https://twitter.com/IronMassaquoi/status/1041041477651111936
Georgia has opened the 2018 season with three wins, scoring more than forty points in each. I did a half-assed job of looking last night, but couldn’t find another start like that in Georgia history. (Brownie points to whomever can sleuth that out.)
As great as that is, there’s a strong likelihood that the best is yet to come. Consider that through his first 31 games, Kirby Smart only has the second best winning percentage among Georgia head coaches.
Coach Kirby Smart currently boasts a 24-7 record and a 0.774 winning percentage, having carded his twenty-fourth win overall over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.
At the identical juncture in their careers:
Vince Dooley’s 31st game as head coach resulted in a Georgia Bulldog win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets giving Coach Dooley a record of 22-8-1 and 0.726 percentage.
Coach Mark Richt was 25-6 (0.806) after beating the Alabama Crimson Tide in his third season as head coach.
Thirty-one games in to his head coaching career Kirby Smart is one game behind Coach Mark Richt and ahead of Coach Vince Dooley by 2 ½ games. As of now, he is holding his own versus the two winningest coaches in Georgia Football History.
He’s recruiting way better than either of them did, so prepare to be left in the dust for good, fellas.
Before you engage in a serious bout of chest-pounding over that 40+ point streak, though, consider this.
I am still searching for the term to describe what Alabama’s offense did to Ole Miss’ defense in the first half of last night’s game. Seal-clubbing seems woefully inadequate.
The Dawgs boast an impressive +111 points differential after those three games. It’s only third-best in the SEC, though, behind the Tide’s +142 and Mississippi State’s +124. Tough neighborhood.
So, yeah, it’s hard not to be excited, especially about the long-term prospects, for Georgia football, but that SECCG, assuming the Dawgs return, is gonna be a real challenge.
Get The Picture 
2012 – 1st 5 games UGA scored over 40 points per game (until the USCe game, which I’d like to forget).
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2012 is the only other year in school history Dawgs hit 40 in first 3 games. With @ Missouri, Tennessee & Vandy the next 3 games I like the chances of making it 6 straight. If Bama wreaks A&M this weekend like their first 3 opponents then I will be sufficiently worried. Until then they don’t play anybody until November with @ LSU, Miss St & Auburn.
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https://www.sicemdawgs.com/2012-uga-football-schedule/
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The solution, my friends, is easy. Just do to Tua the same thing we did to Eddie Lee Ivery in 78. Get him in a pileup and . . .
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If Tua stays healthy, ain’t nobody beating Bama this year. I’m not crowning them 95′ Nebraska yet, but this is looking like Saban’s best team. The good news is next year and the next year we’ll be better suited to match up with them when the Quay Walker, Channing Tindall, and Otis Reese’s grow up.
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Kid’s good, no doubt. But unbeatable? Hell no. He’s gone up against no defensive coordinators worth their salaries yet.
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understand…..but I certainly didn’t think that we matched up well this time last year with Bama. This team gets better imo….still a little concerned about our front 7. But I have not seen enough of them just yet in these blowouts. Thinks we turn them loose against MIZZZOU next week, Drew may have a tough time….there will be SACKS imo.
If we are fortunate enough to make it to the SECCG this year, we will compete….”any given Saturday”.
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If we played Bama today, ain’t no way we’re beating them. Later on in the season after we have a chance to grow and improve on defense, particularly our ILBs, then sure I think we can make a game of it.
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They have a young secondary & we have a strong OL with strong receivers with speed. Also, a pretty damn good QB. One that I would not trade for any…who knows.
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If memory serves, Kirby is going to have to win them all to catch up to CMR this year. Sounds like a plan to me.
It’s not that Alabama scored 49 in the first half that scares me. It’s that Ole Miss scored 7 all night.
We’re going to need 1 in the SECCG vs. Bama if we’re to score enough to get a W. Need to keep playing him early in games.
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Richt was 11-3 in his 3rd year..l
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Doh! Obviously memory didn’t serve well.
Early onset Alzheimer’s.
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Fields has a long way to go in the passing game to be a threat versus Bama at this point. Obviously, he will develop the more he plays but he isn’t anywhere near where Fromm is in making his reads and progressions. He still seems quick to tuck it and run. He had Ridley (I believe) open on the backside post route for a TD on the play where he ran for the score for instance.
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Which is why I think he needs the reps.
The value 1 brings is moving the chains.
The difference between the 3rd down where 11 eats it and gets sacked in the ez and fumbles vs. the 3rd down where 1 runs over people to get to the marker is stark.
And I’m not suggesting a wholesale change. 11 should continue to start. I just think that if/when alabama stuffs your run game and the qb alone needs to keep things going or you punt (or worse) you need somebody that brings another dimension to defend.
If you go back to the natty, after the long pass to Mecole I think we had 26 yards in 24 plays or some such nonsense. We could no longer run the ball effectively, move the chains, run the clock and hold on. Those numbers were for a quarter and a half plus OT. That’s what bama does though. You need an antidote ready to go or you lose.
Make that Bama DL run like hell in the first half with jet sweeps and easy passes to the RBs and then make those big tired bastards try and chase 1 around some in the second and the fourth. Keep our DL fresh enough to exploit the one relative weakness I think Bama has and that’s its OL.
If we’re going to beat those guys TOP and running more offensive plays than they do is going to be a huge key. That takes first downs by whatever means necessary.
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” If you go back to the natty, after the long pass to Mecole I think we had 26 yards in 24 plays or some such nonsense”
Agree, it was nonsense….but it had to do more with play calling imo. We went away from being aggressive, tried to stubbornly test Bama’s middle with Chubb. Went away from Sony who was killing them on the edges. Went away from what was working in the pass game. That, is what lost the game imo. Tried to run the clock out & control the ball….should have stuck with what was working.
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ring Curley Hallman for you on line 1.
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I’m picking up what you’re putting down, Derek. I agree on Fields. What he does is enough of an extra weapon to cause Bammer a problem should we get there. This assumes that we continue to improve in all other areas which I believe we will. That was the point I was making last night. No we aren’t playing perfect football (damn good though) but we are going to keep getting better. As good as this team is they are going to be a lot better as the season wears on.
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I agree. I just don’t know that maximum improvement is punching Bama in the mouth and running at will in the 4th. I wish it were.
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That’s the thing about 1/8/18. It’s tough to get back there. Plus ‘bama is crazy good.
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Am I the only one with serious concerns about our defense. And offense for that matter when we face a team with good athletes on the edge
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Georgia is second in the country in scoring defense. As long as they don’t break, the bending doesn’t bother me too much.
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and 1st in the SEC. I know it don’t mean shit, but surprised to see us as 1st in the SEC in total defense also….guess I may be worrying for NOTHING.
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I hear you, but the bending is a sign of an eventual break. I trust Seth Emerson pretty well and he’s still pretty concerned about our run defense up the middle, which comports with what my eyes are telling me. I’m not dogging our team, I just think we are weaker in that area this year than last year and that’s not good. On the positive side, this team is better than last year’s team in several areas, most notably the offensive line. I think our offense can go toe to toe with anybody. Our defense while good needs the Quay Walker, Channing Tindall, Otis Reese types to grow up to get where it really can be outstanding and capable of stopping anyone. Also, we need a true nosetackle, we don’t have one.
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We can thank Tracy Rocker for our front 7 concerns. Hence why he was relieved of his duties after ‘17 signing day
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And whatever idiot convinced Trenton Thompson to go pro, man we could use him, and he could use us.
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I’m convinced he likely didn’t have much choice in the matter.
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It’s sad, I read he was cut by the Browns.
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You have company Jim. I almost didn’t enjoy yesterday’s game, even with the offensive explosions, because of what I saw. I am growing much less concerned about the secondary, even without QB pressure being applied to anyone’s QB. I even feel that can be changed and improved when needed. But the issue of softness up the middle seems personnel related, but scheme.
I have said this since the first game, and it hasn’t changed, we are sof up the middle, and stats don’t show how bad it is…yet. I always look for which way players fall when tackled, and when first contact is made. What I see is they often fall forward when they go down, and there is rarely first contact at the LOS, or behind it. and this is against below average OLs with no significant RBs involved. This isn’t LSU, KY, or Bama level power running. I hope I am wrong about this.
The other thing that I look forward is how we swarm to the ball, as in how many red hats are in the picture frame. Not as many as last year, yet we have good speed on this team. Some of the gains I have seen are from not meeting the ball carrier head on, but grabbing from the side with arm tackles. We never seem to stand the runner up and drive them back this year. Also, we aren’t back-filling the lanes with good pursuit and give up extra yards on cutbacks. Guess I wonder, are we not making the effort because of the opponent? Or, dare I say, are we not man enough?
Rant over. Hope I am wrong, we will certainly find out. But don’t tell me this is because we are just being vanilla. Good defensive fronts like to hit folks, and we haven’t gotten to the big boys yet. But man….that offense!
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Agree about the front seven but I don’t get all the worrying about it. Kirby and Uncle Mel are on the mother.
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Don’t doubt that at all, it is the heart I am concerned about. Champions play all out when on the field, we aren’t, imo.
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No doubt Bama has a great team this year. No doubt we’re getting there week by week. I don’t know if we can beat Bama at this moment. Let’s answer that question after they have played the meat of their SEC West schedule.
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SECCG? I think I’ll just focus my worry on Mizzou for now. Don’t want to get ahead of myself.
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Idk, seems like Bama is really trying to score a lot of points, playing starters later. And we’re kind of just using these games to get work in, rotating backups in early, and just taking care of business.
Everyone is salivating over Tua but he hasn’t thrown against a defense with a pulse yet. Anyone who says they’re unbeatable must have a short memory.
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They haven’t played a quality team with Tua going the whole way yet. My tendency is to think that roll Auburn and LSU too though. But we’ll see.
We know A&M has a pulse, although I tend to think Dabo just sucks, so maybe we’ll see something approaching human qualities out of Tua next Saturday. It would make me feel a lot better if he had a ball hit the ground on third down…once…this entire season….
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I have watched all 3 Bama games on DVR. Two observations relative to observations here.
Of their 170 points on the season, 117 were scored in the first half. Their 4th string RB is 3rd on the team in rush attempts. Tua has played about 60% of their drives. They are getting their backup OL a lot of reps. They are not goosing their stats. Kind of the opposite. That’s the scary part.
117-7. That’s their first half performance year to date. The old Saban SOP of slowly apply pressure and watch a team crack late in the second quarter or early in the 3rd is nowhere in evidence.
Weird to watch blowing people out early
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They haven’t had this type of qb talent since he’s been there. Big difference when every third down turns into a long td pass. Usually they hide the qb, ask to just not fuck it up, and play to the strengths of the other 21 guys.
This is a different beast.
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Heady times, I guess, but it isn’t Bama that scares me. In spite of scoring a lot and winning (so far) we’ve been awfully sloppy at times it seems to me. I believe we have a lot of talent but we do a lot of shooting ourselves in the foot. So far, it hasn’t mattered because we are that much more talented than the teams we have played, but that won’t be enough as the season progresses. Wtf was going on with Cox and Walker?
I don’t want to have to say “We have met the enemy and he is us” at season’s end.
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Jesus, I’m an old man! The children of my classmates are Georgia Bulldogs. First it was my pharmacy school classmate’s son who was a QB at UGA last year. Now I can’t believe little Jacky Camarda’s son is punting for Georgia! Geez, I remember Jacky when he was running track at my high school. His sister was my 5th grade girlfriend. Damn I am old.
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Yes you are.. 😏
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MTSU’s quick-pass offense wasn’t the type to tee up a pass rush.
We will know next week if we have problems getting pressure.
You don’t replace front-seven losses of Atkins, Bellamy, Carter, Thompson, and Roquan in your third season without some growing pains.
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Baton Rouge is now looking like a pretty meaningful test, both from potential loss and a gauge as to how we stack up versus another physical team. Also a meaningful way to benchmark ourselves against Bama.
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Given how we’ve done at SEC West stadiums the last two years, its time to show something new.
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I voted for you as Student President. When do all my dreams come true?
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Senator, I believe “curb-stomp” might be the term that describes what Bama just did to the land minnows….just my 2 cents. Looking forward to our Dogs doing more of the same.
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