Looking Back, Looking Ahead
So now that Georgia’s five-game long preseason, which has to be the longest in college football since Mark Richt was calling plays against Duke and Wake Forest in the Nineties, is over, it’s time to get down to business.
The team, the coaches, the fans, the media, they all know that, in order to beat Tennessee this Saturday, the Bulldogs have got to get their act together: on offense, defense, and special teams. Here we break down all facets from the Ole Miss game and begin to look ahead to one of the biggest contests between the hedges in recent memory.
Offense
Quarterbacks:
Georgia has got to pick a quarterback and stick with him. At this point, I don’t care if it’s Cox, Stafford, Tereshinski, or even Barnes. Shuffling these guys in and out, particularly when the rest of the guys on this side of the ball aren’t helping matters, is only compounding the problem on offense. Stafford certainly had more success against the Rebels, but Kregg Lumpkin is probably responsible for that.
Stafford and Tereshinski are probably your two best options. If the coaches want to go with the more complex scheme, go with Joe T. The only problem with this strategy is that I see John Chavis sticking eight men in the box and daring Georgia to throw the ball down the field, and I think Stafford has a better chance to make those types of throws than (what little) I‘ve seen from Tereshinski.
Tailbacks:
Lumpkin is the guy. He’s the best runner by leaps and bounds right now. You see what happens when you go with a feature back? He got a chance to get into a rhythm and wear down the defense a little bit. Ideally, he should be getting close to 20 touches a game. Ware and Brown are a nice change of pace, but this is about winning football games, not making all three of your backs feel good about themselves.
Receivers:
Did Massaquoi get benched in the second half? Because I don’t recall seeing him on the field at all after those two awful drops he had early on. There has got to be something bigger going on here, because not only does Georgia lack a single reliable option in the receiving game, but Massaquoi seems to have totally regressed since he arrived on campus. Maybe it is just bad luck, but I still have a hard time believing that. Georgia is just throwing guys out there at this point, hoping someone can hang onto the ball.
Offensive Line:
This brings me to my biggest gripe with the offense. I’m not one to complain about play calling, especially when a team is winning, but I’d like to see a lot more of the I-formation and less of the zone blocking we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Georgia’s backs just don’t seem suited this style, as they’re all downhill, straight ahead type runners. I know they’re thin, but this is a big, physical line that can smash people in the mouth and dominate them. Maybe that won’t work against Tennessee, which is why they’ve worked on this other stuff against the “lesser opponents.” At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself.
Defense
I hate to lump the strength of this team into one big category, but this post has been a lot longer than expected, and I think it could be fitting, in a way. I know they haven’t played anything resembling a decent offense yet, but they’re the sole reason why Georgia is 5-0 right now.
Georgia finds themselves shuffling guys in and out at every position, with little discernible drop off. Having a group this deep has allowed stars like Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson to stay fresh late in the game. It seems like they’ve been wearing down opposing offenses, when I think it’s supposed to be the other way around.
Obviously Tennessee is a completely different animal, so the slow starts and struggles against the run will have to come to an end, or this team is going to find itself in a deep hole come halftime. Young guys will have to step up, of course, but the talent and coaching are there to give this anemic offense a chance to win the game. It all comes down to remembering assignments and wrapping guys up. Simple stuff.
Special Teams
While special teams are still an advantage for Georgia, you’ve got to hope that the success Ole Miss had blocking punts is something that can be easily corrected, and I think it is. This is just a wait-and-see thing, I guess.
Conclusion
Mainly, this was a ploy to get the Munson/Dooley poor mouthing out of my system before game week officially begins on Monday. I mean, yeah, Georgia may be winning all these games with smoke and mirrors, and Tennessee has looked scary good for much of the season. But sometimes, I think we fail to look at the bigger picture.
I mean, he we are in Athens, Georgia. The weather is turning cooler and it’s beginning to actually feel like football season, at long last. The Georgia Bulldogs are undefeated and we’ve got at least another week to savor that feeling, walking past Sanford Stadium and sitting in class with the players every day.
We paid $8 for end zone seats that so many people would pay hundreds of dollars for. There’s nothing like a Southeastern Conference game under the lights, on national television, and this is the last chance most of us will ever have to experience it.
Savor it, because you never know when you’ll be able do this again.
The team, the coaches, the fans, the media, they all know that, in order to beat Tennessee this Saturday, the Bulldogs have got to get their act together: on offense, defense, and special teams. Here we break down all facets from the Ole Miss game and begin to look ahead to one of the biggest contests between the hedges in recent memory.
Offense
Quarterbacks:
Georgia has got to pick a quarterback and stick with him. At this point, I don’t care if it’s Cox, Stafford, Tereshinski, or even Barnes. Shuffling these guys in and out, particularly when the rest of the guys on this side of the ball aren’t helping matters, is only compounding the problem on offense. Stafford certainly had more success against the Rebels, but Kregg Lumpkin is probably responsible for that.
Stafford and Tereshinski are probably your two best options. If the coaches want to go with the more complex scheme, go with Joe T. The only problem with this strategy is that I see John Chavis sticking eight men in the box and daring Georgia to throw the ball down the field, and I think Stafford has a better chance to make those types of throws than (what little) I‘ve seen from Tereshinski.
Tailbacks:
Lumpkin is the guy. He’s the best runner by leaps and bounds right now. You see what happens when you go with a feature back? He got a chance to get into a rhythm and wear down the defense a little bit. Ideally, he should be getting close to 20 touches a game. Ware and Brown are a nice change of pace, but this is about winning football games, not making all three of your backs feel good about themselves.
Receivers:
Did Massaquoi get benched in the second half? Because I don’t recall seeing him on the field at all after those two awful drops he had early on. There has got to be something bigger going on here, because not only does Georgia lack a single reliable option in the receiving game, but Massaquoi seems to have totally regressed since he arrived on campus. Maybe it is just bad luck, but I still have a hard time believing that. Georgia is just throwing guys out there at this point, hoping someone can hang onto the ball.
Offensive Line:
This brings me to my biggest gripe with the offense. I’m not one to complain about play calling, especially when a team is winning, but I’d like to see a lot more of the I-formation and less of the zone blocking we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Georgia’s backs just don’t seem suited this style, as they’re all downhill, straight ahead type runners. I know they’re thin, but this is a big, physical line that can smash people in the mouth and dominate them. Maybe that won’t work against Tennessee, which is why they’ve worked on this other stuff against the “lesser opponents.” At least that’s what I’m going to tell myself.
Defense
I hate to lump the strength of this team into one big category, but this post has been a lot longer than expected, and I think it could be fitting, in a way. I know they haven’t played anything resembling a decent offense yet, but they’re the sole reason why Georgia is 5-0 right now.
Georgia finds themselves shuffling guys in and out at every position, with little discernible drop off. Having a group this deep has allowed stars like Quentin Moses and Charles Johnson to stay fresh late in the game. It seems like they’ve been wearing down opposing offenses, when I think it’s supposed to be the other way around.
Obviously Tennessee is a completely different animal, so the slow starts and struggles against the run will have to come to an end, or this team is going to find itself in a deep hole come halftime. Young guys will have to step up, of course, but the talent and coaching are there to give this anemic offense a chance to win the game. It all comes down to remembering assignments and wrapping guys up. Simple stuff.
Special Teams
While special teams are still an advantage for Georgia, you’ve got to hope that the success Ole Miss had blocking punts is something that can be easily corrected, and I think it is. This is just a wait-and-see thing, I guess.
Conclusion
Mainly, this was a ploy to get the Munson/Dooley poor mouthing out of my system before game week officially begins on Monday. I mean, yeah, Georgia may be winning all these games with smoke and mirrors, and Tennessee has looked scary good for much of the season. But sometimes, I think we fail to look at the bigger picture.
I mean, he we are in Athens, Georgia. The weather is turning cooler and it’s beginning to actually feel like football season, at long last. The Georgia Bulldogs are undefeated and we’ve got at least another week to savor that feeling, walking past Sanford Stadium and sitting in class with the players every day.
We paid $8 for end zone seats that so many people would pay hundreds of dollars for. There’s nothing like a Southeastern Conference game under the lights, on national television, and this is the last chance most of us will ever have to experience it.
Savor it, because you never know when you’ll be able do this again.
posted by lconneff | 2:27 PM
1 Comments:
This is one of the most well thought out posts I have seen on this blog. I have read this twice now and I have to agree with everything you just said. I know this sounds gay, but the conclusion really hit home because I'm one of those fans that take things for granted. I know I'm not the only one! Seriously though, we need to step back and remember how good we have it here and enjoy the little time we have left in Athens, particularly during football season.
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