Bill Connelly writes something I’ve wondered about, too.
I didn’t really have concerns with the defense, though. I thought the run defense would improve, and it has. And with what I figured would be an epic pass rush, I figured the raw athleticism in the secondary could overcome a lack of huge experience. It hasn’t, at least not consistently. The pass rush has been strangely passive — the Dawgs aren’t sending their outside linebackers at the QB as much, either because they aren’t getting there or they want to help protect a struggling secondary…
Yeah, that’s working well. Dropping guys like Floyd and Carter into coverage hasn’t made a dent in stopping Georgia’s last two opponents from making hay throwing the ball. Coker and Dobbs have looked too comfortable. Send those OLBs. If you’re gonna go down, you might as well, as Mike Bobo once put it in another context, let ‘er rip.
Or, as a great American once said [if you don’t already know this scene is NSFW, shame on you]…
“I got news for you, pal. They’re gonna nail us no matter what we do. So we might as well have a good time…”
Besides, if it helps the defense get some of its swagger back, it may very well turn out to matter.
Get The Picture 
I haven’t understood why Carter in particular spends any time in coverage. We recruited him to chase down QBs. Pruitt, please let him do his job.
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I think the most disappointing aspect of the season has been the regression of the defense. Defenses usually take a big step forward in the second year of new coordinator and we’ve done the opposite. Especially in Pruitt ‘s position group the secondary. The guy went from cobbling together a pretty good unit with pretty much a bare cupboard talent wise last year to willie Grantham 2.0 this year.
In regards to our olbs i thought going in Floyd and Carter might be a little overhyped but the complete disappearing act is startling.
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Remember that Floyd was primarily playing inside until last week.
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Oh, I see…the problem all along has been that we’ve been on double-secret probation and didn’t know it! We were playing like it mattered, but they were going to nail us no matter what we do! F ’em, then! I feel better now.
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This has been the most disappointing part of the team for me. Where has our defense gone? How in the world have our all-everything linebackers disappeared? How did Tennessee make our defense look worse than Alabama did? CJP needs to find some answers, or the last ray of hope I had for our football program will soon be snuffed out.
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Then again, Senator, we may end up having to take your advice…
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After 5 games Pruitt finally figured out that Floyd was not an ILB or “star” position type player. Edge rusher and what I don’t really understand is with Jenkins missing a lot of playing time last week I really did not see Carter or Floyd in the game much together. Thompson seems to found his comfort zone and is really starting to work his game in stopping the run. 7 and 84 coming off the edge should disrupt the QB a lot of times to stop a lot of those easy completions that the opposition seem to be getting.
Pruitt seems to be playing to his weaknesses instead of his strengths.
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Carter is a total flop this season. No single player on the team I’ve been more disappointed watching, and there’s plenty to choose from.
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The poor production by our defensive coordinator has been the biggest disappointment this season.
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CJP needs a new swagger wagon hype video:
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Doom Alert?
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Seriously, try the Hemlock! It’ll do the trick!
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Certainly a big enough concern to justify an alert of some sort. Like others, this is the biggest surprise, followed by the OL performance. Like others, I felt the pass rush would be unstoppable and cover up any issues in the secondary but it has been almost non-existent (even against a below average, banged-up Vol OL.) The defense against the run was the major defensive concern to me. Until the defense gets fixed, no game is safe regardless of what happens with the O. I have no hope that our offense will get to the level of surviving shootouts with everyone. Need to hold onto against Mizzou and make some new attack plans during the bye week.
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It appears Jeremy Pruitt’s defensive genius is much more obvious with Alabama players and Florida State players than with Georgia players.
Two years away.
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I don’t quite get the oline hate. We’re tied for 2nd in the conference for fewest sacks allowed, and were 1st for fewest TFL allowed, couple that with 6.4 yards per carry and our oline appears to be doing their job.
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They’re not doing it consistently, even against bad teams though. The ypc is inflated by runs like Sony’s 60 yarder. They got no push for him the entire second half.
And rainy, noon kickoff or no, no great OLine let’s Chubb get held below 4 ypc by an FCS school for an entire half.
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The running stats are inflated by too many awesome long runs and not enough really short runs.
gotcha.
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The line has been fine, but most people expected it to be dominant. Personally, I think that was a fair expectation. Others clearly think they just aren’t talented enough.
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I don’t hate the oline, just expected them to be the key to setting everything up for the running game and play action, and they haven’t been even average, imo. Especially on first down runs, especially when you realize they have excellent RBs that don’t need a gaping hole. We seem to behind the chains on first down, don’t close it much on 2nd and find ourselves in a predictable 3rd down and long. It happened against Vandy, Bama, and TN, the only three strong-ish fronts we have faced and TN is questionable after Arkansas steamrolled them on the ground. Mizzou looks to be the same, and Florida is stronger than all but Bama.
Our 3rd down (in) effectiveness is a result of not having many 3rd and short situations that I can recall. I get that it is a returning group but suspect they changed the blocking scheme because they don’t look the same. Hope they get down and dirty from here on because we aren’t going to get better on offense unless they get back to the level they were a year ago.
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One thing I think is being missed is the relatively poor blocking on the part of the receivers when we try to set the edge. Conley and Bennett were much bigger than the current guys. We had no trouble getting our backs into space then. Now we are being consistently stoned.
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An injury to your center will do that to you.
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I too thought the pass rush would be the key to a strong pass defense,
And the front Defensive 7/8 would key the Dawg’s ability to win games.
38 points to the Vols? What Is The Problem & what Is the Answer/
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The last two games our defense didn’t come off the field. I think the defense would look a lot better if the o could get a few first downs for time and field position. Given that, the lack of substitution has been surprising.
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If they played for Nick, they would all be best LB’s in the country. Hungry, laser focused, motivated, foaming at the mouth and scared as hell they would lose their job for mediocre play….oh to dream….
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Who would they lose their jobs to at UGA right now? A UAB transfer got 88 of the 90 defensive snaps on Saturday. That should tell you something.
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That’s cheap. The fact that he transferred from UAB doesn’t say one way or another how good a player he is. Plenty of very good football players end up at schools like UAB every year.
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It’s not cheap. Ganus is one of the most fundamentally sound players on the defense. But he’s not 88 plays out of 90 good. There’s no depth behind a guy who’s been in the program for just a few months?
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I don’t know where to find the stats assuming someone tracks them, but Ganus has not played that high a percentage against anyone else to my recollection. I also don’t remember much subbing of Wilson and Herrera last year. Perhaps Pruitt doesn’t like rotating his middle linebackers much.
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Blame the defensive woes on the poor kickoffs/punts. Strategy changes when you are defending a 50 yard field every time the oppo gets the ball
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