Mike’s dad posted this.
Pretty nice. Have at it in the comments.
Daily Archives: October 30, 2023
Diverging paths
CBS posted this graphic during their broadcast. It’s a doozy.
Florida fans, that is what a gap looks like.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football
Observations from the armchair, Cocktail Party edition
For all the crap Napier’s getting for his playcalling Saturday, I do have to give him credit for scripting an effective scoring drive on the Gators’ first possession. Unfortunately for him, that’s all he had in the tank in the first half. Here’s how Florida’s remaining possessions went:
- 6 plays, 13 yards, PUNT
- 4 plays, 6 yards, DOWNS
- 2 plays, -14 yards, FUMBLE
- 3 plays, -6 yards, SAFETY
- 3 plays, 2 yards, PUNT
- 5 plays, 41 yards, PUNT
That’s 44 yards on 15 plays. All the while, Georgia was on a scoring run that would ultimately generate 36 unanswered points.
That’s the first big story from the game, Georgia’s defense showing up and playing at a level of sustained excellence worthy of the ’21 and ’22 teams. The second big story was how for the first time this season, the Dawgs outplayed their opponent on both lines of scrimmage. Mertz was sacked four times and Florida suffered eight tackles for loss, while Beck wasn’t sacked and the Gators’ defense only managed four TFLs. Mertz was affected by pressure all game long; Beck clearly had more time to operate, something that was at least partly reflected in their respective yards per pass attempt (6.8 vs. 11.3).
Needless to say, if that’s sustainable, the Dawgs are going to be one tough out the rest of the season.
And with that, it’s on to the bullet points.
- It takes a village to replace Brock Bowers. And while most would take that in the context of yardage and receptions (more on that in a bit), what was satisfying for me was how well the offense blocked in Bowers’ absence. It was the o-line’s best overall showing of the season in that regard. Ditto for Oscar Delp. The downfield blocking by the receivers is something that has steadily improved over the past three or four games and that continued Saturday.
- It was good to see Truss back in the lineup. He threw a helluva block to spring Edwards on that 20-yard TD scamper. Do we get Mims back for Missouri?
- As far as receptions and yardage, both McConkey and Lovett stepped up in particular, combining for 10 catches, more than 200 yards and a touchdown, but there were other notable contributors. Delp had a spectacularly athletic one handed grab. Dillon Bell’s touchdown catch was smooth as silk. In all, eight different players had receptions.
- Daijon Edwards may be the unsung hero of Georgia’s season so far. Danielson couldn’t quit gushing over him, and with good reason. Milton turned in another solid day’s work.
- Carson Beck just keeps rolling. You know he had to be ginned up playing in front of the home folks, but he did a good job of keeping his emotions in check and playing within himself. He rarely made a bad decision and showed off his arm with some terrific throws, like the dime he dropped on Bell for the touchdown. The only real knock I’ve got was overthrowing an open McConkey for what would have been an easy touchdown, so there are still some deep ball issues that need to be cleaned up. But that’s nitpicking, really.
- I don’t know if it was keyed by the return of Ingram-Dawkins, or something else, but man, the d-line showed up to play. And as good as they were, the edge dudes, particularly Jalon Walker and Damon Wilson, were even better. (Marvin Jones, too, now that I think about it.) Those guys abused Florida’s offensive tackles all game long, much to Mertz’ dismay. Pretty exciting to see youth on display like that, if you ask me.
- I’m beginning to think Chambliss’ reputation precedes him. Florida ran at him early and often and with some success.
- Another guy who turned in his best game of the season was Dumas-Johnson and his cohort, Mondon, was right there with him.
- The secondary turned in a good effort… of course, the way the defensive front was manhandling the Gators’ O made that easier, but still. Bullard, Smith (at least until he got hurt), Lassiter and Starks all made contributions and stops after that first scoring drive. Wilson, who looked all-world for Florida early on, wound up with 11 catches, but only for 75 yards.
- Speaking of that first scoring drive, did that look a little weird in the middle of the field, or what? I don’t know if it was a designed pick or just a happy accident, but somehow Bullard, the receiver Bullard was covering and the official sort of got tangled up and split Wilson away from Everette, making for an easy score.
- Best special teams game of the season? If not, it was close. Mews didn’t do anything spectacular, but at least he kept the routine looking routine. Meanwhile, Aguero blocked a punt that led to a safety, Woodring nailed both of his field goal attempts and Thorson placed all three (!) of his punts inside the Gators 20. (By the way, if you were listening to the broadcast, did you catch the factoid that Georgia hasn’t allowed a punt return all season?)
- Tip of the cap to Schumann and Muschamp. You don’t have that sort of sustained defensive excellence without having your guys prepared for what Florida was doing. Georgia continues to tackle as well as anybody in college football, too. And we’re starting to see all the playing time the backups have been given earlier in the season payoff with more confident play on the field. (By the way, I thought Napier leaving his first string offense in late in the game after Georgia had pulled most of their defensive starters was a horseshit move.)
- Bobo called a largely flawless first half, but I have to say I wasn’t totally thrilled with the way he took his foot off the gas to start the second half. That said, I guess even he got tired of watching Georgia run into stacked boxes and opened things back up for a couple of touchdown scores to keep the game out of reach.
- Smart keeps pushing all the right buttons. He had his team prepared, both mentally and emotionally, to succeed and they followed. I also don’t recall an in game call of his that was even remotely questionable. He’s made himself into an elite game day coach.
With the win, Georgia is in even firmer control of the East. But the road doesn’t get easier with Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee next on the schedule. They need to stay on the level they showed Saturday. They’re still the only team capable of beating Georgia during the regular season.
Filed under Georgia Football
Your Daily Gator thinks life in the SEC is unfair.
Bless his heart.
I guess that’s one way to shrink the gap.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
2023 SEC Power Poll, Week Nine
No real surprises at the top of the pack, but a little jostling towards the cellar.
- Georgia. David Ubben: “The Georgia team that showed up in that Kentucky game, nobody can beat that team.” The Georgia team that showed up in that Kentucky game showed up in Jacksonville and the result was predictable.
- Alabama. This week, does the Tide’s defense get the better of LSU’s offense?
- Ole Miss. Made Vanderbilt look like… well, Vanderbilt.
- LSU. This week, does LSU’s defense make Alabama’s offense look like LSU’s?
- Missouri. To answer last week’s rhetorical question, yes, the Tigers look like the East’s second best team right now.
- Tennessee. To their credit, the Vols went on the road and won in Lexington.
- Texas A&M. Beat up a South Carolina team that is the equivalent of a clunker dropping parts as it tries to head down the road.
- Kentucky. Showed signs of life, but still dropped their third game in a row.
- Florida. There’s a good argument to be made that the Gators are on the cusp of their third straight 6-6 regular season. Talk about finding your niche!
- Auburn. 416 yards of offense against an SEC team? What got into these guys?
- Mississippi State. Payton Thorne’s passer rating against the MSU defense: 189.31. Yikes.
- South Carolina. Rattler was flagged for three intentional grounding penalties. With the ‘Cocks offensive line in shambles — not that it was any good before the injuries — I’m surprised it was only three.
- Arkansas. How sad are the Hogs? Florida’s looking forward to playing them.
- Vanderbilt. The first SEC team to miss on bowl eligibility.
Filed under SEC Football
Disciplined
Here’s a stat that kinda crept up on me.
That’s impressive, and not just by the standards of this season. A Smart coached team has never wound up with the fewest penalties of any SEC team. Last season they were third, but they’ve been as low as eleventh a couple of times.
That they can do that and still lead the conference in defensive yards per play is a pretty good sign they’ve dialed in the right level of aggressiveness.
***************************************************************************
UPDATE: This, too.
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!
2023 SEC Net YPP, Week 9
This week was all conference-on-conference action, so the swings from the week before aren’t that dramatic.
- Georgia. +2.61 (7.16 o; 4.55 d) [NC: -0.13]
- LSU +2.00 (8.09 o; 6.09 d) [NC: DNP]
- Ole Miss +1.81 (6.80 o; 4.99 d) [NC: +0.12]
- Missouri +1.46 (6.66 o; 5.20 d) [NC: DNP]
- Tennessee +1.35 (6.22 o; 4.87 d) [NC: -0.18]
- Texas A&M +1.35 (5.90 o; 4.55 d) [NC: +0.05]
- Alabama +1.33 (5.89 o; 4.56 d) [NC: DNP]
- Kentucky +1.09 (6.52 o; 5.43 d) [NC: -0.15]
- Florida +0.18 (6.15 o; 5.97 d) [NC: -0.24]
- Mississippi State +0.15 (5.76 o; 5.61 d) [NC: -0.23]
- Auburn -0.25 (5.45 o; 5.70 d) [NC: +0.24]
- South Carolina -0.45 (5.60 o; 6.05 d) [NC: -0.13]
- Vanderbilt -0.69 (5.54 o; 6.23 d) [NC: -0.26]
- Arkansas -0.77 (4.71 0; 5.48 d) [NC: DNP]
Turnover margin:
- +7: Ole Miss
- +6: LSU
- +4: Auburn
- +3: Arkansas
- +2: Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee
- +1: Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State
- -2: South Carolina
- -3: Florida, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Random bits and observations:
- Really, the data’s been pretty stable over the past two or three weeks: two elite (2.0+) teams, a very good Ole Miss, some above average squads, then come the mediocre and finally the four teams in the ypp hole.
- YPP says Mizzou will be a much tougher test for Georgia this week than Florida was.
Filed under SEC Football, Stats Geek!
Nasty
Earnest Greene is Georgia’s freshman starting left tackle. He’s talented, but (excuse the expression) green. I thought he played tentatively earlier in the season, which is certainly understandable.
Fast forward to the Florida game. Whatever you want to call this, it’s not tentative.
Probably should ask those two Gators how they would describe Greene’s play.
Filed under Georgia Football
2023 Fabris Pool results, Week 9
No tiebreaker this week… just perfection.
Congrats, Toccoa!
As for the seasonal race,
On to next week…
Filed under GTP Stuff
That gap ain’t gonna shrink itself.
Yes, you can go ahead and inject this directly into my veins:
Florida isn’t any closer to Georgia
The gap between the Gators and Bulldogs isn’t necessarily growing, but it sure isn’t shrinking.
UF’s optimism and Georgia’s concerns leading up to Saturday proved ill-founded. Even without All-America tight end Brock Bowers, their best player, the Bulldogs won by a point more than than last season’s 42-20 decision.
Georgia’s defense is not generational like 2021 or even as stout as 2022, but still has another gear. For the second straight season, the Bulldogs average more than 40 points and 500 yards.
Nowhere on the field did the Gators have an edge.
Georgia had a field day against Florida’s cornerbacks, an area the Gators expect to be elite. Veteran Jason Marshall Jr. and redshirt junior Jalen Kimber, a Georgia transfer, each gave up touchdowns for struggling pass defense.
Napier pushes to gain ground on the recruiting trail, the one area the Gators have improved the most since his arrival.
A class ranked No. 3 nationally by 247Sports features seven top-100 players, including two 5-star prospects. Problem is, Georgia has the No. 1 class featuring nine top-100 prospects, including four 5-stars.
It could be awhile before Florida, losers of six of seven, reasserts itself in the series.
That’s a shame.
Filed under Gators, Gators..., Georgia Football
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