12 TAKEAWAYS GEORGIA VS MISSISSIPPI STATE - It’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems

12 TAKEAWAYS GEORGIA VS MISSISSIPPI STATE - It’s never as good as it seems, and it’s never as bad as it seems

12 Takeaways is normally a subscriber only feature. This week’s edition is being presented free to you by Bulldog Estates RV Park in Athens. Many of you know my wife and I spend lots of time in our RV throughout the year, and we had a home game of sorts this weekend at Bulldog Estates. It’s as nice of an RV park as we’ve ever encountered- flat spaces, a putting green, lots of grassy areas to walk pets, a stage for bands, and a shuttle to and from the stadium on gameday. If you’re looking to upgrade your football weekends and get out of the grind of postgame traffic on 316, Bulldog Estates is your spot. It’s a perfect place for parents of students or diehard Dawg fans. You can find more info here.

1) “It’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems.” Kirby Smart has said that for years now in response to questions about the strength of his team. There has always been some coded messaging in that automatic response, one that told his Georgia team not to start believing the hype that others bestowed upon them. Football is a sport filled with thin margins. There’s a lot of things that can go wrong on any given play, and there are a ton that have to go right over and over again to win a football game. We’ve gotten accustomed to UGA doing so many things right that we have probably overlooked just how many details were being met. It’s a testament to the successes of the last three years that many UGA fans woke up on Sunday morning feeling discouraged. The weight of what has been built is very real, and it should be- There are things that UGA has to fix. I would also be lying if I didn’t admit that I thought this game showed us this team has an offensive ceiling that is higher than I thought it could be. There are also things happening in the secondary that are legitimately concerning. Let’s look at all of it…

2) We looked up at the end of this game and the scoreboard was 41-31. That will leave a sour taste in the mouths of many, but the reality is that Georgia played its most dominant game of the year from a success rate standpoint. 

• UGA 42% - Clemson 28% = +14%
• UGA 37% - UK 44% = -7%
• UGA 43% - Alabama 47% = +4%
• UGA 49% - Auburn 38% = +11%
• UGA 57% - Miss State 32% = +25%

The Dawgs put up a 57% Offensive Success Rate** and really dominated MSU on a down-to-down basis. State started the game with 4 consecutive three-and-out and had just an 8% Offensive Success Rate in the first quarter. I can’t recall a UGA opponent having an SR that was that low in a quarter since I have been doing this. That includes games where Georgia recorded shutouts. State’s SR jumped to 31% in Q2 and topped out at 47% in Q3 before settling back at 35% for the final period of the game. Georgia’s offense had a 50% SR in the first and second quarters with a red hot 70% SR in the 2nd quarter and a 53% SR in the fourth. I would never look at this advanced stat box score and think MSU scored 31 points. 

**Success Rate is an efficiency metric that determines the success of a play. Successful plays meet one of the following criteria: 

• The offense scored
• 1st downs which gain at least 50% of the yards to go
• 2nd downs which gain at least 70% of the yards to go
• 3rd and 4th downs which gain at least 100% of the yards to go

3) In the end, State did score 31 points, and therein lies the rub. This game serves is a perfect example of how explosive plays and turnovers can break games in one direction or another. You can add penalties to that list too. Beck’s first INT gifted State a FG on a drive where they netted a total of -3 yards. MSU gained a total of 7 yards in the first quarter but still got points. The second INT took points off the board for UGA. They probably would’ve gotten a TD there with how they were playing, so this game would have sat at 41-17 midway through the 3rd quarter. Instead it was suddenly 34-24. At 13-3 with about 10 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter, UGA’s offense was beginning to find its stride. The Dawgs scored points on every drive of the first half outside of the first one (INT) and the last one (clock/missed FG). If they get the ball back up 13-3 they’re probably going down and making it a 20-3 game. Instead they bust a coverage for a 72 yard pass and then bust a coverage on 2nd & Goal from the 24 yard-line. Boom, it’s a 13-10 football game. Up 34-10 early in the 3rd quarter, UGA was set to roll on towards Austin. The Dawgs had MSU in 3rd & 10 on their first possession of the half, but a PI on LB Chris Cole moved the chains. A few plays later, Georgia had MSU stopped again and Chambliss pulled Van Buren’s facemask on what should have been a sack. The drive continued, and MSU eventually scored. It’s hard to win any football game. It’s even harder when you help the other team. Elite teams suck the life out of opponents. Georgia is getting into the habit of giving like to theirs. That is concerning, and it demonstrates a lack of timeliness and awareness that the last three Georgia football teams seemed to possess plenty of. 

4) I say all of that to say this- People are going to spend all week talking about the defense and the problems with it. I think it is more accurate to talk about aspects of the defense that aren’t functioning properly and therefore overriding a lot of things that are working right. Going back and looking at the plays MSU made, a lot of them came with backups in or guys playing outside of their usual spots. Georgia held MSU to 2/12 on 3rd downs in this game. The average distance MSU faced on 3rd down was 8 yards. Kirby Smart said after the game that UGA gifted State 14 points. In fact, he said it on multiple occasions in his postgame presser. That was in reference to the busted coverages and the penalties. I would go a step further and say UGA gifted State 17 points and include the 1st quarter INT as part of the problem. As I left Sanford Stadium on Saturday night, I found myself feeling kind of down on UGA’s defense. Smart mentioned that he didn’t think UGA won a single 50/50 ball, and while that feels true, State actually was 3 for 5 on its contested catch opportunities in this game. After watching the game tape, I am less concerned about some spots than I thought I would be (and more concerned about others). One thing worth noting is that Mississippi State runs an unconventional offense. Their system is similar to Tennessee’s in that it is a hyper spread with wide splits that deploys lots of tempo when it’s working. The key to stopping those types of offenses is to win with a light box against the run and hope you don’t get hit too hard on deep balls downfield. Georgia held MSU to a 28% Rush Success Rate. 16 of MSU’s 25 runs were stopped for 2 yards or less. I came into this game believing that UGA had DT’s good enough to stuff the inside run week to week and I leave it believing the same thing. The defensive line is not really the problem here. At least, the starting DL isn’t. 

5) The TD run from 19 yards came with Brinson as the left side DE and Jamaal Jarrett as the DT next to him. Brinson runs himself upfield and out of the play at the snap. Jalon Walker misplays the run and bites down into a hole instead of stringing the play out and following the ball. Jackson is held at Safety, and boom… You have a TD run. I don’t think UGA is going to have Brinson at DE next week at Texas, but it underscored an important point I want to make- The portal era has thinned out UGA’s depth considerably and injuries have thinned it out even more. Kirby said in postgame that a lot of Georgia’s alphas are hurt. Mondon has been out, Hall has been out, Mykel played just 11 snaps in this game as basically a pass rush specialist, Wilson and Ratledge have been out on the OL as well. In total, it puts butts into seats they shouldn’t be. I do think there were parts of this game that UGA managed to keep guys fresh for next week and give younger players experience. If Williams, Walker or Chambliss are on the edge I think that 19 yard run gets snuffed out. If Mondon or Allen is in at ILB for Jalon then I think they make that play on the RB. Allen played 39 snaps, which is a couple ticks under his season high of 58. Miller, Ingram-Dawkins and Stackhouse have shown they can control the interior run and make lots of disruptive penetration to the ball. Those 3 combined for 5 STOP plays vs the run on Saturday. Ingram-Dawkins also had 3 pressures. Miller and Stackhouse didn’t play a ton of snaps in the 2nd half. Stackhouse played 25 total, which was half the snaps he played at Alabama and 27 less than he played at Kentucky. The guys replacing them didn’t look great at times, and who is replacing starters is being influenced by starters being out. Despite all of that, I leave this game feeling pretty unmoved in my opinions on the defensive line. The misdirection and RPO’s in MSU’s offense coupled with a mobile QB led to a game where Georgia basically did nothing exotic in terms of pressure packages. UGA blitzed on 20 of Van Buren’s 41 dropbacks and held him to 8/17 passing on those, but they gave up 2 TD’s because of busted coverages and then losing the 50/50 ball with under 2 minutes to go. Georgia can get to the QB and they disrupt QB’s when they do. This was an unconventional offense and Georgia used unconventional personnel for portions of the night on the DL. The problem here is that with Mondon, Williams and Hall out the Dawgs don’t have the type of defensive depth that we are used to seeing. I did think McLeod played his second really nice game in a row, but he only saw 11 snaps in this one. Xzavier had 2 tackles (both were STOP plays and came at an average depth of 0.5 YDS past the line of scrimmage) on just 4 snaps as a run defender. The low snap count makes me feel like he will be counted on with Brinson and the trio I mentioned above when Georgia gets to Austin. 

6) Now about that back seven… Want a padlock stat? Here’s the giant red flag from this game…

Michael Van Buren Passing vs Georgia

With Play-Action (16 dropbacks): 10/15, 215 YDS, 14.3 YPA, 1 TD

NO Play-Action (25 dropbacks): 10/22, 91 YDS, 4.1 YPA, 2 TD/1 INT

Simply put, Georgia’s eye discipline isn’t good enough. That’s a team wide issue in my opinion. Auburn exploited it last week, and MSU did it as well. This was a start to finish issue. Harris was starting in the backfield a play-action while the WR ran past him for the 72-yard reception, Everette is starting at the fake handoff in the backfield as the motion man runs past him for MSU’s first TD of the game, somebody busted their responsibility and bit on run when MSU hit the little pop pass out of the tight formation on their first drive of the 3rd quarter, Raylen runs past the TE on the delayed leak out later in the drive, He gets fooled again on the 4th & Goal bust for the TD, Jacorey Thomas gets fooled on the misdirectioned pre-snap motion from the TE on the 4th down with the play-action fake and reads it as him pinning down as a run blocker. 

Last week, Auburn’s lone TD came off Walker and Wilson reading the pulling guards in gap scheme instead of watching the football and realizing it was some sort of Counter with a QB Read built onto it. 

7) The whole thing is maddening to watch, and my opinion is split on it. On one hand, the backers and safeties need to be more disciplined and not overplay things. Raylen runs himself up into blocks sometimes when a little patience would lead to a tackle. Starks is often trying to crash and make plays but is running himself out of an angle. It feels like guys are pressing to make a hero play and giving up 20 yards instead of making a smart play that would lead to 5 yards. That might be game jitters, and on some level it is good scheme from opposing offenses. I couldn’t help but think Lebby got to halftime and saw some pictures or tablet photos of UGA’s linebackers biting on all the RPO’s and told his QB to start pulling the ball. Kirby said all week that between the splits and the RPO stuff, MSU’s offense can put you in spots where you’re never right. That is modern offensive football, and that is going to be the case at times. 

The flip side of all of this is that it sure as hell seems like these guys are confused at times. The inability to deal with presnap motion cost UGA a TD at Alabama, and it cost them one in this game as well. To me, your eyes and feet don’t work as well when your brain is full. Will Muschamp was hired as an analyst in the offseason prior to the 2021 season. One of the first times he sat down and watched tape with Kirby he told him that he didn’t understand why the hell Georgia’s defense was so complicated. I obviously wasn’t there for the conversation. The story that has been repeated to me on a few occasions was that Will basically told Smart that Georgia needed to simplify its defense. Muschamp’s opinion was that Georgia recruits the best athletes, and it’d be stupid not to free them up to just go play. 

I think that lesson needs to be remembered right now. Georgia’s linebackers and safeties are taking way too many wrong steps and stutter steps. Some of that is certainly execution, but busts like the one on 4th & Goal should NEVER happen. There are too many elite athletes on this defense for that. Some of this is also probably a product of injuries. Walker is playing way more ILB, and he missed 2 tackles in this game. At this point, his body has been transformed to hold up on the DL at OLB/EDGE. He’s a freaky athlete, but it is hard to ask him to go out there and play thins sideline to sideline against an RPO heavy defense for 28 snaps like he did in this one. 

8. Alright, let’s talk about this secondary. First off, I’ll reiterate the point I made above about this offense being unconventional. Kirby was asked about Ellis Robinson’s playing time in postgame and said that he’s had 2 excellent weeks of practice and would’ve played before the end of the game if not for the opponent. He mentioned that MSU has really wide splits and requires lots of checks presnap. Those checks almost certainly contributed to some of the hesitant play from the LB’s as well. The closest thing UGA plays to this offense is probably what Heupel runs at Tennessee. I found myself thinking about the last few UGA-UT games on Sunday morning. Georgia basically plays tight up on the WR’s and dares the offense to either hand it off or live off deep shots. The one exception to that has often been some in-breaking routes over the middle. MSU was 4 of 5 on 10-19 YDS throws in this game, and cashed those in for 64 yards receiving. You can live with that if you’re Georgia, though I found it alarming how easily MSU’s WR’s got inside of Humphrey on some third down slants that were ultimately incomplete. The short throws were played tight, true to Smart’s word. MSU completed 8/12 on attempts of 0-9 YDS but they went for just 44 YDS (3.7 YPA). MSU did get 25 yards off of 4 throws behind the line, but UGA allowed just 4 yards a pop on 4 screens.

It’s telling that Georgia put MSU into a spot where it attempted 9 throws of 20+ YDS and 5 throws of 10-19. That’s essentially a backwards passing chart for Van Buren, and Smart remarked postgame that since he’s been at Georgia they like to play the short/intermediate stuff tight and force you to either hit long balls or be in 2nd & long or 3rd & long all day. That worked when it worked- MSU’s average 3rd down distance was 8 yards, and it only moved the chains on 2 of 12 attempts on 3rd downs. In total, Van Buren hit 4/9 deep balls for 172 YDS and 2 TD’s. One of them was the Everette bust on the motion and the other was the final MSU drive over Humphrey.

The thing you 100% cannot have is an outright bust like the one Harris gave up in the first half. I don’t think it showed on the TV broadcast, but I was watching him at the snap and he didn’t even start backpedaling before the WR ran past him. It was alarming. I commend him for the effort of running the play down and making the tackle, but we haven’t seen UGA allow a pass of 70+ yards in years. I tried to figure out the last one but I couldn’t think of anything that long since the start of 2021. The closest I could get was Jameson Williams going for 67 yards for Bama’s first TD in the 2021 SEC Championship, but even that was him splitting the defense and guys getting blocked downfield. Georgia has allowed some long balls in the 40+ yard range where a WR got behind a DB but there was nothing like that. 

Harris came off the field after that play and never went back into the game. What the message was there is intriguing to me. Was that a missed presnap check where Harris missed something and thought Georgia was in zone? Was that just bad eye discipline like we were talking about before? I don’t know, but clearly Georgia’s staff found the mistake inexcusable. Robinson IV didn’t play much in this game because of the heavy amount of checks. Did Harris’s error show the staff that he should be treated like a true freshman on this night as well?

If you take the 72 yarder off the stat line the whole shape of the game is changed. Georgia is holding MSU to 313 yards and 5 yards a play instead of 6.1. Instead of Van Buren being 4/9 on deep throws for 172 YDS he is probably closer to 100 yards. If I sit here and “if” in one hand and crap in the other then I know which one will fill up quicker, but I make that point just to say that explosive plays lead to points. Super explosive plays like that one will lead to losses against better teams. 

9) As for the rest of the secondary, it seems like other teams have gotten the book on Everette. On the surface his performance really wasn’t bad- 3 TGT/2 REC on 36 coverage snaps for 36 YDS. The problem is that Lebby got a bye week to look at Georgia. When his team was in 2nd & Goal from the 24 and desperately needed a play to cash an explosive in for points he pulled one that seemed specifically designed to take advantage of #6’s eye discipline. He overloaded Everette with the motion and the play-action, and if MSU can overload him then it’s likely that Texas and Ole Miss sure as hell can too. I sounded the alarm last week on the fact that Everette continues to be beat on comeback routes. That wasn’t really MSU’s game, so the jury remains out there. It just feels like Daylen thinks a lot more than a guy who has had this many reps should be. He can change my mind totally next week in Austin, and I truly hope he does, but this WR corps from MSU wasn’t exactly 2019 LSU. I saw him get beat on releases on quite a few plays in this game. Some of them were RPO’s that got handed off and others were passes that didn’t get made, but once he’s beat I think it is hard for him to get back into plays. His recovery speed seems to lack at times and I feel like I rarely see him playing the ball. 

The same is true for Humphrey- I don’t see him playing the ball nearly enough. He played a better game than Harris or Everette on Saturday, and I think he’s probably the best pure cover corner among the three. The problem is that he doesn’t finish plays enough. He is often in position, but even when he knows the ball is in the air he is playing his man instead of turning his head to play the football. I think he is getting more physical, but he still missed a tackle. He fought back for position on the TD he gave up, which was progress in my eyes. If he doesn’t trip I think he has a PBU on a really well thrown ball. Other than that final play, he only gave up 3 yards receiving in this game. I don’t doubt his speed or recovery ability mid-play. The thing is… If he’d turned his head he’d have known where to put his arm to break it up. If he’d flipped his hips back towards the field he’d have had an easy INT too. He has the athleticism to play arrogant. He needs to start doing it though. It takes confidence to play CB looking to make catches instead of being afraid of allowing them. Humphrey and Everette seem to lack that confidence when the ball is in the air downfield. 

All of that is why I think it is time for Ellis Robinson IV to get a real look. I was down on the field in the end zone MSU was driving towards in the final moments of the game on Saturday. I saw Ellis was in and I watched him closely. He plays savily. He stays in position and in-phase while keeping his eyes on the backfield. He isn’t relying on his WR’s motions to tell him the ball is in the air. He knows when the QB has thrown it and he starts tracking it. He may not be ready as a tackler, but Kirby praised him highly in his postgame comments to us. I know it’s a dice roll to throw a freshman out there on the road at Texas. I also think you recruit 5* players so you always have backup plans. I’ll admit some bias here because I covered Ellis for a few years as a recruit. I have been sold on him since I saw him lock Jeremiah Smith down at OT7 in California two summers ago. Considering what we now know about Smith, my position on Robinson has only strengthened.

10) Carson Beck’s performance last night made him one of just 6 quarterbacks to have 450+ YDS passing and a 75% completion percentage in an SEC game in the last 20 years. The other five were Bryce Young (2021), Matt Corral (2020) Joe Burrow (2019), Dak Prescott (2015) and Johnny Manziel (2012). Three of those players won a Heisman the year they achieved that (Young, Burrow and Manziel). Prescott led a historical afterthought of a program to unprecedented heights. Corral’s came during the Covid season where offense across the sport was at an all-time high, but his performance was part of a 59-point output was the final game of Will Muschamp’s tenure at South Carolina… They may not be happy with the entirety of the offensive performance, but Georgia fans witnessed a QB operating in rarified air on Saturday night. I’ve seen some people shrug off Beck’s numbers with statements like, “It happened against Mississippi State.” I get that on some level, but I have seen a load of crappy teams roll into Sanford Stadium over the years. I don’t remember watching a Georgia QB put up 317 YDS in a half like that. 

What is wild is that I think it’s easy to see all of the ways that it could have been better. Humphreys had one drop that has to be caught. Arian had the drop on the opening drive and then had his hands on two other catches that could have been caught. I’m not saying they wouldn’t have been great catches, but he probably needs to bring in at least one of those three if not two. On the whole, Georgia’s passing game was only stopped when it stopped itself. The INT on the delayed wrap from the LB is part bad luck, part bad vision from Beck. You could say Fairchild needed to step up and engage the blitzer, but you don’t want him to lean and break the pocket. The INT to Luckie was honestly bizarre. Carson threw it straight to the DB. Lawson looked upset after the play and Beck just stood there kinda half stunned like he couldn’t believe it. I wondered if Lawson made a bad read or cut his route wrong.  

Either way, Beck’s performance was probably the most accurate I have ever seen from a Georgia QB, especially when you factor in the downfield attack. He was 4/8 on 20+ yard throws for 195 YDS and 2 TD’s. His average depth of target on those plays was 31.5 yards. PFF graded 2 of his 4 deep incompletions as drops, so you’re talking about a QB that is just lacing accurate deep throws all over the field. He has built a fantastic deep ball onto what was already a fantastic intermediate game. He had so many nice layered throws in this one that he hit between LB’s and safeties… 6/8 on 10-19 yard throws for him in this game for 124 YDS with 1 INT. His Adjusted Completion Percentage was 87% on the night. I thought the TD to Bell on the back line of the end-zone was the single best downfield throw of Beck’s UGA career. He was rolling the entire time and was in-stride when he released it. He never reset his feet and still delivered that ball in the perfect spot where only #86 could catch it. 

Bobo didn’t hit the gas a ton in this game once UGA went up 27-10, but it was impressive when he did and there was a lot of good motion and play-action. Beck was 10/15 off play-action for 195 YDS (13 YPA) and 3 TD’s. This OL has had its inconsistencies in certain areas this year, but the pass protection has been elite. Beck dropped back 49 times in this game and his OL gave up just 4 pressures. Greene, Morris, Bobo and Delp were responsible for one each. 

11) I liked the usage of Georgia’s skill players in this game. I liked it a lot. So much so that I joked that Bobo reads UGA Twitter. There were tons of explosives. Beck had 12 completions of 15+ YDS. He hit 7 different receivers for a total of 312 YDS on those 12 completions.

• A Smith: 3 for 123 YDS
• D Bell: 3 for 75 YDS
• D Lovett: 2 for 34 YDS
• L Humphreys: 20 YDS
• O Delp: 17 YDS
• A Evans: 18 YDS
• B Yurosek: 29 YDS

Some quick hitter thoughts on the pass catchers…

- 8 TGT/5 REC for 134 YDS for Arian, who had his best game at UGA and also still had a couple drops. This is probably just who he is. You flip the cards over and sometimes it’s a 15 and sometimes it’s a 20. He’s going to have a couple plays a game that put you off schedule and he’s going to have a couple plays a game that hit for a TD or put you in a scoring opportunity. The hard part for Bobo is that you often have to draw up 2 winners for Arian to get 1 that hits. His effort on the deep post was tremendous and he did a lot of really nice stuff finding holes in zones late in plays that let Beck get the ball out of his hands before it was too late. You can live with a couple bad plays for all the upside he brings. 5.36 Yards a route run on 25 receiving snaps in this one. 

- Bell had his best night of the season and made some tough catches. I liked the slant to him on 3rd and long when UGA needed a drive. That’s his thing. If you need a play from Bell he can always get open on a slant. Downfield is another matter, and he doesn’t create a lot of great separation at times, but he does make tough catches. I keep waiting for the portion of the season where he gets to go up for some of these boundary fades. I think it’s coming next week with Young likely out for Texas. He is strong to and through the football. I’d like to see him used in the screen game some if UGA is going to run a handful of them in Austin (I suspect they will). 1.95 YRR on 42 receiving snaps.

- London got into things more with 3 TGT/2 REC on 21 snaps as a receiver and was open at some points without being thrown to. That drop was tough. Gotta make those to stay on the field, but in general he feels like one of the guys Beck trusts over the middle. 1.19 YRR isn’t gonna cut it longterm, but he’s been one of UGA’s most productive wideouts on a per snap basis so far this year. 

- Lovett’s 5 receptions on 7 targets were oddly quiet. 50 yards isn’t a bad night but the one over the middle where he and Beck weren’t on the same page with the read is the most memorable moment of the performance. That issue was there in Week 1 last year, and it still being there is concerning. He’s a high level athlete who should be creating space and big plays downfield. The fact Beck threw for 465 and we didn’t see Dom go downfield tells me they’re either a) saving that for big games or b) aren’t using him that way going forward. I think it’s B. I still believe he’s the elite receiver on this team, but Beck won’t look for him if he doesn’t trust him to make the same read he is. 1.67 YRR. 

- Delp’s 3 TGT/2 REC’s for 28 yards on 19 snaps were extremely encouraging. I think the TE’s working the middle as well as they did in this game actually helped facilitate a lot of other things in the offense. This was what we expected from that room from the start. Better late than never. Could really help UGA influence defenses if that bunch can get rolling. 1.47 YRR isn’t great, but it is better than 0.00.

- Yurosek - PROOF OF LIFE! Had one big play on 11 receiving snaps. Probably should’ve had two. He actually blocked decently well in this one. He’s getting the hang of things. 2.64 YRR. 

- Luckie - 25 Receiving snaps was tied for 3rd most among the pass catchers, which is probably about where he should be. 4 TGT/3 REC’s for just 15 yards but the TD was nice. All but 4 of those snaps came out of the slot as a stand-up Y. Needs to hit some of his breaks a bit harder and keep working to find holes in the zone as the play goes on. Just .60 YRR this week. 

If I can leave you with one offensive stat in big neon lights for this week it is…

Anthony Evans III - 11 OFFENSIVE SNAPS, 93 TOTAL YARDS - 1 RUSH - 52 YDS, 4 TGT/4 REC - 41 YDS (13.5 YDS after the catch per reception), 5.86 YDS per Route Run

#5 is a weapon. It was great seeing him used like one. I am a little befuddled why it took so long, but all will be forgiven if he’s given touches in Austin. Yards after the catch are like a vital sign for offenses. I say this all the time, but I repeat it because I believe it to be true. YAC takes stress off of the QB and also off of the offensive line. Evans got the ball 3.2 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average in this game and turned it into 93 yards on 5 touches. That is like a microwave for points. It also stresses and stretches defenses in ways that open things vertically. Georgia averaged essentially the same amount of YAC per reception this week as it did versus Auburn, but that came on a night where Beck threw the ball far more and UGA was able to stretch the field way more. Georgia had 14 screens in this game, and they averaged 6.6 yards each for a total of 92 yards. People think they’re boring and redundant, but they force secondaries into conundrums. You can either creep up on those and try to stop them or you can give up 8 yards whenever the offense wants it outside. The early screens with Etienne and Evans helped UGA get vertical as the game went on.

12) I have seen some hand wringing around the amount of pass attempts and the general state of the designed runs with the backs. I understand the frustration, but I am a bit less worried than some. I think this was a MSU defense that Georgia could have scored on in just about whatever way they wanted to. This game, to me, was as much about what it sets up for next week as it was about this week. Georgia got a ton of perimeter stuff on tape, and then a lot downfield. They also worked way more Gap Scheme this game (13 Zone/11 Gap vs MSU) after being basically 75% Zone Scheme against Auburn. I think Georgia wanted to rep some stuff and lay some foundational things on tape for next week. They established more players as receiving threats and used the full width of the field with the screens. That stuff is an extension of the run game in many ways. It should keep Texas from loading the box next week, and I think that’s when Georgia will lay heavily on Etienne. He only had 11 carries in this game. In general, injuries tend to happen on run plays more often than on passes. 

I still see too many missed run blocks from Greene and the offensive line on the whole. There were also a lot of plays where MSU just loaded the box. State dared Georgia to throw on them and Georgia threw on them. Smart did remark postgame that there were some RPO’s they had where Beck pulled it and threw it for a 4-yard gain where he thought the run would have hit for 50 yards. We’ll see if that is true or not next week, but I think a healthy UGA offensive line with Etienne and Frazier getting 35-40 attempts is one that will wear down defenses and run the ball well when it needs to in order to win a game. There were too many runs stopped for 2 yards or less in this game (11 of UGA’s 28 carries), but there were also 14 of 28 rushes that went for 4+ yards. 

I thought Yurosek’s 2nd level blocking as legitimately good at times, and helped spring some successful rushes. Freeling looked as good as I’ve seen in run blocking and was moving his man in a real way on the first TD from Branson. I liked the pin and pull stuff in Gap Scheme being incorporated more. It would be big for Georgia if they can really establish that for this stretch run. We finally saw a toss concept hit for a decent gain this week as well. Bonus points to Cash for his pass protection and ETN for his blocking for Evans on the little pop pass off the jet motion. 

UGA ground out Auburn a week ago on long drives in a game where it had just 8 possessions. That came after 14 possessions and having to air it out all 2nd half at Alabama. This week was between those- 12 drives with UGA averaging 9.2 plays and 58 yards a drive. It felt heavy on the passing and it was, but they went on a drive of 16 plays and 7:26 when they decided it was time to stop messing around and end the game. This offense has reached a point where I think it can play small ball and dink/dunk its way down the field just as well as I believe it can hit chunk plays and score in 2 minutes over 75 yards in 5-6 plays. 

If you look at the games between highly ranked teams so far this year, they have in large part come down to teams needing to lean on their QB’s to throw them down the field in the 2nd half. Good offense always beats good defense, and this is starting to look more and more like a good offense. It still has plenty of untapped ceiling to reach for, but it is rounding into shape in time for the back half of the regular season. 

We’ll breakdown Texas all week here at DawgsCentral, but I’ll leave you all with this thought... Unless some major shifts happen on defense, Georgia might need to win a shootout to get out of Austin with a win. I have never been more confident in this offense’s ability to win a shootout than I am after Saturday night.