The defense has taken the lion’s share of heat recently, but let’s get some highlights first. Some praise from Davin:
Also, a little more praise for CJ Allen:
But let’s also talk about the obvious:
Jekyll and Hyde, right? One commenter here made a valid point, that both Alabama and Auburn had bye weeks to throw some new looks at the Georgia defense. Ole Miss just squeaked by Washington State after Kiffin admitted they had been prepping for the next week against Georgia. Texas and Florida will have bye weeks, as well.
Hiwever, Georgia has a bye week for Alabama and looked lost defensively for the first half of that game, as well. I’m not going to bore us with the idea that our defense is getting predictable, but it seems like it’s taking us a long time to adjust, and waiting until halftime to figure it out isn’t going to work against Ole Miss and likely isn’t going to continue to work against anybody if we are going to be the team that “gets their best shot” week in and week out.
So what’s the gap? Why are we lagging then winning the second half? I’d say it would be talent and warm bodies, but NIL has taken the three deep and two deep talent from Georgia in recent years. Youth? Perhaps. Gaps on the DLine? Maybe.
But I don’t get paid millions as Bellamy said, so that’s someone else’s pay grade of problems. I just hope they figure it out soon, because we need to play a solid 24 quarters in the coming months to make it to the postseason where we want to be, and not at the Pop Tart Bowl.
So other teams with bye weeks can draw up new offensive plays to confuse the opposing defenses? Why can’t our OC do the same? Oh right, because he’s mediocre, stubborn, uncreative, and predictable. But at least Kirby gets to hang out with his best friend, amirite?
If we can make the plays in the second half but not the first the problem isn’t personnel or execution, it’s coaching. The coaches are responsible for preparing and motivating the team to be ready from the first whistle. We desperately need new coordinators. Kirby can keep his friends on staff if he wants. But this team needs an infusion of new blood and a different approach. The slow starts have persisted for two seasons.
I’m really wondering if it’s because KIRBY is the one actually making the adjustments a halftime (when he has the time) and not Schuman. If it’s Schuman, then why can’t they make the adjustments between quarters at least. Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but something’s bad off about our first half on defense especially all season.
WAG…DL is just standing up in the early drives trying to read run, pass, QB action, etc. Getting beat because they are slow to react. After the half they seem wayyyy more committed to their assignment. More push, more speed, more dictating the action than waiting to read it. Youth and coaching. It may very well be intentional in the bend don’t break mindset. As fans we want to see that aggression from the first whistle but could be Kirby and Schumann want to play more contain early to get a feel for what needs to be dialed up later. It’s a theory.
Rope a dope.
Regardless of what adjustments are or aren’t being made, this is one of the worst UGA defenses in memory at putting the opposing QB under pressure. It’s maddening to watch at times as we get stonewalled play after play. One sack against Awburns sieve of an OL is a true indictment that we are not fixing that particular problem.
We are too ADVERSITY focused…. We havn’t had but a few games in 2 years where we didn’t come out of the gate looking like shit and having to come back from 2-3 scores. Why wouldn’t we let our offense get in a groove and run up 70 points stretching the field against an Austin Pea (Like Alabama did against La-Monroe?) ? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to get a team familiar with some success as they are to overcoming shitty dink and dunk up the ass gap play calling in the first half. Its like being a millionaire and making your kids go barefoot you think its to make them appreciate shoes but after a while they get used to looking like shit…For example, why is Kirby chewing on Gunners ass for scoring the last touchdown… “well he could have gone down and we run out the clock we didn’t need to score” …we are up by 3 fk’n points!! and look what just happened to the Barners on the goaline…Love Kirby but sometimes I don’t get it…
I despise the now room temperature bobby bowden but he did have a statement that applies here. When asked about putting 70 points on a clearly inferior team he stated it is not his job to hold the score down. UGA needs some of that mentality. Teach the offence to score and score often. Don’t hold them back until it is time to eat the clock at the very end of the game.