Upon Further Review: UGA Football is Getting Unsatisfying Wins
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ATHENS - UGA Football and Kirby Smart won another game Saturday to move to 5-0 in this early 2023 season. Yay, right?
Yes, yay. But it’s a somewhat muted “yay”, both in real time Saturday and looking back on the contest against Auburn. In the 130th playing of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, the Dawgs extended their series lead to 64-56-8. It’s always good to beat a rival, regardless of how it looked. And Saturday looked, well, unsatisfying.
Five games in and most folks, Kirby Smart included, don’t know what the identity of this team is. He said just that in the post-game press conference. Kirby has stated that Georgia will not be hunted. Five games in and I don’t know we can say that about this team. Georgia has seven games left in this season to show who they are. However, another effort like last Saturday’s could spell the end of the conference’s fifth longest winning streak and put in jeopardy an opportunity to make the College Football Playoff. Staying with the “further review” theme, there was plenty of concern Saturday as well as a few things that were positives. At what point, though, do the concerns get fixed?
Concerns:
1. Edge setting / leverage – in what is the most glaring “no &hit” observation, for a second week in a row did Georgia get gashed on the perimeter. I counted 9 plays where the Dawg defense lost the edge. Auburn gained 147 of their 219 yards rushing on those 9 plays for a 16.3 yards per attempt. 16.3!!!! 5 of those attempts were by the Auburn quarterback duo. If I was Hugh Freeze I would have kept running that until Georgia stopped it. The remainder of the rushing attempts – 34 – only netted 72 yards. 67% of Auburn’s rushing yards came on 9 plays. UAB took advantage of the edge last week. Auburn saw it and made Georgia pay. Now, I saw two glaring issues with the edge defense. First, Chaz Chambliss appeared to recklessly crash from the edge leaving the edge open. I can’t tell if he was coached that way or his read of the down block from the tackle led him to react that way, but it left the edge wide open. Second, the linebacker spill or scrape to the play side was either slow or non-existent. That leads me to believe eye discipline or confusion about responsibility was the culprit. Why Auburn didn’t continue to run the QB keep around the edge is a mystery to me.
2. Linebacker play – I am becoming concerned with Georgia’s linebacker play. While Smael Mondon led the team with 11 total tackles, including a sack, on 3 of those outside edge runs he was either too close to the line or too slow to turn that edge run back inside. I talked last week about Jamon Dumas-Johnson. He made one play of consequence in tackling the Auburn running back short of the first down on a 4th and 1 attempt inside the red zone. He was generally out of position and just looked either slow or confused. His aggressive moves to the line of scrimmage led to poor run fits and being out of position to affect the play. Georgia must fix linebacker play going forward. The great Dawg defenses of the last two championship seasons were led by great linebacker play. That includes outside linebackers as well. With the great athletes Georgia has in its linebacker corps, the effort Saturday brings a great level of concern.
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3. Offensive line – there is no way to sugarcoat this. The right side of the Dawg offensive line is terrible. There was one successful run over the right side Saturday. One! Both Tate Ratledge and Xavier Truss are either missing blocks or not staying with the block once initiated. Look at their feet. Truss continues to get out over his toes, and faster players get him off balance easily. Ratledge doesn’t move his feet, trying to rely on brute force to move his man. Look at the number of plays where both Truss and Ratledge are either on the ground or watching a play be made by their man. The line failures aren’t solely on the right side. Dylan Fairchild whiffed on his first three run block attempts to start the game. While he’s a great pass protector, he was eventually replaced by Micah Morris. Morris acquitted himself well Saturday, and I would be shocked if he didn’t see more playing time. Almost all the successful runs Saturday were over the left side. Teams will key on that, making the improvement of the right side even more critical.
4. Turnovers – Five turnovers in the last two weeks are concerning, to say the least. The two giveaways to Auburn were both turned into touchdowns. The interception thrown by Carson Beck can be attributed to a great defensive play, but it’s still a turnover. Oscar Delp’s fumble flipped the second half advantage with the Dawgs getting the ball first coming out of halftime. There were three other potential turnover instances where it appeared Georgia was trying to hand the game to Auburn. Carelessness must stop.
5. Slow starts – yet again, the Dawgs started slow offensively. It’s not play calling. It’s execution. Missed blocks and missed downfield opportunities continue to plague this offense. To wit, Georgia has scored 17 points in the first quarter through 5 games. So has the opponent. The failure of the offensive line to establish dominance early has caused the Dawg offense to consistently be in second and third and longs which are difficult to overcome. Effectively running the ball sets up play action in which Beck excels. It seems as if this squad is trying to be too careful early on. This must change as we approach the halfway point of the season.
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Now, for the good stuff - and there was plenty of good Saturday
1. Carson Beck is becoming “him” – On Georgia’s first scoring drive (in the second quarter, by the way…see above) Beck found himself in a third and 7 from the Auburn 15. Auburn brought a blitz both off the right side and up the middle. Daijun Edwards took the outside rusher while the dude coming up the gut was left with a clear shot on the quarterback. Beck stood in, delivered a pass to RaRa Thomas, took a big hit but got the first down. Two plays later Georgia scores. That play shows his toughness and situational awareness. He knew there was a bust, and that he must hang in the pocket long enough to deliver a catchable ball. He knew he would get hit, but he stayed regardless. His numbers for the 4th quarter – 8-10, 148 yards, and 1 touchdown. He led Georgia to 10 - 4th quarter points to win this game, his first start on the road. He’s seeing the field better as evidenced by finding someone other than Brock Bowers early on. On the 4th quarter touchdown drive, just prior to the long Bowers touchdown catch, Beck saw Auburn line up in 0 coverage. At the snap, every defender had their backs to the line of scrimmage. Beck saw that and tried to take off. A poor pass block on the right side (enough already) killed the chance to gain big yards, resulting in a loss of a yard. However, look at that open field. Beck saw it and rightly took off. He’d still be running had he been able to get through traffic. Of course, there are things where he must improve. The overthrow of Delp on the second drive left points on the field. Especially when it was followed by an interception. Beck has got to get more confident in the deep throws. They are there. On the interception, Thomas was breaking open before Beck set his feet to throw in the direction of Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint. He’s got to see those opportunities. And he’ll need to hit them going forward.
2. Ladd’s return – While his stats weren’t overwhelming (4 catches, 38 yards) two catches led to first downs. When combined with Bowers on the same side of the formation, the defensive reaction was usually wrong. When the defense bracketed Bowers, McConkey found the opening and delivered. When the defense tried to take away McConkey, Bowers killed them. Ladd coming back opens easy intermediate throws for Beck and gives the Dawgs yet another trusted playmaker.
3. Brock Bowers – Cnough said. He’s just a bad man.
4. Team resilience – I don’t know if resilience is the right term, but this team just doesn’t get rattled. They had every reason to on Saturday but found a way to play their best ball in the fourth quarter. The tell-tale signs of frustration and fear weren’t there. They believe in themselves and their coaches. They find a way to win. They find a way to survive. And that may be the identity of this team.
There are other concerns and good points, but let’s remember - it’s better to win ugly than to lose pretty. Until this team plays up to its talent this may be the way. I’d like to see a running back catch a pass. I’d like to see Beck keep the ball in the zone read. I’d like to see the defense set the edge, impose their will, and play better red zone defense. I believe those may come to fruition as the season wears on. But it comes down to execution. The talent is there. Execution is the responsibility of the coaches and players alike. Injuries and youth may explain some of these execution failures, but they aren’t an excuse. Not anymore. The standard has been set and this team must begin to play to that standard. If not, our adult hydration choices may start to run out.