2021 UGA Football: Week Nine

 UGA Instant Analysis 

Week 9:  W @Florida; 8-0 

You might think Georgia should be happy with a 34-7 victory over Florida, which included shutting down one of the best offensive playcallers in football for over three quarters. Unfortunately the score does not reflect the execution, and there are questions left unanswered, and outside of winning the SEC East today, Georgia is not any closer to winning a national championship. The good news? The best defensive players in the country at just about every position wear red and black. 

The question on every dawg fan’s mind is “can Stetson win a national championship?” This question earns the offense the first position this week. 

The answer is yes, by the way, Georgia can win it all with Stetson. However, they wouldn’t win BECAUSE of him, and Coach Monken needs to keep his skill set in mind to keep him from losing any games moving forward. Because of the talent around him on offense, and the monsters on defense, Georgia can beat anyone even with Stetson at QB. I don’t know if he’s the best option, I don’t know the health of JT or the progress of Brock, but I do know Stetson is pretty good on the fly, outside the pocket, with motion and misdirection to slow a defenses awareness and reaction. Especially if there’s another healthy QB, utilizing Stetson in the run game offers a layer JT cannot provide this offense. The turnovers must stop, though, but again I don’t put those on Stetson as much as I do Coach Monken. Uncontested and with no obstruction Stetson can deliver an ok deep ball, like the Kearis Jackson TD, even though that catch was far more impressive than the throw. But those two interceptions and the intentional grounding on a 3rd and 1 after pounding the ball down the field are failures of play calling rather than execution in my mind. I have no problem with the scheme itself, it’s just the trigger puller needs the skills to make it happen. If Georgia had a Bryce Young or even Malik Willis, I don’t know if anyone stops them from scoring. But unless Brock somehow emerges, JT builds a set of wheels, or Stetson grows four inches, Coach Monken needs to call the game to his players and not ask too much of them. He’s got a defense to help him out, too. Outside the quarterback position, the offensive players performed pretty well. Zamir White and James Cook ran with a purpose, both between and outside the tackles. The tight ends blocked extremely well, and had multiple momentum-shifting receptions. The receivers blocked well on the edge and while not a tremendous factor, they continue to fight outside and it looks like they are getting healthy too. Maybe it’s too much optimism, but I don’t feel like the offense even scratched the surface of its potential this year, so hopefully Coach Monken can fine tune his machine over the next few weeks. 

Special teams earns the middle position although they were much closer to the offense than the defense. Outside of a solid return game, led by Kearis Jackson, the special teams unit struggled in some key areas. While Podlesny’s first field goal should have been kicked from a lot closer, 45 yards shouldn’t be too tall a task, and that kick wasn’t close. Certainly it didn’t keep Georgia from winning, but missed field goals are the worst momentum shift and if Florida was better that might have been a real bad swing against the Dawgs. His second field goal wasn’t much prettier, although it earned some crucial points at the time. The only kicks I remember this season where Podlesny looked completely comfortably were from the middle of the field — we know he’s capable of 50+ too, even to win a game, so whatever the staff needs to do to bring that confidence back out is a must. While Jake Camarda continues to impress, there was a first quarter punt that landed perfectly inside the five, but the coverage failed to haul it in prior to bouncing in the end zone. Similar to the field goal, it ultimately failed to limit Georgia’s victory, but putting opponents inside the five with this defense is huge. These special teams differences aren’t highlighted in the post game shows and not necessarily individual game changers, but an aggregate of mistakes can cost a championship-driven team against a quality opponent. 

My structure of worst-to-first analysis was a mistake this season, considering the defense takes this “first” spot realistically every week. There were some miscues, for sure, but the way the defense seized this game from the hands of Florida’s offense was beyond impressive. While the defense only put one touchdown in the end zone, at least three scores belong to them. Nolan Smith, as you remember from week one, is my favorite player on this defense. He’s not the fan favorite (Jordan Davis, stud), he’s not the best overall player (Nakobe Dean, stud), he won’t be the highest draft pick on this team (who knows, Jalen Carter, Adam Anderson, Kelee Ringo, all studs), but this kid’s motor is nonstop and his versatility is unreal. One play he’s setting the edge on a power run, and ends up stripping the ball to provide a huge boost — the next time on the field he’s 20 yards deep in coverage intercepting a pass leading to another UGA touchdown. His combination of strength, speed, agility, and knowledge is the best on this team, and that says a lot compared to Nakobe Dean and Travon Walker. Walker, by the way, a 300 pound defensive end, tipped the ball that led to Smith’s INT while he was dropped into coverage across the middle. These guys are so fast, so strong, and so committed to excellence it’s hard to say anything negative, but I have to point out Florida found moderate success running between the tackles, and Kelee (who continues to impress overall) looked lost in the fourth quarter when Georgia shifted to what looked like cover 2. Coach Smart gave him an earful, but that shows how high his standard is to coach up a kid while winning by 30 at the end of a game. There is something scary about this defense too, as if it wasn’t scary already — I don’t think Coach Lanning put his best front on the field yet. This is by no means a question of Lanning’s choices, I know he’s putting different guys and packages in and keeping them all fresh and matching situation to scheme to player, but the overall best front six consists of Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Travon Walker, Nakobe Dean, and Quay Walker/Channing Tindall. I don’t think that group played together yet, but in crunch time with that set on the field, I am extremely confident in Georgia’s defense. All the guys behind them are solid too, which is why we see mixing and matching in the first place. Notice I didn’t list Adam Anderson, who is likely a first or second round pick — that’s how good these kids are and the coaching staff deserves credit for their development and togetherness. There’s a movement building to send Jordan Davis to New York for the Heisman, and while his contribution, impact, and leadership certainly earn him that right, the player most deserving on the defense is Nakobe Dean due to his impact, leadership, and command, but also because he plays almost every snap. He doesn’t get as many breaks as Davis or Smith, and constantly leads the defense to success. 

 I can make an argument for both, and for Nolan Smith, but Heisman trophies don’t come calling for defensive players often. As of now, Kenneth Walker from MSU has my vote with Nakobe Dean in second.

Next week, Georgia hosts a Missouri squad who struggled to beat Vandy, and while no SEC team should be taken lightly, I hope Georgia finds chances to increase QB reps in preparation for the end of the season grind.

I’ll end the rest of this season’s reports with my top ten teams since the playoff rankings come out this week. I will rank mine in order of ten most deserving, which does not necessarily mean ten best. My initial top ten:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan State
3. Oklahoma 
4. Alabama 
5. Oregon
6. Ohio State
7. Wake Forest
8. Cincinnati 
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas A&M

Congratulations to the SEC East champion Georgia Bulldawgs — got a few to win.

Go Dawgs!