Georgia football: Midseason awards going into the bye week
Georgia football enters the bye week 7-0. This is the best start for the program since 2005 and only the second 7-0 start since 1982.
I’m sure that if someone told you Georgia football would be 7-0 heading into the bye week this season, you probably would have believed them. But what you wouldn’t believe is just how impressive, and at times dominant, Georgia has looked this year.
Since this is the off week, now is a great time to recognize some of the players or coaches who have made this season great thus far. So here are the superlatives for the Bulldogs after a grueling seven ball games.
Most improved – Rodrigo Blankenship
Kicking was a major point of concern for Georgia heading into 2017. Blankenship had a roller coaster year in 2016. He was still just a walk-on, we missed a lot of kicks, but he also had his great moments.
And then came the G-Day Game where he struggled in a low pressure setting. A day later, Jake Camarda, the no. 12 kicker in America, committed to Georgia with intentions of taking over as soon as he arrived in 2018.
More from Dawn of the Dawg
- Georgia Football: Top 5 Nick Chubb Moments at Georgia
- Georgia Football: Know the enemy UAB Blazers
- Nick Chubb is America’s running back, and he will return
- Georgia Football: Should laundry list of injuries be a cause to panic?
- Georgia Football: Report cards for Week 3 game against South Carolina
But Blankenship stepped up and has only missed one of his 11 field goal attempts and he’s perfect on extra points. Plus, almost all of his kickoffs have gone for touchbacks.
He was given a scholarship before the Notre Dame game and he has certainly earned it. Now, place kicking is one of the more confident aspects to the Bulldogs this year.
Honorable mention – Jim Cheney
Cheney’s play calling was the equivalent of beating your head against a wall in 2016. And nothing seemed changed after two games this season. But since the trip to South Bend, Cheney has settled on an offensive identity that works.
He’s feeding Nick Chubb and Sony Michel while still finding ways to spread the ball around to other play makers. And he’s keeping pressure off true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm.
Honorable mention – the offensive line
Last years offensive line was bad. The worst to play between the hedges in maybe ever. Chubb struggled to reach 1,000 last year and Michel couldn’t even reach 900. Surely it would take a couple of years to turn the unit around.
Alas, it’s only taken one year. The line is over powering opponents and all five tailbacks are running freely so far. They’ve gone from the offensive line’s biggest weakness to another strength in surprising quickness. I guess that’s why Sam Pittman’s hiring was met with the praise last January.