In the words of the late Erk Russell, "There ain't nothing like being a Bulldog on a Saturday night!" Todd Gurley ran wild and the Dawgs defense shut Clemson down in the second half to win 45-21. Georgia racked up 328 rushing yards on only 41 attempts. Defensively, the Dawgs pitched a shutout in the 2nd half, while limiting the Tigers to 15 yards and only one first down.
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| Photo Credit: AJC/Brant Sanderlin |
The sideline is clearly the only thing preventing Todd Gurley from running for 800 yards tonight.
— Spencer Hall (@edsbs) August 31, 2014
Everyone in the DawgNation was looking for signs of improvement on the defensive side of the ball. When Coach Richt hired Jeremy Pruitt from Florida State, everyone around the program believed it was a game changer. If the first game is any indication then it was a great hire. Clemson had good success versus the Dawgs in the 1st half, but Coach Pruitt and his staff made adjustments at halftime and the Tigers were stymied in the second half. Clemson had 7 drives, in the 2nd half, and only ran 22 plays. Here is a breakdown of the number of plays per drive: 3, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3, and 3. 9 of Clemson's 15 drives resulted in a 3 and out. Another drive ended with an interception.
In the 2nd half, Clemson offense averaged 0.68 yards per play. Only had 15 total yards in the half. Dawgs defense looked like a new bunch!!!
— Trent Smallwood (@UgaRecruitingBI) August 31, 2014
Here are some other observations from the game:
- Todd Gurley is the stud on offense but Leonard Floyd is a freak on defense. Coach Pruitt lined him up all over the place and he abused Clemson's right tackle all night.
- Amarlo Herrera was named the SEC's Defensive Player of the Week, after leading the Dawgs with 12 tackles, 3.5 TFL, and 2 sacks. I love how Coach Pruitt used the ILBs. In Grantham's scheme the ILBs rarely ever blitzed. Herrera had 2 sacks in one game whereas last season he recorded only 0.5 sack the entire season. Reggie Carter did an outstanding job in coverage, knocking the ball away from Peake on a play which would have resulted in a big gain otherwise.
- Georgia played 21 different defenders on Saturday night. Again, this is a big change from the previous defensive regime. The Dawgs looked fresh in the 2nd half, while Clemson looked like they were out of gas. Going back to the ILBs, it was rare for anyone to get playing time last year other than Wilson and Herrera. Both are fine football players, but neither are great in pass coverage. Carter and Kimbrough played a significant number of snaps and looked impressive.
- #TailbackU - Gurley is the headliner, but the Dawgs have a stable of talented running backs. True freshmen tailbacks, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, combined to rush for 103 yards on only 10 carries. Nick Chubb simply would not be denied on his TD run (the last 35 yards with just one shoe). The future looks bright!
- Have you ever seen 3 rushing TDs on 3 consecutive offensive plays? Gurley and Chubb toted the rock but the offensive linemen did some heavy lifting. It's demoralizing for a defense when you know the offense is going to run the ball and you can't stop it.
- In all, 9 different true freshman saw action on Saturday night. Jeb Blazevich made a nice catch to convert a first down. Isaiah McKenzie, Michel's high school teammate, had 44 all purpose yards and was a shoestring tackle away from breaking a punt return for a TD in the 4th quarter. This kid is very talented and I believe he will break a punt return for a TD before the season is over. He was dubbed the "Human Joystick" in high school and highlight tape is just plain sick.
- Special Teams were actually "special" on Saturday night. Gurley's kickoff return for a TD was a huge momentum swing in the game. That play wasn't all Gurley though. If you watch it again you will see that it was very well executed by the whole KO return team. The other noteworthy item for special teams was the fact that Richt has decided to go with his best players for those squads. Both Keith Marshall and Sony Michel were on the kickoff teams. Very good night's work put in by both punters and Marshall Morgan.
- Deshaun Watson is going to be a very fine football player. He looked very impressive for it to be his first college football game in a very tough environment. It's only a matter of time before he unseats Stoudt as the starting QB at Clemson.
- If you would like to enjoy the highlights again then watch this. I promise that you will enjoy it! If you're interested in hearing an opinion from the Tiger's point of view then here you go.
Other Notable Games
- Texas A&M had the most dominating performance of the week when they throttled South Carolina in Columbia on Thursday night. I would caution everyone that is ready to write off the Gamecocks' chances of winning the SEC East this season. It is way too early to make judgement on a team after one game. A healthy Mike Davis would have made a huge difference, in my opinion. I fully expect the Gameocks to regroup and be ready to take on the Dawgs in 2 weeks.
- Alabama's defense looked pedestrian, at times, but they were able to hold off West Virginia to win the the second part of the Chick-fil-a Kickoff classic. Sure, it was a sloppy performance, but Bama has way too much talent to write them off this early in the season as serious contenders.
- The Glory Days of 2013 are over for the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Dores had "their doors blown off" by Temple. It's never good to lose by 30 at home, regardless of the opponent, but particularly when the opponent went 2-10 the previous season.
- FSU and LSU both won neutral-site games versus Oklahoma State and Wisconsin, respectively. Both teams are very talented and I believe they will improve as the season moves along. Unfortunately for LSU, the SEC West is going to be rugged this season.
Looking ahead for the Dawgs
As
the season progresses, I fully expect for defenses to put 8 or 9 players in the
box to try to shut down the running game. As defenses challenge the Dawgs, we will have to get better at throwing the ball downfield. We definitely need the speed and play making ability of both Malcolm Mitchell
and Justin Scott Wesley. In case you have forgotten about the kind of difference Mitchell can make in a tight game, watch this.
Dawg fans should be excited about the outcome of Saturday's game, but I hope the players don't buy into the hype from the national media.
Georgia is now the favorite in the #SEC. pic.twitter.com/YjEMMjXB6r
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 2, 2014
It was just one game. I cannot agree more with this column written by Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph. Let's take it one game at a time and enjoy the season!
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