The Dawgs go into Austin and rip #1 Texas, ESPN, the SEC and the officials a new one in a 30-15 win that was classic Kirby Smart Junkyard Dawg defense. The Georgia defense put together possibly their best 60 minutes of football since Tennessee 2022 or Clemson 2021 as the Bulldog anaconda took away any threat of the Texas running game, got after Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning, and forced 4 turnovers leading to cheap field position and points. Here’s my link to the preview:
Team Stats:
108-29. Yes, I know that includes all of the sacks of Ewers & Manning, but the Dawgs front put the clamps on any running threat by the Longhorns. Trevor Etienne will forever be known in Georgia lore as the Longhorn killer for his effort in the 2 wins over Texas in 2024. When the Georgia defense plays as they did on this glorious night in Austin, we are almost impossible to beat. Mykel Williams and Jalon Walker dominated, and Daylen Everette took a major step forward. This night was a throwback to watching a defense just take over a game. It’s really too bad SEC officiating made this game closer than it really was.
I don’t understand why we didn’t see this defense week after week in 2024. They played team defense, tackled extremely well, and just dominated the line of scrimmage throughout the game. Of all of the teeth gnashing of the offseason about the offense, I believe this is the reason we didn’t have a chance to hoist the big trophy in January … defensive inconsistency.
Individual Stats:
The impact of the Thunder from Down Under was felt throughout the season, but in a game where both defenses dominated, Brett Thorson was arguably one of the players of the game. The first drive is a 3 and out, and Thorson booms a 58 yard punt that goes out of bounds on the Texas 13. The second punt happens at 2:00 to go in the half from the 29. A net punt of 51 yards (49 and -2 on the return) puts the Horns in poor field position, and, eventually, a Manning fumble leads to Peyton Woodring’s 44 yard field goal to end the half. On the Dawgs’ first possession of the 2nd half, Thorson flips field position again with a 55 yard kick that has no return with Texas getting the ball on their own 5 after a holding penalty during the kick. His final kick after a 3 and out is a 54 yard touchback.
Just money.
Something to Consider for 2025:
After a slow start for the year, Oscar Delp makes one of the biggest plays of the game with a 43 yard catch and run to flip the field and get the ball into scoring position. It seemed after that game, Delp seemed to raise his level of play for the remainder of the season. I think Delp is one of those players this year that has a chance to make some money with a good season. As the leader of the tight end group, I want him to be one of the team’s leaders as he enters his senior year.
If Delp is to be one of the leaders of the offense, my belief is Daylen Everette needs to be one of those guys on defense. In the 2 games against Texas, Everette was one of the best players on the field. He has been one of those guys who has been maligned for not being a lockdown corner on day 1 similar to what Kamari Lassiter was opposite Kelee Ringo in 2022. If Everette grows the same way Lassiter did between 2022 and 2023, we may have a guy who is a prototype NFL corner physically that can allow the defensive coaches the ability to rotate coverage to the opposite side.
6 for 6 kicking in a very hostile environment including that 44-yard field goal that was a dagger at the end of the first half is about as good as it gets. Peyton Woodring will enter 2025 as a leading candidate for postseason national and SEC honors and should be a finalist for the Groza Award for the nation’s best kicker. I know people complain about kicking field goals over scoring touchdowns (I do, too), but knowing the team is more likely than not to score once the team crosses the 50 is a comfy security blanket. Ask Sark if he would have liked to have had Woodring in white in Atlanta later in the season.
Summary:
It’s great to be a Bulldog in the middle of the ocean on a Saturday night (I was on a cruise) after taking the Hamburgers and their entitled, arrogant fan base behind the woodshed and down a few notches. While the Clemson game may have been the best the team looked for a full 60:00, this game was clearly the most satisfying win of the season and likely one of the most appreciated wins of the Smart era. Kirby said it best after the game:
Including his classic Matthew McConaughey troll.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Great reminder about Thorson, who is coming off an ACL tear. I can’t recall another punter tearing his ACL and how he did the following year, so it will be interesting to see how quickly he can return to form on his plant leg. Also, something really overlooked by most media is the fact that we lost both kicking team gunners – Smith and Lovett – who were elite in that role (where catching was not important 😉). I’m someone who believes we’ll need a great punting unit again this year – at least by the Bama game – so getting Thorson healthy and 2 new gunners playing well is a critical component of the offseason.
Great comment, DiA, about the gunners. Thorson combined with those 2 guys made it difficult for teams to have a chance for returns.
On Thorson, I’m guessing as an Aussie footballer, he’ll be all right, all right, all right.
4 yards per game allowed in punt return yardage. Pretty, pretty good. Although the conference had some other elite punt return teams, nobody had a punter with a personality like Thorson.
I’m sure Thorson is going to make another appearance in this series later in the season for that personality.
“Carson showed great composure the whole game…started with 4 drops…”
The whole season right there. I hope they’ve found a way to clean-up the uncontested throws this year.
What I love is when we win a game, and Kirby still seems pissed.
It happened so long ago I almost forgot about the water bottle game. FTMF refs.
When you think about games like this and Clemson you wonder what could have been if not for all the injuries and whatever else was wrong on that team.
I agree … I come back to the question about defensive consistency. For a program that has built its dominance on the defensive side of the ball, you can’t have the issues around explosive plays, missed tackles and lack of havoc we saw last year.
The offense deserves much of what has been said and written over the last 5+ months, but for some reason, the defensive performance hasn’t gotten the same level of scrutiny or criticism.
I’ll never forget the camera panning in on Ewers and Manning late in the first half as they sat side by side on the sidelines. Both had been reduced to the status of headless chickens by the ruthless Dawg D. They looked like they were each going to cry. 😂
Arch Manning is starting to seem like the new A.R. 15.
Man I hope we beat his ass (at least once) next year. He got so much attention when he came to our stadium as a recruit, then went to TEXAS! I hope the kids in Athens don’t forget that recruiting visit and show up this time to make him regret his decision.