Let's throw it around some: the Bert Bielema story

Settled on the field. Regretfully, that field was in Jacksonville. Now I'm rooting for Missouri to win the SEC, because chaos.

Of course, nothing a 16 team playoff won't fix, right?

On to Tech, boys. Making this thing six in a row (again) is the best salve for what happened in Jacksonville.
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Defensive strategy: LBs dropping into coverage

I've had the chance to go back and watch the Arkansas game. There are two very different things that happened in the game. First, Georgia took far fewer defensive chances in the second half. Second, Arkansas decided to go over the middle more.

In the second half:

• Allen completed 20 of his 28 passes
• Arkansas had 230 yards through the air
• The Razorbacks scored three passing TDs, two of them in 4-6 yard territory

Now, there were a couple of things at play. First, with a significant lead, Pruitt blitzed less. Second, by doing so, we were seeing what we could do in coverage while rushing four. Third, that led to a number of pass interference calls, including three in the second half that extended drives.

Oh, and it also resulted in a number of plays where a late releasing WR was open in the middle with a linebacker in hot pursuit, but not closing fast enough.

I get what Pruitt wanted to do. Without the game on the line, he was getting his young CBs some work on an island, and our LBs some more work in covering middle passes. Call it a mixed bag, because I thought Bowman did a good job, outside on one glaring mistake. I wanted to read more into the breakdowns on pass protection in the second half, but I think we went away from what worked in the first half on purpose.

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3 Questions Answered: Arkansas

Nice win by a team coming into their own or all the breaks means a relatively easy win?

I'm happy with either....

1. Can Georgia neutralize their passing game? Yes and no. The middle is still a concern, but I guess it is just going to be. We have definite issues with LBs covering late releasing receivers. Still, the pass rush, particularly from the edge, made the issue fairly moot in the end.
2. Which team wins the turnover battle? "Georgia's successes have hinged on aggressively creating turnovers, while avoiding them when we have the ball. If we win the field position battle due to turnovers, we'll win the game. That simple." - NAILED IT
3. Can Georgia play within our themselves? This is the part I think is over looked when you consider this version of the Bulldogs. After the loss at South Carolina, everyone counted them down for the count. Hell, the pundits were giddily sweeping any chance of UGA winning both the past two games under the carpet. Georgia isn't following their little narrative, and in fact looks stronger now than they did when Gurley was allowed to play. Give that some thought. 

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Sunday Morning Comes: Arkanas

I know I missed how we'd win; I'm ok with that. What I'm mad about is that I didn't predict how we'd be so aggressive defensively early, creating the scenario where we'd be up by so much at half. I'll get to the second half touchdowns later today, and some of them were legit drives by the Hogs, but this was the kind of game I thought we'd be in after Clemson.

• I guess you have to start with the turnovers. Both fumbles were directly caused by our aggressive approach. Give Pruitt credit for the defensive adjustments after that first Arkansas drive. Both interceptions were the result of our much improved play on the ball during passes. 
• It isn't an overstatement to say Swann's interception quelled any chance Arkansas had of stealing back the momentum going into the half.
• I loved the way our front seven handled their huge offensive line.
• I didn't love the way our LBs looked like they missed picking up releasing TEs and slot receivers. As I mentioned, I'll get to the second half TDs later today, but we've still got work to do in middle field coverage.
• Georgia gave Arkansas seven first downs via penalty. A couple were hairline calls on out of bounds hits. Three were holding/PIs by Bowman. That isn't to get down on Bowman; he's in his second week at the position. One was a coin flip that could have gone against Arkansas. I think that'll stop as he grows into the position.
• Still, holding a top five nationally rushing team to 2.5ypc below their average is strong work.
• Nick Chubb: 30 carries, 202 yards. Yeah, Nick Chubb can carry our team all he wants.
• Also, it is good to see Hutson Mason getting some confidence back. 
• And Chris Conley being the recipient of that.
• Give the offensive line, and Quayvon Hicks, credit for the blocking they did in the first half. Outside of a couple of times where Arkansas run blitzed and got it right, Chubb didn't face contact until two or more yards past the line of scrimmage. 
• Part of the reason Arkansas was able to come back is their defensive line won the battle in the second half, at least until the game ending drive. The inconsistency of our offensive line is going to be a recurring theme here on out, I'm afraid.
• Give our Dbacks credit. They have to be our most improved until through seven games. They still have some room to improve, especially in man on man situations, but they are doing a great job in zone coverage, close on the ball/get hands on the ball better, and time hits on the receiver much better than last year.
• Our special teams were pretty good, with the exception of punting. Barber has been inconsistent. Erickson did a good job pinning Arkansas inside the ten with his, but neither look like they are getting good height on the ball. 
• Morgan had five touch backs/kicks into the end zone. I'll take that all day.

Give Arkansas credit for taking what Georgia was giving in the second half. We lost defensive focus and they made us pay. Offensively, we tightened up due to the lead, but we also didn't take but one down field shot, and that was a touchdown. 

And we won on the road against a team that very few outside of Athens thought we'd win against. 

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3 Questions: Arkansas

Ok, Saturday morning questions as this is the only game I'll not see in person for the rest of the season....

1. Can Georgia neutralize their passing game? I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but if Pruitt's gang has Arkansas in an 'all we can do is run' mind set, we'll be able to handle whatever they have. Arkansas had Texas A&M beat until they got cute (and nearly successfully so) throwing the ball. If we take that away from the Hogs, we have an advantage late in the game.
2. Which team wins the turnover battle? Georgia's successes have hinged on aggressively creating turnovers, while avoiding them when we have the ball. If we win the field position battle due to turnovers, we'll win the game. That simple.
3. Can Georgia play within our themselves? Putting aside the non-sense with Gurley, we have a deeper and more talented team than Arkansas. Will Arkanas present a challenge we haven't faced yet? Absolutely. Do we have a team that can slow that running game down and turn around and make them pay with our running game? I think so.

Like I said yesterday, I fully expect us to be behind during the first half, only to come back to win with a pounding running game and some surprise passes thrown in late. 

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4th Quarter issues for Arky

When you sit down and look at Georgia and Arkansas, you see offenses that look a lot alike:

UGA rushing and passing stats:

Split	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G
All Games	6	264	1654	6.27	21	44.00	275.67

Split	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	TD	Int	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
All Games	6	146	101	69.2	1020	7.0	9	3	144.09	24.3	170.0

Arkansas rushing and passing stats:

Split	G	Att	Yards	Avg.	TD	Att/G	Yards/G
All Games	6	268	1672	6.24	21	44.67	278.67

Split	G	Att	Comp	Pct.	Yards	Yards/Att	TD	Int	Rating	Att/G	Yards/G
All Games	6	147	84	57.1	1085	7.4	10	3	137.51	24.5	180.8

Arkansas is converting 3rd downs at a slightly higher clip, 49% to 44%, with Arkansas' offense facing one more 3rd down than Georgia.

Defensively, Georgia has the edge. Georgia has allowed a yard less per play than Arkansas, and five points per game less. Our rushing and passing defense are better than theirs, as you would expect.

One other thing that jumps out is their 4th quarter scoring and points allowed:

But it gets stark when you consider scoring by quarter:

SCORE BY QUARTERS     1st  2nd  3rd  4th    Total
--------------------  ---  ---  ---  ---      ---
Georgia.............   79   68   31   81  -   259
Opponents...........   31   38   10   29  -   108

Score by Quarters  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  OT  Total

Arkansas            84   76   35  41   0    236

Opponents           28   42   28  38   7    143

So it isn't hard to see that Arkansas is a much better first half offensive team.

Their offensive rushing stats are telling. Arkansas is the top first half ypc team in the nation at 7.67. Georgia clocks in at a not shabby 5.59. The Hogs lose a full 2.75 ypc, at 4.83 ypc, in the second half. Georgia increases by over a yard to 6.72. Notably, Arkansas has equal number of rushes in both halfs, while Georgia has 106 first half rushes and 158 second half rushes. While some of that is Gurley, his actual first half vs. second half rushing stats aren't as unbalanced as you might think. To date, he's only attempted eight more rushes in the second half than the first half.

The defensive rushing stats for Arkansas also bear out a significant fall off after half time. The Hogs are limiting teams to 2.8 ypc in first half rushes, with teams attempting 95 rushes against them. In the second half, they are giving up 5.29 ypc on 97 attempts. Their second half passing stats show a similar let down.

So, what does that mean? It means we will try to run the ball right at them, wear them down and want to take over in the second half. Don't be surprised to see us fall behind by two scores in the first half. Don't be surprised to see us still running the ball down by two scores.

And don't be surprised when we pull away to win in the fourth quarter.
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Friday Morning Meltdown: Arkansas

I've got problems with some of you people...

• Arkansas finally finishes a game strong.
• The kid playing back up middle linebacker for Arkansas getting his first start turns out to be way better than the all-conference kid that is out with an injury.
• Georgia's players, tired of reading about how incompetent the AD is on DawgVent, didn't really think they could win without Gurley. 
• Lo and behold, they can't win without Gurley.
• Hutson Mason completing more passes to Arkansas players in the 3rd quarter than to Georgia players.
• Directional kicks to the 20.
• Marshall Morgan getting the yips.
• Our defense suddenly looks like Texas A&M's defense...and our offense looks like Florida's offense.
• Fumbled punt returns.
• Nick Chubb's ankle.

Yeah, I've got some stuff.

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Georgia's chances against Arkansas

I know stats might lie, but Bill Connely has a good eye for using them well. In his weekly SEC conference projections, he's got Georgia winning the East in a probable 2 game runaway:
Odds of SEC conference records


Part of this is based on who each team in the East has to play yet (yay! we avoid Ole Miss and Mississippi State). Part is based on Georgia being an 80%+ favorite in all remaining conference games but Auburn, where we are currently a 65-45 dog.

Just for laughs, here is how we stack up against Arkansas:

Rk

Team

FBS Rec

FEI

LW

GE

GE Rk

SOS

Rk

FBS MW

FBS RMW

OFEI

Rk

DFEI

Rk

STE

Rk

FPA

Rk

7

Georgia

5-1

.234

22

.266

4

.205

47

8.8

3.8

.606

7

-.204

46

2.706

11

.602

1

48

Arkansas

2-3

.088

46

.061

44

.081

15

5.1

2.4

.187

47

-.147

52

-2.221

112

.517

43

Just looking over this, we are significantly better than Arkansas in offensive efficiency, and slightly better at defensive efficiency. I also want to call your attention to STE - Special Teams Efficiency, the scoring value earned by field goal, punt and kickoff units measured in points per average game, and FPA - Field Position Advantage, the share of the value of total starting field position earned by each team against its opponents.

Both of those indicate a another significant difference in the two teams. Looking over those two factors, especially the special teams efficiency, it isn't hard to see punt and kickoff coverage/returns being huge factors for UGA Saturday. Georgia's average starting field position on the season is our 35. Our opponents are starting on their 25. While ten yards doesn't seem like that much, when you multiply that over 10-13 possessions a game, it is huge, especially against a team that wants to grind it out against you.

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Georgia at Arkansas kicks off at 4pm on SECN

Games on Oct 18th:

TIME (ET)	EVENT	NETWORK
Noon ET / 11 am CT	Furman at South Carolina	SEC Network
3:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm CT	Texas A&M at Alabama	CBS
4 pm ET / 3 pm CT	Georgia vs Arkansas (at Little Rock)	SEC Network
7 pm ET / 6 pm CT	Missouri at Florida	ESPN or ESPN 2
7 pm ET / 6 pm CT	Tennessee at Ole Miss	ESPN or ESPN 2
7:30 pm ET / 6:30 pm CT	Kentucky at LSU	SEC Network

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Bret Bielema is a hypocrite

There has been something about Bielema's screed against hurry up offenses has been bothering me, but I couldn't quite get my finger on it. I knew, in the recesses of my brain, there had been something in the recent past that stood out to me about him shooting an angle on the rules without regard to player safety, but couldn't quite figure it out. After all, he's complaining about teams exploiting the current rules (can snap the ball as soon as it is whistled into play) to gain an advantage.

Then I remember this:


So, yeah. He of the we are running too many plays and worrying about guys getting hurt intentionally exploited a rule to run out the clock at the end of a half by asking his kickoff team and Penn State's kick return team to run headlong into each other at speed three times. I guess guys are the same players after just three plays, so it doesn't matter as much. Alternatively, you can say with all the extra time in between each play, you could substitute a new expendable walk on gunner player, this isn't so bad.

Spare me, Bert.

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Coaching news galore

Sources: Arkansas to hire Bret Bielema es.pn/YwIsh0
— ESPN_SEC (@ESPN_SEC) December 4, 2012

First, Arkansas pulls the stunner by reportedly hiring Bret Beliema from Wisconsin. Before you start with 'he should want out' or whatever ponder this:

• Bielema is from Prophetstown, Illinois (about 70 minutes from Madison) and grew up a Wisconsin fan.
• He was recruited by Iowa to play Dline and ended up going there. He has a Hawkeye tattoo.
• After stops at Iowa and Kansas State, he ended up at Wisconsin and became the hand picked successor to Barry Alverez.
• He has a pretty decent recruiting base in Wisconsin, especially for the B1.5G type players he needs (read: non-athletic farm boys)
• Presumably, as he is a well-to-do 40-something white guy with a tattoo from the mid-west, he owns a Harley.

Sorry, that just strikes me as a crazy assed hire. For both sides. To be fair, Bielema won't be put off from calling the 'Hogs after coaching in Camp Randall, what with all the noise and the lack of nutrition awareness. 

Reports: Gus Malzahn to be named Auburn head coach cbsprt.co/THz3fm One of AU's 2010 heroes comes back to the Plains.
— Eye on College FBall (@EyeOnCFB) December 4, 2012

Then Auburn does the most predicable thing in the world and hires Gus Malzahn to coach the Tigers. I hope his wife gets her own radio show out of the deal, 'cause I'd listen to that.

I'll have more thoughts on both hires, but neither strike me as home runs.

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Well, That Happened: Georgia Dominates Arkansas

Gerald Robinson doing his thing
(AP Photo/The Athens Banner-Herald, AJ Reynolds)

You know, after getting my hopes up and having them dashed against the rocks of cruel realism, last night was salve for my basketball soul.  Georgia so thoroughly dominated Arkansas that it felt like we were winning by more than 20 the entire second half.

We've been down this road before: play well in the first half, come out flat in the second half.  Didn't happen this time. I'm not sure what Mark Fox said to his team after getting the very quick double technical in Knoxville, but he needs to write it down. Make some posters and sell them to Successories.

The technical details? Robinson played with the confidence he has shown at time, but hasn't captured for a whole game. The front court dominated the boards and didn't play weak when the ball was shot.  Our offense was consistent and well run. We out rebounded Arkansas, we out hustled Arkansas, we out defended Arkansas. Marcus Thornton showed the promise of the strong front court player we signed. Neme showed his defensive performance against Alabama wasn't a mirage (plus he drained two beautiful threes, hello European basketball). It was 40 minutes of hell, but for the wrong reasons for the Hogs.

The Hogs are a middle of the road SEC team. Until last night, they were a tournament bubble team. Last night put them squarely in next four out territory. You don't lose to a team that has played such bad basketball by 20 and make the NCAA tournament.

For one night, one glorious night, Georgia played a full game of good basketball. It might have been fools gold, but it sure glitters right now.
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Arkansas Compared to Georgia

One thing that has stuck with me this week is the obvious comparison between the SEC's two 10-2 teams. Both lost to very good teams. So, is it enough to say Arkansas dominated one of the teams Georgia lost to and be done with it? No. Not at all.

True, Arkansas dominated the Gamecocks, but that was South Carolina's second game without Lattimore. Furthermore, when you look at the other head to heads, the picture is very different. Georgia and Arkansas faced six common opponents:

Team	Ark Result	UGA Result	Ark Off/Def	UGA Off/Def
Auburn	38-14	45-7	438/395	528/195
Ole Miss	29-24	27-13	438/370	475/183
Vandy	31-28	33-28	388/462	443/348
South Carolina	44-28	42-45	435/207	436/395
Tennessee	49-7	20-12	499/376	366/269
Mississippi State	44-17	24-10	539/211	315/213

If you are keeping score at home, this is very, very close. Arkansas gained about 30 more yards per game. Georgia held the common opponents to nearly 70 yards per game less than Arkansas did.  Both teams nearly lost to Vandy in Nashville.

One thing that keeps jumping out at me is the same thing we all have been harping on.  Georgia lost to South Carolina thanks to the unholy trifecta of Interception/Fumble/Fat Guy Fake Punt touchdowns. If any one of those three don't happen, Georgia wins. If Georgia wins South Carolina, there is a strong likelihood we'd not only be having a Game of the Century of the Week discussion, it is possible this would be for a berth in the national championship game. We allow any of those Saturday, it'll be Orlando or worse for the bowl.

To put it another way, if Vandy doesn't allow a 94 yard fumble return for a TD or could hit a field goal on October 29th, the whole Arkansas is way better than Georgia conversation is laughable.

It seems apparent to me that with Arkansas' schedule, Georgia would be no worse than 9-3, and more likely at least 10-2. We certainly belong in the best of the rest conversation. We'll find out Saturday if we might belong somewhere above that.

But if your argument is Arkansas beat South Carolina and Georgia couldn't, just know how dumb that sounds when you look at the match ups.
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Wooooooo, Pig! Soooooie!

Just to get your fired up for tonight.

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Photos: UGA vs. Arkansas Part 2

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.


King makes a gutsy play.


Robinson on the tackle.


Richt yells.


Richt ponders.


Stretching for the endzone.

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.

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Photos: UGA vs. Arkansas Part 1

All images by Jim Hipple. Click to enlarge.


Kris Durham makes a tough catch.


Durham from another angle.


Ogletree with the special teams play.


Logan Gray on the punt return.

All images by Jim Hipple. By the way, all our Arkansas articles have featured Jim's pics.

PWD

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Patience for the Defense (Part 2)

It's a very big deal to make the switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4. As David Pollack said this morning on 790theZone, those problems are compounded by asking kids to do things they've never done technique wise. Like the OLBs standing up instead of playing at the line with their hands down. (Image: Coach Grantham - By Jim Hipple)

The problems are futher compounded by the fact that our players weren't good tacklers the past several years. You don't allow 31.4 points per game in SEC play on accident. It takes a lot of blown tackles and assignments to get you there. Solving that issue isn't going to happen over night.

The other schematic problem we're dealing with exists in the secondary where Lakatos and Grantham are asking our CBs to move from playing mostly soft zone to a more aggressive man to man scheme. This issue is compouned by the switch from "playing the man" to "playing the ball."

In the past, Martinez 's troops were asked to guard the man. The theory being that a ball doesn't catch itself. If you guard the man, the ball can be swatted away at the last minute. It's also in theory easier to teach this technique because finding and tracking the ball in flight isn't easy. Changing to defending the ball means ... again in theory ... that you wouldn't have DBs seemingly lost as to the location of the ball as it's caught over their shoulder for a TD. The problem is the switch to these schemes and techniques are significant events.

They aren't made easier when the DB with the most natural ability (Branden Smith) is on the bench with a concussion.

Should we have played softer zone coverages with Sanders Cummings and Vance Cuff out there? Maybe. Revis Island is a scary and inhospitable locale. It's a rocky place where a WR's seed can find no purchase.

Unfortunately, Bulldog Islands are still excellent vacation spots, and I'm pretty sure the last ARK TD was booked as a Rewards Stay.

Maybe Grantham needs to tone the coverage down in terms of aggressiveness? I can't say, but things look messy because change of this magnitude is messy.

All that said...the disorganization and inconsistent ability to figure out who should be on the field or where to line up is a totally different thing. It bugs the hell out of me. Otherwise...like I said yesterday. I'm trying to show more patience.

PWD

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Patience for the Defense

While I have virtually zero patience for the progress of our veteran offensive line's play to date, I am digging deep and hunkering down on the patience front for the defense. Consider a few stats through the first three games. (Image: Hitting Mallet - by Jim Hipple)

Scoring Defense:

• Overall: Our defense is allowing 18.3 points/game in 2010. Through the same 3 game period in 2009, we were allowing 34.0 points per game. That's an improvement of 15.7 points per game. For the season last year, our defense allowed 25.8 points/game overall and 28.0 points/game against Div I opponents.

• Vs. SEC Opponents: So far, we're allowing 24 points/game against SEC foes. Last year, against the same two opponents we surrendered an average of 39 points/game. That's an improvement of 15.0 points per game. Overall on the season, UGA allowed a staggering 31.4 points per game against SEC opponents in 2009.
  

Now consider those stats in light of the fact that both Arkansas and South Carolina are better offensively this year than last. Plus, Georgia is implementing a new scheme while dealing with the loss of 4 or 5 players to the NFL draft from last year's squad.

Granted the stat sample is still very small, but the overall trend line defensively in terms of year over year improvement in points allowed is trending in the right way.

I was blown away by those stats. Did they shock you at all?

PWD

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Ten vs. Eleven

It's awfully hard to win a football game when you're routinely putting yourself into a position to play 10 vs. 11. Watching the Arkansas game live that's what I felt we were doing. (Image: T. King came to play - By Jim Hipple)

Obviously, we're having problems with the offensive line blocking effectively or consistently. To compensate for this problem on passing downs, we're asking our TEs and/or our RBs to block for various versions of Max Protect packages. The hope -- they will supplement the OL's inadequacies and give Murray time to throw to the 2-3 WRs actually running routes.

The problem with this approach is pretty simple. Our running backs and tight ends either cannot or will not block effectively on a consistent basis. If you have a guy who isn't running a route or blocking, he's basically just a bystander. That means you're playing 10 vs. 11, and you're dead on arrival.

Some suggestions on fixing this:

A. Fix the Offensive Line. I know you're saying "duh." But it really is this simple. This group has more combined starts than almost any group in the nation. Searels needs to get a Crowbar, Jaws of Life or a Gigantic Lever and pull our offensive linemens' heads out of their respective butts. These guys CAN play, and they are talented. This isn't like 2003 where we have inexperienced, injured kids trying to fend off LSU's man eaters. We had a veteran, mostly healthy group dealing with the worst defense in the SEC last year. Our guys have proven their ability to perform at an above average to elite level through much of '07, portions of '08 and the last half of '09. But they are grossly under performing right now. And there's no clear reason why. It would be a bigger concern if they hadn't proven their ability before. That's why it's so frustrating.

B. Maybe Bruce Figgins, long considered an above average or better blocker, should be in the game on passing downs where we're going Max Protect.

C. Should Orson Charles be better utilized flexed out at WR instead of asking him to do something that he can't or won't do effectively and consistently.

D. Consider putting an offensive tackle at TE. If you're not going to send the TE out anyway, what difference does it make to have a TE in there? Get a kid that wants to and/or knows how to block on the field.

E. Maybe play 4 or 5 WR sets with some quick check down options. One of them can be a TE if you're looking to create pre-snap mismatches in personnel. I don't care who it is, but if the kid isn't going to block...send him out for a pass.

F. Consider running the guys that can't or won't block until they can't eat supper.



G. Maybe teach the kids who can't consistently how to do it or get someone else in there. Coach Dave Johnson might not have been much of a recruiter as TE coach, but his TEs could damn sure block. When Tony Ball was coaching RBs it seemed like they could pass block. What's going on with McClendon and Lilly in this area right now? (Video: That's what it should look like. Ht - Carter)

We shouldn't have to wait for Caleb King and Chapas (who are both better blockers than Ealey and Thomas*) to get healthy. These are issues our current personnel should be able to address.

Going Forward:
We have a massive talent advantage over Mississippi State, Colorado, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. There's no reason why Georgia can't roll into Florida with only two losses. But they aren't going to do it playing 10 vs. 11. Nor are they going to do it feeling sorry for themselves or giving less than max effort.

In my opinion, we tried playing 10 vs. 11 for five years on defense with Martinez and Jancek, and it was the root of our issues. We got nothing out of the SAM linebacker spot in the 4-3 defense against the pass, and we got nothing out of the MIKE against the run in the 4-3 (with the exception of Ellerbe's run from mid-'07 - the Bama '08 game when he got hurt). That's how we rolled for 5 years, and that got a bunch of guys fired and a lot of opposing offensive coordinators pay raises.

This team can be more. But it won't be more routinely playing a man down.

All of this is fixable.
It may not seem like it right now, but it's fixable. Luckily, the schedule is set up to give us the opportunity to fix it.

Will it get fixed though? That's up to the players and coaches. It makes me nervous that I haven't already read about a players only meeting. That should've happened on Sunday at the latest.

PWD


*Not for nothing, but I've made a lot of jokes privately and a few on this blog about Carlton Thomas' size. But I'll say this for him...Near the end of the game, he stuck his face mask into some large LB's chest on a blitz and really did deliver a nice block that saved Murray from another brutal hit. However, the physics of asking a guy his size to do that routinely aren't very good over the long term. That said, I do want to acknowledge that he delivered a ridiculously good block at least once when he was grossly outmatched physically. It wasn't as good of a block as Tony Milton's legendary decleater at Kentucky in '04 to save our QB from a blitz, but it showed a lot of courage.

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OHHHHHH!-&-Two

First of all, congrats to the Hawgs. They did exactly what they needed to do for Petrino's first road win in eight tries. They protected the tall, power-armed Ryan Mallett on all but one drive and he picked Georgia's secondary clean. Mallett hit three absolutely wide open receivers for long touchdowns and engineered a efficient second quarter drive for a touchdown that showed why Arkansas was picked to challenge Alabama for the SEC West crown. Congrats to the Hawgs, enjoy your trip to Dallas or Orlando on New Year's Day. (Image: Kris Durham makes a play. Image by Jim Hipple)

On to the Dawgs. The defense was fundamentally better. There were fewer missed tackles and our defensive line was much improved on inside runs. The trouble was scheme execution. The Dawgs couldn't get to the quarterback enough, despite a variety of blitz packages. The defense registered only one sack and it was in the waning minutes of the fourth. Without pressure on Mallett, our DBs weren't able to keep up with Arkansas receivers in man-to-man coverage. When they could keep up, they couldn't make a play on the ball. On the few occasions that our pressure hurried Mallett, there always seemed to be a shallow crossing route consistently open for him. Grantham still has a bunch of work left to do.

On offense, I am just absolutely puzzled. How can an offensive line that experienced and who dominated at the end of last year be so mediocre? Last week, they couldn't run block. This week, they couldn't run block or protect. And when the line did protect, Washaun would completely whiff his protection assignment. On that last offensive play, I thought Ealey had gotten Murray beheaded.

I know a bunch of folks are getting all over Bobo, but I really think the problem is with the line. We have to be able to run the ball. Without it, our passing game isn't as effective. I don't know how many times I can say that. Bobo's offenses have put up points in prior years. The team has to execute. Look, Bobo made some curious calls on specific plays, but those didn't get us beat. The thing I can fault Bobo with was not giving more variety in formations in the first half. If we absolutely cannot run it, show some shotgun looks and run some swing passes and a few quick, horizontal passes to the wideouts. We never tried to mix it up much other than the Wild Dawg, which wasn't very effective without solid blocking.

Lastly, I'm really sick of the fourth quarter pep talk. It seemed to work, but why didn't we have that same sense of urgency and desire that we showed for most of the fourth quarter when we started the game? Richt publicly stated how important this game was to the program and we looked stuck in second gear for three quarters. Move the pep talk to the first quarter, please.

So here we are, fighting to cling to any scrap of national relevance. We aren't going to Atlanta. Adding to that, our head coach is facing a confidence crisis. The Bulldog Nation is about to become a very nasty place, divided between those who want a change and those who want to persevere. I'm still thinking about which side I'm on, but I'll say this: Since 2005, our program, when compared with our peers, is behind. Is it recruiting? Is it coaching? Is it discipline? I think it's a mixture of all of those things. Mark Richt is a great man and has proven himself a good coach. For many, the memories of past glories are forgotten and all that remains is the pain and aggravation of the present. Is all that Richt has accomplished enough to maintain our faith in him? The fact that I'm asking the question shows the problem.

Quinton

P.S. I know the TV announcers went on and on about A.J. missing the game. Get over it. We knew the default position all week was that A.J. would not play. Would it have changed the outcome? First, A.J. doesn't play defensive back. Second, Durham's no A.J., but he made his share of plays. Our offense can't be solely dependent on a single wide out. There's another team in the SEC who's been missing the Heisman Trophy winner and has still absolutely destroyed people. A.J.'s a great player and he would have made a difference, but he was suspended. We can't change that or use it as an excuse for a loss.

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