Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Outback Bowl

During the Outback Bowl against Michigan State there was a lot of good, a lot of bad, and way too much ugly. Here is how I saw it

The good: Aaron Murry throwing for 288 yards against a top five defense. Malcolm Mitchell 7 catches. Ken Malcome with 12 carries for 51 yards. Brandon Boykin with a safety, a punt return for a TD and pass catch for a TD. Tavarres King with a Georgia record 205 receiving yards and a remarkable 34.2 ypc on 6 catches. Jumping out to a 16 point lead. Bouncing back after blowing that lead twice to take the lead back both times. Forcing 3 turnovers against a team that seldom turns the ball over.

The bad: Averaging 1.3 yards per rush as a team. Allowing Hill 30.5 yards per return on his two kickoff returns (the other three Michigan State returns were for a combined 31 yards). Averaging only 15.7 yards per return on our own kickoff returns. Two for four on field goals. Nine carries for 0 yards. Yes I know Samuel was coming off a long layoff and the offensive line was not doing the running backs any favors but Malcome managed to average over 4 yards a carry behind the same line. I will touch on this more once the bowls and signing day have come and gone but after the UF game earlier this season I heard a lot of talk about Samuel coming into his own. He plays hard, I love the guy, he is a DGD, but he is not an SEC running back.

The ugly: Choosing to go for it on fourth in one early in the game then wishing you had those three points you could have taken in a game that went to overtime. Throwing a pick six up 16-0 with your defense dominating the game. Blowing a 16-0 lead. Blowing two fourth quarter leads. Missing a field goal to win the game in overtime. Missing a field goal to tie the game in overtime. Taking a knee for a loss to not give your struggling kicker an easier shot at a winning field goal. Speaking of which, in a year that the team as a whole bounced back from a dreadful 6-7 campaign what in the world happened to Walsh? He went from one of the best kickers in the country for two straight years to a guy who may have been the least reliable on the team and the worst (percentage wise) kicker in the conference. I hope he gets his head straightened out and catches on as a free agent for an NFL team.

The ugliest: Having negative total yards in overtime.

I am sure there are many things I missed

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