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ESPN: Can anyone beat Georgia? Key numbers from Ohio State, Tennessee matchups
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ESPN: Can anyone beat Georgia? Key numbers from Ohio State, Tennessee matchups
ATHENS — The Georgia football quest to three-peat is quite a story, to the extent ESPN sent a reporter out to ask elite coaches what it would take to put the Bulldogs down.
Comments
I think complacency is Georgia's biggest opponent in 2023.
Alabama took a step back in 21-22, can they get back to their previous level? Tennessee doesn't have enough defense and Kirby has Heupel's offense solved. Ohio St won't likely be able to duplicate their 2022 success the next time. I think the most likely threat could be Michigan. They return a lot of starters and have made the CFP two years in a row. They've almost been there and that matters.
Rat poison by ESPN. Herbstreit and crew don't want UGA to have the first Three peat of the modern era. Lots of things have to go Georgia's way in order to pull it off. The first and biggest would be Complacency mentioned below.
Complacency. That is the key.
As far as would-shoulda-could. The Dawgs have handled the "explosive" Tenn offense the last couple of years.
I do like the part about how Missouri "should have" beaten the Dawgs. Georgia "should have" beaten them by 20+. As it was, to me, one of the pivotal plays was Starks running down the Mizzou RB on the one. If he'd given up, they'd'a gotten 7, not 3.
And, I remember Kelly saying that if 5 or 6 plays had gone differently, the game would have gone differently. Duh. If 5 or 6 other plays had gone differently, the score would have been more like 63-10.
OSU missing the FG was just one play. If Pod hadn't donked that kick off the upright, an FG by OSU at the end would have been pointless. M'rite?
Michigan needs to learn some complacency and actually come out ready to play in the CFP. Michigan looked over TCU and paid dearly for it. I feel like if somehow OSU and Michigan had a rematch, OSU would've easily won. They came out ready to play in the CFP. And I commend them for that. Coach not so much. And as far as the blitz percentage on stroud, would've gotten home a lot more if not for referees consistently looking away. And the game probably wouldn't have been as close as it was. Just my opinion.
I feel like Georgia may have a stumble point this year, or a couple. It's always hard to sustain success this day in time, especially with constantly evolving offenses and defenses. Nobody would've ever thought it would take until the 4th quarter for us to beat a lowly Missouri team, and like mentioned, should've lost that game as bad as we came out to play.
We would've blown away OSU if the Officials had only called half of the holding plays they got away with.
Dawgs will have a huge target on their backs this year, for every team this will be "the game" of the year for them until (hopefully) the SECCG and beyond. If they take it one game at a time and keep things in perspective I like our chances.
Regular season sets up well to go undefeated. There's no reason to lose to anyone on our schedule. If we lose, we've beaten ourselves.
I've heard about the refs "colluding" with GA on penalties and other calls. My fave is the "late" time out on the fake punt. Somehow the buckeyes miss the fact that OSU had 12 guys on the field for that play.
Missouri Should Have? Takes this so called coaches cred away..
Georgia 481 total yards
Missouri 294 total yards
1st downs - Georgia 28 - Mizzou - 14
Time of possession - Georiga 34.48 - Mizzou - 25:12
What kept Missouri ahead in this game was 2 turn overs and Georgia not being able to cross the goal line. Go back and look at the 2nd half - especially when you get to the 4th quarter. Dawgs dominated this game as it went and once again. And everybody now forgets that Georgia took the ball over with 3:39 left and Georgia ran it at the Tigers - couldn't stop them.
Missouri wasn't winning this game, unless Georgia let them. Georgia didn't let them. With that said, this game really helped down the stretch in tight games against Kentucky and then again against OSU. But again -Dawgs shouldn't have lost and didn't lose.
Kirby Smart and the Dawgs have set themselves apart by declaring themselves the hunters, never the hunted. We will not act like prey but as predators winning every play. The mindset that KS has instilled into his teams is that to be a Bulldog you have to work harder everyday in every way, not to be better but to be the very best. Go Dawgs!!!
Every year has games that are close and go one way or another - nothing different about UGA as well. The thing about all of the yards LSU had and points that seems to always get left out is what was the score when that was occurring? What changes and shifts had UGA made to their defense at that point that made it much easier to have that many yards. Not making excuses but it was a different game plan. The yards allowed against OSU were much more impactful and costly than the more that LSU had.
Kirby just toyed with Kent St., Mizzou, Kentucky and LSU, in a few quarters, last year, to give his boys a little challenge. A little manufactured adversity. To see if they were ready to fight for it. I know, a lot of people will find that, "hard to believe". But, IMO, it's the only explanation, that has some logic to it, and makes sense.
It proved to be wise, when the Dawgs had to draw on that experience, to fight off an inspired OSU Team, in the CFP. The Dawgs were mistake-prone and OSU could do no wrong. Those kind of games occur from time-to-time...as in BAMA 41 vs UGA 24. That loss to BAMA, was just the push UGA needed, going into the 2021 CFP. This time...2022 CFP...Kirby came prepared. I think he might have it (team culture and mental toughness), down to a "science". Lol
UGA outclassed everybody on the field last year...even with CKS making them fight with one arm tied behind their back, in a few quarters of the season. Three-peat...four-peat...we might have to come up with some new words, if things keep going like this, in Athens.
Saban must be "eating his heart out", right now. Desperate to catch up to Kirby...with a brand new Staff...and, the youngest team, he's ever had. He'll have more heat on him this year, than he's felt since he was in Miami. Lol...yeah!...this is gonna be fun to watch.
I think most pundits forget how dominating that UGA win over uT was as well as lsu. Both were very well on par to be comparable to TCU had UGA kept their foot on the pedal. LSU had one legitimate drive and uT had a FG. UGA only had 2 tough games. Mizzou and hate to say Ohio St. Both I think the Dawgs underestimated. All this to say.....our biggest opponent is ourselves. We play focused and up to our standards is another Natty. Easier said then done though. Go Dawgs