Good morning, y’all. Let’s all be honest. Even if you were suffering from the gout, had a sty on one eye and pink eye in the other, you’d feel better after watching the Dawgs beat the convicts from the Plains. If you’re watching the game in a room full of War Eagles, and you have various non-monetary wagers placed on the outcome, it is even sweeter. Georgia wins 20-13.
The game looked like it was going to be a struggle of two very bad teams trying to not lose. In fact, I can joke and say that rather than the Bulldogs winning, that the Bulldogs didn’t lose. It’s not that I’m not thankful, it’s just that this season has been a massive disappointment in a myriad of ways. I think the overwhelming conclusion that I’ve drawn from this season is that our head coach is operating at about fifty percent efficiency. There can be a host of reasons for his lack of involvement, at least until he’s placed in the “hot seat”.
There’s always mid life crisis, and we can be thankful he’s not Bobby Petrino. There’s the possibility of his superiors telling him to “manage” rather than getting into the weeds himself. There’s the possibility of some sort of “work-life” balance thingy where everyone works from 9 to 5 and then goes home and forgets about the job until the next day. There’s the possibility that coaching is a young man’s game, or at least a job for men who still have goals that are larger than mediocre. Whatever the answer is, and there’s a bunch more possibilities, I don’t see us getting Coach Richt’s best efforts. Like any employee, it’s time to evaluate and determine if his baseline performance is suitable for retainment.
One person who does seem to care about winning is coach Jeremy Pruitt, the defensive coordinator. Since Coach Pruitt’s group led the effort against the War Eagles, we’ll begin with the defense first.
Defense:
Again, I was very impressed with the Freshmen play. If the coaches don’t kill one of the kids on the sidelines due to a forearm shiver delivered unawares, this group has potential. The defense held Auburn to 275 total yards, with just 62 yards through the air. Pass defense is supposed to be our weakness, so when you add the fabulous interception by Malkom Parrish to an otherwise workman like performance, you have hope for the future. Hat’s off to Jordan Jenkins and Lorenzo Carter for forcing fumbles and generally causing havoc in the Auburn backfield. Bend but don’t break worked. Hat’s off to the team for staying focused.
Special teams:
Well, our mixed bag of nuts played well and actually provided the spark that led to victory. The human joy stick, Isiah McKenzie, ran a punt back for a 53 yard touchdown to give the advantage to the Bulldogs. Marshall Morgan was 2 of 2 in the field goal department, and made his 2 extra points. Brice Ramsey shared kicking duties with Collin Barber and Ramsey shined with a 46.0 yard average. A stellar effort on special teams, I wish it was this way every week.
Offense:
Greyson Lambert went the whole way as quarterback, yielding only to Sony Michel and Terry Godwin in Wild Dawg situations. Lambert was 12 of 17 for 97 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. I guess adequate is the new great.
Sony Michel continues to give it his all in spite of a broken hand. He finished the day with 77 yards rushing on 26 attempts.
Isiah McKenzie was allowed to play this week, and he played with a vengeance. Isiah finished the day with 26 yards rushing on 4 attempts and a touchdown. I hope whatever doghouse he was in has been destroyed, we need him on the field.
Malcolm Mitchell contributed 20 yards receiving, on just 2 receptions. Malcolm continues to be our dominant downfield blocker and should be rewarded for his selfless play.
Time of possession was tilted in our favor, 35.5 minutes to 24.5. Maybe the coaches see the importance of maintaining possession of the ball.
Watching Tech lose was a treat. Gosh, if we can just manage to beat them the season might not suck as bad.