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Kirby Smart: Georgia players ‘slowly’ turning focus toward Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal with Michigan
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Kirby Smart: Georgia players ‘slowly’ turning focus toward Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal with Michigan
ATHENS — Georgia football isn’t anywhere close to being ready to take on red-hot Michigan in the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff Semifinal, but the Bulldogs don’t have to be at this stage.
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Oh yeah, we have a game in 2 weeks!
It sure will be nice to have less down time when the 8 or 12 team playoffs emerge. I think this is too much time between the end of season and the playoffs. Let's get the boys focusing in on the Wolverines!
Have you seen some of the stuff coming out of the Wolverine fans? They were ready to fire Harbaugh and now we shouldn't be on the same field. Shut them the Heck up guys and take every bit of frustration out. Us real fans are behind you 1000% and know that this team can win it all.
IDK, we view the players as our representatives and gladiators, but they are actually kids enrolled in college. Final exams were this week and the Christmas holiday is at the end of next week. As frustrating as it may be for us fans to wait so long between games, it is undoubtedly a good thing for our players to have necessary time off to take care of things outside of football. 🤣
Michigan who? Yes, a bit of unfinished business. With all that has been going on, Harbaugh is in a football dream world up there in Michigan. Hopefully, it has all gone to his head so the Dawgs can bring him back to earth and reality on Dec. 31. Kirby says the Dawgs are dialed in for a win...okay...let's get at it. Two back-to-back losses is not acceptable! Leave it all on the playing field, Kirby. Expect the unexpected with Harbaugh.
UGA needs to be completely healed. The time off is good....this time.
Excited to get this thing going! I know these players want to go out and dominate Michigan. I am excited to see some of the changes being made - I expect fire and brimstone to rain down on the opposition ! GO DAWGS!
So pumped for this game! Excited to see practice starting.
Fix what needs to be fixed and play ANGRY and let's do these Wolverines!
Go Dawgs! Hate on Michigan!
Mike, Why do you constantly get your little digs in regarding Bennett as you did AGAIN in this article? It’s totally amazing how you are routinely tearing him down, usually in a sneaky and **** way. Why don’t you mention any of the numerous negatives regarding JT like he was 1 for 11 on 3rd down conversions against Cincinnati and he threw for 1 TD total against Cincinnati and Clemson with 2 INTs….while Stetson had 3 TDs and 2 INTs against the #1 team in the country? To be clear, I only want Kirby to start the best QB and I sincerely don’t have a preference. I just get so pi$$ed-off with your malarkey and non-stop efforts to counter CKS’s decisions. I believe Kirby is likely at all the practices and knows which QB is ready to lead our team. Please quit undermining the coaching staff and instilling doubt with Dawg fans regarding our coaches and QBs. You truly don’t have any more of a clue as to what is going on than I do so stop the BS.
Tom Brady is one of the least mobile QB's in the history of football. He gets sacked but he also has 7(?) rings. Why? Because he knows where his 2nd , 3rd and 4th reads are. He knows where to go with the ball at all times and when to throw it away. While SBIV is a decent runner he seems to get tracked down in the pocket for sacks more than he should. He is a 1 read, then improvise then throw the ball up when the pressure closes in. Somehow the multiple read route still seems like the better option.
I hope all the UGA players have been instructed to wear their masks all the time between now and the games. With players breaking for Xmas and dispersing to the 4 corners of the country it would be just like UGA "luck" to have guys test positive when they return and create player group shortages for the most important games of the season.
UGA 49 MICH 6
Sounds like your boy has an “injury” excuse in the only (2) games he’s played against teams with winning records. Thus, according to you the 2 TD total in 2 games was a huge accomplishment. BUT, you blasted Bennett for poor play last year against Florida when he played with a dislocated shoulder. Of course Bennett spotted us a 14 point lead in the first quarter before getting injured, but you don’t seem to remember facts and constantly ruminate over his Florida loss. Talk about biased and clearly clueless.
I love SBIV. He is a good QB. But we have seen him for the better part of 2 seasons. And he played a season at JC. He is who he is. We have seen his ceiling. We have not seen JTD ceiling. It may not even be as high as SBIV's. But we have seen SBIV vs AL twice and FU once and he hasn't gotten it done. Saban changed QB's twice vs UGA. If CKS rides SBIV for 2 more games Bama will win again. You need a QB who will pick Bama apart. Sometimes to pick a team apart you have to hit your 2nd and 3rd reads. By then SBIV is running and scrambling.
It's time to get back to work buckle down and take care of business. Go Dawgz!😎
I agree with your thoughts regarding JT, but I believe he would have been sacked numerous times or running for his life in the Bama game so those 2nd and 3rd reads would be a pipe dream. Hopefully CKS will select the best QB. I’m confident Kirby is not playing “favorites” because he played D’Wan over Bennett, then played JT the last 4 games last season, then started JT in the first few games this year. I sincerely believe JT isn’t starting because of a “JT issue” and nothing else. We will likely find out the real story at the end of the season.
Much, Much debate, speculation, discussion etc. about the QB position. I understand that, I get it. But Just As important speaking For Me as a devout Dawgs fan is getting the Defense back Much More like we saw during the regular season. IF our D can feast Big over Michigan that would take a good bit of the pain away from the SECCG debacle. Many Dawgs fans ( including me) talk about what they wish Would have happened in that game with our O. But the Dawgs D failed every bit as bad, Much Worse really. All Dawgs fans knew there were questions going in about the O. But what about the Dawgs Defense ?? The pride of the team. Kirby’s Baby. HOW did they just fall Completely apart ?? Some might say well youth in the Secondary. After 12 regular season games ?? Well we had injuries, Especially in that unit. But isn’t an Entire Season enough to have backup players Better Prepared ?? I sure Hope that Kirby, every assistant coach, every analyst, every player, anyone that has any part of the Success or Failure if this Dawgs team WILL be as prepared as they possibly can be for this game vs Michigan. Now I have No Clue whether it will happen or not but I’d Dearly Love to see a totally Dominant and Decisive Win by our Dawgs. NOT saying that will happen, but I’d Love to see All Three units of this team perform and execute to an Elite level. IF they Do that THEN a great measure of my faith will be restored that At A Minimum the Dawgs could give Bama a Much, Much Better game. That SECCG took Allot of wind out of my sails. It was a humiliating and crushing defeat. I’d sure Love to see our Dawgs remove most of if not All of that pain. I’d gladly trade that SECCG Loss for a National Title WIN verses Bama. But I NEED to See a decisive and dominant victory vs Michigan for me to start getting all pumped up again. Just being honest. Always Have and Always Will Love our Dawgs though !! Go Dawgs !!
Bubba Bill you don't have much faith or trust in the UGA OL. I think they can and will play better. The beauty of JTD is that he makes the 2nd read before the ball is snapped. He already knows what he has before the ball is snapped. In the time it takes SBIV to do his read and react, JTD makes 3 reads. Navy, What happened to the D vs Bama won't happen vs MI. MI will be tried and true to what got them this far. THAT'S where Saban is different. He saw how UGA played vs formations and routes and then changed those routes. Saban had the UGA D completely confused. Guys were running open all over the field. UGA D especially DB's must step up big the rest of the way. MI will be a tough game. Top OL and good QB. Hate to think AAnderson's immaturity/poor decision making will cost UGA a championship.
"A deeper dive into advanced metrics shows Bennett has six first-down runs on 11 third-down rushing attempts vs. SEC teams. Bennett also has been sacked six times on the 65 third-down plays he didn’t handoff in league play."
I'm sorry, but this is too favorable. They mention his rushing on third down, but don't mention his passing on third down. On third down, against all opponents (including the patsies), he's 26 of 51 with 15 first downs, 4 TD, and one Int. Rushing on third down against all opponents is 17 attempts for 60 yards and 6 first downs.
So, his combined 3rd down conversion rate is 21 (22 including the TD) first downs out of 68 attempts, or less than 1 out of 3. That's not good.
Compare that to the quarterback for upcoming Michigan, Cade McNamara. His passing on third down is 50 of 80 for 30 first downs, 6 TD and on Int. Rushing he has twelve attempts and 4 first downs. The total is 54 of 92, or 58.6%.
Nobody is out there talking about Cade McNamara being a top tier quarterback. He's a game manager, too, with only 100 yards more in passing than Bennett, hence the comparison.
To see what "good" looks like, check out Bryce Young. On third down, he is 81 of 113 with 60 first downs, 14 TD and 4 Int. In rushing, he has another 28 attempts with 7 first downs. So, his third down conversion rate is 72.3%.
I'll repeat what I've been saying since the middle of 2020: If Stetson Bennett is the best option UGA has at QB, there is something seriously wrong in that quarterback room.
"If Stetson Bennett is the best option UGA has at QB, there is something seriously wrong in that quarterback room."
Truth.
Even with Fromm / Eason / Fields, the QB situation did not dominate all discussion boards and comment threads. The QB situation dominates now because it is obvious to everyone that the gameplan defies logic. Compounding the issue s CKS's refusal to show his cards. Is JTD still injured? Why keep SBIV in every blowout after half instead of getting reps for Beck and Brock? All the eggs in one basket just does not make sense to us, the football audience - we recognize that we are not coaches or even experts, but we have a clue about the game. CKS may need to keep the edge of mystery for his opponents . . . if so, we'll understand as long as he explains after the season. In the meantime, we'll speculate and gripe and grumble against a strategy we don't understand. If he never explains, candidly, the skepticism will only grow.