Once again, it’s not how you start, but how you finish. Georgia went from a nightmarish start to a euphoric ending, taking down Auburn 20-10 for the Bulldogs’ ninth win in a row in the series. Here are
10 thoughts from a blood-pressure spiking evening
1. Be honest. How many of you were confident Georgia would even win…scratch that…be competitive with how the first half was going? The thing that made the first half so frustrating was that Auburn was not really hitting Georgia with big plays. It was the annoying elements doing just enough to move the chains and avoid third and longs. It honestly felt a lot like defending the triple option, especially in terms of trying to not get behind the sticks. At one point on Saturday, Auburn was outgaining Georgia somewhere in the range of 235-20. And yet, somehow, this team not only won, but once again did so in a very hostile place to play. Georgia, by the way, finished with 296 offensive yards to Auburn’s 277. That’s a pretty good clip considering the offensive dumpster for most of the first half.
2. For whatever reason, this team is convinced it can play with fire in the first half. You would think a lesson was learned against Alabama, but this team has a mindset that it can circle the wagons at halftime regardless of circumstances. You can get away with that against offenses that are not overpowering. The trouble is, Ole Miss will bring an offense to Athens next Saturday that executes a wee bit better than Auburn. Just think…what if this team ever puts a four-quarter effort together?
3. The finish? The final drive for Georgia was a thing of beauty. It needed points, which it got. But to use up most of the remaining clock on the way there was not just a death march, it was soul-draining. It just reinforced the fact that we are physically tougher and built for this moment, and you’re not. This offensive line may have its flaws, but when it came time to take over the game, it answered the call.
4. If you need a difference in how mentally tough this program is, look not only at how Georgia handled the flow of Saturday night on The Plains, but also how the opposing sideline did. To go further, you can even look at how previous Georgia teams have stood in when things were not so good. Were there calls that did not go in favor of either side at times? For sure. In 60 minutes of football, bad breaks are bound to happen. The difference last night? Auburn, a team that’s been among the higher-penalized teams in the SEC this season, appeared to be rattled by all of the referee-palooza near the end of the first half. The Tigers may not admit that, but as the second half began, you could tell that with how things unfolded, Georgia had the mental upper-hand. That goes down to coaching.
That turns back the clock a bit. Remember last year at Texas when Georgia, for a lack of a better word, got hosed by the officials? The Bulldogs kept their head in it and didn’t come unglued, as Auburn did on Georgia’s offensive series after the goal-line play du jour.
5. Anything that could be said about the officiating, you have likely seen elsewhere. But let’s put one thing out there. Bad breaks happen in football. It’s the same in life. If you don’t think bad breaks will happen, you are fooling yourself. Remember, this is a Georgia program that literally had a referee take a national title from it. But to throw a social media grenade at opposing coaches and players and call them cheating? That’s out of line. Did Kirby Smart mean to call timeout? At this point, you have as much luck convincing someone on a political debate that the other side is worth listening to. But it’s no different than an opposing defensive back mugging a receiver. If that happens, who is to blame? That’d be the official for not catching them in the first place. Coaches and players don’t make the rules, it’s the officials’ job to enforce them.
6. Nights like last night should make you appreciate what Georgia has in Josh Brooks as athletic director. Are some coaching hires and decisions up for debate? Sure. But it’s a very good thing that when game officials turn a game into a hot mess, that your AD is not acting like…a former Mississippi State athletic director alleging rules violations by none other than the head coach of the school he is currently at.
7. Auburn could not try to cosplay 2010 any harder if it tried on Saturday. Between looping highlights of Nick Fairley trying to literally paralyze Aaron Murray and choosing THIS game as one to retire Cam Newton’s jersey, it was very clear on Saturday that the intent was the recycle to a time where Auburn was relevant, someone it has not been very much of recently. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating good times, especially when you don’t have many to be happy about in the present.
8. Speaking of the People on the Plains…fans of the program calling other people cheaters when your field is named for Pat Dye, your best basketball coach in school history, Bruce Pearl was available for employment due to breaking NCAA rules, and you are a retiring the jersey of a player whose Heisman Award should have an asterisk by it is quite a choice. Why not host a viewing of the Pony Excess 30 For 30 while the iron is hot?
9. Could Saturday have been the breakout from the outside passing game that’s been dormant? You really got a better look at how much more this offense can stretch the field when you have Colbie Young and Noah Thomas making plays. When a player like Thomas transfers in, it’s easy to see previous tape and think they’ll just plug and play and easily transition, but it’s not that simple. If Saturday was a case of the light bulb going beyond a flickering, it’s a game-changing for this passing game.
10. Thanks to taking down world-beaters like Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, casual pundits are already smelling blood in the water regarding Georgia Tech’s chances to beat Georgia in November. Kirby Smart says thanks for the motivation…
Go Dawgs!
