Yesterday, it was just one thing. A lot. An errant throw to a wide open receiver, a dropped pass on a well thrown ball, a missed block, a penalty. Football is the ultimate team game, and you saw why.
That said, Georgia had its best game (albeit against a bad defense) in terms of points, total yards, and overall balance this season. I think it's also important to remember that Kirby often says we treat the WR/TE screens, flares, swing passes, etc. as running plays. This is especially important to remember when you consider our injury situation at RB.
Defense was definitely a mixed bag. UAB's Zeno and Thomas really did make some 'tip your cap' plays, so give them and some others credit on several big plays. The Blazers' TD before the half was disappointing (again, some of that was them just making a great throw or catch). Aside from that, you basically had them scoring on a short field after the fumbled return, and another w/ a ton of freshmen/backups in.
We really miss Bullard. DDS and Dan Jackson are doing all they can, but there are a few too many missed tackles and just general plays of being out of position or flat out beat that are hurting us.
I've been high on Delp since he arrived, and I do think he will continue to improve, but he's missing technique and a nasty streak when it comes to perimeter blocking. It's clearly not something that comes natural to him, and I hope he continues to work at it and improve. I understand from many people that Lawson Luckie is very good in this regard. It seems he will be back soon.
Thought Beck made some strides yesterday. It's not a 'light came on' game, and he definitely made a couple of bad throws, but who doesn't? 68% passing, 338 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs (almost had the one on the WR screen that they jumped) is a terrific line. Had 3-4 that were flat out misplayed or dropped as well. I thought he looked more assertive on the 10+ yd downfield throws.
Bowers still doing Bowers things. Loved that we are beginning to take the approach of just getting the ball to him any way we can. Not that he isn't a focus of opposing defenses already, but just the variety of ways we're doing it now will be huge going forward. Especially if/when we get Ladd back.
This may surprise you, but the 582 yds of total offense would be the 2nd highest output of our 30 games under Monken in our NC seasons the last two years. The only larger total was against TCU at 589. Yes, it was against a cruddy defense, but we played plenty of cruddy defenses in '21 and '22 (the turnovers didn't help, either, or I imagine we would have easily surpassed 600 yds). Not going to start a Bobo debate, but facts are facts.
Man, the freshmen on defense are fast. Obviously, most of them are still learning and acclimating to our defense and college football in general, but you can see it on the field. Raylen Wilson, who I already knew was fast, might be the fastest LB we've ever had at Georgia, period. I obviously wouldn't put money on that statement, but I don't say that just to be hyperbolic, either.
Mews needs to find the right balance in the return game of making guys miss and then just going up field and getting what you can. Kirby was obviously telling him this after the fumble. It can be a tough equilibrium, because you don't want him to be too conservative, but too much will continue to lead to turnovers and penalties (change of direction by the ball carrier often puts blockers in funky situations).
On defense, we left more guys wide open on various screens and dump offs than I can remember in quite some time. As a fan, it's often not possible to know exactly whose responsibility they were, and sometimes, the opposing offense just 'gets you,' which is something I think people forget. Still, that is something I'm sure we'll focus on this week and going forward. You don't mind as much when a team just makes a great play, but the uncontested plays are something we usually don't see much of from a Georgia defense.
In his most extensive (though, still somewhat limited) action, I thought Andrew Paul showed a nice burst. No idea what our plans are for him, especially if/when Milton and Robinson get back, but I'm hopeful he'll be able to help us in a significant way this year despite this being his first season off the ACL tear.
Now SEC play starts in earnest. At Auburn - Difficult. At Auburn against this Tiger team - Not Difficult. They have a solid defense, but are borderline comatose on offense.
So, who is Georgia? We're a team that is banged up to hell and back, and we're having a few too many plays in all three phases where only 10 of the 11 guys on the field are doing exactly what they're supposed to. Aside from just working to get butter (Old DV/Chat reference), I'm still very optimistic this team can dominate if we start firing on all pistons. It's just hard to know if that will happen when we need it to the most.
That said, Georgia had its best game (albeit against a bad defense) in terms of points, total yards, and overall balance this season. I think it's also important to remember that Kirby often says we treat the WR/TE screens, flares, swing passes, etc. as running plays. This is especially important to remember when you consider our injury situation at RB.
Defense was definitely a mixed bag. UAB's Zeno and Thomas really did make some 'tip your cap' plays, so give them and some others credit on several big plays. The Blazers' TD before the half was disappointing (again, some of that was them just making a great throw or catch). Aside from that, you basically had them scoring on a short field after the fumbled return, and another w/ a ton of freshmen/backups in.
We really miss Bullard. DDS and Dan Jackson are doing all they can, but there are a few too many missed tackles and just general plays of being out of position or flat out beat that are hurting us.
I've been high on Delp since he arrived, and I do think he will continue to improve, but he's missing technique and a nasty streak when it comes to perimeter blocking. It's clearly not something that comes natural to him, and I hope he continues to work at it and improve. I understand from many people that Lawson Luckie is very good in this regard. It seems he will be back soon.
Thought Beck made some strides yesterday. It's not a 'light came on' game, and he definitely made a couple of bad throws, but who doesn't? 68% passing, 338 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs (almost had the one on the WR screen that they jumped) is a terrific line. Had 3-4 that were flat out misplayed or dropped as well. I thought he looked more assertive on the 10+ yd downfield throws.
Bowers still doing Bowers things. Loved that we are beginning to take the approach of just getting the ball to him any way we can. Not that he isn't a focus of opposing defenses already, but just the variety of ways we're doing it now will be huge going forward. Especially if/when we get Ladd back.
This may surprise you, but the 582 yds of total offense would be the 2nd highest output of our 30 games under Monken in our NC seasons the last two years. The only larger total was against TCU at 589. Yes, it was against a cruddy defense, but we played plenty of cruddy defenses in '21 and '22 (the turnovers didn't help, either, or I imagine we would have easily surpassed 600 yds). Not going to start a Bobo debate, but facts are facts.
Man, the freshmen on defense are fast. Obviously, most of them are still learning and acclimating to our defense and college football in general, but you can see it on the field. Raylen Wilson, who I already knew was fast, might be the fastest LB we've ever had at Georgia, period. I obviously wouldn't put money on that statement, but I don't say that just to be hyperbolic, either.
Mews needs to find the right balance in the return game of making guys miss and then just going up field and getting what you can. Kirby was obviously telling him this after the fumble. It can be a tough equilibrium, because you don't want him to be too conservative, but too much will continue to lead to turnovers and penalties (change of direction by the ball carrier often puts blockers in funky situations).
On defense, we left more guys wide open on various screens and dump offs than I can remember in quite some time. As a fan, it's often not possible to know exactly whose responsibility they were, and sometimes, the opposing offense just 'gets you,' which is something I think people forget. Still, that is something I'm sure we'll focus on this week and going forward. You don't mind as much when a team just makes a great play, but the uncontested plays are something we usually don't see much of from a Georgia defense.
In his most extensive (though, still somewhat limited) action, I thought Andrew Paul showed a nice burst. No idea what our plans are for him, especially if/when Milton and Robinson get back, but I'm hopeful he'll be able to help us in a significant way this year despite this being his first season off the ACL tear.
Now SEC play starts in earnest. At Auburn - Difficult. At Auburn against this Tiger team - Not Difficult. They have a solid defense, but are borderline comatose on offense.
So, who is Georgia? We're a team that is banged up to hell and back, and we're having a few too many plays in all three phases where only 10 of the 11 guys on the field are doing exactly what they're supposed to. Aside from just working to get butter (Old DV/Chat reference), I'm still very optimistic this team can dominate if we start firing on all pistons. It's just hard to know if that will happen when we need it to the most.
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