UGA vs South Carolina Game Recap: The Good, The Bad, The Spooky and The Abysmal.

This game was a hard fought game from both sides. There’s no doubt about that. 

Both teams were hitting hard and trying to show their opponents that they had elected the way of pain. The entire fourth quarter was either a comedy of errors or a down to the wire fight for life in the most brutal conference in the world. Mark my words, both teams will still be feeling this game Thursday.

I had to work through this entire game. Sounds like a bummer right?

The good thing about working where I do is that I got to watch the entire game. The other good thing is that it’s conducive to note taking. 

The Good:

The kicking game looks better, especially punting. Mimbs and Walsh both looked great. Without Mimbs’ incredible punt in the 4^th this would be a very different game. The same should be noted for Walsh’s field goal. 

At times the passing offense shows glimpses of NFL games in a few years. It’ll be the same guys and the same plays. Matt Stafford had some incredible passes. He truly emerged as a leader. He also had a good set of rushes.  

AJ Green had the catch of the game in 2^nd quarter to set up the field goal. The more I see of him, Troupe and Durham, the more I like them. Here's to hoping Durham doesn't drop a touchdown pass next game.   

Did anyone else notice UGA’s shovel passes? My guess is this is practice for LSU as I’d be looking at plays like that, combined with screens and possibly options to get yards vs. LSU in a few weeks.

Smelley really took off in this game as well. He picked our passing defense apart and at times could move down field at will. He was hitting the same spaces that CMU did last week. This exploit needs to be rectified immediately. ASU won’t be nearly as forgiving.

South Carolina has some serious play makers on offense and defense. They had a nasty pass rush and a great set of receivers. 

I really wonder how they fell to Vandy. Maybe Vandy is the true sleeper team of the SEC. MSU isn’t fulfilling predictions like I thought. 

I think a lot of that has to do with Ellis, their defensive coordinator, jumping to where? South Carolina.

The Bad: 

Tripp Chandler, so what else is new? Remember a few years ago when that kid got his arms ripped off by a combine and he dialed 911 with a pencil in his teeth?  There are times when I wish that kid was receiving instead of Chandler. When will Richt and Bobo realize he’s much better utilized in a blocking capacity?

UGA’s passing defense was sub-par. As I said earlier, ASU is watching and drooling.

While it was satisfying to see Curran lay out Garcia, I wish we could’ve seen more from him. He had a good scramble to start off, but the rest of his one and out plays were abysmal. Visit Stephengarcia.org to gloat about how he’s trying to sell “Stephen Garcia” merchandise.

Play calling was really questionable at times. Four yards out of the end zone and we try and QB sneak it? Get the ball back off a fumble and throw it deep only to turn it over again?  Bobo is better than this. We did, however, do a great job of eating the clock almost anytime we had the ball aside from that last series in the fourth quarter.

Finally, while improved from last week there was still a fumbled snap. This is the SEC. Snapping the football to your quarterback should’ve been taken care of when you were 5 or 6 years old.

The Spooky:

The spooky vibe in general was enough to make you wonder if the Cocks hadn’t put the mojo on their chicken wings. 

Parts of this game were very non-typical: Knowshon had a fumble. The Cocks fumbled in the end zone. 

Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as the game last year. It was 90+ degrees at 7pm and no breeze. Then a fight involving at least ten people broke out in the student section. 

The spookiest factor in this game, however, was the clock. How’s a QB supposed to manage a clock without having a play clock to look at, all while still getting used to the new clock rules?  I honestly wouldn’t have put it past Spurrier to practice with Smelley all week on how to run an offense without a play clock and then pull out some wires at 3am this morning.

The Abysmal:

PENALTIES!  We gave up more than 100 yards in penalties. There are teams who wouldn’t give up that much yardage in 5 games! It seemed like two thirds of Carolina’s first half offense came from UGA penalties. 

Once again Dawgs, you’re in the SEC now, penalty numbers of this magnitude are peewee league stuff. 

At times Georgia looked like the number two team in the country. At other times, we just looked like number two. We had moments of glory and moments of shame. 

Who's steering our destiny?

Is it us, or is Janus rearing his two faced head? 

I trust Mark Richt and our boys to come out snarling against ASU as I think they'll want to wipe this game off the books. 

We now have two things to prove: SEC vs PAC-10 and whether or not we're the best team in the land.  This is a blessing folks. 

I know it's cliche, but the best thing the Dogs can do is take it one game at a time. 

Take nothing for granted.