Georgia Sports Blog FanShop

October 13, 2011

3 Questions: Vanderbilt

Playing in Nashville always worries me.  Normally, it isn't that much of a game, but we always struggle early there.  Vandy's D is much better than in years past.  Vandy's offense is Vandy's offense.
  1. Will Georgia be up for the game? Having an off week before Florida is a double edged sword.  Getting an extra week to heal and prep is huge. With the way our defense is playing, I hate for them to have a week off. That leads me to the concern I have about Vandy and the team not being focused on Saturday night.  The Commodores are strong defensively, especially on the run. 'Bama exposed their weakness on the short passing game, so look for us to leverage Orson's size and the running backs' receiving abilities early. Talent wise, this is a 24+ point win.  If we show up and play the same defense we've been playing, it could end up being that much or more.
  2. Will we see a more open playbook in the second half if we have a 2+ score lead?  Richt gigged Bobo's play calling a bit about us getting ultra conservative on the last drives in Knoxville.  I don't expect us to take multiple down field shots if we have that kind of lead.  I hope we will do more than a 23 dive on 3rd and 8 on back to back to back to back drives. 
  3. Can the defense keep up the intensity?  Many commentators have made mention of how weak Georgia's schedule is in pointing out how strong the defense has looked.  What they haven't mentioned is how they looked vis a vis the 'really good' defenses in the conference.  For example, Mississippi State gained 193 yards (3.3 yards per play average) against LSU and scored two offensive FGs.  Against Georgia, Mississippi State had 213 yards (3.2 ypp average) and scored one offensive FG.  If the Dawgs do close to Vandy what Alabama did (190 yards, 4.4 ypp, 0 points), that is one more indication where the defense is.
As a bonus, will we finally get the long run back from Smith or Boykin we've been waiting on?

2 comments:

PatinDC said...

#1 is the key to me. THe most distressting trend of the past few years has been the flat game out of nowhere.

Anonymous said...

I would personally rather see a long run from Crowell.

 
Copyright 2009 Georgia Sports Blog. Powered by Blogger Blogger Templates create by Deluxe Templates. WP by Masterplan