Can it be that simple? Does all it take to get Georgia firing on cylinders is to present an opponent that’s some sort of legitimately perceived hot threat? I mean, sure, Auburn’s a historical rival and all, but coming off that embarrassment against Texas A&M, nobody took the Tigers as a tough out. Meanwhile, here came the Wildcats, fresh from blowing the doors off Florida behind Ray Davis’ 280-yard night running the ball and their newly minted top 20 rating. Now there’s a team that’s got a real shot of upending a Georgia squad that doesn’t seem to be able to get out of its own way early, right?
So much for that. The Dawgs came out of the gate Saturday night like they had the mother of all chips on their shoulders (at least the offense did) and by the time they looked back over a good night’s work, they’d posted a fitty on UK’s ass.
The problem with my theory, at least for this week, is that the next opponent is Vanderbilt and I don’t think there’s any way in the world to turn the ‘Dores into Godzilla.
Although you can’t achieve that milestone without a killer long snappah, I suppose. But I digress. Let’s trot out some bullet points, okay?
- Carson Beck’s coming out party was quite the performance. He hit his first 13 passes in a row, showed the touch on the deep ball we’d been waiting for (that first TD to Rosemy-Jacksaint was flat out gorgeous) and looked to be completely in command against a defense that, coming into the game, was fourth in the SEC in defensive ypp. When’s the last time we saw a Georgia starting quarterback improve as much as Beck has over his first six games? Even his one sour note, the interception he shouldn’t have thrown, came as a result of confidence as opposed to playing scared. He is one cool customer who’s got a team that believes in him.
- The next fun thing is going to be when defensive coordinators decide they have to slow Georgia’s passing game down to have a chance and stop loading the box as a result. (And don’t think Kirby won’t love that.)
- Speaking of the running game, it more than served its purpose. Georgia’s not focused on pound and ground early to wear down defenses in the second half as much as it is making sure the running attack is a viable option that enables the play action game. And that was delivered in spades.
- Edwards delivered another solid game, and don’t look now, but he’s turning into a useful receiving option. He had a half dozen catches (and should have had a seventh on Beck’s interception, as he leaked out of the backfield late and was standing in Beck’s line of sight wide open).
- Kendall Milton looked the healthiest and quickest he’s been all season. Give me him, Edwards with a little Bell mixed in and I think that’s enough of a ground game to compliment the passing attack.
- Brock Bowers is on pace for 1,000 receiving yards this season. Enough said.
- Delp stepped it up — not just his receiving, but his blocking improved, too. (Is that because Luckie’s back? Dunno, but competition never hurts.)
- Great games from Rosemy-Jacksaint and Thomas. What’s scary about this group of receivers is that McConkey and Lovett have yet to score touchdowns. You have to think that’s coming.
- The offensive line showed out a little better this week. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it was their best collective effort of the season. Ratledge shook off his shitty game against Auburn and played well. Overall pass pro was solid, as usual (zero sacks), and the running game had some traction against a solid defensive front. Best development of all was seeing Mims on the sideline without a walking boot. Maybe he’ll be back for the Cocktail Party.
- How do you know when Georgia’s having a night? When they manage a 22-second end of half scoring drive perfectly.
- The best thing I can say about Georgia’s defensive front is that Kentucky had very little success running up the middle on it. Unfortunately, at least in the first half, they were still plagued with the same issues defending the edge that they showed at Auburn. (They were bailed out early by some truly stupid Kentucky penalties.) That did seem to get cleaned up to some extent in the second half, although, to be fair, by then, Kentucky had been forced to abandon its offensive game plan because of the score. That said, the front never seemed to deliver much in the way of pass pressure all night.
- I thought Dumas-Johnson turned in his best performance of the season. (I didn’t realize until Smart mentioned it at the presser that he’s been playing banged up.) Mondon turned in a quiet game (relatively for him, that is).
- The secondary played pretty well, although they were bailed out on occasion by Leary’s inconsistent accuracy. Lassiter did get turned around on one long completion, but contributed a sack and a couple of pass break ups. Tykee Smith’s interception streak ended and overall his night was pretty quiet, too. I thought Starks was mediocre in pass coverage, but did well, as usual, in run support.
- It was disappointing to see no one on the defense lay a finger on Davis on his touchdown catch. On the other hand, UK didn’t manage a score against the backups!
- Special teams were pretty quiet. Mews had a great punt return wiped out by a ticky-tack penalty. Thorson almost got the night off. Woodring continues to show he’s gotten his legs under him, going 3-3 on field goal attempts.
- Muschamp and Schumann bounced back from a subpar game against Auburn with a solid effort. Any time you hold an SEC team to under 200 yards of offense, you’ve done your job. Schumann, in particular, dialed up some effectively nasty pressures that got to Leary.
- Bobo had himself a night, didn’t he? He turned UK’s tendency to overplay the run against them (most obviously on that beautiful call that resulted in Delp’s TD catch). And it warmed the cockles of my withered heart to see lots of Georgia receivers running downfield wide open. Honestly, Monken couldn’t have called a better game and that’s intended as high praise. Add to that Beck’s development and Mike Bobo is getting the job done so far, as much as I’m sure some portion of the fan base is still willing to argue otherwise.
- Boy, did I love the ballsy call on Georgia’s second series to throw the ball to Bowers on third and one… talk about taking advantage of UK’s defense selling out against the run.
- Was Saturday Disconcerting Signals Penalty Day in the SEC or something? I hadn’t seen that call this year and then saw refs throw that flag in three different games. Weird.
- I don’t know how Smart finally figured out how to flip the switch and get his team ready to play from the opening kickoff. As I posted yesterday, maybe this has simply been a case of the staff slowly figuring how to get all the new parts working together smoothly. Whatever the reason may be, let’s hope it’s a performance floor going forward as opposed to a peak.
It’s hard to believe how much the perception of this team and its 2023 chances have changed after just one evening. Though it’s wise to remember, as Kirby said at the beginning of last week, it’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems. On to Nashville…
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