Thoughts From the Box: Georgia Defeats Texas A&M 19-13
ATHENS - It was a nasty day in Athens and it was a nasty day for Georgia’s offense.
While the Bulldog’s offense continues to struggle, they made just enough late plays to close out a 19-13 win over the visiting Texas A&M Aggies.
While the defense was spectacular yet again, it’s Georgia’s offense that is still struggling to put up points. It’s hard to win an SEC game while scoring just 19 points, but that can be done when you have a defense the caliber of Georgia’s.
The Bulldogs had a semi-comfortable 19-3 lead early in the 4th quarter, but just like last week, the game got close towards the end. The defense saved Georgia last week, and this week it was D’Andre Swift and Georgia’s offensive line. The Bulldog offense couldn’t get a first down late in last week’s game to close it out, but they got the job done on their final drive today.
Once again, Jake Fromm didn’t have his best game. He missed a wide-open Brian Herrien in the 1st quarter that could have led to a touchdown, and then missed a wide open George Pickens down the field soon after that would have likely ended up a touchdown.
Junior quarterback Jake Fromm was just 11/23 for 163 yards and 1 touchdown. Some of that was because of the rain, but alot of that was just due to bad QB play. Fromm missed open receivers and lead the Bulldogs to just one touchdown on the day. He did make some nice throws here and there, but there was more bad than good from Jake Fromm today.
D’Andre Swift continues to be the spark this offense desperately needs. The junior carried the ball 19 times for 103 yards today and helped seal the win on the game’s final drive. It still feels like Swift needs to touch the ball more. This offense thrives when Swift gets the ball and can get in some space. Swift was caught 4 passes today for 29 yards. Freshman George Pickens caught two big passes for 57 yards, including a touchdown.
Like they’ve done all season, Georgia’s defense won the game for them today. The Bulldogs gave up -1 yard to the Aggies on 20 total carries. They did give up some plays through the air in the 4th quarter, but they stepped up late in the game and forced A&M to punt with just a few minutes left to play.
Aggie quarterback Kellen Mond, one of the better quarterbacks Georgia has seen this year, was 25/42 for 275 yards and 1 touchdown.
Tyler Clark, Jordan Davis, and Devonte Wyatt were outstanding once again. Georgia’s defensive line is one of the best in the country and they proved it again tonight. Linebackers Monty Rice and Nakobe Dean also made some key plays tonight. Turnover machine Richard LeCounte recovered a fumble early in the 2nd half.
The secondary has played better. It’s tough to dominate when quarterbacks are throwing close to 50 passes, but they still made some nice plays throughout the game. They did give up 9 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown to Aggie receiver Jhamon Ausbon, but he was the only guy who really did some damage to Georgia’s defensive backs.
Overall, this Georgia team needs to do a better job of closing teams out. This game should have been over in the 3rd quarter. The Bulldog’s has plenty of chances to run away with this game, and like last week, they had to hold on late to get the victory.
The seniors deserved this win. Rodrigo Blankenship deserved this win. Georgia’s all-time leading scorer was 4/4 on FG attempts and they were all important. Both Blankenship and punter Jake Camarda deserve a ton of credit for today’s win.