Georgia Football: Defense may shine, but offense still a work in progress

Georgia football fans saw the defense dominate again, but the offense once against struggled to make things happen.

What happened to the Georgia football team we saw against Florida on offense? Is Missouri’s defense really that good? A day of defensive dominance against the Tigers was also yet another day of offensive worries.

After converting both their third-down attempts on their first drive against Missouri, the offense would convert just six more out of their next 16. In fact, Georgia has only been over 50 percent on third down conversions twice on the year, against Murray State and Florida. They converted 12 of 18 third downs against Florida last week.

The Dawgs were also four for four in the Red Zone but were only able to punch it in for six one time. Rodrigo Blankenship was asked to kick five field goals and made four of them, three were inside the Red Zone.

Georgia Bulldogs Football

Not all was bleak on the offensive side of the ball though. Georgia was able to rush for 166 yards on the Tigers, including 83 yards on just 12 carries by D’Andre Swift. Leading wide receiver Lawrence Cager also had six catches for 93 yards before exiting the game with an injured shoulder.

The passing game is what seemed to regress the most. Jake Fromm completed just 13 of his 29 passing attempts, just 44.8 percent. He totaled 173 yards and two touchdowns. It was his lowest output since week one (not counting the monsoon game against Kentucky).

While Missouri came into Sanford Stadium with a solid defense, it wasn’t all the Tigers causing struggles for the Bulldogs. Fromm also left a few touchdowns on the field. The one that sticks out to me the most was the one on the second drive of the game where Fromm went to Charlie Woerner on 3rd-and-two on the Tigers’ three-yard line.

He missed Woerner with the pass, which went off his fingertips, but the ball shouldn’t have probably been thrown to D’Andre Swift, who was wide open in the flat and could have walked the ball into the end zone. It looked like Fromm panicked after a low snap by Cade Mays and rushed his throw.

There were also young receivers dropping balls again, lining up wrong, and even a missed opportunity due to George Pickens trying to make a one-handed grab when he didn’t need to. It was even said on the broadcast that Pickens has to do pushups anytime he does this during practice. So it has become a bothersome habit that Kirby is trying to break.

Speaking of Pickens, he had a breakout night. He had five catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns. He could have had another touchdown, but he lined up wrong and cost Georgia an illegal formation penalty.

Georiga’s defense started out the night forcing three punts on the first three Missouri drives. They did this on just nine plays. The defense was dominant all night, as the final score showed.

On Missouri’s second drive of the second quarter, Richard LeCounte was able to pick off a pass and return it 71 yards. This defense is not known for getting turnovers, they are No. 97 in the country when it comes to DTO or turnover rate. So it was good to see the secondary get an interception early in the game.

The Junkyard Dawgs once again kept their opponent from scoring a touchdown on the ground. They also pitched their third shutout of the season, all have come at Sanford Stadium.

Georgia’s defense also added two sacks, one by Nolan Smith and the other by Quay Walker. Junkyard Dawgs Jordan Davis, Travon Walker, Monty Rice, and Richard LeCounte would all add tackles for loss. Georgia’s front was definitely bringing the havoc.

Overall Georgia dominated another SEC East opponent, running them out of Athens with their striped tails between their legs.

There is plenty more work to be done in Athens before December, but this was a big win against a very good defense. Missouri has the No. 4 passing defense in the country and it showed in Athens yet Fromm was able to lead the Dawgs to victory.

The Bulldogs have to hope Cager is not out for a long period of time. If that is the case they will need Pickens — who is the most likely to become a go-to guy in the group — and the other young receivers to mature quickly. Pickens has the ability if he can just find the focus he can be a stud sooner rather than later.

The Bulldogs’ pass rush still is not where you want it to be. They are averaging two sacks per game and are No. 61 in the nation with just 20. They also have just two sacks against ranked opponents this season. This will not get it done against the more dominant passing teams in the SEC. Georgia’s pass rush must get better to protect their secondary.

If Georgia can get to the quarterback on a more consistent basis this great defense could be elite. They just need to find a way to make quarterbacks more uncomfortable or the better ones will feast on the Georgia secondary.

Georgia is currently No. 17 in pass defense, but that changes to No. 55 (giving up 266 yards passing a game) against ranked opponents. LSU looks like the SEC West champ and Joe Burrow just put 393 yards on Nick Saban’s defense. Georgia’s secondary is their biggest weakness on defense and it could cost them down the road.

Georgia simply must clean this up if they expect their defense to carry them to the National Championship.