Season 1 Volume 3 | Missouri vs UGA Game Preview|UGA Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

I. Intro

You’re never as good as you think you are and you’re never as bad as you think you are. Coach Pruitt used to preach it following every game, never too high never too low. Unless you lose to Nicholls State, in which case you might be terrible.

I am going to be honest, I didn’t have much motivation to write anything this week. I had about as much motivation as Georgia did against a team that’s gone 9-48 over the last 5 years. I mean by God, there was a “Block that kick” chant with 3 minutes to play vs Nicholls State. I’ve never stooped so low.

This would have been classic first year coach syndrome. Beat a team in a high profile match up week 1 and then lose to a team you have no business losing to in week 2. All because you have no experience controlling the emotions and focus of your team. We probably deserved to lose that game. It was uuuuugly

Ok let’s get positive for a minute. God knows we need it. Georgia is 2-0 and may have some slight positives falling into place. Hopefully the Colonels woke Georgia up and we see an inspired performance in Missouri. The tiger faithful seem to be taking the week off as 15,000 tickets are still available. I guess that new SEC smell finally wore off and now we can’t even fill out Faurot Field for a top 25 team. Moving forward, you’ve got to hope 230lb Bo Scarbrough gets 35 carries and wears the Ole Miss defense down this week. A noon start will likely see me only slightly buzzed and could catch the talented Rebels sleeping. Georgia will get an early return home and full rest before a home game against Tennessee who will have just seen one of the SEC’s best defenses in Florida. These are small things, but the parity in college football makes small things huge advantages. Don’t think about Georgia, prepare for Alabama, prepare for Florida and give us the noon kick. Everybody will be shocked when you sneak into Atlanta.

II. Scheme/Recap

I am not going to retract every good thing I said last week about Jim Chaney’s scheme. I don’t think Chaney called near the game he called against UNC. But make no mistake about it, this was a player execution issue throughout the game. This offensive staff is still adjusting to the personnel it was given and the developing freshman it recruited. The biggest issue from an offensive perspective in this game was clearly the offensive line. Chaney and Pittman do not have the offensive lineman they are accustomed to. They like to feature huge mauling creatures that clear out the interior line. Georgia has recruited (not necessarily by choice) athletic blockers without the physical prowess to force their will inside. This is why we’ve seen success with the power toss and other edge bending concepts. Perimeter runs allow our lineman to use their versatility in the open field with talented runners behind them. Of course, you will see plenty of interior runs to keep the defense honest and hopefully we can improve in the interior run game. But the success of this offense will hinge on Chaney’s ability to keep the perimeter run game unpredictable and efficient.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images High Steppin’ into those endzone DM’s

The Mishaps

• Isaiah- MVP turned complete dunce. C’mon man. The punt return is understandable. Y’all ever returned one of those? One of the hardest things to do on a football field. The boneheaded catch on the Kickoff is not explainable, its just bad ball.
• Turnovers- Trivia: What’s the only way to lose to an FCS school with 236 yards, 2 interceptions thrown and a fumble for a TD given up. Red Zone and Black Zone turnovers. Jacob Eason must have been trying to impress a KD in the South Endzone with how hard he can throw from the five yard line (that went well, he’s going on a KD semi formal Thursday night). Isaiah Mckenzie did his best Reggie Davis impersonation and dropped a crucial punt. I will get to Chubb in a minute.
• Jeb Blazevich– somebody give Jeb a hug. Both Eason and Lambert decided to check down to avoid a sure fire Jeb Blazevich TD.
• Nick Chubb Turnover– Chubb is the GOAT, but damn he picks terrible times for rare fumbles. On a comeback trail vs Florida, on the 20 against slappy Nicholls State. Lock it up GOAT
• Chigbu/Blocking WRs – Michael Crisco needs some serious stickem. The worst part is that he is one of our best blocking WRs and if he cant be counted on for consistent ball catching, he’s got to sit. Insert run blocking experts Godwin and Mckenzie (lulz). Javon Wims could make serious PT out of this issue if he can show consistent route running and a grasp of the offense.

The Guarded Optimism

• Nicholls St– Forgive me for this but they have some DUDES. Their offense was horrible but their defense was stout. Those Juco DLmen were the real deal. Ronald Ollie was a force combined with a few quick undersized partners. Give me Nicholls to win the FCS championship of the world
• UNC- Beat Illinois 48-23. It’s gotta make you feel just a little bit better that we beat a team that beat another team, right? By transitive property, Nicholls state beats Illinois. I always rely on the transitive property in college football for reliable information (sarcastic emoji)
• DL- A pleasant surprise thus far. David Marshall is dynamic. A bit smaller than the prototypical lineman in this scheme but he is athletic and instinctive. Trent was the dude he needs to be every game with 11 tackles and a hit that made me fear for the life of the Nicholls RB. We look better than expected here and the young talent is exciting.

Long Term Issues

• OLB Pressure- it’s bad. Lorenzo has the capability to do it but can’t put it together every week. Bellamy has been quiet. D’andre Walker hasn’t let it loose. This is my number 1 concern. To beat Josh Dobbs, you have to force him to do something stupid and not allow him to dictate when he throws the ball or takes off. We have also been playing a ton of spy technique, sometimes with more than one guy. Not sure the game plan here but it’s frustrating to see 2-3 guys in no man’s land 3 yards from the ball with a 3 man rush.
• Offensive Line– yikes. I give Nicholls state props but they are still an FCS team. Assert your damn will or the Florida game will look worse than last year. Need to figure out a consistent rotation and I’m not totally convinced Dyson Sims should be involved yet.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images I used to take Brandon Kublanow to and from speed training in high school. Dude never brought an extra shirt for the ride home. Go Raiders though

III. Mizzou Preview

Ah yes the T-shirt fanbase of the SEC. Every single man, woman and infant wears a T-shirt to a Mizzou game. Some may say MIZ, some may say ZOU but they are all piss yellow and proudly donned every week. Heaven for bid you throw a collar on that thing.

I’m not sure I’ve had more fun at any game than working the 2014 Mizzou game from the pressbox. We absolutely whooped that ass. That week was completely chaotic. We heard Todd would be suspended just minutes before it hit the media and all of the sudden we were thrust into an underdog role that UGA is almost never used to. It was invigorating. The players were so motivated to not only play for Todd, but to prove that they were not a one man team. We hitched our wagon to Nick Chubb and ran all over those sorry Midwestern boys, who for one fleeting moment thought they may have had a chance to beat Georgia that year. But give them credit, they recovered from the humiliation of 34-0 and were able to put together a solid performance against Alabama in Atlanta only losing by 29. Can y’all tell when I’m being sarcastic or do I need some sort of indicator. Oh we are good? You got that one? Ok, great, moving on then.

3’s up, G’s up

Watching the Missouri game last year was one of the most miserable things I’ve ever had to endure. Being so excited to get a win after failing to score a TD was humiliating. I needed a serious amount of courage to make it through that game and Bombay Sapphire was there for me.

I’m not going to get in depth on Mizzou. I’ll do that next week following a win or loss. Georgia should beat this team as the rosters are not comparable from a talent perspective. This game hinges on scheme, want to and turnovers. It’s the first SEC game on your schedule. Time to get up.

IV. SEC Predictions

V. Bucky’s Easy Money of the Week

I’m more reliable than the S&P. We went 3-1 last week. You made money. 5-3 overall. Time to Double Down Dawgs

VI. Recruiting

Mark Webb commits to UGA tomorrow. I like his deep ball acumen and frame. Another solid 4 star that will need grooming but could be an early impact guy.

Gotta Have Em’

1. Tua Tagovailoa St. Louis (Honolulu, HI) QB 6-1 212

I’d love to say the Bama commit is overrated but he isn’t. Strong arm. Huge combination of size and speed as a runner. Really reminds me of a thicker Blake Sims. More than adequate in the pass game and the ability to break the game open with the run game. I’ll take Fromm long term though.

2. Xavier McKinney Roswell (Roswell, GA) S 6-1 192

Flashes everything you want in a safety. Already has a college frame. Has tremendous ball skills and athleticism to return punts. If he buys into your program, he’s a star safety prospect

Need to See More

1. Will Ignont Buckhorn (New Market, AL) ILB 6-2238

Stiff stiff stiff. His frame is excellent but he has some serious stiffness. His biggest asset is his size but I also think it slows him down in his pursuit of the ball. You can see that some schools have dropped off in his recruitment and I think Auburn finally lands a project.

VII. Links to Previous Volumes

Season 1 Volume 1 | UNC

Season 1 Volume 2 | Nicholls State

Go Damn Dawgs! See you next week…