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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Georgia-ASU Wrap Up

I may not get a chance to post anything tomorrow, as I'll be flying back to Georiga (and losing three hours on the time zone change) so this might have to serve as my wrap up for the game, but here are some postgame news, notes and thoughts...

-- No injury updates on Jeremy Lomax or Jarius Wynn, but both left the game. With Rod Battle still battling neck stiffness, the defensive ends are looking awfully thin. Georgia cannot afford to be without all three next week against Alabama.

-- Richard Samuel didn't see the field until late in the fourth quarter, and didn't have a single carry in the game. Caleb King, meanwhile, looked good -- carrying 10 times for 44 yards.

-- The goal line offense struggled again, save Knowshon's two touchdown runs. Georgia had the ball inside the 1 twice in the second half and failed to score. It wasn't a big deal in the game, but considering Georgia's tumble down the polls, it really can't afford to leave points on the field.

-- After the game, Richt said his desire to have Vince Vance play left tackle was the primary motivation for the shakeup on the offensive line. That showed when Kiante Tripp barely saw the field. Richt was relatively complimentary of Vance's performance, but stopped short of calling him dominant. Considering ASU's All-American DE Dexter Davis never touched Stafford, I'd say he played pretty well.

-- Ben Jones played every snap at center. Chris Davis said Jones was spectacular, and Richt added praise: "Ben played a lot. First start for that little, chubby freshman out of Alabama. He's just a great kid, he's tough as nails, and he did a great job. From what we could tell, and I was listening to Coach Searels, and I know he was watching them as close as he could, and he felt like he was holding his own pretty good."

-- Chris Davis said he and Clint Boling were both happy to return to the guard positions they finished last season at. He said the comfort level for both players at the position was a big confidence booster Saturday.

-- The penalties remain an issue. Georgia had 12 flags for a total of 104 yards in the game. There were a few questionable ones, however, particularly a personal foul on Darryl Gamble on a punt in which he did nothing wrong. Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez was particularly upset about a holding call on Asher Allen that negated an interception. "I thought we got robbed a little bit on the interception," Martinez said. "It felt like we were out there playing against 18 people. That's how I feel about it, but we overcame it."

-- Another great game from Rennie Curran. Team-high nine tackles, his third sack and two TFLs.

-- Sacks today from Demarcus Dobbs, Darryl Gamble (assisted), Justin Houston, Andrew Gully (assisted) and Curran. Much improved pass rush from previous games.

-- Logan Gray, Knowshon Moreno and Prince Miller all returned punts inthe game, so don't expect that situation settled any time soon.

-- Georgia runs its road record under Richt to 27-4. This was the Dawgs' 11th straight win overall.

-- Stafford is now 21-4 as a starter. Moreno notched his eighth career 100-yard game. Green had the most receiving yards for a Bulldog since Fred Gibson in 2004. Mo Massaquoi has now caught a pass in 25 straight games.

-- Jones, Bean Anderson and John Knox all made their first career starts Saturday.

-- Some final stat notes: Georgia outgained ASU on the ground 176-4. Opponents' rushing totals by game so far: GaSo 102, CMU 59, SC 18, and ASU 4. That's good. Georgia racked up 461 yards in the game, giving the offense more than 450 in three of four contests so far.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

/congrats to ben jones!

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure I saw Jarius Wynn back in the game after his injury, might have been someone else though?

I usually don't complain about the officiating because I know that its only natural refs are going to make bad calls from time to time, but I thought the officiating yesterday was absolutely HORRID. What the hell was that "tripping" call on Massaquoi? The personal foul on Gamble was BS, and having watched the replay, I think the one on Jarius Wynn was bogus too!

Then Jarius gets his ankle rolled on a chop block and no call. Also, they missed SEVERAL holds, I particularly remember a play on their first drive of the 2nd half (the TD drive) when the offensive player literally held onto Akeem Dent's arm from BEHIND him, right in front of the ref, and no call.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know Rennie Curran's 40 speed? Is he a 4.5 guy?