Joel Klatt: There is something clearly wrong with Georgia's offense

Joel Klatt has his concerns about Georgia to this point this season. That starts with what they have been this fall on offense.

Klatt broke down Georgia’s offensive issues during his show on Monday. While still giving credit to the Rebels’ defense from this past weekend’s game, he still sees a Bulldog offense that has taken a significant step back from where they’ve recently been.

“First and foremost, Georgia is not right. Like, they are not right,” said Klatt. “As much as Ole Miss was terrific – and they were, in particular, like, defensive line play was really good for Ole Miss…But there is something clearly wrong right now with the Georgia Bulldogs on the offensive side of the ball.”

“You look up now? This is a team that is 50th in college football in total offense. The drop is staggering from what we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” Klatt said. “They’ve been a top-five offense in each of the last two years. They are 50th! It’s not even close to what the expectation is for Georgia – the way that they’ve recruited, the way that they’ve played. This is quite shocking to see them play to this level.”

Klatt gave three main reasons why he thinks that Georgia is that much worse on offense this season.

For one, the Bulldogs are moving the football or staying on the field enough. In scoring 30.6 points, they’re posting 410.6 total yards, which is down almost 70 yards from their averages from each of the past three seasons, while converting at 38.6% on third down.

“I turned on the film and I watched that game and here’s what jumps off the film right away. Number one, again, they have a short field touchdown drive and that’s the only way that they score a touchdown. It was very similar to the Texas game in that they couldn’t drive the length of the field,” Klatt explained. “So, when they face a team that has anything on the defensive side, they really struggle sustaining drives. Part of that is the fact that they can’t stay on the field on third down.”

For two, the passing game is out of sorts. Most would start that criticism with the recent play of Carson Beck as he’s completing 64.8% of his passes for an average of 281.1 yards with 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in their seven conference games. However, Klatt thinks his weapons are off beat, which is throwing off the timing of the entire offense.

“Everyone’s going to look to Carson Beck and say, like, ‘Clearly, Beck is not playing very well’ but that’s not what the film suggests,” said Klatt. “Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he’s playing great because he’s not and he can improve. There’s no doubt and he would admit that. But I am telling you that it is not his issue, it is not his fault.”

“Beck had no time. There is a disconnect right now in the timing of their offense in that the wide receivers are not breaking to where, I would call, their route structure should be – the pictures, the spacing. That’s not being created at the timing in which Beck is ready to throw. So there is a massive disconnect between the skill position players of Georgia and their quarterback,” Klatt continued. “He’s ready to throw, he’s got to wait a beat, and then the protection breaks down. If you’re a Bulldog fan, you’re like, ‘Yep, that’s exactly what I saw all day long.'”

For three, the timing also comes down to bad play from their offensive line. Beck has been sacked 13 times in league play while there’s also less push in the run game with yards per carry down as well.

“The issue with Georgia mainly lies in the five guys up front. The offensive line is playing really poorly. That’s a problem for them because this is an offensive line that, over the last couple of years, has been able to maul people and been able to control the game and the line of scrimmage. They’re not doing that and they certainly didn’t do that against Ole Miss.”

Georgia has to sort some of this out over the final quarter of the regular season. If not, it could cost them in a losing a third game, whether this weekend or sometime in the postseason.