Another week of lopsided position group comparisons, which served the Dawgs so well last Saturday.
Look, Kentucky trailed Arkansas midway through the fourth quarter before pulling out the game. The ‘Cats currently stand sixth in the East. If you’re asking me whether Georgia has to play a perfect game to win this weekend, no, of course not. If you’re asking me whether Georgia is a mortal lock to win, no, of course not.
The big issue won’t be personnel, although I will say this gives me a little pause:
Kentucky slot receiver Lynn Bowden played quarterback last week against Arkansas and turned in a stellar performance. Bowden ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns and went 7-of-11 passing for 78 yards and a score. Does UK Coach Mark Stoops stay with the 6-foot-1, 206-pound Bowden against a Georgia defense that is far more accomplished against the run (allowing 73.3 yards a game) than the pass (allowing 208.3 yards)? Or is Sawyer Smith, a conventional drop-back passing QB, healthy enough to give UK its best shot?
Smith has been terrible this year, so if I’m Stoops, I’ll keep the air of mystery as to who my starter is until kickoff and then start Bowden.
What shouldn’t be a mystery is Kentucky’s defensive strategy. Stoops made his bones as an excellent defensive coordinator. Watching tape of the Georgia-South Carolina game, you’d have to be an idiot not to adopt wholesale what the ‘Cocks did on defense to slow Georgia down, and Stoops isn’t an idiot. Admittedly, it’ll take more than that to convince me the ‘Cats can take down Georgia, but as we saw last week, it’s not like the Dawgs aren’t up to the challenge.
Which is why the big issue Saturday night is what’s between the collective ears of this Georgia team. Can they turn the page, put an embarrassing loss behind them and get their shit together? I wish I could say I knew for sure, but if there’s one thing about a loss like that, it’s that you can’t trust their focus until you see it.
Get The Picture 
55 degrees and rain is the equalizer.
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Rain wasn’t the equalizer in 2015 when Bama stomped us in Sanford. All it did was exaggerate the fact they were better than us on both lines of scrimmage.
With today’s turf management and textile technology, rain doesn’t have the impact on the game that it used to have.
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Wet field usually favors the most physical team.
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That would make it feel like ….”manweather”
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Bravo, Sir!
via GIPHY
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Hey, that’s us. Physicality for the win!!!
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If this team has its head on straight, UK has no chance. If they play like they did on Saturday, we have a chance to see this season go up in flames.
The question is whether Kirby is willing to play into Stoops’s hands just like he did with Boom. Bleed the clock, make mistakes in all 3 phases, and give up a couple of big plays. Allow the Cats to hang around, and things could get ugly in Athens on Saturday night.
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I got a feeling (Beatles reference) that the Dawgs have learned a lot from last week and will be playing their best ball of the season Saturday – and from here on in.
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Mick, I really hope you are right.
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Don’t let me down
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no likes after 41 minutes ! Tragic.
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Manball doesn’t have time for feeling.
Manball is war. That TD is always just a block away, it’s just a block away!
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no no no no, I don’t smoke it no mo’
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I feel like (hope) last Saturday’s loss will galvanize the team. The young players needed to learn that they can’t just roll their helmets out and win. Could be a great catalyst to focus the team for the rest of the season. This is where we see whether Kirby can rally the team or losses them.
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As long as they don
t bring another QB into the game in the second half well be fine. Based on recent past performance that seems to be a game breaker for this group.LikeLike
What does the 3rd string QB have anything to do with the outcome of the game on Saturday?
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I think the issue is: when was the last time we either injured the other teams starting Qb or he was replaced for ineffectiveness and we won:
I can think if 4 recent losses under those circumstances:
Missouri
Alabama twice
USCe.
We’re always around to break up the conventional wisdom.
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I don’t remember the Missouri example. I thought James Franklin played the entire game in 2013 which is the only time they have beaten us.
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2:02:40
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thanks – had forgotten that
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That was right after Kneeland’s turf had decimated our team right?
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Correct. Noon game, and they played the video of Loran writing a letter to Larry right before kickoff, Sanford was deader than a funeral (eerily reminiscent to Saturday)….
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Franks got pulled for Malik Zaire in the 2017 Cocktail Party and that worked out fine. (And while he wasn’t fully pulled, Emory Jones did get some snaps and had no real success last year.)
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Not sure that a replacement at 7:36 to play down 42-0 counts though.
Seems more like a typical white flag move.
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Stoops was on with Chuck “What do you say to people who say you can’t win the big one” Oliver yesterday afternoon and was very coy about it, so expect we will not find out until right before kickoff…
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“textile technology”- That’s a serious deep dive in pregame analysis.
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My only point is that the gloves, shoes and equipment minimize the impact of the weather.
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M0ar Manball!!1!!11!!
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Manball in the Rain!!!
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Fully expect us to continue to keep our 2019 offensive plan under wraps until the date our brain trusts felt we might need it. Maybe AU or the SECCG. UGA will play vanilla again on offense, and hold off on wreaking havoc (again, until needed). There is a process and a plan….just no Plan B, of course! 🙂
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If Kirby couldn’t realize when the O got the ball back near the start of the fourth quarter on Saturday (i.e., after we fumbled the first play and the D got another stop) that it was time to break out the offensive gameplan, he may never realize when it is time to do so….
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I think we’ve already seen Kirby break out the offensive game plan. He said so himself. This is it. He doesn’t care if everyone knows exactly what we’re going to do. He expects our guys to be able to do it anyway. That’s his Plan A and his Plan B. Do it better. As long as we’re bigger, faster and smarter we win. I’ll be surprised if we see anything other than lather, rinse and repeat all season. If you’re waiting for something different I think you will be disappointed.
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Kentucky is better than their record would indicate. They 100 percent should have beaten Florida, they were the better team. And after that game they began to be undone by injuries. But I’ve watched a lot of UK football this year and I don’t think they’re necessarily a pushover on Saturday, particularly running the Wildcat or whatever you want to call their system with Bowdon at quarterback. Sure, they trailed Arkansas, but Georgia trailed South Carolina and lost to them. So… just hoping that the fellas show up angry and focused.
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Georgia also trailed Tennessee.
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I actually think you’ll see UGA play with a pissed off inspired effort against Florida if they pull out a struggle win against Kentucky. As for the Kentucky game, who knows. The team could be hungover from last week and let South Carolina beat them twice or man ball Kentucky to death and cover the spread easily.
A win would help ease the pain a little bit and another loss would certainly suck but whatever happens Saturday isn’t really going to matter, this season is like the South Carolina game by the 4th quarter: over, we’re just waiting to see when and how Georgia is going to drive the final nails in its coffin.
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Manball, shmanball. Don’t turn it over 4 times and the Dawgs win going away. Last week and this week.
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Same gameplan and I guess we’ll execute it this week. It’ll prove Kirby’s idea that’s it’s only a matter of execution. This is why I’ve always felt that Saban’s success was much more about the Jimmys and Joes or at least until he finally came around on offense.
Looking ahead- Florida will have 7 games worth of the same film. Todd Grantham’s blitzes and different looks vs Play Chart Coley should be, uh, interesting.
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Upside is Kentucky doesn’t have anyone at Kinlaw’s level up the middle. Anyone know if Herrien’s back is better?
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Don’t know Herrien’s status, but if Georgia doesn’t put a body on the linebackers, it won’t matter who is in the backfield.
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Downside is Stoops is every bit as competent as Boom as a DC so we can expect the CB’s to press and the LB’s to sell out the run.
Manball will win but this game will be close into the 2nd half
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Me preseason: This is the year finally
After first five games: Gamecocks have nothing to lose, we are inconsistent, I’m nervous
Today: How can we beat Kentucky (my inner Munson coming full blown)
Agree with Billy: don’t turn it over four times……………
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In each of the last two seasons the Dawgs have played a game in the week immediately following a loss:
2017:
Loss: #2 Dawgs lose to #10 Auburn, 17-40
Week after: #7 Dawgs beat unranked UK in Sanford, 42-13
2018:
Loss: #2 Dawgs lose to #13 LSU, 16-36
Week after: #7 Dawgs beat #9 UF in Jacksonville, 36-17
2019:
Loss: #3 Dawgs lose to unranked USCe, 17-20
Week after: #10 Dawgs beat unranked UK in Sanford, 42-13??? (seems likely)
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Senator, you’ve summed up my current feelings admirably.
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I fully expect this group to struggle against Kentucky this weekend. Stoops will most certainly load the box, play their nose over Trey Hill, jam our WR’s at the line and force Fromm to beat them. This is not a good situation for this team, not at all. Our first 2 or 3 drives will tell us how this game will go. I expect to see punt, FG, turnover.
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You seem to be fully off the bandwagon, Skeptic. You haven’t been like this since 2015-16.
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That is a little dark. The team will come out focused and blow KY back on offense, the only questions will be our ability to stop their running game, especially with a mobile QB. If the D is able to do that, it will be over early. That doesn’t solve the issue going forward about our offense, but I wouldn’t think you are even close.
This isn’t a very good KY team and they still could cover, but they will not threaten this Dawg team for the W. Good case of the red ass may allow UGA to blow this open but I am not giving that many. Way too much over reaction from last week’s disaster, but our problems are real and will bite us later if they aren’t fixed against better teams.
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