October 19, 2014

The Sunday Treatment: Arkansas Edition

Yesterday, I posted the following:

These are the keys to the game as I see it:


  • Win the turnover battle. 
  • Control both lines of scrimmage. 
  • Rush for over 200 yards
  • Throw for over 150 yards
  • Control the Hogs' ground game
And by the way, one of my nicknames happens to be Captain Obvious.

Last week, against Mizzou, we did all five of those things. Usually against a solid SEC opponent, that isn't going to happen. But, if we can do 4 of those things, then I think we win this game maybe by as much as 10-14 points.

Good ole Captain Obvious! Well, I said if we did four of those things, we'd win by 10-14 points. We won by 13. We hit 200 yards on the ground, Mason finished with 179 yards in the air, we definitely won the turnover battle, and we controlled the Hogs' ground game as they finished with just 126 yards on the ground. Controlling both lines of scrimmage? For a time, yes, but that kind of became a push in the 2nd half.

In the first half, we did all five of those things and we saw the Dawgs up 38-6 at the break. Obviously, we got more conservative in the 2nd half with our play calling and, honestly, I think we let off the gas a bit. The big difference for Arkansas was that they got that passing game cranked up (and again, I think we got more conservative on the defensive side of the ball as well), but it just seemed like we had total control of this game for the entire duration.



If someone were to just glance at the stats with out knowing the final outcome, they would probably figure that Arkansas won - they out-gained us, had 11 more first downs, and enjoyed a 10 minute advantage in T.O.P. over us - but if they looked at the all-too-important turnover line in that stat comparison, they would know how that score happened. 21 points off of those turnovers including a defensive score. Obviously, that was the ball game.

So many positives in this game:


  • Nick Chubb, man! Good Gosh Almighty! 30 carries, 202 yards. Became the first UGA freshman TB to hit 200 since Rodney Hampton in 1987.
  • Hutson Mason. Another very solid and efficient performance from the 5th year senior. And that boy can throw downfield! Two TDs in the air and he got another one on the ground. This guy is gutsy and he's tough. Can't say enough good things about his performance. 
  • Chris Conley. What a game for one of the best DGDs out there! 5 catches for 128 yards and a TD. And it's no secret that he is Mason's go-to-guy. 
  • The entire Defense and DC Jeremy Pruitt. Big kudos to Leonard Floyd and Damiann Swann, specifically. And of course Dominick Sanders for that 54 yard scoop and score. The first half - GATA all the way! A very good performance that would have looked better if we hadn't let up in the 2nd.
Pretty much all of the pundits and talking heads once again didn't give the Dawgs a chance, and once again, we made them all look foolish. This is a very good football team right now. The way the defense has solidified along with our record-breaking offense and very solid special teams, I think UGA is a very, very hard team to beat right now. And what if we get Gurley back? Man...it's exciting times.

It's a great day to be a Dawg! GATA! GO DAWGS!!!


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