Observations from the 20, COFH edition

Really, it was the sense of familiarity that showed through Saturday — beautiful fall weather, the Atlanta skyline behind the stadium (it’s pretty cool, believe it or not), the lame signs hanging in front of the frat houses along the way to BDS (when “Roll Tide” is the cleverest thing they’ve got, lame is an understatement) and the tepid insults hurled after the game on the way back to the tailgate.  I’ve seen and heard it all before.

The Tech folks were subdued, to put it mildly.  I’ve seen more enthusiasm for a root canal appointment.  And, given the way the game turned out, their attitude was justified.

I’m used to seeing a lot of red inside BDS, but the level for this year’s game was almost shocking.

Welcome to Mark Richt Field. pic.twitter.com/m1T95lmC17

— Senator Blutarsky (@MummePoll) November 27, 2021

The place filled in a little more than that by kickoff, but the crowd was overwhelmingly red.  That, in turn, led to the two most amusing things on the day.  First, the Redcoat Band played loudly enough when Tech was on offense right up to the snap as a distraction.  Second — and it’s the first time I’d ever experienced this — the visitors’ crowd noise was loud enough to cause a false start penalty to be called on a Jacket offensive lineman.  In the third quarter.  With the score 31-0.  I don’t know if I’ve ever been more pleased with a Georgia crowd.

On to the bullet points…

• Speaking of penalties, Georgia had none.  Zippo.  Nada.  Talk about playing with focus in a “meaningless” game…
• Given the level of opposition, as well as the absence of commitment on Collins’ part, I don’t want to read too much into the day’s efforts, but I do have to take note of Bennett’s excellent game.  Saturday may have been his finest hour as a starter.  He distributed the ball well.  He clearly went through his reads and progressions.  The vast majority of his throws were accurate.  (The TD throw to Burton was flat out gorgeous.)  He threw well from the pocket.  Outside of his misconnects with Mitchell and the one batted pass, he was damned near perfect, in fact.  I know going into the SECCG we’re a little nervous with the memory of Stetson’s second half against ‘Bama last season, but he’s progressed so much since then.
• If there’s one area of the offense I’m still a bit nervous about, it’s the offensive line, although I’ll admit that may say more about me than the players.  After all, Georgia did average over nine yards per play, which ain’t exactly shabby.  Bennett was only sacked once, and that was because he held on to the ball too long.  There weren’t many tackles for loss, either.  But one thing is very clear now:  this ain’t Sam Pittman’s o-line any more.  These days, Georgia’s focused more on pulling and creating mismatches than it is on flat out mashing.  I’m guessing that’s why Ericson’s managed to hold off Truss at right guard.
• I don’t know how any team can defend Georgia’s 13 sets consistently.  With three tight ends, all of whom play well, Monken gets mismatches in the passing game and extra blockers in the run game.  If you’re a defensive coordinator, pick your poison.
• Shit, did we love seeing some George Pickens, or what?  George may not be completely back from a physical standpoint, but mentally, he’s the old George Pickens.  At the end of one play when he was blocking downfield, he gave the Tech defender an extra shove, just to let him know he was back.
• It was Kenny McIntosh’s day.  He broke off one big TD run — UGA’s longest run from scrimmage all season, I believe, and had a couple of good catches, too.
• Zamir White had one catch out of the backfield as a safety valve that I mention because it looked like Tech simply forgot to cover him in the flat for what seemed like three or four seconds.
• And I have to give Daijun Edwards a little love.  All he does is come out there when the game is long past decided and run hard and fast.
• It will always be hilarious watching Tech’s managers on the side line jumping up and down with “Money Down” signs while their team is losing by five touchdowns.
• Defensively — again, I consider the opponent, but that was a dominating performance.  Best of all, what really showed through was how much the shut out mattered.  I saw the pride in Nakobe Dean’s disdainful reaction in the second quarter when the defense allowed Tech to convert a third down.  And I saw it in the second half when Nolan Smith lobbied to go back in the game to shut down a Tech series.  (He helped do, that, too.)  Those guys are playing with a ton of confidence and desire to excel.
• Jamon Dumas-Johnson is going to be impossible to keep off the field next season.
• Robert Beal’s sack happened so fast I almost missed it.  Either he timed the snap perfectly, or Tech’s left tackle, whom I noticed complained to the refs about Beal being offside, completely whiffed on his block.  Or both.
• I’m pretty sure Tech only had one play over 20 yards all day, the pass completion to the tight end whom Walker picked up just a little late in coverage.  And that drive was shut down just a few plays later.
• Tech did next to nothing with its passing game, so kudos to the secondary for that, but special mention goes to Dan Jackson, who once again filled in productively for an ailing Christopher Smith.  He knows where to be on the field and he’s one of the best tacklers on the defense.
• Special teams really didn’t have to do much.  Kearis Jackson had one nice punt return before he left the game with an injury.  Podlesny was perfect on the day.  Camarda’s one punt was meh, but his kickoffs were anything but.  Gibbs’ mishandling of the opening kick turned out to be a metaphor for Georgia Tech’s day.
• As much as I harp on how good Monken is as a play designer and play caller, he deserves mention as well for his work as a position coach.  The improvement that Stetson Bennett has shown this season over last is remarkable.
• Lanning just keeps doing what he’s been doing all season.  Three shutouts in one year is another thing that’s remarkable.
• And, once again, I have to take note of how great a job Kirby Smart has done of keeping this team on track mentally all season.  A noon start, a game largely perceived as little more than a tune up before the SECCG and an opponent whose main strategy was to slow the pace of the game down to limit Georgia’s offensive possessions could have added up to a sleepy affair.  Instead, Georgia came out fired up, started fast and didn’t let up.  That’s what elite teams are supposed to do.

Now, to paraphrase Paul Johnson, these Dawgs have bigger fish to fry.  12-0 is great, and so is winning the East, but it’s time to go out and slay a certain dragon.