Georgia vs. Tennessee: Game Grades, Analysis for Bulldogs

The Georgia Bulldogs blew what was at one point a 17-point lead over the Tennessee Volunteers en route to a last-second, 34-31 heartbreak and now fall to 3-2, and 1-2 in conference play. Tennessee is now in the driver’s seat in the East, with its win Saturday the first of its kind in Athens since 2006, when another rosy-cheeked freshman was starting for the Bulldogs.

"Wow" is one of my favorite words. It can be used in so many different ways, in so many different inflections. It immediately conveys the emotion being expressed.

For example, the last minute of Saturday's game—wow.

Let’s take a step back from what a lot of fans are probably feeling right now and appreciate the unmatched theater that sports, and in particular college football, provides. By my count, this is the third time in my four years at Georgia that something like this has happened.

Auburn’s miracle with Ricardo Louis in 2013 as well as Georgia Tech’s kick the following year to force overtime after a late Bulldog touchdown are the other two. There are a million different ways Tennessee sophomore Jauan Jennings doesn’t end up with senior Joshua Dobbs’ Hail Mary pass, and a lot of that has to do with Kirby Smart. We’ll get to that.

Pass Offense: B-

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The decision to play a freshman quarterback is in itself risky and can have its ups and downs, and that’s exactly how freshman Jacob Eason has been playing the past few games. There was a lot more good this game than last Saturday against Ole Miss.

His stat line is not too shabby: 17-of-28, 211 yards passing with an interception. But that interception was very costly, and Eason forced a few balls he shouldn’t have. He also missed junior Isaiah McKenzie a few times on what could have been game-changing plays. He missed a screen pass to junior Sony Michel early on when the tailback had nothing but green grass ahead of him.

Freshman Isaac Nauta had a great game at tight end, and the chemistry many thought he and Eason could have—the two are roommates—shone through in a big way. The freshman finished with 83 yards receiving with five receptions and a touchdown. That touchdown came off a pretty play where Eason saw the hole in Tennessee’s secondary and Nauta ran a good route to run it in for six.

After Nauta, there is a noticeable dropoff. Terry Godwin has been a non-factor all season and caught just one ball for 16 yards. Georgia lined him up in the Wild Dawg a few times in an attempt to get him the ball somehow, but that was mostly to set up a reverse for McKenzie. Freshman Riley Ridley is a very talented receiver. His catch off a perfectly thrown ball by Eason for the go-ahead touchdown late was a beauty and possibly a sign of things to come. But he has appeared in just three of Georgia’s five games because of a thumb injury.

One thing is clear, if it even needs repeating: This is Eason’s team. He has the talent; he just needs to clean up his play. And he sure has a flair for the dramatic and the ability to get it done when it matters most. If not for his play in the second half, Georgia doesn’t do much of anything. The unit just needs more cohesion.

Grade: B-

Run Offense: C

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Nick Chubb made a fleeting appearance in this game, carrying the ball once for three yards. He wasn’t expected to play at all Saturday, and for all intents and purposes he didn’t. But Sony Michel and Brian Herrien stepped up admirably. At least in the first half.

Georgia had just 34 rushing yards in the second half after tallying 147 in the first half. Michel did finish with 16 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown, and Herrien with 15 for 74, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Georgia was just not able to run the ball for the last 30 minutes of this game, and it forced Eason into a lot of difficult situations with long conversions to make.

Tennessee was missing senior All-American linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and it was evident Georgia wanted to exploit his area of the field. It was able to get into the second level on a lot of rushes in the first half. But when it abandoned the run, the offensive line couldn’t hold up. Jeb Blazevich missed an assignment and Eason was sacked and stripped in the end zone for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

For the second year in a row, Georgia fans will lament what could have been had Chubb been healthy. Maybe on that 4th-and-2 in the fourth he gets the ball instead of Eason dropping back to pass.

Georgia’s run offense as a whole can’t be fully evaluated because not all of its backs have been on the same field at the same time. With that said, it was just OK on Saturday. And that’s not going to win you games, especially when it puts more pressure on a still-learning quarterback.

Grade: C

Pass Defense: C

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Oh no. You know it’s coming. We have to do it. I promise it’ll be quick.

Coming into this game, one of the highlighted mismatches was Georgia’s secondary against Tennessee’s tall receivers. We figured it would have an impact on the game. But not like this. Not on a Joshua Dobbs heave where height and vertical jump were literally the difference between winning and losing.

On the whole, the secondary did not play that great, either. There were a lot of holes for Dobbs to exploit. This unit struggles defending intermediate passes, and when it’s facing a quarterback who can extend plays with his legs, that weakness is exacerbated. Senior Maurice Smith was a bright spot, forcing two turnovers, including a nice heads-up play recovering a fumble.

Georgia was able to apply some pressure on Dobbs, recording two sacks on the day, but it allowed him to basically run zig-zags around them, including a four-yard run that was really a lot longer than that as he ran in circles until finding an opening and diving toward the pylon with seconds left in the first half.

Georgia’s defense was inconsistent, as it has been all year. There were flashes of brilliance, especially in the play of Smith, sophomore Natrez Patrick—who recorded a sack and had 10 total tackles—and Trenton Thompson, who is having a breakout 2016 campaign. But it hasn’t all come together.

Grade: C

Run Defense: B

Associated Press

Look no further than Thompson and Patrick. The Bulldogs held the Volunteers to just 127 yards rushing. Alvin Kamara had a nice game and a few good runs, but Georgia for the most part was able to limit Tennessee’s running game. Jalen Hurd didn’t play a lot in the fourth quarter due to a "lower extremity injury," as relayed by 247Sports' Wes Rucker.

It wasn’t really the rushing game that had to be Georgia’s primary focus going in, but it still did a passable job against the attack. The team gets docked some points because of its inability to tackle Dobbs, who ran it 11 times for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Grade: B

Special Teams: D

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Shane Beamer, I don’t envy you. It’s not your fault that you don’t have an option at kicker, but this is ridiculous. Georgia is currently operating as if it doesn’t have an active kicker on the roster. And that’s really not that far off.

Fans cheered sarcastically when Rodrigo Blankenship made a 27-yarder in the second quarter. But he was never seen again. In the middle of the fourth, with Georgia up 24-21, the Bulldogs went for it instead of trying a 42-yard field goal to go up six. Now, the decision-making here is understandable, but with an asterisk: Georgia went for it in some small way because it had no faith that either of its kickers could make a 42-yard field goal. That is patently absurd.

A 42-yarder is by no means a gimme, but it’s one that a college kicker should be able to make. This is a problem that isn’t getting fixed tomorrow nor a week from now. It is glaring, and while it might not have on Saturday, it will cost the Bulldogs a game.

Grade: D

Coaching: C-

Associated Press

Kirby Smart mismanaged the last two minutes of this game. There is no other way to say it.

He let 40 seconds run down instead of calling a timeout and giving his team more time to drive down the field to try to score. You’ll note that Georgia did anyway, and that the extra timeout really saved the team on a penalty that would have resulted in a 10-second runoff. But Smart set a sequence of events in motion that led to the miracle at Sanford by allowing the clock to run. Who knows what would have happened had there been more time. Georgia certainly would have had more plays to call and the time elapsed would have been different.

This was the first time Smart had been tested this way as a head coach, and he didn’t exactly pass with flying colors. It’s easy to play Saturday night quarterback, but the insanity that played out was in large part due to the head coach’s clock management.

Jim Chaney deserves some blame here, too. The decision to throw on 4th-and-2 up by three in the fourth quarter was curious—Michel and Herrien can get two yards. Georgia instead walked away with nothing. 

Grade: C-

Conclusion

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This team, like many before it, can be infuriating. They have the talent, and credit is due to the coaching staff for figuring out some of the mistakes that plagued them last week in Oxford to compete against a skilled Tennessee team. But in so many places, at so many times, the Bulldogs are inconsistent. They can’t seem to put things together for prolonged stretches, and that’s why their record sits where it does.

Georgia needs some help from other teams now, as the road to Atlanta is murky at the moment. A trip to Columbia to face South Carolina waits, and who knows which team will show up. The Gamecocks were able to be at least somewhat competitive against Top 10 Texas A&M, and whenever these two meet, anything goes.

To salvage any hope of winning the East, Georgia will have to hope that that something goes in its favor.