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National media weighs in on Georgia football quarterback position after Alabama loss
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National media weighs in on Georgia football quarterback position after Alabama loss
Stetson Bennett had done enough to earn and hold down Georgia's starting quarterback job in wins over Arkansas, Auburn and Tennessee. But after a loss and three-interception performance against Alabama, questions are being asked of Bennett. On the day, Bennett completed 18 of his 40 pass attempts for 269 yards. In
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“But Stetson’s just got to play within himself and allow the people around him to help him, and we’ve got to help him with the run game around him,” Smart said. “We can’t throw the ball that many times and hope to be effective.”
Nope. Unfortunately, I think we all know who will be starting at QB against Kentucky and that will pretty much eliminate us from any reasonable playoff talk. The ONLY reason that Georgia was able to run the ball is because we tried to throw. That has been proven time and time again when we've had the best RBs in the nation - they get stopped because the other team loads the box.
Bennett had to throw 40 times (vs 32 for Mac) because he missed a lot of big throws and got deflected. In addition, a large portion of Alabama's runs was to close out the game. Clemson threw 50 times against GA Tech, was that too many?
Look, it's all about adapting to your talent as well as your competition. You can't tell a team like Bama or Clemson or Ohio State to not throw the ball and our Pass D isn't anywhere as close to being as good as our Run D. They aren't going to run and even when you get pressure on the QB, those NFL-level QBs still make big plays. You have to counter with your own big plays and that's just not something Bennett can do.
"Tweaks" and "fixes" won't help. You could play Bama a dozen weeks in a row and still won't have a legitimate chance until you are willing to give a power thrower a chance to throw.
Kirby mentioned being effective. Georgia have to create match up with their skill players against the defense weakness with exotic schemes. If you don't have the quarterback or the offensive personnel for a shootout or explosive plays, then Georgia needs to get creative. Alabama did that last night against Georgia defense because they knew that was not going to line up and just whoop Georgia. The second was the example. Georgia offense with Stetson Bennett is not bad, but going forward he will not get it done. Defense alone is not going to help Georgia win a national championship, so they need to find out this week, which quarterback can improve the offense to compete with Alabama and Clemson. I mean Kirby benched Mathis after a bad performance. What is he going to do after Stetson performance last night.
Poor, poor Bennett. I feel for the guy. Everybody wants J.T. I'm not saying J.T won't do better than Bennett if given the chance. It won't hurt to let J.T play in the next game. I always look at the old saying that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Let them both play in the next few games and may the best man win. We need an offense that can score with the best of them if a championship is in the near future. Go Dawgs!!!
Two distinct differences between the Tide & the Dawgs. First QB. Bama is starting a future NFL QB while the Dawgs put a 5th string Jr. College transfer under center. Second coaching. There is a reason why Saban is 22-0 against his former assistants and continues to win. He's not in a popularity contest. He is willing to make the tough personnel decision. Irrespective of what a player has accomplished or how long they've been on the team, if they are not performing, he pulls them. Bennett never finished the game under Saban.
This question should determine if we need to give our other QBs game experience to determine our best option. If Stetson remains the QB, we win our remaining games and play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, are we likely to win that game? No, we are not, and most fans agree with that answer.
This is the same situation that existed with Fields and Fromm. Kirby was unwilling to give Fields playing time , and we lost to Alabama and lost Fields. Since leaving for Ohio State Fields has shown that he is more talented than Fromm, but we ignored that when he was in Athens.
The problem with Kirby's approach to grading his QBs is the #1 QB gets more reps in practice than the other QBs which allows #1 to be more confident and run the team better, but does not assure that he is the most capable athlete.
If things do not change, we are looking at Fields/Fromm all over again.
I have checked out on Kirby Smart and this team for the year, wake me up when they get serious at the QB position. The rest is just a waste of eligibility, talent, and time.
At some point, and it’s looking like it won’t be this season, the offense must catch up with the defense for the Dawgs to be serious NC contenders. That’s what separates Clemson from the rest of the elites, even Bama. Kirby is going to get us there, but we are a QB and some experience at the skill positions short at this point.
Bennet is good. And he is a hard worker. But he's not good enough to beat Alabama. He might thrash Florida, South Carolina, etc. But Bama, Clemson, and Ohio State are in a different leagues and, as much as I like him, Stetson is just not good enough.
Without an elite QB and WRs...Dawgs will never sniff a Natty. It’s that simple...no need to over-analyze my friends.