Some thoughts on the Positives:
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- Danny Ware ran harder and better than I initially thought. There were a couple of plays where the OL just absolutely screwed the pooch with assignments and Danny got clobbered before he got started. This was especially true on the misdirection delayed draw from the gun that we ran with ZERO success in this game. Our OL didn't block worth a damn on this play.
- Mo Mass - this kid is going to be a stud. Between the thigh bruise and all the running plays, I can understand not playing him more in the second half. He's coming along very nicely.
- Brannon Southerland - he was absolutely CRUSHING people all night. Before his time at UGA is up, he could end up being our best true fullback since Mack Strong.
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- Bryan McLendon - Clutch. The catch and throw on 3rd and 22 basically won us the game. BMac has been there every time we've needed him so far.
- Special Teams Play - Dramatic improvement in special teams. The kickoff coverage team FINALLY kicked it into the endzone. The results = a couple of touchbacks and a start inside the 15. Punt returns still need some work as Flowers is still bobbling them. But progress is progress. Coutu is money so far.
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- Bottom line Results: Martinez held Spurrier's offense to ONE touchdown. I'll take that any day of the week.
Now for the not so good.
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But the 3 man rush was an absolute disaster. Blake Mitchell could've changed jock straps and played a game of Jenga in the time he had to throw the ball vs. our 3 man rush. I could go for seeing a heap more blitzes. I really don't understand why we blitzed so rarely given the success UCF had in the second half vs. SC last week.
[Photo: Mitchell's Jenga tower was impressive, but not his 2 pt conversion throw]
- In consistent OL Assignment blocking -- Don't get me wrong. The OL did a great job with the run. Especially out of the I formation. BUT, in the passing game and even in the shotgun, their play was very inconsistent. Some of this is attributed to the unusual formations that SC showed us defensively. You'd see 3 guys blocking 1 guy and no one blocking 1 or 2 more guys. Regularly. Most of our disaster plays (INTs, Sacks, lost yardage runs and near INTs) were plays where the OL blew the blocking and things when downhill from there. The only exceptions to that were the incredibly bad / unrushed INT that Shock threw to end the 1st half, and....
- Our Centers got manhandled at times - the plays where the big SC nose guard tossed Tanner or Schnetzer like rag dolls several times. (Note: Mahelona is going to eat those two for breakfast. Thank heavens Max will be there to help them out).
The truly bad:
- Shock's INT at the end of the 1st half. Wow. He couldn't have made a worse decision, and he had time. Some of his other bad passes, he was under pressure and should've thrown it away or found a check down/made up his mind faster. But that one play is that type of play he CANNOT make if we want to maintain our Top 10 ranking.
- Ken Shackleford - without throwing this kid under the bus and saying what I really think let me just say that anyone who still thinks he should be starting over Roland or Inman needs their head examined.
- The 4th and 1 Call - Not stupid b/c it didn't work. But stupid because were were averaging about 9 yards a carry at the time. Every so often Richt gets cutesy when just bowing up and blowing the other guy off the ball would work much better.
Conclusion:
It could've been a bunch better. It could've been a bunch worse. We caught some breaks, but so did they. If 3 plays go their way, they win by 3 or 4 points. If Taylor gets credit for the strip, doesn't throw the ball in the air after the strip, and if DJ doesn't throw the 2nd pick, we win by one or two TDs.
There's very little that can't be corrected before Knoxville. We beat Spurrer, and held the "genius" to 1 TD and 1 FG on offense. If you offered me that a year ago, I would've taken it in a heart beat.
3 comments:
I couldn't have said it better myself. I gotta agree that Danny was a beast yesterday and I think that kid wants to start a game this year. Our three-headed monster plays with heart and with talent like they have, once you add emotion, they're deadly.
I think Shock just felt pressure from the Nation to run up the score instead of playing the game like he did last week. Our team wasn't about having fun and playing smash mouth football like we did against BSU. This time around, we just seeemed so business-like and forgot to play the game.
My game ball goes to the fans. They stuck with it every down until the 59:59. Good job on everyone.
P.S. -- Dawgbone.net favorite Greg Blue had a helluva game as well. He's a man.
For Shock's second pick, I think the only problem was not putting enough air under the pass. I thought it was supposed to be a fade, which I think is a good playcall at that point, but Bailey made no attempt to make the play. It's like he wasn't expecting the pass, which makes me wonder if it was supposed to be a fade. All in all, not a terrible game against one of the best secondaries in the SEC.
i've talked to a bunch of people who agree with you on the 2nd Shock pick. They've said that it wasn't a bad decision as much as a horrible throw from Shock.
BTW -- if Bailey attacks the ball on a few more plays earlier in the game, Shock wouldn't have had 2 more close calls on INTs. He needs to attack the ball on the comebacks like Reggie would last year.
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