UGA vs. GT Analysis...

[centerc]

How many in a row can hold up in a rival game? numbers is bound to catch up.

 

[Doc_Holliday23]

turnovers were definitely the difference... well, and the extremely poor special teams play of UGA. Walsh kicked the ball out of bounds 3 times and Roddy Jones had a great day returning kicks. Samuel had a, well, no so great day.

This game looked like what I figured it would. I knew neither defense was likely to stop either offense. Our secondary is weak as it is. Add on to that losing Word-Daniels in the Clemson game and our best LB Griffin in the Miami game and I knew we couldnt hang with Mass and Green. I hoped we could get to Stafford with the d-line but we really didnt get to him much. 1 sack, I think, and the intentional grounding. Staff had those timing routes, little slants, and screens down to perfection and we couldnt cover them. UGA once again killed themselves with a few very costly holding penalties on crucial coversions.

overall, defensively, the triple option is such a mental game. the defense cannot take one play off or it will go big. it happened quite a few times. GT had a number of 20+ yard plays like they've been doing all season. mentally, the UGA defense is just not tough or disciplined enough. they get hyped up when they make a great play and then the next play goes for 30.

GT returns 19 out of 22 starters next year. Watch out.

That was an astute take on the game. I just know how well Georgia plays after a bye week and Tech WILL drop the ball on the carpet and Georgia's D-line will be cause a major problem for Tech's option.Tech hasn't seen an offense like Georgia's all year.

just for fun... you know GT has a better turnover margin than UGA does?

GT is tied for 8th in the country in turnovers gained with 27.

We have 17 INT's as a defense, so there's good reason to believe Stafford will probably throw one or two of those.

GT didnt fumble it once. Stafford threw 6 TD's... 4 of them to guys wearing #1.

 

[GobblingDawg]

turnovers were definitely the difference... well, and the extremely poor special teams play of UGA. Walsh kicked the ball out of bounds 3 times and Roddy Jones had a great day returning kicks. Samuel had a, well, no so great day.

This game looked like what I figured it would. I knew neither defense was likely to stop either offense. Our secondary is weak as it is. Add on to that losing Word-Daniels in the Clemson game and our best LB Griffin in the Miami game and I knew we couldnt hang with Mass and Green. I hoped we could get to Stafford with the d-line but we really didnt get to him much. 1 sack, I think, and the intentional grounding. Staff had those timing routes, little slants, and screens down to perfection and we couldnt cover them. UGA once again killed themselves with a few very costly holding penalties on crucial coversions.

overall, defensively, the triple option is such a mental game. the defense cannot take one play off or it will go big. it happened quite a few times. GT had a number of 20+ yard plays like they've been doing all season. mentally, the UGA defense is just not tough or disciplined enough. they get hyped up when they make a great play and then the next play goes for 30.

Good call, Doc. That is pretty much exactly the way I saw it, too.


Don't let the homer, Kool-Aid drinking Techies, hear you say that about turnovers. They may want to kick you out of the club.


Congrats on the win. You always do a good job of calling it straight up.

Go Dawgs and thank God for turkey season,
GobblingDawg

 

[Doc_Holliday23]

turnovers were huge (especially Samuels fumble) because it allowed us to score quick and completely seize momentum of the game.

as for special teams... new thread coming right up.

 

[GobblingDawg]

turnovers were huge (especially Samuels fumble) because it allowed us to score quick

Not as quick as the pic, though!!


Go Dawgs and come on March,
GobblingDawg

 

[Doc_Holliday23]

Not as quick as the pic, though!!


Go Dawgs and come on March,
GobblingDawg

agreed, but the momentum from scoring, then getting a 3 and out, scoring again, and then getting a fumble to score 23 unanswered was just huge.

 

[GobblingDawg]

agreed, but the momentum from scoring, then getting a 3 and out, scoring again, and then getting a fumble to score 23 unanswered was just huge.

Yep, we got shell shocked in about a 7 minute span and it cost us the game.

Go Dawgs and thank God for turkey season,
GobblingDawg

 

[Danuwoa]

agreed, but the momentum from scoring, then getting a 3 and out, scoring again, and then getting a fumble to score 23 unanswered was just huge.

Right on Doc. I thought that as a Dawg, If I brought up the magnitude of the Richard Samuel fumble, Jody and some of the others might find out where I live and throw a rock through my window or something.

When Samuel fumbled I looked at my buddies and said....well uh, I can't repeat a lot of it, but part of it was, "That probably just cost us the ball game." Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Tech didn't win it or that we gave it to them. Look at all the yards yall rolled up. But that play was huge. The momentum shift was palpable even watching it on TV. There was no doubt in my mind that yall were about to score. I have no idea why we have a 220 pound running back returning kickoffs. I also have no idea why he continued to return kicks after that.

 

[MudDucker]

Turnovers were big, but to me, our defense just wasn't in the game in the 2nd half.

To beat an option, you have to have folks crashing through the line to interrupt the pitch. Erk always had a linebacker or safety going heck bent for leather to get in between the QB and the pitch man. I remember a game where we intercepted the pitch once. We weren't even position to stretch the plays out in the 2nd half.

 

[Jody Hawk]

I always love the "Y'all only won because we fumbled" bunch !!!!!!!! Well guess what, fumbles are part of it. If Tech hadn't fumbled this year, we would be sitting at 12-0 right now !!!!!!!!!!!! What if Reggie Ball hadn't fumbled a few years ago and the Dawgs hadn't scooped it out of the pile and returned it for a touchdown? That was the difference in the game. Y'all didn't want to talk about fumbles then did you? All I know is Tech came out in the 3rd quarter and put on a clinic in running CPJ's triple option attack !!!!!!

 

[Tulip]

mudDucker turnovers were big but you are right. I saw a lot of poor tackling in the 3rd quarter. You cant just try to bump Diesel out of bounds or one arm tackle him. That guy is a HOSS. You should of seem him in the Miami game heck he was draggin three guys with him before he went down. CPJ was smart and ran plays that ate up the clock. Jackets had the ball for 10 min in the third quarter and 9 min in the fourth. Thats what killed the mutts. As far as stopping the option the mutts had 2 weeks to practice for it but still couldnt stop it. And I for one am glad they couldnt.

 

[DDD]

Here is the follow up this morning from my same friend, who by the way is much more realistic than many of you GT lovers on here:

- Moreno was very solid. Certainly the best back we faced this year, although Virginia senior Alvin Peerman was just as slippery to tackle for us (and a lot of teams) this year. We also faced future NLFers Davis and Spiller at Clemson and Miami’s good tandem of Cooper and James, but Moreno is better. If Moreno had gotten 25-30 carries, I am sure he would have had 150-200 yards. He is that good. I still don’t think I can put him in the “once in a lifetime” category, though.

- In my opinion, the game literally hinged on one play: Mid 4th quarter. 38-35 Tech. You guys had just scored on Moreno’s great run. Crowd was as loud as it had been all day. Nesbitt is shaken up and on the sideline. True freshman Jaybo Shaw is in. A turnover is just waiting to happen. 3rd down and 4. Toss sweep to Roddy Jones and it looked like UGA was ready for it, but a couple of good blocks and a good cut by Roddy and he goes for 8 and the 1st down. 2 plays later Nesbitt is back in and 3 plays later Roddy took it to the house for 45-35. I firmly believe that UGA wins the game if we don’t convert that 3rd down.

- I didn’t think that UGA could put 42 points up on us. Stafford and Massaquoi were just unbelievable. It didn’t help that we had 3 true freshman in our secondary all day (mostly due to injuries, but also lack of depth due to probation). I think I can say with 100% confidence that you guys didn’t play anyone all year with 3 true freshmen in the secondary. Not making excuses, just saying. No college defense would have shut down the UGA offense with the way they were playing on Sat.

- I like the way that AJ Green scored his TD and then acted like he had been there before. No cocky celebration. Just flip the ball to the ref and move on. I have a lot of respect for that.

- I really hope that Stafford and Moreno are playing on Sunday next year and not Saturday.

- Turnovers were the difference in the game. Same as 2006. We win in 2006 without them. You guys win this year without them. Simple as that. One turnover (Stafford’s INT) was a gift. The other one (Samuel’s fumble) was more of a takeaway, as the Tech defender clearly ripped the ball out. That’s just a good play there.

- 7.3 YPC for Tech, 3.7 YPC for UGA. I think that validates my “advantage Tech” on the RBs. Moreno was the best of all the RBs, but as a whole Tech’s group is a tad better. I know “the system” helps, but you still have to execute, break tackles, make guys miss, outrun defenders, etc. to average 7.3 YPC.

- We survived an atrocious punting day (30.8 avg) and you guys surely had one of your better ones (48.3). This was a huge difference. That last, line drive punt by Blair that Logan Gray returned to our 41 literally only turned the field around by like 17 yards. Just terrible.

- I know you guys are ticked at Willie Martinez, and clearly missed tackles and missed assignments contributed to 409 yards rushing. But I promise that we have seen the same story line all year long from opposing teams. Defenses seem to implode on themselves as the game goes on. Discipline naturally starts to break down as guys start to want to “cheat” and help each other out and try to anticipate things. Every defense makes mistakes every game. It takes either good skilled players (UGA) to take advantage of the mistakes, or a good offense to simply be right there to take advantage of the mistakes. The triple option is designed to do just that, perhaps more than any other scheme.

- I admit that we played our best game of the year on the offensive side of the ball. It was our first game all year where the ball literally never hit the ground. I guess it takes something like that to break a streak. We still missed quite a few blocks, though, believe it or not.

- Somehow, some way, Tech’s 8 game record winning streak remains intact. Twice now in the last 10 yrs, we have somehow dodged it, both times by winning in Athens.

- 1 pass completed. Amazing that a team can win a BCS conference game and only complete 1 pass. This stat, maybe more than anything else, shows that Tech's production is not just a result of an opposing team's missed tackles and assignments. Give the offense some credit.

- The outcome of the game is even more remarkable when you consider that just 3 short months ago, Tech was fielding a bunch of freshman and sophomores, a new coach, a new offense, etc. and UGA was entering the year No. 1. It reminds me of 2001 when I would have bet the farm in Aug that preseason No. 7 Tech would make it 4 IAR against UGA and their new coach Mark Richt. Amazing how much can change in the course of one 12 game season.

- ACC finishes the regular season 6-4 against the SEC. There will be several more ACC-SEC bowl matchups, though.

 

[GobblingDawg]

I always love the "Y'all only won because we fumbled" bunch !!!!!!!! Well guess what, fumbles are part of it. If Tech hadn't fumbled this year, we would be sitting at 12-0 right now !!!!!!!!!!!! What if Reggie Ball hadn't fumbled a few years ago and the Dawgs hadn't scooped it out of the pile and returned it for a touchdown? That was the difference in the game. Y'all didn't want to talk about fumbles then did you? All I know is Tech came out in the 3rd quarter and put on a clinic in running CPJ's triple option attack !!!!!!

Yeah, Jody, we know that fumbles/interceptions are a part of the game. It is just a part of the game that y'all didn't participate in on Saturday. IF you would have, I believe that outcome would have been slightly different.


And yes, I want to talk about turnovers no matter who wins and loses. HELLO, because they greatly contribute to the outcome of the game.


Just like the time when you are referring to your boy, Reggie, fumbling. That was a major play that could have very well kept GT from winning that year. To pretend like this Dawg only wants to consider turnovers when they benefit his team is just plain stupid.


I will be happy to explain it in further detail while rabbit hunting on Friday!!


Go Dawgs and thank God for turkey season,
GobblingDawg

BTW, this should be on another thread, but considering the Falcons won yesterday being -3 for the day in turnovers against the Chargers is almost a statistical MIRACLE!!

 

[Danuwoa]

I always love the "Y'all only won because we fumbled" bunch !!!!!!!! Well guess what, fumbles are part of it. If Tech hadn't fumbled this year, we would be sitting at 12-0 right now !!!!!!!!!!!! What if Reggie Ball hadn't fumbled a few years ago and the Dawgs hadn't scooped it out of the pile and returned it for a touchdown? That was the difference in the game. Y'all didn't want to talk about fumbles then did you? All I know is Tech came out in the 3rd quarter and put on a clinic in running CPJ's triple option attack !!!!!!

Boy oh boy. You are just determined that you are gonna be offended and that some UGA fan is going to do you wrong and not give yall credit aren't you? Go back and read my post again. I didn't say that yall won because of the fumble. Good grief!! This is why I waited until Doc said something about it before I brought it up. And you wonder why UGA fans talk about some Tech fans being hyper sensitive. Yall played a great game and me and alot of other Dawgs have told yall so and congratulated over and over. Nobody is trying to say that yall won BECAUSE of the fumble. But it was a very big momentum changing play. That's not in any way a shot at Tech or an attempt to minimize the victory.

 

[dutchman]

We can analyze it 'til the cows come home, but the fact remains, 45 points will beat 42 every time, no matter how they're scored.

 

[Lee]

I was not at all surprised GA scored 42 considering Tech's injuries and youth. Then, take into account Ga is loaded with studs at the skill positions. I was surprised Tech could not get more of a pass rush though.

You could tell by how Tech was lining up that they wanted to contain Moreno and AJ Green. They probably didn't realize Mo would have the day he had, but you can't stop everyone. The only time they stopped them was when they pressured Stafford. I actually give credit to Bobo for finding those little slip screens to Moreno.

Turnovers and line play will determine who usually wins the game, but I was thinking the same thing yesterday while watching the Falcons.

 

[Jody Hawk]

We can analyze it 'til the cows come home, but the fact remains, 45 points will beat 42 every time, no matter how they're scored.

You got that right !!!!!!

 

[GobblingDawg]

We can analyze it 'til the cows come home, but the fact remains, 45 points will beat 42 every time, no matter how they're scored.

That's definitely something that we can all agree on regardless of how blinded or hyper-sensitive some may be!!!!!


Go Dawgs and thank God for turkey season,
GobblingDawg

 

[Doc_Holliday23]

nothing wrong with talking about the fumble. its not like samuel was just out running by himself and dropped the ball. we hit him and stripped it. good play by us.

 

[MudDucker]

nothing wrong with talking about the fumble. its not like samuel was just out running by himself and dropped the ball. we hit him and stripped it. good play by us.

I agree. Tech caused the fumble. Good defensive play. Tech fooled Stafford and got the pick. Both were good clean plays.