Good morning, y’all. We have begun gathering the animals together two by two. Our belongings are already gathered together in our mobile homes, which will become mobile in a different way if the water continues to rise. TackyToo is about to become a fleet of arks carrying the faithful to a new resting spot. I hope it’s not in Alabama.
Speaking of Alabama, well, I hate to. The game got off to an optimistic start, it was 0 to 0 at kickoff. Things got much worse thereafter, with the final score of 38-10 favoring the unwashed heathens from Tuscaloosa. I don’t know what happened to the mojo yesterday. I was dressed appropriately, the sandwiches were on time, and Butts was in his favorite spot. In fact, Butts looked like he was ready for a good tussle. The 3:30 kickoff coincides with one of Butts awake periods and he seemed to be really involved in the game. In fact, Butts seemed to be far more involved than the boys in red tonight. It was early in the first quarter that the wheels came off of the cart. The 28 point differential in the game was not as bad as it could have been as the boys from Alabama dialed it back in the fourth quarter. It looked like they wanted to get to dry ground as soon as possible.
The failure to compete rested mostly with the offense, I believe, with special teams bringing up a close second. I know I can’t give a pass to a defense that allowed 24 points, but I’m willing to cut the boys some slack because they were on the field the whole game. If you stand in front of a road grader for three hours, even Superman is going to give some ground. We are not Supermen, which we proved today.
Let’s start with the offense:
Greyson Lambert became the shaky quarterback that lost his job at Virginia. He was 10 of 24 for 86 yards and one interception. Greyson didn’t look nearly as good as his numbers indicate, and so we brought in:
Brice Ramsey, was 1 of 6 for 20 yards and two interceptions with one being a pick six. I think this officially ends the quarterback controversy.
Nick Chubb was stuffed repeatedly by the Alabama defense, but finally broke a long one for 83 yards. Chubb ran for 146 yards on 20 carries. This brings his run of 100 yard games to 13, and he has tied Herschel’s record.
Sony Michel continues to be an under utilized double threat from the backfield. He finished the day with 53 yards rushing and 0 yards in the air. Questions abound about his lack of use in the passing game.
Malcolm Mitchell contributed 65 yards receiving, on just 3 receptions. There were drops a plenty in this game. The “wet ball” excuse doesn’t hold much water for me.
Defensively the Dawgs look improved, but still have a ways to go before they can play with the elites. This is a less talented team offensively for Alabama than they have fielded in recent years. The Alabama offense held the ball for 34 minutes of the game compared to Georgia’s 25. Our secondary was exposed as our weak link. Alabama managed 190 yards through the air with a “wet ball” and a first year quarterback. The chess match between Kiffin and Pruitt was clearly won by Kiffin.
Special teams, as ever are, “special”, and continue to be exposed as an area that needs work if we are ever going to compete with the elites. The “back breaking” score occurred in the first quarter on a blocked punt for a touchdown by Alabama. With the score going to 17-3 on the blocked punt, Alabama didn’t need another score, the night was over. Morgan was 1 of 1 in the field goal department and hit all of his extra points(1). It’s a shame the offense couldn’t get him close enough for a few other field goal tries. Reggie Davis contributed with 71 yards in kickoff returns. I guess we can thank the Gods that Alabama didn’t try an onside kick. Lord knows how that would have turned out on this evening.
Well, at least Georgia Tech lost, but Florida looks all world. Could life get any more interesting?