Georgia Football: Quick Takeaways from the Tennessee game

Offensive Line is a long way from being dominant but improved late:

Once again, the Dawgs struggled a bit on the offensive line this week. Without Ben Cleveland, the right side of the line didn’t look as strong early in the game. Things were not helped by the fact that several of the OL ended up getting a bit dinged up as the game went on. Kendall Baker ended up seeing time at both guard and right tackle and struggled at both. He was particularly poor at tackle, where he was beaten like a drum by Tennessee’s pass rushers.

In Baker’s defense, that’s not his natural position. Isaiah Wilson looked good out there and Cleveland was supposed to be his backup if he sat out. Wilson missed some time with niggles and that cost Georgia in the run game. Cade Mays did a decent job at right guard this week, but he’s a true freshman who has played tackle his whole life. He cannot be expected to just step in and dominate.

As the game went on, we saw improvement. Some of that was from Justin Fields running the offense, some of it was because the Vols got tired. Going up against this offensive line will do that eventually. The Dawgs have a monstrous group of guys who just keep pushing and eventually teams break. That’s exactly what happened in the fourth quarter when Georgia drove down the field and scored to ice the game.

That drive and the one that followed made Justin Fields and the running backs look good. But the reality was that the line was playing much better. Wilson had come back in and he and Mays started to bully the Vols on the right side. Georgia is a well conditioned and prepared team and that showed today. Their line remains a bit of a work in progress however but the potential is absolutely tantalizing.