UGA Dominates the Fledgling Auburn Tigers

UGA 31 – Auburn 13

Dawgs Dominance continues over Tigers. 

Another slow start plagued the Bulldogs as they defeated the Tigers in Athens on Saturday. While I missed the score prediction by a few points (I guessed 31-17), I think I captured the feel of this game fairly well. UGA fans handled a rival fairly comfortably during the game but are still searching for more, as UGA has yet to look like a championship caliber team this season. Here’s the good, bad, and ugly that happened in the game. UGA dominates the fledgling Auburn Tigers.

The Good

Trevor Etienne had his most impressive game in the red and black to date. He should have had an even better game with a couple of different decisions and some better blocking. Plus Etienne made some catches out of the backfield, which is a dynamic that UGA needs from their running backs this season. Etienne seems to be getting stronger as the season goes on. He managed 18 carries for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns in this game. 

Carson Beck was efficient and effective in this game. While UGA didn’t have any deep shots that connected, they were able to have their intermediate passing game clicking and move the ball well. Beck hit TE Lawson Luckie on what became a big play and found WR Colbie Young a number of times. It appears that Young might finally know his role in the offense. With going 23/29 for 240 and 2 TDs, this is the Beck that UGA fans know and love. 

Center Drew Bobo filled in for Jared Wilson admirably. Bobo is the 3rd string option, and son of OC Mike Bobo. Injured RG Tate Ratledge is the backup center, but is out indefinitely. Bobo played pretty well, honestly about the same quality as the starters, meaning that he had some good plays and some bad mistakes. 

Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins is making himself some money this year. He had another great performance in this game, getting 2 more sacks in this game. At times, he just blows by his defender and has shown the ability to single-handedly wreck a play. 

Safety Dan Jackson has proven to be one of the most consistent and one of the most impactful players on this team. He led the team in tackles with 7 and also blocked a field goal in the game. 

Chazzzzzz

A lot of y’all won’t want to hear this, but LB Chaz Chambliss had a pretty good game. I, along with many others, have criticized him in the past, but he performed well. 

RB Nate Frazier played in the second half but made an immediate impact. He finished with 7 carries for 38 yards, with his longest being 17 yards. It was good to see Frazier playing and playing pretty well. His last time out against UK, his runs were ineffective. 

I was encouraged to see WR London Humphreys was back in the game after missing last week with mono. In the past, mono has ruined seasons for some players. They end up losing weight in sickness and can’t put it back on. Humphreys caught 2 balls for 40 yards, and helped convert a 3rd and long. His role seems to be expanding as well. 

3rd down was much better on both sides of the ball this week, with UGA going 7/13 and holding Auburn to only 4/13 on conversions. Despite the bad tackling, UGA held a good offense in check in this game, keeping Auburn to their lowest point total of the season.

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The Bad

Offensive tackle play was poor again in this game, led by RT Xavier Truss. Truss had a rough game in blocking, notably getting beat for sacks and getting a personal foul for a late hit. Earnest Greene and Monroe Freeling haven’t been much better. However, UGA did rotate Truss into guard, I think for the first time this year, in the second half. It appears they’re still searching for the best 5 linemen combination, especially with the two key injuries they’re facing right now. 

DL Mykel Williams is still severely limited. He would come in on third down packages, but has been seen limping significantly after the game. He was hopeful to be a full-go against Alabama, but here we are afterwards and he’s still nowhere near 100%. Speaking of injuries, DL Christen Miller was injured in the game as well. UGA needs their DL to get healthy rapidly. Rest all the guys you can manage against Miss. State. 

The Ugly

Tackling continues to be a major issue for UGA. In Auburn’s touchdown, DB Joenel Aguero shed his block, but tackled far too high. He slid off of Jarquez Hunter, who ran it in for a long touchdown. Auburn had the play blocked well and Aguero was the guy to stop it. The linebackers and DBs have to tackle better than what they have shown so far this year. The DBs also need to work on shedding blocks much better, as it appears they get locked up pretty easily by opposing wide receivers. 

Penalties. Once again, UGA got hit for a high amount of penalties, with 7 for 85 yards. On one play alone, they managed 30 yards of penalties.

UGA’s offense showed both sides of what it can do. The first drive was a time-consuming, effective drive down the field resulting in a touchdown. Later in the game, UGA needed a score to shut the door in the game. They got down inside the 10, but the run was called back due to a holding penalty. Then, UGA gives up a sack on a 3 man rush to push them out of field goal range. Two disastrous mistakes that took points off the board. UGA’s offense will give you both every game. 

RB Branson Robinson was awful in the few touches he had. One play summed him up well. He got the handoff and immediately made an unnecessary jump cut. This put him out of position and was brought down for a loss. He just needed to be patient and a huge hole would have opened up. 

Colbie Young

Since the game has ended WR Colbie Young was arrested on assault charges. This would make the second transfer receiver this season to be arrested on these charges. RaRa Thomas was dismissed and Young will be dismissed if the charges are not dropped. UGA continues to show all the symptoms of a culture problem. I won’t comment more on that for now or on the behavior itself. From a football perspective, UGA cannot afford to lose Young off of their roster. He’s their only true X receiver, and losing him will cripple the offense going forward. Just as Young started to become the player UGA needs in this game, he now does this. 

Final Thoughts

For now, this is the UGA team we can expect. They aren’t explosive on offense, start slowly in games, and are inconsistent. Defensively, a lot could be cleaned up with better tackling, but they have a month straight of games showing tackling is an issue. Offensively, the O line and lack of playmakers continues to be a concern. IF, and it’s a big IF, UGA can continue to improve, then they can hang with the best of them. However, they need to get better in key areas quickly. This team is flawed and so far is still a disappointment from where it ought to be based on the talent on the roster.