I saw Georgia in person

[DyeCampAlum 335]

A friend was kind enough to invite me to the Notre Dame game, which was its own unique experience. We need to close the deal on that home and home.

Now, it was just Week #2, so this report is kind of out of date. Nobody knew those two teams would be where they are right now. And I'm still not convinced Georgia is all that special. But here's what I saw.

Talent-wise, Georgia was far, far superior to UND. We had end zone seats, and you could see it best on special teams. Georgia was bigger, faster, more athletic. It showed from scrimmage too. Notre Dame's QB isn't spectacular, but he is a football player, and he's the only reason his team was competitive. Notre Dame had no chance of running the ball apart from the QB's mobility. They're famous for their OL play, but Georgia was far better.

Georgia's DE/OLB combination is the TRUTH. Those guys are as good as our guys. Maybe longer, leaner, and faster. (Which fits their scheme.) On the other hand, UGA was vulnerable to sophisticated passing routes. Notre Dame got a few big plays downfield.

At the time, Fromm wasn't quite ready for the big lights. You could tell that Georgia could dominate by running the ball, but their coaches seemed slow to clue in. Eventually Notre Dame completely disrespected Fromm and blitzed everything: safeties, corners, ballboys, athletic trainers. At that point, Georgia was in big trouble. Wasn't a pretty game to watch.

I would say that if Fromm has come fully online, Georgia will be very tough to stop. His stats are splendid, but (a) they're keeping him under 20 passes per game and (b) they haven't seen a D like ours. I'm not much impressed by their receivers, though they get a super-high YPC.

So some conclusions.

• We're gonna really struggle to block these guys. Game planning should probably involve helping our tackles in the passing game. And hopefully more sophisticated routes. I think our receivers can win against their DBs.
• The worst thing we might see: Georgia being effective in the air. If we can crowd the box, we'll be fine. If we have to play "fair," we have a big problem.

[Leftfield 2,593]

1 hour ago, DyeCampAlum said:

On the other hand, UGA was vulnerable to sophisticated passing routes.

 

[ertrader 197]

Since many of our routes take 4+ seconds to develop I assume they are very sophisticated

[johnnyAU 3,630]

UGA OL will struggle to block Holland and company too.

[JMassie11 1,610]

I've watched them a few times ( not in person) and it's just honestly been hard to judge them based on their competition. USC lined up and ran right at them and had success just ran out of gas. Florida and Tennessee are both dumpster fires. Moo State played better vs us than them in the only comparable game. The win in south bend was nice on paper but Uga just has better athletes and it wasn't much of a home field advantage. Yes they are a good talented team but honestly they haven't been tested.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

9 minutes ago, johnnyAU said:

UGA OL will struggle to block Holland and company too.

Possibly, but they do a good job of calling short passes that get the ball out of Fromm's hands quickly. 

[johnnyAU 3,630]

What UGA does will is find the TE in the passing game. Some sort of magickery we can't seem to figure out.

[AU-24 3,063]

3 hours ago, DyeCampAlum said:

A friend was kind enough to invite me to the Notre Dame game, which was its own unique experience. We need to close the deal on that home and home.

Now, it was just Week #2, so this report is kind of out of date. Nobody knew those two teams would be where they are right now. And I'm still not convinced Georgia is all that special. But here's what I saw.

Talent-wise, Georgia was far, far superior to UND. We had end zone seats, and you could see it best on special teams. Georgia was bigger, faster, more athletic. It showed from scrimmage too. Notre Dame's QB isn't spectacular, but he is a football player, and he's the only reason his team was competitive. Notre Dame had no chance of running the ball apart from the QB's mobility. They're famous for their OL play, but Georgia was far better.

Georgia's DE/OLB combination is the TRUTH. Those guys are as good as our guys. Maybe longer, leaner, and faster. (Which fits their scheme.) On the other hand, UGA was vulnerable to sophisticated passing routes. Notre Dame got a few big plays downfield.

At the time, Fromm wasn't quite ready for the big lights. You could tell that Georgia could dominate by running the ball, but their coaches seemed slow to clue in. Eventually Notre Dame completely disrespected Fromm and blitzed everything: safeties, corners, ballboys, athletic trainers. At that point, Georgia was in big trouble. Wasn't a pretty game to watch.

I would say that if Fromm has come fully online, Georgia will be very tough to stop. His stats are splendid, but (a) they're keeping him under 20 passes per game and (b) they haven't seen a D like ours. I'm not much impressed by their receivers, though they get a super-high YPC.

So some conclusions.

• We're gonna really struggle to block these guys. Game planning should probably involve helping our tackles in the passing game. And hopefully more sophisticated routes. I think our receivers can win against their DBs.
• The worst thing we might see: Georgia being effective in the air. If we can crowd the box, we'll be fine. If we have to play "fair," we have a big problem.

I was there in person Sat against USC.  10 yard line seats, as guys from a former church had a get-to-gather reunion, so to speak.  Just my two cents:

Unless USC is really good upfront, UGA had allot of trouble getting any pressure on USC and they really didn't come close to dominating either line of scrimmage.  USC had WO's open all day but the throws just weren't always on time.  UGA's secondary looked suspect at best.  Jake Fromm is not very mobile, and doesn't have near the arm that Stidhamm has.

Some common comments from the guys were things like: If UGA gives Auburn that much time to pass, it will be a long afternoon on the Plains. etc...  If we can't blow USC's d-line off the ball, how are we going to fare against AU?  Better be able to run against AU, or we are in big trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

[AUIH1 1,515]

1 hour ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Possibly, but they do a good job of calling short passes that get the ball out of Fromm's hands quickly. 

This. UGA's coaches put Fromm in favorable passing situations based on smart play calling.

wde

[AUFAN78 3,894]

41 minutes ago, AUIH1 said:

This. UGA's coaches put Fromm in favorable passing situations based on smart play calling.

wde

SC started the game playing 10 yards off the wide outs. Fromm ate that up. We cannot give them that. Too simple.

[Randman5000 4,226]

6 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

SC started the game playing 10 yards off the wide outs. Fromm ate that up. We cannot give them that. Too simple.

Agreed. I believe in Steele...not Gus.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the defense gives us a chance

[LKEEL75 2,566]

12 minutes ago, AUFAN78 said:

SC started the game playing 10 yards off the wide outs. Fromm ate that up. We cannot give them that. Too simple.

 

4 minutes ago, Randman5000 said:

Agreed. I believe in Steele...not Gus.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the defense gives us a chance

This was something I noticed as well and I use to get so mad at our coaches when they had us playing off so far.  I agree we don't want to get beat deep, but get up there and jam them and throw off that timing.  Steele has come in and told his DBs that they are all alone.  Make the play or I will find someone who will.  And I love it.  Gives us so much more freedom to bring guys up in the box and play the run.  If we play as much man and they are not throwing\catching some crazy back shoulder crap (ie: see Clemson game last 2 years) then I like our odds of DBs vs WRs

[TecmoBoJackson 65]

2 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Possibly, but they do a good job of calling short passes that get the ball out of Fromm's hands quickly. 

They run quick slants like crazy and that's where the YAC's come in....it really is amazing how many yards they rack up on quick slants

[AUFAN78 3,894]

Something else I saw. GA shifts the tight end, pulls the left guard, leads with the FB creating a numbers advantage or trying to. They did it quite well Saturday. Over and over again gaining chunks. Add a bruising RB and it is big boy football. Hope our big boys are prepped for it. 

[AUFAN78 3,894]

1 minute ago, TecmoBoJackson said:

They run quick slants like crazy and that's where the YAC's come in....it really is amazing how many yards they rack up on quick slants

Good catch. It was their go to after the SC db's finally began to press.

[Sani-Freeze 552]

Exactly - the goal is just to get the ball in the hands of their ridiculous stable of RBs in space. I honestly think their 4th string Swift could probably start at 5 or 6 SEC schools this year. Elijah Holyfield is their 5th string RB. Normally I scoff at UGA for their over-hype and under-performance, but this year feels different. They will be very tough to beat. 

[au701948 998]

We just have to make Ga earn everything they get and not give anything away "easy." We have to play error-free and have corrected our field goal blocking and kick return problems from past 2 weeks.

[TecmoBoJackson 65]

17 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Exactly - the goal is just to get the ball in the hands of their ridiculous stable of RBs in space. I honestly think their 4th string Swift could probably start at 5 or 6 SEC schools this year. Elijah Holyfield is their 5th string RB. Normally I scoff at UGA for their over-hype and under-performance, but this year feels different. They will be very tough to beat. 

I would take him at Auburn....

[Deemer 47 74]

3 hours ago, ClaytonAU said:

Would probably be better off without James at this point. He was getting owned last week at A&M. 

Agreed 

[keesler 5,924]

22 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Normally I scoff at UGA for their over-hype and under-performance, but this year feels different. They will be very tough to beat. 

Pisses me off that I'm watching that team morph into something very reminiscent of the program across the state.  

[WDE0007 166]

22 hours ago, Sani-Freeze said:

Exactly - the goal is just to get the ball in the hands of their ridiculous stable of RBs in space. I honestly think their 4th string Swift could probably start at 5 or 6 SEC schools this year. Elijah Holyfield is their 5th string RB. Normally I scoff at UGA for their over-hype and under-performance, but this year feels different. They will be very tough to beat. 

Sony Michel's second string and he's near 1000 yards. He, too, could start at several SEC schools. Some games he has a better highlight reel than Chubb--who's first string!

[Auburn2Eugene 2,317]

On 11/6/2017 at 1:41 PM, johnnyAU said:

What UGA does will is find the TE in the passing game. Some sort of magickery we can't seem to figure out.

I truly think that is more about the style if TE we recruit vs just an unwillingness to pass to the TE. Chip normally uses his TEs. I think the problem we have is recruiting big blocking TEs vs leaner pass catching TEs. When you dont have the TEs to throw to, it's difficult using them as such. 

[Apraser99 168]

13 hours ago, TecmoBoJackson said:

I would take him at Auburn....

But he'd be sitting while we run KJ to death.

[auskull 239]

UGA could have hit the jackpot with Smart. They were winning 9-10 games a year and took a chance changing coaches. They are well coached and deep at RB. They run the ball better than anyone in our conference and will be much harder to stop than our running game. However, if we do stop their running game they may be in trouble. Our OL may not be in the best shape to handle anything complicated. Quick and fast may be our best chance of staying ahead of the chains. Slow developing plays or sophisticated blocking schemes may challenge our OL and subs at RB. I wish Pettway was healthy enough to play in place of Cox. His blocking may be more consistent and punishing. Early on last season he recognized and delivered some vicious blocks to blitzing LBs and safetys.

My biggest concern is our coaches and how they game plan, adjust during the game and play calling. If we can somehow progress in our ability to win some of these coaching matches, then we are at a talent level that will have us winning some of these type games. Currently we are winning because of talent. Lesser teams may win the coaching match but didn't have the talent necessary to win.It shows in our record against the better teams. When was the last time we won because we out coached the other team? It wasn't recent and often. Our offensive position coaches appear to still be behind. I am not sure our WRs know the mechanics of getting separation in most instances. Usually it is just straight ahead speed. There is an art to implementing a sophisticated passing game. We are very basic.

Last year we were embarrassed and looked silly. That game was ours to take. Not having a sufficient backup ready at QB comes under the "recruiting" and "player development" phases of coaching.  This game is at home and is also winnable. Both UGA and AU are better this year than last. At some point we should start winning our share of these tougher games. An upset here would be a good start.

[Gowebb11 9,314]

UGA is really good but they still beat USC east just 24-10 at home. USC has no running game at all. UGA will have a heck of a lot more to defend on Saturday. And they will be facing a defense that's pretty good at getting 3 and outs. Can't wait for kickoff.  WDE?!