Costly mistakes and an anemic offense were the story of the day for Georgia, which was handed a devastating 24-10 loss by No. 9 Oklahoma State. The game was not the shootout that many thought it would be due to sloppy play by both offenses; both teams made numerous mistakes including costly penalties and boneheaded plays.
DIRECTIONAL DISASTER …
Oklahoma State was able to hold it together for most of the day despite 13 penalties for 94 yards. The Pokes outscored Georgia 14-3 in the second half to pull away. The first Cowboy touchdown drive of the second half was catalyzed by a 74-yard return of the opening kickoff of the second half by Perrish Cox, who is now the all-time leader in Big XII kickoff returns. The Bulldogs’ philosophy of directional kicking did not seem to profit them in this sequence.
The Cowboys went on to score from the UGA 24 in eight plays after another valiant defensive stand by the Bulldogs fell through. The Dawgs now found themselves down 17-7 and in desperate need of points.
To their credit, the Bulldog offense responded with a 56-yard drive that would result in a career-long 53-yard field goal by Blair Walsh. The kick brought UGA to within seven at 17-10.
OFFENSE STALLS OFTEN …
After a picture perfect 80-yard touchdown drive to open the game, the Georgia offense would not reach as far as the Cowboy 30 again. In fact, the Dawgs only managed 185 yards of total offense the rest of the way.
Richard Samuel looked like a solid replacement for Knowshon Moreno on the drive, tallying 31 yards on the drive. But Samuel seemed to have lost his mojo for the rest of the game, as the sophomore back could not seem to break tackles nor dodge defenders. Samuel finished the game with just 55 more yards on the ground.
Quarterback Joe Cox struggled throughout much of the afternoon after the first drive, hitting on 13-29 passes for just 129 yards afterwards. Cox threw one interception, although it did come on fourth down during desperation time at the end of the fourth. One huge turnover he did commit came with 10:40 left in the final period on the Bulldog 36-yard line. Cox was blindsided and fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Georgia native Nigel Nicholas.
OSU would go onto to score on a Dez Bryant touchdown pass to give the Cowboys an insurmountable 24-10 lead. The drive looked to have been stopped by the UGA defense, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Baccari Rambo kept the drive alive.
NO TIME TO REST …
The Dawgs will now travel home and arrive in Athens in the middle of the night and have just six days to lick their wounds before a rested South Carolina team comes calling. As a result of extremely tough scheduling by athletic director Damon Evans, UGA will have to get over this loss in a hurry and fix a number of mistakes in order to play well next Saturday.
Steve Spurrier is no doubt licking his chops. Last season the Dawgs only managed 14 points against his defense with two first round picks in Matt Stafford and Knowshon Moreno. Now, with obvious questions at quarterback and running back, the Carolina defense will be even tougher to solve.
The Gamecocks have plenty of issues themselves, however, especially on the offensive side of the ball. USC struggled mightily against a good but not great NC State defense on Thursday night, getting the win 7-3.
Defenses should rule the day next Saturday in Athens in the home opener for both teams.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
