Orange Bowl Redux

Ok, so the 24 hour rule has passed and it's time to get real on what we saw from the Orange Bowl game. The "I'm so happy" and "Go Dawgs!!" and "we're headed to the NC game!!!!" stuff is in the other thread. This is going to be an X's and O's post.

This game was a tale of two halves. The first half looked like the Georgia we saw all season - coming out of the gate like a bat out of hell, moving the ball with reckless abandon and the second half looked like they were playing not to lose. I'm all about adjustments at the half, but we adjusted in the wrong direction. We went from scoring TDs in the 1st half to scoring FGs in the 2nd half. I really don't get it. It was like we set the Georgia machine to cruise control and figured it was good enough.

So here we go.

The Winners

Winner #1: Stetson Bennett: let's all be honest, even us critics of Stetson were forced to eat a slice of humble pie. SBIV obviously had the best game of his career. He limited his passing opportunities to the other team to only 1 in this game. He was poised, patient, calm, and accurate. Hopefully for us, he didn't spend all of his otherworldly juice on this game and doesn't reunite with the December 4th Stetson eight days from now.

Winner #2: The offensive line. As good as the defense was (they'll get their love in the winner circle in just a minute) - and they were fan-freaking-tastic - much credit has to be given to our o-line. The pushed around a big physical Michigan d-line all day and did it convincingly. Stetson was only flushed out of the pocket a handful of times all game, and the holes they made for our backs made the difference in wearing down that Michigan defense.

Winner #3: The defense. All of a sudden, the entire defense had lead in their pencils once again and looked absolutely ferocious. There were really only 3 plays that I counted in the secondary that they got burned on and one of those came in garbage time. The defense showed us why we are where we are right now, playing for a natty. Nakobe Dean reminded me of Derrick Thomas out there. Jordan Davis? Jalen Carter? I could go on and on. In short - this IS a championship defense. Let's hope that they can bring this same intensity eight days from now. If they do, it's going to be a long day for Mr. Young.

Winner #4: Kirby Smart. There were lots of doubts from the critics that Kirby could design up a game plan for a Dawgs victory in the playoffs. Lots of talk that Kirby only lucked his way into the national championship in 2017 because of a last minute miracle against Oklahomer in the Rose Bowl on a Sony Michel last second prayer. That nonsense was silenced in this game. Kirby and his staff not only had Georgia ready to play, but had a designed game plan to dismantle Michigan's strength and prey on its weaknesses. The entire coaching staff - Smart, Monken, Lanning, Muschamp, Schumann on down had one focus and a solid game plan and proved they are an elite coaching staff once and for all. And then there's that whole QB controversy that Kirby gets to rub in the face of the critics....but enough of that.

The Losers

Loser #1: The Game Clock. Once again, the game clock is Kirby's kryptonite. That ridiculous ass-lashing Kirby gave to SBIV was absolutely inexcusable and made him look like a total fool. If he was unhappy with how the QB was managing the game clock, then he needs to call a timeout. By lighting into SBIV, it just made it look like he was trying to overshadow his own time management incompetence. To play Alabama & beat them, you have to be perfect in all phases of the game. Normally that's just offense, defense and special teams. In Kirby's world, there's a 4th phase of the game: clock management. And he absolutely sucks at it. Little screw ups like that and failing to get 3 points on the board can be the difference between winning and losing against Alabama.

Loser #2: JT Daniels. I think all of us right now, as one group, need to close our Georgia books on JT. There is no JT Daniels any longer. He might as well not even be on the sidelines. On January 11th, he will enter the transfer portal and we won't have to wonder about him any longer. I have no doubt that, God forbid, if SBIV goes down in the NC game with an injury, Carson Beck will be our QB. This will be the strangest, most inexplicable QB situation I have ever seen in college football. And because our coach is a consummate politician (also known as liar), we'll never know the real story behind JT unless he decides to spill the beans after he leaves. The JT Daniels era is over. Let's all move on and wish him the best.

Loser #3: The defense. Huh? Whaaaaaaat? How could you say that SD? What the hell? Stick with me. The defense is absolutely stellar. Everyone knows my love for them and they played a murderous game against Michigan. But here's the issue. I say its a loss for the defense because they didn't get a chance to test themselves against an elite passing team in this game. They played a good passing team, but not an elite one with a QB who can singlehandedly go to work on your weaknesses and make you pay for every teeny tiny mistake in coverage. The Michigan team we played on Friday was really no different of an offense than we played against Auburn or Arkansas. We will see if this defense can come in with the same ferocity and intensity, but with the loose ends tied up against Alabama.

Loser #4: UGA. Where the hell is UGA? Has he been banished to the UGA hut and only shown as a commercial break photo op? Is that his role now? Why isn't taken out now and again and marched down sidelines with the players? I don't think there's been a season where he's been so missing in action as this season. Unacceptable.

SD…. All good points as usual…


Here is two wild ass guessers to why..

HC did not bail SB4 out at the end of the half calling time out… used it as a teachable moment… clock management falls to QB when there is no timeouts …SB4 was totally deer in headlights what to do
Did not seize the moment…

Take away the garbage points it’s a 34 to 3 game..

Having a big lead at the start of the third quarter HC and staff wanted to see what adjustments Michigan made during Halftime..

Kirby and Todd kill third quarter.. no points scored by either team…. And zero turnovers by us….made Michigan play a long field all the third quarter…. Squeezed them …some more..

Fourth quarter.. Michigan’s defense has now been hammered for three quarters.. we tack on seven and pull starters..

With us playing reserves we give up 8 pts. Margin still three scores..

We won and absolutely dominated the best of what the Big 10
Could offer…..

Have a safe week. … see you for Saturday coffee..

Go Dawgs
.

GO DAWGS, GO DAWGS, GO DAWGS. GATA!!!!!!!!!!!!

SBIV.... He still has to prove he can beat Alabama.

I'll not say more about that until after the Championship game.

Same with Kirby... he has to prove he can beat Nick Saban.

See here's the story... If we can't beat Alabama with this years level of talent, then every question about our QB and head coach remain, and I'll explain why after next weeks game.

For now... You play all year long for a chance to play in the National Championship game, and we are there.
Between now and the result of that game, I don't want to throw anything out there except for total support for the coaches and the team.

Go SBIV..
Go Kirby.....
Go Dawgs......:

God Bless..

After the Michigan scrimmage (let's face it, that's what it was . . . did you see the size and speed difference? Incredible!), I saw that the Dawgs were installed as 2.5 point favorites, and as of this writing, the spread is currently 3 points. This means gamblers LIKE Georgia being the favorite! I was BAFFLED (as I usually am by Vegas). This time I had to know what was going on.

So I called a friend of mine who gambles a fair amount (I do not EVER gamble). I asked him what the casinos are thinking - are they NUTS?!

Bob's answer was enlightening. He asked me:

1. Who had more at stake in the SECCG, Bama or Georgia? Answer: Bama BY FAR. Lose and GO HOME (er - to a New Year's Day bowl game). For Georgia, lose and just be playing someone else in the CFP. Conference titles, as Bama has shown us BEFORE, are MEANINGLESS. Now BOTH teams have their backs against the wall, and Georgia - believe it or not - has the more athletic team.

2. What was the potential DOWNSIDE of a Bama win for Bama, versus a Georgia win for Georgia? I was a little confused by the question. As he explained, Bama had ALL CHIPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE. What happened to Metchie shows you the potential DOWNSIDE of being in Bama's position. Georgia sure didn't want THAT. In other words, the risk for Bama in giving it EVERYTHING was getting a star like Metchie injured, but the win made the "sacrifice" "worth it". For Georgia, winning the SEC would have put someone else in the playoffs - like Oklahoma State or Notre Dame - either of which (at that TIME) may have been a TOUGHER out than Bama. And losing a star player would REALLY HAVE SUCKED. I pointed out that the Metchie injury could have happened to Georgia, but he claims that's not the point - the point is that Bama was willing to give it EVERYTHING, and ANYTHING. Georgia, like it or not, was NOT. (This logic MAY explain why our foot came off the pedal in the second half in the Orange Bowl - do NOT get injured for meaningless points? I dunno.)

3. Seven of Bama's points in the SECCG came on a pick 6. If Stumpy Stetson had thrown to the CORRECT receiver on that play (Jermaine Burton, on the outside - had his man badly beaten), it would have been 6 points the OTHER WAY. That's a 14 point turnaround. It was "only" a 17 point final margin.

4. The OTHER INT in the game was not The Hobbit's fault - something I hate to admit is true. It was, of all people, Brock Bower's fault for inexplicably stopping on his route - AT THE ALABAMA 10 FREAKING YARD LINE. There's 7 more points, right there.

5. And finally, as he pointed out to me, Georgia's win over Michigan was much more impressive than Bama's win over Cincy, like it or not. Sure, Bama beat a double digit spread, but Georgia SLAUGHTERED a 7.5 point spread. Even casinos that had Georgia as 10 point favorites were shocked at how easy that was. The eye test means a lot to gamblers.

So, according to Bob, Bama's win in the SECCG is actually just keeping the spread DOWN. (Some think the REAL spread should be closer to 7.5, which he thinks is why the spread has actually gone up slightly.)

I have to admit - I'm STILL BAFFLED. With Georgia at -140 and Bama at +120, that's a HUGE differential, all things considered! But as I pointed out to a BUNCH of Michigan trolls, who gave us ZERO chance against "Big Blue", casinos don't make their money being WRONG.

Thriller…Always enjoy your posts.. Happy New Year’s. And stay well



Go Dawgs…