I don’t think it’s exactly a state secret that Stetson isn’t at his best when he’s facing defensive pressure. Here, for example, is a chart Josh put together comparing the two quarterbacks who face off Friday night.
Sure, it’s reasonable to expect some drop off in performance, but Stetson’s drop off is more like a cliff than is McNamara’s, particularly with regard to completion percentage. Completing 30% of your attempts is pretty much a ticket to a bunch of three-and-outs.
The good news there is that Monken did a good job keeping Bennett out of those situations, for the most part, all season. Only 18.6% of his plays came in pressure situations. (Not just passes, either. Note that his PFF run grade actually improved under pressure.)
By comparison, McNamara took about 30% of his snaps under pressure. But his accuracy and completion percentage didn’t drop as precipitously as did Bennett’s. In addition, he didn’t throw an interception in those circumstances.
Yes, Alabama was an anomaly in that Bennett was forced into a higher percentage of pressure situations than had been the norm, with the expected result. A lot of that was dictated by the circumstances of the game getting away from Georgia on the defensive side. In other words, there’s only so much Monken can do to minimize the weaker part of Bennett’s game. Georgia simply can’t afford another game where it has to chase a two-score opposing team lead.
Get The Picture 
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect Monken to be able to keep Stetson Bennett out of 3rd down and/or pressure situations. To win the next two games the team will need to do better in both situations.
LikeLiked by 3 people
“Sure Stetson is terrible under pressure, but have you considered how hard he’s worked at trying NOT to being terrible under pressure? And he used to be even worse, so there’s that. JT on the other hand is great under pressure, so this is another area where JT continues to fall well behind in the ‘room for improvement’ department where Stetson really dominates.”
Todd Monken
LikeLiked by 6 people
Or: JT was decidedly not great under pressure when the pressure came from Cincinnati and Clemson.
If the coaches have decided they don’t have a QB who can deliver consistently on obvious passing downs against elite competition, then they’re going to roll with the QB who helps the offense more frequently avoid obvious passing downs against those opponents.
I’m not pretending Stetson is clearly superior to JT, but I’m also mystified why you insist that JT is somehow obviously superior to Stetson. The overall stats are basically a wash at this point. And JT was flat-out putrid on 3rd downs against Cincy and Clemson. Sure, he looked awesome against SC and Vandy. He looked like an average SEC back-up QB against Missouri and Charleston Southern. Kirby let him throw it 23 times against those guys, up big – very un-Kirby-like. Decidely meh results. It’s not like JT exactly grabbed that opportunity by the throat.
It’s frustrating, but I think both are basically “half” an elite QB at this point. Which half do you go with? Don’t know. But pretending JT’s a “whole” elite QB at this point flies in the face of a lot of data points.
LikeLike
Data point:
7-0 as the starting qb at UGA.
LikeLike
JT never played an opponent that the defense allowed over 7 yards a play. Stetson’s 13-0 against that category. Stetson’s also 20 points better on passer rating this season, averaging 2.5 yards better per attempt.
JT’s had 2 years and 7 starts and over 200 pass attempts to sell Kirby and Monken. He hasn’t. He’s got some advantages over Stetson, but Stetson has some advantages over him. It’s a wash. No other way to look at it that doesn’t require some heavy filtration.
LikeLike
You’re free to die on that hill.
Unlike some people, I don’t embrace Stats! as a meaningful way of deciding what football players are better than others.
I’m sure there are a ton of DL with better stats than Jordan Davis as an example. So what?
Will Rogers has all sorts of stats. And his team finished 7-6.
A qb who can threaten the back end of a defense will often have lower completion percentages. But having safeties worried about the deep ball and not pinning their ears back in run game is so much more valuable than any stats. I’ll take ability, tangibles and winning games over any statistic out there. Always keep in mind this essential truth:
Learn it, live it, love it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s just it, though. JT has a higher completion % but a lower YPA. Stetson’s the guy pushing the ball downfield more this year. For whatever reason. Same thing in 3rd downs: JT completes a much higher % on 3rd down, but Stetson’s completions almost always move sticks. JT hits a lot of guys underneath the sticks who don’t get there.
I’m with you on “we need more than Stetson can give” at QB, but the stats suggest JT isn’t everything his loyalists imagine him to be.
Which is how I use stats. To check my biases and eye test.
I’d love for JT to be everything you imagine him to be. And maybe he’s fully healthy now and ready to be that.
But he wasn’t it against Cindy and Clemson. I’m not going to pretend he was.
LikeLike
JT beat Cincy and Clemson.
Show me JT doing anything like this:
It doesn’t matter what the stats say unless you’re a loser. Tape don’t lie.
No one ever said: lies, damn lies and videotape.
LikeLike
Ah. You didn’t post the idea of JT throwing a horrible pick on the goal line against Cincinnati. After he missed Pickens long on a wide open TD and forced GP to turn it into a circus catch instead of a walk-in 6.
Or badly underthrew Arian on another walk-in TD, then missed Pickens on a 3rd and 5, forcing a FG attempt.
You’re right, tape don’t lie.
LikeLike
If there was one constant buzz throughout the off season it was, “does Georgia have a starting qb they can count on after watching game tape of the win over cincy?”
The drama over who would emerge as the starting qb through spring and summer practice this year was gripping wasn’t it?
I’m sure you turned on the Clemson game and said: “it should be stet starting this one” didn’t you?
I mean who didn’t really tho given the Stats!?
I think all of Bulldog Nation and sports punditry worldwide simultaneously gasped and shook their head when 18 went out there. Because we had all seen the Cincy game.
Meanwhile, the real football geniuses rewatched the game at Tuscaloosa in 2020 and said, why wasn’t Stet just handed the job once he was healthy? Why was it to be a competition in the spring and summer?
At least we can say this for CKS and Monken:
They didn’t just make JT the heir apparent when prep for the 2021 season started last spring. They well knew, after watching tape of the Cincy game, that it truly was to be a battle.
Was Stetson the 4th qb we saw in the spring game? Maybe. That might be what the film says, but he was neck and neck with JT for all of the reasons you say.
LikeLike
Yes, Dawg fans spent the summer imagining massive improvement and fixing those mechanics and an offense as deadly as the defense and…
The Clemson game happened (sad trombone sound). Sure, the offense was shorthanded. But you know what? A truly elite QB is going to overcome some of that. How did JT’s passing performance against Clemson compare to other QBs? About on par with Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Boston College. Devin Leary lit them up for 4 TDs. Jordan Travis managed twice the yards per pass and 2 TDs.
JT has loads of potential, and he is in some ways a better QB than Stetson. But you excuse all his failures and embellish his successes. To the point it’s almost Fantasy JT.
I’m not asking you to give up on JT. Just ground your discussions of him in reality.
LikeLike
Better than Stetson is a LOW bar. Not a high bar.
By saying X is a better qb than Stet, I am not saying X is a great qb.
There are easily 30 starting qbs in college football who would qualify.
LikeLike
HEY EVERYBODY, did you know that Senator Blutarsky thinks we can’t get into a game where we chase a team that has a 2 score lead?
Oh by the way, Senator Blutarsky thinks we can’t get into a game where we chase a team that has a 2 score lead?
Has anybody told you, Senator Blutarsky thinks we can’t get into a game where we chase a team that has a 2 score lead?
🙂
LikeLike
And did I mention, Senator Blutarsky thinks we can’t get into a game where we chase a team that has a 2 score lead?
😉
LikeLike
jerk
LikeLike
Oh lighten up.
LikeLike
If we do get down by two scores ESPN should switch the broadcast over to the film Heidi, which would be painful, but much less so.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Hopefully with the concomitant result.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Or if we do get down by two scores maybe don’t abandon the run/gameplan and fall into a predictable throw-happy panic-fest, especially when it was still early in the 3rd quarter.
LikeLiked by 3 people
And at this point: how’s about a shout-out to John Madden.
LikeLike
Shorter blutarsky, Stetson is straight garbage when we need to score a bunch of points and when he faces pressure real or imagined but other than that he’s a great quarterback and it totally makes sense why Kirby is sticking with him.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oy.
It’s sad to see the way Bennett makes some of you guys feel. Visceral.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well I think falling behind by two scores (your words) qualifies as needing to score a bunch of points and as the graphic shows, Stetson is pretty awful when pressured. Combine that with the many posts you’ve made of essentially “if Stetson can rely on the defense and not be asked to do too much,some cherry picked stats show he’s pretty good”; I’d say 100% of what I posted is factually true. I noticed you didn’t rebut any of my points.
LikeLike
I try not to waste time rebutting emotional arguments, but if it makes you feel any better, I’ve never called Bennett a great quarterback. The most effusive I’ve been in my praise is that he’s been more than serviceable, which I think is pretty fair for someone who’s fourth in the country in passer rating.
YMMV, of course. Not that I particularly care.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hate it when you post stats that confirm what my uneducated eyes see. Please, let me imagine that I’m wrong. 😉
LikeLike
IDK why it’s so funny to me that SBIV has a better Passer Rating than B.Young. DAYYYUM!
LikeLike
Gotta give you credit, Bluto. That IS one of the hotter takes of the day.
LikeLike
Looking back at the Florida game without a complete turnover fest just before halftime it’s 3-0. It’s sad to think Todd Grantham had figured out how to stop this offense.
It’s certainly not breaking news that Friday needs to be a low scoring game for Georgia to win. This team was never built to win a shootout.
Maybe Monken who keeps saying SB gives this team the best chance to win knows more about QB play and JT’s right now readiness than posters on blog sites. As frustrating as that is I think he and Kirby know more than we do.
LikeLiked by 2 people
This. Monken didn’t say that Stetson is a better quarterback. Monken said that Stetson gives the team a better chance to win at the moment. Period. Both “SBIV gives this Georgia team a better chance to win right now” and “JT is the better pure quarterback” can be true.
LikeLike
This comment is exactly why I hope there is a legitimate QB competition this spring. Of course, Kirby is going to close all of the practices, so we’ll only have G-Day QBRs to argue over.
I agree with you that both of those statements can be true … just like “Justin Fields has a higher ceiling than Jake Fromm” and “Jake Fromm is the better QB on the field right now.” This difference between then and now is that both of the QBs in 2018 were blue chip prospects and one had had a lot of on-field success.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Certainly can’t disagree with that.
LikeLike
So, statistically speaking, Stetson will likely have 3-5 bad plays on Friday. If less than 2 of those plays results in a turnover we should win. Will be so much fun waiting (screaming) for those shoes to drop. 🤮
We’ve got to get pressure and cover better on defense.
LikeLike
So, being willing to have one arm tied behind your back because you have a guy who was never recruited to be a starter at the most important position on the field is a reason to blame the defense if the team loses on Friday night? I don’t think that’s what you’re saying, but it sure seems that way.
LikeLike
That’s not what I’m saying at all. I don’t control who plays at QB, so I’m rooting for the defense to play better than they did against Bama so I don’t have to throw up when Stetson screws up.
LikeLike
Ok – I thought that’s what you were saying. If we lose a low-scoring game on Friday night, I don’t think I’ll be blaming the defense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just do not make stupid decisions.
Eat the ball or throw it away.
No turnovers
LikeLiked by 1 person
Does anyone honestly think the coaches would start the quarterback who they think gives us the better chance to lose? Imma hang up and listen.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Honest answer, I think coaches while obviously possessing more knowledge than a fan, are human and as humans have traits such as stubbornness and biases, including confirmation bias. Those lead to them sometimes (obviously not often) making decisions that aren’t optimal. You’re telling me you haven’t seen that happen in say the business world where a decision maker is predisposed to doing A so they filter out all data points that say doing A is really not a good idea. So then you see insiders making poor decisions, partly because they’re so in the weeds they can convince themselves it’s not a poor decision, even when its kind of obvious to outsiders with much less info they shouldn’t have done that.
LikeLike
They also have responsibilities that don’t include revealing every detail of their decision making processes until charlottedawg is satisfied with the explanation.
LikeLike
I don’t think they would. I just want honesty about the reason. The garbage about Bennett’s mobility is exactly that … garbage. Just say we thought it was best for team’s chemistry not to make a change at QB late in the season when JT got healthy again. I would be totally fine with that.
I don’t know if JT is going to get a chance at the next level given his injury history, but I know SBIV isn’t going to get a chance. The idea that he has some physical advantage over JT is just preposterous.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Why do expect explanations from the coaches? When have they ever given insight into team decisions? The next time they do will be the first time.
I believe Kirby wants to win much more than anyone here. I also believe that will lead him to make decisions that give him the best chance to do so. Beyond that, I’m tired of worrying about it.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Kirby’s (and I guess now Monken) decision to go back to the well about mobility as the reason the QB situation is where it is is just old, tired spin that makes zero sense. If Daniels had regressed, why did he start the South Carolina and Vandy games when they determined he was healthy? I get the team chemistry angle. It’s pretty much what Kirby said in 2017 about Fromm. Talking about the importance of that may not have silenced the loudest detractors, but many reasonable people who have been on high-performing teams would totally get it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think that the team chemistry angle, the fact that SBIV has been taking the vast majority of first team reps for well over two months in practice, and JT’s injury situation (remember it was the UT game on November 13th when the broadcast crew said that JT’s parents told them in the hotel that JT was finally healthy) are the reasons that Monken can sit at a podium and say with a straight face that SBIV gives this team the best chance to win right now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You have to admit, it’s hard to look at those statistics and come away believing Stetson gives us the best chance to win. Are the other quarterbacks stats under pressure are even worse? Can you really put all your chips on the table when your game plan depends on keeping your quarterback out of pressure situations? Isn’t the primary job of the quarterback to turn pressure situations into positive yardage? I’m not a coach but I played for a few years and I’ve been watching the game for over six decades. Perhaps there is something I’ve missed?
LikeLike
Hard to believe Saban was dumb enough to say screw team chemistry when his QB was struggling and made a change in the middle of the dang NC game. Idiot obviously had no idea who gave him the best chance to win.
LikeLike
Everyone forgets that Tua struggled when he entered the game then “Tyler Simmons was onsides” happened. If R doesn’t get tackled from behind on the following possession, Tua probably heads back to the bench after not being effective himself.
Your point is right on. While I may think Daniels should have been playing by the Bama game, it was almost ridiculous that Kirby sent him back out there after the pick 6.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Unless the thing we don’t know would make that decision make sense.
I watched JT closely throughout the bama game. At no point was there any indication that he thought he was going in OR that he wanted to go in.
Never picked up his helmet. Never warmed up.
I don’t know what’s going on, but barring Stet being carted off, I don’t think JT was an option, for whatever reason….
LikeLike
Say what you will about the Saban NC game decision at halftime, but it was the second half in the NC game with nothing to lose, Hurts had been largely ineffective, and Georgia looked very much in control. As EE pointed out, Tua didn’t enter the game and look like a world beater. Tua made a few plays that, combined with a dreadful call on Simmons and some head scratching decisions from Georgia’s staff, kept Bama in the game and eventually allowed them to tie the game.
LikeLike
We went undefeated in the regular season for the first time in decades. We are in the playoff. We lost to the GOAT, who has crushed many a team’s dreams of a championship. So, I am pretty darn happy with Kirby. I hope he stays our coach for a long, long time and keeps us playing elite football. That said, contrary to what some here believe, I am still allowed to be somewhat frustrated that the best QB we have to trot out there on Friday (and I believe Kirby and Monken when they say he is the best option) is a walk-on who is terrible when pressured, can’t read defenses post snap, and often ignores open receivers to make throws to guys who are covered up. I watch a lot of college football and I see many teams who have better guys under center than we do. I just don’t get it. Arch Manning cannot get here soon enough.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We don’t need Arch. BVG and Gunner got this for the next few years.
LikeLike
I respectfully beg to differ. Arch looks to be a program changing type QB. He has size, arm strength, mobility, intelligence….and is blue blood football royalty. If Kirby lands him, the top receivers, TE’s and RB’s will follow. He will bring media attention like we have not seen before. Arch is the guy that helps us kill Alabama, once and for all. He is the most important recruit for Kirby since missing out on Sunshine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would be absolutely shocked if Arch picked Georgia over Alabama. Unless Texas has a stellar year in 2022, I don’t foresee them being in the mix. Bryce Young is eligible to enter the draft in 2023 after the 2022 season. I have a hard time imagining Arch picking Georgia unless JTD is gone after this season, Beck is gone after this season, and BVG decides to leave because he clearly doesn’t beat out Stetson coming out of spring and then fall camp in August. It also doesn’t help that Kirby is rightly or wrongly probably getting a “can’t manage QBs well” identity on the recruiting trail.
LikeLike
All true. Our only saving grace is that the Manning’s hate Bama and Lane Kiffen is unpredictable and likely to be gone soon. That leaves LSU…a train wreck, FU…a train wreck…and UT which is one year removed from a dumpster fire. We are the logical choice.
LikeLike
How many truly great teams do you know of where you say “well if they fall behind by two scores, they’re finished”? Not many. We’re a team built to Will impose and dominate weaker competition. Same as it ever was. We’re going to struggle against the elite offenses until we get a QB who can take over a game that isn’t going exactly the way we want it. At the beginning of This year we here hopeful on the promise that JTD brought. For whatever reason he isn’t what we thought he was, yet we’ve still got a shot at this thing. We can still win it all, it’s just going to take a near perfect performance from everyone.
LikeLike
I love that we’re in year 6 of the Kirby Smart era and our “best chance to win” is a QB who can’t function under pressure or convert a 3rd down. If the coaches have to do this much work to hide Stet’s flaws, then that’s a sign that we have the wrong QB.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I don’t buy the “can’t win from 2 scores down” meme that’s taken hold here. We’ve seen that situation exactly once this season against a Bama team feeling disrespected for being underdogs for the first time in 6 years, coached by the greatest coach of all time. Doesn’t mean it will play out like that the next time. I expect Monken and Bennett to look at what went wrong and fix it.
LikeLike
Stetson, if you’re reading this….. If you feel the urge to just throw the ball up and see what happens, throw it to #1, #0 or #19. Probably in that order.
Nobody is taking the ball from either of those 3. Give them a shot at it, and it’s AT WORST an incompletion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
But not over the middle of the field….
LikeLike