But you also don’t want to peak too soon. After scoring on the first five possessions, the Dawgs got a little shaky at the end of the first half. Ryan Puglisi’s first series at quarterback fizzled out and a bad snap on the field goal attempt led to a turnover on downs. The last four minutes of the first half and first four of the second, sometimes called the middle eight, is one of the most pivotal parts of a game. Managed correctly, you can score twice and totally crush an opponent’s spirit. I have a better chance of becoming Mr. Ana de Armas than Tennessee State did of winning this game, but against better opponents, a mistake like this could prove disastrous. So I’m sure Kirby and Co. are happy that there’s coaching up to do.
This weekend, we’ll continue to eat dessert first as another cupcake arrives in Athens in the form of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. If you’re my age (I won’t say how old I am, but I will tell you that my back hurts all the time, but I can still eat wings after 8 p.m. with minimal blowback), you probably learned about WKU from seeing Big Red on SportsCenter commercials when ESPN wasn’t 90% eye-searing gambling advice. The Hilltoppers have fielded some quality football teams in years past. Based on their game against Nevada last week (they lost 49-14), this year’s edition is not one of those.
Games like these first two offer limited utility for drawing meaningful conclusions about what we can expect from this year’s team once we get into the meat of the schedule. But there were some seedlings that merit keeping an eye on as we move forward. In no particular order, here are a few things I’ll be interested to track against WKU.
O Line Looking Stout
It would be unfair to call last year’s offensive line bad, but they certainly weren’t a point of strength for the team. Plagued by injuries, the group shuffled through numerous combinations and never quite felt cohesive. Under the leadership of new coach Phil Rauscher, a man who looks uncannily like the (complimentary! That’s what you want your o-line coach to look like!), this year’s line looked great in game one.Of course, Tennessee State wasn’t going to be able to match up physically on the line, so are worth keeping in mind. But Georgia didn’t give up a single sack on the day and racked up 272 rushing yards. Nate Frazier had four carries and three of them went for touchdowns, which is the kind of day that would be hard to recreate in the video game. But even more than his stats, go back and look at how he was running. Frazier looked like a dad playing with his kids; he knew nobody was going to catch him. That’s a credit to the blocking up front.
WKU has better athletes, but they also got shredded for 323 yards in Reno last week. This Saturday is another great chance for the line to solidify in a live-fire situation.
The Rush Is Back?
Before the season, . Georgia actually finished DFL in the SEC in sacks for the season. I was pleased as punch to see the defense get three sacks for 37 total yards against Tennessee State. Chris Cole accounted for .5 of those, but true freshmen Elijah Littlejohn and PJ Dean accounted for the remainder. Seeing freshmen get in on the act early is a great sign that hopefully portends much more havoc to come.Tight End U
Since Brock Bowers’ emergence in the 2021 season, Georgia has made great use of tight ends. Continuing the trend, three of the Dawgs’ five passing touchdowns last weekend went to TEs. We had already seen flashes from Elyiss Williams, and Kaiden Prothro was a highly regarded recruit. Jaden Reddell qualifies as the biggest breakout star of the day with an athletic catch and run for a touchdown and a second one that was called back for a penalty. All three of them are going to be incredibly fun to watch this year.In most areas of life, I try to embrace nuance and take an analytical approach. But the lizardy parts of my brain like it when great big guys go fast and get real smashy. In quieter moments this week, instead of pondering the mysteries of existence, I’ve been thinking about three tight-end sets. In the red zone, if Georgia runs 13 or 23 personnel, especially with Gunner Stockton’s mobility, the offense is going to be very hard to stop.
Pick Up the Receivers
Of course, the hard part is always getting into the red zone. But the good news there is that the Dawgs had more than 100 more receiving (388) than rushing yards. A huge chunk of that came on one play, a beautiful, long pass from Ryan Montgomery to Jeremy Bell. Still, Talyn Taylor, Isiah Canion, and Sacovie White-Helton all looked good. We’re still waiting to see who’s going to replace Zach Branch as Stockton’s favorite target, but there are plenty of candidates with great playmaking ability.Stay cool and stay healthy, everyone. It will be SEC time soon.
