No One is Going to Take Stetson Bennett Seriously - That's a Mistake
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ATHENS - The smoldering wreckage that was what was left of No. 7 Auburn last night was mild in comparison to many of the top contenders in college football.
Still, in talking with the folks we know at Auburn, there is certainly frustration about the Tigers’ inability to produce against Georgia - specifically against Kirby Smart. Auburn has averaged 9.25 points a game in the last four games the two teams have played.
Auburn hasn’t scored a touchdown outside the first quarter in Sanford Stadium in more than a decade. Those are all games where Gus Malzahn called plays or what the head coach. The annoyance is palpable on The Plains.
And while the college football media will be in a pure frenzy to hype up this Georgia-Tennessee game, which is fine - this is what we do - don’t get fooled. I am convinced that the folks who comment on college football either don’t watch the games, or don’t watch them closely. One person tweeted that Auburn would blow Georgia out. The talking heads on TV, perhaps for business purposes, discussed ad nauseam about Auburn’s physicality.
Auburn ain’t physical in a way that they were a year ago. Was that really that hard to see when Kentucky was pushing the pile the entire game last week? Do folks bother watching? What would the explanation for picking Auburn in Athens for yesterday’s game be? I’m asking. I want to know why. This annoys me because if you are going to do this job you owe it to your audience, who pay for your house(s) and car(s) to live in reality a little on these things.
Please do better. Gene Chizik and the SEC Network crew as well as Mark Richt and the ACC Network crew do a much, much better job of cutting through the pom poms to deliver a sliver of reality on these games.
Sorry, rant over.
Tennessee does not have the skill players Auburn has. And as good as the Tennessee offensive line is, the Vols will have to deal with the missile darts that come flying when Georgia’s defense is on the field.
This is as fast a defense I can remember Georgia having.
Ever.
Tennessee is 2-0 against teams that are a combined 0-4. The Vols are better - no doubt. They are not at Georgia’s or Alabama’s level. It doesn’t seem like they are at the Gators’ level, either, but let’s just see how that one goes eventually.
Still, Georgia’s offense needs to play better than it did on Saturday. The Dawgs were not as crisp as you would have liked to have seen. Stetson Bennett IV, who will soon be in the national spotlight the likes of which no one could have expected eight days ago, will need to continue to be surgical.
His play so far this season has been solid. He can play better. But he’s getting Georgia into the situations they need to be in in order to succeed. No matter the week he plays, Bennett will undoubtedly be doubted by the opposition.
That is a mistake too many of us have made in the recent past - including the UGA coaching staff.
This Georgia team is a solid team that is capable of winning every game it plays no matter where it plays. It can win the SEC and beyond, but it will not be simple, and everything is going to have to be detailed.
When Georgia plays everything must be buttoned up. These Dawgs are playing a ten-game SEC schedule with only one break. They are set to play two of the top four teams in the country in the coming weeks.
This isn’t playing in the Big 12.
Speaking of which, that league is in very serious trouble as it relates to the Playoff. As it stands right now, it seems to me that the winner of the Georgia-Florida game will get into the playoff. In may ways, Georgia has several paths to the playoff.
At Alabama - opportunity
Cocktail Party - opportunity
SECCG - opportunity
Clemson doesn’t have that. Ohio State doesn’t have that.
I was about to type that it is hard to believe that the Big 12 is this bad, but we’ve see this coming for some time now. Oklahoma, maybe we should be surprised that the Sooners are 1-2, but when you don’t bother to play or develop a defense this happens.
Texas is not worth writing more than a sentence on.
Clemson is not “quite” what they were a season ago. I’m not totally sure what’s missing there, but they could get it right in due time anyway. Virginia fighting them isn’t a major surprise to me. I don’t buy, right now, that Miami will beat them, but I will be monitoring it for sure.
Alabama’s destruction of Texas A&M might have folks overlook that it “appears” you can run on Alabama a little. South Carolina is inept. The Cocks simply don’t get the details right. Florida “should” beat A&M, but that one needs to be monitored for sure.
I saw where 2017 National Champs UCF lost late in the night, so we will hear less of the foolishness about them or a “Power 6” being in the playoff (never happening folks. never). North Carolina escaped. They are not the No. 12 team in the country from what I have seen.
Sam Pittman has a win over a ranked team in week two. I guess the thing to me was that Sam was able to figure out how to stop Mike Leach at State on the road, but Coach O was insistent on staying in man the entire time and got LSU lit up? State ran up 400 yards of offense, but only had 14 points. Everyone has taken note. LSU got back on the board with the win over Vandy, but I’m not sure they reduce this season. We will see. They are pretty young.
Oklahoma is a mess.
I saw the way NC State beat Pitt. We could see the wheel of destiny in the ACC for the No. 2 spot opposite Clemson as the season progressed. But make no mistake, the ACC is the No. 3 conference in the country.
And, as we close, Kentucky losing a game in overtime on an extra point is a killer. I thought that game would be a tough one for Georgia between Alabama and the Gators. I don’t think so any more. It will be physical, because Kentucky is a rough team, but the Cats will have given up by the mid-point of the season.