I've been thinking this is a red zone game. During last year's championship game Herbstreit said at the beginning, someone would get TDs and someone FGs in the red zone. That's exactly how it played out. We limited Bama to threes. Only in the fourth quarter, on a short field after a turnover, did we let the Tide past the goal line, and even then, it took some pyrotechnics.
So what about now? We're #1 nationally in red zone defense. Ohio State is #121 out of 131, not worst but close to it. In the SEC championship, LSU scored three of its six-pointers on plays of 53, 34, 83—and one on a one-yard plunge. Again, a single red zone TD. With all the different ideas of what decides the Peach Bowl (as usual, it won't be any one thing) . . . this to me is a massive deal. OSU is a revolving door inside the 20. UGA is a brick wall. 7 > 3.
So what about now? We're #1 nationally in red zone defense. Ohio State is #121 out of 131, not worst but close to it. In the SEC championship, LSU scored three of its six-pointers on plays of 53, 34, 83—and one on a one-yard plunge. Again, a single red zone TD. With all the different ideas of what decides the Peach Bowl (as usual, it won't be any one thing) . . . this to me is a massive deal. OSU is a revolving door inside the 20. UGA is a brick wall. 7 > 3.
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The most improved unit of this Georgia team, from Labor Day through Christmas, has been the offensive line. Change my mind. Especially on run blocking, a good line in September became an elite one in December. The question is whether Smart proved everyone else wrong yet again on his coaching hire. I totally understand the doubts about Searels; they were based on his past body of work. For that reason, some will say, well, we just have a lot of talent on the line. My point is that this talent improved steadily over the course of the season. Searels will be sending a couple to the NFL off this line. Could be Smart had his reasons. He always does.* * *
Under Kirby Smart, our coaching staff tends to be a collective of empty faces with caps and clipboards. They don't get to talk to the media. We just don't feel we know them the way we know the head coach—until postseason, when things happily loosen up. I really enjoyed Monken's session. I'll be laughing at "no one wants my old ass" for a while. Though I know his old ass is lying. You think Saban's itching to make a coaching trade? Also, I hate to make any broad observations just from those in-game shots of the coach up in the booth, but Monken sure does seem to be enjoying himself more than in the past. Violent high fives. Little dances. During his first couple of years, I wasn't sure we'd have him long. But here it is late 2022, no rumors in the air, and one other thing: when was the last time you saw Kirby shreiking into his mic during a game, just after the offense botched something? We saw it quite a few times with Monken's predecessors. Lately, not so much. A great hire.
