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
Short man out
September 26th, 2011
10:03 am
Ga needs to play mason—murray is just too short to play QB in the SEC–he can barely see over the O-line.
djdawg
September 26th, 2011
10:04 am
Good grief !! what has happened to B. Smith, looks like he is scared to death back there feilding punts! Gonna cost us somewhere along the line!!!!!!!!
djdawg
September 26th, 2011
10:09 am
Also see we can no longer rely on B. Walsh either. Need to start punching the ball into the end zone instead of relying on him.
LawDawg
September 26th, 2011
10:16 am
Bad conditioning? UGA? Surely you jest!!
Also, I have not been one to really bash on Bobo. I think he (usually) is better than given credit by the teenagers and double-digit IQs that frequently comment here, but that was truly a terribly called game. I know Nix can scheme a D and Ole Miss actually has a few playmakers on D, but that was wretched. If Crowell had not been running so well, or if Ole Miss had more talent we easily could have lost. That WILL NOT fly against MSU or really any other SEC team.
UCF Dawg
September 26th, 2011
10:28 am
Murray’s height has nothing to do with his ability to play well in the SEC. If that was the case then Drew Brees would not have a Super Bowl Championship under his belt and be one of the best QBs in the NFL today. I don’t like Murray’s consistency issues as much as the next Dawg fan, but it has nothing to do with his height and everything to do with his mental game vs physical game.
I would say bringing in Mason during a 2-TD lead early in a game would be good. If Murray keeps up his interception and pocket presence issues, I say sit him so he wakes up. I do BELIEVE (not KNOW) he is the most well rounded, talented and versatile QB on the roster right now, but he is not playing up to it 4 games into the season.
AltamahaDawg
September 26th, 2011
10:30 am
As has been said over and over. Any number of factors (including the highly probably making of 3 more FGs) would have widened the margin of victory. This idea of not wanting to score more, or not trying to score more, is silly. Of course they would have. But How do we know a different set of plays would have produced any different results.
Grind it out, give the ball to the back 25-30 times, we hear that all year long by fans. Till they do it. I suppose if they could outscore the opponents by 30 points WHILE being running the ball over and over, then it’s all good. (count me as voting for that too) We ain’t that team right now.
The team we ARE right now is the one that has lost quite a few games lately by TO the ball late in the game, giving away points. THAT’s the “momentum” changer. I’m trying to remember the last game they lost by being conservative with a sizable lead, controlling the ball and the clock till it’s 0:00, getting on the bus and heading home.
Ray Goof
September 26th, 2011
10:35 am
I could coach betta than this from the chicken restaurant
Dawg Tired
September 26th, 2011
10:36 am
Thank God we played the only team in the SEC with less heart and more predictable coaching than the 2011 dogs (they don’t deserve to be called DAWGS) . Call it like it is…sloppy, undisciplined, no hustle (especially on special teams) Do we even have a special teams coach? Are other coaches starting to realize we don’t give any effort on special teams? Rambo and the other d-backs don’t even jump on extra points…Know what sux? When you flip the channel and see FSU and Clemson playing and you say I wish UGA played that hard…Mark Richt wants to be a missionary …I say God Bless him… you can’t serve two masters…Go with God….seriously…his heart isn’t in it..there is no passion…there is no will to win…get Chris Petersen in here…buy out his contract with Boise State..he has had a taste of the big time when he handed Mark Richt his a$$ at the Georgia Dome…his mother was a UGA Cheerleader for crying out loud…my only fear at this point is that when Mark leaves the idiots will try and do some politically correct social experiment…. instead of building the program the Dawgs will be the first team in the SEC coached by a Vietnamese, left handed lesbian ….
AltamahaDawg
September 26th, 2011
10:36 am
Clearly the game against (anyone else) is not going to be dictated by the set of circumstances in the second have of a game against Ole’ Miss. The logical conclusion to the question of “what if this were team X” is that we would have beat team X. It has to be. The premise of that question assumes everything goes the same way.
(or can we pick and choose which halves from various games that we assign to UGA VS team X)
DAWG258
September 26th, 2011
10:47 am
The problem is UGA doesnt break through the door. Bobo gets conservative and settles for FG’s.
I have yet to see this offense gel enough to consistantly punch it in time after time. Also, while I’m at it let me state something we all have come to the conclusion to by now…… if you are a junior or senior WR on the bulldog roster you should have your scholly stripped!
Bill, should-a could-a but didnt put up the points! If you figured out at any point that the FG kicker was having a bad game we should have went for it more often ( like every other coach in the SEC )
Bill, your next story should be some insight on if we have a special teams coach and if we intend to practice special teams at all this year?
We play like that this weekend and we’ll lose! and I’m sure the word is out ALL FAKES and ONSIDE KICKS will be successful against this team! absolutely putrid play!
Re@Listic Dawg
September 26th, 2011
10:54 am
Georgia will never blow teams out like they should because that is not richt’s style…
AltamahaDawg
September 26th, 2011
10:59 am
And IF Miss State plays like they just did this past weekend, they will lose.
Mad Mike
September 26th, 2011
11:13 am
domination?
SSIgator
September 26th, 2011
11:21 am
“Georgia’s offense still not quite ready for prime time”
The only chance UGA has for “prime time” is if Richt moves practice to 9:00 pm on the week nights.
GaTruth
September 26th, 2011
11:22 am
@Re@Listic – and that’s a problem. When you have a minute left and a timeout and are on your 35, you don’t head to the locker room. You try to demoralize your opponent by scoring again. Beating them down IS a valid strategy that helps win games – a la Saban, Stoops, Spurrier, Meyer, Miles, Carroll, Switzer, Bowden, etc. etc. etc. We need killer instinct.
Joey
September 26th, 2011
12:05 pm
That (11:21) really was funny, SSIgator. Didn’t know you had a funny side.
You can go back being snarmy now . . .
Pollyanna
September 26th, 2011
12:27 pm
1.DE Justin Houston – would have been senior 2011
2.RB Caleb King – would have been senior 2011
3.WR AJ Green – would have been Senior 2011
4-ILB Brandon Burrows RFr waited until Fall Camp for surgery lost for year
5-RB Dontavius Jackson transferred to UAB
6-WR Lonnie Outlaw – failed Qualify 2010, WR Ga Military
7-WR Walter Hill – kicked off team or would be Senior 2011
8-OL Chris Little – transfer NW C College then Southern U then ineligible academics
9-OG Ben Harden – would be Senior 2011
10-WR Logan Gray- Senior Transfer Colorado
11-DE Montez Robinson – would be redshirt sophomore 2011, kicked off
12-QB Zach Mettenberger – LSU,would be redshirt sophomore 2011, kicked off
13-DL Chris Mayes – Dream Team 2011 failed Qualify, MS Gulf Coast Nose Tackle
14-LB Kent Turene – Dream Team 2011 failed Qualify, Jireh Prep NC
15-DE Jalen Fields, failed to Qualify 2010
16-OL Brent Benedict, RFr. — Transferred to Virginia Tech
17-SS Nick Williams – Senior 2011, transferred North Alabama Strong Safety
18-OL A.J. Harmon, Jr. — Transferred to Alabama State
19-TB Washaun Ealey, Jr. – Transferred to Jacksonville State
20-LB Marcus Dowtin, Jr. — Transferred to North Alabama
21-FS Jakar Hamilton – Senior injured, transfer out
22-OG Kolton Houston R Fr NCAA eligibility
23-OT Jonathan Owens – Redshirt Junior 2011, medical disqualification
24-DE Jeremy Longo, Jr. — Medically disqualified
25-OL Tanner Strickland, Sr. — left program not playing senior year injury
26-OL Trinton Sturdivant, Sr. — knee injury
27-CB Derek Owens – flunked out bowl game transfer 9/26
AltamahaDawg
September 26th, 2011
12:31 pm
really?
Joey
September 26th, 2011
12:32 pm
….smarmy….
FBallCzar
September 26th, 2011
2:07 pm
Aaron Murray can’t convert enough 3rd down, one of worse in country there, 75th.
Aaron Murray is taking too many sacks, 11 in 4 games, 100th in nation there.
Aaron Murray is 0-8 against winning teams as a starter.
Aaron Murray could not score against the worst team in the SEC in the entire second half.
Hutson Mason, we need you or else we may not win 5 games.
whatacrew
September 26th, 2011
8:47 pm
Wow – So Crowell ran for 140 yards on 30 carries against Ole Missy – I could have done that and I am 38. What a horrible defense. After all – Vandy put up 30 points against Ole Missy and the back Stacy for Vandy ran 169 yards on just 11 carries. Does that mean Stacy is a better back than Crowell?? You dawgs just need to get over yourselves beating a team that is 113th in passing, 106th in rushing, and 103rd in points for. We all know what happens to Georgia when they play “quality” opponents.