Matt Stinchcomb had the misfortune of calling the Georgia-Nicholls game for the SEC Network. He did a Q&A with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about some of the things he saw, as well as some overall observations about the Georgia program. This part strikes me as being pretty spot on:
P-D: You called the Nicholls State game last week. Was that a case of Georgia overlooking an FCS opponent or did some genuine concerns about this team surface?
Stinchcomb: I think there’s genuine concern. I’m not sure that Georgia had things wide open in that game. I feel relatively confident there will be a more expansive playbook available offensively. But there were some issues that carried over (from the first game). The secondary allowed receivers get behind them. That was something North Carolina did repeatedly without being able to capitalize. Nicholls the same way. That’s a concern. The defense played otherwise relatively well in both weeks. Offensively, as I mentioned the play-calling was a little abbreviated, but that said what was in the (Nicholls) game was pretty poorly executed. The run game was virtually non-existent and lacked any semblance of consistently. Frankly, the offensive front and tight ends and receivers, too, anyone involved in the blocking scheme, played below average, to say the least. That’s just not something that meshes with one of the more talented fronts that Georgia will see in Missouri…
It’s not that Georgia shouldn’t beat Missouri. It’s that we don’t have any idea if Kirby Smart is going to coax something better out of his players and coaches than their “C” game.
Get The Picture 
Stinchcomb is an articulate, balanced, and grounded young man who should get better games than he has been given. Not sure his delivery suits the despicable WWL mold but he maintains perspective better than most all of the SEC/ESPN analysts.
I think UGA shocked the world last week and it has everyone befuddled but I think it was a combo of UGA not being as good as most thought along the OL, an inexperienced QB making several errors, an opponent playing with energy against a bunch of players that had bought into silly poll rankings, an OC who continued to run the same plays into the same brick wall, and a better than expected defensive front from Nicholls who we had no film on.
It was a horrible game for UGA which doesn’t condemn them to total failure this year but exposed some weaknesses that had better be addressed going forward. We missed capitalizing on several opportunities and played sloppy football, but it doesn’t mean we have to lose all the close matchups this year. It does mean we could lose the closer games like Mizzou, Auburn, and GT if we don’t wake up and play hungry/angry. It also means we will have to improve a good bit to play Old Miss, Florida, and even TN at home. This team isn’t bad, but we don’t look as good as I had hoped at the beginning of the season. Biggest let downs for me are at OC and OL.
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I’ll second you on Stinchcomb. He’s pretty good at his job.
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I agree as well. Articulate, fair, balanced, a joy to listen to. Speaks with an easy going authority, as well with insight and mannerisms of someone who has played the game. Another dawg I have enjoyed on the SEC network has been David Greene. His interviews with SEC coaches has also been articulate, but smooth, a throwback to old times. He leads the coaches in the discussion as well as anyone. His relaxed manner seems to open them up to honest and thoughtful answers.
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FWIW, I’ve never put much faith in the talent of this offensive line. We do not have a true set of tackles, we’re undersized in the middle and lack leadership.
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I don’t disagree with you, I had a large question mark about them entering the season. My concern is we were not as bad last year as we looked last Saturday. We had no push last year, but we didn’t get hit 4-5 yards deep in the backfield by an FCS line. We flat whiffed several times. I guess I bought into the Pittman legend, and I haven’t seen much so far. And worse, I haven’t seen any options tested, we have to have some combination that works better.
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The filter was in place concerning comments to questions asked. Would really like to hear comments/ body language with out filter. Stinch is a damn good dawg with perspective. GO DAWG!
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“It’s not that Georgia shouldn’t beat Missouri. It’s that we don’t have any idea if Kirby Smart is going to coax something better out of his players and coaches than their “C” game.”
Didn’t we just fire a coach for that kinda sh*t???!
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No. We fired him for not winning an SECC since ’05, and for getting hammered by a mediocre Florida team two years in a row to boot.
“We don’t have any idea if Kirby Smart is going to coax something better out of his players and coaches than their “C” game” because he’s coached 2 games, one of which was an FCS opponent after a big win which reeked of “let down game.” (not defending the near-loss, mind you)
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You seem to think you’re disagreeing with DaddyRich, but I think you’re both saying the same thing. Yes, Richt was fired ultimately for not winning enough SEC Championships and never putting UGA in a NC game, but the perceived reason he did not do this was his inability “to coax something better out of his players and coaches than their ‘C’ game” time and time again in big games.
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In a way, but my implication was that if Smart can’t coach above a “C game” after 10 years (or, more to the point, 3 or 4 years), then we can fire him.
I’m just saying that, yes, we don’t know if he can or he can’t because it’s been 2 games. Even Richt got an A+ game out of his teams plenty of times.
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I admit that I have tempered my expectations for the 2016 season after last week. Maybe the Dawgs turn things around this week and get back to looking like a formidable team at least in the SEC East, but all of a sudden, it can’t come as a shock to UGA fans if this team ends up struggling more than expected. I’ll just cheer them on with tempered expectations, and if they kick some tail at Mizzou, then I’ll put my blinders back on and resume the smack talk about UGA being a darkhorse CFP contender.
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You might want to temper the CFB darkhorse bit, we ain’t even in the same galaxy of the best 5-6 teams in CFB. And nothing that we do in Columbia this Saturday will change that. We all need to lower our expectations for a year or two, but getting to Atlanta and competing is about as high as I see our ceiling for the next two years. And that is OK, but having a disastrous year against this schedule isn’t.
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Stinchcomb is a DGD.
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Who are the 5-6 best teams? As I see it right now, outside Bama it’s quite fuzzy and there is a long season ahead of everybody
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This team has potential, but most of that potential is young and generally unrealized. We changed coaches because we fell flat on our face the last 2 years in the biggest game of the year (Florida). If Kirby doesn’t change that (and quickly), he’ll find himself on the same temperature seat the previous guy sat on. Last year was a wake-up call that we weren’t ready for prime time against Alabama. We blew the Tennessee game after being up by 3(!) touchdowns. But the Florida debacle is what did the previous guy in.
I’m standing by my 9-3 prediction as Kirby finds his way as a head coach and the roster is in need of some upgrades and additional depth.
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Gee, I thought we changed coaches because we wanted to win championships and CMR didn’t deliver. My prediction is that if Kirby doesn’t change his offensive philosophy quickly UGA may not go to a bowl this year–and then the boo birds will really be out in force.
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