UGA vs. UK Recap

The Athens Banner Herald had the best headline for this game -- "Finally."

Realistically, Kentucky would've needed Tubby Smith and Bear Bryant to coach that collection of also rans into a victory over a Top 25 team, and Georgia only wasted about 10 minutes of game time showing that.


Photo from Georgiadogs.com.

Thoughts from the Game:
--Shockley - DJ Shockley continues to impress. At first glance, his stat line from the game doesn't blow you away. 17-31 for 159 yards. Then you look a bit closer and see 4 TDs, 0 INTs and only three quarters of play.

When you factor in the half dozen or so dropped passes for the game, his stat line begins to look ridiculously good. On the year, he is 132-231 (57%) for 2001 yards, 20 TDs and only 4 INTs in nine games. He has also rushed for 329 yards and 3 TDs. In other words, he has played nothing like the QB that looked like hell vs. Tech last year.

-- TEs - Leonard Pope once ate a cigarette machine. He's half man, half legend, half parenthetical thought. GT has no answer for UGA's biggest big man. We should rename the Fade Pattern to #81..."The Papal Authority."

-- WRs - Outside of Bryan McClendon and Mo Mass, this group continues to struggle. Some folks question, "Why aren't we running the ball better with all of these running backs?" Other than the obvious answer that our OL doesn't play very consistently, there is the broader issue of our WR play.

Richt warned us back in the summer that if our WRs didn't make some plays down the field, that people would crowd the box and make running tough for us. You better believe that Georgia Tech will play us that way. They are going to dare us to throw it. Our guys have to step up and make some plays. Interestingly, 17 players have caught a pass this year and nine have scored TDs.

-- RBs -- Two things stuck out from this game. First, was Danny Ware's 52 yard run. I can't help but think that part of his run was fueled by an overwhelming desire to not listen to Gordon Ely-Kelso talk smack about having the longest run of the season. The punter should not lead the team in yards per carry. The second thought was..."Damn, Kregg Lumpkin looked like the Lump of 2003. Sweet."

-- Gordon Ely-Kelso - Up til now, he's been best known as a solid punter and Dean Wormer's worst nightmare. But that 32 yard scammer down the sidelines really woke up the team. Helmet stickers all around. lol.

-- OL - Continue to be up and down. In the first quarter we couldn't get a yard when we needed it running the ball. The rest of the game, Shockley had all day to pass. We still can't execute a screen to save our lives. So it's up and down. Good and bad. Your basic freakshow.

-- Coutu -- This kid is turning into the JJ Reddick of kickers. Only without the annoying personality. He starts kicking when he gets off the bus. He nailed the 56 yarder this week. Nice work.

-- DL - Gant and Owens continue to improve. Realistically, I wonder what was gained by having Golston play vs. UK. He needs to get healthy. Moses and Johnson continue to shine, and I continue to wonder why Marcus Howard...who is honestly smaller than Demario Minter, plays defensive end and not linebacker.

-- LBs - The LBs played their best game since Tennessee. Some of that was Taylor being out. Playing him vs. Auburn wasn't fair to him or the rest of the defense. Brandon Miller looked as good or better than he's looked since the ULM game. Nice to finally have most of this group clicking again.

-- DBs - Minter will basically have to mug Calvin Johnson in this game just like last year. CJ will get 6-7 catches for 70-90 yards and a TD. If we can hold him to that, we should win the game. If we let him go nutty on us, we're in trouble. He is without a doubt the best WR in college.

-- Coaching - I love the no huddle. I'm glad that we finally found a way to use it without the SEC calling insane delay of game type penalties for moving to quickly on offense. Or whatever that penalty was called. I continue to pine for the days when we blitzed more frequently, and I long for the days when we get consistent OL play. Otherwise, I'm pleased. We're in the SEC Title game for the 3rd time in 4 years. How can you not be pleased.

[Photo: Richt describes a cheerleader whose tits were "out to here."]

Nothing else really stood out. Keep Tyson Browning in your thoughts and prayers. The leg break looked really nasty on JP Sports.

Go Dawgs. Stay tuned all week for some GT game analysis and insults.

PWD

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