Dogs managed big win despite patchy defensive effort

Maybe Mark Richt should let Sanders Commings have a few plays as a receiver. (Associated Press)

A few more thoughts about Saturday night’s win over Kentucky. …

If you’re in a glass-half-full mood, you can take encouragement from the fact that the Dogs managed to notch a big SEC win on the road against a resurgent Wildcats team without really putting it all together and playing a complete game. If you’re of the glass-half-empty mind-set, you’re bothered by such things as the way the defense still had trouble stopping third-and-long conversions, continuing pass coverage problems in the secondary and the minor slump that Blair Walsh seems to be having. …

Walsh might be suffering a sudden lack of confidence or concentration (missing a PAT??!!) but Drew Butler seems to have returned to last-season form. His punting was awesome in Lexington and, along with the take-aways, helped the Dogs win the field-position battle. …

For the most part, you couldn’t really complain about Mike Bobo’s playcalling against the Cats, since it was pretty obvious Georgia was in a run-first mode and was only going to put the ball up when it had to. But, really, that third-quarter three–and-out when Washaun Ealey was on the sideline was depressing: Two Carlton Thomas runs for not much and an incomplete pass. In general, when Ealey wasn’t the ball carrier, the Dogs’ ground game didn’t do much. Hopefully the return of Caleb King to the mix next week will mean the Dogs’ offense doesn’t have to take a series off just because Ealey is taking a rest. …

Justin Houston has become a major weapon for Todd Grantham’s defense, what with the sacks, forcing a fumble, recovering a fumble and batting down a pass in addition to all the times he hurried Mike Hartline. And in the Dogs’ secondary, Sanders Commings is getting better each week. That interception in the end zone was a catch worthy of A.J. Green.

But it looks like the light still hasn’t come on for poor Vance Cuff. And while we’re on the subject of pass coverage, Grantham still hasn’t solved the problem of what happens when the blitz doesn’t reach the QB in time and receivers are left wide open. At times it looked like Georgia was afraid to play man-to-man, but the zone clearly wasn’t working. …

The most obvious aspects of Ealey’s play against Kentucky were the record-setting five touchdowns and lack of any fumbles. But also impressive was the second-effort that allowed him to muscle in some of those scores. …

Green had, for him, a quiet game with six catches for 86 yards and no touchdowns. But that screen pass where he broke some tackles with really tough running to get it down to the UK 10-yard line was vintage A.J. …

Aaron Murray wasn’t called on to do a whole lot except hand off or pitch the ball for much of the game, but when he did throw, he completed 75 percent and had no turnovers. And Georgia as a team again had no turnovers. If that is the case in Jacksonville, the Gators will be in trouble. …

Lastly, this was the first CSS coverage of a game I’ve seen in a long time and I hope it’ll be a very long time before I see another. Between play-by-play announcer Matt Stewart and “analyst” Chris Doering prattling on about anything other than what was happening on the field, those interminable cutesy sideline features by Allison Williams that often overran plays, and the lousy directing and camera-work that at times missed the action, it was one of the most irritating football broadcasts I can recall. It’ll be good to see the Dogs back on CBS next week, even if Verne Lundquist is several seasons past it. …

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