Some Final Thoughts On the MIZZOU Game

Going back to Saturday afternoon, about a half-hour after the clock hit zero, we got back to car to have some adult beverages, commiserate, and let the traffic clear out a bit. I remember saying something like, "well...at least the pressure's off, and knowing our luck, even if we would have won out we probably would have gotten shafted and been left out of the national championship game." Then I thought to myself - damn, you truly sound like a neurotic Dawg fan! Hey, that's how we roll. Dat how we play the game!

However, I think there's a little bit to that. You don't lose all of the talent we've lost and expect to just keep rolling along. Something had to give. And really, it just seemed like we were going to have to play a near-perfect game to make it happen. Well, obviously we didn't do that. Four turnovers and all. After the UT game, it should have become apparent that this team - after all of the injuries and the continued issues on the O-line, secondary, and special teams - just didn't have it in them to make the run to Pasadena. Things change, and injuries change stuff quicker than anything.

There's still so much to play for, though. As I said on Sunday, if we can't get a national crown, maybe we can keep someone else from getting one while picking up our first SEC title in 8 years. It's going to be real tough, but if we can get Gurley and Bennett back, avoid more injuries, and shore up our issues on the O-line, D, and special teams - I think we've got a good chance.

A few random, specific thoughts:

• To me, Saturday did seem to be more about the Jimmies and Joes instead of X's and O's. At least when it comes to offense and defense (see below). 
• Somebody commented about this on one of my earlier MIZZOU posts, and while I disagreed with a lot of the other stuff he mentioned, he might have had something here: Should Georgia have tried to run the ball more. Maybe instead of 45 passes and 31 runs, perhaps if it was more like 35 passes and 40 runs, we might have seen a different result. Maybe? 
• Special teams is truly a problem. After reading the Senator's expansion on what Garbin posted about, it's enough to make you realize and appreciate that at least we're 4-2 and not 2-4.

Alright. Done with MIZZOU, time to start looking at Vandy. In the meantime, I'll just say this: I sure hope Gurley is 100%. But if he ain't, then he doesn't need to play on Saturday.