Georgia vs. Ole Miss: Game Grades, Analysis for Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs picked up their first loss of the year, 45-14, in a game against the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday that was never close. The secondary couldn't cover, the offensive line couldn't block, the wide receivers couldn't catch and quarterback Jacob Eason showed that he still has things to learn.

This was not a good showing at all for the Bulldogs, and the team will need to have a short memory as it shifts its focus to Tennessee next week. For now, read on for positional and coaching grades from a game that was anything but stellar for head coach Kirby Smart and company. We were not kind.

Pass Offense: C+

Associated Press

Georgia QB Jacob Eason

Look, before we get going, a lot of this is going to get redundant. Words such as "bad," "inept" and "malfunction" will be prevalent. But let's get something straight: This loss is not on Eason's shoulders. That wouldn't be fair.

Eason did make some bad overthrows and made a freshman mistake in the pick-six. This is just his second SEC game, and it's clear he is a work in progress and still learning.

Eason's receivers did him no favors—they had a severe case of the drops, and during one drive, Isaiah McKenzie and Jayson Stanley both dropped touchdown passes. The TV broadcast continually showed a stat that the receivers are dropping seven-plus percent of passes thrown their way. You don't even want the unemployment rate that high.

Moving forward, Georgia might have to simplify the playbook a little. Or fit it more to Eason's strengths. Ole Miss is by far the most talented team Georgia has faced this season, and it clearly was not up for the challenge. The first play of the fourth quarter saw Eason blinded and stripped off a sack that showed a lack of experience.

Having running back Nick Chubb certainly didn't help matters, as he wasn't able to break many runs due to a still non-cohesive offense. Eason finished 16 for 36 with 137 yards passing, and those types of numbers are not going to work moving forward.

Grade: C+

Run Offense: C-

Associated Press

Running back Nick Chubb

First, let's hope Chubb is alright. Smart told reporters postgame he has an ankle sprain and wasn't sure of how serious it was. Given everything Chubb's been through, you can only hope it's nothing too severe.

With that said, Georgia was forced to abandon the run early on and couldn't really do so in a meaningful way after going down by a ton of points early. The offensive line continued its struggles and wasn't really able to get much of a push on the Rebels defensive line.

We can't really evaluate the running backs because we didn't see them that much. Elijah Holyfield made his first real mark of any consequence off a screen pass in the fourth quarter, and we'll probably see him more as he gets to 100 percent and the season progresses.

Brian Herrien continues to be a bright spot on offense and had both of the team's touchdowns. Georgia has talent on offense, but the way the game went, it wasn't able to showcase any of it.

Let's also use this space to talk a little about the offensive line. It was bad. This has been a storyline throughout the season thus far—and for good reason. Eason was under duress early and often and had to throw off his back foot a good bit. Sam Pittman is a good offensive line coach, but it's obvious that the shuffling along the line has had an impact on the entire team. Everything starts at the trenches. It ended there today, too.

Grade: C-

Pass Defense: D-

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

This game was an early start. I woke up to get ready and had some breakfast, but I burned my toast. It looked the same as Georgia's secondary Saturday. There was Rebels QB Chad Kelly's heave into the end zone in double coverage that still ended up a touchdown that took the air out of things.

Juwuan Briscoe looked confused out there. Receivers blew by him, and oftentimes, he was just taking up space. For an offense that was struggling, it had to be hard watching the defense and in particular the secondary play the way it did. This was a spotlight matchup going into this game, and Kelly carved up the secondary with a talented wide receiver unit—eight different players recorded a reception.

As for the defensive line, Georgia was able to get some pressure, but it had trouble wrapping Kelly up. Lorenzo Carter, in particular, whiffed several times when he had Kelly in the backfield. This allowed plays to get extended and was at least part of the reason receivers were so wide open—the corners can't be expected to hold on for as long as Kelly often had time to throw. Add that on to the pure blown coverages, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Grade: D-

Run Defense: C

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Ole Miss has a naturally pass-heavy offense to begin with, and running the ball isn't something it looks to do first. So the fact that Georgia still allowed 180 yards rushing is concerning. It's not a completely egregious number, but it allowed Kelly to escape—he was Ole Miss' leading rusher with 53 yards.

There weren't glaring errors with the run defense in that Ole Miss didn't break out any particularly long runs, but 180 yards is still notable. The Georgia defense recorded just three tackles for a loss. That's not going to cut it in any game.

Grade: C

Special Teams: F

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

The fact remains after this game that was talked about all this week: This team does not have a kicker. The switch to Rodrigo Blankenship at place-kicker somehow made things worse.

Blankenship missed his only attempt, a 36-yarder that a college kicker should be able to make. But Blankenship is hardly a college kicker. And neither is William Ham, whose confidence has to be in a bad place if he was replaced by someone who wasn't trotted out again on fourth down, with the offense instead going for it.

Let's put it plainly: Georgia has no discernible option at kicker. You need one of those to score points that aren't a touchdown. Smart can't claim to have an answer beyond giving these guys more reps and hoping they figure it out. One thing's for sure: Georgia will have to put serious consideration into recruiting a kicker next year, regardless of Smart's policy on the matter.

The return team had a few nice returns but nothing to jump out of your chair about. Kicking coverage was fine and didn't allow anything flashy. But the big story remains at kicker, and the Bulldogs are in a world of hurt there.

Grade: F

Coaching: D

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

There is a multifaceted narrative here: one that exists within this game and one that lives in Smart's short tenure as head coach. Let's start with the latter.

It's safe to say that the good graces and the pedestal that the head coach has been carried on by fans' shoulders since he was hired last December are both gone. This was a very bad loss, the team's first test, and it flat out failed to show up.

No one is going so far as to call for Smart's head, but his perception as the coach who can do no wrong and has the program all the way back on track certainly took a hit. To be fair, we didn't have an accurate picture as to how good this team was until Saturday. But close calls against inferior opponents suggested that something like this could happen. But no one could have called the blowout that unfolded in Oxford Saturday.

There is a lot of season left and Georgia is by no means out of SEC or national contention. But there's no other way to color it: This was a complete breakdown all around, and a lot of that has to fall on preparation.

On a more focused, game-oriented note, the play-calling on offense was suspect. Georgia was forced to turn to Eason early because of the deficit it found itself in, but offensive coordinator Jim Chaney called many pass plays early on in the game, putting a lot on Eason's shoulders against the best team he had faced this season. Ole Miss' record is deceiving given the teams it's played, and its talent was on full display.

On a broad level, Smart did not have his team ready to play. There might have been a bit of a hangover from last week's dramatic, final-second win, but Georgia came out flat and was overmatched all game. There were dropped balls, missed coverages and sloppy play that prevented the Bulldogs from getting into any kind of rhythm.

Smart said of the game to reporters: "It's frustrating because this is the opportunity we were looking for." One look at the scoreboard, and it's clear that this was an opportunity squandered.

Grade: D

Conclusion

Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

Georgia was not favored to win this game despite being the higher-ranked team. Those rankings will surely need to be amended. Not much else needs to be said. This was a bad loss, and sometimes good teams have bad losses.

That's not to say we know that Bulldogs even are a good team at this point. But there is a lot of season left and time to turn things around. That will just have to happen quickly with Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida coming next month. Georgia fans, wash your mouth out with soap, cleanse yourself of this loss and look ahead to Tennessee next week.

Look at it this way: It can't be any worse.