The Junkyard Blawg has moved!
Along with the other ajc.com blogs, the Junkyard Blawg has moved over to WordPress, where the blogging and commenting experience promises to be better. Join us over at the new WordPress version of the Junkyard Blawg by clicking on the link below.
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 07
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Doing it with style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Without getting into the debate over whether “style points” are necessary for a team playing at the elite level of BCS football, the Dawgs certainly notched a few Saturday in their last prep session before beginning the SEC exams next week in Columbia.
Some of what was learned: Georgia’s big-strike offense definitely benefits from the fact that Knowshon Moreno has at least a few drops of Kryptonian blood in him. … Matthew Stafford and Mohamed Massaquoi as a passing tandem is becoming something really special. … In addition to MoMass, Georgia’s incredibly deep receiving corps in general is looking the sharpest this early in the season in quite some time. … While known for its big plays, this offense is capable of grinding out a 99-yard scoring drive, in this case one that got kicked into gear when Stafford took off on 3rd and 9 at the Georgia 1 and ran 23 yards for a first down.
On the defensive side, we learned a 266-pound defensive end can return an interception 78 yards for a touchdown, just barely, if he’s accompanied by a convoy of teammates urging him on. … With Jeff Owens out for the year and Willie Martinez limiting the Dawgs to mostly vanilla defensive schemes in a nonconference game, the down linemen aren’t able to put much pressure on a QB without the help of a blitz. … And Georgia’s defense hasn’t quite figured out how to keep its focus for a full four quarters of play, faltering at the end of the first half and beginning of the second half. On the Chippewas’ first touchdown, a bad scheme or blown coverage left the receiver uncovered on a fade route. And while most of Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour’s passing yardage came in the dinks and dunks that are typical of a spread offense with no running game, sloppy tackling on Georgia’s part allowed some of those throws to gain more yardage than they should have.
We also learned Georgia’s biggest weakness appears to be in the kickoff game, where some drastic improvement is needed. Between pooch kicks that didn’t even make it to the 20-yard line and one kick out of bounds (which now lets the other team start at the 40) and coverage that remains suspect, Georgia too often let the Chipps begin their drives with great field position, with their average start on the 33-yard line and their worst on the 22. It was even worse when Asher Allen was penalized for unwisely taking his helmet off during the understandable celebration that followed Demarcus Dobbs’ touchdown and Georgia had to kick off from its 15. Walsh pooched it again and Central Michigan returned the kick 28 yards to the Georgia 40, leading to their first score.That won’t cut it in SEC play, as Coach Richt acknowledged to the Associated Press after the game. Some of it was coverage, Richt said, but “a lot of it was hang time. You’ve got to give guys a chance to get down in coverage.” Richt said walk-on Jamie Lindley might get a chance to try kickoffs.
MORE GOOD STUFF: Georgia was 9 for 12 on third-down conversions. … Those swing passes to Moreno continue to be extremely productive. One of these days he’s going to break one all the way. … Moreno’s backups continue to impress, with Caleb King doing a nice job of reading his holes, and Richard Samuel showing a lot of power. With Samuel running hard, Georgia’s last fourth-quarter drive probably would have added another TD to the score if not for a bobbled snap that resulted in a Joe Cox fumble. Cox looked good otherwise, though, with some sharp passing. … Moreno showed heads-up play jumping on what looked like a fumble in the end zone, though on review it was ruled the receiver was down before the ball came out. … Before the game, Georgia honored quite a few of its students for national championships, including the gymnastics, equestrian and men’s tennis teams and our three-time champion majorettes.
NOT SO GOOD: Still too many penalties (nine), including a couple of offsides calls on the defensive front and false starts on the offense. … While the Dawgs looked extremely sharp on most of their drives, the offensive line at times didn’t assert itself, most notably when it took three tries to punch it in from the 1-yard line.
FUN STUFF: Moreno was again the ringleader in getting the Dawgs up and dancing on the sideline (along with many fans in the stands) after the Dobbs score. Replacing last year’s Soulja Boy was Young Jeezy’s “Put On.” I’m not sure how long that one will last once Damon Evans gets a look at the lyrics, though. … Best laugh of the day came during WNGC’s “Fifth Quarter Show” when a caller noted Vince Dooley’s birthday was last week and then added that Barbara Dooley’s is coming up this next week. Kevin Butler’s comment: “Wow, a Dooley stalker.”
Services »
