What’s Missing In Athens
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Headed into the bye week sitting at 4-3 on the season I have been wondering what is missing from this year’s edition of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Blown out by a three loss Ole Miss team, Can’t knock down a Hail Mary against a Tennessee team that just lost by 39 points at home to Alabama, and the mind blowing Homecoming loss to Vandy. Let’s examine what is missing in 2016.
The 3-decade nightmare in Jacksonville is back upon us again and questions are abound about UGA.
No playmaking Wide Receivers. The lack of WR’s that can stretch the field is unacceptable. Coach Smart is trying to address this glaring weakness in recruiting, but UGA is exposed every week it seems in this area. Other than Isaiah McKenzie who is not a true WR, and other than the Riley Ridley TD catch against Tennessee who has made a play this year? Help me out I’m at a loss.
If you think this WR group is going to have a break out game against the talented UF secondary then you’ll have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot. Kirby inherited this position group mess.
Inconsistent Offensive Line play. This group is up and down. You never know what you are going to get from week to week with this unit. This unit has to be more consistent down the stretch.
Play Calling. It seems as if UGA tries to out think itself in the area of play calling. South Carolina could not stop the UGA ground game and yet UGA is trying to throw the football in the 4th quarter in Columbia in tropical storm force wind gusts in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew and had to return an onside kick for a TD to put away a bad South Carolina team.
Not to mention trying to run play action passes from your own end zone with a fourth quarter lead against Tennessee. The play calling on offense is irritating to watch sometimes. It’s ok to stick with what is working until the opponent can show they can stop it.
Toughness. Does this team just seem soft to you? The talent is there in certain position groups, and Kirby is doing his best to change the culture in Athens.
It will take one more solid recruiting class to change program culture in the Classic City. Georgia seems to play up or down to the level of competition they play weekly. The entitlement mentality is gone in Athens. Kirby is playing 19-20 freshman on average now.
The best players are going to play moving forward regardless of how long they have been in the program. Kirby is working to develop a physical football team that has been the poster child of finesse during the latter half of the Richt tenure.
Kicker. In a state of over 9 million people how does UGA not have a kicker than can consistently kick the ball out of the end zone? It seems like opponents boom the ball out of the end zone against UGA all the time.
Glynn Academy had 2-3 kids that consistently kicked the ball out of the end zone in 2015 and one in 2016. I’m going to lay off the FG kicking for now after Blankenship’s effort against Vandy.
Talent. UGA lacks elite SEC caliber talent at OL, WR, and DB. Kirby is seriously upgrading talent in those position groups in this recruiting cycle.
UGA can win out or they can also lose to UF, UK, AU and GT down the stretch. Which UGA will we get for the balance of this year? If the UGA team that lost to Vandy shows up at the Cocktail Party next week it could be a 35-0 blowout loss.
Will UGA ever consistently beat UF again? That is another story for another day. An old college roommate called me last week with an extra ticket for Jacksonville in his Gator section and I’m debating on going. Why do I subject myself to this anguish?
