2021 UGA Football: Week Eleven

 UGA Instant Analysis 

Week 11: W @ Tennessee; 10-0 

If you listened to the experts before the game, maybe you expected a close one. If you listened to social media after the first quarter, maybe you thought Georgia was in trouble. But as zeroes flashed on the clock, it was another beat down at the hands of Coach Smart’s Dawgs, and I believe the best performance of the season. No — it wasn’t the most dominating result by Georgia, and no — they didn’t win by the largest margin of the season, but Georgia faced a ridiculous amount of adversity and counter-momentum heading into Neyland and left victorious. Remember what matters: good teams win, but great teams cover. Georgia covered despite having every reason not to. 

For the second time this season I will break away from the pattern. I will keep it simple and highlight some concerns and some encouragement, and you should know by now I’m a “bad news first” kind of guy. 

As expected, when an opposing offense has some success, especially on first down, they are able to up the tempo and limit Georgia’s significant depth advantage from play to play. Tennessee might be the fastest-paced offense Georgia plays all season, and it kept the Dawgs off-balance in the first quarter. A combination of Tennessee’s lack of talent and quality adjustments by Coach Lanning limited the Volunteers’ sustained success, but a better team could do damage with that kind of tempo. Another area of concern early was deep ball coverage and what appeared to be confusion in the secondary. A better QB makes that first drive throw for a touchdown and it wasn’t the only time deep threats were open. We knew coming into the season secondary youth and depth was a concern, and while these kids are playing great there are holes to fill. Typically, the defensive front puts enough pressure on the opposing QB to hide those holes, but Georgia had trouble penetrating early.  Hopefully with a week (maybe more) of rest, the defensive front can recover and come back to full strength and the defense can return to full form. Which leads to the next concern: health. Georgia’s depth shined, but a lot of that was forced due to injuries coming into and during the game. Despite the boos from Tennessee fans (Georgia did it too, and it must stop), Georgia sustained multiple injuries that forced younger and less experienced players into the game. While I’m always impressed with the levels of football development Coach Smart achieves, I only want to see it shine on purpose and not out of necessity due to injuries. Georgia is already playing short handed on the offensive line and receiver positions, but now defensive front impacts are mounting. Charleston Southern will be easy to handle, and Georgia Tech should be too, so ideally Georgia can afford to get healthy over the next couple weeks in preparation for Atlanta and beyond. 

The injury concerns segway into the “encouragement” section of this week’s analysis and man, do recruiting and development matter or what? Today’s offensive line consisted of a redshirt freshman at left tackle and center and a first time contributor at right guard. And while I admire his toughness and heart, it is becoming clear left guard  is the offensive line’s weak link, and he is one of healthy guys. So for Georgia to come out with all those personnel issues and dominate like they did was impressive. It’s even more impressive to do so in a very hostile environment, playing with a target on your back, and still dealing with off-field noise from the Adam Anderson situation. The resilience of this Georgia team is shining and it says more about the character of these young men than their talent, which isn’t lacking either. Some other areas of positivity that stood out to me include Lewis Cine’s ability to attack the run, on top of his immediate recognition of the double pass in the third quarter. Kelee Ringo took on a tightend block at least five times today and forced a three-five yard gain compared to what could result in ten-twenty yard gains. The flexibility of Chris Smith to shift to Star and Dan Jackson to come in to safety was commendable too. But the gold stars today go to Jack Podlesny and James Cook.

Everyone saw how good a game Cook had, and I’ll dig deeper shortly, but Podlesny made a huge play folks won’t talk much about. Down 10-7, and Tennessee still had some hope, Podlesny drilled a 45-yard field goal to tie 10-10. You might think the three points were insignificant considering a 20+ point win, but missed field goals in tight games are wild momentum shifts, so it was critical for Podlesny to make that kick. He was successful on all his attempts this week, and there’s always a chance a field goal or extra point mean the difference between a championship and a sad ride home. 

Now to James Cook. Something clicked halfway through last season with this young man and it led to one heck of a year so far. The difference of Cook between the tackles from three years ago to now is unrecognizable, and his growth as a pass catcher will get him paid. He has a lot to live up to with his older brother as one of the top backs in the NFL, but without seeing it first hand I bet his work ethic and drive will get him close to that level. His routes resemble slot receivers and he started to run hard so arm tackles aren’t enough anymore. A lot of times, tailbacks complement quarterbacks differently depending on skill set, and unfortunately for Zamir White, Cook and McIntosh (and Milton when healthy) fit the Stetson scheme better than the JT scheme, and from what we can see it is Stetson’s job moving forward. Coach Monken’s ability to match up Cook and the other backs against inside linebackers makes up for Arian Smith’s absence and is critical to win the title. 

I guess that leaves the kind of concerning but kind of encouraging quarterback situation. Mentioned before — I won’t question Coach Smart and Coach Monken because they accomplished more than I ever will in the game of football and they spend their entire day analyzing these situations. And from what we see Stetson Bennett is the starting quarterback until further notice. Right or wrong, love it or hate it, I do believe he is capable of winning a championship, but we Georgia fans must accept our offense will be limited. Despite the media slobbering over his athletic ability, Stetson is not Lamar Jackson. Yes, he can move better than JT, but what is the cost of slight mobility? Sure, the Cook throw was good, but the Bowers miss in the 2nd quarter was bad and AD Mitchell bailed him out on numerous occasions. He got lucky with some poor decisions to bounce from solid pockets and comes close to intentional grounding often. With Stetson, there is the potential for defenses to leave an extra player in the box for him and open the throwing lanes, and if not he is capable of hurting you on the ground. Certainly in the last game of the year there is nothing to hold back so the QB run can come in handy. To me, it’s a case of risk vs. reward, so as long as his wildness and missed throws don’t outshine his mobility, it doesn’t matter who’s under center. 

Georgia closes out the SEC schedule with an 8-0 conference record and multiple wins in difficult environments. This is the fourth consecutive 10-win season under Kirby Smart not including the COVID year, and will be the fourth trip to Atlanta in only six seasons. I always build in a gap of expectations, just in case something goes wrong, but this Georgia team looks like something special and I think we could all use a Bulldawgs national championship to complete a magical sports year. If they come up short, I will be disappointed but still thrilled to have such outstanding representatives of a school and state I love out on the field of the greatest sport.

Top ten after week 11:

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

130. Texas

Go Dawgs!