One of the Vanderbilt beat writers throws out some impressive statistical information about the defense: “In SEC games, Vandy leads the conference in total defense and ranks second in scoring defense.”
Well, shit, says I. Georgia is an SEC team, right? That don’t sound too good. But note the qualifier in the sentence above: “Vandy’s defense was thrown off kilter a little during a three-game stretch against vastly different offenses in Middle Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Western Kentucky…”
“Off kilter a little”? Yeah, well, that’s one way of putting it. Check out the game log for Vandy’s defense, and you’ll see an amazing disparity in yards per play. All three of their SEC opponents averaged less than the 5.56 ypp Vanderbilt’s defense is yielding on the season, while all three non-conference teams managed to average more — in some cases, like Georgia Tech’s, quite a bit more.
Put it this way. Against conference opponents, Vanderbilt ranks seventh nationally in total defense. Against non-conference opponents, the ‘Dores are 117th.
This is worth keeping in mind as well. Only two of the teams Vandy has faced so far rank in the top 70 in total offense. The bad news is that Georgia goes into Saturday with the 78th-best mark in that category.
Doesn’t sound pretty, does it?
Get The Picture 
If we can’t throw and catch at least a little bit this game will be trouble.
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Is it too late for UGA to leave the SEC?
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I’m expecting an ugly game…………..with us squeaking by for a win.
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I am in that neighborhood as well. Sort of like last week but us really needing to hit passes because our running game won’t be as effective. Low scoring, closer game, and this isn’t a gimmee for the Dawgs.
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AD…if we don’t pound the rock for 350+ and Eason doesn’t pass for over 200, I will be damn surprised. I feel the “Junkyard” starting to come out in this football team. Our coaches better earn their keep Saturday as well…
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This backs up my ongoing point that Florida is terrible. If we can be somewhat un-terrible, we beat them by 10+ points.
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You should immediately cease posting such thoughts. Munson is sadly shaking his head at you from heaven.
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Vandy’s offense is beyond horrific. Unless we make it easy for them with turnovers and special teams, we should beat them by 3 scores.
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That’s a lot of optimism for a team that annually loses to us but gives us fits in the process. I do believe that if Eason can have a better game than he had last Sunday we will be fine. Maybe more than fine, but that is still something of a big IF.
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They give us fits in Nashville. They’ve beaten us twice in Athens since 1960. The last 4 games in Athens have been decided by an average of 39-8. Even in the disaster that was 2010, we beat them 43-0 in Athens.
That’s my point … unless we help them like we did in both losses (1994 and 2006), we should be able to beat them by double digits because their offense is as poor as their defense good.
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Only part that makes me nervous is that last home loss…was also the last time we had a true freshman QB. If the WRs show up like they did at the last game, I think Eason looks a lot better than Sunday, and then we’re OK.
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Good points
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Has anybody who actually knows commented on the effect of the wind on Eason’s throws in Columbia?
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I think Kirby said that the wind wasn’t an issue.
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The wind blew the scab off a cold sore on Boom’s upper lip.
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That wasn’t what he said in the post game comments.
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Unless he was victimized by unseen gusts, Eason was just lousy on Sunday. Orth on the other hand had 288 yards passing. The kid was just off by a mile. The receivers had several different groupings to give Jacob different looks but he overlooked most of them, which concerns me in his ability to see the field or hurrying his throws to the first receiver he sees…seems to pick up the escape valve back to often.
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They’ve played USCe, UK, and UF; so I wouldn’t say they’ve played the most prolific offenses in the SEC. Let’s just line up and run the ball down their throats and throw some play-action passes at them.
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When the day comes that Eason tells CKS that he’s considering going to the NFL, Smart can remind him that he’s already demonstrated he’s not ready to play on Sundays.
I think we’ll see a better game out of Eason this week.
Playing at home will help a lot. Having the passing troubles last week and still winning should also calm him down..knowing that he doesn’t have to win it by himself…
I think the offense is hitting on 7 out of eight cylinders against Vandy…6 anyway…enough to get us across the finish line.
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Good news and bad news.
Bad news is Eason is pretty much the worst Qb in the conference, a real letdown, not the Qb any of us thought he might become.
http://www.espn.com/ncf/qbr/_/group/8
Eason had a, wait for it…
9 Qbr vs. Ole Miss
9.8 Qbr vs SC.
Only completed 29% of his passes vs SC.
On track for 15 turnovers.
Yes, worse than…JOE…FRIGGIN…COX.
I have heard from some of my friends in Athens that Lambert gets the nod this week. Not surprising given Lambert is 11-2 as a starter and Eason is 3-2.
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That’s troll-tastic.
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6 career yards per pass vs 7.7
5 int’s in 5 starts (and a BEAUTIFUL END ZONE SACK TOUCHDOWN) vs 2 in 13 starts
51% completions vs 64%.
But a 9 qbr, NINE, ????? 999999? my grandma had a 9 qbr throwing tomatoes at the damn cat.
It was a pretty easy decision for the coaches once they looked at the numbers.
Lambert is pumped about the start, and Eason is taking the news well so far about the benching.
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I’m trying to figure out the over/under on the number of comments I let you make like this before ushering you out the door.
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Come on Senator, Eason has 3 wins over piss poor teams like Nichols St, Vandy, and Mizzou. Let’s be honest here.
Ya gotta admit a 9 qbr 2 out of 3 of his last 3 starts doesn’t say future Heisman.
And the 6 yards per pass attempt, whew, what an arm.
I don’t get the hype.
Eason doesn’t deserve to keep his starting job, or you think he should keep it irregardless of how he performs?
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“irregardless” ? yes…that would translate to without regard to being without regard..so, yeah.
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You are more than welcome to wax indignant over Eason’s performance. Just spare me your repeated bullshit about personal knowledge of a change at starter, because you’re doing that solely to irritate other folks who read the comments.
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Ok, fair enough.
I just don’t like it when Smart claims Eason is getting better over time, when he’s not.
If the thought is he needs to develop, then why isn’t he getting any better, his last 3 games are much worse than his first 3 games?
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“Over time”?
He’s started four games. As a true freshman.
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Eason’s QBR was 90, 29 and 63, so 61 Qbr av after 1st 3 games this season.
Eason’s Qbr was 9, 48, and 10, so 22 Qbr in the last 3 games this season.
So 61 down to 22, almost 3x worse as he ‘develops’.
Why is he getting 3x worse the more you play him?
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Perhaps you should watch the games rather than parse an invented ESPN stat to figure that out.
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Eason had a 29% completion rate in the most recent game, and only averaged 1.7 yards per attempt.
I don’t see any of those numbers as improving, in fact, both were his worst of the season.
Plus another turnover.
I am not sure he is developing.
The numbers don’t indicate he understands what he is doing wrong so he can make corrections.
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tsk, tsk, feeding the Trolls again…
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You gotta admit Senator, the part about Grandma’s cat is pretty damn funny.
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did I mention she’s blind and that was with her bad arm?
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Alright, man! The Lambert Troll is back!!!
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Trapped in your own lie. You don’t have any friends, in Athens or elsewhere. Move along statboy.
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I wonder if tonyqbr has informed Kirby Smart that Lambert is starting. He needs to know about this kind of stuff…right?
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I get it Kirby is willing to go 4-8 in 2016 if necessary, even with Eason putting up numbers like 50% completion, 1.25 turnovers per game, and only 6 ypa. Might get worse, Kirby doesn’t care.
I think Kirby has decided the less game he wins in 2016, the lower the bar is in 2017 per expectations. And that’s true.
But it’s a helluva gamble, what if Eason doesn’t start improving?
What if Eason gets hurt, then where are we?
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Eason isn’t perfect and does need to improve; but the receivers have dropped some perfectly thrown passes with a couple of those would be TD’s. So, if the receivers catch those his number change dramatically. He’s still a better option than Lambert. When he gets things rolling, he and Nauta will wear defenses out. You’re obviously just trying to stir the pot.
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Waiting for Fromme!! At least it will be competitive…by the way, is Ramsey really that big of a bust??
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Looking forward to a real competition at QB.
2016 is a damn wash.
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Not defending tony but he does have a point.The running game is getting better and yet Eason is not. All of the talk has been that if the running game can take the pressure off of Eason he can do better. He has not. Maybe the OC is expecting too much from him but he is not throwing to the right receiver much of the time. On the interception on Sunday McKenzie was wide open in the endzone on the same side of the field, Eason just didn’t see him I guess. At 6’6″ you’d think he had a good view. I know he’s a freshman but if we are just going to keep him in hoping he gets better we better get ready to get beat a lot.
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So when do you want to write Eason off?
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I think it would be a fractional percentage who would “write Eason off”, and they are probably legally insane, but it is fair to question to ask at a point. No question he is capable of, and has demonstrated the ability to make throws that make you say he does have the potential to be a very good QB at the collegiate, and pro, level. But you have to offset that with the glaringly bad throws we have seen with both accuracy and not throwing to the open receivers. His pocket presence is at the very raw stage now, yes, it is early, and this impacts his choices, throws, and foot work.
I wouldn’t pull him but last Sunday’s performance was as bad as I have ever seen a UGA QB throw the ball, and I wouldn’t sacrifice the season to make this a continuing experience lesson for him because the other players deserve a better shot at success. I do take comfort that we have another “Top Gun” coming to Athens in January to contest Eason for the job in case he doesn’t begin showing some noticeable improvement in the next 2-3 games. I hope he does, but we should not all annoint him as “the chosen one” based on what has transpired. The illogical poster in this thread is tilted way too far to the negative, but if we are honest, there are more who are not objectively viewing the performance Eason has given us either by overlooking some red flags.
Fair to say it is too early to feel strongly either way, let’s hope we see more progress in the rest if the season for JE, it will make the winter more tolerable, but the hope of another “chosen one” arriving in January will get us through the off season either way.
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Good point bout the run game.
I think Qb’s play better when they fear getting benched, Eason played nearly 3x better (qbr wise)
when he thought he was battling competition for his spot.
I would turn it back into a competition, I would give Eason a little break, that is, if you actually care about winning games in 2016.
Judging from Kirby’s behavior, he’s written off 2016 and realizes it takes pressure off of 2017 every time he loses.
I get that, lower that bar so 6-6 looks good in 2017, I get it.
but I doubt Kirby would have been hired had he shared that 4-8 2016 plan during the interviews.
Also, I don’t understand letting an 18 year old kid stay on the field when he’s grossly ineffective with zero accountability for how he performs.
Especially when you have a very capable winner in Lambert with an 11-2 record as a starter at UGA.
Even 2 of Lambert’s wins to Nichols St & Mizzou both were barely wins.
SC win Eason’s play can’t take credit for the W.
Again, what if continues to get worse, or gets injured?
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4-8? So you think we’re losing out?
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If all you rate a qb on is completion percentage then he hasn’t shown improvement..but there is a lot more to standing behind that center and running a team than just throwing the ball well. Reading defenses, checking off, sleight of hand and making clean exchanges, being a leader and other stuff too. The passing will come…and it will be good.
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It’s not just completion %.
Eason to this point is looking like a washout in nearly every measurable statistic.
seen this:
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/player-stat/gross-yards-per-passing-attempt
or this?
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/player-stat/qb-rating-ncaa
or this?
https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/player-stat/passing-gross-yards
So yes,
yards per pass check
qbr on espn check
turnovers per game check
accuracy check
passing gross yards check
qb rating on teamrankings (not in top 100)
I couldn’t have imagined a worse start at Qb.
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DAMMT KIRBY YOU BETTER START CHRISTIAN LEMAY
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Are we playing better on the road versus at home?
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