Last week wasn’t a dream. It happened. Why it happened isn’t so much the question. The question is will it happen again.
Kirby Smart will tell any reporter who’ll listen that Georgia isn’t where it needs to be from a talent/depth standpoint along either line of scrimmage. For all of Mark Richt’s success, one of the consistent points of constraint among fans was his inability to recruit and develop dominant lines of scrimmage.
Against Nicholls State Smart saw first-hand what he must change about his version of the program. Nicholls State isn’t a good FCS team. This isn’t an Appalachian State-beats-Michigan sort of deal. This middling FCS team walked into Sanford Stadium and whipped the Bulldogs on both lines of scrimmage.
Have fun with the SEC, Kirby.
It seems one holdover from the previous regime was line-of-scrimmage play that left you wanting. The play against North Carolina in the opener was a bit of fool’s gold as the Heels just aren’t good against the run.
While the performance against Nicholls isn’t likely to be a weekly trend—many teams have tried to stack the box against Georgia only to see Nick Chubb gash them—the performance against North Carolina won’t happen each week either.
Georgia is going to have success running the ball only to follow it up with several stalled drives. This is what reality looks like when your QB options are either a raw freshman or one more seasoned yet lacking above-average talent. Those options lead to conservative playcalling.
Jacob Eason’s first start wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, either. Had Michael Chigbu held onto the two balls hitting his hands Eason is staring at 13-20 for 240(ish) yards. Again, not bad, but nothing that will wow anyone watching.
The interception Eason threw was a classic freshman mistake. Not only did he throw it late over the middle, but he did his best Mike Vick impersonation and fired the eight yard pass with way too much heat. A deflected INT led to a 91-yard return, making the game all too close for comfort.
One thing that could help Eason is the comfort blanket of good TE play. About that…
For the second year in a row Georgia fans were led to believe the tight ends would be a focal point of the passing offense. Through two games Georgia TEs have a combined 2 catches for 30 yards.
There have been some drops, sure, but the TEs aren’t even getting the targets most were expecting. There’s also the continued issue of either a) QBs missing open WRs b) open wide receivers dropping the ball or c) WRs simply not getting open.
Again, this happened against FCS cellar dweller Nicholls State. Literally every team remaining on Georgia’s schedule has more talent.
I do think the noon kickoff coupled with playing a no-name team the week after a marquee game had a major impact. I think the quick scoring drive to open the game probably played a part, too, as it would be human nature for a team to relax a bit.
The problem is that’s exactly the attention-to-detail stuff Smart was supposed to improve. As frustrating as it was seeing Richt’s teams piddle around against lesser foes, it never came close to losing a game to an FCS school. Georgia fans—certainly those who wanted Richt out—have been telling everyone Smart will have the team ready to handle anything and the “little things” will no longer be an issue.
That attention-to-deal improvement could be proven true over time, but last week we saw a head coach that looked just as green as his young freshman QB. The decision to pull Eason late in the game in favor of Greyson Lambert makes little sense to me unless the coaches don’t trust Eason. That’s the only sensible explanation.
Of course that wasn’t Smart’s explanation.
“The decision to go with Greyson was more of a change-up,” Smart said. “Go with him, let him go in there and show a little confidence in him with the four-minute offense and be able to shift and motion some people and hopefully run the ball and get some run game going and let him execute the flow of the offense.”
The last part of the statement has some truth to it. The motion and flex stuff Georgia likes to use is a bit headier than what offensive coordinator Jim Chaney did with Eason. But that first part? That’s total spin room BS.
Smart didn’t trust Eason to run the offense and get out of the game with a win. It’s that simple. Lambert hadn’t played all game and immediately after an Eason interception is put in with the team nursing a lead. Yet it was all about getting Lambert some confidence? Not sure how dumb Smart thinks we are, but we’re not that dumb.
Smart is going to have to trust Eason more than he showed last week for Georgia to contend for the SEC East. To do that, Smart is going to need to put Eason in better situations where he can earn Smart’s trust. Running the ball 68% of the time quickly becomes predictable. Teams with far more talent will be able to do what Nicholls State did last week.
I’m having a serious case of deja-vu as I remember making similar statements about Georgia’s offense a year ago. Teams will see UGA wants to go big and physical with three TE sets, but if you don’t pass out of those sets to soften teams up you’ll see a lot of 8- and 9-man fronts. Georgia needs to make teams defend the entire field. Right now it’s not doing that, and the meat of the schedule is nearly upon us.
The good news is Georgia has two weapons on the outside in Terry Godwin and Isaiah McKenzie who should be able to open things up for its running game. The bad news is both are tiny and can’t hold a block. This is the dilemma for Chaney and Smart. Do they try and force UGA into the physical brand of ball they prefer, or do they tailor the team to the talents on hand?
The answer, of course, is obvious. Great coaching adapts to the roster while going out and getting what it wants via recruiting. This season will be an interesting test for Smart. He’s not had to choose varying styles of play for almost a decade as Alabama always had what it wanted. Now, in his first head gig, Smart has to choose between going full bore into the power game he seems to want, or making “sacrifices” that better fit the scheme.
Many-a-promising coach has fallen victim to stubborn pride. Will Smart do likewise, or will he adapt? Time will tell.
Header imagine via The Telegraph
The Erudite Fan 