1. Mark Richt isn't exactly the master of time and space. I apologize for repeating a line — I used it last year to describe the Falcons' Mike Smith, to whom it also applied — but the Georgia coach botched the clock twice more. After Jake Ganus stopped the Eagles' L.A. Ramsby for a 5-yard loss on second-and-6 with 1:33 left in the first half, Richt neglected to spend the first of his three timeouts. He used one after third down, but by then it was too late. After a punt, the Bulldogs took the ball at 0:37. They elected to let the half expire. At the close of the second half, Richt saved only 33 seconds for his team, which wasn't nearly enough to avoid overtime. Georgia chose to let the clock expire then as well. (The Sanford Stadium crowd booed.) Credit Richt's team for winning once there, but from the 3:47 mark of the second quarter until OT, the Bulldogs never led.
2. Eagles coach Willie Fritz didn't drench himself in strategic glory, either. He chose not to go for it on fourth-and-5 from Georgia's 40 with 39 seconds remaining. (Georgia Southern punted instead.) Doesn't the earnest underdog have to take risks? When the Eagles did go for it on fourth-and-1 in OT, they ran a weird play. They split the quarterback wide and had Ramsby take the direct snap. They didn't run the option. They ran something that fooled nobody. Jordan Jenkins stopped Ramsby for a 3-yard loss. Fritz is demonstrably a terrific coach — he did a lot more with his team this night than Richt did with his — but those fourth-down decisions dimmed what could have been a shining night for the guys from Statesboro.
3. Georgia really doesn't have much of an offense, does it? Against a non-Power Five opponent, the Bulldogs mustered 313 yards, 25 coming on Sony Michel's winning burst in overtime. (West Virginia managed 544 yards and 44 points against the Eagles.) Greyson Lambert completed 16 passes, the longest for 27 yards. He did throw a nice ball to Terry Godwin for the tying touchdown, though Godwin made a nicer catch. Michel gained 132 yards and was the only reason the Bulldogs didn't lose. His fourth-and-1 conversion at the Georgia Southern 20 was the biggest play of regulation. Lambert hit Godwin two plays later. A fourth-down failure there and who knows?
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