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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Second quarter blog

End of half, Arkansas extends lead to 17-7

Bad end of half for Georgia. And it enters the half with the fans in Sanford Stadium mumbling a worried chorus. Justifiably.

Arkansas' Zach Hocker nailed a 48-yard field goal with four seconds left, on a try that never should've been possible. But Ryan Mallett's 39-yard completion down to the Georgia 41 set it up, followed by a third-down conversion to get in field goal range.

The only good news for Georgia is it gets the ball to start the second half. But with its offense sputtering the way it is right now, those 10 points look like 30.

21 seconds left in first half, Georgia still trails 14-7

Georgia at least succeeded in taking time off the clock. Not that it did too much good.

When you have Ryan Mallett, you see 46 seconds as plenty of time to get downfield. It only took him one play to get past midfield, completing a pass down to the Georgia 41.

Not that anyone needed my verification, but having seen Mallett last year and now, he's a legit No. 1 overall draft prospect. What an arm.

4:33 left in second quarter, Georgia still trails 14-7

Go for it at your own 30 in the second quarter, only down one possession? Awful, terrible, bonehead move if you don't make it. Brilliant, confidence-inducing move if do.

Therefore a great move by Georgia, as Aaron Murray sneaks it through.

Unfortunately for Georgia, Murray's running continues to be its best offense. One play later (after a delay of game penalty) Murray scrambled out of a potential sack and got the first down - with Kris Durham delivering a punishing block at the end of the run.

Stacey Searels continues to tinker with his line. Trinton Sturdivant has been playing left tackle, with Clint Boling shifting over to right guard.

But to be honest, the run blocking still isn't that great. And the pass blocking has actually gotten worse from last week.

Murray can't run the ball all game, folks.

9:46 left in second quarter, Arkansas still leads 14-7

Georgia's offense is starting to look limited again, punting for a second straight drive. It's not getting much on the ground, and Aaron Murray hasn't been able to get many passes off, mainly because of good coverage.

It appears Georgia has followed through, early, on its threat to make a change at one of the guard spots.

Junior Tanner Strickland has been playing at right guard, while Chris Davis, a senior, is on the sidelines. We hadn't heard about an injury to Davis, but he's wearing a hat, so who knows.

The only real movement Georgia got on that drive was a completion to Kris Durham, and Murray scrambling.

Murray said this week he doesn't like to scramble. I thought that was unwise. Murray now appears to agree with me. He did so a couple times early on the drive, once for a first down and then for just a few yards.

But even the latter run was a good indication that Murray will be running often today, unlike last week: He recognized quickly that the play fake hadn't been bought by the defense, and darted up the middle to save a couple yards.

13:51 left in second quarter, Arkansas re-takes lead, 14-7

Georgia's defense is still good against the run, but now it can't stop Ryan Mallett's passing.

Mallett got Arkansas down to the 1-yard line with three long pass plays. A couple plays later, Joe Davis pushed it in.

Potentially more bad news for Georgia, and its resurgent run defense: Nose tackle DeAngelo Tyson was shaken up at the end of the drive. The Dogs obviously need him back, with Bean Anderson already out with turf toe.

Those of you who wanted to see Kwame Geathers play some, you're about to get your wish.

It's still pretty early, but Georgia's offense could use a quick answer here.

Interesting side note: Georgia was charged for two 0-yard penalties at the end of the drive. The first was on a face mask at the end of the play down to the goal-line. The second was an illegal formation call before the first-down play.

4 comments:

dawginutah said...

what happened to the pass protection we saw last week?

AthensHomerDawg said...

we are facing a first round, Heisman trophy candidate QB....maybe?

Anonymous said...

even if some miracle ga wins the game
IT IS TIME FOR A NEW HEAD COACH

AthenHomerDawg said...

Anonymous: who you got in mind as the replacement/