Congratulations to the Georgia Bulldogs for doing what we did to them last year -- won on the road. Georgia played solid SEC football, and had one spectacular play that added up to a convincing victory. Georgia took almost perfect advantage of every Kentucky mistake, of which there were very many. Some may say that Kentucky beat themselves. Not me. Georgia did what they were supposed to do -- when presented with opportunities, they put the ball in the end zone.
For Kentucky, well, they just made a mess of things. The defense could not stop the run, so Georgia saw no need to pass. That is just good football. Kentucky threw the ball pretty well, and ran it okay, particularly in the second half, but that was nowhere near enough. In the end, Kentucky simply gave the game away as if they didn't want it, and Georgia thanked them and took it.
I think we missed Derrick Locke more than Georgia missed Caleb King. Washaun Ealey demonstrated that he was more than up to the task of replacing King, and had arguably his best game as a Dawg. In the end, though, it was turnovers that beat Kentucky, and Georgia was responsible for all but one of them.
Observations:
- Mike Hartline continues to shine. Yes, he fumbled (bad blocking) and threw an interception (his fault) but he did a lot more good than harm. Worse, he had at least two perfect passes dropped.
- Randall Cobb was excellent, as always. Unfortunately, Superman was just not strong enough to overcome all the turnovers.
- Craig McIntosh did a good job. He not only nailed a 41 yard field goal when we really needed it, but he recovered an onside kick.
- Chris Matthews still runs good routes only about 1/2 the time.
- Very impressed by Raymond Sanders. He looked an awful lot like the man he was replacing, which is really hard to do.
- La'Rod King. What a catch. I pray God he is okay.
- Fumbles suck.
- Kentucky's defense was porous. Anybody surprised?
- The Bulldogs were a little cheap tonight. They got away with at least 2 personal fouls in the first half alone. What's up with that? I know this is football, but seriously, that is something I have come to associate with Florida or Tennessee.
- Did I mention that fumbles suck?
- It's important to tackle the opponent before he scores. I'm just sayin'.
Well, that's about that. You saw what I saw. Give credit to the Dawgs for playing error-free football and taking advantage of Kentucky's largess.