Yeah, so sorry fellow Bulldogs fans about the delay on this article. It took my blood pressure a couple of days to return to normal after that fist fight Saturday night with the Tigers. In a game where ultimately momentum mattered to the end, the Bulldogs showed up completely unmotivated. We saw a very unusual site from a Kirby-led Bulldogs, a team that was lacking physicality on the line of scrimmage. We did not see the dawgs that we as fans have become accustomed to seeing on Saturdays.
Dawgs Lack Physicality Early
Something that has been a staple for any Kirby-led Bulldogs team is physicality on the line of scrimmage. However, that’s exactly what was lacking early and often for the offensive side at least. We saw on the very first offensive drive a tackle for loss, then a sack to force a three and out. Looking at the statistics you would’ve thought this Georgia offense was going to dominate the Tiger’s defense. What we saw though for the first half of this game, was far from dominant.
The Tiger’s defense was all over the place. Stopping pretty much every rushing attempt, and seemingly being able to manipulate the dawgs quarterback Stetson Bennett for almost three quarters. Thankfully the defense got some much-needed stops in the fourth quarter and it allowed for the stagnant Bulldog’s offense to come back and win. However, I think we owe this win to the other sides of the ball.
Defense and Special Teams Get Us By
The defense wasn’t exactly perfect, for three and a half quarters, but they were plenty good enough. They only allowed one touchdown and forced the Tigers to kick a total of five field goals. All except one of those being from over forty yards in distance. Oh let’s not forget they didn’t allow one single third-down conversion the whole second half. They are definitely owed one by the offense for keeping the team in the game.
The guy I guess I should say really kept us in the game is our kicker. Yep, not Stetson Bennett or Brock Bowers but Jack Podlesny. This man went into battle with the Tigers kicker Harrison Mevis and neither flinched. These two kicked a total of nine field goals and accounted for their team’s only points for almost two whole quarters. Without the reliability of Podlesny, I may very well be writing a different article about this game.
Players of the Game
Let’s first talk about the home team, I witnessed a few players absolutely come out swinging against the Dawgs. The first of those is quarterback Brady Cook. This man walked into his home stadium and said not today! At the half, he was 14-18 for one hundred twenty-nine yards and a touchdown. He made quick decisions for the most part and got the ball to his playmakers. He finished with only one hundred and ninety-two yards and a touchdown but still against the number one team in the country that was an absolute performance.
I want to give a little credit to two other Tigers also before I move on to the Bulldogs. Those two are running back Cody Schrader and defensive lineman Isaiah McGuire. Both of these guys were all over my TV Saturday night.
Listen this was an ugly game for my Bulldogs but I still have to recognize a few players. Let’s start with the FRESHMAN defensive back Malaki Starks. This guy never gave up and was the one to stop Schrader on his sixty-plus yard run denying the Tigers of a much-needed touchdown. I also want to give some credit to Dominick Blaylock. This dude has had an injury-riddled career but he showed up Saturday night making two big catches for the Dawgs it was nice to see him on the field.
This is what a person looks like when hit by a car and/or Darnell Washington pic.twitter.com/Rwi58MVoZV
— Graham Coffey (@DawgOutWest) October 2, 2022
Another one is big Darnell Washington. He walked into the locker room at the half and told the coaching staff, you can count on me! He proceeded to knock a Missouri Tiger back five yards after they attempted to knock him down, and wasn’t afraid to do the dirty work in the run game.
Dawgs Back to Athens
Alright, Bulldogs we scraped by the Missouri Tigers thankfully. However, this team has got to quit coming out and expecting to dominate every team they play. They are the defending National Champs, I don’t care how many players were lost to the NFL draft. Each of their opponents will show up ready for a fistfight. We fell to number two in the rankings but that’s okay because honestly, we were not deserving of a number one ranking after that game.
Now we are headed back to the home field thankfully, but it’s against our longtime rival Auburn. If these Bulldogs think Auburn isn’t coming in to smack them in the mouth after seeing the Missouri game they are about to be in for another reality shock. Each team has a game every year that defines who they are was last week’s game that moment for these dogs? Even though dogs showed up to Columbia I really hope dawgs left that field Saturday night. We need to see some grit and dominance going forward if we even want a chance at repeating.
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