Halftime Notes: Georgia leads UT-Martin 17-0 in sloppy first half
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia holds a 17-0 lead at halftime of its season opener vs. UT-Martin. The first two quarters have been anything but sharp as the Bulldogs have looked discombobulated on offense a large portion of the time and lackluster in flashes on the defensive side. With that said, DawgsHQ has some more specific observations and we share those with you below.
*** Georgia should be playing better on the offensive side of the ball in my opinion. The Skyhawks are stacking the box and the Bulldogs aren’t taking advantage with the pass. Other than the calls to get the ball to Brock Bowers, which is always a good play call, I’ve only really been a fan of a couple of calls. One was an overthrow of Arian Smith on a deep ball. The other was the angle route that Carson Beck missed to Dominic Lovett. Both of those should have been much bigger plays. Execution has been poor and there are dudes who get paid well to make sure their team executes well.
*** Beck has done some decent things but he has also had some really poor throws. We’ve seen some bad ball placement (and some good). We’ve seen him stare a couple of guys down. We’ve also seen him throw a couple of nice darts and show some mobility. I expected Beck to look better than he has thus far but I also understand that this is his first start and major action. Second-half improvement should be the goal.
*** Not going to criticize the running backs too much because UT-Martin is getting unblocked defenders within three yards of the line of scrimmage pretty regularly. There just isn’t much there. If anything, I think Georgia has to do a better job of using its speed advantage and working the edges. Kendall Milton looked really good on the long run. Roderick Robinson has shown some quickness but not the contact balance I expected.
*** Not sure what’s up with the wideouts but not seeing a ton of separation. UT-Martin is doing a pretty good job of staying with those guys outside of the two plays I mentioned earlier that Georgia missed. Lovett has two that you know he’d love to get back.
*** Offensive line has looked great in pass protection and that should be the expectation in a game like this. It should be the expectation in every game Georgia plays as talented as that group is. Now maybe they should be getting more movement at the point of attack but guys who aren’t getting blocked due to numbers are thwarting the run game more than anything.
*** The Skyhawks are attacking Georgia’s edges a lot and they’re doing so with a small amount of success. They’ve grabbed a big play or two but Georgia has done a good job covering those plays up, especially the screen game. The defensive line has gotten creased a time or two on inside runs though and that’s not something you see often. UT-Martin is here to play, though. You can see that by how the entire offense helps finish off the run plays. Mykel Williams length and power really showed up on that sack.
*** Linebacker play has been pretty solid. It’s a great sign that Smael Mondon has gotten on the field. He’s a different maker. Jamon Dumas-Johnson was having a tough time with the quarterback on that long run by UT-Martin.
*** Strong secondary play outside of the holding call on Kamari Lassiter. It was actually a really solid play because it appeared from up here like he was beaten and maybe prevented a big play. Malaki Starks is playing really, really well.
