Make your plans today.
Man, that ’29 schedule is gonna be lit. I just hope I’m still alive and ambulatory then.
Daily Archives: November 12, 2018
They’re back, baby.
Even if you’re not a fan of advanced stats, you have to admit Bill Connelly’s got Georgia sussed when he writes this:
It has felt inevitable in recent weeks, but the “Alabama and Clemson separate themselves from everyone else” narrative that is quickly defining the 2018 season is a pretty new thing. Among other things, Georgia was part of that dominant class until about a month ago.
Kirby Smart’s Dawgs fell from third to sixth in S&P+ following their 36-16 loss at LSU on October 13 — not a horrible drop, but enough to fall behind not only Bama and rising Clemson, but also Oklahoma and Michigan.
Since the LSU loss, however, they’ve beaten Florida (currently 22nd in S&P+) by 17, Kentucky (top-30 at the time) by 17, and now Auburn (currently 20th) by 17. They are keeping strong teams at arm’s length, and they have been rewarded by a return to No. 3 in this week’s rankings.
The Dawgs’ run game is brilliant (outside of the red zone, at least), and while the defense is a little less efficient than it was last year, no one makes big plays on the Dawgs. [Emphasis added.]
For once, you don’t have to make a choice between stats and your lying eyes.
Georgia is back to third in Bill’s S&P+, erasing the drop it suffered after the LSU loss.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
One of those nights
“I mean, they weren’t really doing anything special — exactly what we knew they were going to do,” Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis said. “Zone, zone seal, split zone, stretch, their main runs. They stuck with their game plan, they stuck with what they’ve been doing all year. We just had some missed fits, some guys not in the right spots. Sometimes, we were in the right spots, and they have some great (running) backs. They bounced it outside and picked up probably about eight yards. I mean, they had their way tonight.”
Things can’t be much worse for a defense than when it knows what’s coming and still can’t do a darned thing to stop it.
Observations from the 35, Auburn edition
I wish I could take more credit for my pre-game soothsaying, but, honestly, Saturday night’s results were so predictable. Auburn is a mess on offense — I’m convinced at this point that Stidham is the most misused talent in the conference this season — with a game plan that would play right into Mel Tucker’s hands. That, in turn, would put pressure on Auburn’s defense to hold Georgia’s offense in check for a full sixty minutes.
Neither, to what should have been no one’s surprise, held up. Auburn had its typical first quarter of success on offense, but when the script ran out, Gus, also typically, had no answers. Time of possession wound up being incredibly lopsided in Georgia’s favor, and that led right into the Tigers’ defense wearing out as the fourth quarter rolled around. In the end, Georgia amassed more than 300 yards rushing (Swift by himself outgained Auburn by more than 80 yards), and that’s not the kind of stat that presages an Auburn win.
In other words, this one played out exactly as they drew it up on the whiteboard.
- Auburn clearly planned to play offense the way it did to pull off its comeback against Texas A&M last week: up tempo, with an emphasis on throwing the ball. And it did work early on, as the Tigers maintained a small lead throughout the first quarter. Stidham did wind up with a healthy completion percentage; the problem was that he was forced to settle for short completions that Tucker’s defense cleaned up without too much trouble. Auburn wound up with one pass play that gained 20 yards and its lowest yards per attempt of the season.
- As I mentioned above, it’s sad how Malzahn has wasted Stidham’s arm this season by running an offense that’s totally unsuited for Stidham’s strengths. He’s got a Pro-level arm, which he demonstrated on a couple of jaw-dropping throws, but, more than anything else, he’s expected to dink and dunk his way to glory. I don’t feel sorry for the kid, as it’s not like anybody made him choose Auburn, but it’s really a waste.
- Georgia’s defense didn’t get any sacks, but it did wind up with several tackles for loss and generally managed to generate a decent amount of pressure on Stidham, which had an effect on his mechanics as the game wore on. Run stopping still isn’t where it needs to be from a consistency standpoint. In that regard, the Dawgs benefited from Malzahn’s emphasis on throwing the ball, as Auburn actually managed a higher average yards per rush than yards per pass attempt.
- Ledbetter had another great game. He’s really come on in the second half of the season.
- Rice and Crowder are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the ILB group. That’s not much of a surprise from the former, who’s rounding into form post-injury, but Crowder’s emergence has been good to see.
- That may have been the secondary’s best game of the year, collectively speaking. It’s probably not a coincidence there was a good deal of player shuffling both coming into the game (Reese got the starting nod over LeCounte) and in-game, as Reese was replaced by LeCounte after getting burned on Auburn’s lone touchdown of the night and Campbell was benched in favor of Stokes, who turned in an excellent pass break up on Auburn’s only other scoring threat in the first half. Not sure what that says going forward, other than Kirby’s normal insistence on playing the kids who are playing the best.
- Gus may have made it easy, but Tucker deserves credit for calling a good game. Any time you hold Auburn to ten points — none after the first quarter — and under 300 yards of total offense, you’ve done your job.
- Georgia managed over 500 yards of offense, and that started with Swift and Holyfield, which means it really started with that banged up offensive line. In particular, Thomas and Wilson turned in their best performances of 2018 against the Tigers’ defensive front. The o-line did give up a couple of sacks and a few tackles for loss, but most of that was do to Steele having to dial up some all out blitzes and box loading to have an impact, and that, in turn, led to some major holes in Auburn’s defense that Chaney had no trouble exploiting.
- I can’t really say enough about Swift’s night. In addition to his big run that sealed the game, he again pulled off a jump start that embarrassed an Auburn defensive back, bulled over safeties on a couple of tough runs, was an effective receiver and had a key blitz pick up on one of Fromm’s touchdown throws.
- Holyfield was no slouch, either, as he ran consistent and tough all night long.
- We shouldn’t forget Herrien, who came in to spell the top two occasionally and managed a couple of big runs.
- The receiving corps did its usual things, big plays and downfield blocking. My only knock there was Hardman’s drop of a beautiful pass from Fromm, but that’s really a quibble. The route running continues to be a thing of beauty, and the receivers frequently took advantage of the holes in Auburn’s coverage resulting from blitzes and commitment to stopping the run.
- Other than that one stinker of an interception, Fromm had another good night. The touchdown passes were both perfectly thrown balls, as was the deep throw to Hardman on third down that got the offense out of a big hole. He was excellent with his checkdowns, again, other than the pick, when he should have taken the open pass in the flat to Herrien Auburn was giving him.
- It’s funny to think back on how many folks were calling for Fromm’s head after the LSU debacle and pushing for Fields to take over. Justin’s a talented kid, no doubt about it, but Saturday night showed he’s not quite ready for prime time yet, although I will continue to insist that the one play in, one play out approach Smart and Chaney have taken isn’t doing him any favors. Still, he did manage to stay in for a series and even threw and completed his one pass attempt. He’s your textbook work in progress; it’ll be interesting to see how much he improves next season.
- It may not have been a perfect night, especially if you’re one to fixate on goal line performance über alles (I see you, Chip Towers), but, man, how much do you really want to bitch about more than 500 yards of total offense and domination of the play clock? Chaney’s call on the fourth-and-three at the end of the first half that led to the touchdown that put Georgia up by ten was perfect, and I do mean perfect: a five-wide set that clearly confused Steele and the secondary and left Godwin so open that Fromm said after the game he had to carefully focus on making a good throw. I’ve always maintained that an offensive coordinator’s first responsibility is to take what the defense gives him, and for the most part, Chaney lived up to that.
- Speaking of the goal line disappointments, it’s not like they didn’t try changing things up. They ran plays out of standard formations and used Fields, to boot. None of it mattered, although at least it burned a good deal of clock. At this point, it’s pretty much a given it’s in their heads, the perfect example being Fromm overthrowing an open Nauta in the end zone on the first drive.
- Special teams, for the most part, were quite good. Rodrigo did his usual thing and even when he didn’t, the coverage team blew up the kickoff return, forcing a fumble on a big hit (too bad they didn’t recover it). Hardman, though, didn’t muff his chance on his lone kickoff return.
Camargo’sCamarda’s one regular punt wasn’t anything special, but for the second week in a row, he did manage a killer short punt that Hardman downed on the one-yard line. - Kirby, too, had a very good night. Georgia took the early blow from Auburn’s offense and the disappointing stops on its first two drives, and kept on chopping. Smart deserves a special call out for the way he managed the end of the first half, which was the best job of his tenure. Bottom line, for all the carping about Georgia maybe looking ahead to Alabama and not being ready to play, he had his team prepped to take down the Tigers.
- I’m not someone who’s bought into conspiracy theories about SEC officiating, but, damn, there are some incompetent folks out there. Somebody needs to have a sit down with that back judge about what constitutes pass interference. The crew wasn’t biased towards one team or the other, just spectacularly inconsistent.
I continue to be impressed with the way things are coalescing in the second half of this season. It’s a young team, as we’re constantly reminded, and the coaches are still figuring out the best combination of players to deploy, particularly on defense. But you can see young talent growing up all over the place while the team keeps winning.
Do I think Georgia has more than a puncher’s chance against Alabama? Right now, nah. But I reserve the right to change my mind after I see where these kids go after the next two games. This season so far may not be as special as 2017 was, but it certainly isn’t without its own charms.
Filed under Georgia Football
Kirby’s Celebration
The fake field goal call was a bad deal. It will forever be in the mind of Gus Malzahn and in the mind of his football team.
Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis, a team captain and as honest as they come, had more to say about Georgia coach Kirby Smart’s decision to plunge a dagger into Auburn’s corpse.
“That’s what they do,” Davis said. “I’m not going to give an honest comment, so — Kirby, we’ve got some words, though.”
In what amounted to the final game against Georgia in Davis’ career, he expounded on the call, citing a famous phrase from his head coach.
“I mean, sometimes karma handles things better than you can,” Davis said. “I mean, that’s how they want to be remembered, that’s what they want to be known for, then — it was, in the words of Malzahn, a ‘bullcrap call.’ We shouldn’t be in that situation. I’ll just say that. I’ll revert back to the positives and revert back to us. If we’re not down 17 points, then maybe we don’t see that play. But y’all know the answer to that.”
You’ll revert back to the positives? What were those, exactly?
Filed under Auburn's Cast of Thousands, Georgia Football
Just another week in the Big Ten
Northwestern becomes the first school ever to earn a berth in a P5 conference championship game without beating a single non-conference opponent… including 4-5 Akron.
The Wildcats managed to do that and become bowl-eligible at the same time, which, when you think about it, is pretty efficient.
Oh, and for some reason, the AP thinks that’s all good enough to earn a top 25 ranking this week. Sweet!
Filed under Big Ten Football
When you REALLY want to make sure you get tossed for unsportsmanlike conduct…
Just make sure you leap over an official to throw a punch at an opposing player.
Filed under General Idiocy
SEC Power Poll, Week Eleven
Just as a follow up to yesterday’s post about net yardage, nine conference teams are underwater in points differential in conference play, but only seven teams have losing records in conference play.
BREAKING: Alabama and Georgia are good.
- Alabama. It’s kind of amusing to listen to people who insist that Tua’s health makes the Tide vulnerable just as they’ve shut out two ranked opponents in their last two games.
- Georgia. It’s kind of amusing to listen to people dump on Jim Chaney just as his offense gained more yards on Auburn’s defense than any other team the Tigers have faced this season.
- LSU. Playing Arkansas is chicken soup for the SEC soul. Chicken soup is good for a ‘Bama hangover.
- Mississippi State. That defense is legit. Too bad the offense is only averaging about ten points a game in conference play.
- Texas A&M. 4-3 in conference play, minus-9 in conference points differential is no way to go through life, son.
- Auburn. The only reason they didn’t drop from last week’s rankings is because Kentucky crapped the bed worse than the Tigers did.
- Missouri. It wasn’t pretty, but the last time I checked, a win over Vandy still counts as a conference win.
- Florida. The Gators are going to win nine games in about the least impressive manner possible, aren’t they?
- South Carolina. The dynamite didn’t go boom.
- Kentucky. In answer to last week’s question, no, the ‘Cats aren’t a good enough team to deal with the aftermath of a disappointing loss.
- Tennessee. If you’re a Vol, November is the best month.
- Vanderbilt. Which doesn’t bode well if you’re a Commodore.
- Ole Miss. They’re lucky to have Arkansas in the same division.
- Arkansas. Two road games against conference opponents to finish out the season. Yeah, that’s gonna go well.
Filed under SEC Football
Fabris Pool results, Week 11
Back to the tiebreaker this week.
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STANDINGS for WEEK 11
Adjustment
47-481 gitaftertheirbuttocks Adj 8-2 8 41-48** 1 ugajeff91 Adj 8-2 8 38-48 1 IMOPEN Adj 8-2 8 42-51 1 RobbLittle Adj 8-2 8 36-45
Congrats to gitaftertheirbuttocks.
As far as the season goes,
SEASON STANDINGS through Week 11 1 Ant123 72-38 72 2 GaK9s 67-43 67 3 Djiboutidawg 66-44 66
… the race tightened a little bit, but with only two weeks to go…
Are we having fun yet?
Two big wins, a study in contrasts…
Somebody needs to enjoy themselves a little more.
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