The Georgia Bulldogs did their best to give their fans a scare on Saturday. Down 7-5 at the half, Georgia came out in the second half and scored 29 unanswered points on its way to a 37-10 win over the Razorbacks.
There is certainly a lot to clean up for Georgia following its opening game of the 2020 season, so we've broken down the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Saturday's win.
The Good
Georgia's special teams played lights out, for the most part, all day. There were several key tackles on kickoffs as Georgia moved more toward a sky kick to allow for coverage. Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint made a great tackle on the kick following Georgia's first score, then Zamir White got his hand on the punt to give Georgia's offense a short field. Kearis Jackson looked great as the punt returner, though his best effort of the day was called back.
I thought Stetson Bennett played pretty well once he took the reins of the offense. He was getting the ball out of his hand on time and made pretty good decisions with the football. He finished the contest 20 of 29 for 211 yards and two touchdowns. He is certainly the talking point from Saturday's game, as most considered him "just another guy" in that quarterback room with D'Wan Mathis and JT Daniels fighting it out for the job. But with Daniels not cleared just yet, it now looks like it will be Bennett's job heading into Week 2.
White may not be all the way back to the running back we saw in high school, but he's dang sure close. The main indication for me that a running back trusts his knee is the jump cut in the hole, and White made several people miss both in tight corridors and in the open field. That's a great sign for Georgia.
The defense played as well as expected. Richard LeCounte got beat on a big play early, but apart from that Georgia's defense was as suffocating as you'd expect it to be. Arkansas has some weapons on that offensive side of the ball and Georgia's defense made plays all day, including a pick-six from Eric Stokes Jr—one of three interceptions for Georgia.
The Bad
D'Wan Mathis didn't play well, that is clear. I think the reason they ultimately pulled him and decided to go to Stetson Bennett is because Mathis was holding the ball entirely too long. I don't know if he just wasn't taking chances, or if he wasn't seeing the open receiver in the open window. I don't know what it was, but Bennett entered and immediately began to get the ball out of his hands quickly.
This offensive line got pushed around for the overwhelming majority of the ball game. The tell-tell sign of an offensive line getting whipped is facing a 3rd & 2, being shut down, then getting stuffed on 4th & 1. Not a good start for a group that, though it had experience scattered across the line, was getting its first experience with live bullets as a unit.
I didn't think the wide receivers blocked particularly well on the perimeter. It's something that they will need to clean up if they are going to have those explosive plays in the run game like Todd Monken wants as an offensive coordinator.
The Ugly
The amount of penalties, especially in the first half (11 for 98 yards), is not normal from a Georgia football team coached by Kirby Smart. His teams are typically known for discipline. Blame it on the first game, blame it on the altered offense, whatever it is, it's unacceptable. A holding penalty on a Kearis Jackson punt return that would have been pivotal, and a horse collar on third down early for Arkansas stood out.
*Photos provided by the University of Georgia.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @BulldogMaven & follow us on Twitter at @DawgsDailySI.
"bad" - Google News
September 27, 2020 at 06:46AM
https://ift.tt/335QenT
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Sports Illustrated
"bad" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SpwJRn
https://ift.tt/2z7gkKJ
No comments:
Post a Comment