South Carolina Aftermath

Georgia v. South Carolina

Obviously, it was a disappointing SEC opener for the Bulldogs in Columbia. While I truly believe there is no shame in losing on the road to a good team like South Carolina, the way Georgia lost was very frustrating. However, its still early in the season, so let’s be positive and start this week’s recap with the good things that happened against South Carolina.

The Good:

-In my mind, the best thing I saw on Saturday was an impressive performance from Aaron Murray. Murray used his legs effectively and threw the ball with confidence in his first road game as Georgia quarterback. Murray seemed to work through his progressions, and find the open man many times during the game, and never threw a ball into double coverage. He seems to understand the offense and the routes his receivers are running. I believe we are going to see Murray improve week to week this season, and as he does, Georgia will become a very strong team offensively.

- Mark Richt’s teams have been excellent at being poised, and Saturday was no different. At no time did it seem that Georgia panicked. There are going to be more times throughout the season when Georgia falls behind, and when they do they need to show the same type poise they showed against South Carolina.

- Penalties: There has been much written and discussed over the past two seasons about Georgia’s penalty problems. Georgia did well in the first game of the season by limiting their penalties and they continued to do well on Saturday. Georgia was penalized only four times for 25 yards. Even though Georgia has some unfortunate timing on the penalties they did have, at least there is a light at the end of the dark tunnel we have been in over the past two seasons.

The Bad:

- TACKLING!!!!: I believe Marcus Lattimore will be making a lot of defenses look bad this season. However, Georgia has to improve on their tackling. Too many times, you saw Georgia defensive players throwing shoulders into Lattimore, only to see the big running back keep his legs moving and gain more yards. If Georgia’s defense doesn’t spend a lot of time this week working on tackling, we could see 50 points on the board this Saturday when Arkansas comes to town.

- Clock Management: There is no reason that Georgia should have taken their final timeout of the game with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Coach Richt and Coach Grantham need to do whatever it takes to manage the game better from the sideline. When you are playing close games in the SEC, like Georgia will be playing throughout the season, timeouts are golden.

- Conservative game plan: After the game, Mark Richt admitted that the offensive coaches were going to have to take the training wheels off of the offense and see what Aaron Murray can do. The game plan was obviously to run the ball and try to throw off of play action, however, the Georgia running game was inconsistent, and Murray did not have enough opportunities to throw the ball, especially in the first half. Georgia can’t abandon the run, but teams are going to attempt to take the run game away from the Dawgs and dare Aaron Murray to beat them. From what I have seen so far, I believe he can beat any team on Georgia’s schedule this season, so Georgia will have to become more aggressive with the passing game.

- Drew Butler: Butler won the Ray Guy award as the best punter in the nation last season, but he did not have a good game on Saturday. Butler averaged only 42 yards per punt on Saturday, and Georgia struggled with field position for the entire fourth quarter. Special teams were a strength for this team last season, and they will be key if Georgia is going to make it to a New Year’s Day bowl game.

- ESPN 2: I can’t remember watching a Georgia game when the broadcast was as bad as it was on Saturday. The camera guys were always chasing the play. The announcers didn’t seem to be watching the game half of the time, and when they were, they didn’t add anything to the game. They never said why Caleb King was not playing, or even noticed that he did not play. Here’s to hoping we can avoid this crew again.

So where are we now? Georgia can still have a great season. That is right, I said great. It all starts with Arkansas this weekend. The Razorbacks are coming to Athens ranked in the top 15. A win would give the team confidence, going into a softer part of the schedule. Arkansas will most likely be looking ahead a bit as they have a chance to knock off the #1 Crimson Tide at home the week after the Georgia game. Also, Arkansas was off this past weekend, so they could be a little rusty with only one game played so far in the season.
A win against Arkansas would get Georgia back over .500 as they go on the road for two weeks against inferior opponents. If you are coming to Athens on Saturday, get here early, be loud at kickoff, and help get the Dawgs back on the right track!

P.S.
If you are one of the fair weather idiots who are now talking about firing Mark Richt, benching Washaun Ealey, or abandoning the 3-4 defense please go to your local sporting goods store and purchase all of the Georgia Tech gear they have because the Bulldog Nation doesn’t have room for people like you. If you want to know what I’m talking about, read the comments on ajc.com. These people don’t know football and can’t spell loyalty.