Georgia vs. TCU: Game Grades, Analysis for Bulldogs

Regardless of the preparation and schemes put in place, the best players are the ones who usually shine brightest in bowl games, and for the Georgia Bulldogs, that was certainly the case.

Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, and Trenton Thompson were the keys to a 31-23 Georgia Liberty Bowl victory against the TCU Horned Frogs that saw the Bulldogs closing out their season strong and finishing 8-5 on the year.

The win scrubs out some of the bad taste that might’ve lingered from the Georgia Tech game, as Georgia finished the season winning four of its last five games.

With that, for the last time in 2016, let’s take out our fine-tipped pens and get to grading.

Pass Offense: B

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Freshman Jacob Eason wasn’t the reason Georgia won this game, but he wasn’t a detriment, either.

Eason had a fumble in the first quarter after he didn’t sense the pressure coming from his backside. That had a lot to do with the offensive line, which didn’t have a particularly great game. But Eason still needs to be able to feel the rush when it’s coming.

He threw a clean game on the turnover side but missed a few open receivers long. There was a pass that was a sure touchdown to a streaking-down-the-sideline Terry Godwin that Eason flat-out missed. That’ll need to be fixed going forward, but he now has all offseason to get better.

Junior Javon Wims recorded his first touchdown as a Bulldog in a clever play design that saw him sneak behind the defense for a goal-to-go touchdown catch.

Eason, who finished 12-of-21 with 164 yards, wasn’t asked to do much in the second half as Georgia devoted itself to the run. A lot of those yards came off two plays, one a nice find of Isaiah McKenzie, who turned the ball upfield for 77 yards, and a pass to Sony Michel, who highlight-reeled himself into the end zone for 33 yards, his first receiving touchdown on the year.

Throughout this season, Eason has had two different types of games: ones where he lights up the stat sheet off a ton of pass attempts and games like the one he had Saturday, where he was asked to manage the game and hold onto the ball. For the most part, he did so. It’s hard to do much given the duress he was under often.

Grade: B

Run Offense: A

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In the lead-up to Friday’s game, there was talk about Georgia’s offensive production this season, or lack thereof. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney accepted a lot of the blame in a pregame news conference. He talked about the meeting juniors Sony Michel and Nick Chubb had with him in the middle of the season, where they expressed their thoughts on his play-calling and philosophy. The two felt Chaney was trying to do too much—a correct assessment by his own admission—and simply asked for the ball more.

Those sentiments could not have been better reflected in Chaney’s play-calling Friday.

Georgia struggled running the ball in the first half—Chubb had just 13 yards, and he and the Bulldogs entered the second half trailing. There have been times this year when Chaney would’ve decided to abandon the run and ask too much of Jacob Eason.

But maybe it was because it’s the bowl game, the last game of this season. Maybe Chubb and Michel’s words reverberated in his head at the half. Whatever it was, Chaney committed to sticking to the run, and it paid off in spades.

Operating out of the pistol formation, Georgia had 110 rushing yards in the third quarter off just 11 attempts and 89 yards rushing off 15 attempts in the fourth quarter. Chubb had 129 second-half yards, and Michel had 89 total yards of his own. Chubb had a ridiculous 8.4 yards-per-carry average, and Michel’s at 5.8 wasn’t too shabby, either.

Georgia ran the ball exceptionally well in the second half, sticking to its philosophy of wearing teams down until it can impose its will. That is Chubb’s trademark in particular, bruising his way into the second level of the defense. He sealed the game late with an emphatic 20-plus yard run with the team up eight.

Again, credit Chaney for sticking to his guns when things didn’t go as planned in the first half. Georgia’s run-pass ratio was around 2:1, and for a team that has backs like Chubb and Michel, that’s how it should be. With both back for 2017, that’s also how it’ll likely be for the foreseeable future.

Grade: A

Pass Defense: B+

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Georgia’s cornerbacks didn’t allow much through the air, giving up just 146 yards. The reason they really weren’t tested was the pass rush, namely sophomore Trenton Thompson.

Thompson was an absolute monster Friday, with three sacks on the day, a Georgia bowl record and a Liberty Bowl record. Thompson had eight total tackles, six of which were solo. He got into the backfield at will, and TCU had no answer when it came to trying to block him. It was as if the seas parted for him every down, and he took full advantage.

The only pass touchdown the defense allowed was off a remarkable catch by junior receiver John Diarse on a fade route where there wasn’t much any defensive back could’ve done.

This unit played well, and that was punctuated by a fourth down breakup by sophomore Deandre Baker that effectively ended the game. This is a young unit that will continue to get better, and the Bulldogs have to be pleased with their performance Friday.

Grade: B+

Run Defense: B

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Junior Kenny Hill is a dual-threat quarterback, and Georgia got to see that early and often Friday. When TCU’s receivers were covered downfield, as they often were, Hill just exited the pocket and took off. Georgia had to have seen this coming, and you’d think spying on the quarterback was an emphasis in practice. But it didn’t matter much. Hill got his yards, extending plays and drives with his legs.

He scampered 17 times for 72 yards and was the Horned Frogs’ second-leading rusher. The leader was junior Kyle Hicks, who rushed for chunks of yards at a time. Hicks averaged almost six yards per carry, with 88 yards on just 15 attempts.

Sophomore Roquan Smith was all over the field with 13 total tackles, and nine of those were solo. Smith’s development over the course of the season has been fun to watch, as he’s become a smart, intuitive player who can tackle well and understand where to be at any given moment.

Junior Lorenzo Carter also had a great game, forcing two fumbles off of strips. One of those came after Trenton Thompson applied the initial pressure slowing Hill down. The strips came in consecutive quarters. One came at a key juncture in the game with TCU looking to add some points before the half and Georgia taking it away; the other eventually led to a Georgia touchdown. Carter has a knack for these types of plays, and we’ll be seeing them one more year as well.

TCU turned things around in the first half after some early struggles by pushing things, and for the Bulldogs, it was not their tempo. They looked confused and out of sorts and often had way too many players on the field. Those who were on the field weren’t set, and the ball was snapped with half of the heads looking toward the sideline. TCU missed some opportunities to score during this time, and it’s the reason it lost.

But the Bulldogs planted their feet in the second half, and it’s where this game was won. TCU had just 46 and 16 yards rushing in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as Georgia took control.

The team had some issues on the ground, but it was able to make the big plays and wrap up the Horned Frogs more in the second half when it mattered the most.

Grade: B

Special Teams: B

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Georgia had a tall order in stopping TCU’s ace kick returner in sophomore KaVontae Turpin, and it didn’t really succeed in doing so. Turpin had 126 return yards for a 32-yard average. It gave up a 50-yard return at the end of the first half that could have led to TCU points if not for the heroics of Lorenzo Carter.

The Bulldogs were flagged seven times for 45 yards, and that number really could’ve been higher. The officials missed a few calls, and the team could’ve really hurt itself if TCU capitalized more off of these opportunities.

America’s Sweetheart Rodrigo Blankenship was called upon twice Friday. The redshirt freshman made one from 30 and missed from 53. That 53-yarder was ill-advised and beyond his long for the year, so he really shouldn’t be faulted too much for it, even if it was an extremely ugly kick.

Junior Brice Ramsey deserves a lot of credit for his fake field-goal run, too, and we'll get more on that later. Ramsey was serviceable punting the ball, downing one inside the 20 and averaging 34.8 yards per punt on five attempts.

Georgia had settled its special teams down toward the back end of this season in a year in which it has rightly been much-maligned. Special teams were by no means great Friday, but the mistakes were relatively minor in scope.

Grade: B

Coaching: B+

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Kirby Smart picked up his first bowl win as a head coach and Georgia’s third bowl win in its last four tries, and he and his staff had a simple if effective game plan: run the dang ball. That’s what they did. It worked, and the Bulldogs won.

Sure, they probably could’ve been better prepared for Kenny Hill’s ability to run the ball. They certainly could’ve been much better prepared for TCU’s tempo and substituting within it. They were lucky they weren’t flagged several times for too many men on the field.

Kick coverage certainly could’ve been better, and the pass attack left something to be desired. The end of the first half was bungled with the clock winding down.

But Smart’s team played a better second half and didn’t break when it could have. He even dialed it up with a fake field goal on fourth down! TCU didn’t notice that Eason, the normal holder, wasn’t on the field, and Brice Ramsey, who at this point should just be listed on the roster under utility, scampered for a first down that would later set up a touchdown. Inspired, gutsy, probably-only-in-the-bowl-game play-calling.

This win was important for a program that has a ton to look forward to as the calendar changes to 2017, so credit where it’s due.

Grade: B+

Conclusion

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If this was the only Georgia game you watched this year, you’d come away with a pretty good sense of what the team’s identity was. That’s a bit ironic because at times this season it shied away from that. It’s the reason the team finished with five losses. Georgia ran the ball excessively in the best sense of the word Friday, pinning its success behind its backs and letting them carry it.

Bowl games are tough to judge and analyze because they are their own beast, their own entity. The preparation is different than for any other game besides maybe the opener, and in those instances, a coach can’t really know what he has with his team yet.

Georgia was fairly well-prepared for this game and hung in there when it looked like things might not go its way after a fast start.

Georgia finished the season strong, winning four of five and getting back to what it does best. There will deservedly be a lot of optimism heading into 2017, with almost every key skill and impact player back and another year for Kirby Smart to implant his influence.

To consider this season a failure wouldn’t entirely be fair, because we didn’t really know what to expect coming into this year. There were close calls both ways—a few games Georgia probably shouldn’t have won and few it probably should have.

Jacob Eason came of age and proved his worth. Isaiah McKenzie proved both electrifying and infuriating. Kirby Smart logged enough sideline miles to break five Fitbits. Brice Ramsey punted. A man in a gorilla suit showed up to the press room on Halloween. Sanford Stadium saw more last-second heartbreak in a Josh Dobbs Hail Mary.

This team might not have been very good at times, but it was never not interesting. That was inherent going in with a first-year head coach and a freshman golden-armed quarterback under center. Georgia football didn’t win as many games in 2016 as it did in 2015, but it can hope the whole taking a step back to take a step forward mantra falls into place next season.

For now, there are players to sign and an offseason to attend to. It’s been a blast bringing it to you. Happy New Year and enjoy the rest of this college football season.