Georgia Football: Four Lessons Learned from UGA’s Victory
The Georgia football team scored 43 points in the win over Missouri, but that number is misleading. The Dawgs defense scored on a 64 yard fumble return by cornerback Tyson Campbell. The UGA special teams also scored on a blocked punt and recovery by defensive back Eric Stokes.
Subtracting the defensive and special teams touchdowns, just 29 points can be attributed to the offense. Missouri provided a blue print that is sure to be duplicated by upcoming SEC opponents. They stacked their strong safety in the box and ran several run blitzes.
The concerted effort by Missouri to stop the run, yielded mixed results for the Georgia football team. On one hand the Bulldogs hit on several big plays, burning Missouri for applying so much pressure. Jake Fromm connected on three long touchdowns.
Jake Fromm connected on a 33 yard strike to Riley Ridley in the third quarter, to start off the scoring for the Dawgs. He torched a blitzing Tigers’ defense. Less than five minutes later, Fromm connected on the previously mentioned back shoulder fade to Holloman, on a play action pass.
Lastly Jake Fromm threw a bomb to Mecole Hardman, that resulted in a 54 yard touchdown. The strike came on a well designed maximum protection rollout pass, called by offensive coordinator Jim Chaney.
On the contrary the Georgia Bulldogs struggled to move the chains on a regular basis. This was particularly evident in the first half. The Dawgs offense failed to score a touchdown in the first half. They even failed to cash in on a Tae Crowder interception, that gave them a first and goal scenario.
Quarterback Jake Fromm competed 56.5 percent of his passes, after completing 80.4 percent previously. He also threw an interception. The ball was thrown pretty well, but a better option could have been taken, as Mecole Hardman was double covered.
UGA rushed for just 185 yards against the aggressive Missouri defense. The 4.6 yards per carry was respectable, but not the physical dominance the Dawgs have grown accustomed to.
Junior running back Elijah Holyfield was the most effective runner. He ran the ball 19 times for 90 yards. That’s a nice 6.4 yards per carry average.
Sophomore D’Andre Swift lead the Dawgs with 16 carries, but was second on the team with just 71 yards. He hasn’t seemed nearly as explosive thus far in his sophomore season, as his he was in his freshman season. I’m not sure if he’s injured, or just not as effective being the focus of defenses.
Junior Brian Herrien was stymied, gaining just 9 yards on four carries. There were also no big running pays on the jet sweep play, as has been in previous weeks.
Solutions
Moving forward UGA should give more carries to Elijah Holyfield. He has been by far the Bulldogs most effective back.
Getting the running backs more involved in the passing game is also a necessity. James Cook had one catch for ten yards and should be utilized more. Brian Herrien and D’Andre Swift have the ability to make guys miss in space for big plays.
Using Justin Fields in the wild Dawg with run pass options, could provide and additional spark and open up more lanes for the running backs. Calling more intermediate routes across the field on play action, would be effective against the stacked boxes too. Where is Demetrius Robertson?