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What Georgia football must do to avoid another ‘down’ year in 2025
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What Georgia football must do to avoid another ‘down’ year in 2025
For the first time since the 2020 season, Georgia lost multiple games.
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It’s insane we consider it a “down year” when we win the SEC championship and make the playoffs. Clearly winning it all like Ohio State did seems to trump them not making it to their conference championship and having 2 catastrophic losses. Oh well, it is what it is……Go Dawgs and let’s have an “up year” in 2025.
Last year without good Wide Receivers, the safety's moved up and stopped the run. At least, that's what people seem to think. That ignores a glaring problem with sacks. There's no getting around the fact that UGA's offensive line wasn't even close to decent compared to the last 7 years. And, as the article points out, we have to use that group again. The one concern I had with Mike Bobo was that he was a leftover from Mark Richt, a time in which we couldn't run the ball against anyone, ever. Searls was the main issue in the mind of most fans. And so they give him another chance. And here we are again. Isn't insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Everyone can say, well, we made it to the playoff and won a SEC championship with the last vestiges of a National Championship team, but will that hold for one more year? Or will it backslide some more… Maybe the new receivers will make a huge difference. Maybe. No one asked me, but I think we have a coaching issue.
I completely agree. I'm super proud of the Dawgs and their national championships, but am starting to worry (amongst all the NIL and TP drama) that setting an expectation of "national championship or bust" is not only unrealistic but unhealthy... for the fans, the players, the school, and the sport.
I used the word "expectation" vs "objective"... of course it should be the objective, but no team (even the vaunted Bama) can in reality deliver national championships every single year.
With all the accomplishments @BubbaBill lists, during one of the most difficult schedules in CFB history, people should be celebrating and applauding, not acting as if UGA has suddenly become the (historical) Vandy of the SEC.
Do I hope to see a National Championship this coming year? Of course! But I don't expect it. In many parts of life, managing expectations up front, working your tail off, and then appreciating ALL successes (big or small) leads to a better state-of-mind. Have NIL and TP (amongst other broader societal changes) destroyed that? I guess we'll see…
If you love the game, every year where your team puts out exceptional effort is a year to celebrate, IMHO
The Dawgs won the SEC and made the playoffs. Not bad considering all the issues Connor mentions above plus add in there key injuries on both sides of the ball all season. Just fixing the O-line and catching the darn ball will go a long way towards winning more games.
Only 7 months until kickoff! GO DAWGS!
Thinks Jeff Foxworthy said it best, good listen for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzRU5a7bVDA
https://uga.rivals.com/news/jeff-foxworthy-recaps-the-georgia-fan-experience-of-2024
Ran across this on ESPN.
ESPN took a look at stop rate in college football for the 2024 season, a metric in which
Ohio Statecame in at No. 1, even after playing six top-5 opponents.The outlet describes stop rate as a "basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Defensive coordinators have the same goal regardless of their scheme, opponent or conference: prevent points and get off the field. Stop rate is a simple metric but can offer a good reflection of a defense's effectiveness on a per-drive basis in today's faster-tempo game."
Georgiacame in at No. 67 and 13th in the SEC with a 62.5 percent stop rate. ESPN noted it was the first time the Bulldogs were ranked outside the top 25 in stop rate since 2018. Georgia was listed as allowing 1.86 points per drive.Not sure how this can happen when you are winning the recruiting battles evey year. Top 3 recruiting several years in a row now.
Georgia needs to replace coach Searles.
@reddawg1 "
Georgiacame in at No. 67 and 13th in the SEC with a 62.5 percent stop rate. ESPN noted it was the first time the Bulldogs were ranked outside the top 25 in stop rate since 2018." UGA D could not get off the field.That stat is at the heart of the "down" year. Yes it was a down year. UGA got bounced out of the playoffs by ND after 3 weeks to prepare. This with having a Top 3 blue chip talent ratio. UGA finished outside the Top 5. That is a down year for UGA.
So will the '25 team be better than the '24 team? Will the QB be better? Same OC. Will the OL be better? Same OL coach. Will the DL be better?
Here is an interesting stat. UGA has little or no game experience for 4 of the top 6 defensive linemen and the top 2 OLB's.
I could see us losing 4 regular season games next year. Hate to say it and pray I'm wrong. It will be too much to expect the young defense to keep the better teams from scoring 28 points against us. Here's hoping Bobo can bring all the new receivers on board quickly, and the O-line can somehow be better than 2024. We're going to need more than an average of 32 points a game.
CKS must figure out how to re-establish dominance at the LOS. All the 5-star RB's, receivers, LB's, etc., in the world cannot overcome a LOS that is going backwards, or worse, standing around watching. Anyone who knows football will agree.
It' not just Kirby. Other head coaches have suffered when they don't have great assistants. Word on the street is that Crying Day is losing his assistants at Ohio State. He'll stink next year if he doesn't get 5 star assistants to coach. Look at Dabo - as soon as his D coordinator left, Clemson started to stink. Saban's real genius was hiring super coordinators. He treated his coordinators like his players - always looking for the 5 star. Major Applewhite was Saban's first Coordinator at Bama. He was alright, but not a five star. He was out in a year. There's no room for friendship at that level. You produce a top ten effort, or you are out. They make Millions to deliver. Richt was a fantastic fellow, but he kept Willie Martinez too long. I know I keep banging on this drum, and lots of folks wish I would shut up, but I don't think our current path is a good one. Alabama was better on offense than us, and they just got another coordinator. KS could at least bring in some helping talent - co offensive coordinator, running game coordinator, co offensive line coach. Something. Hoping it will get better isn't the answer.
I said from day one last year, this team will go as far as the O-line takes them. From the start there was glaring deficiencies, then came the injuries. I know there's been a drop off in talent, but coaching development plays a large part. If they don't find some depth at LT, they will lose more of the toss up games, and this year will have more of them.
We have to get better on the line of scrimmage and catching the ball. Everything else is a result of failing at those two things.
Wow! This was a great watch, which I would not have seen had you not forwarded it. It's long, but for those of you who haven't seen it, I think it's worth the time. Really great to listen to Foxworthy and hear that he has very similar (and detailed, well-informed) views to many of the commenters here on DN; his take on Beck is SPOT on, IMHO.
Many thanks @eastmandawg!