Upon Further Review: UGA Football Just Gets It Done
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ATHENS - UGA Football fans should be used to this by now. Saturday’s 31-23 victory over hated Georgia Tech was a ho-hum sort of affair that led many to believe that Tech was closing the gap on the two-time reigning champs and that other title contenders have a much better chance to win the championship this season. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Now, I’ll grant you that the Dawgs didn’t play particularly well Saturday night in Atlanta. Two
turnovers coupled with astonishingly poor run defense (at times) will make a potential blowout much tighter than expected. Tech’s rushing attack took advantage of challenges the Dawg defense has shown all season. Misdirection and edge runs ate the defense up Saturday and helped keep the game closer than most thought it would be. Georgia’s defensive scheme played a part in that success as well, however. Rewatching the game a couple of times now (and removing myself from the in-game emotion) showed a very basic game plan on both sides of the ball. It appeared the game plan was to shorten the clock, show nothing exotic, and to work on fundamental execution. And it worked. And Georgia fans should expect this type of approach against teams that won’t provide an advanced level of competition.
The vanilla game plan notwithstanding, there are always areas of concern regardless of the final
score. Let’s address the elephant in the room – rush defense. Tech ran for 205 yards on 44 carries for an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Those numbers were generally in line with their season averages (197 yards per game, 5.4 yards per carry). However, the challenge Georgia faced Saturday was execution.
Poor run fits will always lead to big plays, and they did Saturday. While the longest run was 23 yards, the Jackets took advantage of CJ Allen’s inexperience with misdirection plays that routinely gained first downs. While he tied for the team lead in tackles, it was obvious Tech targeted him in their running game. The Tech drive chart tells the story:
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Drive 1 – 3 plays, punt
Drive 2 – 4 plays, 37 yards, TD
Drive 3 – 11 plays, 67 yards, FG
Drive 4 – 12 plays, 47 yards, FG
Drive 5 – 10 plays, 43 yards, Missed FG
Drive 6 – 6 plays, 18 yards, punt
Drive 7 – 8 plays, 30 yards, turnover on downs
Drive 8 - 6 plays, 52 yards, FG
Drive 9 – 10 plays, 80 yards, TD
The scoring drives averaged 8.6 plays per drive for 57 yards per drive. While Tech was only 2/11 on
3rd down conversions, these long drives were sustained by runs that averaged almost 5 yards a carry. Poor run fits by inside linebackers coupled with edge-collapsing runs that targeted the outside linebacker corps made for a long night. Alabama, however, doesn’t feature a true quarterback run
game. Jalen Milroe is fantastic in open space and will be a headache for Georgia all night in Atlanta. But the Tide doesn’t call many quarterback runs like we’ve seen by Auburn, Ole Miss, and Tech. Still, Bama will attempt to hit the edge as much as possible as the Dawgs have struggled all season to stop it.
The second challenge the Dawgs must overcome is offensive line continuity. Amarius Mims’ injury forced some shuffling early in the season and his return 2 weeks ago bode well for the Dawgs offensive line output. Younger players grew up quickly by being forced into service and acquitted themselves well, creating much needed depth for this season and beyond. Xavier Truss has played every position on the line save center and has filled in admirably after starting the season as the left guard. He is, however, the lowest rated lineman on the 2-deep frequently. Pressed into service as the right guard Saturday after Tate Ratledge’s injury, Truss played yet another position and made the switch in-game. The right guard position also saw 3 of the 5 pressures on quarterback Carson Beck…all with Truss in the game. The best line, from left to right, is Greene, Morris, Van Pran-Granger, Ratledge, and Mims. Morris is proving to be a road grader and is getting better in pass protection. Greene continues to grow and lock down the back side. SVPG, Ratledge and Mims are rock solid if not spectacular. Against an athletic front like Bama’s, line continuity will potentially make or break what the Dawg offense can do. Creating opportunities for explosive plays is generated from offensive line play. Creating running lanes directly impacts play action passing, opening up intermediate routes that Beck has been incisive in hitting.
Keeping the same five players on the field in the trenches will go a long way in determining how the game plays out. The final challenge Georgia must overcome is psyche. While this team’s performance has been up and down depending on the opponent, the Dawgs are supremely talented. So is the Tide. Other than Georgia and Oregon, no team played as well down the stretch as Alabama. They played poorly against Auburn Saturday, but Auburn had something to do with that. Thus, you now have 2 evenly matched teams (relatively) that are playing for what looks to be only one spot in the 2023 playoffs. It’s not a stretch to think that the Dawgs could miss the playoffs with a loss. In fact, it appears to be as close to being a given as there can be. Too much other chaos would have to ensue for the Dawgs to get a spot with a loss Saturday. So, how does that affect this team that has played some of the best football in the country over the last 5 weeks? Does that add pressure to a young team? Does that cause players to try to play outside their ability and station? In other words, does it create the propensity for “hero ball”?
How the Dawgs practice and refine fundamentals with film study and drill work, even this late in the season, will determine what both their individual and collective mindset is when the teams hit the field Saturday afternoon. Which team is more likely to show up Saturday? The team that ran through the toughest part of their schedule with an average margin of victory of 24 points or the team that looked disinterested against Tech? My money is on the former. This program has been built for matchups like this.
Behemoth versus behemoth. Strength against strength. Kirby and crew have proven they won’t run from heavyweight matchups. On the contrary, they run towards them. This team, this program, knows how to win. They know what type of effort is needed Saturday. To quote the rock group Metallica, from the song “Nothing Else Matters”:
“So close, no matter how far
It couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are and nothing else matters”
Trusting who this program is regardless of the circumstances is what Kirby has built. His kids believe it. His coaches believe it. Fans should believe it. Because nothing else matters. It’s proven to be enough to just get it done.