Dawgs Cruise Past Minutemen

The Dawgs had a little bit of a post-Tennessee hangover against UMass this Saturday in Athens. A 12:45 kick after a massive night game atmosphere, plus a premature senior day recognition even though this was not the final home game set up a lackluster performance from part of the Dawg football team. Read more Dawgs cruise past minutemen. 

Beck and the offense came out firing on all cylinders, throwing for 4 touchdowns in their first 4 possessions. However, the defense, who had allowed only 3 runs of 30+ yards all season, gave up 2 of 30+ yard runs on top of a 75 yard touchdown pass. The Minutemen ate clock and hung around long enough to keep UGA’s first team players in through the beginning of the 4th quarter. Let’s break down the best and worst of this game. 

The Good

Nate Frazier. Clemson was his breakout game, where fans saw how explosive the freshman running back could be. Kentucky was his “welcome to the SEC” moment, where he looked awful in the few plays he got in the game. And while UGA completely over-matched UMass, Frazier looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. His ability to make a cut and find open space is phenomenal. He was able to score 3 times and account for 136 yards. Frazier never broke a massive run, but always seemed on the verge of it. He looked so good, I was frustrated when Kirby kept giving him carries deep into the second half. 

QB Carson Beck was efficient and focused throughout this game. He made some plays with his legs yet again, but was able to distribute the ball everywhere he needed to with touch passes and deep explosives. Beck found Arian Smith for 49 yards, but was also able to drop one in the bucket for Dom Lovett for a touchdown. He took a shot later in the game that caused Kirby to pull him immediately. I’m sure it hurt, and I hope he’s okay. 

The tight end room was effective today, with another tight end getting into the mix. Oscar Delp had a nice catch, but Lawson Luckie was the featured TE on the day with 4 catches for 60 yards. The freshman Jaden Reddell showed how dangerous he can become. He only had one catch for 13 yards, but nearly scored on it. Plus he was running free down the sideline but backup QB Gunner Stockton overthrew him. 

DL Warren Brinson had a nice performance today. Last year he was one of UGA’s more disruptive linemen. This year, he has not flashed as much until today. He led the team in tackles and had a sack as well. When you have 2 d-linemen tied for your tackle leaders, you’d think UGA did a better job stopping the run. 

Chris Cole

Freshman LB Chris Cole continues to shine for the Dawgs. While he made some run-fit mistakes in this game, he also had two of the most eye-catching plays by the defense for the day. He crushed a receiver in the open field with a perfectly timed tackle that didn’t even get a flag for potential targeting. In this day and age, that’s nearly impossible to do. He also had a scoop and score after Gabe Harris had a strip sack. He ran it into the endzone for UGA’s final score of the afternoon. 

Safety Malaki Starks has taken punt return duties when WR Anthony Evans has been hurt. Evans aggravated his hamstring, so he did not play. Starks fielded a punt and was hit almost immediately. He threw the defender to the ground, and scampered the other direction for an 18 yard punt return. 

Kicker Peyton Woodring nailed a 53 yard field goal into the wind. Woodring has been nothing but efficient this year, going 17-18 so far. His only miss was against Mississippi State and it was a 50+ yard kick.

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The Bad

DL Christen Miller dislocated his shoulder in the game, missing most of the action. He has been one of, if not the most, impactful d-linemen this year. UGA needs him able to play this week against Tech and in the upcoming SEC Championship. 

Safety Dan Jackson had a day to forget. While he has been nothing short of special this season, Saturday he was borderline awful. He played a role in 3 explosive plays that UMass had. Twice in the run game, Jackson flew up into the scrum prematurely, only for the player to bounce things outside for a major gain.

He should trust his linebackers to fill the middle and he should be watching the edge. Then, he also was in coverage against Jakob’s Keeney-James when the Dawgs surrendered that 75 yard touchdown pass. He’s got to get the player to the ground, and failed to do so. The blame doesn’t fall squarely on his shoulders on any of those plays, but in all of those plays, Jackson should have kept a bad play from becoming a disaster and he failed 3 times. 

Daniel Harris

Cornerback Daniel Harris seems to have taken over the starting role from Julian Humphrey. And then he promptly had one of his worst games. I’ve preferred Harris over Humphrey because Harris seems to be more physical in the run game. Humphrey doesn’t like to hit, and has surrendered too many PI’s. Harris has done better in coverage and in the run game. However, Harris played soft on a number of plays in this game and he was also the other defender involved in the 75 yard TD. He literally just watched the play happen after making a swipe at the football. He lacked the physicality he needs to keep his role on Saturday. 

Preparedness

UGA was unprepared defensively for this game. Well, I can’t say that for a fact, but the evidence is damning. With a new coach, it seemed like UMass installed new offensive plays. I say that because both QBs that played had busted assignments and reads, Iike they were unsure of what to do.

The most likely answer is that they were doing something new. UGA had guys missing run fits and also didn’t have defenders accounting for the QB run, which both QBs had shown an ability to do. Yes, the one more known for passing ended up running more than the one known for their legs. Still, UGA didn’t account or hardly adjust for it. So the Dawgs were fooled and weren’t physical. That being said, I’m not shocked here, even if it’s frustrating. The week after our defense totally dominated Texas, the defense looked pedestrian against Mississippi State. Last week, the defense totally controlled the Vols. This week, same letdown against a lesser opponent. 

The Ugly

Drops. Drops continue to plague the Bulldawgs and I’m starting to lose patience with Dom Lovett in this area. He is great after the catch, and we watched him make an impressive catch over his shoulder in the end zone. And I watched him have bricks for hands in the screen game. He seems to lose focus on the easy ones. RB Cash Jones had an easy catch dropped as well. 

UGA should have gotten their backups a lot more reps in this game. Kirby noted that they were over 100 snaps behind their hopes for getting reserves playing time going into this game. Then UGA let UMass keep it within 2 scores for over a half. The offense did everything they should have.

The defense is to blame for this. Gunner Stockton needed more reps. CB Ellis Robinson needs reps. Freshmen on both lines desperately needed reps. I’m also frustrated with the coaching staff on this too. UGA was up 3 scores in the second half. That’s enough y’all. UGA could have put the backups in at that point and didn’t need to wait so long. In fact, the reserve offense did just fine with Stockton running things and scored a touchdown. The reserve defense notched a score. So, while I’m disappointed in the effort from the defense, I’m also frustrated with the decision by the staff here. 

Final Thoughts

I wanted more burn for the backups and walk-ons, but on the whole this game was about a B performance for the Dawgs. It was nice to see Beck and the offense move the ball at will and to watch Nate Frazier carve up a defense. It also was irritating to watch our defense struggle against an inept offense. If Miller can be healthy and effective despite Saturday’s injury, that will go a long way for the Dawgs this season. 

The bigger surprise was that UGA has gone from out of the playoff after losing to Ole Miss to now playing in the SEC Championship against the winner of next week’s Texas vs. Texas A&M game. The Rebels, Aggies, and Tide all were upset in a crazy weekend in the SEC. Personally, I was hoping to avoid the SEC Championship, but get ranked high enough to host a playoff game.

UGA can’t look ahead to that yet, because they’ll face a rival who has two more days to prepare for them on Friday this week. In a year where UGA has underwhelmed, they still have the chance to win the league and make a deep playoff run. This year will be defined by how they finish.