re: Is Nicholls really good? Is Georgia bad? Idk

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Not really. If you watched the game, their QB was throwing excellent balls, where only his receivers could get it, and the receivers weren't dropping them.

I don't care if you are Alabama or Troy or Nicholl's or Kennesaw State. If your quarterback does that, you are going to move the chains and score points.

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No doubt, and you don't have to convince me of Kirby's bona fides. I already consider him an excellent defensive mind, which is why I considered it baffling.

Still, it's not quite as simple as that. A QB making excellent throws and receivers getting separation can be devastating, but there's so much more to the issue, especially against a team with considerably less talent. Were the linemen failing to get pressure on the QB? Were the DBs not jamming up the receivers? Did the LBs cut off short and intermediate routes effectively? Did the defense force Nicholls to take to the air, thus limiting their options and giving the defense a lot more leeway in coverage? The fact that it's a vastly less talented team certainly makes the preceding questions every bit as significant as the question of how well the QB was playing. Against similar talent levels, that explanation would be more meaningful. Not that it isn't meaningful here, just that there were so many other effective ways to control a hot QB in a mismatch than on a level playing field.