iron beast rolling down the main street of our town. This is unacceptable.
"But Dukes...isn't Grantham's 3-4 to blame? If we had four guys on the line..." Shut up. No. Grantham used a variety of sets with both three and four down linemen. Neither slowed Lattimore considerably. The problem wasn't in the positioning of our players. The problem wasn't in the scheme. The problem was in the fact that we didn't wrap up on tackles. The problem was that when we hit the guy in the backfield, he'd gain nine POSITIVE yards. That has NOTHING to do with scheme. It was a total role-reversal from week one. In week one, our defense went out to kill someone. In week two, it was like we were trying to feel them out - and got punched square in the jaw.
Now, let's not forget, even with the success of ML running the ball, he didn't gain every first down on their two first-half scoring drives. He chewed up real estate, he chewed up clock, but our defense had opportunities to get off the field on 3rd down and didn't accomplish that task. There was a screen pass where Brandon Smith dove to make a hit instead of running through the tackle. If he ran through the tackle, they don't get the first. There was the "phantom spot" first down, which was an absolutely AWFUL call both on the field and by replay, but those happen. There were a couple of third downs where we simply fell off tackles that would have stopped the Cocks short.
Bacarri Rambo was driven into the endzone on Lattimore's first TD. Then, on Lattimore's second TD, Rambo didn't even make a play on the ball. He stood behind the pile as Lattimore bounced off to the right and scored.
I imagine Todd Grantham had just about enough of that crap in the first half, and tore the defense a new one in the locker room. There is no denying that when they came out in the second half, they looked quite different. Our defense stuffed them for two straight plays after our opening half fieldgoal. Then, someone jumped offsides. That's an annoying penalty...but it shows they weren't resting on their heels. The next play was something they hadn't done all day - Garcia went deep and hit a man in triple coverage. It was an excellent pass, there's just no other way to put it. But then, Justin Houston picked up another sack and a fumble. UGA had the ball.
On their next two drives, our defense threw up stops, giving our offense the ball with a chance to do something. Then came the final drive when SC again relied heavily on Lattimore, and our exhausted defense couldn't buck up and stop him - until they were already in fieldgoal range to seal the win.
The fire of the defense in the second half gave us a chance to win. The lack of points by the offense prevented it.
Now, do I mean the offense was BAD? NO. I mean it didn't get the job done when it had to. Murray looked very solid again. He completed 67% and threw no interceptions. We're 1-1, and that sucks. I'm not happy about it. I find an interesting similarity to 2001, when a Redshirt freshman was QB, and our team was 1-1 coming out of the UGA-USC game, with a 14-9 loss. That season, we didn't go on to greatness...we were 8-4. The next season, we went 13-1 and won the SEC. Had the rest of the college landscape behaved, we would have run for the title.
Does that mean I want to wait until next year to be good? No. But I also don't believe Saturday's performance was portents to the end of the world in Athens. I'll be back to blog about the Offense later.
Go Dawgs.
I am a Bulldawg. I am Man Enough to admit that I was wrong about the game this past week. There is no way I could have foreseen the level of ineptitude I witnessed on the part of our defense on the first half. That's not to suggest I was happy with the play of our offense, but it was the total collapse of defensive technique from week one to week two that overshadowed it all. Don't get me wrong - I'm going to get to the 6 points scored total later in this blog - but the lack of fire and fundamentals on defense were far more disappointing to me.
Marcus Lattimore is a good back. He is strong, he has great balance, he has great low-end torque. He's everything you want in a Jeep. Our defense made him look like an M1 Abrams tank on Saturday. For the entire first half, and for the final drive of the game, our boys were just that - boys - playfully batting at an iron beast rolling down the main street of our town. This is unacceptable.
"But Dukes...isn't Grantham's 3-4 to blame? If we had four guys on the line..." Shut up. No. Grantham used a variety of sets with both three and four down linemen. Neither slowed Lattimore considerably. The problem wasn't in the positioning of our players. The problem wasn't in the scheme. The problem was in the fact that we didn't wrap up on tackles. The problem was that when we hit the guy in the backfield, he'd gain nine POSITIVE yards. That has NOTHING to do with scheme. It was a total role-reversal from week one. In week one, our defense went out to kill someone. In week two, it was like we were trying to feel them out - and got punched square in the jaw.
Now, let's not forget, even with the success of ML running the ball, he didn't gain every first down on their two first-half scoring drives. He chewed up real estate, he chewed up clock, but our defense had opportunities to get off the field on 3rd down and didn't accomplish that task. There was a screen pass where Brandon Smith dove to make a hit instead of running through the tackle. If he ran through the tackle, they don't get the first. There was the "phantom spot" first down, which was an absolutely AWFUL call both on the field and by replay, but those happen. There were a couple of third downs where we simply fell off tackles that would have stopped the Cocks short.
Bacarri Rambo was driven into the endzone on Lattimore's first TD. Then, on Lattimore's second TD, Rambo didn't even make a play on the ball. He stood behind the pile as Lattimore bounced off to the right and scored.
I imagine Todd Grantham had just about enough of that crap in the first half, and tore the defense a new one in the locker room. There is no denying that when they came out in the second half, they looked quite different. Our defense stuffed them for two straight plays after our opening half fieldgoal. Then, someone jumped offsides. That's an annoying penalty...but it shows they weren't resting on their heels. The next play was something they hadn't done all day - Garcia went deep and hit a man in triple coverage. It was an excellent pass, there's just no other way to put it. But then, Justin Houston picked up another sack and a fumble. UGA had the ball.
On their next two drives, our defense threw up stops, giving our offense the ball with a chance to do something. Then came the final drive when SC again relied heavily on Lattimore, and our exhausted defense couldn't buck up and stop him - until they were already in fieldgoal range to seal the win.
The fire of the defense in the second half gave us a chance to win. The lack of points by the offense prevented it.
Now, do I mean the offense was BAD? NO. I mean it didn't get the job done when it had to. Murray looked very solid again. He completed 67% and threw no interceptions. We're 1-1, and that sucks. I'm not happy about it. I find an interesting similarity to 2001, when a Redshirt freshman was QB, and our team was 1-1 coming out of the UGA-USC game, with a 14-9 loss. That season, we didn't go on to greatness...we were 8-4. The next season, we went 13-1 and won the SEC. Had the rest of the college landscape behaved, we would have run for the title.
Does that mean I want to wait until next year to be good? No. But I also don't believe Saturday's performance was portents to the end of the world in Athens. I'll be back to blog about the Offense later.
Go Dawgs.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Dawgs will thump the Cocks.
Everyone is saying this game is going to be tight. Everyone is saying the vegas line of Cocks by 2-3 points is dead-on. Everyone is saying the Dawgs only rolled last week because the competition was so far inferior. Well, I'm here to buck that trend. I'm not going to say the Dawgs will run away with this game by seven touchdowns, but I fully expect a 14 to 21 point victory. Now, why in the world would I say something like that? What would possibly get into my brain and make me believe that suddenly UGA should be a two to three touchdown favorite over South Carolina?
Well, in order to log such a win, UGA needs two things to happen. We gotta shut them down, and we gotta light them up.
Can we shut them down? Yes. Grantham's new defense is far and away better than what Martinez fielded last season. The pressure he will send at Garcia will be something he hasn't seen in some time. This defense is more complex, with more movement, and more blitzing from multiple sources. Grantham will gameplan better than Martinez did. If you watched the game last week, you should remember that for the majority of the game, we always had players in the area where the ball was going. That's not coincidence, people. That's game study.
Do you know when the Gamecocks last faced a defensive coordinator who had just come from the NFL? That would be in their 13-31 loss to Tennessee a season ago. Monte Kiffin was not confused by Spurrier, and Grantham won't be either. Now, this SC team is definitely better than last year's. But, they aren't going to be significantly better than last week's. Last week, Garcia was hitting wide open receivers. He was hitting receivers who greatly overmatched the coverage guys. Also, he had the benefit of rarely being under pressure. In fact, Garcia was not sacked. He was rarely hit. The Golden Eagles seemed to only blitz hard when Connor Shaw was in the game. That resulted in three sacks. Something tells me Grantham is going to blitz a good bit more than that.
Don't get me wrong at all. Garcia is a seasoned quarterback. He's not going to crumble immediately under pressure. He's been playing in the league for years, and has seen his share of punishment. But, he does have a hot head. Once we start hitting him, he will become more aggressive. He will become more risky. This will result in turnovers.
In last week's game, South Carolina had over 200 yards rushing. 53 of that came on end-around by Ace Sanders. Now, I'm not saying it's impossible to pop that run against us, but our speed on defense is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 times faster than that of Southern Miss.
Will USC score? I believe they will. But I also believe they will score less than 14 points. Their kicker is too good to imagine he won't hit if they can get the ball inside the thirty...and I think they will play well enough to do that.
NOW
What about OUR offense against their solid defense? I think we're remembering defenses past. Yes, Stephon Gilmore is a man. He's a very very good corner. He'll be locking down whoever is our #1 for most of the night. However, USC doesn't have 4 of him on the field. He can't cover all of our receivers alone. The LBs are going to have to lock down our tightends and runningbacks, and I don't like their chances on that one. Norwood and the Brinkleys are long gone. They do not have the talent at that position like they have in years past. This was evident last week when slants, quick outs and screen plays were hitting for good yardage and first downs. Also, the pressure on Southern Miss's QB wasn't nearly what I expected it to be. True, they were playing a bit more Vanilla than they will this week, but still.
I do not expect USC to bring 8 in the box all game as ULL attempted in order to slow our running game. I believe this for two reasons. First, I believe they will think they don't need 8 guys in the box to slow our running game. They will believe that they can shut us down with four down linemen, and the reading skills of their linebackers. Secondly, Spurrier will respect Aaron Murray. He knows how good this kid is going to be. He knows how good this kid already is. He isn't going to risk this kid having a "coming out party" against his defense by trying to simply blitz his tail off. He knows that if he does that, Murray will make the reads, make the throws, and slice his defense up.
So, what does this mean? This means the running lanes that were so "hard to come by" (even though our backs averaged almost 5 yards per carry) will be a little more plentiful.
Murray is getting a few weapons back this week as well. Our offense is in good shape. Do we have AJ Green? No. Last year, he had 6 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Hardly a gamebreaker. Plus, our receivers have come out much better than they did last season.
Here's the skinny on it kids....UGA won this game 41-37 last season, and it took a last-second pass deflection by the smallest linebacker on the planet to secure that victory. In the year since that game, our offense has improved, our defense has improved. Their defense is not better than it was last year. Their offense looks to be a bit better, but I'm not falling all over it. They have a very solid runningback in Lattimore, but I don't think he changes the game for them. Garcia looks better than he did last season, but I don't think he lights us up without a Willie Martinez soft-zone look in front of him. Do you remember last season? He was throwing to a wide open Wesley Saunders all night.
It was too easy for Garcia. Tomorrow, it won't be easy.
Dawgs roll in Columbia. Go Dawgs!
Well, in order to log such a win, UGA needs two things to happen. We gotta shut them down, and we gotta light them up.
Can we shut them down? Yes. Grantham's new defense is far and away better than what Martinez fielded last season. The pressure he will send at Garcia will be something he hasn't seen in some time. This defense is more complex, with more movement, and more blitzing from multiple sources. Grantham will gameplan better than Martinez did. If you watched the game last week, you should remember that for the majority of the game, we always had players in the area where the ball was going. That's not coincidence, people. That's game study.
Do you know when the Gamecocks last faced a defensive coordinator who had just come from the NFL? That would be in their 13-31 loss to Tennessee a season ago. Monte Kiffin was not confused by Spurrier, and Grantham won't be either. Now, this SC team is definitely better than last year's. But, they aren't going to be significantly better than last week's. Last week, Garcia was hitting wide open receivers. He was hitting receivers who greatly overmatched the coverage guys. Also, he had the benefit of rarely being under pressure. In fact, Garcia was not sacked. He was rarely hit. The Golden Eagles seemed to only blitz hard when Connor Shaw was in the game. That resulted in three sacks. Something tells me Grantham is going to blitz a good bit more than that.
Don't get me wrong at all. Garcia is a seasoned quarterback. He's not going to crumble immediately under pressure. He's been playing in the league for years, and has seen his share of punishment. But, he does have a hot head. Once we start hitting him, he will become more aggressive. He will become more risky. This will result in turnovers.
In last week's game, South Carolina had over 200 yards rushing. 53 of that came on end-around by Ace Sanders. Now, I'm not saying it's impossible to pop that run against us, but our speed on defense is somewhere in the neighborhood of 8,000 times faster than that of Southern Miss.
Will USC score? I believe they will. But I also believe they will score less than 14 points. Their kicker is too good to imagine he won't hit if they can get the ball inside the thirty...and I think they will play well enough to do that.
NOW
What about OUR offense against their solid defense? I think we're remembering defenses past. Yes, Stephon Gilmore is a man. He's a very very good corner. He'll be locking down whoever is our #1 for most of the night. However, USC doesn't have 4 of him on the field. He can't cover all of our receivers alone. The LBs are going to have to lock down our tightends and runningbacks, and I don't like their chances on that one. Norwood and the Brinkleys are long gone. They do not have the talent at that position like they have in years past. This was evident last week when slants, quick outs and screen plays were hitting for good yardage and first downs. Also, the pressure on Southern Miss's QB wasn't nearly what I expected it to be. True, they were playing a bit more Vanilla than they will this week, but still.
I do not expect USC to bring 8 in the box all game as ULL attempted in order to slow our running game. I believe this for two reasons. First, I believe they will think they don't need 8 guys in the box to slow our running game. They will believe that they can shut us down with four down linemen, and the reading skills of their linebackers. Secondly, Spurrier will respect Aaron Murray. He knows how good this kid is going to be. He knows how good this kid already is. He isn't going to risk this kid having a "coming out party" against his defense by trying to simply blitz his tail off. He knows that if he does that, Murray will make the reads, make the throws, and slice his defense up.
So, what does this mean? This means the running lanes that were so "hard to come by" (even though our backs averaged almost 5 yards per carry) will be a little more plentiful.
Murray is getting a few weapons back this week as well. Our offense is in good shape. Do we have AJ Green? No. Last year, he had 6 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Hardly a gamebreaker. Plus, our receivers have come out much better than they did last season.
Here's the skinny on it kids....UGA won this game 41-37 last season, and it took a last-second pass deflection by the smallest linebacker on the planet to secure that victory. In the year since that game, our offense has improved, our defense has improved. Their defense is not better than it was last year. Their offense looks to be a bit better, but I'm not falling all over it. They have a very solid runningback in Lattimore, but I don't think he changes the game for them. Garcia looks better than he did last season, but I don't think he lights us up without a Willie Martinez soft-zone look in front of him. Do you remember last season? He was throwing to a wide open Wesley Saunders all night.
It was too easy for Garcia. Tomorrow, it won't be easy.
Dawgs roll in Columbia. Go Dawgs!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Good Scrimmage, Dawgs...now, about that SEC game...
The first game has come and gone, and there were many things to be excited about. Aaron Murray looks everything the part. He'll grow into a very good quarterback. He's a playmaker to be sure. Do I expect him to play lights-out all season? Nope. I saw a few tosses yesterday that may have been going the other way if he threw them against a decent defense. Also, much like I said about Garcia's scamper to the endzone against Southern Miss, I don't think Aaron Murray makes it to paydirt on that run if the defense is an SEC defense. He's quick and evasive, but I have a strong feeling that an SEC linebacker or Safety would have closed on him and knocked him off into the hedges on that one. Our defense played very solid, very sound. There were a few missed assignments, which will happen - especially in game one, but when you hold ANY opponent to just over 100 yards total production, that's pretty good.
The game went very much like I predicted. Some of my details were off, but all in all we scored like I said we would, we shut them down like I said we would, and we gave up a garbage score - like I said we would.
More imporatantly, we accomplished something that has been far removed from Georgia football for a while. We stomped a lesser opponent into the dirt. There was no doubt about who was winning this game - but in recent years, our teams have been less than dominant against these cupcakes. We haven't been able to get the younger, less experienced players on thef field nearly as much as we'd like to. In this one, our second and third teams were making plays in the third quarter.
Now, let's not pretend our team is a National Title winner just yet. We did what we were supposed to. Now, on to the next test.
I've read articles this morning that said we need to be running the ball better. Well, we averaged nearly yards per carry - without the benefit of a huge 60 or 70 yarder to pad the average. Was our running game as dominant as many expected it would be? Possibly not. But, it definitely served our team to get the passing game going as well. This game was nothing more than a tune-up. It was a glorified scrimmage against an opposing force - against guys we don't see in the locker room on a daily basis. It was a chance to let Murray get his feet wet in front of 94,000 people.
Grantham called only a few basic blitzes - nothing even as interesting as what I saw from him at G-Day. The offense was very basic, and by the fourth quarter we had ratcheted completely down. Now, this is something that bothers me a bit. Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that we need to run the score up on a lesser opponent to improve season stats or impress voters. Scoring 72 against ULL won't get you any more credit with the voters than scoring 55 will. They'll think, "Well, Georgia whooped a team they should whoop. No big whoop." But, I don't understand the logic in putting Munzenmeier in at tailback and handing to him three times, then punting. The kid's a senior and has been a contributing player for quite some time. He's not getting new experience that will help him as the year goes along. Mason had what, five pass attempts? I'm not saying he needed to light people up...but I'd have prefered more than five pass attempts in a quarter and a half of work. I just think that when you get the 2's and 3's into the game, you let them run the offense. That's how they're going to learn. Let them run real plays, something they might have to run if the guy in front of them gets hurt next week. But no, we err on the side of class.
I'll never understand the concept that "scoring is classless." What are doing, protecting the ego of a team that can't stop us? That's senseless. I'm not saying that we put Aaron Murray back in the game at the tail end, but I'm saying let that Van Dyk kid run the ball on a toss or something. Send Arthur Lynch down the field on a seam route and let Mason try to fit one in there. If their defense can't stop our two's or three's, then that's on them. These kids likely won't get much game-time experience once we get into the meat of the season (6 days), so why not give them functional snaps in the opener?
At any rate, what's done is done and we look forward to South Carolina. This one's going to be fun to watch. Spurrier's offense finally looks like Spurrier's offense, and the SC defense is REAL. Then again, so is Grantham's D, and Murray looks to have a good handle on the limited playbook he's been developing. It'll be intersting to see how the depth charts shape up this week as players on both teams return from suspensions and injuries. UGA - USC has become quite the little rivalry in recent years, with a loss to USC costing UGA the SEC East crown, and a shot at a national title in 2007. It's going to be quite the step-up in competition for both teams...can't wait to see it!
GO DAWGS!
The game went very much like I predicted. Some of my details were off, but all in all we scored like I said we would, we shut them down like I said we would, and we gave up a garbage score - like I said we would.
More imporatantly, we accomplished something that has been far removed from Georgia football for a while. We stomped a lesser opponent into the dirt. There was no doubt about who was winning this game - but in recent years, our teams have been less than dominant against these cupcakes. We haven't been able to get the younger, less experienced players on thef field nearly as much as we'd like to. In this one, our second and third teams were making plays in the third quarter.
Now, let's not pretend our team is a National Title winner just yet. We did what we were supposed to. Now, on to the next test.
I've read articles this morning that said we need to be running the ball better. Well, we averaged nearly yards per carry - without the benefit of a huge 60 or 70 yarder to pad the average. Was our running game as dominant as many expected it would be? Possibly not. But, it definitely served our team to get the passing game going as well. This game was nothing more than a tune-up. It was a glorified scrimmage against an opposing force - against guys we don't see in the locker room on a daily basis. It was a chance to let Murray get his feet wet in front of 94,000 people.
Grantham called only a few basic blitzes - nothing even as interesting as what I saw from him at G-Day. The offense was very basic, and by the fourth quarter we had ratcheted completely down. Now, this is something that bothers me a bit. Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that we need to run the score up on a lesser opponent to improve season stats or impress voters. Scoring 72 against ULL won't get you any more credit with the voters than scoring 55 will. They'll think, "Well, Georgia whooped a team they should whoop. No big whoop." But, I don't understand the logic in putting Munzenmeier in at tailback and handing to him three times, then punting. The kid's a senior and has been a contributing player for quite some time. He's not getting new experience that will help him as the year goes along. Mason had what, five pass attempts? I'm not saying he needed to light people up...but I'd have prefered more than five pass attempts in a quarter and a half of work. I just think that when you get the 2's and 3's into the game, you let them run the offense. That's how they're going to learn. Let them run real plays, something they might have to run if the guy in front of them gets hurt next week. But no, we err on the side of class.
I'll never understand the concept that "scoring is classless." What are doing, protecting the ego of a team that can't stop us? That's senseless. I'm not saying that we put Aaron Murray back in the game at the tail end, but I'm saying let that Van Dyk kid run the ball on a toss or something. Send Arthur Lynch down the field on a seam route and let Mason try to fit one in there. If their defense can't stop our two's or three's, then that's on them. These kids likely won't get much game-time experience once we get into the meat of the season (6 days), so why not give them functional snaps in the opener?
At any rate, what's done is done and we look forward to South Carolina. This one's going to be fun to watch. Spurrier's offense finally looks like Spurrier's offense, and the SC defense is REAL. Then again, so is Grantham's D, and Murray looks to have a good handle on the limited playbook he's been developing. It'll be intersting to see how the depth charts shape up this week as players on both teams return from suspensions and injuries. UGA - USC has become quite the little rivalry in recent years, with a loss to USC costing UGA the SEC East crown, and a shot at a national title in 2007. It's going to be quite the step-up in competition for both teams...can't wait to see it!
GO DAWGS!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Mettenberger to LSU?
All of the Georgia fans out there who call for Mark Richt to be a strict coach and punish kids and toss them off the team need to remember their fervor for such discipline in the years to come. Les Miles has offered a scholarship to Zach Mettenberger, and I personally hope he takes it. Further, I hope we see him in the SEC title game.
Why?
Because I'd love to read the comments by people saying "We never should have gotten rid of him. Richt was an idiot."
That's the life of a head coach, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Ask yourselves - would you rather Richt have kept the kid on the team after showing bad judgment (what he did on vacation) and a lack of character (lying about it)? I know, I'm giving him alot of credit in suggesting his potential move to LSU could possibly be detrimental to UGA. We won't see LSU in seasonal play over the next four years, so the only chance we'd see Metts would be at the title game - and if we're there, then there's no evidence to support the thought that keeping him would have been a better choice than getting rid of him (Unless he beats us in that game).
I don't know...I'm just already looking forward to the potential storylines...and the blogosphere finding another reason to dig on Richt.
Good luck to Zach if he takes the scholly. It's easy to damn a kid who makes a mistake...it'll just be interesting to hear what UGA fans have to say should he prove to be a very successful qb elsewhere.
Go Dawgs.
Why?
Because I'd love to read the comments by people saying "We never should have gotten rid of him. Richt was an idiot."
That's the life of a head coach, damned if you do, damned if you don't. Ask yourselves - would you rather Richt have kept the kid on the team after showing bad judgment (what he did on vacation) and a lack of character (lying about it)? I know, I'm giving him alot of credit in suggesting his potential move to LSU could possibly be detrimental to UGA. We won't see LSU in seasonal play over the next four years, so the only chance we'd see Metts would be at the title game - and if we're there, then there's no evidence to support the thought that keeping him would have been a better choice than getting rid of him (Unless he beats us in that game).
I don't know...I'm just already looking forward to the potential storylines...and the blogosphere finding another reason to dig on Richt.
Good luck to Zach if he takes the scholly. It's easy to damn a kid who makes a mistake...it'll just be interesting to hear what UGA fans have to say should he prove to be a very successful qb elsewhere.
Go Dawgs.
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