Dawgs, Beck Bounce Back
After their weekly slow start the Dawgs looked like they were headed for another disastrous performance. Down 10-0 early in the game, the Dawg offense looked entirely toothless yet again, and the Vols had cruised down the field in their first drive and nearly took a punt to the house. Read more Dawgs, Beck bounce back.
Then, Georgia changed their snap cadence, which drew the Vols offsides. Carson Beck hit Dom Lovett for a big gain. Later, Beck scrambled and fought for extra yards, walloping a Vol defender in the process. The switch flipped, and Beck, after a season of mediocre to poor performances, was back.
The Dawgs went on to outscore the Vols 31-7 for the remainder of the game. Let’s break it down.
The Good
Let’s continue with Beck. Carson had his most complete game since Clemson, throwing for over 300 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns. Most importantly, Beck did not turn the ball over, or really ever put it at risk during the game. Beck made a number of NFL throws throughout this game, ran the offense efficiently, and even made several key plays with his legs. He had two scrambles for first downs and one for a touchdown.
He jokingly called himself a dual threat QB after the game. It seemed like once he took off and put his body on the line, the entire team rallied around him. If, and this is still a big if, Beck can play at this level moving forward, it would be massive for the Dawgs.
The O-Line
Beck wasn’t the only one who stepped up. The UGA offensive line, after getting completely thrashed by Ole Miss, stymied the Tennessee defense front for the entire game. Beck went untouched, How did they improve so significantly? One, they did not rotate players the entire game. UGA previously rotated 7 guys in. No rotation, no sacks.
Plus, LT Earnest Greene sat with an injury. Monroe Freeling filled in his spot and seemed to help stabilize the entire line. Center Jared Wilson had his best game of the year because he didn’t have to deal with a nose tackle. He got in space and pancaked guys. LG Dylan Fairchild embarrassed a UT player too while slamming him to the ground. The line kept Beck clean and Beck was dealing.
Mike Bobo
Okay, this was the trifecta of terrible earlier in the year (Beck, Bobo, o-line). All were underperforming. The line couldn’t block. Beck was throwing to the wrong team, and Bobo, because his guys couldn’t execute, went back to basics, only making it easier for teams to key in what we were doing.
He made a number of adjustments this game that were fantastic. One, they changed the snap cadence throughout the game, keeping the Vols from jumping the snap. Two, the offense would vary their tempo between plays, keeping the defense guessing if the hurry up was coming. One thing the UGA offense did that was effective was going to hurry up on 2nd down plays that didn’t move the sticks, so that the Vols could not substitute their best pass rushers on the field for 3rd downs. Plus Bobo was setting up plays throughout the game.
He’d take one formation and pre-snap motion and design a deep shot with it. Then do the same formation/motion and design a screen. Then use the same formation and motion and call a fake screen to an intermediate pass. The Vols had no clue what was coming. Or take Oscar Delp’s second touchdown catch. The Dawgs lined up the same formation they did a truck sweep to Frazier for 6 against Ole Miss. Against the Vols, then faked the truck sweep and hit Delp on a pass. Bobo used the tape against Tennessee. It was magical.
The Tight End Room
The tight end room had a great game as well. Delp looked like the TE everyone expected for the first time this year. Ben Yurosek had the best game of his career at Stanford or UGA.
I cannot think of a player who has improved so significantly over the course of a season. I wanted his scholarship revoked after the first month of the year because he was a liability for the Dawgs. Now, he’s becoming a weapon in both the run and passing game. What a turnaround. Lawson Lucke played fine too, but the group combined for 10 catches in the game.
The Defense
Defensively, UGA had an impressive game as well. DC Glenn Schumann had his guys ready despite injuries. Even with the Vol’s offensive tempo, UGA was still disguising coverages consistently. While I wish we brought more pressure, UGA managed 5 sacks in the game and kept Iamaleava under pressure.
CB Daniel Harris entered the game after about 8 plays. He has played more snaps every game for the last 3 or 4 weeks and has looked better each week. Safeties Dan Jackson and KJ Bolden took reps at Star with Joenel Aguero injured and both did great.
LB Chaz Chambliss is playing like a real difference maker. If you’d have told me that Chaz was going to lead or be close to leading our team in sacks for the season I’d say UGA is going to 1) set a sack record or 2) be God-awful at sacks because Chaz can’t rush the passer. He’s developed so well and can shut down the run and the pass now.
Speaking of LBs, Smael Mondon looked like himself in this game and played his butt off. There’s a couple of plays where Mondon shuts down and stops a major gain for the Vols himself. I also want to shout out the interior defensive line, who stuffed the Volunteer run game as much as anyone can. Naz Stackhouse, Christen Miller, even Jan Jarrett got in the action to take away the run game.
Punter Brett Thorsen had a massive play by tackling returner Boo Carter and saving a touchdown.
Freshman WR Nitro Tuggle made a couple of catches in the game and looked dangerous at the X receiver position. If he can become a legitimate option as the season winds down, that would be a major factor for the Dawgs.
Hey, make sure you check out our picks on the GW Daily Picks page.
The Bad
Receivers still dropped passes. Arian Smith and Dom Lovett both had bad drops that would have been explosive plays. Arian also got an offensive PI call.
Injuries are even worse than I realized on this team. After the game, it became clear that Trevor Etienne isn’t playing again in the regular season. Earnest Greene’s injury is worse than previously known.
WR London Humphreys hasn’t practiced but has been playing games because of an injury. LB CJ Allen was sick all week. In other words, I knew the injuries were bad, but it’s even more prevalent than I understood. Unfortunately, WR Dillon Bell can now be added to the injury list with an ankle from the game. He doesn’t need surgery, but I doubt he plays the next two games.
The Refs
Okay, I don’t think the refs were that bad, but I didn’t know where to put this in. If Vol fans are complaining about the refs like your head coach did, you don’t understand just how badly you got beat. UGA dominated you in explosive plays (6 to 1) and on both lines of scrimmage.
You’re lucky you only lost by 14. The 12 man penalty is legit, quit whining about a rule put in place to protect offenses just like yours who run uptempo. Tennessee clearly faked an injury in the game (which they have repeatedly complained about others doing). The refs blew a play dead that would have resulted in a scoop and score for the Dawgs that was a generous whistle.
The facemask call I thought was the wrong call watching live. However, if you rip off a helmet and your hands are all around the facemask area, I can understand the mistake. Yet, the rule says if hands go in the ear hole or under the helmet to tackle someone, which the defender certainly did, that too qualifies as a facemask penalty. And, one angle shows what looks to be traditional facemask pull as it is. So, one way or the other, that’s a facemask. Even if it wasn’t UGA would have been 3rd and 8.
You failed to stop them on a 3rd and 10 later in that drive. If you’re upset about the refs, and not upset that your defense gave up a bunch of 3rd and long conversions, you’re mad at the wrong thing. Be mad that your o line flinched on a key 4th down that forced you to punt rather than go for it. Be mad that you gave up touchdown drives of 75, 84, 87, and 92 yards. Be mad that in the last 8 games against UGA, Tennessee has scored 26 combined points in the second half. Mad at the refs? That shouldn’t be what you’re upset about.
Final Thoughts
I truly don’t understand this Georgia team. This was the closest to a complete game they have played so far when there was almost nothing going in their favor in terms of recent play and injuries.
I hope that this team has finally found some belief in itself and some swagger to build upon. If they can get healthy, maybe they can still make this year interesting. Just when the offense seems completely hopeless, they completely redeem themselves. Can UGA take this momentum and capitalize on this?
Or was this just a gutsy performance fueled by a night home game and their problems will rear their head again?
