- Pass Rush -- We're missing Marcus Howard in a very, very big way. The scheme from Willie Martinez was pretty sound...ugly but sound. He basically looks to have said, "let's force South Carolina's half assed QBs to beat us." The run defense surrendered 18 yards on 16 attempts, and the passing game of SC wasn't able to deliver when it mattered most. That means that his plan was unquestionably a success. However, the lack of a pass rush was exposed. More accurate passers will have a field day against UGA if we don't find a way to get pressure. I say "may be unfixable" because Marcus Howard ain't "walking through that door."
- Kick Coverage -- This SHOULD be fixable, but we will apparently need a televised A&E Network Intervention to sort it out. To execute the directional kickoffs you need a kicker that can kick the ball inside the 5 yard line...in the corner...very high...and a coverage unit that can contain the returner. We are doing none of that. We gave SC starting field position at the 35, 38, and 30. Our kicks traveled 51, 57 and 58 yards. That means that the SC return actually caught a ball on the 19 yardline. That's ridiculous. By comparison, SC's kickoffs traveled 69 and 70 yards resulting in starting position of the 20 and 25 yard lines. This is not working. It has never worked, and it looks like we're not going to fix it in my lifetime.
- YMCA Ball -- Some of our substitution patterns drive me nutty. Over the past few years, we have had the tendency to put a less productive player in the game and ask him to make a big play when a more experienced player is sitting on the sidelines. Sometimes it works (See: Henderson, Mikey vs. Bama) But many times it doesn't. AJ Green and Mohamed Massaquoi are performing at elite levels. They need to be the guys running the biggest routes in the biggest moments. Along the same lines, what is with this Logan Gray experiment. There is no way that he's our best option at punt returner, gunner or kickoff coverage. It makes positively no sense to me why he's in there. That's not to speak negatively of him. He's giving 100% and he's a good kid. But it begs the question of the coaching staff? WHY is he in there. There are bigger, faster, more physical guys who are trained and exposed to high impact / collision plays more often.
I'm very pleased with the game. I was expecting / hoping that our nail biter days against SC were over. They aren't, but so what. We won, and this is mostly fixable issues.
The Miscues (Penalties, Drops, Screw-ups Etc.)
I'm currently charting the miscues from the game. Overall, I feel better the more I watch. The next post will be the 1st half offensive miscues. When you look at them, you can see how close we really were to pulling away. As I finish sections of the game I'll post some thoughts.
BTW -- Quinton is right. Stafford made some great audibles in this game and a few throws that saved our bacon. Yes, he also blew some plays, but there aren't 5 QBs who can hit that pass to AJ Green, and there aren't 10 QBs who have the autonomy to check out of bad plays as much as Matthew does. I like what we have there.
The drive chart / miscue comments are coming shortly.
PWD
16 comments:
News Flash...Our Pass Rush didn't show untill after the Tenn game last year. We got just as many sacks against SC as we have for the last 7 years....2.
Richard Samuel needs to learn how to use the stiff arm and occasonally do a spin move. If we can't fix the pass rush then we need to find ways to score more points. How about a package for Logan Grey?
New flash....in the last 7 years we played for three SEC championships - got our arse handed to us in one of those and played for zero MNC. I hardly think using the last 7 years as a point of reference is a good thing.
If that's your level of expecation cool for you but I want more.
So your saying that in the last 7 years none our teams were NC type teams??? LOL...you are dead wrong.
The more Stafford checks out of plays, the better he will get at reading defenses as the year goes on. He may have missed some open receivers in this game but now he will know to look for them on certain plays.
I don't understand this directional kicking at all. IT IS NOT WORKING. Going to be a tough practice this week but things could be worse....we could have lost.Oh and UNLV? are they kidding?
Logan Grey is one play away from being our backup QB.
Having him deep on PR is the worst coaching move of the CMR era. Absolutely inane thinking.
Anon 6:00 pm
Logan Grey is not 1 play away from being back up QB. Not sure what team you've been watching, but Joe Cox is more certainly and clearly our #2 QB.
And right now, it isn't close.
No dude I am saying that they aren't and the reason has to do with the lackluster, unimagimative coordinators.
W/R/T Logan Gray returning punts..
He isn't being given a chance to succeed in that role. He was only the deep man when SCU was punting from near midfield. That means IF he catches it, it'll likely be within the 10 yard line and either a fair catch or a kamikaze mission.
That's what's baffling to me. Knowshon picked up a huge gain on his PR and then we promptly went away from it. Very frustrating.
Having said that, I think the coaching staff is just trying to figure out what they've got with this young team, and that includes the WR rotation. It'll sort itself out over the next 2 weeks if they hold to form.
Anon 6:00pm is right Paul, Logan Grey is one play away from being our backup QB.
One play: (and god forbid it) Stafford gets hurt. Then Cox comes in. So Grey is one play away from being the backup. He's right.
I'm not as concerned about him being back there for injury sake, I am more concerned because there is NO WAY we dont have a better athlete more suited/talented to return kicks. I like Grey holding the clipboard.
Our kickoff approach doesnt work and hasnt worked in the entire Richt era. We have had numerous kickers and yet they cant perform at the level that is expected. Most here would agree that the quality of our defensive speed has increased. Hmmmm...what is the same thing over the last 8 yrs of the CMR era? Fab...time for the CEO of GA football to make a change this is ridiculous.
Paul,
A better example is why is Samual getting the ball at the 5 or 4 when Knowshon will make that every time. He was in the game as a decoy I know, but why take a chance on a freshman fumbling the ball. Makes NO sense. If you are better than your opponent, which we are, just line up and shove it down there throat. Don't get Cute BOBO! He will lose us the Bama game if he does that crap. Your thoughts?
On the pass rush issue, our coverage guys seem to be letting a guy get open pretty quick. Sacks come easier when the DB's are locking down in coverage. Their QBs never seemed to have to "wait" (even a micro second) to throw to an open receiver. They would take their 5 or 7 step drop and then throw. It's not as if the QB has been just standing there. We were close to them several times. An extra .5 second can be the difference between a sack and a knock-down. Other than some guy just completely blowing around their tackle (ala Howard), sacks are the good work of the entire defense.
I agree with pretty much everything you said, Paul. We need Green and MoMass in at WR almost all the time, and we need to quit subbing in so many DBs. Asher Allen's a stellar lock-down corner, and Prince Miller and Bryan Evans seem to be the two best other corners. Why is Ramarcus Brown even in the game? And why is he returning kickoffs--I know, he's really fast--when AA did such a great job last season. And why can't we make a decision on a punt returner? Just pick somebody and use Knowshon sporadically if you want. Or have him back there all the time. But we shouldn't be trying to find the best return guy in the 3rd game of the season on the road in the SEC opener. I guess we do need to keep subbing D-ends until we find someone who can get to the QB (if such a person exists). Houston looked good early in the game, but nobody did in the 2nd half.
I do disagree with people questioning the play to Samuel in the redzone. The play worked perfectly, and I guarantee Samuel scores that in practice. I think he's just playing a bit tentative right now; once he gets some confidence he's going to be solid. Knownshon had 20+ touches and we couldn't get any kind of push with our o-line. I don't blame the coaches for trying to use him in another way (like a decoy). Play should've been a TD. That being said, Knowshon should be touching the ball more than 3 times on a 15-play drive.
- FF
I always liked Marcus Howard, but he didn't even start until he was a senior and everyone seemed concerned about whether he could fill the Moses/Grant shoes when he became the starter. So the part where you say
"I say "may be unfixable" because Marcus Howard ain't "walking through that door." strikes me as a little bit wacky. We are going to do fine. I think part of what makes us vulnerable to S. Carolina every year is that we are playing them early and still trying to find the right combination. Why do we have a hard time with that compared to other teams? I don't know; maybe we just have so much more to choose from. I just know that we'll find what we need. And one more thing: sacks, interceptions, hurries, etc., are not always functions of talent and coaching miscues; sometimes the other team schemes to avoid it. Don't let that be a major concern, imo.
agree with much of what you say... that is why fball is maddening!!
kick coverage is god-awful despite having FG kickers every year who can nail 50+ yards.. i dont get it...vandy, baylor, rice...they can all do it better than us... i want to rip my head off.
as for the cutesy crap, AMEN... put the best guys in and let them seal the deal. we wreak of TBowden promising freshman gametime... EFF That!!! you put the best guys in and let them win. trying to play 70 guys will lose us a game.
whatever , we won, i sound like a whining biyotch but damn.... we never make it easy do we?
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