2021 UGA Football: Week One

 UGA Instant Analysis 

Week 1: W @Clemson; 1-0

Reminder how this works — a breakdown of offense, defense, and special teams in the order of performance (worst to best) highlighting exceptional plays and players. Another rule is to limit harsh criticism of the players considering they are just kids and typically provide their best effort during the season.

It’s really hard to make judgements after week one, in fact the idea of pre-season rankings is a joke because no one truly knows how a team will be or how well the kids came together during the offseason. There are coaching departures and hires that have bigger impacts than expected, transfers who fit a system better than before, and early injuries holding some units back more than others. 

All that said, Clemson is the second best program in the country with a tremendous amount of success, talent, and coaching expertise, and Kirby led his boys to a neutral site victory against them. For someone like me who advocates for Kirby to get a lifetime contract at Georgia, it helps to win these games. I don’t get to watch every play of every big game anymore because of my little wildcat child, but even with the offensive struggles I believe with confidence Clemson is a playoff-caliber team. This was a huge win for the Dawgs, but like every situation, there is plenty of room to improve. 

Special teams gets the first slot today, although the offense isn’t far behind. Putting Camarda aside, the special teams were dreadful. Important to note the special teams coach stepped aside for personal reasons just weeks ago, but Podlesny’s missed field goal and the punt turnover were black eyes on a unit that performed outstanding last season. For the record, it’s usually not the fault of the player the ball hits on a punt — like in this case there was no reason not to catch the punt and eliminate any chance the ball can touch another player. For Podlesny, the kid showed he can drill kicks when he needs to last year, so this miss doesn’t concern me a ton. The bright spot of special teams was Jake Camarda, the best punter in college football, and truly a weapon for Georgia. Someone who consistently pins a quality offense against the goal line is critical in close games. Even with a sub-par performance, there is a lot of talent on special teams and this coaching staff historically puts good players in good positions to make an impact in this phase.

Offense gets the next spot, and while there are plenty of question marks following an underwhelming performance, there is also a lot to be excited about. JTs numbers were almost nonexistent and he made a poor throw leading to an untimely interception. That said, there were lots of good throws and good decisions, and like always with Georgia QBs, half their evaluation is impossible due to pre-snap reads and adjustments. While I would love to have a more mobile player in that role, and there are a couple young ones on the roster, JT is mature and smart and plenty talented to make the throws needed to score. A lot of this depends on the offensive line, which was pretty average in game one. They limited pressure alright, but most of that came on quick passes and short drop backs. This line is built for run blocking, and they did that well. To be fair, Clemson has some really good pass rushers and they barely touched JT, but I think that was more game plan than performance. Ultimately Georgia is built to run the ball and they need to be more aggressive and creative doing it, especially if Salyer (who will be a 1st round guard selection) remains at left tackle. Considering the opponent, the game situation, and the environment, the play calling was appropriate and regardless of my opinions, got the job done to win the game. Moving forward, I would like to see more aggressive ground plays with faster hand offs that get White and Milton going down hill immediately, and if the line holds up I want to see Arian Smith and Jermaine Burton take advantage of man coverage more often. The player that shined last night was Brock Bowers, true freshman, who blocked well and made a lot of positive plays for the offense. Getting Darnell Washington and Dom Blaylock back (hopefully soon) really gives Monken options in personnel packages and will put opponents linebackers in one-on-one situations with athletic tight ends and speedy slot receivers. 

Without question, the defense gets the top spot from week one. There are too many positives to say with this unit. Defensive front was outstanding, DBs played way above expectation despite injuries and youth, and the scheme was flawless. Everyone knows from last season how much I love Jordan Davis as a player and leader. He was remarkable last night as usual. Adam Anderson is probably the highest rated prospect on the defense, and rightfully so for his pass rush ability, but the guy I want to highlight today is Nolan Smith. Nolan is the unsung hero of the defense now that big Jordan Davis gets all the love. Nolan Smith is a quality pass rusher in his own right, but he is the single best edge-setter in college. The only positive run Clemson had all night only happened because Nolan had his helmet ripped off by a Clemson lineman. Other than that play, his ability to contain the run game and still put pressure on Uiagalalei was tremendous. He’s another kid with a fantastic attitude and the kind of leader who can push the team to success. Can’t go without shouting out the DBs, especially the young guys. Ringo, Speed, and former walk-on Dan Jackson all held their own against some of the best receivers in the country. Chris Smith made the play of the game, and benefited from last year’s unexpected playing time due to injury. Lewis Cine continues to impress. The DB I’m most proud of is Latavious Brini. Brini did not play much last year, but stepped up during the Peach Bowl to make some crucial plays. He did the same last night, and his aggressive style is fun to watch. This entire defense will be fun to watch too, but like the last two years, the best defense in the country is not as important as the best offense.

Plenty to be excited about, and this was by far the most engaging 10-3 game in history (way better than the PSU-Wisconsin misery), but the Dawgs will have to get better if they want to finally break 41 years of pain. 

Go Dawgs.