Lumpkin in Action: Image: DawgPost.com
An ugly game to be sure, but another win. Some quick thoughts.
Overall:
On the DawgPost.com message board last week, I said that Richt wouldn't try and cram the ball down Ole Miss' throats like Wake Forest did b/c we needed to show that we can throw it. We had to come out and try and throw it to iron out our passing game. So the "lack of commitment to the running game" line doesn't bother me on this one.
What bothers me is the complete inability to move the ball through the air against even a sub-par team.
Pass Defense: A
Georgia surrendered 87 yards in the air to Ole Miss, and 49 of it came on a single broken play. Shaeffer went 6 of 15 on the night, and he was hurried all night. A slower QB is sacked on 3-4 more times on the night. Ole Miss tried to use the TE drag that Colorado used successful against UGA, but they only hit the TE twice.
Rush Defense: B
UGA gave up almost 160 yards on the ground. Sure, Green-Ellis had 135 yards rushing. However, the UGA defense got tighter and tighter after the first two drives in which he netted 50 of those yards. Our rushing defense is currently ranked 32nd nationally and 4th in the SEC. Granted, we've played a bunch of tomato cans, but it's not like we're getting gashed nearly as bad as folks are making out.
Overall Defense:
Georgia's defense on the season has given up only 3 TDs in 5 games. We have the #1 scoring defense in the country, the #5 pass defense, #6 total defense and #32 run defense. As I've said, we've played chumps so far, but the defense has done all that could possibly be asked of them to win games.
Special Teams: D
They kept saying on the radio that it was our first blocked punt since '99, but I could've sworn that Ely-Kelso got one blocked against LSU in the SEC title gamein '03. Either way, it was bad. That's not something systematic of a Mark Richt team so I'm disregarding it.
Pass Offense: F-
Joe Cox came onto the field and looked like the Joe Cox of the spring game, WKU and his own nightmares...not the Cox of the Colorado game. Stafford showed better touch, better audiblizing (sp?) at the line, and he was at the wheel for both scoring drives. Yet, it was only 2 drives.
The WRs continue their Ron Garvin meets Roberto Duran meets Mason Union Local 413 impression. With the exception of the fourth quarter against Colorado, the Georgia passing game this year has looked worse than any UGA passing game since the 1995 team after Bobo went down and before Hines Ward took over. Georgia ranks 90th in the nation in passing offense.
You want to know what causes all these drops? GRAVITY. When you don't catch the ball, it falls right to the ground. It's not the QB rotation. It's not the velocity. It's just WRs not making plays.
Rushing Offense: B-
I will grant you that our OL isn't blocking well. At all. However, I would counter that argument with "When you don't catch the ball, why WOULDN'T the defense put 8-9 in the box and dare you to pass?" I would. Given the number of men in the box, I'd say we ran the ball ok vs. Ole Miss. The only caveat is the previously mentioned Aunt Nellie Factor. Anyone could run it against those guys on the ground.
Other articles of note:
-- Photos from the Game -- DawgPost.com
-- A new slogan for 2006 -- David Ching
-- Unbeaten. Not Perfect -- ABH
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