First, while waiting for the team to arrive met Andre Butcher and his family - nice young man, said his recovery was going well, but needed to add some weight
Also met several other families including TK's, CMacs, the Wolfs, and more. Very enjoyable.
(don't you just love the name dropping?)
Offense:
QB: Dobbs had his usual WTF pass pick but otherwise played a very good game. He sometimes needs to improve his pocket awareness. However, two straight 300+ yard games is very good, not to mention his running ability.
RB: I think we got a bit away from the run game. We were opening holes. Hurd is developing into a weapon as a receiver out of the backfield. Kamara got a lot of work as Hurd stood on the S/L for the 4th quarter (with his helmet on).
WR: Hit and miss. We were getting open fairly consistently but at times had some difficulty getting separation. However, we are getting far better. Fewer drops as well. There is no doubt that Dobbs is getting more confidence in his receivers. We rotated more yesterday, including a Brandon Johnson sighting for a couple of plays. We sub'd Williams in for Malone at times. We had both Smith and Byrd on the field together at times. Didn't seem to target the TEs yesterday though Wolf had a long sustained block on the goal line the enabled Dobbs' TD at the end of the 1st half. On our final drive of the 1st half the FJ got in Jennings face inside our huddle, very weird.
OL: Perhaps their best game of the year and for sure its most consistent. They opened holes all day, mostly by using zone blocking techniques though there were a couple of flat hit the man in front of you plays. Even when the blocking seemed to break down they had moved the line 2-3 yards. We weren't getting that earlier this year. The right side tandem has the potential to be great as they seem to play well together.
Defense:
DL: Was disappointed. Inconsistent as hell and got pushed around for about a buck/fifty in the first half. Far more effective in the 2nd half, again. The use of Kongo as a DT in passing situations is not working IMO. We failed to get an inside push when he was in the game, allowing the QB to step up from the DE rush (see their last TD). As an aside, unlike in previous games (and showing our total lack of depth in the secondary) we had four DL in the game in obvious passing situations. At DE both Burnett and Vereen excelled, Kongbo and Lewis not so much. Most of the game they were chipping Burnett with a TE. In obvious passing situations where they had to fle wide the need for that was shown as Burnett just pinned his ears back and went hard. Interesting sub package as Burnett most of the time stayed in the game when the 2nd DL (Lewis, KMac and Tuttle) came in and then got his blow when the first team came back on, with Kongbo in his place. Unitl the 4th quarter we only played 8 DLs.
LB: I know that Jumper had 12 tackles but frankly I would give the LB performance a D, at best. Out of position all freaking day and for the most part being reactive. Vastly worse than last week.
DB: Except for a series when Berry sub'd for Micah we played the same 5 DBs all day. A LOT of interesting DB lineups all day. We rarely played press coverage, tending to settle into 1 or 2 safety over the top look. Led to some easy first downs in my view. As we know Forman had an up and down game but IMO their TD bomb was more Micah's fault than his. I as surprised that Buchanan did not play DB yesterday.
FWIW I think we were more effective, even in run situations in the 4/2/5 formation than the 4/3/4. Gaulden is far better in both run and pass situations than Bynum in my view.
ST: Other than two plays we were far superior than uga in the special teams. one bad punt, that really didn't hurt us but the last kickoff after we went ahead was a diaster in coverage. The kick itself looked good depth, height and directionalality, just broke down on coverage, forcing Medley to make the saving tackle. KS mentioned our superior STs in his post game news conference.
Coaching: I thought we had a good plan but poorly executed. There is no doubt that adjustments are being made, just wish they would be made earlier.
As I noted last night, this team does NOT quit. I was watching our sideline and missed their unsportsmanlike penalty. The staff and team were focused. While there was some head droops the overwhelming majority were working on a way to come back. Very impressive to watch. I've noted it before but Butch WORKS the officials. In the opening moments yesterday he was already in the white hat's ear.
Overall we were fortunate but a win is a win is a win. The VOL nation showed up and it was surprising to hear ohow loud we were at the end. Watching the stunned looks on their fans faces in the stadium and on the walk back to the car was worth every penny
We are 5-0, control the East, and headed for Texas. Go VOLS!
