So, the Fromm bashing that eventually quieted down a few weeks after the LSU game has picked back up, I see. No, Jake didn’t have a particularly good night in New Orleans (maybe it’s something in the Louisiana water), but you know who had a worse night than he did?
The offensive line.
I don’t know how the same bunch that held its own against Quinnen Williams and his Alabama d-line mates could have fallen so far against Texas, but fall off a cliff they did. It looked like none of Georgia’s linemen had ever seen a blitz before. Not that they had to be outnumbered to wilt…
Over at UGAsports.com, Dayne Young uses that as an example of a Fromm failure, although he does note that Georgia’s o-line played its worst game of the season. It’s true that a couple of receivers break open as the play develops, but, damn, Fromm’s already running for his life by then.
That’s what happens when the guys you’ve trusted all season long to keep your ass upright get overwhelmed. I worship the ground Sam Pittman walks on, but this was not one of his finer moments, that’s for sure.
Get The Picture 
In that gif I see one guy break free, then he got picked up. Seems as if Fromm could of just slid up in the pocket and made the throw. I know, easy to say from this arm chair QB point of view. Not a great game from either our QB or our O line. Hope we learn from it.
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Noticed the same thing. Fromm had more time than he thought, although that’s easy to say when I’m not the one that going to get planted if that dude in the middle isn’t picked up so well.
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If that were the first play of the game, I doubt Fromm reacts the same way he did there.
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Not possible for the first play of a UGA game, that is always a dive up the middle isn’t it (except 2017 MSU flea flicker)?
Offensive problems for Tuesday were all (yeah, there were drops, fumbles, and mis-throws) on the OL. Orlando’s scheme destroyed a damn good offense, hope we took some notes! I love an aggressive defense but have doubts we will see that under Kirby. They confused a damn smart QB and a Pittman OL, don’t think we won’t see some teams emulate that next season. I was worried about our defense, never imagined our offense would get ripped by a very average defense from the Big 12.
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Most of the reason 66 picked the block back up on 2nd attempt was because the pass rusher turned into him in pursuit of Fromm who was on the run at that point.
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Yup and that would of happened had he simply slid up in the pocket, but to Senators point, Fromm had a case of the yips by then.
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Well, good chance even if Fromm did hit them as they broke open they would have not caught it.
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They (the O-Line) vanished after an excellent year
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And some clips of the run blocking since everyone has decided Swift and Holyfield are bums now?
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It looks to me like he didn’t have to scramble – at least when he did. One of the DL was free momentarily and then Kindley picked him up again.
I’m sure there are better examples than this. I do remember one play where 53 looked the wrong way and allowed the ILB to waltz through untouched.
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Yeah, they highlighted that play. Galliard went to block air while the LB just cruised in untouched by anyone, except for Fromm.
Pass blocking was atrocious, and Fromm got rattled. Plus, as mentioned above, when he was on target, the receivers dropped the ball. It was a total team effort.
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It’s pretty simple really…
Texas played like and were coached like they were in the National Championship Game.
Georgia played like and were coached like they had been knocked out of National Championship contention.
An inferior Texas team wanted to badly win this game. And my Dawgs? Really didn’t want to be there…
Did Fromm have a poor game? Yep… So did just about everybody else in a Georgia uniform…
I get the QB usually get’s too much credit when they win and too much blame when they lose… And you can certainly count this as one of those times…
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I agree completely. Some people will read what you wrote, roll their eyes, and brush it off as an excuse. But it absolutely isn’t an excuse. What happened in the Sugar Bowl is inexcusable. There can be no excuse for it.
So, no, what you wrote isn’t an excuse, but it is the reason. That’s an important distinction.
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It was clear that our players & coaches weren’t prepared for the game. This all falls on the head coach, he is getting paid several millions a year.
And, in what has become a very disturbing trend, when the opposition does something unexpected we NEVER adjust. We keep running the same plays from the same formations w/ no deviations to blocking schemes. Is our coaching staff just not able to make in-game adjustments?
You can call the game a meaningless exhibition or whatever, but the bottom line is that you should give your best effort for every game. If you don’t want to do that then just decline the bowl invitation.
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Chaney and UGA did adjust. The adjustment was to throw deep on first and second down because their CBs were in single coverage. Fromm missed badly. He was sailing balls, and his footwork was terrible, probably because he was gunshy.
TX was able to hang onto the ball and run clock, and Fromm ran out of chances.
The offense’s problems were mainly from Fromm’s inability to stay composed and throw downfield accurately and to the right receiver. Same problem as with LSU.
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Note that against Alabama, THEY adjusted to cheat over on the sidelines. By the fourth quarter they finally took that away, which allowed the underneath, checkdown receivers a lot more space. Fromm did not check down enough in the 4th. I know he had the game of his life the first three quarters, but the 4th, when the pressure was on the to make the right play, he was less than great (verify via the game stats if you wish…something like 6-14 for 40 yards in the 4th). I’d still like to see him have that game where he carries the team. All the way, not just for three quarters.
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Um, it seems reasonable to me that choosing to throw downfield to the sidelines, even with man coverage on the outside, was bad strategy. The O-line wasn’t blocking anybody, and their D was bringing the heat, remember? How about calling a play that takes that into account, like a screen pass to #7, or other underneath stuff.
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There were also many uncharacteristic drops from sure-handed receivers and uncharacteristic fumbles from running backs. Fromm didn’t play his best but his supporting cast didn’t do him any favors.
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The more I look at this game and the season as a whole, the more I’ve come to believe that it was just regression to the mean. Senator, you made the point all season that this team often skated by on its talent alone, and just like the LSU game (and Auburn last year) it seemed Georgia came in expecting a win… just because. Only, that doesn’t work against good teams with good coaches and a talent level similar to yours. I don’t believe Georgia was any less motivated to play Texas than it was to play any other team on the schedule not named Alabama, and it performed just as it had against those other teams not named Alabama.
The Alabama game was the exception, and it showed how good this team could be, but it was an exception nonetheless. This was still a ridiculously young team who overachieved this season, and Kirby is still a young head coach with a lot to learn. I’m not sure there is anything else to take away from this game and this season.
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When does the young head coach excuse end? Don’t take that as a “Fire ever’body” comment.
He has been in the role for 3 years now. It’s time for him to be accountable when the team looks unprepared and unfocused.
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I do hold him 100% accountable. He gets paid an insane amount of money to make sure his team is ready to dismantle every opponent they face. The fact that the team sleepwalked through the Sugar Bowl is completely his fault.
But having said that, I also know he has this program in better shape overall than it has been since the days of Herschel, and probably even better than that. So I don’t feel the need to type out a screed with lots of exclamation points demanding that he be fired. For me, personally, his leash is a lot longer than that.
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I agree with everything you wrote. I love where we are right now and the trajectory the program is on.
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You think he’s not?
Of course that’s his job. Nobody’s saying it isn’t. I just think the idea that it’s a meaningful failure that speaks to anything of note is overreacting.
Now if he doesn’t beat ND in Sanford next September and, well, we kill him. Just kidding.
(Not really.)
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I was only reacting to the “Kirby is a young head coach with still a lot to learn” comment. He has been preparing and motivating players to play for 16 years now. It’s required whether you’re the head coach, a coordinator or position coach.
I get that he was probably not dealt the best hand going into this game. He had his best defensive player decide to sit out leading to a very young secondary. He had his best pass rusher and his excellent freshman interior lineman on the shelf with injuries. He had his 5-star backup QB investigating transfer options. He had a team who had played their tails off in a de facto quarterfinal and who clearly seemed to think a NY6 bowl game was beneath them. He was going up against a blueblood program out to prove they are back and a head coach who knew this game was important for the perception of his program.
Kirby makes $7 mil a year now to make lemonade out of those lemons. He didn’t in this case … the young head coach excuse doesn’t hold water for me.
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Me either. But old head coaches have failed in this spot too. Like I said, he’s accountable, but to suggest he wasn’t in a really tough spot isn’t fair. Very, very few coaches succeed here. And the reality is that the breakdowns in my view were with the skill players and the DBs. If a team is just not interested you’d expect it to show up on the lines. They didn’t dominate by any means but they played well enough. What killed us was drops and misses and missed tackles and fumbles and a freak play with the punter.
8 and 9 catch the ball, 7 holds the ball, Carmarda stays on his feet and 11 hits the easy ones and we’re fine.
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I think everyone is missing the load Kirby had during this time period with assuming Tucker’s role in preparing/scheming for Texas, dealing with the Fields’ leak, and everything involved in Early Signing Day. He couldn’t have had any time to oversee the offensive plan, much less dial up something special for the defense other than what Herman had seen film on. Total flop, even before you add the missing defensive players and lack of intensity for an “exhibition plan” (in the players’ minds.) Disappointing for sure, but lots of overreacting.
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When they are dedicated to out numbering you and sending the house, you’re going to have breakdowns. Five guys can only block so many. You even it out by protecting the ball, catching the ball and hitting the open receivers when they’re there. Remind anyone of LSU?? As it was we never were able to make them pay consistently enough, and kept having self inflicted wounds, so that Texas was never convinced to back off.
If Jake doesn’t hit the knee on the punt, Swift doesn’t fumble, 8 and 9 catch the balls that hit them in the hands, and 11 hits the open guys and doesn’t chuck one up for grabs in plus territory, we win and no ones talking about any of this.
The truth of the matter is that their game plan should have bit them in the ass over time, and they knew the risk, but we didn’t make them face it. (Remember McCarron to Cooper?) They also knew that playing anything close to conservative had zero chance because of the talent disparity. (CTG’s 2012 SECCG game plan?)
They have good coaches and we had guys who weren’t locked in and ready to play football. They acted like they could just show up and win. But for Jake’s terrible 3rd quarter, they may have been right.
Jake showed vs. Alabama II that he can perform without the benefit of a run game. Who has been successful going out of an empty set vs. Alabama? No one. But for some reason when LSU and Texas put him there, he responded when they were dropping it and then fell apart and couldn’t hit anything for awhile. His 3rd quarter was like his 1st quarter in BR.
In any event we’d better get used to it, because that is what every reasonably talented defensive team is going to continue to do until we can show that we can beat it. When the team you’re playing is bigger than you are confusion and numbers are your equalizers. Execution is the anti-dote.
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Bingo.
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I think the piece missing from this though is the field position. It’s hard to make a defense pay for being aggressive when you are seemingly starting every position on the 10 yard line. Losing the field position battle so badly is what allowed UT successfully run their game plan.
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*possession on the 10 yard line.
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The truth of the matter is that their game plan should have bit them in the ass
Amen. Scheme was the biggest issue I saw as well. The GIF is a perfect example. The closest receiver is a 20+yards to the sideline, and all other receivers are at least 20 yards downfield. Watching the game was like playing Madden with my preteen son running hail mary every play.
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They’re only rushing 4 there. 11 should have a little more trust and patience with 7 guys in coverage. That said, the deep patterns did mean there was space to run. Their guys made that play by whipping 66 and then their edge guy reacts quickly and grabs a foot.
Can’t indict play calling in general bc of 1 play.
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The o-line was tired. You may not know this but McGarity had us play a separate Sugar Bowl earlier in the day alaivable to Magill Fund members only. We won that one 48-0, so all is well.
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LOL!
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Now that Brent Key has left Bama, will Saban come after Pittman?
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If he’d wanted that job he’d have already had it.
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I fear that our big OLine is slower than the better defenses and when they aren’t allowed to all step in the same direction in zone blocking they get exposed one on one. Texas outschemed Georgia on both sides of the ball and when that has happened Georgia fails to adjust. LSU baffled Fromm with ultra tight coverage while Texas blitzed from unusual alignments and we seldom read hot routes and there clearly is no screen game in the playbook. The team was both flat and ill prepared and that’s on the all of the coaches and players, not just Fromm. Also, has Georgia’s run game gotten so vanilla that defenses are sitting on it?
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Senator, I’m sorry to criticize, but it seems you give way too attention to loud minority opinions. Flow down the the center of the big river and try to to get caught up in the tributaries.
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Don’t mind the criticism. Sometimes highlighting those kind of opinions is a good way to make my point, though.
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Isn’t that what Tony Barnhart is for?
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This is the one area in the loss that brings out the conspiracy theorist in me. Theory? A few of our lineman- Gaillard in particular, pissed over the issue with Fields, decided to let Jake fend for himself out there. What else could explain them making Texas look like pros up front? I’ll hang up and listen.
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I don’t buy that. Gailliard, in particular, had a hell of a lot to play for on Tuesday night. I have a feeling he spent some signing bonus money with how he played.
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So he just totally whiffed on that linebacker blitz up the middle because?
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the RB (Swift) was supposed to pick him up as the protection slid left?
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Possibly. I guess I need to see the replay. My first impression was Gailliard blew it. What protection calls for the center to allow a linebacker to run right past him up the middle out of that formation? Pretty hard for a back slotted left to pick that up.
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He missed his assignment. That’s why I said he spent some signing bonus money on Tuesday night. If he did that to show the coaches they selected the wrong QB, that was probably not the best time to make a personnel statement.
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Just wait until they lose 2 games by october and see how cmr’ish they become again.
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LSU’s offense played lethargic until UCF came with the cheapshots.
Coaching staff challenged them. There was a lot more focus and effort from that point on.
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Yep, LSU was about to be run out of Glendale when that UCF idiot took that cheap shot on Burrow on the pick 6.
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I’m not off the Fromm train by any means, but keeping your eyes downfield and making a play when the pocket breaks down is a sign of a great qb. If it was easy everyone would do it.
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Receivers also dropped several passes, and the biggest no show of the game on either side of the ball was D’Andre Swift. Not sure why he’s getting a free pass.
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Never felt like the offense got into a rhythm. I dont buy the players were ready to play or interested in the game because the defense certainly showed up and played.
UGA is in a tough spot, as good as we have ever been, but likely not quite good enough. Especially true with Chaney and Fromm.
Add on that we are likely to have let the 2 most talented QBs to ever attend classes at UGA to never take a meaningful snap and you get some weird feelings.
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“because the defense certainly showed up and played.” Ehhh I saw more arm tackles in that game than I have since Willie was on the sidelines. It was truly a team effort.
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defense only gave up 28 points. I dont think the defense is what is causing the concern.
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On 3 short fields. Punt/kneel, the Camarata shank, and the Swift fumble.
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Agree, Ginny. Lecounte in particular embarrassed himself repeatedly by bouncing off Texas runners instead of wrapping up.
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So did some in the D line when they continually went high going after the QB, and he either ducked or just bounced away from them. Also, no setting of the edge all night.
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Update is that we have now let the 2 highest rated QBs to ever attend school @ UGA to leave with never taking a meaningful snap. That’s rough.
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Eason played a ton of meaningful snaps in 2016.
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hmmm… not sure I would count any of those 2016 “throw away season” snaps meaningful.
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Fromm took the job from Eason after his injury, and Eason couldn’t win it back. I don’t think we’re in the playoff with Eason at QB in 2017.
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I guess.
Just saying that it is a weird spot to be in as a fan. Things are great, but seems like great is just short of where you want to be and having two guys like Eason and Fields transfer in about 12 month period isnt great.
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I’ve said from the beginning of the Fields situation that I hoped he would stay. He knew what he was getting into with Fromm as the established starter. Did Chaney and Coley use Fields in the best manner this year? Nope. Did Fromm deserve to lose his job to Fields during the season this year? Based on what I saw on the field, nope.
Maybe Ohio State is the best place for him. Apparently that’s what his family has decided. Best of luck to him.
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It’s now out on the recruiting circuit that UGA can’t get you ready for the NFL as a QB. True or not, that is out there and Smart and Co. are going to have to recruit against that.
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Source?
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Are you high? What tf are you talking about?
Fromm is currently predicted to go in the top 5 of the 2020 draft.
http://walterfootball.com/draft2020.php
https://www.draftblaster.com/2020-nfl-mock-draft/
https://nfldraftblitz.com/2018/12/02/2020-nfl-mock-draft-2/
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Great spot to be a trolling internet ‘Phan’…if only the better QB transferred.
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We had a QB drafted #1 overall a decade ago and he’s gone on to make several pro bowls.
Fields and Eason haven’t done a god damn thing yet except come in as top-rated recruits. Lots of those guys have turned into busts.
“Most talented QBs to ever attend?” C’mon, now.
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Sam Pittman is not a good coach. His lines are huge…and soft. Have been at every stop.
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I think there may be some validity to this, as much as we all fawn over him. He’s clearly an absolute monster when it comes to recruiting the top guys, but some of these performances on the field leave you scratching yer head at times. He’s actually a lot like Kirby in that regard.
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Go back and look at any of his stops. He recruits massive humans…and they accomplish absolutely nothing.
Bye Felicia to him and Chaney!
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What the hell difference does it make? The Georgia players did not give a damn; the Texas players thought it was a big deal. UGA did not show up; the Texas players did. Who the hell gives a damn or will this time next year? Nobody. Kirby just needs to kick a little more ass next year, coaches and players alike, a la Saban, and things will be different.
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Kindley in particular played very poorly. He was getting beat about every second or third play. If Ben Cleveland had been healthy and ready to go, I think that might go differently, with Mays able to move over to LG. I didn’t think Galliard played that poorly. The time the broadcast spotlighted him not blocking the blitzing MLB, I think Swift was supposed to pick him up as the protection slid left. Everyone slid left, and Swift ended up chipping the left edge rusher instead of picking up the guy in the middle.
The combination of the line, the backs, and Fromm didn’t handle the blitz well at all. There were open plays, which is one reason I won’t criticize Chaney, that just weren’t made because the line didn’t block, the back didn’t pick up the right guy, the WR dropped the pass, or Fromm just missed. Everyone was off, pretty much all night, and nobody was there to pull their collective heads out of their asses. It was a coaching fail, a leadership fail, and disappointing to watch. Perhaps that is what happens when 2/3 of the players are underclassmen in a “disappointing” bowl destination.
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I was a little surprised to see Jake From State Fromm take so much of the blame for the team-wide 60-minute clusterfuck that was the LSU game, and I’m even more surprised to see it after the debacle in New Orleans. Yeah, he had an execrable game, but outside of Brian Herrien, which player on offense didn’t? When your receivers can’t catch a cold and your O-line does nothing but trip over their own dicks in both run and pass blocking, then as they said on “South Park,” you’re gonna have a bad time.
To me this was a pretty obvious case of DGAF Syndrome, one that was enough of a pandemic to transcend any one player or position group. And just as the disease was too widespread to be blamed on any one player, it’s more than a little naïve to think that one guy, i.e., Baker or Fields, could’ve pulled our asses out of the fire.
The silver lining, if there is one, is that a lot of young guys have learned a pretty stark lesson about woulda-coulda-shouldaing rather than focusing on the game at hand. Here’s hoping that this game left a very unpleasant taste in their mouths that they’ll be looking to get rid of the moment we kick off against Vandy this August.
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Here’s my disconnect with everything: Just a month or so ago, the big news of the day was a home-and-home series with the Texas Longhorns in 20freaking28 and 2029…….A DECADE AWAY !!! But what happened ? Nothing but excitement !
Yet this same sport, in a MERE 1 MONTH’S TIME (to the day), can not only make the same pairing but actually play the damn game we’re all excited about 10 years from now, and it’s a total dud ! ? Eff this.
This may be just a get off my lawn post, but I’m in the doldrums if we are all of a sudden excited about Texas a decade out but can’t be fired up when gifted with the same name-brand opponent in a 1 month turnaround.
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It’s everything being turned upside down by the CFP. The bowls, which used to MEAN something, are now meaningless, because of the CFP. The regular season still matters, because of the CFP. I reserve the right to revise this if the CFP goes to more than 4.
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This too…
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You were getting good vibes as the Dawgs rolled over and gave that tart McConaughey multiple chances to prance in front of the cameras in his faux dope runners’ jacket?
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“Tart”?
That’s not only pretty fucking funny, it’s very apt. Tart indeed.
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For those complaining about the lack of focus in a bowl game and blaming Kirby – remember that this is a result of raised expectations. Yes, even Saban has had trouble motivating his guys in the same situation. They lost to Utah in the sugar bowl, and just 4 years ago let Trevor Knight of all people throw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns against them in a loss to OU. Both of these were in Sugar Bowls where they had gotten knocked out of title contention late in the year, and for those guys, if you aren’t playing for the national title in the postseason, the motivation just isn’t there. That’s where the mindset of our program is going. Our guys expect to be in the national title race, which is a good thing. But on the occasions they fall short, I highly doubt this is the last time we’ll see an unfocused Bulldog team in a bowl game, especially If they got knocked out of the playoffs at the end of the year. It’s easy for us to say every game matters and you should play the same no matter what, but humans are humans and it’s hard to change people’s motivation levels when they’re essentially knocked down to going for a consolation prize, when they were so close to playing for the big prize. I was disappointed in the game too, but if even Saban can’t significantly motivate his guys in comparable situations, I’m not gonna get too worked up about it.
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Saban has won 5 national titles at Alabama and we haven’t won 1 since 1980. Stop with this entitled comparison as if we have climbed the mountaintop. When you’ve never tasted filet mignon, quit acting like you are too good for the meatloaf.
Otherwise, explain how and why Benny Snell, Felipe Franks and Joe Burrow came to play.
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You answered you own rhetorical question: since none of LSU, Kentucky or Florida had just lost the CFP play-in game they had a very different sense of motivation.
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Micro vs Macro. I get your point, but OK, they also lost their chance at the CFP, albeit a month earlier.
If the CFP is the only goal for everyone, when does their motivation ebb and flow ? Should they only tank the next game, all the rest…
the point is Georgia ain’t got the clout to pout, whether they lost their chance in early november or early december.
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Well, that’s on film now.
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64 offensive plays.
30 rushing plays for 72 yards
34 passing plays with 20 completions for 212 yds with one pick.
All TDs came thru passes.
Only one time consuming drive in 2nd qtr…12 plays 75 yds, 5:50. TD pass to Herrin.
4th qtr. 2 drives. 67 yds and 72 yds. First took 1:15 and latter, penalty assisted took 0:56.
So what in hell was going on with Chaney and Pittman re game plan.
Not only did Baker sit out the game so did Swift, only Baker stayed on the sideline and Swift did not, he did catch last TD pass.
Were the TD passes to Herrin and Swift not alike? Also notice the side of the formation those came from.
So how did the brain trust work in two scoring passes to RBs.
And the freaking running game collapsed.
After you spot them 10 points on turnovers via a short field, you are able to put a drive together and then you disappear.
Then put up 2 quick scores on them.
The quick start, the knee on a punt, and the fumble gave them a lead they never fell behind on and the confidence to play.
Dawgs never smacked them in the gut on runs. Not one time did they give up a long run like OU did last year.
The OC should have had a game plan where he knew he had a long run or two for TDs.
Chaney and Pittman failed again.
You can blame Fromm to a point but when you have two almost 3 back like Dawgs have and you do not hit 75 yards on 30 attempts and do not even score a rushing TD or even get a FG.
That tells me one thing.
Poor damn offensive game plan and game adjustments.
Get ruthless Smart. Get a new OC while getting a new DC.
But get going on it.
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But I think Chaney stays.
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