DDT: The State of the Season – Georgia Post Bye Week

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DDT: The State of the Season – Georgia Post Bye Week

DDT: The State of the Season – Georgia Post Bye Week
Oct 17, 2020; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Georgia running back Kendall Milton (22) runs the ball and breaks a tackle by Alabama defensive lineman Christian Barmore (58) during the second half of Alabama’s 41-24 win over Georgia at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr/The Tuscaloosa News via USA TODAY Sports

The SEC appears to have a clear hierarchy at this point in the season. Alabama’s offense is the single most powerful unit in the conference and the entire country as a whole. Georgia, when they play on brand football is a close second as a team overall, and then there is everyone else. The Dawgs and Tide completely control their destiny for a rematch in December. Given the level of play out of Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt, along with the COVID & defensive woes of Florida, Georgia will likely be a heavy favorite in each contest until the rematch.

Obviously Georgia cannot take anyone for granted. One of Kirby Smart’s favorite sayings is that, “humility is only a week away in the SEC.” However, every team in the league now has 2 losses other than Alabama, Florida, and Texas A&M. Florida is going to have their hands full with Missouri next week for no other reason than lack of practice and reps due to their COVID outbreak which reached all the way up to Dan Mullen. It’s unknown how many, if any Gators will be unavailable by the time they’re set to kickoff Halloween Night at 7:30.

Despite throttling Tennessee in Knoxville for a 14th straight time, Alabama is even now facing some adversity. Jaylen Waddle is hands down one of, if not the, most electric and fun to watch players in college football. The Crimson Tide will now have to adjust to life without him after he suffered a broken ankle that will require surgery. Now, obviously, Alabama has tremendous wide out depth and DeVonta Smith, John Metchie III, and others are ridiculously talented, but impact of losing a playmaker like Jaylen Waddle cannot be overstated. Should Georgia and Alabama face off again, the Tide will be well versed in life without Waddle by then, but the fact remains that the most talented player on the field in the first matchup will not be participating.

 

 

 

 

It’s incumbent upon Georgia to focus on the tasks at hand and lean into their identity and strengths as a team. The Georgia offensive line is playing really well under Matt Luke and of course the defense is deep and super talented. I seriously doubt there is another game all season in which Georgia throws the ball 40 times. In fact, if Georgia gets up north of 31 or 32 pass attempts, it’s likely that the contest in which it happened did not go according to plan.

Georgia has the backs to be not only a good running team, but they’re on the verge of being explosive in the run game, which is a killer for defenses. Kendall Milton is going to play a bigger role from this point out and I had a source simply tell me, “he’s special.” Milton, White, Cook, and McIntosh all will be a big part of the Georgia passing game as well. Simply put, the running back unit is the best unit on the Georgia offense, followed closely by the tight end group, and both should be treated as such.

Stetson Bennett IV, despite some fanbase and media overreaction, is perfectly capable of distributing the ball to Georgia’s playmakers. He’s perhaps spread things out a little too well. George Pickens hasn’t been a huge factor so far this year and I’d look for that to change after this bye week. Kirby Smart’s messaging, and information we at Bulldawg Illustrated are gathering, suggests that Stetson is going to be guy for Georgia going forward. If that statement causes you anxiety, it shouldn’t.

 

 

 

 

I’m sure there was no bigger critic of some of the things that actually were Bennett IV’s fault than Bennett IV himself. The bye week came at a good time. Look for the Georgia quarterback to have learned a lot from the game at Tuscaloosa. Trusting and navigating the pocket, finding passing lanes, and either getting the ball to his check downs quicker or creating with his mobility when the first and second reads in the progression aren’t there will all be points of emphasis.

The reality is, despite the sky is falling attitude that can often times surround the Georgia program, the Dawgs have everything out in front of them and everything they need to go and get it.

 

 

 

 

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Daily Dawg Thread Sports UGA Football 236 Comments

236 responses on “DDT: The State of the Season – Georgia Post Bye Week”

            1. RumRunnerDoogie

              well thats when they had bo wallace or chad kelly. Those were some really good teams then. I guess aj brown was just the #1. I think it was something like his route running or hands werent great

    1. Biggity Ben

      In fairness, he probably has no idea about ALL of the rules. He’s paid to for sure, but seems about right. I put the blame on the people who hired him as much as him.

      1. DawgDaddy

        The article states that Deion was not involved.

        “Keep in mind, however, all the issues the NCAA found occurred at Jackson State before Sanders was hired by the school.”

  4. Biggity Ben

    If the Falcons had the option to draft Fields or TLaw, who would you want and why? I’m gonna go TLaw as I think he’s the better pure passer (Fields’ stats yesterday notwithstanding). I think Sunshine is pretty darn athletic anyway. Fields doesn’t feel as explosive with his feet like a Lamar Jackson. But sheesh, who knows these days. 5’11 guys are thriving in the NFL and guys that seem like locks to be pro bowlers are not as impressive as you’d expect.

    1. bpuga09

      I said below that I think you have to go TL over Fields. I feel like he’s the safer bet. Their ceilings are probably similar, but I think TL has a higher floor. I think the team that gets either will likely be pretty happy.

      1. RumRunnerDoogie

        plus any QB coming out of OSU scares me since they dont translate well into the NFL. When was the last one to?

        1. Biggity Ben

          This is actually a good point. And yes, I tend to thing TL has a higher floor as well. For some reason I see him as the more focused of the two, but maybe that’s just my experience with JF showing.

          1. RumRunnerDoogie

            he just seems more NFL ready. the urban offense isnt known for putting NFL ready QBs into the league. they are mostly just runners.

            1. Biggity Ben

              This is an honest question, are they still running some form of that or is Day’s system different?

      1. Rob Dawg

        No they would find a way to give it up in final minutes. I called it when Gurley couldn’t put on the brakes that Falcons would let Lions score.

  8. bpuga09

    Falcons are apparently masters of tanking without looking like you’re tanking. Having TGIII accidentally score by 2 inches is a 5D chess move! ####

      2. Bob Miller

        Because I hope whomever it is does a better job with the draft than TD did, especially over the last several years.

  10. Bob Miller

    While I think Georgia has the talent to certainly beat Kentucky by 14 points or more, I still am of the opinion that the game in Lexington will the Dawgs second-toughest contest on the road this season… even with the Cats struggling with Mizzou over the weekend.

    Would not be surprised for the game to mirror the Tennessee game where things are close in the first half, and then Georgia pulls away in the second half, winning by 2 or 3 TDs.

    1. Asheville_Dawg

      I agree. The 12 o’clock start time concerns me some. It would be nice if they come out and just dominate from the start

    2. Joe Kennedy

      Yep. We should smoke em because their offense is almost Vandy bad but I don’t trust Bennett and our offense to really put anyone away. We should beat em by 4 tds. But I’m gonna go UGA 17, Cats 5

      1. Jerry Stowers

        Joe K.,

        you are killing me.

        the only person I knew that was more pessimistic than you was Larry Munson Who I Had the pleasure of knowing and fishing with for several years.

        We were at practice one day before home game with Clemson.

        Munson ask coach Dooley how we could possibly block their Defense line.

        the answer was we need to grab them by the won’t say the word and hold on.

        munson just smiled and it cracked me up and I am smiling now.

        really miss Munson.

      2. Bob Miller

        While it’s possible that that is the outcome, Georgia would have to have a worse game than they did against Bama to only score 17. Wildcats are giving up an average of 20 per game. I could see that being the score at half-time though.

  13. TaaDow!

    Oh Geeze the Falcons and Gurley just made the same mistake PSU did. Detroit let him score so they can get ball back

    1. DawgDaddy

      In Gurley’s defense when he broke that last tackle and realized he was so close to the goal line he tried to stop his momentum and not score.

      1. Bob Miller

        Hey Jerry. Yeah. Indiana upending PSU was pretty shocking but enjoyable at the same time.

        Matt Corral has turned into an interception machine. After he played so well in the first 3 games including that incredible performance against Bama, Corral has only completed 55% of his passes and thrown 8 picks to 3 TDs in their last two games.

  17. Asheville_Dawg

    The falcons are going to end up losing out on the Lawrence sweepstakes if they aren’t careful

      1. Haws1178

        My dad worked for CSX for 42 years. He was a signal maintenance guy. I used to go on calls with him when I was younger. It’s where I became interested in electrical work

          1. Haws1178

            My dad’s been retired for about 5 years now and my mom finally started get her check from them too. I tried to hire on with them but got accepted into the IBEW first

    3. D-Low

      Because of Atlanta’s history as a railroad city and the fact that its previous name was Terminus, for being the end of the railroad line.

      “The history of Atlanta dates back to 1836, when Georgia decided to build a railroad to the U.S. Midwest and a location was chosen to be the line’s terminus. The stake marking the founding of “Terminus” was driven into the ground in 1837 (called the Zero Mile Post).”

      1. bpuga09

        TL is the safer pick. I think he’s going to be great in the NFL. He has all the tools to be a HoF QB with the right organization and some luck. Fields is good enough where I doubt whatever team he goes to is going to be too sad about missing TL. They’re both generational talents, imo. In any other year, Fields is the hands-down #1 pick, so he’s one heck of a “consolation prize.”

        So yeah, I think you have to go TL first just because his floor is probably higher than JF’s floor. Ceilings are probably pretty equal, so you have to go with the safer choice, imo.

          1. Bob Miller

            I don’t know if Brandon Weeden or Masson Rudolph count or not, but I think they were the last two Cowboys to be drafted as QBs and start games in the NFL. Not sure if either is still in the NFL or not, though.