The final Q&A of the regular season today is brought to you by some help from MaconDawg of the SBN UGA site, Dawg Sports. The ‘Dawgs roll into COFH plagued by injury on the offensive side of the ball, but still as almost 3 TD favorites. After an up and down year from Carson Beck, and a lackluster showing against UMass last week, read below to see what it will take for the Yellow Jackets to cover, or even pull the upset.
Despite only heading into COFH with 2 losses, this is definitely a down year by Kirby Smart’s recent standards. The Bulldogs have great wins against Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee, so the talent is obviously there…. so what have you seen that’s contributed in the 2 losses? And from those 2 losses, what are you expecting the Yellow Jackets to pick up on and try to attack?
Bulldog fans knew this season was always going to be tough for a couple of reasons. One is that the SEC, in the first year of a new conference alignment and new TV contract, was going to parade Georgia around the southeast like a prized show pony. The Red and Black were scheduled to play four teams in the opening AP top 12, all on the road. It’s not completely surprising that Georgia would drop a couple of those even if they were humming on all cylinders. It’s just tougher to win on the road.
But as you’ve correctly noted the Bulldogs haven’t been quite as smooth a machine as in years past. The biggest culprit has been injuries. Georgia hasn’t started the same five offensive linemen in the same spots for four weeks in a row at any point this season. That’s created a clear lack of continuity. They’ve also played large chunks of the season without defensive leaders Mykel Williams, Smael Mondon, Warren Brinson, and Jordan Hall. Finally, the running back corps is an absolute shambles. Last week true freshman Dwight Phillips, who entered the season seventh on the depth chart, ended up getting significant Carrie’s to spell true freshman Nate, Frazier, who’s been pushed by injuries from fourth on the depth chart to starting.
A symptom of that dysfunction, the thing Tech may be able to take advantage of, is Georgia’s propensity for slow starts. The Bulldogs have trailed in the first quarter in all but four games this season. If the Jackets can take advantage of that to build some early momentum and a quick lead, it should be game on.
At QB, it seems like for every flash of Heisman-level brilliance-play that Carson Beck has, he has a terrible interception to even it out. As someone who hasn’t watched a ton of UGA football this fall, is this on his O-line, receiviers, coaching… or just him making bad decisions?
Beck has struggled to some extent in the absence of Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey. Those guys, as we’ve seen so far in their NFL careers, cover up a lot of mistakes. He’s also been hampered by the loss of Rara Thomas, who was set to be the top returning receiver before he was dismissed from the team early in fall camp, and the absence of Colbie Young, who was a clutch receiver in the early going before also missing the last six games due to legal issues which appear as if they’ll soon be resolved.
However part of the issue is that in response to those losses Beck has really pressed, and Mike Bobo appeared to be struggling to figure out how to get him into a reliable rhythm. Some of that has abated in the past two weeks however, with Beck being a much more reliable QB against Tennessee and UMass.
As I put on my tin foil hat, do you think Kirby actually called bad plays for the defense last week against UMass so that he could fire up the defense heading into run-heavy Georgia Tech? The MinuteMen were able to rush for a whole bunch of yards, as well as pop a couple huge passing plays, which is generally the playbook for Brent Key. Was Kirby trying to give his team some bulletin board material? Or did they just not get hype for a meager UMass team?
I’m reasonably sure it was the latter. Georgia tackled very poorly against the Minutemen. While the long pass plays in question were a little fluky, Georgia also reacted poorly to some of the eye candy in the UMass run game. That’s concerning both a) because Buster Faulkner knows this defense really well from both a scheme and personnel standpoint and b) because he likes to do a lot of the things that Georgia struggled with against the Minutemen.
It’s been a while since I have been to Athens, but I remember loving the Creature Comforts brewery space, as well as having my mind blown at The National a couple of years ago when I was there trying to impress the woman I ended up marrying. I still think about that meal sometimes. For our long time readers, do you have any new bar / restaurant recommendations in town ahead of the game?
I don’t know about anything new, but you can never go wrong with the Globe for a drink, Last Resort for a bite to eat, or perhaps the Royal Peasant for a bit of both.
Between the 2 QB situation and a heavy offensive line rotation, the GT offense has looked pretty different week to week, but it has largely been a cohesive plan from our offensive staff week to week. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the vaunted Bulldog defense this year? If Tech is going to pull the upset, will it be via the air or ground?
Georgia has been pretty effective rushing the passer this season, especially over the past couple of weeks since they’ve had a full cohort in the front seven. But if you can keep the pocket clean the secondary is open to exploitation. I think the key for the Jackets will be to establish the run, then take some shots downfield off of that. If they hit a majority of those shots and avoid turnovers, they have a shot.
And finally, how do you see this game going this year? At writing, UGA is getting about 19.5 points as a home favorite, which I think seems a little high. Do the Bulldogs cover?
It seems a bit high to me as well, but within the realm of possibility. It’s really a matter of which UGA team shows up. Is it the one that ripped into Texas from the opening kick? The one that came out slowly but eventually pulled away from Florida and Tennessee? Or the one that never got on track against Ole Miss? None of us ever really know, which is what’s made Georgia football such an adventure this season.
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Thanks again to MaconDawg for taking the time to chat with us ahead of this evening’s game.
Let us know what sort of beverages you are consuming today to get your mind right for COFH. Kick is at 7:30.
Go Jackets!