I would imagine that having a month to get healthy played a part in the results. That and finally getting tired of hearing all the bitching. The D played with great effort and the plan was air tight. Congrats to Dent, Dobbs, Wynn, Irvin, Houston and Lomax on the sacks.
On the other hand, the offense. We got back from Orlando last night, so I haven't seen the replay yet. I don't really get what we were doing conceptually with personnel groupings, formations or overall approach. Meaning...did we leave our fullbacks in Athens? Where was the I-Formation? We ran the I a few times, but nothing like the bread and butter formation it has been for us historically. Did Boling start the game at Right Tackle so Josh Davis could play Left Tackle? If so...why would we do that? But I'm sure there are injury related reasons that explain some of it. I'll have some thoughts on that later.
See Also:
-- Defense defends its rep - ABH
-- Defense confident about next season - AJC
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51 comments:
I don't know about starting the game, but I think Davis got hurt during the game and Anderson finished it.
Maybe they were thinking, Boling will play RT next season when Sturdivant comes back to play LT and they were just getting ready for that. Or that could just be a big stretch.
can anyone explain what the heck we were doing on our last possesion before the half? I usually feel very confident with Stafford running the 2 minute drill but that was one of the worst clock managment/play call series I have ever seen from a Richt coached team. Congrats to the D, what a fantastic effort
Will one of you cannibals who have blamed this whole season on CWM, step up and admit you could be wrong ? No chance is was injuries, bad play calling (see first half),STUPID penalties(ditto)? I didn't mention CMR making his share of mistakes. I said last week 10 wins isn't awful.Give CWM and the defense their due for once.anyone ?
Souletrain...
CMR said at the half he wanted to make sure he didn't have to put his defense back on the field. He wanted to try to score, but he said he also wanted to run off as much clock as possible in case we had to give them the ball back. Personally, I think thats the one of the poorest decisions he's made this year, and I am the biggest fan of CMR.
Considering the way we were playing before the half we weren't going to score anyway. It looked lazy but was probably a smart call.
Defense was fantastic. Props to CWM and the defense. Props to the offense as well. They played their tails off, but I can't say the same for CMB. Coaches need to put players in situations that are conducive for success. The no huddle with MS in the shotgun on the first drive was great. But when we got in the red zone we huddled and stalled as usual. Why huddle and give Michigan State time to regroup? Why not go back to the no huddle right before the half? Playing not to lose instead of playing to win is getting very old (Coaches, not players).
I was disappointed that MoMass didn't get his touches. He has earned that right as a senior in his last game. In the forth, there were series where he wasn't even on the field. Same with Southerland
Not to be a negative nancy, but I don't think we should get too excited about the "progress" made by our defense. In the secondary, Allen, Evans, and Byrd got burned a number of times only to be saved by terrible throws by Mich. State's quarterback (and I'm not referring to throws when he was being hurried). Sure, we shut the run down (but so did Ohio State and Penn State against this team). Additionally, sure we came up with 6 sacks, but I squarely believe that this disparity vs. the rest of the season was due to the talent gap. The talent gap (speed and size) between these two lines was probably the largest since we played central michigan. I would imagine that played the biggest part in our defense "dominating" this game.
This game didn't show any necessary improvements against some of our major weaknesses. For one, our ability to stop an offense with a viable running option at Quarterback (KY, Auburn, Florida, and Tech come to mind). Obviously, Michigan State doesn't have this type of quarterback - but I won't be convinced about our ability to sustain a decent pass rush until next season's opener against Ok. State.
This was just an easy victory over the third best team in arguably one of the weakest conferences of the last five years. Let's not get too excited.
With LSU's vast improvement on offense with - GASP - a running quarterback with a strong arm, I fear our prospects for next year. I imagine WM will be fighting for his job all year.
That said...go Dawgs! Thanks for another 10 win season.
How about this for a possible answer?
"Georgia's 15 bowl practices -- including six in full pads -- has shown Richt his defense has made some corrections.
'We tackled more times during our bowl practices than we did all season," Richt said. "I think we're prepared for that type of game.' "
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090101/SPORTS0202/901010368/1132/SPORTS0202
GShock, talent gap regardless, you had to have notice the improved tackling, especially by the secondary. There were several plays that had a chance to gain big but the safeties and corners made excellent open-field tackles.
As far as the pass rush, I want to be encourage about that, but I fear that some of the issue was Hoyer's lack of understanding about the pocket--a couple of times he kept backpedalling or did not step up.
No. One cannot realistically expect the defense to turn it around in one game; however, I recall many a post referencing Sir Ringer running roughshod all over our D. He was held to his lowest rushing total of the season. Period. I find it funny that there were many comments and posts regarding Ringer's stats against Ds, many said that our D was on par with the Northwesterns, Notre Dames, and FAUs of the world. Now, the comparisons are that we are ONLY similar to PSU and OSU. Give me a break!
Good job, team. MSU did not score a single point on a sustained drive. All were short fields. Plus, they missed many, many, many more opportunities.
As far as the offense, it was bad for a half, but they did score 21 second half points. Staff had 250 and 3 TDs and Moreno ended with about 130 total yards and a TD. Not too bad, but I figure there's always SOMETHING that we have to complain about...Unfortunately.
Why not be happy for the way we performed. I don't think this game has much significance towards next season whether we won 24-12 or 64-3. I'm just glad all the Ringer lovers will be gone and that Moreno and Staff put on a very entertaining second half performance.
Props to Willie and the defense. Congrats on finally playing a game of importance like your hair is on fire. Now if we can only get a month to prepare for every opponent. I'm not saying he should be fired, but we did what a top level SEC team should do to a second tier Big10 team. When a defensive performance like that becomes more consistent and the norm (a la 2002-2005) compared to the exception (a la 2006-2008), I think the Willie haters will get more excited.
It was the defense's best performance since Arizona State. I think that is significant, because late in the year they had trouble with everyone.
It comes down to this: if you stop the run and get pressure on the QB without blitzing, you will be successful against 90+% of college teams. MSU may have been easy to scheme for, but they did go out and do it--and stopped montum on the other side in the first half--which is an improvement.
JMan,
Only idiots were making comparisons to NW, Notre Dame,etc. vs. our defense. The only comparison that has matter has been Ohio State and Penn State. And the data bears out the conclusion that no real demonstrative success was made. Also, I saw numerous non-form tackles that just happened to send people out of bounds, whereas in games past they lead to 50+ yard runs.
I'm just saying that overall, I don't think WM did anything to improve his image as our DC. And as Bryan said best, we need to see this kind of performance become more of the norm before we start attacking Dawg fans who happen to demand more of our coaches and players.
Ohio State beat MSU 45-7 in East Lansing this year. They were up 28-0 at the half. Beanie Wells had 140 yards in 3 quarters. Basically, MSU is a horrible, horrible team. But hey it's a bowl win, I guess. I mean you're still counting Hawai'i too right?
Tell the truth UGA WANTS TO BE UF,USC,OKLA,TX, It WILL NEVER HAPPEN UNDER CMR.I think CMR is a classy, nice guy,good man and probably a great neighbor.That said it takes "style "points to win a MNC.CMR is happy to get by bad teams , not destroy them as a true champion should.Now demand more of your coach , if that is true.CPC,CUM,CMB,CBS would have beaten HAWAII BY 75 not stop at the half.Blame the correct coach.
Ohio State is the last damn team I would ever bring up in a football discussion
How bout our secondary? C.J Byrd played an great game yesterday and I don't think he missed a tackle all game long. Go Dawgs, great win, and let the waiting begin.
Strick9 - you nailed it. Were you sitting in the room with me and my Dad watching the game? He said the same exact thing. Bobo was miserable. The D rocked - about time. I thought Asher Allen just played a marvelous game. He's always great, but, this one stood out to me particularly. Also, it appears clear that the "speed" difference is alive and well between at least Georgia and MSU. And, like the announcers, I don't mean speed at wideout and in the secondary, I mean speed everywhere else. Overall, I thought it was one of the worst prepared Georgia teams I have seen in a long time - but the DAWGS managed to drag out a W over a clearly inferior opponent. I've been saying the same stuff all year - when one thing goes well, the other falls off. And all kinds of special teams problems. Can we get a kicker that can kick off? Congrats to the D for playing awesome. I still think Martinez could and should be replaced by a higher caliber coach. GO DAWGS!
compare our defense yesterday to Ole Miss's Defense today. Anyone think we could've done what they did? Did you see how they tackled, the blitz packages, rocked Harrell, and the secondary play?
Yeah there was some improvement yesterday, but it by no means erases this entire turd of a year on D and certainly can't measure up to what Ole Miss did. And that's ridiculous. We have just as much talent & are a better program - we should be just as good & we aren't even close.
Congrats on a pretty good job yesterday but Bobo and especially Martinez needs to go.
Michigan State was slow, did not have a pasing attack, and only one running back. A good Georgia defense should have SHUT out this team. Did anyone see Ole Miss play Texas Tech? This is how We should play.
Stafford is TOO irratic. Green and DJ were better UGA quarterbacks.
Let's get back to passing off the run and conrolling the game.
Waaah! Waaah!
Yep, fire the assistants, fire Richt. A real coach- Urban Meyer, for example- would have come to the Capital One Bowl and just plain LIT UP their Michigan-based Big Ten opponent after winning 9 games during a frustrating regular season.
Oh.
Wait.
The mighty SEC is now 12-12 over the past 24 bowl games against the lowly Big 10.
Must be all that speed.
If no one likes Bobo's play calling maybe CMR should take over calling the plays again.
I don't care how good the defense looked. One game does not wipe out a bad season of defense. It is time for Willie Martinez to go.
I suppose that if Moreno and Stafford leave, at least we have an excellent TD play to remember them by. =/
Was anyone else who attended the Captial One/ESPN commercial formerly known as the Citrus Bowl incredibly annoyed by the non-stop commercials during every stoppage in play? It really seemed worse than ever to me. Maybe it was because I was sitting so close to the screen.
"If no one likes Bobo's play calling maybe CMR should take over calling the plays again."
I was just thinking how much I missed that sprint draw he liked to run that never worked.
So...where are the Sabanphilic Dawgs tonight?
Awesome performance, Bammer. Freaking Willy M. adjusts better than that to adversity.
If Utah played in the SEC they would make a BCS bowl game every year.
Bama couldn't handle that Mountain West speed. They don't see D-lineman that fast in the SEC week in and week out obviously.
Congratulations Utah Utes...... Our 2008/2009 National Champions!
Will one of you sunshine and kitten dawgs man up and admit that it was ONLY F'ING MICHIGAN STATE and our defense was still the main problem all year. k thx. nothing has changed by playing inferior competition. WILLIE MUST GO.
If the Utes offense did that to Alabama just imagine what Mark Sanchez and the stable would do. The SEC fan boys need to keep their mouths shut. Until you play a real team like the Trojans you are all just talk.
Anon 10:39:
Congratulations on one of the dumbest posts ever.
Real teams?
USC and the pac-ten have one exactly ONE BCS national championship. The SEC has won four by three different teams. In fact, the SEC is the ONLY conference that is undefeated in BCS championship games.
Hats off to Utah. They came out fired up and Alabama couldn't recover.
But give me a break. Alabama is a VERY young team. This really shouldn't be too surprising.
And by the way...UGA was dying to play USC last year but was denied.
Guys like you are such a laughingstock...
Denied? Get your facts straight. USC is the ONLY team in the country that will play anyone, anytime, anywhere.
The Trojans don't play Division 2 teams like the SEC.
And before you say the PAC 10 is weak: UNDEFEATED this bowl season
Oh, and the only reason the SEC has one every BCS championship games is because you play Ohio State every year. What a joke.
There isn't a SEC team that can hang with the Trojans.
These SEC/Pac-10 arguments are soooooo tired...
But I will say this: This is not the place to come bitching about schedules. Next year we play at Oklahoma State and have Arizona State at home in addition to the usual gauntlet of Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, and Georgia Tech. You can step off on that when you're fattening up on Stanford and the Washingtons, some of the worst I-A teams EVER.
MOREOVER, the reason Pac 1 teams do not play I-AA teams is because of travel issues: THERE ARE VERY FEW I-AA TEAMS WEST OF TEXAS. Instead they make up for that by playing questionable I-A teams such as Hawaii, San Diego State, Utah State, Nevada, the New Mexicos, etc. There's NO WAY you can tell me that the worst western I-A teams are better than Georgia Southern and Appalachian State--they're just not.
Argue about quality of conferences all you want, but get off the scheduling.
IN ADDITION TO MY POST ABOVE ABOUT SCHEDULES, the Pac 1 does not play a championship game at a neutral site.
You're lucky USC even gets talked about for an NC when it cannot play Oregon or the other best team in its own conference on a NEUTRAL field; that single factor is why Alabama is not playing for the NC, and Florida is.
Alabama was an obvious fraud. Florida isn't much better.
NO SEC team can hang with the Trojans. Face reality SEC kook aid drinkers.
UGA was denied playing usc due to the way The Rose Bowl is set up.
I never wrote that usc wouldn't play UGA. I know they would.
Unfortunately, your third grade composition comprehension missed it.
Those of us who are reasonable UGA/SEC fans know that usc is a great team and a victim of their conference ties.
You are the one drinking the "kook aid"...
And it's "won" not "one"...and Tennessee defeated Florida State in the '98 BCS game and LSU defeated Oklahoma in the '03 BCS game.
Nice try, though...good luck with the 4th grade.
LSU you should man up and give that trophy to Pete Carroll. USC would have destroyed that weaksauce LSU team. Everyone knows that USC was the real champion that year. LOL at beating a crappy Oklahoma team and calling yourself a champion.
USC, you should man up and give that trophy to Tommy Tuberville.
Auburn would have destroyed that weaksauce USC team.
Everyone knows that Auburn was the real champion that year.
LOL at beating a crappy Oklahoma team and calling yourself a champion.
(Keep trying, dumbass)
Hahahahaha Dawg19. Good one.
Anon 4:04 PM: You just got served.
Auburn? Please. You boys in the South can't handle the Trojans. USC always rolls up those overrated SEC teams.
Maybe if the SEC took the best players from the entire conference they might be able to compete with USC. I doubt it though.
Don't feed the troll.
I guess until the sec starts paying reggie bush type money they will stay behind usc.yea denied usc played a #15 illinois team to avoid uga last yr.btw what was the record of pac 10 vs. mtn. west again ?
Georgia is not even on the same level with the Trojans. It would be an epic beat down, trust me. Keep beating teams like Hawai'i and MSU and pretending like you are good. Florida is decent and might be able to run with USC for a quarter or two but the Dawgs? Not a chance.
All that talent , only 1 title ? maybe usc should contact tuberville.usc was beaten by a team that lost 3-0 to pitt get real.there is a reason pac 10 wants only big 10 teams in big games.
Oregon State didn't have its best two players against Pitt. No way UGA could beat the Beavers in Corvalis. And don't even dream about beating the Trojans in the Coliseum. Georgia is just another team. USC is an elite team.
Don't feed the troll!
You're gonna turn this board into one of those idiot shouting fests like the worldwide leader has...none of this "who's better" speculation has ANY merit.
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