Yes, that was a TOUGH loss on Saturday. UGA dominated the stats except in the turnovers catergory. But, stats are for losers and we were losers on Saturday night, yet again. Finding ways to lose games rather than win games-Auburn sure knows how to find ways to win games. That being said, plenty to be encouraged about in the game so let's start with the positives first.
-Isaiah Crowell IS the real deal. He looked very good against a good SCarolina D. He also looked good catching the screen pass and making plays in that way. He still needs to work on his blitz pickup but no doubt he is our best back and should see the bulk of playing time moving forward.
-The young WR's were impressive. Mitchell looks really good to me, the two big plays by Michael Bennett were outstanding. The one catch with his finger tips, WOW. Also the TD catch was really nice. Wooten and King had good games, I feel more encouraged now about our receiving core than I did after game one.
-The OL played pretty decent overall, opened up big gaps for Crowell and Samuel to run, gave up only two sacks (the last one was HUGE of course) but did a much better job than against Boise, and SCarolina to me was a much more athletic DL than was Boise.
-Murray played well in spurts but is still too inconsistent. He had a great stretch after his INT but the INT was dreadful, as was the fumble where he could see the guy coming-it was not a blindside fumble. Gotta tuck the ball and take the sack there. Sometimes I think he tries too hard to make a big play instead of just taking the sack and playing the next down. Still, he did a pretty good job, he just needs to play a complete game against the quality opponent.
-the D overall played a solid game. The 4th quarter was not their best as Lattimore took over. SCarolina had the ball for over 9 minutes in the 4th quarter-that is ball control and us scoring VERY quickly. Still, they can't control the offensive turnovers and special teams plays which resulted in essentially 28 of South Carolina's 45 points.
Now the bad some of which I mentioned with the good.
-Crowell's fumble came at a crucial time, we were down by one point and driving. I think Murray didn't give him the best exchange but as a RB you have to adjust and get the ball.
-Murray's INT and fumble-both just bad plays. The INT looked like he never looked at anyone but Orson Charles, he threw it a little behind Charles and the DB made the easy read and score. The fumble, again, it was NOT his blindside, he had Clowney crashing on him with incredible speed, tuck the ball and take the sack. As I mentioned before, Murray is a playmaker and sometimes he tries too hard to make a play instead of just taking the sack or throwing the ball away. Stafford did the same type things-he thought his arm could rescue him at all times. Greene as a FR and Soph was different and that is why we did so well during his run at QB because he did not try to make plays that were not there.
-Playcalling, ok, so I thought playcalling was actually VERY good for the most part but early in the game, with a chance to really make a statement, we had to settle for FG's which leads to the next one.
-Special teams. Nothing againt Butler, he performed well but Walsh missing a chipshot really hurt us bad. Granted, as I said before, we should have been punching it in the endzone, still, you expect Walsh to make FG's-and this one was inside the 40. The Gamecocks had a FG kicker attempting his first of the year, first as a SCarolina player and he hits a 49 yarder right down the middle-flip those and we win the game. Of course you also had the fake punt-we have been burned on this time and time again. It is frustrating and I have even heard the coaches warned the players watch for the fake. For a 270lb guy to be able to run 70 yards against us, speaks volumes about that kid's speed as a DE, and our bad play there. You could clearly say South Carolina won the special teams for this game and honestly, special teams was an area that I wouldn't think anoyone on our schedule could or would beat us this year.
-the D making crucial stops. I can't fault the D overall but they could NOT make crucial stops when it mattered most. First, we were tied at 28 and they let SCarolina move down the field to kick the FG. Then we take the lead 35-31 and again, the D allows SCarolina to go 80 yards to take the lead. That is very frustrating because the D overall really played well, especially in creating two turnovers and having to play against two of the best skill players in America, Lattimore and Jeffrey. If SCarolina had a good QB, that offense would be nearly unstoppable. Much like our 2008 SHOULD have been with Stafford, Moreno, and AJ-along with MoMass. Wow, what offensive talent we had that year.
Next up is a game against Coastal Carolina. They are 2-0 after wins over Furman and Catawba. This should be a walk in the park after the first two weeks. Even though I know Richt and company will not do it, I would move Richard Samuel back to LB. Let him get snaps there, he practiced there all last year and during spring ball. His position, ILB, both starters are now out for the next 2-3 weeks. Crowell has proven to be the best back we have, Malcome, Thomas and Harton can certainly spell him for this week and even the next. I guess I just think, if Boykin can play mulitple postions, why can't Samuel, the guy is a 4th year junior. Spent two years at RB and is back there now. He knows it. He spent a year learning the D and a spring playing D, he knows it.Why not let him play some??? Just my two cents.
I think the jury is still out on the coaching staff. I am a HUGE Richt supporter and have said all along, I want to take this game by game before making my decision. What I saw Saturday convinced me that this team can be very good, however, they need to learn how to win again-learn to win the close games, have something go good for them to turn the ship around. The last highly successful year for Mark Richt-in 2007, we had two early losses, and were about to lose to Vandy before we had a huge strip from I believe Darryl Gamble as Vandy was inside our 10 or so in a tie game. We moved down and Coutu kicked the game winning FG. From there our season turned around with the big win in Jax and down the stretch. My point being, that team was very close to having a 3rd SEC loss and the season getting ugly-remember, Vandy had beat us the year before in Athens-that could have been two straight losses to Vandy. We made a play, found a way to win and then turned our season around. This season we need to turn this around, win this week, then go get a big road win in Oxford. IF we can get those two wins, the Miss State games sets up just like last year really. Miss State used the game against us to springboard into a strong season. I feel like that game can do that for us this year, assuming we win the next two. After that we get to go play on Rocky Top, a place that has been VERY unkind our last two trips. But, a team that we can beat, along with Vandy. IF, and this is a HUGE IF, we can win the next 5, we would sit at 5-2 heading for our bye week. In 2007, we were 5-2 headed to a bye week against UF. Not saying that is going to happen, just saying it is possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment