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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > November > 05
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
What a difference a play makes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s amazing how important a single moment in a game can be. Last year, Georgia scores first against Florida and lifts its game into a whole new level with the end-zone celebration. The team seemed to become infused with confidence. Florida scored. Georgia answered. The Dawgs seemed fearless, playing loose, having fun. From that point on they were unstoppable, playing with a swagger and conviction more associated with his FSU teams of the past than with any of Mark Richt’s Georgia units. I think you could have put that Georgia team up against anyone in the nation and it wouldn’t have mattered. After all, they’d beaten Florida!
This year, you could boil down the disaster in Jacksonville to one moment again, the second play from scrimmage, when mouthy Gators linebacker Brandon Spikes stuffed Knowshon Moreno and, for emphasis, kept Moreno pinned to the ground for a few seconds while he flapped his jaws instead of letting him spring up as he usually does. You could practically see the Bulldogs collectively thinking, “Oh, crap. Knowshon’s going to be ineffective today.”
Yes, Georgia moved the ball from that point, but Mike Bobo apparently had lost faith in the ability of Moreno and the Dawgs running game to punch it in, so he felt he had to get cute with the playcalling. Likewise, Matthew Stafford seemed to think he had to win this one all by himself, so he started pushing, making throws he shouldn’t have. The Dawgs were playing tight, scared. Like they had in so many games against Florida in the past.
So where do the Dawgs go from here? With their pre-season goals mostly likely out of reach now, can Richt and his staff keep the players’ heads in the game? Is playing for an 11-win season and the best available New Year’s Day bowl, the Capitol One, enough to motivate them? Can they regain at least a measure of that swagger and confidence that were so crucial late last season?
It’s not going to be easy. A key difference between this season and last has been the play of the lines, both hampered by an unlikely run of injuries and too many years of spotty, ineffective recruiting at those positions.
With an offensive line that can’t open holes, Bobo hasn’t been the same playcaller as late last season. This is where his lack of experience has been a factor; a seasoned offensive coordinator might have been better able to adjust. Bobo instead just became predictable, which is the worst thing for an offense. On top of that, Stafford obviously doesn’t trust this line, which has affected his play. He’s an extremely talented, if still uneven, quarterback and Mohamed Massaquoi and A.J. Green are brilliant, as is Moreno when he can get some space. But once the Dawgs get into the Red Zone, that doesn’t mean much if Bobo makes the wrong call or the line doesn’t get any push or players don’t execute properly.
Defensively, the lack of any pass rush has exposed the weaknesses of the Georgia secondary and coordinator Willie Martinez’s unimaginative calls. The swarming, shut-down defense of late last season has become the weakest in the conference, frequently out of position or in the wrong scheme.
And there are the penalties, of course, which show a lack of discipline. Plus the way the Dawgs wilted once they fell behind Saturday showed an alarming lack of mental toughness and focus.
Adjustments on and off the field are necessary, both in the short-term and the long-term, but for now it’s all about winning out and getting back into that unbeatable frame of mind. The pieces are, for the most part, there. Someone has to put them together. It’s time for Mark Richt to earn his big-time salary.
