I wrote this preview on Wednesday due to my thinking that I'd have an extremely busy Thursday, but that turned out not to be the case (see: SWEET!).
Anyway, this will be all you get until probably Monday, because I'll be in Athens through the weekend (again see: SWEET!).
Enough meaningless babble about me, let's talk about the Chippewas.
When CMU has the ball
Well, where does it always start? The Offensive Line of course (and you thought I was going to say "QB"). CMU has a potent offense, but they are lacking in the weight department up front.
Our tackles match up favorably to their big uglies, and while CMU does have a high-powered passing attack, its running game is not up to par.
We should easily be able to rush four or five players every down and leave plenty of guys in coverage to try and stop the passing attack led by Dan LeFevour.
Speaking of LeFevour (like how I did that?), this kid has Tebow-type stats, which is impressive in the SEC, but so-so overall when you look at the MAC Conference as a whole.
That's not to say that CMU is a crap team in a crap conference, but it sure is a lot easier to be responsible for 46 TDs (27 passing, 19 rushing) when you play powerhouses like the Ohio Bobcats, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo Bulls (you know, the team almost always in the ESPN Bottom 10...though missing from the list currently) and other schools with "Kick Me" as their motto.
Again, not to take anything away from Dan LeFevour, who may or may not be a sexy pick in this year's NFL Draft, but I don't see CMU being able to move the ball effectively against the speed we have on defense.
However, we HAVE to be able to tackle and cover more effectively than we did last week. CMU will not get their yards on the ground, but they will get them through the air.
We just have to make sure that when LeFevour gets his 200 yards passing, it's not followed by "and 4 TDs." I think as long as that doesn't happen, we should be fine.
However, what CMU does present is a nice opportunity to play a spread offense early in the season and find out what our weaknesses are.
As we all know, the spread is a timing-based offense, so my guess would be to bring four or five players as long as we get pressure and bump the receivers at the line, who match up well with our *somewhat* undersized DBs.
Look for us to really get after LeFevour and if bringing 4-5 Dawgs every down doesn't work, then we'll bring more. If Martinez is smart, and I think he is, then disruption will be the downfall of this team. If he's not, then we'll play a soft zone the whole time and get gashed up and exhausted by the third quarter.
When UGA has the ball
Well, one thing's for sure; we have an offense. Putting up 45 on Georgia Southern isn't anything to give medals over, but it is a pretty good start for a UGA team that typically doesn't fire on all cylinders right out of the gate.
Getting Knowshon into a rhythm early will be key as his yards against a poor CMU defense will help open up a mean play action attack that will completely carve the CMU secondary.
comments (4) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
Nice wurk...
www.thedawgsden.com
2 months ago
we can all talk about the CMU team and how legit they are, but look how they did in 2007 and 2006 vs the big schools:
2007
Kansas 52 CMU 7
Clemson 70 CMU 14
2006
Michigan 41 CMU 17
Kentucky 45 CMY 36 (who cares the Wildcats suck)
I think with UGA's offense, we will score at least 40, but I am unsure of our defense. It may turn out to be a game like with Troy last year which was a wake up call. We beat Troy 44-34. I think we will win 45-17.
2 months ago
"other teams with kick me as their motto" ftw
2 months ago
GA will show enough offense needed to play four full quarters, but will save a lot for South Carolina. GA's defense should contain CMU. This game is also an ideal opportunity for the Bulldogs' special teams to shine. As alwasy, the game is decided in the trenches where GA has a huge advantage in size and depth.
write a new comment