Kirby!! What Were We Thinking?|UGA Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

Here we go DawgNation. Full meltdown has began. This time last year we’re talking about “we need a fresh start” and this year we’re asking ourselves “what were they thinking getting rid of Richt?” Either way, what were we thinking for UGA this year? Did we think we would/should make a championship run? Were we thinking this is going to be a rebuild year? Were we thinking we would at least be as good as last year and have a good record but drop all the “Big Games” like we had gotten use to? Me personally, I still believe that we made the right move. I love Mark Richt as a person, coach, and how he stood up for what he believed in. I think both UGA and Richt needed a fresh start. I believe Kirby will be an excellent head coach. Kirby has an unbelievable work ethic. UGA fans should remember that from when he played here at UGA. He was, what seemed to be, the smallest player on the field but he held his own. I believe he will turn this football team into something special. I also understand the concept of rebuilding. Implementing your systems. It isn’t something that just happens over night. It takes time. The positive for DawgNation, Kirby is a Beast recruiter. So the “rebuild” shouldn’t take too long.

What’s too long? When you’re talking about a college football team, that’s a minimum of 2 years with a possibility of 3-4 years. With every scheme and formation, coaches want specific body sizes and specific skill sets. I think UGA falls into the 2-3 years category. I believe our O-Line needs great improvement. We’re not consistent and we’re not as big as Coach Pittman seems to prefer. O-Lineman take at least 1 year to get and in most cases at least a year to get the size and understanding of college football speed under their belt. There is a few cases when a freshman comes in and can play immediately but even those guys have rough moments until they can get adjusted to the speed.

Our WR’s haven’t been consistent this year. When a wide receiver makes it to this level, most the time what seems to keep the young receivers from playing much is learning the playbook, running the routes, and learning how to block. Catching is something that they’re already doing. With a true freshman QB in there you want, no you NEED, your WR’s to make more than just the catches that they’re suppose to make. That has not happened. We have too many drops this year. I believe the Ole’ Miss game would’ve been a lot different  this year if that series in the 1st quarter, I believe it was, that we dropped 3 passes (1 in the end zone). I think with the players we got coming will help address both of those areas. Think about something, I think our defense has done pretty good this year but we have struggled against big physical receivers. Who doesn’t. That’s the type of receiver that Kirby and Co. are bringing to Athens. Also, I don’t think it’s ideal to need a graduate transfer to come in and start and left tackle. Not taking nothing away from Catalina but that’s a lot to ask for from him. There’s a huge difference in speeds there. It takes some getting use to.

Special Teams have been a disaster this year. We have had moments were we show a glimpse of something great just to do something that makes you speechless and wonder to yourself,”how does this even happen here at UGA.” Blakenship had a great day yesterday. I was even hoping that he would be the hero of the day. As we all know, he didn’t get that shot. However, what drives me crazy is catching a kickoff that was going out of bounds and then stepping out inside the 10. That’s crazy. That’s a complete mental breakdown. Mental errors will kill you in any sport just like it will in football. We have to cut back on metal mistakes. We’re too young and inexperienced to be putting our backs against the wall with mental mistakes.

Final thoughts. The game yesterday is a different kind of loss than Ole’ Miss or Tennessee. With all the issues that UGA have this year with young players, inconsistent special teams, and inconsistent o-line play. Losing to Vandy is never okay. Sorry Vandy, it is what it is. A game like yesterday panics a fan base and rightfully so. We can’t have issues all over our team and yet still come out “flat”.  I think we’re passed “gut check time” and we have to step up. A “rebuild year” is fine but that doesn’t consist of losing to Vandy or even barely getting by Nichols State. Playing to our opponent is something we already did before the “Kirby Era”. We don’t need that anymore. We want a team that’s able to sit the starters by the half or even the 3rd quarter so we can build quality depth with game experience. Last year we escaped the embarrassing overtime win against Ga Southern. We didn’t show up for our biggest home game against Bama. We blew a big lead against the Vols and we forgot to show up against Florida in the Cocktail Party. The point I’m making, is we have had flat. We have had the teams that didn’t show up a couple times a year. I believe Kirby and Co. will be great in the next couple of years but in the meantime we can’t be dropping to Vandy because we’re coming out flat and playing to our opponents level. If we lose, it better be because it was a hard fought battle and not because we were not ready to play. We’ve had that and that’s why we got someone else to man the ship this year. Although our last offensive play yesterday is being talked about like crazy (WHAT WAS THAT), it shouldn’t have came down to that.

Kirby, I’m pulling for you. I believe you’re bringing something great to UGA, but these types of losses get people talking. It’s too early for us to start jumping ship but after yesterday it was a flashback to the last few years and what we were wanting to get away from. Get your type of players in here, build the depth on the line, and let’s play every game to our level and not to our opponents level. GO DAWGS!!

Written By: CBG-UGA