Before Saturday’s embarrassing loss to the Crimson Tide, the last time Alabama played at Georgia was the memorable defeat of the Dawgs during The Blackout Game. The fact is, because of that unforgettable beating, Georgia doesn’t wear black uniforms anymore! So what will Georgia do in response to this past disappointing loss? Yes, the game was a complete washout and yes, that may have caused the Dawgs some difficulty, but is Sanford Stadium ever going to be turned into a Dome? I am afraid not, so where do we go from here?
Even though Georgia still has the opportunity to win the SEC East, their chances at the playoffs have been drastically reduced after Saturday’s worst home loss ever under Coach Richt. Should Georgia fans really be surprised by the loss though? In the last 9 years, Alabama has only been the underdog three times, and each time the Tide has proved to the world that they should never be an underdog. So where does this leave Georgia now?
This Saturday, Georgia, now ranked 19 in the AP Top 25 poll, travels to Knoxville and plays Tennessee on CBS at 3:30. Since 2010 Georgia has come out on top during this rivalry. So what does Georgia need to fix from last Saturday to keep their winning streak against Tennessee alive?
The very first thing the Bulldogs need to do before Saturday’s CBS primetime game is recuperate. The Bulldogs were undefeated and playing extremely well until the game against Alabama. They need to take a deep breath, regain their confidence and simply go back to the way they were playing before this loss. With this in mind, Quarterback Lambert needs to once again, perfect his passing accuracy. Before Saturday he was 33 for 35 in his last two games with zero interceptions and five touchdowns. Along with Lambert getting his groove back, the offensive line needs to really concentrate on creating holes for Chubb and our running game. During the Bama game, it seemed as if we had a hard time creating openings for our running backs, and if the line can’t create openings, our amazing running backs can’t gain much yardage. Our running game is very important to our team’s success because Georgia is primarily a running team. Without our running game, the game will be another struggle for the team especially if Greyson struggles like he did last Saturday. In addition to creating holes, our offensive line must protect the quarterback better and prevent the defense from rushing his passes and inevitably sacking him.
On the other side of the line, our defense has been playing very well, but against Alabama their weaknesses were tested. The defensive line was tested whenever Bama tried to create openings for their running back Derrick Henry. However, our defense did well at stopping Henry and kept him to 148 yards and only 5.7 yards per carry. For passing yards, our defense allowed 11 of 16 completions to give Alabama a total of 190 passing yards. In order to keep the opponent’s passing game from hurting us, our secondary needs to stay side by side with their receivers and make it harder for the quarterback to reach his targets. If we stay closer to their receivers and make it harder for the quarterback, this could lead to interceptions for us that could make the difference between a win and a loss.
Overall, I think the game this past Saturday showed the Bulldogs and the coaching staff what they needed to improve on in order to compete against tough opponents. Coming up is Tennessee, Florida and Auburn and these games will indisputably not be a cakewalk. Even though Georgia lost to Alabama, the lessons that they learned from the game will hopefully help them to improve their game and finish the season with a 12-1 record. This would allow them to win the SEC East and play in the SEC Championship game on December 5th in Atlanta. Who knows, maybe the SEC Championship game will be a rematch for the Crimson Tide and our beloved Bulldogs? If that’s the case, lets just hope that the Dome will help prevent the Dawgs from another washout.
