Legge's Thoughts: 2022 Was Never Going to be Easy for the Georgia Bulldogs
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ATHENS - To say that it was an important week in college football would probably be an understatement.
The statement win of the weekend was Tennessee’s win over Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. Another statement win came when Utah went for two late to take home a one-point win over USC in Salt Lake.
Meanwhile in Athens, Georgia played well against Vanderbilt - permitting only 150 yards all night in a 55-0 win that seemed to stamp the Dawgs as the clear No. 1 team in the country.
150 yards, y’all. 150.
That’s amazing.
No question - the game of the day was the monumental fight in Knoxville. It was a 15-round fight between the two old rivals. The Vols’ game-winning kick came only a few plays after the Tide missed their own. Alabama, amazingly, had the game won, but a dropped pass that would have set up an easy game-winning attempt a drive before hurt them.
It was Tennessee’s weekend.
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But Alabama isn’t dead. Georgia certainly isn’t. But the Braves are (poor Matt).
Clemson was steady, but only won by a score at Florida State. TCU is the class of the Big 12 right now after a drama-filled double-overtime wino ver Oklahoma State. Michigan dismissed Penn State 41-17.
The two teams nearly fought one another under the stadium at the half. James Franklin and off-the-field fights... stop me if you have ever heard that before. Then Michigan DL Mike Morris described the altercation after the blowout was over.
"We all told each other: 'They want to have those Twitter fingers, they want to talk on social media,' and then they didn't talk on the field," Morris told ESPN. "They wanted to talk at halftime because they got lucky."
👀
Cool all-white uniforms, bro.
Syracuse probably has the best defense no one knows about - they smothered NC State and face Clemson in a division-deciding battle next weekend (could you imagine being forced to hold off Wake Forest and Syracuse to win your division? In addition, could you imagine that division being far better than the other division?). Auburn pushed the Rebels into a fourth-quarter battle, but surrendered 48-34. Oklahoma beat Kansas, but Oklahoma sucks. Texas’ win over Iowa State keeps their Big 12 hopes alive. Illinois actually allowed two touchdowns in a game.
That means Georgia is tied for the fewest touchdowns all season long - five.
In addition, Southern took out James Madison - what does that mean for the Bill of Rights?
We are at the natural halfway point of Georgia’s season, and the Dawgs are neck and neck with Ohio State in terms of being the betting favorite to win it all. Georgia has taken out four foes in nasty blowout fashion. They’ve shown that they have the ability to come back from a fourth-quarter deficit to win. Georgia has been the most consistent team all season in this sport.
When I say “team” I mean “team”. I don’t mean Ohio State’s offense. The Buckeye’s offense is exceptional. But that’s one of three parts of a football team. Georgia has all three. We always take a look at the drive chart - it tells the tale of a game.
Georgia attempted to score on ten drives. It accomplished that goal on nine of them. Vanderbilt attempted to score on 11 drives. It didn’t accomplish that at all. Vanderbilt had seven three-and-outs. It had nine drives where it either had negative yardage, or 20 yards or fewer of offense.
This wasn’t just an offensive blowout - it was a total beating. The same sort of thing that Georgia did to Oregon and South Carolina. It was the type of performance that we saw from the Dawgs in the second half against Auburn and Missouri.
The Georgia Bulldogs WIN the 2021 NATIONAL TITLE!
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We have gotten to the point where we don’t judge Georgia on the performance they have on the field, but rather we judge them on the performance they “could” have each time they step on the field. I’m not sure if that is fair or based in reality.
Why did Georgia ever punt in a game? Why are first downs permitted? There will come a time, soon, in the season where this team won’t be judged by its fanbase by the idea of perfection, but with a win or a loss.
Perfection, frankly, is overrated and a dangerous notion in sports (and life). More often we should embrace the twists and turns.
I’m not sure when that will happen - if ever. Still, Tennessee will be visiting Athens soon. And I can assure you that it won’t matter “how” Georgia plays. All that will matter that night is if the Dawgs win.
And they should.
The Vols have given up 27, 33 13 and 49 points against Power five programs this season. If they give up more points than the other team averages - like they did against the Tide and Gators - that means the Dawgs will score not fewer than 42 points.
Georgia, on the other hand, is allowed 3, 0, 7, 22, 22, 10 and 0. The Dawgs held the Ducks to 39 points fewer than their season average; the Chickens to 26; Kent State to five fewer; Missouri to three fewer; Auburn to ten fewer; and Vanderbilt to 33 fewer.
On average that means UGA is holding foes to 20 points fewer than thier season average each game. That would put the Gators around ten points; and the Vols around 28.
Unlike Ohio State and Tennessee - and “perhaps” Michigan and Clemson - Georgia has a full team. You are going to have to beat all of the Dawgs… not just slow the offense. And you are going to have to do it for 60 minutes.
I once thought Georgia’s trip to State would be tricky, and it might still be, but that lost tonight at Kentucky… that’s just not impressive at all. State was too jumbled up. The Gators are a mess. Anthony Richardson is too raw - he will have to show me that he can compete for 60 minutes against a Georgia defense that may give up perhaps two plays a game. I don’t buy it, and I’ve watched a lot of the Gators. They are headed to Jacksonville 4-3, and looking for answers. Nothing outside of the 52-17 win over Eastern Washington has been easy for the Gators this year.
That leaves the clash with the Vols. Looking ahead? Yeah, that’s what I am doing. I don’t work for Georgia. My job is to write what I think. And I think that’s going to be the game that either decides if Georgia is sitting pretty on selection Sunday, or if they are sweating it out.
It is going to be tough for Tennessee to come into Athens, and get a win. It is tough playing on the road in the SEC - Alabama is well aware of that. Neyland is certainly very tough. Will Georgia fans make it unbearable for the Vols in three weeks?
Will Georiga, which really does need a break, be ready for the emotional game that is Jacksonville? Have we seen Georgia play its worst game of the season? Have we seen them play their best?
Is Alabama actually done? The fact is that nothing actually changed for the Tide Saturday night. If they win every game they play from here on out, they will win it all. But one can only play with fire so often.
Y’all, Bama had 17 penalties.
17.
This isn’t the Alabama of the last decade. That team played defense in each game. This one doesn’t. This Bama is surviving and advancing - and tonight they didn’t do either. And as we advance the schedule, Bama has challenging games against State, LSU and Ole Miss.
Again, State was very blah tonight. They just didn’t look good. LSU can beat Alabama, but I don’t think they will. Ole Miss certainly can, and that game is in Oxford.
LANE TRAIN!
This was never going to be easy. If you want to achieve a special season, you are going to have to do special things. It is hard to really know where Ohio State is. I feel like we know a lot more about Michigan (even before this week) than Ohio State. But Georgia’s journey has only just begun.
Getting players as healthy as possible is a big deal. This team hasn’t played with both AD Mitchell and Jalen Carter since the South Carolina game. There’s been a lot of Riding Homes since then.
Look, the pre-season is over. Halloween is just around the corner, and the biggest game of the season looms with the Gators in two week’s time. Nothing about this was ever going to be easy. The Dawgs should still get this done.
But it was never going to be easy.