Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Bulldawg Blog: Week 7 Review/Week 8 Preview





Last Week’s Game: #10 Georgia vs. Tennessee, win, 26-14

General Comments: Well it sure wasn’t pretty and it didn’t come easy but the Dawgs beat Tennessee this year and I’m thankful for that. It’s been hard to be satisfied with anything this year and it’s really taken a lot of the fun out of things for me. Going into this season, one of the only things I was really hoping for was a win over Tennessee. And yet when that win came last Saturday, I found myself relieved, but not satisfied and not really joyful. It’s too bad but I guess that’s what happens when you start looking at a National Championship as something that you can list as an attainable goal, when the reality is that nowadays it really just falls into your lap.



As a Georgia fan I was glad for the win. But as an objective observer this was yet another underwhelming performance. Georgia just has not been able to put together a complete game this season. The Dawgs dominated Tennessee in all facets of the game on Saturday, but in the end they were unable to really blowout a struggling team. Unfinished drives and mistakes kept the Dawgs from putting the game away and for a while the outcome of the game was in doubt, despite the fact that Georgia had been in control throughout.



The Dawgs did what they had to do on Saturday and that was win the game. They didn’t get style points but the beauty pageant part of it will only matter if the Dawgs keep winning. You can see that there is a ton of talent on the Georgia team and the potential to run over the competition is there but they have to keep getting better. Unfortunately, the growth of the team is continuously hampered by injuries. The Dawgs are 6 games into their season and we still don’t know exactly what kind of a team they are or how good they are capable of playing.



The Good: The Dawgs absolutely dominated the Vols in every way but on the scoreboard. They won by 12 points but that was not an accurate representation of what went on between the two teams on the field. Georgia racked up 458 yards of offense and 29 first downs while holding UT to just 209 yards of total offense and 10 first downs. The Dawgs almost tripled the Vols in first downs, 29-10, and outgained them by 249 yards. Georgia had 102 more passing yards than UT (310-208) but the main difference came in the running game. Georgia rushed for 148 yards while holding Tennessee to just 1 yard rushing, as the Dawgs outgained the Vols by 147 yards on the ground. Georgia controlled the ball to the tune of an unheard of 42:04-17:56 edge in time of possession, holding the ball for 24 minutes and 8 seconds longer than the Vols. The Dawgs converted 9 of 17 3rd downs into 1st downs and went 1 for 1 on 4th down, while holding the Vols to just 4 for 12 on 3rd down and 0 for 1 on 4th down. The Dawgs scored the first 13 points of the game, led 20-7 at the half, and outscored the Vols 6-0 in the 4th quarter.




On the offensive side, Matthew Stafford had one of the best days of his career statistically, completing 25 of 36 passes for 310 yards and a TD, though he did throw a pair of picks. He also ran for 15 yards on 5 carries. The Georgia offensive line did not surrender a sack in this game. Knowshon Moreno carried 27 times for 101 yards, averaging 3.7 yards a carry. Mohamed Massaquoi had an outstanding game, grabbing 5 balls for 103 yards and a TD, and providing and inspirational boost by coming back into the game to catch a touchdown only moments after being knocked nearly unconscious on a wicked hit. Shaun Chapas showed offensive ability that most did not realize he had, catching 3 passes for 64 yards. AJ Green caught 7 passes for 53 yards. Demiko Goodman caught 3 passes for 50 yards. The Dawgs came up with a pair of sacks on defense. Blair Walsh continued an excellent freshman season of place kicking, going 4 for 4 on field goal tries. Brian Mimbs punted just twice on the day and got off boots of 56 and 52 yards, putting 1 inside the 20.




The Dawgs had a few of impressive drives in the game. Late in the 2nd quarter after the Vols had gotten back in the game with a TD to cut the score to 13-7, the Dawgs found themselves starting a drive at their own 3 with 2:24 before halftime. After runs for no gain and 2 yards by Moreno, UT took a timeout with 1:32 left with ideas of getting the ball back. But on 3rd and 8, Moreno took a pass for 14 yards and a first down. The Dawgs would benefit from a pair of questionable 15 yard personal foul calls against the Vols, but regardless, they drove 97 yards in 2 minutes and 15 seconds to get into the end zone to take a 20-7 lead into halftime. This was enormous. The next impressive drive came late in the 3rd quarter after the Vols had gotten back into the game again with a score to cut the deficit to 20-14. The Dawgs were forced to start from their own 11 with 5:37 left in the quarter. Once again the Dawgs would get help from a questionable 15 yard personal foul call but they marched 66 yards in 11 plays, taking up the remainder of time in the 3rd, and kicking a FG to take a 9 point 4th quarter lead. That was huge because now Tennessee would not be able to reach them with one score. The final impressive drive came next after they retook possession following a punt and started their drive at their own 13, leading by 9, with 13:48 to play. The Dawgs went on a ridiculous 17 play, 76 yard drive, taking 10 minutes and 59 seconds off the clock, and they capped it off with a FG to make it a 26-14 lead. When the drive was over, the game was over, as there was just 2 minutes and 49 seconds left on the clock.



The Bad: Some familiar problems cropped up again in this game for the Dawgs. The theme of this game was blown opportunities and unfinished scoring chances by the Dawgs. Georgia moved inside the UT 20 on 7 different drives on Saturday and they scored touchdowns on just 2 of those chances, kicking field goals in 3 others, and turning the ball over on the other two occasions. The Dawgs reached the 23 on another occasion and settled for a FG. That failure to get the most out of scoring chances kept Tennessee in the game. Well, that and the two costly picks thrown by Stafford. Mathew had really done an excellent job avoiding turnovers until Saturday. His first pick came on a 2nd and 9 from the 13 late in the 2nd quarter with the Dawgs up 13-0. He threw a blind screen pass back to his left and the defender fell back into the screen and picked it off. This really wasn’t a bad play by Stafford as much as a good play by the defense but it did result in the Vols scoring to get back into the game. Then with the Dawgs ahead 20-7 early in the 3rd quarter, Stafford made a horrible decision on 3rd and goal from the 6, lobbing a pass that was intercepted at the goal line and returned all the way to the UGA 46. Had Stafford thrown the ball away the Dawgs would have kicked a FG to go up 23-7 on a team they were dominating. But the INT would lead to Tennessee scoring to make it just a 6 point game and at that point it got a little nervous. Another red zone possession that ended in a FG should have resulted in a TD but Green dropped the ball in the end zone on 3rd down with no one within 15 feet of him. Early in the 2nd, Tennessee was flagged for defensive holding on a 3rd and goal from the 6 but instead of giving UGA a 1st and goal at the 3, the officials gave the Dawgs a 3rd and goal from the 3 and the Dawgs couldn’t convert on the next play and had to settle for a field goal.




Defensively, the Dawgs obviously controlled things most of the time, but it wasn’t all roses. The Dawgs got 2 sacks in the 1st quarter but couldn’t get to the QB again after that. Late in the first half, the Dawgs got burned for a 60 yard pass completion that gave the Vols a 1st and goal at the 4 and setup their first TD. Georgia was great on special teams for the most part on Saturday but there was one major error. After Tennessee scored to cut the lead to 13-7 late in the first half, they squibed the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Richard Samuel muffed it and the Dawgs were forced to start at their own 3. The offense ended up driving for a TD but it could have been a really bad mistake and you can’t do those sorts of things against great teams.



Finally, the Dawgs racked up a ton of penalties again. For a while it looked like the Dawgs were doing better but in the second half it got bad again. The Dawgs ended up being penalized 11 times for 76 yards. Look, the officials are out of control and I still think the personal foul calls are outrageous. In fact, I thought the Dawgs benefited from a number of bullshit calls by the officials for personal fouls against the Vols. It isn’t all Georgia’s fault but they’ve got to try and do a better job.



Then of course there was the latest in a seemingly never ending run of devastating injuries to the offensive line. Junior Guard/Tackle Vince Vance blew his knee out on Saturday and is done for the year. The Dawgs have no more upper classmen on the O-line and they are running out of bodies. This has been and will likely continue to be a major problem, especially with a number of tough defenses and tough defensive lines coming up on the schedule.

Next Week: vs. #22 Vanderbilt

Preview: Next up for the Dawgs is a home contest against the always pesky Vanderbilt Commodores, who come into the game ranked 22nd and 5-1 on the year, 3-1 in the SEC. Once again the Dawgs will be facing an opponent coming off of a loss, as Vandy fell for the first time last week at Mississippi State, 17-14. I thought this would be an all out rebuilding year for the Dores and I predicted they would go winless in the SEC, yet here they are ranked in the top 25 and just a win away from bowl eligibility. But Vandy isn’t that much better this year than they normally are. They aren’t great on either side of the ball but they’ve been creating a lot of turnovers and capitalizing. Vandy usually keeps things close in a lot of their games but isn’t able to win them. This year they’ve won some of those close games. They’ve also taken care of business against lesser opponents from out of conference, going 2-0 in non-conference games. They are 1-2 on the road so far.




Vandy opened the season with a 21 point win on the road at Miami (OH), winning 34-13. They then shocked South Carolina at home on Thursday night, 24-17. They pounded Rice at home by 17, 38-21. Then they went on the road and beat Ole Miss, 23-17. In week 6 they got one of their biggest wins in years, coming from behind to beat Auburn at home by a point, 14-13. That put them at 5-0 and they were ranked 13th in the country as they traveled to Starkville to play a horrible Mississippi State team, needing just 1 more win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982. But they finally looked like Vandy in week 7 and lost 17-14 to fall to 5-1.



The Dawgs should have no trouble being focused for Vandy this season, considering that the Dores are 5-1 and ranked 22nd, and more importantly considering what has happened the last two seasons. The last time Vandy came to Athens was one of the town’s darkest days, as the Dawgs blew a late lead and lost 24-22 at home to the Commodores, their first loss to Vandy since 1994. Last season the Dawgs trailed 17-7 in the second half, and with the game tied in the 4th quarter, Vandy was setting up for a game winning FG deep in UGA territory before the Dawgs forced a fumble. The Dawgs went down and kicked a FG with no time on the clock to win 20-17. That was the win that really turned Georgia’s season around but it could very easily have been the loss that sent the program in a totally different direction. Anyway, the Dawgs shouldn’t at all be tempted to overlook Vandy, regardless of the tough games that lie just ahead on the schedule.

We’ve gone over all of this before. Georgia should crush Vandy but they have to execute, Vandy won’t just lie down. It would be nice if the Dawgs could put together a complete game before heading into the toughest part of the schedule. If not, no big deal, look what they did last year after barley escaping against Vandy.



The Dawgs have won 12 of their last 13 against Vandy and 5 of 6 at home. Under Mark Richt, the Dawgs are 6-1 against the Dores, 2-1 at home. Coming into the game, Vandy is last in the SEC in total offense, averaging just 250.2 yards a game, and 10th in total defense, allowing 318.7 yards a game. They don’t throw the ball well and they don’t stop the run well. This would seem to be a good matchup for Georgia, as the Dawgs want to run the ball and they have been vulnerable against the pass. Vandy has made its living this year by intercepting passes and sacking the QB. Stafford will have to be more careful with the ball this week and the UGA offensive line needs to man-up the way it did against UT last week.

Over the last two years the Dawgs could have easily lost both games to Vandy, and yet I refuse to believe that it could happen again this season. The Dawgs need to take care of business. They don’t have to blow Vandy out but this shouldn’t be a game that Georgia has to sweat out in the final minutes. This is just one of those games that Georgia has to win without even thinking about it.

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