Georgia's RB and QB may be potential Heisman candidates, but their OLine certainly is not. We got one sack yesterday and zero QB hurries. Stafford doesn't have the best career completion % but with that kind of time, he looked damn good yesterday. I will give him some credit for unleashing the ball when it appeared we did get a push, but overall, we did not pressure him. In the end, our vaunted Dline got handled by a menagerie of Freshmen and Sophomores that have changed positions several times in a few weeks. No real excuse for that. We blitzed quite a bit, but Crip is correct, they are far too obvious. I just saw our blitzes running in to the thickest part of the pile. Didn't see any successful stunts either. I hear a lot of blame on the DB's but feel the CBs have overall played quite well. The distressing part is the experienced safeties. They have given up more big plays than anyone. And out LBs don't seem to have good enough instincts/experience to run the defense either. Watching Riley and Shepard on special teams last year led me to believe we would improve our LB corp overall this year. I realize it does not translate directly, but I was hopeful. Now the only question that remains: Is this all on coaches, players, or both? I lean towards blaming all of them to some degree, but the DC's may be the quickest fix. I don't think Miles should get rid of them before the season is over, but he will have to be looking for a change. I also think he is too competitive to to continue with someone that is costing him victories, so it will get better. Our tradition of a stout defense has been tarnished and it will take some work to make it shine again.
I was out of town for the weekend and had to watch the game at a motel - it didn't look any better from where I was. One thing I noticed over and over was just plain poor tackling. It appears the Tigers are tackling high, as if to go for the ball instead of just wrapping up the runner. This particularly seemed to be the case on the long run (68yds?) by Moreno - Coleman (who is one of my favorite players) had two hands on Moreno at the line of scrimmage - but at shoulder height - and was shrugged off. I think Harry was the last Tiger to touch Moreno on that play. There were numerous occasions when tackling was just sloppy and many of those times a big play was the result. Wish I knew how to fix it! :geaux:
Yes. This shows the lack of brains the coordinators have. "Hey, let's take what we did against a sorry USCe team and do it against UGA." Morons. I remember seeing someone say that Miles chose Mallory and Peveto because of their innovativeness on defense. More like bad game planning. There were several times when Stafford dropped back and within a second or two, launched one to a guy wide open. It's not just how long they are covering, it's the lack thereof. I don't know if it's Crowton or Miles, but this same crap happened last year. Hester and Scott would be gashing teams, and then they would get cute and end up punting. (Kentucky game anyone?) It's a trend from last year spilling over into this year. Crowton is a good coordinator, but he is hardly a wizard or genius. If he were, he'd know where his bread and butter is, and it's not in the arm of Lee.
Michael, you've pointed out a pet peeve of mine and one that I've been harping on for years. Either the fundementals aren't being properly taught or the players are ignoring the coaches. Everybody wants to lay the lumber on the player with the ball, be on YouTube within minutes and be featured on ESPN that night. Instead of getting in the proper position and using sound technique to make a routine tackle it's all about the me, me, me, look what I did.
Give credit were credit is due...Stafford was calling alot of audibles at the line after seeing the defense and we did nothing to change it up. A big reason their line played so well was the leadership of their qb.
You're right - Stafford, Moreno and a couple of Georgia wide receivers had BIG days. Some might say that's because the Tigers didn't play well - but I think the playmakers on their team out numbered and OUT PLAYED our best players. That happens sometimes. My only real disappointment in performance was that our D line is supposed to be a bunch of monsters - and their underclassman / patchwork offensive line, for the most part, kept our monsters under control. Rahim Alem had a good game - and showed a lot of emotion. Didn't see many other Tigers playing with that level of emotion. :geaux:
I agree. Where was Jean Francois, Pittman, and Tyson Jackson? If they even played, they were non-factors.
I'm not talking stats or big plays..I am simply saying that Staffords ability to read our defense and call the audible is what allowed UGAs Oline to play so well.
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments here. I am concerned about GCs patterns that have really gone on since last year, but are overlooked b/c we won the NC, which was somewhat lucky given Pitt's unlikely win over WVU.
There just seems to be a flatness about this team overall. I don't know if it's hangover from the NC or what. While it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, Tiger teams of the past, when we were struggling to get national recognition, would have never allowed another 50+ point game after the first one. Seniors are not helping out a young QB as much as they could. For example, Lafell, who came through big time after overcoming his drop problems the first half of 2007, is once again showing the same tendencies with 2 big-profile drive-killer drops that fell right into his hands. Adjustments on both sides of the ball, if they come at all, are often slow in developing. The final 5 games will say a lot about the identity and future direction of this team under Les Miles. A win over Bama would be huge, obviously, but improvements in fundamentals, execution and scheming in the final games are absolutely necessary. Despite all the problems I'm confident that CLM will get the job done.
