After another relatively slow start, the Dawgs played brilliant complimentary football, dominating the Gators in all three phases to coast to a 43-20 win.
Carson Beck continues to play at an elite level. I think the thing I've been most impressed with is his ability to recognize and feel pressure. He rarely seems rattled when opposing defenses blitz or get pressure, flows away from it, and more often than not delivers the ball on target and doesn't put it in harm's way. He now sits 7th nationally in ypg, just under 308yds.
On the somewhat negative side, he is still missing on one or two deep shots every game, overthrowing McConkey on a deep seam route. I wouldn't say he 'has to' start hitting those, but it sure would make life that much easier.
In the first full game without Bowers, Delp played probably the best game of his career, hauling in a one-handed grab down the sideline, and more importantly, seemed to block extremely well. Lawson Luckie saw the most extensive action of his young career, and while he wasn't targeted (to my recollection), he also did his job with regard to blocking.
There's a serious issue with head coaches going for it on 4th down in odd/dumb situations. Not only did Sunbelt Billy go for it on his own 34 yd line, he did so with attempted trickeration. The big problem is, not only do you give Georgia amazing field position, but even if you get it, you're still (barring a big play) only on your own 35-40 yd line. Risk/reward does not add up at all. They also did us a favor early on by running a reverse after gashing us and more or less moving the ball at will. Hindsight is 20/20, but it was a great way to kill momentum.
I firmly believed that the Dawgs were absolutely capable of generating more pressure on the QB if/when they needed to, and that bore out yesterday. I also, in a rare moment of accurate foresight, thought we'd recover a strip sack fumble, which we did. The Bulldogs ended with 4 sacks and 8 total TFLs. As if it needs to be said, trust Kirby, Schu, and Champ. They will find ways to pressure the QB when necessary.
Ladd McConkey turned in the best game of his career, notching 6 catches for 135 yds and a TD (135 matched his career high against AU in '21). Danielson was just gushing over his pristine route running ability, which of course I agree with. He seemed to slow up a bit after a long reception late in the 3rd quarter, and looked like he was wincing a bit on the sidelines. I don't believe he played another snap, but could be wrong. Hoping he didn't aggravate his back, and maybe is just still getting his wind back after prolonged inactivity.
Daijun, I thought, was a possible 7th round pick/FA draft pick when the season began. His unique ability to make people miss (and miss badly) in high traffic areas is uncanny, he finishes runs tough, and even showed the ability to get outside. His 40-time will still not impress, but I suspect he'll work his way into about the 5th round.
There's an odd thing that seems to happen about once or twice per game on offense. When we gain 7-8 yds on first down, we then will lose a couple yds on either jet sweep or delayed draw type play. It's nitpicking on what has been an offense that is every bit as good this year (better in some cases) as it has been the past two. People often talk about tendency-breaker plays. Watch for a play-action shot downfield in the coming weeks on 2nd and short.
I was surprised to see Damon Wilson so early on in the game. He's been mostly relegated to garbage time with a lot of the other freshmen (understandably so), but he paid it off, getting in on a half-sack. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was a welcome surprise (insofar as he played more than most were anticipating up until later in the week). Hope he can start showing more consistency, as he is the most athletic of our D-Linemen, imo.
The Dawgs sort of still continue to struggle on Red Zone offense and defense, although the last TD by UF was obviously in garbage time against freshmen/reserves. I do think this team is too good to have this actually bite them in the ass when a future game is on the line, though.
Georgia is now 4th nationally in total offense, and is trending up a bit in terms of explosive plays. In terms of total plays of 10+ yds (which is not considered explosive for a passing play), the Dawgs are tied w/ Oregon for 5th nationally, and just one such play behind LSU and Washington who are tied for 3rd. If you pair long-ish offensive plays with dominating 3rd down conversion % (Dawgs fell slightly in this yesterday, but are still #3), you end up with an offense that is extremely productive and can dictate the game.
Did Kirby pay CBS to have Jenny Dell ask him what he said to Truss before halftime? The mantra 'Mission, Team, Self/Me' was something just begging to be let out in the open. Brad Nessler kinda chuckled after Kirby said that, because Georgia was dominating at the half, and I don't blame him. But, it continues to show that Kirby and staff demand everyone play to a standard. It's not just an empty slogan. Of course, Truss has been a revelation at RT after being pressed into duty.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will have a chance to essentially eliminate another team from SEC East contention when we host Mizzou, who will likely be ranked #14 after a couple of teams ahead of them lost (well, we'll see what the initial CFP rankings look like). The media will likely be fellating us again after the Jax beatdown, but it's also nice to know we're truly in 'win and advance' mode now. Missouri, Ole Miss, and UTjr are all ranked and considered relatively dangerous.
Gonna be an exciting last quarter of the regular season.
Carson Beck continues to play at an elite level. I think the thing I've been most impressed with is his ability to recognize and feel pressure. He rarely seems rattled when opposing defenses blitz or get pressure, flows away from it, and more often than not delivers the ball on target and doesn't put it in harm's way. He now sits 7th nationally in ypg, just under 308yds.
On the somewhat negative side, he is still missing on one or two deep shots every game, overthrowing McConkey on a deep seam route. I wouldn't say he 'has to' start hitting those, but it sure would make life that much easier.
In the first full game without Bowers, Delp played probably the best game of his career, hauling in a one-handed grab down the sideline, and more importantly, seemed to block extremely well. Lawson Luckie saw the most extensive action of his young career, and while he wasn't targeted (to my recollection), he also did his job with regard to blocking.
There's a serious issue with head coaches going for it on 4th down in odd/dumb situations. Not only did Sunbelt Billy go for it on his own 34 yd line, he did so with attempted trickeration. The big problem is, not only do you give Georgia amazing field position, but even if you get it, you're still (barring a big play) only on your own 35-40 yd line. Risk/reward does not add up at all. They also did us a favor early on by running a reverse after gashing us and more or less moving the ball at will. Hindsight is 20/20, but it was a great way to kill momentum.
I firmly believed that the Dawgs were absolutely capable of generating more pressure on the QB if/when they needed to, and that bore out yesterday. I also, in a rare moment of accurate foresight, thought we'd recover a strip sack fumble, which we did. The Bulldogs ended with 4 sacks and 8 total TFLs. As if it needs to be said, trust Kirby, Schu, and Champ. They will find ways to pressure the QB when necessary.
Ladd McConkey turned in the best game of his career, notching 6 catches for 135 yds and a TD (135 matched his career high against AU in '21). Danielson was just gushing over his pristine route running ability, which of course I agree with. He seemed to slow up a bit after a long reception late in the 3rd quarter, and looked like he was wincing a bit on the sidelines. I don't believe he played another snap, but could be wrong. Hoping he didn't aggravate his back, and maybe is just still getting his wind back after prolonged inactivity.
Daijun, I thought, was a possible 7th round pick/FA draft pick when the season began. His unique ability to make people miss (and miss badly) in high traffic areas is uncanny, he finishes runs tough, and even showed the ability to get outside. His 40-time will still not impress, but I suspect he'll work his way into about the 5th round.
There's an odd thing that seems to happen about once or twice per game on offense. When we gain 7-8 yds on first down, we then will lose a couple yds on either jet sweep or delayed draw type play. It's nitpicking on what has been an offense that is every bit as good this year (better in some cases) as it has been the past two. People often talk about tendency-breaker plays. Watch for a play-action shot downfield in the coming weeks on 2nd and short.
I was surprised to see Damon Wilson so early on in the game. He's been mostly relegated to garbage time with a lot of the other freshmen (understandably so), but he paid it off, getting in on a half-sack. Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins was a welcome surprise (insofar as he played more than most were anticipating up until later in the week). Hope he can start showing more consistency, as he is the most athletic of our D-Linemen, imo.
The Dawgs sort of still continue to struggle on Red Zone offense and defense, although the last TD by UF was obviously in garbage time against freshmen/reserves. I do think this team is too good to have this actually bite them in the ass when a future game is on the line, though.
Georgia is now 4th nationally in total offense, and is trending up a bit in terms of explosive plays. In terms of total plays of 10+ yds (which is not considered explosive for a passing play), the Dawgs are tied w/ Oregon for 5th nationally, and just one such play behind LSU and Washington who are tied for 3rd. If you pair long-ish offensive plays with dominating 3rd down conversion % (Dawgs fell slightly in this yesterday, but are still #3), you end up with an offense that is extremely productive and can dictate the game.
Did Kirby pay CBS to have Jenny Dell ask him what he said to Truss before halftime? The mantra 'Mission, Team, Self/Me' was something just begging to be let out in the open. Brad Nessler kinda chuckled after Kirby said that, because Georgia was dominating at the half, and I don't blame him. But, it continues to show that Kirby and staff demand everyone play to a standard. It's not just an empty slogan. Of course, Truss has been a revelation at RT after being pressed into duty.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will have a chance to essentially eliminate another team from SEC East contention when we host Mizzou, who will likely be ranked #14 after a couple of teams ahead of them lost (well, we'll see what the initial CFP rankings look like). The media will likely be fellating us again after the Jax beatdown, but it's also nice to know we're truly in 'win and advance' mode now. Missouri, Ole Miss, and UTjr are all ranked and considered relatively dangerous.
Gonna be an exciting last quarter of the regular season.
