Knowing you’ve got a lot to fix, any satisfaction this kid from South Georgia got to rally his team from a victory…
“I wouldn’t say satisfaction because I’m disappointed in our performance, you know what I mean? I’m proud and happy for Stetson. I wouldn’t take that moment away from him. No way in the world. He did a great job and he rallied the guys around him and they saw his competitive spirit on some of those scrambles and the two-point play. That’s the juice we needed. He gave us the juice we needed. He’s a great competitor. I spent a whole year with him on the scout team the one year he was here and I got to see the guy. Very composed. Very good poise.”
I was looking for a great quarterback story yesterday, and I got one. It just wasn’t the one I was expecting.
I have two thoughts about Stetson’s day. First, and I’m not trying to be a shit here — he’ll always have Fayetteville, no matter how the rest of this season plays out — it reminds me of the way Joe Cox pulled Georgia’s nuts out of the fire against Colorado in 2006. I’m sure everyone remembers how that played out the rest of that particular season.
That being said, right now, Stetson Bennett is Kirby Smart’s security blanket.
“I would just say the No. 1 thing is experience. Experience at that position is at a premium. I think you see that across the SEC when you see the quarterbacks that are here and those that are not here. Stetson has played in a lot of football games. Everybody forgets he went to Mississippi and played in I think 10 games and got to play in a whole season. That value of playing that season is immense in terms of getting reps than he came here and took every single rep for an entire year behind Jake Fromm as the 2. So we knew and we felt comfortable with what we had in Stetson in terms of all his reps he had taken. Stetson unfortunately did not get a ton of reps in minicamp leading up to the first practices. He has not gotten a ton of reps but we understand he prepares himself the right way without taking the reps and he did a good job today when he went in and was able to execute the game plan.”
There is real value in that, especially with one quarterback who wasn’t ready for prime time yesterday and another who is yet to be cleared to play.
Get The Picture 
Most teams that lost there #1 QB gone and their #2 QB not available would have started the 5th year senior and rotated in the freshman. UGA did the opposite. They threw the freshman out there under the bright lights and then brought the 5th year senior in to make sure the game was won.
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I understand your point but this is Bennett’s 4th year out of high school
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He is our Hunter Renfroe
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Lets hope that they get the qb position fixed by Saturday at 730.
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The only person happier that Smart that Stetson was there is Monken.
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The Mailman delivered.
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Abdullah the Butcher as an avatar. Really? I’m too old to be pissing my pants this late in the morning.
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Generally, the Mailman delivered yesterday. He made good decisions with the ball and put it where only his guy was getting it. We even attacked the middle of the field. He used his feet effectively.
Once we forced Odom to back off with the intermediate passing game, the line started moving people.
The defense is truly elite. Therefore, until Daniels is cleared, expect more manball/constipated offense and the defense controlling the game.
Scott Cochran may have learned a little about special teams while he was in Tuscaloosa. Coverage teams were good with a punt block (Zeus was on that punter at the same time the ball was getting there) and a weaponized punt return. Jake Camarda was the player of the game IMHO.
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I didn’t realize that was Zeus until reading about it later. Did the announcers ever mention it?
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I thought DJ did but I didn’t really pay attention.
That play is the reason I know Zeus can be a game breaker at running back if he’s just given a crease. You don’t get that kind of block without having explosive speed.
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Did y’all see the formation on the two point? White(?) and Bennett side by side with Bennett a little off center of the center? Whose getting the snap? The defense had to respect the left side and gave Bennett the little bit he needed to hit the pylon. Good call, good execution and yeah, the little fucker stretched it out and got it.
it wasn’t all bed…
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We all knew that there were tons of questions entering into yesterday’s game. The problem is that we do not like the answers. TE and ST’s were the lone positives. It appears as if QB, WR, and RB are going to be issues for us moving forward. It is now clear why every reporter picked Florida to win the East. My big takeaways from yesterday…
1). Condon is not an SEC caliber RT
2). Trey Hill is not our best option at C
3). Mathis is a great story, but not a great QB
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Add all that up and you get a throwaway season. Throwaway as in “Covid induced surrealities”. Throwaway as in start Beck now and be ready for 2021. Nothing about all this should be taken seriously. CFP Champs? Fart noises. I said the same last night you commented just now. Every pundit pulling a paycheck picks UF to win the East. Now we know why. I’m not down on the Dawgs. Experiment this year. Play sandlot ball. Have fun. This doesn’t mean anything. Come on, 2021!
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I’d say the D is a MASSIVE positive. They seem to be at least as good as last year. One blown coverage notwithstanding. Ark would have only scored 3 yesterday if not for that.
We don’t need a Heisman in the pocket. We just need good QB play coupled with an excellent D which we know we have. Moving forward it has to be Bennett unless Daniels is cleared and he can beat Bennett out.
As proud as we are of Mathis’s return from brain surgery, he just doesn’t have it.
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Hill’s Adventures in Shotgun Snapping are going to cost us before the season is over.
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Zeus may prove to be an upgrade in RB. Cook seemed ineffectual. Hill got pulled didn’t he?
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Ericson was snapping at some point. Hill was missing blocks like a rookie.
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It seemed like we didn’t even try to use Zeus in the first half. I don’t know what the game plan was, and neither did the offense.
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I’m happy with a win anyway we get it. SB is a great story of a guy with limited skills who paid his dues, worked really hard, finally got his shot and made the most of it.
Is that skill set enough to finally slay the dragon in the West and carry the team to the SEC championship. I just don’t see it. I also don’t see the elite talent at RB that we have become spoiled with. Of course I didn’t think in 2017 a true freshman could take us so close to winning a NC. Now I’m hoping the SB story becomes one for the history books.
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One more thought. If there is anyone in BM I trust it’s Ron Curson. If he says Daniels is not ready to get hit knowing what’s at stake for the team and JT’s future. He is not going to magically in a week get used to being hit again on that repaired knee and become the savior. All is not lost only the hill got a lot higher to climb in 2020.
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I don’t think getting hit on the knee is the issue to Daniels getting cleared. He was getting a ton of reps and impressing early in camp. Then about two weeks ago, they dialed it back with him and started rapidly trying to get Mathis ready. Reading between the lines, I think he had a setback with the knee swelling and discomfort from pushing it too hard, then they basically shut him down. It sounds like some cartilage issues that won’t clear up. Let’s hope they don’t have to go back in a clean things up for a second time.
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I agree and add that Kirby seemed to really think he was day to day right up to kick off, and that leads me to believe it is swelling type issue instead of the condition of the ligament.
I also think Smart brought Daniels just in case he needed him. He wasn’t there as a decoy or to see what traveling to another stadium was like,
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Having Daniels travel was odd to me if he wasn’t able to play. I don’t see him as a leader or coaching up the other qbs, so why have him travel? Is Kirby playing games with the qb position?
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‘Cause that’s what he does? SMH
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All I know for a fact is Kirby said he is not cleared for contact.
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Really hoping yesterday was just a bad hair day for Mathis. With the effusive praise he was receiving from the likes of Murray and Pollack, the kid was obviously showing something in practice. If J.T. still isn’t cleared by Saturday and Stetson struggles against a very good Auburn defense — both highly plausible scenarios — D’Wan could be right back out there. So let’s all cross our fingers that yesterday was simply an uncharacteristically bad day for him.
I do have two concerns from what I saw from D’Wan yesterday, though. First, as others have stated, it did look as if he was a little overwhelmed by the moment. Considering Arkansas is probably the softest touch on our schedule this year, that does raise some red flags about how he would handle a truly big moment. Secondly, from a physical standpoint, I didn’t see this laser for an arm that we had been hearing about. I haven’t rewatched the game yet, but at first blush, it didn’t seem he was getting much more zip on his throws than Stetson was. That was a little perplexing to me.
Anyway, I’m still rooting hard for this kid, and we may need him again in very short order.
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Wondering how much of Mathis’ day going from mediocre to very bad was a result of shell shock from his sideline hit. Likely a big impact on how he ran out of bounds subsequently
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Welcome to the SEC.
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Them that can do, them that can’t look great in practice. Deer hunters saw less terror from deer’s than D’wan showed yesterday. The kid is not ready for Prime Time. Auburn was not that great against Ole Piss but they still took them. If the QB situation is not better by next week we should start SBIV and bring D’wan in as a change of pace. Can’t afford to let Auburn get up early.
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Not to mention all the punishment Stetson has taken on Scout teams. He is not a big guy, but good luck rattling him.
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Maybe he is just a kid that in practice looks like Tarzan in games plays like Jane. He looked totally overwhelmed with the speed of the game. The last time he played a real game was a couple of years ago in high school. It an awful lot to ask of anyone to make that jump. Yeah I bought into some of the happy talk and expected too much. I’m not giving up on him by any means. I do believe another week of practice will solve his issues.
What disappointed me most was even after SB started to move the offense I never saw him appear to pay any attention to the live action in a attempt to learn. Someone should have told him get your butt up to the sideline and act like you care about the team look like a leader.
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I do not believe another week of practice will solve. Sorry for the typo.
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