Positives:

1.  Nothing to be ashamed of after this one.  They hung with the #7 team in the nation for the first half and for this group of Owls, that is saying something.

2.  Graham Wilbert continues to impress me with how far he's come as a QB from last season.  Good for him.

3.  The Owls continue to be a very disciplined team.  This bodes well for the new coaching staff because it was a real problem last season.  The new staff can't change the talent level here overnight, but they can instill discipline and they have.

4.  Hey, at least we covered the spread and took home $1M.  It could have been much, much worse.

Negatives:

1. Defense.  Not much more to say.  Not suprisingly, Georgia did whatever they wanted.  We just aren't up to that level…still, a little more resistance would be nice.  They forced 2 turnovers, but for most of the night, you wouldn't have known they were on the field.

Bottom line, we saw improvement in the offsense and special teams.  The D struggled, but that was expected against Georgia and their great QB.  This is why last week's thread complaining about Pelini was so silly.  This team IS improving, but there is a LONG, LONG way to go.  When you start at the very bottom, it takes a couple of years, not a couple of games to get back to competitive.  We don't have to look far…There are plenty of examples in the SBC.  WKU, FIU, ULM, ULL, UNT…not long ago, they were all at rock bottom where we are right now.  None of those programs were a quick fix (in fact, they are all still a work in progress).  This season is about setting the foundation and improving.  Do that and winning will take care of itself.

fauowls44 said

Positives:

1.  Nothing to be ashamed of after this one.  They hung with the #7 team in the nation for the first half and for this group of Owls, that is saying something.

2.  Graham Wilbert continues to impress me with how far he's come as a QB from last season.  Good for him.

3.  The Owls continue to be a very disciplined team.  This bodes well for the new coaching staff because it was a real problem last season.  The new staff can't change the talent level here overnight, but they can instill discipline and they have.

4.  Hey, at least we covered the spread and took home $1M.  It could have been much, much worse.

Negatives:

1. Defense.  Not much more to say.  Not suprisingly, Georgia did whatever they wanted.  We just aren't up to that level…still, a little more resistance would be nice.  They forced 2 turnovers, but for most of the night, you wouldn't have known they were on the field.

Bottom line, we saw improvement in the offsense and special teams.  The D struggled, but that was expected against Georgia and their great QB.  This is why last week's thread complaining about Pelini was so silly.  This team IS improving, but there is a LONG, LONG way to go.  When you start at the very bottom, it takes a couple of years, not a couple of games to get back to competitive.  We don't have to look far…There are plenty of examples in the SBC.  WKU, FIU, ULM, ULL, UNT…not long ago, they were all at rock bottom where we are right now.  None of those programs were a quick fix (in fact, they are all still a work in progress).  This season is about setting the foundation and improving.  Do that and winning will take care of itself.

We are going to surprise some people down the line…saw some very good things last night…and we also see how conservative Pelini was in the Wagner game now.

Hopefully our injuries are not too bad....not good to have dukes out

FAUDowning said

Hopefully our injuries are not too bad….not good to have dukes out

He's good…….

So is Curtis.

There is actually a few things to be ashamed of. First, losing and letting up over 700 yards of offense is unacceptable. I hope none of the players are celebrating after this game. Second, Curtis either had very little confidence on the plays he was in for or just can't play at this level. Third, I still can't get over the fact that our coaches wear normal shirts during the games. My goodness, it's your job. Dress the part.

That being said, there is definitely some improvement being shown here. The offense is able to move the ball (although UGA didn't have their best defensive player out there) and one point I felt comfortable with us bringing them on to the field. All we can hope is that there is even more improvement next week and we remain injury free. Graham is finally starting to come out of his shell a little bit, but he still has a long way to go before trust can be placed in his hands the same way it was for Rusty and even Van Camp.

Finally, I spent a good amount of time searching around Boca for a bar to watch the game at. They either said they didn't know the game was on or "we don't have ESPN3". One of the bartenders from Biergarten said "last time I checked, it was 35-14. Do you really want to watch that?" They didn't put it on and instead left the Texas-Ole Miss game on… which of course, no one was watching. I hate you, Boca.

Offense looks improved…loved the fact that the opened it downfield. the running was solid.
Defense can't stop the run…not Georgia, not MiddleT and not Wagner.

The DB's can do the job, the LB's are OK, but the D line is being out played. In order to run our defense, we need a stout line and we don't have one. Something for the coaches to work on for the future. Lets try to get one or two three star recruits in here for next year. Our DB's will look better once we bet a line that can make a push on the QB.

prowler said

Offense looks improved…loved the fact that the opened it downfield. the running was solid.
Defense can't stop the run…not Georgia, not MiddleT and not Wagner.

Starting a 240 lb.? DT will do that as well as being to far off the line of scrimmage AND not even trying to contain the runs from bouncing outside. All the DE's do is rush inside and the backs bounce off the initial hit outside and run for 10 yards MINIMUM.
And when we are in the 4-2-5 scheme we DO NOT HAVE any OLB's, both are too far into the middle for the run and/or middle pass routes. UGA many times just ran outside for big yards - something WE SHOULD DO with Jackson on O, he is too little and the O line spaced too close (not really a spead O line set up) for running room for the little man. he is quick, let HIM RUN!

For the first time in a while, I'm more worried about our D than our O.
The trip was great, I'll try to add some pics to the photos post.

HootinHollerin said

For the first time in a while, I'm more worried about our D than our O.

Agreed.  Pelini is a defense guy and will probably be focusing much of his time with the DC to get them on track - although with 'Bama on the horizon, improvement might not be so apparent until the next SBC game.