Dawgs Win the SEC Championship
Beck Injured as Dawgs Down Horns
Overtime again. This time, it didn’t take 8. After stopping a couple of passes downfield by Texas, UGA was able to punch in a touchdown behind RB Trevor Etienne to win the SEC Championship. The first half was, yet again, an ugly performance by the UGA offense. Read more Dawgs win the SEC championship.
They had just over 50 total yards and negative rushing yards to that point. Yet, through a turnover and tough red zone defense, the Dawgs held Texas to 6 points. They only managed a field goal themselves. Trying to throw a Hail Mary on the final play of the half, Carson Beck bailed out of the pocket. While he wound up for his throw, he was hit from the side. As the ball hit the turf, Beck laid motionless, clutching his arm for several moments. He injured his UCL, the same ligament that many pitchers hurt and require Tommy John surgery on.
Gunner Stockton
Enter Gunner Stockton, the Rabun County, Georgia native. Stockton is a 6’1 version of Tim Tebow. His team loves him. He has a bit of a lengthy throwing motion.
He’s not the best QB, he’s just a great football player. The entire stadium picked up energy as Stockton led the Dawgs to begin the second half. He immediately led a 10 play scoring drive that changed the game. Stockton had up and down moments in the half, highlighted by a terrible interception and a massive hit in overtime that I’m stunned he wasn’t concussed by.
They didn’t play well, particularly on offense. They were out gained by 200+ yards in the first half and only managed 277 yards of offense. However, they out rushed Texas 141 to 31, forced 3 turnovers, and recorded 6 sacks. Texas did themselves no favors with 11 penalties. And somehow, some way the Dawgs gutted out a win. Here’s what I saw.
The Good
RB Trevor Etienne was questionable going into the game. Not only did he play, he was far and away the offensive MVP with 16 carries for 94 yards, 28 yards receiving, and 2 touchdowns. I cannot believe he was able to continue after the first big hit he took. He told the Dawgs before the game that this title meant something to him, that he hadn’t competed for a championship in college. Then, he went out and once again was the brightest spot in the offense against a stingy Texas defense.
TE Lawson Luckie and Oscar Delp had some massive plays in this game. Oscar Delp had a couple catches in the overtime period, breaking tackles and moving the sticks. Lawson Luckie had a crazy catch along the sideline in the second half, just dragging his toe for a much needed first down. Luckie also was the only UGA player with a prayer to prevent a pick 6 on Stockton’s interception. Thankfully, he made the tackle and saved the game.
LB Jalon Walker was a menace once again in this game, with all of his tackles being for loss. He has since been awarded the Butkus Award for the best linebacker in the nation.
DL Warren Brinson had one of, if not the, best game of his career. Brinson filled in a huge role with Christen Miller still injured and he made the most of it. He finished with 4 tackles, a sack, and 2.5 TFLs.
DB Daylen Everette also had a monster game yet again. He had a sack/fumble and an INT in the first bout. This time he had a pass defended and 2 interceptions, winning the MVP of the game. His second interception should have sealed the game for UGA, but the Dawgs turned it over.
Kicker Peyton Woodring went 3/3 with a long of 44 yards for his field goals. He continues to be lights out for this defense.
Coach Boom
Coach Boom is back. Against Texas in the regular season and now in this game, Will Muschamp has been on the sidelines or heavily involved in the prep. Both times the defense held Texas under 40 yards rushing, forced multiple turnovers, and caused havoc all day.
While I can’t credit Muschamp will all of that success, he seems to be playing a part. One thing I loved in this game was in the first half UGA noticed how Texas would slide to protect against a pass rush when getting a specific look. UGA predicted they’d do it again and threw a stunt at it. This led Mykel Williams to pressure Quinn Ewers, which rushed the throw and caused the early interception. Beautiful defensive design.
The fake punt was a game-changing call. Inside their own 30, tie game, Texas had all the momentum. UGA just went 3 and out and needed a spark. They notified that Texas didn’t have anyone watching the ball during punts. With Punter Brett Thorsen injured, the Dawgs pulled off a fake punt to convert the first down. The snap went to back up center Drew Bobo, who tossed it to a sweeping Arian Smith for a first down. A gutsy call that led to a field goal, which UGA needed to force overtime.
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The Bad
Drops. Again. Arian Smith looked like he had the yips in the first half. It was remarkably bad, and once again took a lot of yards off of the stat sheet.
WR Dominic Lovett was nearly absent from this game. 3 catches, 0 yards. He has become a significant disappointment this year overall. While he had two key touchdowns against Tech, on the whole he hasn’t lived up to expectations at all.
TE Ben Yurosek had a bad night. He’s improved so much this season, but his blocking was almost back to his early season performances. I lost count of how many blocks I saw him miss this game.
Punter Brett Thorsen’s UGA career ended on Saturday. He allowed a rare punt return and in tracking down the returner, he suffered a non-contact knee injury. UGA hasn’t specified what it is, just that it was his plant leg and he’s done for the year. He likely tore something in his knee.
DB Daniel Harris got cooked multiple times in this game. While he did have a couple of big plays, he had a lot more big plays that he surrendered. Harris was clearly picked on by Ewers and Sarkisian. He will be picked on going forward.
The Ugly
Four fumbles and on interception. UGA was remarkably fortunate to only lose one of those fumbles. Stockton, Beck, WR Anthony Evans, and RB Nate Frazier all coughed up the ball. At this point, Nate Frazier is fumbling every single game. He’s got a real problem.
Another slow start to this offense in the first half. Truly awful. I know Texas has a really good defense, but 50 yards in a half? Good lord Dawgs. They won’t be able to win any shootouts and are entirely dependent on the defense bailing them out until the offense clicks in the second half.
Beck’s injury. While it’s still undefined, I cannot imagine he returns this year. Supposedly, he’s headed to California to see a couple experts. I know he hasn’t endeared himself to the fans this year, but Beck was coming on strong at the end of the year. UGA’s passing game will suffer significantly without him.
Reaction
I didn’t think I’d care this much about this game. But watching Beck go down and seeing the team rally around Gunner Stockton was remarkable. While Stockton has some red flags, I have to applaud his toughness and I love that his presence has immediately transformed our run game.
This team is something else, man. They may not play offense for a half of most games. The defense may disappear if the offense shows up. It’s not pretty, but it keeps winning because Kirby Smart has built a winning culture. The toughness and resilience of this team is unmatched. They were handed the most difficult schedule in the conference and they won the dang thing. That is something to be proud of.
I have some serious concerns moving forward with Stockton because history tells us that at some point in the playoff you’ll need to score 40+ points to win. I’m not sure we can do that. But I also know that our offense wasn’t tailored to his skill set on Saturday and what we get in the Sugar Bowl will be a better approach for him. If, and this is a big if, Stockton can present a play action deep ball threat, then this offense really can go. If we can’t do that, then teams will just load up the box on us and we’ll be in big trouble. For now, the Dawgs have a few weeks to figure it out, and everything they’ve shown us so far this year makes me think that the road ahead won’t be easy. Still, I just can’t count out the Dawgs, even without Beck.
