UGA/MISSOURI... AT A 2ND GLANCE
Each Sunday the staff at Dawg News Daily rewatches Saturday's game and offers tidbits and views we might not of caught during the live action.
*The team came out a little sluggish as we might of expected with a 12pm EST start (11am Local).
*The interior defense looked very spotty during the game. UGA gave up 4 rushing touchdowns through out the game with all of them coming up the middle.
*The rumors of D'Andre Swift not being 100% seemed unfounded. Swift broke of multiple nice runs in the 1st half and showed his shiftiness we are used to seeing from him.
* The offensive line had their hands full all day as the run game never really seemed to overpower Missouri's frontline as we may of expected.
*The Interception by Fromm seemed rushed and was thrown into double coverage. He likes that route, as Fromm usually works from the Hash marks to the side lines. But throwing into double coverage on 3rd down is a big no-no
*The 65 yard fumble return touchdown from Tyson Campbell was a nice bounce back for UGA after Fromm's turnover. Very surprised the whistle wasn't blown to stop the play, as the receiver was stood up for what to be 2-3 seconds.
*The interception by Tae Crowder was a nice focused catch and return to the 7 yard line. This was an interesting sequence for the offense and the 1st of many questionable play calling.
*Justin Fields was inserted for a QB sneak on 1st down for no gain and then immediately taken back out. On 2nd & 3rd down, the bulldogs threw left corner passes that were both ruled out of bounds. For a team that expresses physicality, why doesn't UGA use the offensive line and run the ball at least once inside the 10?
*In 2017, The bulldogs didn't catch the injury bug which was one key to their success. 2018 hasnt been so kind. Andrew Thomas got his lower leg rolled up on in the 1st half. The same leg that was injured against South Carolina. He left and didn't come back into the game.
*Others who left with Injury that we will need to keep an eye on: RG Ben Cleveland (leg) out 6-8 weeks, Tyler Simmons (shoulder) out 2-3 weeks, Tyson Campbell (shoulder & stomach bug), and Brenton Cox (leg).
*Keep an eye on UGA's offensive line.. Ben Cleveland is out 6-8 weeks and Andrew Thomas is probably out the next 2 weeks. Expect Kendall Baker/Justin Schaffer to fill in for Cleveland and Cade Mays to make the start at left tackle the next couple weeks.
*The special teams punt block came at the right time. The offense seemed to be struggling a bit, so when Eric Stokes came in and blocks, scooped, and scored it gave the team a little boost of energy.
*The defensive line didn't look well against the run, but it definitely showed up against the pass. Deandre Walker was in Mizzou's backfield all day long. Julian Rochester was credited with a hit and fumble on Drew Lock. Walker had four tackles, two sacks, two tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, a pass break-up and a quarterback hurry.
*The 4th and 1 call to go JUMBO package with OL Trey Hill as Fullback at the end of the 1st half seemed to backfire. Unsure why Herrien is the one to carry the ball in that situation? Why not go RPO and spread out the defense or even just kick the 48-yd field goal, which would put UGA up 23-7 at the half?
*Good start to 2nd half with the touchdown throw to Ridley. Riley Ridley caught it at its highest point and there was no help on the back end after the defensive back gambled on the interception.
*The refs had a rough day! The late hit call on Jonathon Ledbetter to extend the drive for Missouri was a bad call and the announcers said the same. Kirby went ballistic on Tyler Clark on the sidelines just expressing for him to use his composure.
*These kind of calls happen when so much is being made out of getting to the quarterback. Surprisingly enough, Locke has drawn numerous roughing the passer calls this year.
*Jeremiah Holloman makes another big play this week with a long touchdown catch. But inexplicably as Deandre Baker did a few weeks ago, dropped the ball on the goal line. He is quite lucky there wasn't a pylon camera angle or that could of been overturned. WE expect some drills this week and maybe the rest of the year on how to carry the ball into the endzone.
*Holloman has earned some playing time in Godwin's limited role due to a leg injury. He definitely looks the part and is making plays which is being noticed.
*The bunched formations on 3rd and 1 just seem obvious of what the bulldogs are trying to do. They were stuffed twice on just trying to get 1 yard. Imagination is needed a little in these situations.
*Defensive backs and the pass defense did a great job against Drew Lock. Locke was held to under 50% passing, 221 yards with 0 TD and 1 Int. Pretty good day for the defense that gave up over 150+ yards rushing.
*With Emanuel Hall's 2 TD day last year, The bulldogs made sure he wasn't going to beat them and held Missouri's leading receiver catchless
*This may of been the worst performance we have seen from UGA in 2 years.. and they still won by 14 points on the road in the SEC. UGA fans have come to expect a high performance each week.
*Expect a long week of practice for the this team with incoming rival Tennessee coming to town.