I agree with much of Quinton's earlier take that the win lacked sizzle / excitement in some ways. But I have a different view of some things. I feel like Georgia had many issues before the game that we needed to make progress on, and we finally made some gains on a few of those issues today. (Image: Shaun Chapas - DawgPost.com)
Pre-game Improvement Needs:
- Offensive Line - The OL needed to be more physical and pound the ball when it mattered. An 11 minute drive to finish the game and steal Tennessee's manhood went a long way towards addressing this. The offensive line also protected Stafford well enough to avoid giving up a sack. That's progress.
- Defense - The D needed to show some pass rush, and we needed to be able to stop the run when it really matters. The pass rush was dramatically better in this game. The stat sheet only shows two sacks, but we pressured the QB more. The run defense gave up a staggering 1 net yard rushing.
- Fewer Points and More Stops! - Tennessee was held to 14 points, 1 positive yard rushing and 208 yards passing. UT only ran 45 plays from scrimmage (30 passing and 15 rushing) to Georgia's 81 plays. The Vols got 52 percent of their offensive yards on four passing plays. They averaged 2.39 yards per play on the other 41 snaps. That's incredibly impressive. As a side note: 5 of the last 6 Georgia wins in the series have come when the Dawgs held the Vols to 14 or fewer points.
- The penalties - As Quinton pointed out, UGA did a solid job in the first half. However, we had 9 penalties in the second half. The stat is a little inflated due to three intentional penalties to set up field position or milked clock. This area still needs tremendous work.
- Kickoff Coverage - Much, much better. Walsh's first two kickoffs were listed as touch backs. His third kick landed on the 1 yard line, and it was returned to the 23. Georgia then had two kicks returned to the 38 and 32 before the final kick went into the endzone with a respectable coverage stopping them at the 25. This was by far Georgia's best kickoff coverage of the season. However, more improvements are needed.
As Quinton alluded, we basically left 9-17 points on the field due to redzone blunders. The good news -- Bobo's offenses the past two years (before Saturday) were among the nation's leaders in redzone efficiency.
Regardless, Georgia has won 6 of the last 9 games against Tennessee. We're still beat all to hell, and the injury to Vince Vance doesn't make the season any easier. But the schedule looks markedly easier as Vanderbilt, LSU, Auburn, Kentucky and Georgia Tech all looked much less impressive this week. Florida...well..we've got two games to improve and get healthy.
PWD
22 comments:
And how about Chapas...looked impressive showing A LOT of athleticism.
Bryan Evans continues to cost us and will again I fear.
all in all, a good win, made really satisfying by the 10+ minute drive (should've gotten 6 though)
and beginning the year B Walsh made our kicking game questionable at best. I feel really good about him and hope he continues as another in our long line of great kickers.
I fear we have reverted to our "Field goal U" status of the Billy Bennett/Daniel Inman era.
Even after considering the status of our OL, Bobo's play calling in the red zone is still atrociously inept.
Thanks again Neil Callaway, your legacy lives on!
“Finally,” Stafford said.
“I just feel like I’ve been tapping on that door for a while. It’s really not a big thing, but I couldn’t imagine leaving here without throwing for 300 yards. It wouldn’t have meant anything if we hadn’t have won the game.”
(hmm...that is ominous)
Hey Coach Bobo,
Ditch the read play with Moreno/Stafford inside the 30 yard line. Please.
It's not fooling anyone.
Signed,
Real Defenses.
I want everyone to look at the bullshit espn is pulling now. I went on there site to the nissan vote for heisman page and they have taken Knowshons name off the list. He is leading there voting with over 17 thousand votes and they removed his name from the list. Is there any thing we can do to sto this bull shit?
You don't think the Turds are not going to pick on Evans? For a high school Army All American he has been terrible. O-Line manned up, We are going to have to have that kind of T.O.P against the Turds if we are going to win.
NebraskaDawg
actually, he is not leading the voting. He is third right now behind Ringer and Daniels. But he still should be listed on the watch list.
Question: Does Vance qualify for a medical redshirt? I realize he was juco but does that affect medical redshirt?
Thanks
Go Dawgs!
The OL was improved I think, IMO, but the drive to close out the game also involved a tired UT defense.
Also, Stafford spent *far* too much time getting up off his back. The lack of sacks was nice, but he was getting hit alot.
The game was frustrating in some ways, but we actually scored more offensive points against this tough SEC defense than Florida did (one of their TDs was a punt return). Florida had 2 TDs and 3 FGs while we had 2 TDs and 4 FGs. UGA was actually more impressive in this game than UF was in theirs. I know most people don't like comparisons, but there it is.
Kevin Butler said it best last night. It's not like UT is just going to let you walk into the endzone. They have good athletes on the defensive side of the ball. I'm more frustrated with the 2 INTs and the botched penalty by the refs. Add in the drop by Green, and the new score would be 40-14, even if we got FGs instead of the two INTs...
Not a bad day at all.
+1 Anon 5:11
I guess I fall somewhere between PWD and Quinton on this one (but more with PWD).
The tough question is as fans (not players or coaches) - when is it ok to expect more than just a W?
I've been reading most everything last night and this morning blogs, AJC, ugasports.com) - and the fact remains that with a few exceptions - no one seems content with the W. We left too many points out there, we called the fade pattern again and again, we let an inferior team stay around far too long...etc.
My struggle is I watched the UT & UGA ESPN Classic games the past few days (1992, 1995) and think any victory over the Vowels should be glowingly celebrated. We dominated the statistics and made some hopefully correctable mistakes.
In the end, I find myself siding with those that think we should improvement in enough areas that I think we can compete with the Gay-turds and win the SEC East.
Go Dawgs!!
ANY win over the Vols is great. A win when we hold them to 1 rushing yard, is incredible.
GATA Dawgs!!
Pressure by the d-line? Sporadic at best, and still the major fault on this team. It will cost us the LSU and FU game.
i think the midling assessment offered by q's and pwd's evaluations are appropriately subdued without being hysterical.
at this point in the season, i think that a realsitic best-outcome is a 9-win regular season, and given the landscape of the sec east right now, that doesn't preculde a trip to atlanta. but i think that's going to be tough.
look, we can always bitch about playcalling, schemes, intensity, etc. but the story at the end of this season is going to be the injuries.
Looks Like We managed to beat two teams this w/e....
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegesports/2008257336_cfbroundup12.html
Bottom line to me is that every team we play from here on out has proven that they can be beaten. Look at the film, coach our guys up, and expect to win, injuries be damned.
Did anyone else notice that the hit by Berry on Moreno was also a helmet-to-helmet tackle?
Can a more knowledgeable person explain to me why the defensive holding in the red zone against UT didn't result in an automatic first down?
Of course I am not disappointed with a win, no one should be. We showed signs of being a great team but I still leave the game with a lot of questions. A lot of Bobo's playcalling left me wondering how he could be a OC at any level. I also don't see why Logan Gray continues to return kicks when clearly Prince Miller is having much more success.
A win is a win though I'll always take a victory over the Vols!!
Penn Wagers turned a TD opportunity into a FG with the no-first-down on the holding call. Just saying.
Anon 9:07
Vance isn't eligible for a redshirt of any kind (medical or otherwise). He redshirted in junior college. That's why he arrived at UGA with three years or eligibility remaining.
Brian:
The holding penalty didn't result in a first down because Penn Wagers is incompetent. Having said that, Richt and the other coaches on the sideline should've argued the point. Both failures were inexcusable...
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