Scoreboard didn’t reflect domination by Dawgs
Orson Charles makes a great touchdown catch against Ole Miss. (Associated Press)
A few more thoughts and observations about Georgia’s win over Ole Miss. …
It’s true there was more grumbling in the Bulldog Nation than you’d normally expect after a win, and, yes, if Blair Walsh hadn’t missed those three field goals a 36-13 score would have better reflected Georgia’s near-complete domination of the game.
But the fact that the Dogs had to resort to Walsh four times showed Georgia’s offense still not quite ready for prime time.
It stands out even more when you look at the Dogs’ time of possession by quarter. After holding it 7:26 in the first quarter and 9:03 in the second, for a total of 24 points, Mike Bobo decided to try and sit on an 11-point lead and went conservative in his second-half playcalling.
So while the Dogs had the ball 10:56 in the third quarter and a whopping 11:11 in the fourth, they got only 3 points out of all that time on the field. Thus, the grumbling.
OK, maybe Bobo’s faith in the way Georgia’s defense was handling the Rebels was well-placed, but that kind of mentality is not going to cut it against the better teams remaining on the schedule. …
Richard Samuel and Carlton Thomas were sporadically effective in relief of Isaiah Crowell Saturday, and while that upright running style of Samuel’s doesn’t result in many long gainers, he deserves special mention for his extra, twisting effort on that fourth-and-1 that the Dogs just barely made. But the best use of Samuel appears to be throwing to him out of the backfield. That 25-yard reception was a fine job. Let’s hope we see more of that when Crowell is taking a breather. …
Speaking of Crowell, you could tell he wasn’t the same runner in the second half that he was in the first, losing some of that ability to bounce out of the grasp of a would-be tackler and turn it on outside. Yes, 30 carries is a considerable workload, but Crowell admitted after the game he was winded in the third and fourth quarters, in contrast to South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore, who seems to get stronger late in games. As someone once said, the ball ain’t heavy, so conditioning is obviously where Crowell needs the biggest improvement (along with picking up the blitz a bit better). But the first half showed what a special player Crowell can be when he’s on his game, and even a winded No. 1 is a good potential weapon to have in the backfield. …
It was good to see Bobo finally remember the tight ends Saturday. Orson Charles led all receivers with five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown, and backup Aron White had three for 52 yards and another score. Still, it was an up and down day for Charles, who dropped one pass and let another bounce off his chest, only to have it intercepted. But he did a great job of hauling in a perfectly thrown but difficult pass from Aaron Murray in the corner of the end zone. As stocked with talent as Georgia is at the tight end position, it can only be a plus if Bobo calling their numbers more Saturday was a sign of things to come. …
Special kudos to gritty Kenarious Gates, who wasn’t fully recovered from an ankle injury but still toughed it out for the whole game on the offensive line because of Chris Burnette being out. It would be great if other Georgia players took inspiration from his example. …
You’ve got to give Houston Nutt credit for his special teams game planning Saturday, and not just for the handoff/reverse on a punt return or successful onside kick. His negating of Georgia’s dangerous return men on punts was superb. Punter Tyler Campbell’s alternating of line-drive rugby kicks with the occasional high looper resulted in only two of his nine punts even being returned by Georgia, one for 2 yards and the other for a loss of 2, meaning the Dogs ended the game with a return average of 0. …
Finally, Jon Fabris was in the crowd Saturday and Georgia’s special teams play was pretty awful. I’m not suggesting the two facts are somehow connected or that Fabris has some sort of bad mojo that can mess the Dogs up even from the stands, but let’s just hope Jon doesn’t plan to make following the Dogs a regular thing.
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321 comments Add your comment
DawgVoiceofReason
September 25th, 2011
9:35 pm
Bill,
What are the facts about Crowell? If he is hurt or injured, please don’t imply or insinuate that he is out of shape. You and others continue to do that. Do you really believe what you are saying? It doesn’t make sense on its face.
But regardless of whether he is or is not in shape, his individual condition does not reflect on the conditioning of the team as a whole. To argue otherwise, as others have done, is foolish. He is a Freshman who has only been in the program a short time.
Whiskey Breath
September 25th, 2011
9:39 pm
I think it is time to extend Richt’s contract. I can see him now structin his stuff after the big win!
He won the hotseat bowl. By the way, Nutt cashed in in along time ago, he has a 3 million dollar buyout. Nutt didn’t sweat it.
PT
September 25th, 2011
9:40 pm
What ever happened to Uncle Ben? He always helped with my grammar.
rxdawg79
September 25th, 2011
9:41 pm
@JB: “we are able to Watch Bama,LSU and Florida play on TV and then you begin to realize how far this proud program has dropped.”
Totally agree with you. I watched the UA/Ark and LSU/WVU games yesterday. Bama and LSU play the game light-years ahead of us. Didn’t watch UF so I can’t comment there. However, we should be grateful that neither the Tide nor the Tigers are on our schedule.
SC Dog fan
September 25th, 2011
9:41 pm
3-2 after beating Miss. State would sure make me feel alot better about the economy! Come on CMR!
JR
September 25th, 2011
9:42 pm
Why is it that if some people (myself included) feel that the team is not playing to its potential and the overall state of the program is not what it should be that we somehow have less of a right to offer criticism than others to state their positive positions? It is not being a “fair weather fan” or “negative” to state one’s opinion that we are not where we should be. A win is a win. Sometimes you win ugly or lose a close game that you should have won. But to imply that the 3 going on 4 year back slide in wins and the overall appearance of the program in terms of lack of discipline and ability to win big games is somehow a new thing is just putting your head in the sand.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
9:45 pm
Ghost. Just shut the He** up if you don’t have anything positive to say. You’re just another hating troller and no one cares what you have to say. You obviously expected the Freshmen to play like NFL players in the first game. That would be pretty stupid to expect. I think the Freshmen have looked great since then. The turnovers hurt against SC but SC was totally dominated on that day. I have been impressed with Crowell, Mitchell, Bennett and Herrera. I think this team is showing that it has some great young talent and is about to go on a run. Sit back and watch. It will be fun to see all the naysayers have to shut their pie hole.
PT
September 25th, 2011
9:45 pm
rxdawg79 – grateful indeed. It would be an embarrassment of epic proportion.
Still@theBAR
September 25th, 2011
9:45 pm
Who will Murray throw to next year? I can’t see O. Charles coming back this being his Jr. year. If UGA isn’t in the Dome or #2 in the East I see Charles taking the money and bolting for the NFL.
What do the rest of you think?
Delbert D.
September 25th, 2011
9:48 pm
Mitchell and 4 or 5 tight ends, at least.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
9:49 pm
Still@theBAR , Jay Rome is redshirting and is going to be a beast of a TE. They say as a Freshman he could be starting for most teams but he is behind Charles, White, and Lynch here. He’ll also have Mitchell, Bennett, and Marlon Brown who is struggling through an ankle injured in the first game.
PT
September 25th, 2011
9:50 pm
Stay@theBAR cause it will not matter.
Still@theBAR
September 25th, 2011
9:53 pm
I understand Murray has targets, but his favorite is Charles. He always knows where Charles is. I don’t know if he can do the same with another player. That is just what I have noticed.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
Jay Rome will be that next player.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
From the practice videos I have seen Rome is bigger than Charles and has a better set of hands. One video I saw from practice this summer he caught a badly thrown ball from one of the QB’s around his knees then turned up field.
Macclenny_dawg
September 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
As a UGA fan Richt has 2 go!!! He will B gone after Tech game!!! He has divided the fan base against each other and whoever gets the job will unite the fan base. Ever wonder why year in and year out we don’t have players ready 2 play??? Its because we play not 2 lose and never blow anybody away so our backups never get a chance 2 shine except in practice!!! Then the coaches don’t have confidence in them because they never been in a game situation!!! Florida, Alabama, Lsu they blow the average teams away and get their freshmen in the game and get 2 play !!! It also rests their starters and eliminayes the risk of injury!!! Somebody name a game in the Richt era where we blew a good team out??? Only 8 more games in the Richt era!!! I just hope we get a proven coach who replaces Richt!!! Go Dawgs!!!
Still@theBAR
September 25th, 2011
10:01 pm
Richt said. “And also I’ve just been busy trying to get first downs and touchdowns and things like that. … I’m kind of the guy that says, ‘Hey, just tell me who we’re going to play, and let’s go play ’em.’”
Wouldn’t be better if he said” let’s go beat’em.”
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:02 pm
may not be Richt’s or Murray’s problem, although with a top notch OC, murray might flourish. We do nothing to surprise anyone. Speaking of that, did anyone notice the draw Bobo called on 3rd &15. Kudo’s to my wife, she called the play before the ball was snapped. We don’t EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR try to stretch the field in those situations, unless it’s late 4th qtr and we’re losing.
UGAKev
September 25th, 2011
10:06 pm
“Mike Bobo decided to try and sit on an 11-point lead and went conservative in his second-half playcalling”.
That says it all about our coaching staff Bill, playing not to lose is exactly what I saw sitting in the stands at the game. Were playing Ole Miss who couldn’t score on their mothers and yet were scared to go for the throat. I want a coaching staff that is going to coach a team without worrying about their jobs by sitting on a lead. If we try this approach against Tennesse , Florida, or even Tech it will not work because they can score some points.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:09 pm
You know, I’m getting really sick and tired and bored we these unoriginal Richt must go comments. So, if we got someone else and I don’t think there is anyone established or better, if he struggled the first 2 years with the same players then you will have a bunch of idiots saying HE must go. What would have happened to FSU in the 90’s if all the FSU fans that were fair weathered idiots have pushed for Bobby Bowden to be fired in the 80’s when he could win more than 8 or 9 games for about 6 years. Those 90’s championships would have never happened. It is rare for a coach to have the success that Nick Saban and Urban Meyer had in their first few years. Most coaches go through a period where they have some seasons where they struggle. You don’t throw everything in the trash and start over. People like Macclenny dawg are complete idiots. They where the ones just loving Mark Richt when he was winning 10-11 games a year. Now they want to bash him. The only mistake I think that mainly McGarity made this year was they should not have played that Boise game knowing we may have to rely on some Freshman. We should have played Coastal Carolina first a tuned up for a game like that. Since that Boise game I think the team has played pretty well. Think about this, we now have the same record as FSU who started out #5 in the polls. You think the FSU fans are ready to get rid of Jimbo Fisher. No because they are a lot smarter than some UGA fans.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:11 pm
Coach Dan Mullen
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:11 pm
JB, I think we stretched the field pretty good when Murray completed that 60 yard pass to Mitchell. You know what? That was not in the 4th quarter and we were not behind.
16 games, 7 W's and 9 losses
September 25th, 2011
10:12 pm
Has anyone seen Crowell run 3 straight plays—-he runs twice and heads for the
side lines, so much for coach T’s conditioning program. The boy needs to run the stadium
steps until he drops, which would be proably once.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:12 pm
Was it 3rd and long?
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:13 pm
JB, on the draw on 3rd and 15, were we on our side of the field? You don’t have many 3rd and 15 calls. It’s better to be safe and punt when you are up and your defense is playing well.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:13 pm
Has Malcomb had a carry ? That would be Boo.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:15 pm
I saw Crowell run several plays in a row. When you got a rib injury it’s probable hard to keep your wind. don’t think it has anything to do with the conditioning program. Besides, Crowell didn’t come in until the second week of June. He wasn’t in the conditioning program for the whole off season.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:15 pm
Must be a Georgia Thing. Lots of other teams don’t ” give up” on a drive
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:15 pm
JB, I was wondering about him too. It looks like he’s one of those guys that can’t keep healthy.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:17 pm
JB, I don’t think you would see Nick Saban chunking it down the field on 3rd and 15 in his own territory with a lead and a defense playing good.
AceDawg
September 25th, 2011
10:18 pm
The Dawgs played ok. Ok as in they would have lost to a top 25 team. UGA is always talking about games as if they are preparation for the future. The good teams play with urgency and push for top line performance NOW. I’m worried about the Dawgs but will certainly keep cheering them on as long as they win.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:18 pm
An 18 year old can’t get in playing shape in 90 days. In high school , we started getting in shape around the first of August….and most of us played both ways, just say’n. Also , being ranked the #1RB recruit in the country, you would hope he would hit the door “in Shape”, just say’n.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:18 pm
JB, If you noticed Ole Miss was playing a 4-2-5 defense most of the day with 5 DB’s. You don’t have much success against that on 3rd and 15 when they know you have to pass to get it.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:19 pm
JB, were you a RB trying to play with bruised ribs?
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:19 pm
I think Nick plays to win. Scoring 3 on Ole Miss in the second half, do we? or are we just a pretty simple football team?
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:20 pm
Offensive Center and DT. Played hurt a lot. Had to.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:20 pm
One thing you haven’t seen this year is a total collapse in the 4th quarter like last year. You noticed in the SC and Ole Miss game they were still playing strong in the 4th quarter so I would say that the conditioning program is working.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:21 pm
JB, you don’t have to sprint a lot at those positions.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:23 pm
JB, the point I was making is that if you watch most games a lot of OC’s call a running play on 3rd and 15 because to chunk it when they are playing a defense looking for it on your own side of the field is risky. I don’t think even Nick Saban takes those risks.
Keeping score
September 25th, 2011
10:23 pm
By actual count, Russ soiled his red panties more than Israel Troupe by a score of 4-3.
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:25 pm
kerryb, IMO. I don’t think there is any energy left on that team to be dynamic. We all compare things in life, wife’s, lawns, salaries etc. I’m comparing these Dawgs to the best lawns in the conference, and trust me, we need a heavy dose of weed and feed. We ain’t got it. It’ll all play out the next 9 weeks.
I think Mark IS a great guy, but we aren’t playing top level SEC football….And haven’t in 2 years.
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:25 pm
Keeping Score, why don’t you go to the Tech blog with all the other morons.
interesting
September 25th, 2011
10:26 pm
Bill– i usually like your articles– but come on– grasping here. Sober up before the work one week starts. It was Ole Miss and every one else that has played them has looked better than us.
Still@theBAR
September 25th, 2011
10:26 pm
if Crowell is really hurt why not sit him against a bad Ole Miss Team so he could be healthy for Miss St?
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:27 pm
Then you’ve never played the line. Getting tied up in a street fight on both sides for 48 minutes takes a ton of stamina.
As a public service...
September 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
Mississippi State 34, Georgia 24
Bye bye SEC East!
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
Still@theBAR , have you seen Richard Samuel IV and his upright running? He should have stayed at LB. We could use him there. I like this tandem of Carlton Thomas and Crowell.
17 games, 8W's and 9 losses
September 25th, 2011
10:28 pm
JB and kerryb,
Ya’ll need to get a room
JB
September 25th, 2011
10:29 pm
LMAO 17 games……
kerryb
September 25th, 2011
10:30 pm
JB, I didn’t notice Crowell needing a breather in the SC game until he bruised his ribs. He obviously getting winded because of it.