For an offense that was supposed to be a strength, Saturday’s effort by Georgia against Kentucky was not what many expected.
To call it ugly would be fair. Considering a trip to No. 4 Alabama is next on the schedule, it’s easy to understand the concern.
Georgia’s run game against Kentucky was not close to what it needed to be.
The Bulldogs averaged 3.4 yards per carry, while Carson Beck completed a pedestrian 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards.
Georgia’s 63 yards of total offense in the first half was the fewest since 2009, thanks to a combination of conservative play calling by offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and a lack of execution by players on the field.
In the second half when the Bulldogs were more aggressive, the offense began to find some success.
Still, 13 points against Kentucky does not create a lot of confidence knowing the schedule starts getting much tougher next week in Tuscaloosa.
“We never found any rhythm the whole night, and that’s disappointing because we’re a better offense than what we showed tonight,” head coach Kirby Smart said after the game.
Running back Trevor Etienne agreed.
“You know, we just want to execute the plays better. I mean, there is no perfect play, but there is perfect execution of the play,” Etienne said. “I mean, if we can come out there and execute every play, you know, to the best we can, that'll put our team in a better situation.”
So, what corrections need to be made? Smart said it starts up front with the offensive line.
“Communication would be one. When you look back at the game, there were some major communication errors there talking about across the front and communicating who we're working to, points and things like that,” Smart said. “Some of that has to do with being on the road and crowd noise and everybody being on the same page.”
As a result, Georgia’s offensive line fell short of controlling the line of scrimmage, an area that’s typically a strength for the Bulldogs.
Instead, Kentucky’s defensive line more than held its own.
Pass protection was also an issue.
According to Pro Football Focus, Georgia allowed seven quarterback pressures, four by left tackle Earnest Greene III, two by Monroe Freeling, and one by Xavier Truss.
“That's something that we usually do well; pick those things up. And they really did that well in the game,” Smart said. “There were a couple of times we didn't, and we've got to do a better job of that.”
Smart said Beck has areas to improve, too.
Beck missed several wide-open receivers against Kentucky. Another occasion saw him try to force a ball to a heavily-covered Oscar Delp.
Other times with Kentucky in an eight-man front, Beck stuck with the run instead of checking off to a pass.
“We've got to be able to hit some open guys when they're open, and we've got to be able to do some things in the RPO game that help us. There's some things we missed in that. And at the end of the day, when you lose momentum in those kind of games, you've got to grind them out and find a way,” Smart said. “We did not have momentum in that game, and it made it more difficult. When you watch that tape, there are varied things you can point at and say, ‘If we just do this, we're going to be this much better.’”
But it’s also going to take Beck making the right decisions combined with better execution by the 10 players around him if the offense wants to get on track.
“There's plays that versus certain looks he has to check,” Smart said. “Carson does a great job of understanding that and knowing what to do and getting hats on people and, you know, that's why the run game is so critical. The best friend you have on the road in those environments is in the run game, and when you don't run the ball well, you better be dang good at something.”
