Hey folks - as a member of the DawgNation community, please remember to abide by simple rules of civil engagement with other members:
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
3 takeaways from Georgia football win over Mississippi State, Kirby Smart takes blame
System
Posts: 7,416 admin
3 takeaways from Georgia football win over Mississippi State, Kirby Smart takes blame
Georgia had breakdowns on offense, defense, special teams and the coaching box and still beat Mississippi State 45-19.
Comments
test
Some people are going to be quick to criticize Stetson for his two INTs. One was definitely on him. The other was just a circumstance of the situation. Either way, it doesn't matter in the end. The dude still doesn't let that stuff get into his head, and neither does this team. Resiliency is in their marrow. We take risks, and we make up for where they falter.
GO DAWGS!
Stet keeps winning and people still doubt him. After he wins the SEC and further I hope the naysayers lay off. Incidentally, JT Daniels was pulled as the starter today for a 4-6 WV team. Things aren't always as they appear.
One of those INT's would have been a TD, if Bennett's arm had not been hit...which injured his throwing forearm.
He had a receiver (McConkey) wide open over the top, but when his arm was hit, it fluttered like a wounded duck to 2 defenders behind the receiver. They later completed the long TD to McConkey off the same play.
That INT is on the Oline. IMO
passed
"criticize Stetson for his two INTs. One was definitely on him. The other was just a circumstance of the situation"
That's nnot exactly true. The first int happened when his arm was hit and the second was a batted ball that went into the offensive lineman's arms and was scooped out for an interception. While you can certainly say it's his fault the ball was batted, you really can't say it was a poor decision or poor accuracy. Both of those interceptions seem more like bad luck to me. Hey crap happens.
SEC Eastern Division Champions = Georgia!
One game at a time. One hurdle at a time. Let's not get lax and overlook Kentucky on the road again.
Clearly, we were the better team....better players, better coaching, overall and a better fan base....if all you've got is a cow bell, your team will spend every season in the pasture. My one HUGE concern was the poor clock management and special teams lack of focus....with less than a minute you communicate to SBIV to run the ball no matter what. If you have to kick, call a timeout and have a plan as to where the ball is going and the personnel needed to prevent a return.....Thorson needs to focus and I'm still scratching my head about the several shot kick offs??? MSU is an opportunistic team....give them enough opportunity and they will beat you. Every point they scored was off of our lack of focus and a miscue.
For me, this game was summed up in one word - ANNOYING. The dawgs were clearly better. The 2 INTs were essentially bad luck: his arm was hit on the 1st one. If not, he probably hits Ladd wide-open for a TD. The 2nd one was a fluke. Bad clock management led to the punt TD. The phantom roughing the punter penalty was ridiculous, as was the PI penalty, which was a horrible call. Both extended drives we had stopped.
The troubling thing for me was that the run-blocking was TERRIBLE. That HAS to get better going forward. Great win. At this level, most of the complaints are nitpicking, TBH.
At the end of the day, it was a very solid win. Can nitpick (guilty as charged) on some of these things but have to agree the run blocking was a concern and unless MSU has an unbelievable run stopping machine, that is in need of fixing. But have to love how Monken keeps using all elements of the offense to keep it complete and unpredictable. I always wonder why Jackson doesn’t get more action. Each time you see him get action, he is a clutch player making difficult catches and tough yards after catch. That one catch he made was a great pass and a great catch - love watching him play. I disagree on the 2nd interception not being mostly on Bennett. He had zero pressure on that play and has to choose a better throwing lane or target. You have to admit, he still tends to lock in on his primary and while it was a fluke that the ball rested on Van Pran’s chest, but when you have that much time, you either get a completion or run it. Again, nit picky I know. Go DAWGs.
I agree with "annoying." But then I remember that we are everyone else's Super Bowl.
Georgia out-gained Mississippi State 468-308, including a decisive 179-47 advantage on the ground.Interesting.
...have to agree the run blocking was a concern...The troubling thing for me was that the run-blocking was TERRIBLE.If the run blocking was terrible how'd we get 179 yards on the ground?
Perhaps our run blocking can improve. Perhaps Mississippi State is very good at stopping the run. Both can be true. In any case 179 yards on the ground isn't chopped liver even
discountingwith a big breakaway run by arunning backwide receiver.It was actually his second touchdown of the quarter, as McConkey took a reverse from Bennett, patiently waited for Darnell Washington and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint to clear out their defenders and romp to the end zone for a 70-yard score.Yes, 70 of our 179 running yards came on one chunk play, one breakaway run, but that run was largely due to great blocking. We shouldn't just discount a 70 yard scoring run as if it wasn't due to blocking.
Bad clock management.The punt TD.Where were Kirby & Company? Did all the coaches and all the players other than Ladd leave a bit early for the locker room?
The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs mismanaged the clock in the final minute, taking possession at their own 20 with 44 seconds left after a Mississippi State field goal had cut their lead to 17-6.Stetson Bennett hit Ladd McConkey for a 7-yard gain on first down, but passes on second and third down fell incomplete, bringing Brett Thorson on to punt with 19 seconds left in the half.Thorson’s punt was short and low, and Mississippi State’s Zavion Thomas made Kelee Ringo miss a tackle and returned the ball 63 yards for a touchdown.A great play by the Maroon Bulldogs took advantage of our obvious errors. Good on them.
My one HUGE concern was the poor clock management and special teams lack of focus....with less than a minute you communicate to SBIV to run the ball no matter what. If you have to kick, call a timeout and have a plan as to where the ball is going and the personnel needed to prevent a return.....Thorson needs to focus...Indeed.
...and I'm still scratching my head about the several short kick offs?As am I.
Were these by design to give our players game time kick off practice?
...poor clock management and special teams lack of focus...Kirby & Company could have done a better job. Kirby has admitted this. There were numerous errors in coaching and execution bunched together. Much better to reveal major kinks of this sort on the road in Mississippi giving us an opportunity to fix them than reveal them when they'd cost us big time.
Mostly this was an opportunity to lose an away game to a good, physical, tough, well coached team which hadn't previously been defeated at home, a team which played very well and yet lost by quite substantial margin to a much better albeit work in progress, imperfect bunch of bigger Dawgs!
Oh, and in the process, we just won the East which is a pretty big deal even though we no longer seem to see it as anything more than a milestone. How far we've come!
Go, Dawgs!
I agree, regarding the clock management issue.
However, I was actually glad it happened, after I had time to calm down. LOL
It highlights an issue I thought was already resolved. The same thing happened last year, at the end of the half vs Michigan (I think it was Mich), when Smart wanted Bennett to run the 2 minute offense to get them in scoring position and Bennett thought the plan was, 'to run out the clock'. Coach and QB weren't on the same page.
That can and WILL get fixed, I'm sure. Better it happen now, than later. IMO
I think the Dawgs are saving their RBs & WR's legs for the SECCG and CFP.
Lane Kiffin convinced Nick Saban to do that, when he was at BAMA. According to Kiffin, it took some doing, but, Saban went along with it and it paid big dividends with respect to their WRs, speed, stamina and overall health, in the playoffs.
IMO...People are getting wrapped around the axle on STATS. The only statistics that matters, is WINS/LOSSES. Period! At least, that's how the Players and Coaches feel about it.
IMO...When Kirby and his Staff do strategic planning for the season, they don't say we only want to use the RB and QB, in the running game, cause the current paradigm dictates it.
They plan personnel groupings to take advantage of schematic defensive weaknesses. They do it generically prior to the season, to attack certain defensive schemes being used around College Football. Then, in-season, they fine-tune "the plan" for the next team on their schedule, adding in a wrinkle or two.
Kirby's not looking to break stat-line records. He's trying to win Championships...which requires Wins. He's gonna do it, his way. And, we aren't privy to his methods.
If you don't think the Dawgs can pretty much do as they **** well please, against the likes of Missouri or Samford...you don't know Kirby. Those were "training games". LOL
Just wait till the SECCG and CFP....Then, you'll get a whiff of the "Real UGA Bulldogs". I'm not the least bit concerned with Kentucky or GA TECH. And, not really worried about LSU. OSU keeps me up at night, if I had to pick a team for UGA to hunker down for.
Just an opinion. GO DAWGS!
You kind of decontextualized me a bit there, and maybe lost the overall point of what I was getting at, but that's ok. It's that second one that I'm talking about that was on Stetson. Go back and look at that play. He throws that ball pretty low, right over a defender, in a way that he could bat it and grab it. My point, though, was that we shouldn't criticize him, although there are going to be people that do. He had to make a pretty quick decision there, and unfortunately it wasn't the best one. Not every decision will be.