Last Week’s Game: #1 Georgia vs. Georgia Southern, Win, 45-21
General Comments: I was basically pleased with the way the game went. We handedly beat the opponent and that’s the ultimate goal. However, when taking into consideration the fact that Georgia was playing as the #1 team in the country against a Division I-AA opponent with a roster full of youth and with 8 players suspended, I was not that impressed. I wasn’t that disappointed, because I didn’t see anything to make me believe that the Dawgs won’t have a great season, or even that they can’t win the National Championship. But let’s be honest: this was not a performance that blew your socks off. This really felt like business as usual for the Dawgs. In fact, if you look at their recent history against I-AA opponents, you’ll see that this game was right in line with the results from the last few years. In 2004, #3 UGA beat Georgia Southern by 20, 48-28, at home. In 2006, #15 UGA beat Western Kentucky (then a I-AA team) by 36, 48-12, at home. Last season, #23 UGA beat Western Carolina by 29, 45-16, at home. These games are all fairly similar to this season’s game against a I-AA team. Basically I don’t put too much emphasis on this first game, because it doesn’t give us much information one way or the other. Had UGA won 63-10, that would have been something. Had they won 38-24, that would have been something. But that didn’t happen; they won basically the same way they have over the last few years, so I don’t think we can learn that much from this
first game.
The Good: I thought Stafford looked awesome (13 of 21, 275 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT) and that the OL held up very well. The RB’s were all impressive; we just have to cross our fingers that Moreno’s hamstring isn’t really hurt. AJ Green showed a couple flashes of what could be to come. And Blair Walsh looked great in his debut.
The Bad: 11 penalties for 70 yards was bad, and the 3 late TD’s were not good. Hopefully the penalties were just first game jitters and the late TD’s were a result of defensive substitutions. In addition, the Dawgs forced just 1 turnover and in all fairness, the score should have been closer, as Southern missed a chip shot field goal and threw a bonehead pick in the end zone. But the only really meaningful bad thing to come out of this game was the season ending injury to mammoth defensive tackle Jeff Owens. Phil Steele had Owens as 2nd Team All-SEC, 4th Team All-American, and the 8th best interior defensive lineman in the country. He will be missed and he can’t be replaced.
Next Week: Vs. Central Michigan
Preview: This game should be more telling because the opponent is on a higher level. CM may be a MAC team but they are the toughest MAC team and they have the conference’s best player in QB Dan LeFevour. The Chippewas beat Eastern Illinois of I-AA, 31-21, at home in week 1. The Dawgs should handle them but they won’t be able to just show up and win by 24 the way they did last week.
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