Georgia Football: Five Takeaways from the Middle Tennessee game

OL isn’t perfect quite yet:

As good as Georgia’s skill players were this weekend, their offensive line disappointed me a little bit again. Much like in the week one game against Austin Peay, the Dawgs highly regarded OL didn’t really play to their potential. They never leaned on their opponents and dominated like they showed they could do in game 2 against South Carolina.

With Andrew Thomas missing the game, that probably isn’t too surprising. Thomas is the best player on the offensive line and he’s certainly the best pass protector. Freshman Cade Mays showed that he can be a tremendous run blocker the past two games. However, his pass blocking technique needs work as it should considering his limited experience.

The Dawgs struggled to protect Jake Fromm at times over the past couple of games. That’s a little bit of a concern going forward and it’s something that Sam Pittman will need to fix. It could be an issue against SEC teams who will feast on teams who don’t protect their QB’s.

Right now, I’m not sure that Thomas will play next week. He didn’t practice at all on Monday so it’s more likely than not that he’ll probably miss a second game. Mays has shown that he’s a capable backup, but he will likely need some help in passing situations. Giving him tight end help could limit UGA’s passing game in terms of catching options, but if it gives Fromm and Fields more time to throw the ball, it will be worth it.

In short, this unit is still very good. But it’s not the dominant group that we all hoped for quite yet. I still think it will be once Thomas returns and the season goes on, but this week, they might be as vulnerable as they will be all year.