9/1/18 7:00pm
Dawgs Cruise Past The Governors
Cover Photo:Christina Matacotta
By: Joshua Grosh
The first game of the season went about as well as one would expect it. Georgia took a large lead and would not relinquish. The defense looked fairly impressive but also looked vulnerable at times to options and runs to the perimeter. Fromm, as many expected, was the starter without question and he looked pretty locked in with no clear favorite wide receiver as the ball was spread all around. The running game was pretty consistent without a clear cut solo standout. The game was never in question and that was what we all expected.
The largest surprise to us was how early we saw Justin Fields in the game. Early in the second quarter, he was subbed in and played without fear. He was fairly poised and led to a few major plays during his time in – one really nice scramble at that. By the end of the first half, the game was pretty much put away with little doubt on who would be the victor – especially with the score being 38-0. Demetris Robertson did flash some blazing speed on a WR sweep play and he definitely figures to play into the Dawg’s offense in the future.
Takeaways:
- Fromm is the starter. There was never a QB controversy – it was all media driven.
- That said, Fields looked sharp in his Georgia debut and will have a bright future.
- The running back position didn’t have an incredible standout in of itself – but that could be due to the play calling. They didn’t seem to venture to hard into the playbook and try too different of plays.
- Outside of a few drives, the defense gave little to no hope for the Governors. This could be just from the lack of talent competition so it is a little hard to say that the defense hasn’t had a drop off. We will need to see more from the team to find out – and we will find out next week against South Carolina.
- One good sign was the secondary did not give up any major pass plays.
- Unfortunately, James Cook will be unavailable for the first half of the SCar game due to a targeting foul called in the 4th
Star Players:
This list is rather hard to formulate due to how well-balanced the team was, but here are a few players I think are worth noting:
- Jake Fromm: 12/16 passing for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- Matt Downing: 2/3 passing for 4 yards. It’s great to see the walk-on living the dream of playing a game for UGA!
Look ahead:
The Dawgs play a monumental game against South Carolina next week for the fate of the SEC East. While the SC defense at times looked vulnerable to Coastal Carolina, they easily dominated them score wise and did not really hint at many weaknesses. Watch out for Deebo Samuel though – he figures to be a major figure in the game.
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