“We came in and talked to the staff on Sunday and I said, Hey we need to make some changes. To repeat what we’ve been doing over the last two weeks wasn’t working,” Schottenheimer said. “So we kind of put our heads together. I’m proud of them. We brainstormed some stuff, we put a plan together. And most importantly these young men went in and executed.”
Gosh, don’t hurt yourself with too much back-patting there, fella.
Yes, the offense showed its first signs of life since the second half of the Tennessee game. But that’s a low bar.
Take a look at the game log for Kentucky’s defense. The context for Georgia’s performance isn’t particularly impressive. Yes, the 300 rushing yards is the most given up by the ‘Cats; however the 90 passing yards is the fewest. Georgia’s 390 total yards ranks only fifth most for Kentucky (out of nine games), behind such powerhouses as Auburn, Louisiana-Lafayette and South Carolina. Georgia’s average yards per play was under UK’s seasonal average.
More importantly, it was obvious from watching the game that Florida marked a final point for the coaches’ patience with Georgia’s three scholarship quarterbacks. There is zero confidence in putting not just a game, but a series, in the hands of Bauta, Lambert or Ramsey. That’s reflected in the stats, too, as Georgia only attempted 19 passes on the day, and the average yards per passing attempt was an anemic 4.7. By comparison, the Dawgs averaged 5.77 yards per rush.
On the season, the team passer rating is now a below average 129.77. In case you’re wondering, the next worse rating I could find at Marty’s site was 131.46, which was the year Joe Cox was the starter. Every other season of Georgia football since 2007 saw ratings no worse than the upper 140’s.
It’s incredible how bad this has gotten, when you consider that Mark Richt cut his teeth coaching passing attacks. And as many have pointed out, it’s not like the problem crept up on the staff suddenly.
Georgia’s offense is run-oriented, not by design, but by necessity. Any time it faces a defense that can close down the run, you can forget about scoring. Lucky for Schottenheimer, what’s left on the schedule are the 45th, 76th and 94th ranked rushing defenses (surprisingly, perhaps, it’s Georgia Southern that’s 45th).
When people point to Eason’s arrival next season, it’s not to hail him as a savior, it’s merely in hope that he’s got enough talent to be above-average. That, too, is a sadly low bar. But it’s an accurate reflection of where the offense is right now.
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