Whew. Ten games (and another divisional championship) in, one thing’s apparent to me. These Dawgs aren’t built to break your heart. They’re constructed to drive you absolutely crazy, week after week.
Yesterday, I watched a defense totally dominate a team for three quarters in a setting that had been Smart’s kryptonite for three seasons. While the offense hadn’t exactly been a model of efficiency, it had done enough damage to contribute to a 21-0 lead. All Georgia had to do for the next fifteen minutes was keep on keeping on.
Instead, Kirby chose to get cute. The defense played soft zone and the offense did nothing other than go into straight clock milking mode. The results were predictable.
Make no mistake about it, Georgia was reeling. Bailed out on Auburn’s penultimate drive with a dropped pass by a wide open receiver, the Dawgs’ offense delivered another three-and-out that took all of about twenty seconds off the clock and returned the ball to the Tigers with more than enough time for them to drive the field and produce the tying score.
And then the most extraordinary thing happened. After running backwards for the entirety of the fourth quarter, the Georgia defense bowed up. The coaches ditched the soft zone and the players made plays, capped by this:
My first thought after the catharsis passed was simply, where was this for the previous thirteen minutes? It’s impossible for a defense to turn a switch on like that at a moment like that without having had it there all along.
I have no answer for that, other than that it’s crazy.
Much the same can be said about the offense ($$).
Georgia’s offense crossed the Auburn 40-yard line three times Saturday. It went three-and-out nine times — four more than Auburn — and only put up 2 yards of offense in the fourth quarter. But all three of those possessions inside the Auburn 40 ended in touchdowns.
… Ten of the Bulldogs’ 14 drives went for fewer than 10 yards. One other went for 16. The other three were still enough to beat the Tigers.
Seriously, how is something that all or nothing possible? Sure, Auburn’s defense deserves some credit (or blame, depending on your point of view), but so does Coley’s bipolar playcalling. What he dialed up on Georgia’s three scoring drives was nothing short of brilliant. He made great use of personnel and formations to confuse Auburn’s defense. Play designs got receivers open routinely; on Wolf’s touchdown catch, all three receivers were open.
As for the rest, he had nothing. Playcalling was predictable, so predictable, in fact, that we were calling entire series from the stands before the first snap. Runs were repeatedly busted up because Auburn had a free shot at flooding the play with more tacklers than Georgia’s line could block. Receivers were rarely open enough to haul in the pass.
But, again, Georgia’s offense showed in the same damned game that it was more than capable of doing damage, so how do you let Jake Camarda punt the ball a stunning eleven times? How do you wind up generating stats like this?
I have no answer for that, other than it’s crazy.
Let’s not forget Jake Fromm here. His completion rate was 46.4% (he was actually worse last week against Missouri). His yards per attempt were a measly 3.9 (again, he’s been worse). His passer rating was a subpar 114.79, pulling his season average down to a mundane 147.90. And yet, when they needed him to make plays, he made enough of them to drive Georgia to three touchdown scores. Those wound up making the difference. How does a quarterback routinely go from sublime to ridiculous, all in the same game?
I have no answer for that, other than it’s crazy.
That there is my mantra for Georgia football, 2019 edition. The destination, so far, is all good, but the journey is maddening. All we can do is brace ourselves for more of the same. (You probably don’t want to look at the weather report for next Saturday. Just sayin’.)
Go to town 
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