Bennet showed that he's a capable backup and a gamer who has a good grasp of this offense. However, if this team wants to get to Atlanta in December and beyond they are going to have to develop either Mathis or Daniels. This will be a test of whether Kirby and his staff can develop a QB, something we haven't seen at UGA. After three years Fromm left UGA no better than when he arrived, in fact he may have regressed his junior year.
I just wonder how good our offense is after watching those two completely different halves. At halftime, my daughter and I went to grab some dinner, to-go, and upon our semi-hasty return, saw the score and had to rewind the game to see what the heck happened. We were up 27-whatever with the guy we all thought a month ago was going to be the 4th string QB. We scored almost at will once things clicked(they usually don’t unclick) and kudos to the coaching staff, for many reasons, for pulling Mathis when they did. No need to ruin the kid’s psyche over Arkansas. Given what Stetson did with the O, I believe JT will be the guy, as soon as he’s cleared and Stetson loses the job. JT’s got the same skill set, but better skills. Mathis will be used like our last dual threat QB, though with a better end.
Seeing too much we aren't going to be any good and this is going to be a rough season. To that I point to CKS history of improvement from game 1 to 2 (as most teams do), but more specifically the adjustments made at half to clean up penalties and correct the offensive line (very sloppy 1st half). Time in the film room and a week of practice having that film and we will be fine. Thankful we had Camarda to help us through early struggles as well.
Mathis hasn't played in a live game since high school, and it showed, remember, Mathis is a red shirt freshman that has went through major surgery, I wish he could have had a year to play behind Jake, and gotten some in game experience, but he couldn't, so here we are with Bennett, or possibly JT, if he ever gets released, those are the only two that we have that have had in game college game experience, so were going to have to play with what we have for the time being, and maybe one of them can get us through the season, and into the playoffs. Hopefully
Obviously, the coaching staff will decide who starts against Auburn. I appreciate Bennett bringing the "juice." He was poised, smart and made great decisions. Does that remind you of anyone? Mathis is a lot more than a great story. The kid is long, has a great arm, and can flat-out fly. Does that remind you of anyone? He was making his first start in an SEC road game after a long layoff, in a new system, along with everyone else. While we don't know yet what Carson Beck has, clearly each of the other three have different skill sets, which means the offense will look different when each is in, playing to their strengths. Mathis has much more speed than the other three, and an arm that is close to Daniels' equal. Daniels has the most experience at the P5 level, has a cannon, and has played in similar offenses. He won't run as much, but can escape--or at least he could before the injury. Bennett is athletic, but not overly fast. The weakest arm of the three, it will be difficult to take the kind of frequent shots Moncken likes. Admittedly, Mathis made mistakes in the first half, but nobody was particularly good on offense. I'm reminded of John McKay's presser following an particularly **** Tampa Bay loss. The reporter asked what he thought of his offense's execution. McKay replied, "I'd be in favor of it." I think it's a bit early to form a firing squad. We should all look forward to the usual large leap forward that teams make between Games 1 and 2, regardless of who is under center. Go Dawgs!
Mathis did more than his share to make the offense look sloppy. I'm happy that Mathis is healthy after his serious medical issues but I saw nothing that indicated he is ready to lead a championship caliber team. Eason's first meaningful snaps after high school were against SEC defenses which resulted in a five loss season. That is exactly where these Dawgs are headed if Mathis remains the starter.
Right. I'm truly hoping they held him out thinking they could beat Ark without him. Otherwise, as you said, what reason is there to think he's going to be healthy enough to play soon.
The sad thing is if he were held out just as a precaution you have to wonder how he and the team will look vs. Auburn even IF he's able to go. As we saw today, rust is a real thing, especially for someone who basically missed all of last season due to injury. Why are we thinking we can just slide him in and he's going to play well right away? Also, not he looked great at USC...
It was his first meaningful snaps in college and it was a road start w/ an incredibly sloppy opening for the whole team. Stetson was needed to calm things down, but I thin that first half was just as much about how sloppy the whole team looked than Mathis. Almost every single good play by him was negated by some sort of penalty and every drive w/ him stalled by an untimely penalty.
I wouldn't give up on Mathis yet. His talent was obvious today even though we didn't get to see it showcased in a positive light today.
I hope Kirby put Mathis back in the game to preserve Bennett for Auburn. If he insists on playing Mathis because of his "story" then we are right back to CMR. All I needed to know about Mathis was seeing him use his 6'4" body to casually step out of bounds on an important third down a yard from the first down marker. This in opposition to Bennett using every inch of his 5'11" frame to fight for a two point conversion. I had much rather see Bennett complete a 20 yard pass with his marginal arm than see Mathis throw a 70 yard incompletion not in the same zip code as his receiver.
Where are all of the fans dogging Jamie Newman?? Clearly his concerns were legit.
Jamie, please come back. Its not too late to opt in again....
they won..so could’ve been worse. But first game jitters and rust included, you can see this O is not explosive at either the OL or skill positions. There is literally no excuse for the 1st hall O. This team currently lacks heart, passion and leadership...and more importantly a QB despite Stetson’s admirable heroics. Even marginal improvement gives us at least 3 loses this year...something better change fast or this season is a rebuilding one. I’m a loyal Dawg fan but I can’t deny what I saw today.
Another game ball should go to Jake Camarda... perhaps even more taken for granted than Bennett, and Georgia's best player today. Go Dawgs!!
If J.T. isn't yet cleared from a knee injury that occurred over a year ago, why would we think that he'll conveniently heal up enough this week to get the OK - or next week, or the next, or next month? Against Auburn, the offense will need the confidence that they finally developed in the second half today. J.T.'s return is uncertain and as of now, Stetson's the man.
Start Bennett next week. Not Mathis. Bennett is a seasoned QB at least. We need to score early against Auburn. They put up some points today! Their weakness is their defense. That matches up with UGA better. UGA's defense should hold its own. I feel a tad better after the second half beat down. Why is UGA always so slow to start? JT Daniels is still a question mark? Even if cleared....how good is the knee?
GO DAWGS!!!
Special teams were looking good overall. I think that guy we hired away from Alabama is going to be alright.
It is so great to see Bennett come through in the clutch. I'm glad he had a good outing after waiting so long to get a chance.