Saturday, September 11, 2010

Thoughts on South Carolina

We knew it was going to be a tough game with AJ out of the lineup. At times the offense looked good, but only getting 6 points off three trips to the red zone killed us. But that's not the really story of this game.

Following the game, many people were quick to jump online and immediately blame the defense. Yes, the tackling was bad, but Lattimore is the real deal and sometimes, good players make good plays. Overall, I felt the defense actually played pretty well. Before you jump down my throat, let me explain.

On the legs of Lattimore, South Carolina moved the ball down the field fairly easy today. The defensive gameplan was pretty dead on, the execution was what killed us. It began in the first quarter with arguably the most important play in the entire game. Georgia forced Carolina into a 3rd and long, but a 21 yard draw by Lattimore kept the Gamecocks on the field. they would keep the ball for the first 8 minutes of the game and ended the drive with a touchdown. At that point, are defense was already beat down.

From that point on, the Georgia defense was able to hold its won pretty well. Yes, Carolina did score again, but if you were to tell me after the opening drive that Carolina would only score twice more the entire game, I would be pretty happy. the defense stood strong through much of the second half, holding Carolina to only a field goal. Justin Houston continued to be a beast, notching three sacks and forcing a fumble. What hurt the Georgia defense all day was not the scheme as much in the fact they were on the field for most of the game. The Georgia offense only had the ball 8 times in the game and four of those ended in three and outs. With a tired defense, that is just inexcusable.

Onto the offense, where I really have to question the lack of creativity in the play calling. I know we had a redshirt freshman making his first road start, but in my eyes Aaron Murray looked up to the challenge. He threw the ball well and did not make the mistakes he made in week 1. The problem was, we once again failed to force our wide receivers into action. With AJ out, clearly we don't have that great deep threat, but three passes beyond fifteen yards is not going to get the job done.

Ealey looked good running the ball, especially in the first half. I know Caleb was nursing an ankle injury, but I would have at least liked to see him on the field. He is a different type of runner than Ealey and maybe that change in style would have opened up the run game a little more. the Ealey fumble really killed the game for us. I felt we had the momentum swinging our way, but it just wasn't meant to be.

Overall, this was a bad game but there are a number of good things to take away. I think the defense will only to continue to improve. Coach Grantham's system was solid, now we just need to crank up the execution. Aaron Murray is going to be a great quarterback. He looked poised on the road and will only continue to get better. This is only one loss and at least it happened early. With a pass heavy Arkansas team coming to town, hopefully the defense can continue to get pressure and maybe force some bad throws from Mallet.

We've got ten games to go in the '10 season. Let's not panic. A 17-6 loss on the road to Carolina is bad, but we were still within a touchdown with the ball with about 7 minutes left in the game.

And hey, things could be worse. At least we lost to a talented team. Can't say the same for Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech.

GO DAWGS!!!

12 comments:

Ben said...

Maybe it's the booze and the long day but F the World dude. I'm tired. I'm tired of waiting on the dream season to materialize. I'm tired of excuses.

Streit said...

There's no excuses, we got beat by a talented team. With a new defensive system and a freshman quarterback, I didn't expect a dream season. The lack of the personnel to run the 3-4 defense also showed today. The key to running the scheme is a big body at nose to eat up two players on the line. Tyson, while talented, is not that player.

Anonymous said...

No matter how good our defense becomes we are not going to keep SEC teams to zero or three points. A major reason we have not done well the last 3 years is our offense disappears in important games. Especially when we face talented defensive coaches. We need to get new offensive coaches or continue to enjoy the same old results. Keeping SC to 17 points was enough to allow us to win. Do we need more embarrassments from Fla, Ala and Tenn to convince us we have a problem?

Sports Dawg said...

I agree Streit, one game does not have to make or break this season. We didn't play well, but we were still a horrendous third down spot and a super crucial fumble from rewriting this script. The East is weak,and we don't play nearly as tough a West contingent as Carolina. But we have to be a team that improves each week.

Ben said...

Guys I respect the efforts to find the silver lining but since the 2005 SEC Championship season, we are now 10-11 against the SEC East. That's equal to Jim Donnan's 5 year run. I'm sorry but all the cache that Richt has built up in those first 5 years is GONE. I'm a 12 year season ticket holder and lifetime Dawg. No, the sky isn't falling but things need to improve in a HURRY. Like, one week against Arky in a hurry. Inexperience, injuries, blah blah blah. They're excuses. We get top 15 recruiting classes year in and year out. This was the kind of game Richt won in his first 5 years.

10-11 in the SEC East.........sobering.

Ally said...

Ben: +1

I'm out of patience with Bobo & Searles. This is re-damn-diculous.

Uncle Dawg said...

We were exposed.

Our team weaknesses were exposed.

Our coaching deficiencies were exposed.

The team was not ready to play this game.

It's the same old song, just a new season.

Did anyone notice Grantham was more subdued on the side line Saturday compared to the ULL game? He certainly had more bonehead plays to jump his D about and fire them up, IMO

Maybe, just maybe, someone told him to calm down on the side line after the ULL game? I think we can all figure this one out. It's unfortunate, because if there was ever a game where the players needed a fire lit under them, it was this one. Don't get me wrong, the D played well enough to keep us in the game and were worn down in the 4th because they had been on the field all day, but that does not excuse the poor fundamentals seen on Sat. Even the announcers commented on how Rambo was just standing and watching. Pretty embarrassing.

Earl said...

We lollygagged on offense. We lollygagged on defense. We lollygagged on special teams. What does that make us?

"Lollygaggers?"

Lollygaggers! What's our record against the SEC East since 2005?

"10-11."

10-11. How did we ever win the 10?

"It's a miracle."

It's a miracle!

-Sorry, but the "Bull Durham" scene comes to mind.

Unknown said...

BNE,

Suffering in Chitown... BOBO MUST GO. Sorry but this is year after year, game after game. The guy is simply unqualified and CMR keeps him around because he's a past dawg. BOBO vs. The OL' Ball Coach = Bobo Fail. CMR, get angry and fire his @$$.

Chitown DAWG

Anonymous said...

Richt and Bobo are afraid to let Murray do anything. I agree, no creativity in the game plan. total vanilla. Bobo should be the next to go. Good article. I agree with you 100 percent. Let's see what the Hogs bring in this week. Then we'll really know how good or bad the situation is.

Gov Milledge said...

If we can't either defensively stop Arky or bring the offensive firepower to keep up with them, there will be a lot more gnashing and wailing next weekend than everything I've seen so far after this game. I agree tho Streit, we didn't open up the O-playbook; the running wasn't happening, so let Murray loose.

I will say the SC fan reaction wasn't as painful as some losses, altho we did see one fight at the post-game tailgate and I nearly went off on an 8 year old telling off each UGA fan he saw

Ben said...

MT,

You're experience must've been better than mine. Walking down those spiral walkways (the ones in each corner of the stadium) with about 5 minutes to go in the game, each person wearing UGA gear was getting blasted and doing their "chicken dance" in front of people and obstructing their way. Also, people yelling out of their cars "go the F back to Athens". Also, the audacity and ignorance to call UGA people rednecks. Oh the irony.

I'll never go back to that hellhole. They'll never get another dime of my money. If it wasn't for Charleston I might not ever go back to the state.