Where Are We? 25% Season Thoughts

So in the hopes of generating some conversation on the board, I thought it would be fruitful to take a realistic look at where we are 25% into the season.

As we all know by now, the national media and just about every talking head out there that fashions himself sports savvy is throwing heaps & loads of love on Georgia right now. I ignore this as a general rule. The media's job is to create hype, talking points, and excitement surrounding teams. It's a money game, and there's a lot of that on the line in college foosball. That's not to say that Georgia isn't "hype worthy" - they most certainly are - but hype is poisonous. So are delusions. Let me give an example; after the South Carolina loss, their #1 wide out Josh Vann said this: “We just beat ourselves. I mean shouts out to Georgia, they’re a good team,” Vann said. “They’re the No. 2 team in the nation for a reason, so props to them. We could have easily (stuck) with them; we just beat ourselves.” This is absurd and is factually incorrect. South Carolina didn't beat themselves. They did not lose that game on dumb penalties or missed assignments. They lost that game because they were out muscled, out executed, and man handled by a far superior team. "We beat ourselves" certainly wasn't the opinion of Shane Beamer, who, in no uncertain terms, explained exactly why they lost the game. The problem with those statements from Vann is that as a leader of his team, his team can start buying into that crap. The pendulum of hype swings both ways, and I don't want us to succumb to the same crap.

So where are we? We look good. Real damned good....but... there are very real deficiencies which concern me that if we're truly going to make a championship run, absolutely must get fixed. The offensive line and the running game is the primary focus of concern, then trailed by the secondary. Despite a good appearance against SC, our run game still looks flat to me. I still have yet to see the explosive running game that these backs are expected to produce. And anyone reading this knows as well as I do that sooner or later this season, we're going to run up against a team that is going to make us put it on the ground to beat them. Who is it going to be? Auburn? Florida? Arkansas? How insane is it that we're faced with that situation & are concerned about it given Georgia's status as RBU? The o-line is going to have to mature, and quick. We absolutely have to start getting some big plays on the ground, and I don't mean screen passes for a gain of 5. We are going to have to keep defenses honest and respect that we have a real dual threat. Yes, we got a combined 184 on the ground. That's good by any standard, but that was a game's worth of grinding it out. Our longest rush was 23 yards. Against South Carolina.

The secondary looked off balance and confused when SC ran the hurry up and got the snap off to connect on big play early in the game. We cannot give up the explosive plays. If this sounds obvious, it is because it is obvious. No matter what the score is, every big play serves as a momentum boost to an opposing team. On the road and in a hostile environment, it gets the crowd back in it. Fortunately for us, SC's offense was terrible. But if we were in a game with a formidable opponent, you can bet they're going to test that secondary. We absolutely must be able to stop the big explosive plays. By the time we face Florida in Jacksonville, I expect Anthony Richardson to be under center. Emory Jones is trash & played the game of his life against Bama. Richardson is the future of that program and is without question the best QB they've had since Tebow. Mullen won't mind testing our secondary early & often, and run an up tempo offense all night if that's what it takes to beat us.

Lastly - thoughts on the QB situation. I love Kirby. Love him love him love him. But this QB musical chairs has to stop. JT is the QB. This isn't a QB by committee situation. JT is heads and shoulders above Stetson. I agree that Stetson has earned his right to play - but when JT is healthy, that time to play is when the game is out of hand. You put the Hobbit in when it's 38-7 with 11 minutes left in the 4th to get his reps. You don't put him in when JT is just fine (unless JT isn't "just fine" - which is possible & we'd never know it) to get him reps when the game is still a contest against an SEC opponent.

So, my report card thus far this season (aggregate all games, with quality of opponent being considered):

Offense: B+
Defense: A+
Special Teams:
-Punting: A+
-Kicking: C+
Offensive Coaching: A
Defensive Coaching: A+
Head Coaching: A

SD … well written with facts backing up your observations..

Yes … this game in Music City needs to serve as an opportunity to

Do some serious fixing of … run blocking… RB’s finishing runs..

Yards after contact …. Secondary play… improve finding the ball in the air sooner…. And don’t let the receiver get behind you.. please

Don’t relax and overlook a weaker team…and yes keep JT in and keep scoring….

Remain focused…. Much work is left to be done…

Go Dawgs

I take the media hype to be an attempt to find “new” material to bait fans for more “Clicks” although I think it’s about time. UGA Coach’s do have a lot of work to do, but, they do have a lot of awesome players to work with and in my opinion can only improve what we have seen so far. I’ve seen enough to feel like we have a great Football team that should get better as we get farther into the meat of the schedule, our “D” is something else. And the”O” has so much potential it is mind boggling.

Going to Vandy this weekend should give us more insight.

GO DAWGS!!! GATA!!!

Nice discussion fellas.

All great points. I agree the O line has been a bit of a disappointment. It is young but I expect them to gel at some point. I have not seem many big holes like the ones Chubb, Swift, Michel and others ran through.

The secondary has been ok. Sometimes there are just good players like that chicken Vann that are hard to cover. He will likely play on sundays. Getting the other CB transfer back on the field will certainly help.

The D line has to continue its dominance for big things to happen.
Have to come back to Ga. for a funeral. Was hoping to take in a game with family but it is the weekend UGA is at Auburn.

KD…. Safe travels to you and family…