Legge's Thoughts: All on the Line in Jacksonville Again

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Georgia’s offensive performance on Saturday had as much to do with opportunity as anything else. UGA had only eight total drives in the game. One of those drives, the 18-second drive to end the first half, was the shortest time of possession on any drive this season for the Dawgs. 

Simply put, UGA just didn’t have the ball very often. That has as much to do with the defense getting off the field as anything else. It was just a flat day for Georgia, and the Dawgs won by double digits in a game where they never really felt threatened. 

UGA’s first drive of the game, a 12-play, 86-yard masterpiece of running, established that Georgia was going to be able to run the ball pretty well whenever it wanted to against the Cats. This is back-to-back games Kentucky gave up more than 200 on the ground after averaging giving up only 106 per game coming into these past two games. Maybe UK is getting worn down. UGA’s OL was blowning them up all day. 

Still, the fact of the matter is that Georgia is not going to play effective offensive football with multiple turnovers in games. Stetson Bennett’s first interception was a killer. It took a game that was about to be put out of reach for the Cats, and gave them life. 

What compounded the mistake was that Georgia was getting the ball back after UK’s 19-play scoring drive. Answering that score with a TD would have probably put the Cats away for good, but it didn’t happen. And that mistake was on Bennett. 

The second pick was more on the WR than anyone. I’m not sure why he stopped running, but that was a less painful turnover simply because of where it happened, and the time left in the game. This is a simple game until you start introducing turnovers into the equation. The ball must be valued. It is very, very hard to score without possessing the ball in football. 

This is as simple as doing a better job not having turnovers inside of scoring positions. But that has not happened in the last two games for Georgia.

Florida played its best, most complete game of the season against Missouri on Saturday night. The Gators slumped at the start of the game, but played better as the game went on. It was only the second time in the Gator’s four-game season where Florida wound up with more than 100 yards rushing. They exploded on the ground in the second half. 

That was also helped by what was the best defensive effort of the year for the Gators as well. 

Kyle Trask’s play is predicated on protection and his ability to find Kyle Pitts, who is a matchup nightmare. A season ago, UGA’s defense harassed Trask most of the night. The Gators entered the 4th quarter with three points and negative eight yards rushing. 

As good as Trask has been, and he’s been pretty good so far this year, he’s not superman. He’s going to need some help in the form of the run game against Georgia. The Gators are not Alabama. Yes, they are explosive, but they are not balanced on offense like the Tide. Alabama can run and pass. The Gators can pass. It remains to be seen if the Gators can run effectively against the likes of Georgia. Alabama did and beat UGA. No one else has. 

Can Florida’s offensive line hold up an entire game against Georgia’s pass rushers? Can UGA’s pass rushers finish off sacks? Can Georgia’s offense, which has been… sluggish of late… get it together and score more. 14 points is not going to cut it against a Florida team that’s done pretty well putting points on the scoreboard. 

Was Florida’s defense this week an anomaly? The Gators have given up 35, 24, 41 and 17. They have given up 170, 117, 205 and 40 on the ground. As you can see, if you run on them you score on them. If you don’t you don’t. Welcome to the SEC. That’s something to monitor for UGA, which is coming off rushing performances of 121, 202, 193, 145 and 215. 

You have to like UGA’s chances in this game if they run effectively as they have the entire year and don’t turn if over. 

Across the nation it seems clear that Alabama is the best team in the country. The Tide dismissed State with a blowout. Ohio State seems to be the second-best team in the nation, but they’ve only played twice. 

Clemson… something isn’t quite right. I can’t tell what it is. Sure, Trevor Lawrence didn’t play in this game, but this is the third time this year that Clemson has dug it out in the second half against teams that are OK at best. Perhaps our level of expectation is too high for the Tigers. The win over Miami was a good one it seemed. But the sloppy play against Virginia (2-4), Syracuse (1-6) and Boston College (4-3)… these teams are not in Clemson’s universe. They should not be struggling to win these games. These should nothing-to-think-about blowouts with the offense Clemson has. 

I expect Clemson to beat Notre Dame this Saturday - even without Lawrence. But two things: First, even with a loss, Clemson will be fine and probably still make the playoff. Second, Ohio State and Alabama have been steadier and better this year so far than the Tigers. 

Notre Dame, for me, does not have the firepower to hang with Clemson. The problem for the Irish, as well, is that they will likely have to beat Clemson twice to get into the playoff. Right now it looks like Alabama is going to get into the CFP even if they are upset in Atlanta. Not much appears in Ohio State’s way, either, as the Big Ten looks pretty unsteady right now. 

Texas did its part to cause more chaos in the Big 12, which no longer has an undefeated team after the Horns’ OT win over Oklahoma State. The Sooners scored about 100 tonight on Texas Tech. That league is wild. 

Texas A&M is running up big numbers. They are certainly a team to watch in terms of sneaking into the CFP. We will see. Still a long way to go in the SEC West. One thing is pretty sure - LSU shouldn’t be in A&M’s way. 

Goodness. Gracious. 

How is LSU this bad? Seriously, how is LSU this bad? 

Defense is non-existent for the Tigers as they have allowed 44, 45 and 48 points this year so far. Don’t look now, but Bama is up next. Yikes. LSU still has to deal with A&M, Ole Miss and the Gators to close the year. It could get ugly in Baton Rouge. Check that: It has gotten ugly in Baton Rouge. 

But this entire week will be about the Cocktail Party. It is all on the line once again in Jacksonville. Not much stands in the way of either of the two teams after this weekend. Both teams close with eight teams who all have losing records right now. UGA ends the year against Missouri (2-3), State (1-4), Carolina (2-3) and Vanderbilt (0-4). The Gators close with Arkansas (2-3), Vanderbilt (0-4), Kentucky (2-4), Tennessee (2-3) and LSU (2-3).