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Love all the "Kirby knows best" comments. To each his own. But one point on JT Daniels : You're totally off base. He started and played a full season at USC (having come out early - he should have been a H.S. senior - the kid is razor smart). Then, he passed for over 200 yards in the 1st HALF of his first game of Year 2 before suffering a severe knee injury. His replacement came in a played lights out and JT didn't come back (note he's only NOW cleared to play). Top three QBs coming out of H.S. same year? Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, JT Daniels (and JT a year younger). Hey, maybe he's not healed (though the docs say he is) but to suggest he's just not good enough is laughable.
I think the problem is determining what is meant by "best" QB. Of course Bennett is going to be considered the "best" in Practice because practice doesn't simulate a game like playing Bama. I guarantee you that in the past 2 weeks, the practices haven't adjusted to our failure points. I'm sure the D wasn't pushing Bennett hard, reaching up and trying to deflect balls and I'm sure Bennett made lots of easy, accurate passes to the middle and Bennett showed off his knowledge of the plays and his accuracy and "won" practice as always.
Bama showed us the reality and if/when we play them again they'll have adapted even more to ensure we don't get a lead on them in the first half.
Look, all of our games have been decided by 20+ points. There's no excuse that none of our backups have thrown a single game pass since Bennett has taken over. Not a single pass. Mathis deserves more time. JT deserves time. Heck, even Beck should get some cleanup time.
Keep in mind this:
Look at 2015. Lambert had a decent year for decent talent (reminds me of this year): 63% completion rate with 12 TDs and only 2 INTs. Even so, Ramsey (4 star recruit) was allowed 35 attempts and Bauta (3 star recruit) 33 attempts.
Zero attempts at just about the halfway point for who was considered the 3rd best QB behind Fields and Lawrence who will be the Top 2 draft picks?
" . A very talented freshman QB, by the way, that about the only thing he did right in the NC game was hit a wide open receiver that was running free due to a busted coverage"
You obviously watched a different game. Tua entered the game trailing UGA with all the pressure in the world on him. It was his poise and his playmaking that brought BAMA back from a seemingly sure loss. UGA tried to run out the clock, the Tide gained momentum behind their young phenom and shall we say the rest is history. He not only went 14-24 for 166 and 3TD's (that's right 3! ) in the 2nd half alone to Jake Fromm's 16-32 for the game and 1 TD and 2 Int.
No UGA fan will forget how he somehow escaped a for sure sack to get a 1st down when he managed to dodge about half the defense.
Just a little revisionist history there. Yes the last throw was wide open but give the young man credit for looking off the safety and then executing a perfect pass.
How many times did we see Fromm miss open receivers when the pressure was on?
Laughable, but entertaining for comic relief! Brock would prefer UGA have their QB of the future in the house that has led them to the NC game? How’d that work out for Fields at UGA? Vandagriff probably can’t wait for January to get on campus to begin preparing for his college career since it will be his job to lose. He is obviously a golden boy five star high school QB? But wait! Those stars and golden boy status go away in college! Please reference Bo Nix, Jacob Eason, Shay Patterson, etc! All former five star golden boys who were very average college QBs. I am pulling for Brock to be the next Lawrence, but he better hit campus ready to compete! If Kirby has proven anything, he is going to play the QB that gives the team the best chance to win regardless of HS accolades! Personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Putting aside your ax to grind for Smart, I'm glad someone said this. I made a very similar point yesterday (I think?). It's weird to me that so many could be familiar with the fact that Daniels went from being a starter to not being a starter, yet apparently somehow remain oblivious to the widely known reason that it happened. Really threading the needle with that, and it's just an incorrect argument.
Expectations - that is the word I can't seem to shake when I read these responses. I have a lot of them for UGA and CKS, but I also try not to set myself up for the let down. I believe that CKS wants to win, wants to win every game and that includes the playoffs and NC. I also have to believe that he understands what he has to work with, from the players, to the coaches and all the distractions that come along with it. I was hoping to see him improve as a HC from year to year and yes, even game to game. I haven't been disappointed with any of it. I did listen to Buck and Hutson the other day and they talked about how Kirby treats every position the same, "You win the chance to get on the field, during practice" and they believe that QB is a different type of player and maybe he should treat them differently. It made sense to me and excuse me if I butchered how they said it. BUT, it is still what the players do at practice and even though my expectations are really high, maybe just maybe, "The Mailman" is our best choice at this time. So I am keeping my expectations of winning the East, the SECC and a slot in the playoffs to get the job done! This is suppose to be my fun and stress relief every week, during some crazy times it is needed. I am not going to screw it up by thinking I know better than the guy who wants to win everything.
Go back and reference the articles written about his transfer. He was demoted...at USC! The only reason JT has just been released to play was because of further surgery on the knee in January which wasn’t part of the equation when he lost his starting job and decided to transfer. It’s all documented. Besides, Stetson could very well be starting at USC if that joke of a conference ever plays any games!
I'm not sure about Mathis (maybe it's his attitude) but I believe (admittedly without evidence) that CKS is upset with Daniels because he apparently didn't tell them about the second surgery on his knee. Again, I admit I have ZERO PROOF to back up my theory, but I just don't believe that the way the Alabama game was going, the fact that you took the kid to an away game BEFORE he was cleared to play, then seemingly rushed that clearance after the game, that he wouldn't have played by now if Kirby wasn't upset with him. Because Kirby is obviously stubborn, I just think he's taking a, "you screwed us, now we're going to screw you" approach with Daniels and as long as Bennett and Mathis can remain upright, Daniels never plays. Just one man's opinion. Go Dawgs!
Need to offer Brock VanderGriff's pint sized receiver extraordinaire a scholarship or at the very least a preferred walk-on. He ain't big as nothing but no one can cover him. all he does is score. Can't be worse than some of our 6'4" receivers who never seem to catch anything.
I'm done making comments about Bennett and the QB situation for now. We'll see how he does against KY and FL. I hope he shines and surprises everyone.
The main things we need to improve on offensively is 3rd down efficiency and Red Zone scoring. We don't improve those stats then my bet is we won't be going very far...
GO DAWGS!
I personally don't understand all the hype with Vandagriff... He plays at a single A private school in Prince Avenue.... They don't play anybody with any real big time talent like you would even see in AAA-AAAA HS ball. He's a big fish in a small pond... I watched him against Rabun Co. (an AA school) on ESPN and wasn't impressed. I would love for him to prove me wrong, but why not recruit QB's who have played high level competition for an easier transition to the speed of SEC play?
I don't really understand all the hype around Vandagriff personally. Guy plays at a 1A private school who doesn't really play anyone with any talent that you would even see in 3A-4A ball... He's a big fish in a small pond. I watched him play against Rabun Co. (a 2AA school- resulted in a loss) on ESPN and wasn't really all that impressed. Why not recruit guys who have played against higher quality competition? Big time learning curve between 1A private school ball and the SEC.
Oh Well...We can not beat Alabama with Stetson. What do non-conference winners say...Maybe next year.
No one is panicking over losing Beck and/or Mathis....just included a possibility. These youngsters want to play and start. Their families have a strong influence as well. I have my opinion about Vandagriff. The kid is legit. Plus, he is one heck of a recruiter. DGD already. I merely stated it is to UGA's advantage to maintain his interest...even if Bennett is the chosen one. I do not know how he would view this, except that will be a true freshman and has some time to showcase himself to Kirby. Mathis and Beck will have to make that decision as well as they have already showcased themselves to Kirby. Bennett is starting. Same with Daniels. Going to be a crowded QB room. One or two are bound to seek greener pastures. This is nothing new. We hope Kirby's decisions are right for the team. Pretty much it. He is on the field every day. We enjoy our armchairs.
I tried "Hope" as a strategy for him to prove me wrong for the Bama game but my eyes and evidence from the games proved correct. Bennett has played 2 good qtrs of football and one average. The rest have been bad. He has had more leash than Mathis and has done less. CKS stubborness to prepare any other QB for game situation with Covid or injuries is beyond perplexing. If (and I stress if) our best bet is Bennett that is a major deficiency of our coaching staff either not knowing how to properly assess QB talent or develop it. Bennett is a DGD, but a sub par starting QB for a major program. Any QB on the team could have gotten us to 4-1, but most if not all have a higher ceiling.
Please, what did you see in the Arkansas game that indicated Mathis should have been given “more leash”? I thought Kirby showed great patience with Mathis causing the breakdown of play after play by panicking at the first hint of pressure. I had seen enough when on third down Mathis casually stepped out of bounds a yard short of a first down rather than fighting for a first which resulted in the Dawgs having to punt. Yet, Kirby let him trot back out for the next series. Bennett has deficiencies that are pointed out ad nausium on these DN blogs, but his effort and heart are beyond reproach!
How bout the coaches work on play calling? We have players come and go,but the play calling is always poor.
Bottom line, an error like stepping out if bounds too early (we kinda expect QBs to avoid hits) can be fixed. You can't overcome a talent deficit with effort. Bennett is a DGD, but he is not a national/SEC championship level QB.
As far as leash, our offense has gone stretches of the same amount of plays without scoring or being effective under Bennett as it did in the first half of the first game under Mathis. Yet the approach has been Bennett or bust. At worst Mathis should have been given reps at the end of the Auburn and Tennessee games.
What we see playing out with Bennett is what we saw play out with Fromm and Fields. The more talented back up doesn't get much if any opportunity to show his talent for fear of a QB controversy or even worse, for the coach to prove to everyone that he made the right decision even if it costs us a national championship.