Georgia football: what went wrong and right in the ugly loss to LSU

Georgia football looked ugly Saturday. The Dawgs lost to LSU on the road 36-16. Georgia falls to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC going into an off week.

That one hurts Georgia football fans. But so did last year’s loss to Auburn, and the 2012 loss to South Carolina. Hopefully the impact of yesterday’s loss to LSU is as minor as those losses. But as of right now, the loss stings a lot.

What went wrong

Jake Fromm did not look good at all. He completed just 16 of his 34 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions. He did however gain 209 yards. The only decent stat from an otherwise terrible game. He was also sacked three times and had -19 yards on the ground.

LSU’s defensive backs covered Georgia’s receivers very well. But it seemed like every time one of the receivers were opened, Fromm wasn’t looking. That may have been Fromm going through his progressions too quickly or too slowly. Or the coaches should have changed the order of the progressions on each play so Fromm could see his receivers when they got open.

Regardless, the passing game just looked bad. Georgia’s offense was completely stagnant through the air. But the Dawgs were just fine on the ground. LSU’s coaches clearly saw something in film study that worked against the passing game, and for whatever reason, Georgia just kept passing even though the run had proven to be the better option. This was clear in how effective draw plays worked. On delayed handoffs, LSU jumped into coverage and gave Georgia room to run.

There seemed to be no effort to set up the pass with the run. Jim Cheney appeared to try to force a balanced offense, rather than letting the balance form organically. He looked like the Jim Cheney of 2016 that neglected his great running game. He won over many Georgia fans in 2017 with an offense that exceeded expectations. He’s no longer in the good graces of the Bulldog nation.