Sterling Bailey, I like you guys, but… no, it’s not. Not when you’ve got stuff like this to clean up.
So what constitute these miscommunications? Outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins specified a major one on the Davis 75-yard run. Each side of the defense thought the blitz was coming from the other side. So instead of an edge rusher coming off the edge on the play, no one was there and Davis got free.
Of course, there was another breakdown on the play.
“Safety, or somebody should’ve come up,” Jenkins said. “Really, we shot ourselves in the foot that play. Really, we’ve been pretty stout against the run, minus the big plays they got.”
Yes, it’s fixable. But the gap between fixable and fixed is everything right now for this defense. It’s an unlikely problem this week, but that LSU offense can run the ball a little. Time is getting short.
Get The Picture 
I think there is a difference between being either oblivious or in denial and being confident that issues can be resolved. As we all know, they will ultimately either proven right or wrong. That said, I think to say the gap between “fixable and fixed” is everything is simply looking at the result and not looking at the process. The players and coaches have all stated pretty specifically what they believe the issues are. They have highlighted tackling, angles of pursuit, focusing on individual responsibilities, and employing the techniques they have been taught. Whether they will do all those things remains to be seen, and I recognize that save 2011 it seems like we have had gaps between Grantham’s competence and his defenses performance. Given what we faced the first two weeks, I am inclined to give him and the unit the benefit of the doubt.
I guess where I have confidence is that I believe the “culture” of the defense and program is in a better place than it was during our slide under Martinez, where effort went out the window because the program itself had lost any semblance of standards and leadership. The coaches are seemingly a cohesive unit that has high standards. There is a larger number of capable players competing for each spot, which theoretically should result in a more consistent effort. They hit for two days last week (albeit in shorter practices), which I think is significant given the more physical practices before SC and how worn down our guys probably were from the first two weeks. I think that suggests the coaches are keenly aware of the issues that need to be resolved. Hopefully, we begin to see results this week.
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You’re one of my favorite posters, so not meaning to be snarky, but I just don’t understand all the differences you say you see between CTG and CWM and the results on the field. Effort? Leadership? Culture? Cohesion? What metric are you using to glean this that I’m not?
What about last year’s under-performing all-pro defense or this year’s squad of confused youngsters makes you think we haven’t been flatlining for the last seven or eight years?
And seriously – I’m not calling for anybody’s head, as long as Georgia hangs around the top twenty or so and beats UCF and most of our rivals most of the time, I’m pretty happy. But CTG just does not strike me as delivering value for his salary, that’s all.
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[“I guess where I have confidence is that I believe the “culture” of the defense and program is in a better place than it was during our slide under Martinez, where effort went out the window because the program itself had lost any semblance of standards and leadership.”]
I share your confidence in the cultural resurrection. In fact, as I’ve written about for some time, I believe we are just now coming out of the cultural slide that developed in the Martinez era. The so-called “All-Pro” defense that exited in January was the last of that bunch (save for Jarvis, Shawn W., and a few others).
The defense (and program) we have now is on a healthy foundation, IMO. And it’s up to Richt to make sure it stays that way. Does this fresh defense have a long way to go? Sure they do, and most of the problems we’ve had were expected.
But they played well enough, against top competition and top offenses, for their team to win both games they’ve played,. Personally, I was never asking them to do any more than that. I hoped for better. But considering the issues we had in camp, the youth, etc., they still have my confidence, in terms of what they can become this year.
I do have some background concern about keeping that hard, competitive edge, and being mentally prepared at the right times during the schedule, but that’s true of the whole team, and is a Richt issue. I still want to see that he can manage and lead his team through a whole season with the mental edge it takes to be successful in this League. That’s his challenge, IMO, but he’s done a great job, overall, since he began the reconstruction of his program in late 2009, to this point.
So now, this new defense has it’s challenge. And this ‘break’ was/is a critical learning and growing period for them, in terms of the season.
We’ll see if the work begins to pay off when LSU comes to town.
~~~
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There has to be a moritorium on “excluding” long runs. They happen, they get averaged in. This idea that “well, take out the 75 yd and he averaged 3ypc”…. I used to think that way, but that 7-9ypc stat shows he’s a back capable of breaking a long run. They were obviously good enough to not be caught, break tackles, etc. If all they averaged was a 3ypc, they’d be a pretty crappy back.
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Yup on that … +1
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Thank you. I read more posts and quotes that read “if you take out the long runs / six turnovers / that one play / garbage time scores” whatever – makes me crazy.
All of these things happen and they all count.
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Yeah, and i date super models except for their not being physically present.
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Manti?
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I’m not sure if I’m more afraid of the run D or the pass D vs LSU. Both scare the hell out of me. It would be great to see some improvement in both vs NT.
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Simplify, Simplify. Simplify!
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Jeremy Hill scares me. He’s very similar to Mike Davis in how he runs: big, powerful back who has enough speed to beat you to the edge. Having said that, no other RB Georgia will face is that good. After LSU it’s a mix of good backs (UF and GT) and average-to-below-average ones. The LSU game is so big. A loss puts UGA out of the NT convo, but a win puts them squarely in it.
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uSC’s loss against LSU last year sent them into a tailspin against Florida and if not for a Tyler Bray fumble uT would have beat them as well. Kinda reminds me of the LSU game a few years ago with the AJ celebration penalty loss. We had the Hillbillies up next and totally melted down at Neyland. The next game is always the most important …….. but Dawgs need to “hunker it down” for LSU. This is big.
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with all due respect, other than exposure to the program through the year, being “in the NT convo” is clearly an output of winning, and staying in it requires winning every week, which is the primary goal anyhow.
I have no idea how we will do against LSU. That said, we know a little more about our team than they do about theirs because we have faced two tougher foes than they have. We have faced pressure games in the conference. Our offensive performance has been largely consistent with our performance a year ago. So I think we will have success moving the ball on them both on the ground and in the air. I just don’t know how much success and how our defense will impact our offense’s ability to posses the football or need to score points.
Clearly, they are better on offense and a bit worse on defense than they were a year ago. That said, it is impossible to know how much. We will know a bit more this time next week after they play Auburn
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They may be MUCH worse on defense. They lost 8 starters. Sure, they have talented replacements, but so do we.The difference is that we faced two good offenses with experienced QBs and good offensive coaches. LSU has yet to face an offense that is even decent.
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Not sure I’m ready to say “much worse.” Chavis is too good of a DC to have a massive drop off, especially given the talent at his disposal. We won’t know how good LSU is on defense until the Georgia game. They will have played 4 teams against very average (or worse) offenses. Here are some interesting stats from LSU’s opponents thus far.
(all stats include the LSU games):
Total Offense
TCU: 93rd
Kent State: 115
UAB: 82
Rushing Offense
TCU: 75
Kent State: 96
UAB: 85
Passing Offense
TCU: 91
Kent State: 98
UAB: 64
Total Defense
TCU: 60
Kent State: 103
UAB: 112
Rushing Defense
TCU: 57
Kent State: 90
UAB: 73
Passing Defense
TCU: 65
Kent State: 100
UAB: 117
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Bet uT regrets running Chavis off.
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They should regret running Phil off
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“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”
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The D is young and is getting better. I saw improvement from the first game to the second game. Now we had an off week to work on things and an upcoming tune-up game before we play LSU in Athens. Everybody step away from the ledge, OK?
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Exactly. We will beat LSU. As far as this week’s game, our only goals should be win and keep everyone healthy.
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And for players to get more game experience and improve. The Dawgs D will have had 3 games under their collective belts by the time Georgia plays LSU ‘tween the hedges. I like our chances.
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Riley Cooper says it’s bridges, Se7en of them, not a ledge
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Not sure anyone is on the ledge, or at least not many. But failing to see the defense having issues in stopping the run going back to last year is naive. This isn’t a young defense issue. It’s a Grantham issue. They didn’t stop the run last year and haven’t done so this year.
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Georgia was 80th in the nation in run defense last year, yikes. 11th in 2011 and 56th in 2010. If you just go by ranked teams its 35th in ’10, 48th in ’11, and 65th last year, suggesting our vaunted #5 ranking in total defense in 2011 was built against crappy offenses. This is definitely a Grantham issue.
http://www.cfbstats.com/2012/leader/national/team/defense/split13/category01/sort01.html
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I didn’t say that Grantham’s doing a good job. Personally, I am off the Grantham bandwagon and would not shed a tear if he went back to the NFL.
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Am I the only one who saw the hold on Ray Drew 47 on the Mike Davis 75 yd run??? He was right there waiting to make the tackle but was held. Can someone else please watch it and confirm that he was held?!?! It sure looked like he was held to me.
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Its not completely clear that he was held, but it appears to me the holding occurred after Davis was past him, which is NOT to say it could not have been called. That said, I don’t think he was there to make the play, but he was not responsible for the gap that Davis ran through either. I think the refs got the call right.
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No way man; in one of the replays, the angle from Davis’ view, looking upfield, Ray Drew is in front of him, looking right at him trying to move to his right, while his jersey is being pulled to his left and is obviously being held up; at this time Davis starts to turn left and goes to Drew’s right. Refs blew it.
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What is this “hold” of which you speak? Haven’t heard that called in UGA’s favor in years it seems.
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Exactly! Thank you!
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I really hope this is just talk for the media and the players realize that we do have a major issue stopping the run. Boyd didn’t beat us against Clemson is was our lack of ability to stop them from running the ball. Running the ball kept USCe in the game. Not even remotely slowing down AL down last year cost us a National title. In today’s game there are not going to be a ton of games where you are completely shutting offenses down but the talent on D is way too high to be ranked anywhere outside the top 40 in rush defense. I am not asking for great, with our offense we don’t need to be, but above average is not asking too much.
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Agree, ranking 103rd in rush defense is stupendous.
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