1. Run the ball. Result - The team had 56 carries for 207 yards. Taking out Murray's 11 carries for -17 yards and the running backs had 45 carries for 224 yards, an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Crowell had 30 carries for 147 yards. He would have had another 2 carries for 33 more yards if not for holds by the offensive line. Crowell was a bit gassed at the end of the game but it was double his previous number of carries. Very successful.
2. Win the turnover battle. Result - Plus 1 for Georgia.
3. Spread the ball around - Result - Seven players caught passes, three others were targeted, Crowell, Figgins and Troupe. Very good job of getting everyone involved.
4. Take the crowd out of the game early. Result - Georgia jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Again up 24-7 and only once giving up momentum after Ole Miss scored their second touchdown and got the ensuing onside kick. Georgia got it back right away by forcing a turnover.
5. Relaxed Murray. Result - Murray was much more relaxed throughout the game. By my count he only had 3 truly poorly thrown balls. His receivers let him down with 4 terrible drops and 2 other times when tough catches could have been made but weren't. Two of those were in the endzone on the first drive of the game that ended in a field goal. His one interception hit Orson Charles in hands so it was not on him. Two of the sacks were Murray having "happy feet" in the pocket. One was particularly bad time he had no one closing in on him and started moving up in the pocket and then fell down with little to no contact. Overall a very good game for Murray and with a bit better game from the receivers it could have been great.
Prediction 31-10 Georgia. Result 27-13
Here are few other observations from having watched the recording of the game today. Carlton Thomas is doing a very good job running the ball, even between the tackles. All of the running backs, including the fullbacks, are very good at catching the ball out of the backfield. The offensive line had by far their best game. Jenkins and Geathers got great push up the middle for most of the game. Rambo has turned into a true ball hawk. Grantham must be starting to truly trust the cornerbacks as they played tighter on the Ole Miss receivers than I have seen them play in a very long time. They rewarded him with his trust by giving up no deep plays except on the one trick play for a touchdown and there where several times when the corners batted away passes that the Ole Miss receivers had their hands on. Again the special teams which were supposed to be the strength of the team were out played by the other team. This is a trend that has to stop soon in order for Georgia to beat several of the teams left on the schedule.
Good write-up, Dawgfan. I agree with your analysis of the running game. Very successful, indeed. If we can consistently run like that the rest of the season, I think we've got a shot at 8 or 9 wins or maybe even winning out.
ReplyDeleteI think props have to be given to Samuel as well. He was basically our closer in that game. He had some tough, clutch yards and he also had a few key receptions towards the end. I know he's never going to run as effectively as I-Crow or even Thomas for that matter, but he's our best pass blocker and he's in really good shape--I'm sure glad we've got him.
I watched the game w/ my Pops and we both agreed that this is probably the best UGA D we've seen since 2007 and maybe even as far back as 2004.
There's definitely causes for optimism. Still a lot of question marks too, though. Looking forward to your State preview.
Thanks for the comment. I do agree Samuel has a role on the team it is just getting smaller as Crowell develops (improving in pass protection) and Thomas shows he can be an effective runner. Agree that the D looks better than it has in years hopefully they can keep it up. We need 4 more wins heading into the bye week. Actually just though up my next post as I was writing this response...
ReplyDelete