Understand what actually happened

[Visiting Dawg]

I don’t think they assumed the lead was insurmountable as 3 score comebacks happen all the time. And if you think we made no adjustments at the half then you’re delusional.

I'm not here trying to stir the pot or play football expert but I do know enough to know when teams are jumping at the first move to cheat to stop the run and the O is trying to make them pay, you would have seen the QB pulling the ball on zone reads and either running or throwing to the tight ends. Kudos to Tenn for playing hard and stopping the run in the 4th quarter but after the 9 minute drive that ate up the remaining minutes of the 3rd quarter and made it a 3 TD game, burning the clock and limiting possessions was the surest path to victory.

 

[Visiting Dawg]

He certainly wasn’t going to do it from a mercy standpoint. Nobody is doing that. But when you go conservative because of the rain and only throw 4 passes in the second half against a secondary that would have trouble covering me, isn’t that taking the foot off the gas? Showing mercy is not the only definition of “taking the foot off the gas”. You do it to shorten the game and not give a potent offense a chance to find its rhythm and that’s what Smart did. Good plan. Hopefully we get another shot at solving it.

Potato/pototo in some respect but imo taking your foot off the gas is massive subs and dives up the middle while burning clock vs a totally out-gunned opponent. It's more of a tactic used to avoid embarrassing the kids playing for a lesser program. What Kirby did Saturday was more of a tactical decision designed to limit UT's possessions which is more a sign of respect than taking his foot off the gas.

 

[hUTch2002]

I'm not here trying to stir the pot or play football expert but I do know enough to know when teams are jumping at the first move to cheat to stop the run and the O is trying to make them pay, you would have seen the QB pulling the ball on zone reads and either running or throwing to the tight ends. Kudos to Tenn for playing hard and stopping the run in the 4th quarter but after the 9 minute drive that ate up the remaining minutes of the 3rd quarter and made it a 3 TD game, burning the clock and limiting possessions was the surest path to victory.

Playing smart football is different than the narrative that some people seem hellbent on pushing. It’s weird.

 

[TheGoodStuff]

Georgia showed the SEC the template for shutting Tennessee's offense down. Georgia could have scored as many as they wanted against our defense, Kirby went conservative in the 2nd half during the rain so they could maintain their lead and not turn the ball over.

No. He loaded the box because heavy rain prevented our offense from pushing the ball down the field in the air during the 3rd qtr.

and there was no need for them to flash anything while the advantage was theirs

 

[overseasorange2]

Maybe that’s because we adjusted. One of those passes was a deep ball with 4 minutes left. we adjusted and they were running with success, which also kept it away from our offense. That’s not backing off, that’s playing smart. A team that backed off isn’t going deep with all their starters in and only 4 minutes left. They were going for the jugular and missed.

OH come on! You know our coaches suck and are not capable of making effective half time adjustments!

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Georgia showed the SEC the template for shutting Tennessee's offense down. Georgia could have scored as many as they wanted against our defense, Kirby went conservative in the 2nd half during the rain so they could maintain their lead and not turn the ball over.

I think Georgia had the personal to execute their game plan. Alabama did not. Georgia had been preparing for us from the beginning of Fall practice, Alabama didn't. Georgia could do this because they are playing a much easier schedule than Tennessee, Alabama and LSU. They, Georgia, have the best talent in the SEC and likely the Nation, and the easiest schedule of the other contenders. Georgia should win the playoffs, but they are not unbeatable. I would like another shot at them at a natural site.

 

[bpalmer28]

Nice intelligent response.

UGA threw 4 passes in the 2nd half.

Yep. They had five possessions. They shoved the ball down our throat for 9 minutes on the first possession, but couldn't get into the end zone. Fumbled it on the first play of the next possession. Had two 3 & outs and ran out the clock on the last possession.

If we wouldn't have caused a fumble on the 2nd possession, forced them into a 3rd & 21 situation on the 3rd possession or if we hadn't of broken up the 40-yard pass on the 4th possession, they might have had more opportunities to throw. But we did. Credit to the Vols for dominating the 2nd half defensively.

 

[bpalmer28]

I'm not here trying to stir the pot or play football expert but I do know enough to know when teams are jumping at the first move to cheat to stop the run and the O is trying to make them pay, you would have seen the QB pulling the ball on zone reads and either running or throwing to the tight ends. Kudos to Tenn for playing hard and stopping the run in the 4th quarter but after the 9 minute drive that ate up the remaining minutes of the 3rd quarter and made it a 3 TD game, burning the clock and limiting possessions was the surest path to victory.

After the first drive of the 2nd half, UGA only took a combined 6 minutes off the clock on their final 4 possessions. If they could have gotten a first down they would have burned more clock, but we prevented that by:

2nd drive. forcing a fumble
3rd drive. forcing negative yardage plays on first & second downs
4th drive. breaking up a 40-yard pass
5th drive. end of game

Nobody denies the fact that UGA didn't have a different agenda in the 2nd half, but our guys did their job and gave our offense a chance to get back in the game... and our offense played okay too, just not good enough to win. We had drives of 11 plays, 14 plays, 8 plays, and 6 plays in the 2nd half, so we did move the ball somewhat, but we had no answer for the zone blitz and couldn't score enough points. People have different explanations for not handling the blitz well... I'm orange-tinted so I point to crowd noise generating false starts which put us behind the chains. It also gave your guys a chance to sub and gave them an extra step on the blitz itself because it allowed them to time the snap. People have different opinions, but we've protected the QB well all season and UGA entered the game last in the league in sacks... so I have a hard time thinking the results weren't heavily influenced by factors other than personnel.

This is why I want a rematch on a neutral field so badly. I truly believe we'll see a much different game. Not saying we'll win, but I do think our offense would show up to the fight.