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Too many mistakes doom Dawgs in quarterfinal clash with the Irish
System
admin
Too many mistakes doom Dawgs in quarterfinal clash with the Irish
Thursday’s first-half Sugar Bowl stalemate got out of hand very quickly for Georgia.
Comments
I understand people questioning Kirby for the end of first half call, but if we pass protect that TD by ND doesn't happen. 11-3 is a banner year for most teams but doesn't measure up to Dawg standard recently. Learn from our mistakes and just try to get better. Go Dawgs!
Great articles all season Bill, thanks for your outstanding contributions to DawgNation!..GoDAWGS!
Outcoached and Outplayed = Loss.
Notre Dame's mass substitution tactic completely caught us off guard, resulting in a critical offsides penalty against us. Adding to the frustration, Bobo's ill-advised pass play call at the end of the first half gifted ND 7 points. At a time when we should have been running the ball, Bobo inexplicably went with a pass.
On defense, our lack of edge control was a glaring weakness in an otherwise decent "B-level" performance. Their end-around speed repeatedly exposed us—a vulnerability we've seen all season. Additionally, their quarterback repeatedly gashed us up the middle, yet we failed to make any meaningful adjustments.
Offensive Line = F.
This season's offensive line reflects failures in both recruiting and coaching. Last year, the OL was solid, giving Beck the protection he needed to deliver a strong finish and earn a Heisman nomination. Gunner, unfortunately, didn't benefit from that level of OL play—or from reliable targets like Bowers and McConkey—when it mattered most.
Looking Ahead:
Another "off" year is now in the books. To win a national championship, we need bigger and faster linemen and wide receivers. While the QB room seems to have enough talent to produce a championship-caliber player, the secondary looks promising as well. The formula for success remains the same: protect the quarterback so receivers can get open, and get the ball back for the offense.
On the run game, I believe that an offensive line capable of solid pass protection can also block effectively for the run—pass protection is paramount. However, building a championship-quality team has become increasingly expensive, and throwing money at the problem doesn’t guarantee success (looking at you, Texas).
2025 Outlook:
Next year will be another ride through the chaotic landscape of NCAA Division I football. Kirby still has control over the quality of the coaching staff, and it’s on him to address the weaknesses that have persisted since Lanning, Luke, Muschamp, and Monken left.
I got two issues with your article. DELETE THE WORD "APPARENT" from the terrorist attack.
Second, we had a successful rushing attack during the first half. Discounting loss of yards on sacks and after our first offensive series we averaged better than 4 YPC for the game. We likely score in first qtr if we don't fumble. If we run the ball on our series after ND got their first FG, the whole course of the end of the half plays out differently.
Overall, a pathetic attempt at playing football last night! The whole season was like, just scrape through as best we can! Just blame it on NIL or the portal stuff! College football will never be the same! Over!
Amazing how often it is mentioned about a what a "large and physical" OL Georgia has. This season's OL work has proven just the opposite. I see this line as slow, unathletic, under-classed and under coached. ND's scrappy defense was undermanned but played with aggressiveness, heart and tenacity and whipped the larger linemen of Georgia all game. While I was not thrilled with the defense at times this season, the unit played well in this game. I think if our offense had been decent, we would have been undefeated this year and while I don't think we would have beaten this version of tOSU, I think we would have beaten ND and Penn State. I hope Kirby will take a long look at the offense and think twice before handing the keys back to Bobo again. I think Buster Faulkner at GT is an innovative mind capable of using the QB position as the WEAPON it is supposed to be, not like Bobo, who seems to see it as more of a " game manager" position. I keep thinking of how well GT's QB played against us and how Faulkner coordinated that game to an incredible finish. Kirby, give Buster a call, he is right down the road from Athens!
I mostly agree with your two points. However, why is the word "apparent" so important to you to call it out here? There are both legal and practical definitions of terrorism. To me this looks like a terrorist attack but even the FBI said initially it was not but then began saying it was investigating it as "an act of terrorism". Thus, for those who choose to be more cautious, calling it "apparent" doesn't make it any less serious or respectful. I'm curious.
We definitely need to get the O-line fixed. However, you didn't mention the other glaring position group failure this year. What difference does it make how innovative an OC is if the team's receivers can't catch the ball? Said innovator would be hamstrung and forced to rely on the running game anyway, which also was hampered by the O-line play. Please elaborate.
Say it again about the O-Line. I thought all season that the "O-Line has some injuries" narrative was simply an excuse. Even when healthy, our O-Line was not good and that was proven yesterday when the starters were all healthy. They just got dominated. And I'll go ahead and say it, but if Tate Ratledge was our "best" offensive lineman, which was often said, then we were in a world of hurt. Just go back and look at our games this year and see how often he was beaten or didn't open a hole (and yes, I'm talking about when he was healthy). Like some others on this team, I really don't think he improved much from the time he arrived on campus and in some ways, he regressed. I'll say the same for Smael Mondon and our receiving corps in general. All of these players came to UGA as good players, their level of play just never elevated over time, which is why you didn't see them taking home a lot of individual post-season honors, even though the TEAM was SEC champs and made the playoffs as the #2 seed.
To bobcdawg: Oh, I'll definitely be talking about the receivers in the Sunday Blawg.
Nice surprise to see a Bill King post in the middle of the week . I see a couple of good writers retired this week from the fish wrapper . Hang in there and keep up the good work .
To SnakeScott13: Thanks, but I should point out I retired in January 2017. I just do this for fun now.
And who is in charge of coaching and recruiting wide receivers and their development, that everyone complains about, myself included?
Mr. James Coley.
🤔
Since CH left to go back to LSU and Coley took that position in February 2024, look at the results and recruits and outputs from that position group!
And look at the results of the OL position group of Stacey Searels since his two predecessors left!
both have been ATROCIOUS.
The Offensive problems are not new despite all the deserved criticisms. This has been declining for 2-3 years. All under Kirby’s watch. Without McConkey and Bowers last year it would have been similar to this year. With major issues with the O line, receivers, running game, offensive recruiting, position coaches, etc…..this took time to get here and WILL take at least 2 years to correct, and only if aggressive moves are made. These can’t now all be fixed in one off season and with a few transfers.
Hard to believe this many problems would occur if Kirby as a defensive guy were not excessively focused on the D at the exclusion of the O? With an almost identical schedule next year, and no obvious solutions it’s hard to foresee less than 3-4 regular season losses.
Appropriate that Kirby has stopped referring to his team as “Elite,” which we are no longer. And he now gets to enjoy his repeated “Pressure is a privilege” comments….
I can't see the criticism of CKS for the calls at the end of the first half. Who would've thought our L tackle was that slow and not able to handle the rush. You have to be aggressive these days—or you'll get steamrolled. The fumble wasn't Gunner's fault—he didn't have a prayer.