Georgia’s offensive line was not a liability this week against South Carolina, and that has to be an encouraging sign from the Bulldogs’ perspective.
Georgia’s offensive line looks like a different unit. Everyone has to be so proud of the way they have been playing as of late. The line had been poor in the early part of the season (except the UNC game) and was a weakness of the team. However, since the Tennessee game, something has clicked, and this unit, though a bit undersized, has played very physically.
This position group is no longer a liability, and I want to be the first one to thank UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman and his players for their big improvement. As we all know, the biggest strength on this Georgia team is their deep corps of running backs, but they were not able to do much early in the year with the line’s lack of proper blocking.
That was a big problem against Nicholls State, Missouri and Ole Miss. Against Nicholls, Georgia only had 167 yards rushing in the entire game. Not a great statistic considering the Bulldogs have a Heisman contender in Nick Chubb and loads of other talent in the backfield.
The next week, Missouri kept the Bulldogs’ running game in check and limited UGA to a measly 101 yards on the ground. (If it were not for Jacob Eason’s arm, Georgia would have lost that game easily). Then, against Ole Miss, UGA’s running game was held at bay when it really mattered.
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Now, the Georgia offensive line’s lack of effectiveness has changed in a positive way, and the results are evident. Georgia’s backs managed 181 yards rushing against Tennessee last week, which was notable because of the Vols’ tough defensive line.
Also, in the game against South Carolina (which UGA won 28-14), the Bulldogs’ running game enjoyed one of their best games of the season as Georgia had a total of 326 yards rushing that included 133 by Sony Michel and 121 by Chubb.
With Georgia’s running game hitting its collective stride thanks to the offensive line stepping up, the Bulldogs are a much more dangerous team. Are there still things to worry about surrounding this team? Absolutely, that was obvious against the Gamecocks. However, Georgia fans have to feel a lot better going forward.