re: UGA is going to run right at us

If we beat UGA my enthusiasm is going to skyrocket.

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Mine won't, My enthusiasm will go waaay up if we beat Vanderbilt and South Carolina. DeBoer seems to be able to lock in on the "big games" but craps his pants on the "should win" games.

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If Vandy rolls into Tuscaloosa undefeated and ranked in the Top 15 that will be considered a "big game."

South Carolina on the road is terrifying though.

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You have a very loose definition of "successfully" if you think Wisconsin successfully ran on our DL. They averaged 2.7 yards per carry and their longest gain was 11 yards.

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Dig a little deeper into the stat sheet. That 2.7 average is including 4 sacks on passing plays. Taking sacks out they had 30 carries for 125 yards. Their RBs had 17 carries for 72 yards. Either way, that's 4.2 YPC.

We did a really nice job rallying to the ball and preventing long runs (big turnaround from FSU game). But, we had zero TFLs in the run game. Wisconsin consistently got push on the OL and was able to run some version of "3 yards and a cloud of dust" against us.

Wisconsin was 7 of 12 on 3rd and 4th down conversions against us - a good number for them, because of their ability to convert short yardage against us with the run game.

Here's another deeper stat for you: in situations with less than 3 yards to go, Wisconsin went for 5 for 5 on converting with the run (2 for 3 with passes).


All that is to say, the run defense was not bad against Wisconsin by any measure. But it was not a strength of our team Saturday either. It was ok. It will need to be better for us to have a good shot at beating UGA, who has more talented backs and, at certain spots, better OL. We will have to be more successful in short yardage run defense, get some negative plays, and continue to limit explosives.

Yeah, I will admit that I am not an in-depth knowledge guy when it comes to feetball. Why would a D-coordinator choose to go with a smaller defensive line? It has always been my understanding that a team would want to have big strong linemen to help stop the run, athletic linebackers to make tackles and play sideline to sideline, and good corners and safeties to play pass pro. The fewer guys it takes to rush the quarterback or stop the run, the better. Smaller D-linemen necessitate more personnel, correct. Are they just hoping to shoot gaps and make tackles in the backfield?

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Dig a little deeper into the stat sheet. That 2.7 average is including 4 sacks on passing plays. Taking sacks out they had 30 carries for 125 yards. Their RBs had 17 carries for 72 yards. Either way, that's 4.2 YPC.

We did a really nice job rallying to the ball and preventing long runs (big turnaround from FSU game). But, we had zero TFLs in the run game. Wisconsin consistently got push on the OL and was able to run some version of "3 yards and a cloud of dust" against us.

Wisconsin was 7 of 12 on 3rd and 4th down conversions against us - a good number for them, because of their ability to convert short yardage against us with the run game.

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Have you accounted for garbage time? Definitely looks like Wisky had better success later in the 2nd half once the game was out of hand. I had to listen to the 2nd half on and off. I don't know how many backups we played, but I am pretty sure W kept their starters out there the whole 2nd.

There's nothing wrong with a smaller defensive linen if the exchange is size for speed and quickness. But in our case, that hasn't been the case. We don't have anyone (so far) that is quick twitch enough to give bigger offensive linemen fits. We're just small and average on the DL, which isn't a good combination.

Stolen from BOL:

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Just simply observing some grades from UGA's game @ Tennessee and I realize we all talk about our own OL, particularly Formby at RT, but I promise y'all it can be worse. I even took the liberty of pulling up our game vs FSU and still did not find PFF blocking grades this bad as a whole. And I want everyone to keep in mind, this is with Tennessee being without Davein Hobbs, and Jaxson Moi on their DL for this past weekend's game.

RG Dontrell Glover: 68 snaps, 38.0 Pass Blocking, 51.1 Run Blocking
RG Juan Gaston: 26 snaps, 81.3 Pass Blocking, 51.6 Run Blocking
RT Michael Uini: 48 snaps, 0.0 Pass Blocking (didn't even know that was remotely possible), 49.3 Run Blocking
RT Earnest Greene (playing hurt I'm told, but shows the little faith in what's behind him): 31 snaps, 20.0 Pass Blocking, 57.5 Run Blocking
RT Bo Hughley: 15 snaps, 30.2 Pass Blocking, 58.4 Run Blocking

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Tennessee secondary isn't good right now.

“If’s, and’s and but’s” …. I really wish we had TK and Beaman 100% healthy for this matchup with UGA. I would feel very good going into that game with those two active. Simmons and Faga have stepped up, but they better be ready for a war in two weeks. I will say, Simmons low key looks like our best IDL. Smith needs to step up and have himself a game in Athens.

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I really wish we had TK and Beaman 100% healthy for this matchup with UGA. I would feel very good going into that game with those two active. Simmons and Faga have stepped up, but they better be ready for a war in two weeks. I will say, Simmons low key looks like our best IDL. Smith needs to step up and have himself a game in Athens.

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I absolutely hate it for Beaman, but his injury (and Keenan's) may be a blessing in disguise as the season unfolds. Simmons probably wouldn't see much time with those two being the starter and backup.

Simmons is going to be an absolute stud if he continues to develop.