Is this where our band of geniuses has fallen?
I would like to meet this person and have him educate me on the reasoning of this message board post.
I had to say a couple of things about last night and about this season. Our content creator in perpetuity called these existential posts.
First, on the game:
We ripped their hearts out. We were Lucy to their Charlie Brown. 7 in a row sounds great on this Saturday (I’m guessing there’s a fan base in Ohio who isn’t very happy right now after their home game against an unranked opponent). The team was resilient. We beat them even with our D game.
The Governor’s Cup stays in Athens.
Now for the not-so-good … that was the worst game I’ve seen this defense play in a home game in the Smart era. We gave up no cheap field position (although the 1 turnover was almost a backbreaker and ended up neutralizing the benefit of deferring the selection to the 2nd half). The tackling was terrible. The pass coverage made Haynes King as a passer look absolutely beyond Crompton (consult the lexicon for those who aren’t familiar with this from GTP).
The offense isn’t immune today. If you told me before the game that Tech would get 27, I would have been ok with it because I thought we would easily get to 30+. The drops have become laughable. The offensive line play was inconsistent, and that may be kind. It’s frustrating to watch us look constipated and then explode to make you ask, “Where was that for the first 50 minutes of the game?”
Now, I come to coaching. I’m not paid $13,000,000 a year to make the split second decisions that Kirby has to make. He made 3 decisions from the sideline last night that made me go “What is he thinking?” The first was the decision to go on 4th and 1 after we had stopped them on 4th and 1. The failure didn’t end up in points the other way, but it did allow Tech to run 5:00 minutes off the clock with the lead. The 2nd was the decision to call timeout on defense with 0:52 left in the half. Tech is out of timeouts and just ran the ball for 2 yards. The clock is going to continue to move and would make a field goal the most likely result of the possession. Kirby gives Faulkner a chance to plan what he was going to do. The result a few plays later is a touchdown. The third is one that has been roundly criticized … the decision to go for 2 after the first TD. Kirby must have a different table than every other coach in America. I’ve never seen another coach do that especially that early in the 2nd half.
Now for the coordinators, Schumann/Kirby and T-Rob flat got worked over by Buster Faulkner. Haynes King ain’t the 2nd coming of Tim Tebow or Cam Newton. The series that started on the 4, went back to the 2, ended with a field goal and bled over 10:00 was awful. Bobo’s play calling combined with our execution in the first half was head scratching. Why in the world were we in the shotgun on 3rd and 4th and 1 on that drive that ended with no points?
I’m still not sure what we did the last 2 weeks in preparation for Friday night.
Now on the season:
We’re 10-2. We have a chance on Saturday afternoon to win the SEC title and earn one of the top seeds in the ESPN Invitational. Last night gave the 13 idiots in Grapevine the permission to leave us out completely if we lose on Saturday especially badly. We didn’t take the decision out of their hands when we had an opportunity.
This season has been maddening. Tom Fornelli said it best with this TwiX:
Why can’t this team play for 60 minutes? Why does it seem we have no idea how to start fast?
These 2 questions are likely why this season is going to end in a way that makes us think “what if.” A start like Friday night on Saturday will get us blown out of the Benz. The defense needs to find the edge it had as recently as the Tennessee game.
This team has all of their goals in front of them. There are a bunch of teams that would like to have the same chance we have.
Let’s try to enjoy the ride as long as possible.
What do you think? Respond in the comments below.
P.S. – As I finished writing this, Jackson Meeks just made 2 big catches for Syracuse including the touchdown to tie the game with Miami at 28.
Kirby needs to have a mea culpa, a come to Jesus, or a pay incentive to get Muschamp back as Co or D Coordinator. I kind of wonder if he didn’t have Boom step back to give Schumann a chance to showcase and get a head coaching job. As an executive in my little world of education, I realize when I became a principal that my job was to prepare my assistant principals to become future principals, not matter how valuable they were. I’m sure Boom has no desire to head coach again, so who knows. Our bread and butter signature of Kirby defenses has been sound fundamentals and tackling…those all but disappeared this season. That’s gotta be fixed first. Our offense can half ass it as long as the defense is taking care of business, but both units had tendencies to sleep walk for entire games.
I think Beck has stepped up as much as he can but the drops are concerning. Smith, not surprising, Lovett? Everyone else? WTF. It was unit-wide. I’d love to see Terrence Edwards become a coach at UGA as he trains receivers already and I think having another legacy coach as a recruiter would be a step up. He has a young family though so I get why he wouldn’t want the grind of a college football schedule.
This off season, if Kirby has the street cred I think he does, he will need to advocate for some sound and equitable adjustments to the scheduling process from the league office. It’s criminal that Texas is in the SECCG in their first year when getting the softest schedule ever devised, and they have now one quality win to show for it (TAMU). If the CFP is going to operate under a clear and evident bias, then having some sense and balance – and transparency of decision making – is going to be vital to save the sport. If it continues like this where kangaroo courts decide the fate of which fringe team is better than other based on “good” and “bad” losses, we’ve killed the sport beyond recognition and you’ve lost the spirit of college football. Parity is there thanks to the portal and NIL, but the laughable results of the CFP Committee makes the whole season null and void if they do mental gymnastics to vouch for teams like Ohio State and Indiana to get a pass for soft scheduling and under performing in big games.
Well said, JP.
On Texas, Disney and the SEC wanted to set up the potential for a Bama/Texass SEC title game.
“Kangaroo courts decide the fate of which fringe team is better than other based on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ losses, we’ve killed the sport beyond recognition and you’ve lost the spirit of college football.”
This is a feature, not a bug. Parity and staged chaos is the “reality” TV template and, at least for now, brings in casual viewers. When and if this approach chases off die-hards like us AND casual viewers move onto the next bright, shiny, moronic thing, then we might see some reversion to the way the game used to be packaged. But by then the sport could well be fatally compromised. But the asshats behind this won’t care because it’s not in their nature to do so – all they care about is next week’s ad buys and their resulting payout.
JP! El Principal!
That’s a tough gig, dealing with OPK’s, Boosters, and the like. I support 40ish of you guys (Not counting AP’s and AD’s). When I told Got Sr. I was taking this job he looked at me with a straight face and said: “Gotdam. You didn’t spend enough time in the Principal’s office when you were in school?”
‘Kirby passing over Buster Faulkner at OC for his best friend Bobo was a big mistake” – Captain Obvious.
You are probably right, dude. I don’t say that in a tone to troll you.
It would never come out, but I would love to know if Monken made a recommendation to Kirby as he packed for Baltimore. There’s a part of me that thinks Monken was different because Kirby handed the offensive steering wheel over to him and said, “Go make it happen.” I’m not sure he has done that with another OC – Chaney, Coley or Bobo.
I’m sure he wouldn’t have done that with Faulkner.
I’m not sure why many of us have often assumed that Kirby would not cut his OC’s loose. I think Bluto started that opinion with his “Manball” critiques back when Chaney and Coley were there, but how do we actually know? Anyway, Buster’s offense reminded me of Monken’s where he had guys schemed wide open every play. Meanwhile, Beck has to make NFL throws in between four defenders in Bobo’s offense for us to have a chance.
I am speculating just as you are.
I’m speculating but also pretty sure I’m right that Kirby had to give Monken freedom to game plan the way he saw fit to win to get him to Athens. Monken wasn’t going to come to a place to be controlled by the head coach. He had just dealt with that in Cleveland and then was scapegoated by the HC as the problem.
6 points at VT
19 points at Louisville
13 points at home vs ND.
30 or more TWICE in regulation vs. conference opposition!!
What’s not to love? If he can do that in the ACC he’s setting the SEC on fire!!!
Agreed. I’m not high on Buster because of his results outside of Georgia. Having intricate knowledge of how Georgia runs their defense gives him a definite edge. Lincoln Riley might be available 😜
I think that its pretty obvious that we’re more built towards rushing the passer than defending a power run game.
We would have seen a much different game play out had the offense not been so atrocious early. With teams like that you really need to score the ball to pressure them into being less patient. Any team that can use their qb to force us into committing 7 guys to the run, we’d prefer 5, and throws and catches it a bit is going to be trouble.
Well, he sure yanked Shuman’s shorts down in front of gym class Friday. That said, Bobo kept giving him the ball back soon enough to ensure he had time to do it.
So did Charlie Weis, Jr. with his substantial strategic advantage and Nick Sheridan both of whom aren’t playing Saturday.
Maybe they and Buster can schedule a tickle pile during the seccg and broadcast it on onlyfans for message board warriors to salivate over.
Meanwhile, “dammit Bobo” will be in the press box calling his typical dumbass plays.
“Maybe they and Buster can schedule a tickle pile during the seccg and broadcast it on onlyfans for message board warriors to salivate over.”
That made me laugh, Derek.
Post of the day!
I totally concur. Those 3 decisions were each major FUBAR shots. #1 Just get the points and stop the momentum…………#2 They were scrambling to just get a quick play off and we give them a nice timeout to reorganize and lay out a plan including multiple plays. Major UGH! #3 May have been the biggest FOPAH of Kirby’s career. Thank God we won’t be haunted by that one for the rest of our lives. Everyone makes mistakes; Kirby just needs to admit it and move on. His decisions to take timeouts in the OT’s were genius at work and likely saved the game for us. We totally trust in Kirby and we are sure Kirby is addressing the things with players like drops, missed assignments and such. We are fortunate to have him. He’s human and he’s a great coach………….fortunately his mistakes rarely cost us.
I noticed that Elko didn’t go for 2 in the 4th quarter down by 17.
Kirby either read the chart wrong or made a judgment that his defense needed some juice like that.
No doubt Kirby handled the overtime close to perfectly.
The chart says go for two:
https://www.onfocus.news/nfl-analysis-going-for-two-point-conversion-charts-prove-what-coaches-should-do/#:~:text=In%20the%20chart%20above%2C%20orange,the%20same%20decisions%20every%20time.)
If analytics should drive every coaching decision, just have an AI model do it.
It was the wrong call.
I’ll say more about Elko in the MBG – Rivalry Week edition.
We need a new DC. Period. Bobo needs to understand he loses his job next year if he can’t execute at a a higher level more consistently. He had his moments this year. But he still gets stupid far too often for someone who has been doing this as long as he has.
With the SECCG in hand, cash in pockets, cars in garages in front of condos, could the team have been looking past the gnats? Does this coming Saturday get the juices flowing or does the rematch seem anti-climatic when there’s a big shiny new tournament to play? It can’t be a lack of mental toughness for this team or they couldn’t produce the comebacks but focus and discipline…?? Whatever the issue, it’s baked into this team’s DNA so we’ll just have to see. But put Arian 10 yards in front of the throwing machine set on high and make him catch balls after practice until his hands bleed.
Are you nuts? I’ve seen one of those things in action. If you put 11 in front of one he’ll be in a concussion protocol by the 5th throw.
Concerning the WR drops….I seem to remember that 2019 LSU had their receivers do a lot of unconventional things to help with drops…
https://lsusports.net/news/2019/09/05/211810894/
*Now, dang it.