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The key area Ole Miss zeroed in on to beat Georgia, 39-34, in Sugar Bowl victory
System
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The key area Ole Miss zeroed in on to beat Georgia, 39-34, in Sugar Bowl victory
NEW ORLEANS â Pete Golding went from a cussing curiosity in the coaching ranks to taking on legendary status in Ole Miss football history on Thursday night.
Comments
Kirby sucks as a defense coach and recruiter. He is super old school and will not pay the $ for truly elite players. Bluebottle Bowl here we come!!
Kirby, his coaches, and the team squandered an opportunity to win a national championship last night. It is hard to beat a team twice in the same year and nearly impossible when you beat yourself first by making poor decisions at critical times. The route to the national championship couldn't have been set up better if they had found a way to win this game. Too bad the September version of this team showed up for this game. On balance this team will be remembered for winning the SEC but absolutely squandering a chance for something bigger. The season is over and it is all about next year now.
What made the Ole Miss gameplan possible:
@RedPantsDawg I can't say that they squandered much. I have been saying for weeks - and getting criticized over it with people pointing out my lack of UGA fandom as an excuse to ignore the actual point - that an offense incapable of reliably making big plays is not going to win a national title. I did give UGA the benefit of the doubt but only because there is no dominant team this year. (I am willing to revise this based on how Indiana finishes, though their getting a rematch against the same Oregon team that they beat by 10 points at Oregon won't make it easier to concede.) In 2024 when Ohio State and Oregon were loaded, or in 2023 when - assuming everyone was healthy - there were 5 very strong teams, I wouldn't have given a team whose #1 player on offense by a mile, Zechariah Branch, would have been the fourth option on a mediocre USC team had he not hit the portal for more playing time, a chance. Looks like I was wrong to even give them that chance. Yes the Ole Miss game was close. But would it have been had Lane Kiffin not created all the chaos? An example of said chaos: the Ole Miss starting QB having to deal with allegations that Lane Kiffin was illegally recruiting him to LSU right in the middle of his playoff preparations: https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ole-miss-trinidad-chambliss-lane-kiffin-lsu-cfp/
Kirby Smart has done a great job on selling the "no stars" thing since coming to Athens. No one in the fanbase and media challenges the narrative, so when big time talent chooses to play elsewhere everyone attacks their character, something that has gone overdrive in the NIL era. But reality: the only years that UGA has won in the playoffs was when they had stars. In 2017 it was Nick Chubb and Sony Michel. In 2021 it was Brock Bowers, George Pickens and James Cook. In 2022 it was Bowers, Ladd McConkey and Darnell Washington (a 1st or 2nd round pick but for injuries and being stuck behind Bowers).
Smart has everyone in Athens convinced that he can beat playoff teams with guys at WR and lately RB (no 1000 yard rusher since 2019) who would be second and third stringers on those teams. On what other contenders are Dom Lovett and Dillon Bell multiyear starters? What other contenders have gone 10 years without a 1st round pick at QB or WR? And the only 1st round pick at RB being a guy that Smart didn't recruit but was left over from the Richt regime? UGA is the only fanbase that believes that it is possible to win national titles without elite talent catching and running the football. Miami is still alive in the playoff because Mark Fletcher ran for 172 yards against Texas A&M and 90 yards against Ohio State. Remember when Georgia, tailback U, had guys like that? And they have a WR, Malachi Toney, who hasn't done much during the playoffs but had a great regular season to get them there: 1000+ yards and 8 TDs as a true freshman. Meanwhile UGA had 3 WRs in their recruiting class rated higher than Toney and they spent all season learning how to block. Smart yanked Taylor - who has ability - from the regular rotation over dropping the TD pass against Bama but did nothing over Smith, Lovett and Bell - who do not - dropping passes their entire careers. Anyone willing to explain the double standard?
The playoff is going to make things even more difficult because that is going to be more major college teams every year that UGA is going to have to beat who have the elite skill players that UGA doesn't have. Meaning the days that when UGA could knock Marvin Harrison Jr. out of one game and then get a scrimmage against glorified mid-major TCU in the next game are over. Instead teams like TCU are getting weeded out in the first round. UGA is going to have to win 3 straight games against teams with NFL talent at WR, RB and QB to win titles going forward. UGA fans can either acknowledge this or keep shooting the messenger.
testing
" Indeed, Georgia was just 3-for-13 on third down plays — including 0-for-2 on third-and-shorts (4 yards or less) — averaging 7.3 yards to go on third down.
It led to two Ole Miss sacks (UGA had none), and nine tackles for loss by the Rebels (Georgia had only three)."
Stockton only threw for 203 yards (18/31), but many of his completed passes were screens and short dunks. Chambliss threw for 362 yards (30/46) and definitely had more downfield completed throws that Gunner. It's almost like Kirby was afraid to let Gunner throw vertically. We blew the final two minutes of the 1st half and ran the ball when we had all 3 timeouts and should have been aggressive with the play calls.
Kirby - Do you want a game manager at QB or do you want a serious, elite, throwing QB that can make the throws???
Bottom line:
The Dawgs may be resilient, gritty, and tough, but what they don't have is an elite QB and an elite passing game. Their OL is mediocre at best, and as good as the defense has played, they can't win every game. Running the ball is super important, but it is only one facet of the game. If you can't play complementary football today and have an equally good passing game, then you aren't going to win a Natty.
The Dawgs - Too many highs and lows, too much inconsistency in play and at QB, and too much dependency on erratic school yard haphazard football play to win games. I'm not seeing that kind of play from Indiana, and I didn't see it from the National Champion Buckeyes last season who dominated their opponents in the playoffs.
We've seen this same kind of Georgia team recently and had the same kind of results. We need a better way forward.
So, Golding went into the game wanting to win on third down? That's not a gameplan. It's like saying your strategy is to outscore the other team.
The defense played their worst game in months. The offense also left a lot to be desired. And it took a comeback capped off by a last second field goal to beat them. If either the offense or the defense just had a average performance, Georgia wins that game.
You say the offensive approach is not sustainable. I don't know what you mean by that. This team was arguably 1 play (attempted explosive to a 5* receiver) away from entering the Sugar Bowl (or I guess the Rose Bowl) 13-0, and SEC champions for the second straight year. And for about half the season, the defense was hard to watch.
I'm not saying I don't want Smart to embrace a more "high octane offense" mindset. I don't really care. I just want to see them play well and win. That didn't happen last night. There were much, much bigger issues in that game than offensive identity. You alluded to some of them yourself.
I was going to respond to this as well, but by the fourth or fifth cherry-picked argument I decided not to bother.
Wow, such negativity. People are acting like we were Bama that just got destroyed or maybe a Tenn or Vandy with disappointing endings. Texas Tech got shut out. Did you forget that Ohio State lost? Who is that magical team that is doing everything right? Indiana is an one time thing, Miami literally has our former QB.
Oue program may be unconventional but it works
That “ game manager” as you call him helped win 11 regular season games and the SEC crown. So besides the B2B titles what did any other UGA QBs after that achieve that was above what Gunner achieved ?
You also contradict yourself as well, you talk about the O line being mediocre at best. So what Elite, Amazing, Wonderful 5* would fare any better behind the O Line play we saw last night ? Please don’t say Chambliss as his O Line protected much better Even though they got away with Allot of holding.
And how about the play calling ? Gunner stated Very Clearly earlier this year that he Does Not change the plays On His Own he goes by what Bobo calls in. He Tries to make the best of the plays Bobo calls in but he doesn’t change them. There were at least two plays where Bobo tried to run Gunner on designed runs up the middle that everybody and their cousin knew was coming !! NOT the up the middle when a Bobo play doesn’t make it Yet Gunner converts it for a first down Countless times this year. And can’t keep count of all the 4th downs Gunner converted.
I know you are very disappointed in the outcome of the game All real Dawgs fans are. But bashing on Gunner won’t change that. Those “ high school football” as you call it won 12 games Including the SEC crown. Your energy would be better expended picking on the coaches, Starting with Kirby. He did not have the Dawgs prepared and his game management was Very poor.
Ole Miss is a very, very good team. They were better prepared and seemed to want it more. I will not be shocked at all if they win the Natty. The Dawgs last night as a Team and coaches were not the same Dawgs that beat Bama in the SECCG.
I’m a bit surprised and disappointed that you would turn the page so quickly on Gunner. You saw the game and I think in your heart you Know that Gunner wasn’t the key problem. Usually 34 points would win 95% of the games our Dawgs play.
But Kirby”s pride and joy Defense broke down badly. The bogus call by the Refs on Thomas hurt badly to as we were already thin. Dawgs were the better team vs Ole Miss the first time, but Ole Miss was the better team last night.
Lastly the Bye is a game killer. It hurt much more than it helped. Nothing personal against you Montana as I consider you a good friend. Your very disappointed, sad, and frustrated. Which is completely understandable. But please rethink Gunner. Keep in mind this was his first Real year as starter. Some will cry Oh but he was “in the system” !! That amounts to not much as there is NO substitute for real game experience. He was Seventh in All CFB for Heisman consideration, you don’t get that by accident or by being a mediocre QB. I Do agree that some very radical changes need to take place but Gunner is not the problem.
Everyone Stop what ever your doing and listen to this random expert. Blah, Blah, Blah. Stats, Data, History all slanted to make your expert point. But the Real Truth is that Even as poorly as the Dawgs played last night, and the Coaching even worse they were only a couple of plays away from winning it.
And Mr. Expert what about the highly Bogus Targetting call on Thomas, Yet a No Call on the Ole Miss player who lead in with his helmet right under Gunner’s chin ? I’m surprised it didn’t break his jaw. And I guess to You going 12-2 and the SEC crown is mediocre.
And please tell me what other team is winning Ntl. Titles consistently since the Dawgs B2B ? And please tell me in this age of NIL and TP what team will win multiple Ntl. Titles in say a 5 year period ?
Allow me to answer the second question for you. You don’t know. No more than the rest of us know.
You throw out your stats, data, history, Opinions and Guesses and label them as Fact. You don’t know the future of the Dawgs program anymore than the rest of us do. You ASSume.
And your “ helpful insight from an outsider” charade is sickening. What your Really here to do is pit Dawgs fans against one another. You call yourself random So how much time do spend annoying other fanbases ? I knew you’d be heard gleefully prodding.
Dawgs lost last night. It hurts deeply and very painfully. But the Season was far from a loss. There are numerous teams that would’ve Loved to enjoy the success the Dawgs had This year, last year, and this year before that. I could continue down that trail. It is not realistic to think ANY team will win a Ntl. Title every year. Dawgs are one of only a handful that have won B2B. Now with NIL and the TP the quest will be even more difficult.
As long as our Dawgs don’t go a real lengthy drought without winning a Ntl. Title and are close in the hunt that should make Any reasonable fan happy.
Yes we lost the first game of the playoffs again. But have You and anyone else stopped to think how many good teams don’t even make the playoffs ?
If you think the Dawgs football program is dead and ready for a funeral you’re sadly mistaken.
You’re a bitter former GT fan. So why don’t you randomly ease over there and go into a bunch of detail about all the things They need to do to be elite ? That would make much more sense. Even for an expert like you.