Where have the fundamentals gone?
Georgia fans may be asking as much after watching their Dawgs get manhandled by South Carolina today in Columbia. The Bulldog defense had a tough time tackling while the offense couldn’t execute consistently.
Marcus Lattimore will get all the headlines this week after rushing for 182 yards while dragging Georgia defenders all over Williams-Brice Stadium. But he wasn’t the only Carolina player getting the better of their Bulldog adversaries. Georgia’s entire team looked weak and poorly conditioned on both sides of the ball.
The much-ballyhooed UGA offensive line led the way for just 61 rushing yards. Todd Grantham’s 3-4 defense was in position to make plays many times during the day, but just couldn’t seem to get Gamecocks on the ground. Despite five sacks, Georgia gave up more yards-after-contact today than many teams give up all season.
To make matters worse, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo didn’t seem to know which buttons to push today without star WR AJ Green in the fold. Georgia fans have to hope Green’s suspension is reduced to just two games, because without him, the Bulldogs will have a hard time moving the ball on anyone.
And next week, Heisman candidate Ryan Mallett leads high-scoring Arkansas to Athens.
EALEY STRUGGLES
During preseason practice, running back Washaun Ealey was arrested for hit-and-run on a parked vehicle. Ealey was forced to miss the opener against ULL last week leaving many of the carries to Caleb King, who ended up getting injured and missing today’s game.
The suspension obviously hurt the team for more than just one game. King’s injury left Georgia frightfully thin at a position that takes more lumps than any other. Ealey did not have the luxury of warming up for the 2010 season against ULL like most of the Bulldogs did. Instead, he had to get re-introduced to regular season football in Columbia against a solid and physical SEC opponent.
With King out, Ealey had all but one carry from Georgia running backs. The sophomore also made a crucial, game-changing mistake by fumbling on the Carolina 3 in the third quarter.
Ealey and Green’s suspensions came for no good reason. Each player made stupid off-the-field mistakes that cost their team a game and maybe more. This type of poor decision-making is something Georgia cannot have if the team expects to win championships.
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Good analysis.