UGA vs Clemson - Box Score Analysis

This game was a close as advertised. The difference ended up being a blown FG attempt that was extra point distance. But the truth is as is often the case, we lost this game in the trenches. Defense as usual is the limiting factor for our team. 35 points is plenty to win most games but not against a high powered offense like Clemson's. Murray's 2 TO's (fumble and INT) were part of the difference in the game. Our OL got owned most of the night which severely limited practical play calling. Murray's inability to execute a short pass/screen, apparently due to his height, hurts our offense against any aggressive DL. Gurley is a much better between the tackles RB than is Marshall and Gurley going out with an injury hurt our offense a lot. We need to find ways to get Marshall out in space. He should be used more like Florida used Percy Harvin.

Box Score Summary:
1. We had 22 first downs; one more than Clemson
2. We had more rushing yards than Clemson, 222 vs 197. Gurley in spite of his injury was the leading rusher in the game with 154 yards on just 12 carries.
3. We had more passing yardage than Clemson, 323 to 270. Murray spread the ball pretty evenly to 4 receivers: Conley, Bennett, Scott-Wesley and Wooten. Marshall had 2 catches for 28 yards.
4. We had one more TO than did Clemson 2 to 1, both by Murray.
5. Penalties were a factor. We had 9 for 84 compared to just 5-38.
6. Special teams weren't a factor on either side other than the bad snap on that routine FG. Just goes to show you all it takes is one mistake to loss a close contest. Barber averaged 47.4 yards on 5 punts. Clemson did have 60 total yards returning 3 of our kickoffs; we had zero return yards on kickoffs and Swann had 4 yards on 1 punt return.

My assessment:
1. We need a much better OL to win a NC.
2. Murray does not have good pocket instincts and doesn't have enough athletic ability in most cases to escape to the outside and make a play. He did make one good roll-out pass for a first down though. We are limited to slower developing pass plays due to Murray's height. Usually when he tries to throw a screen or any quick pass they seem to get batted down. Clemson was ready for Murray's back shoulder throws and they were on our receivers like white on rice. We should have done more stop and go routes but of course Murray rarely had enough time for any long developing plays.
3. Our secondary played better than I expected but we are not close to having a championship level defense.