4 Hard Downs: UGA Destroys TCU In Title Game

This is an all UGA 4 Hard Downs GATA

Wow. What a game. My type of game. A tidy 3 hours and 11 minutes. A game you could slide to second screen at about the 32 minute, gametime, mark. I got to play Jeopardy with my wife and keep the game on the iPad and stop taking furious notes shortly after halftime.

TCU had a rough task and they couldn’t overcome a team focused up on proving they were the best. We talked about it in “5 Things To Watch” and both Max Duggan and Dee Winters had rough nights. Winters had a shot to make a play against Stetson Bennett and instead of going “deepest hip of the deepest back” he went to the front shoulder and Bennett escaped for a first down.

Just rough for the Frogs. But again, house money, they had a magical season. Toast and Cheers to the gang from Ft. Worth. Super awesome to see them get this far and not in a moral victory sense, but in a first year coach, new system and y’all kicked ass this year.

Now, let’s get to loving on Georgia

SPOT THE BALL…

1st Down: Javon Bullard Was A Revelation

2 Interceptions.

But it is more than that. He was everywhere before he got hurt. Played great denial football, as TCU clearly tried to pick on him and avoid Kelee Ringo. That denial helped lead to sacks. That denial helped lead to bad decisions from Duggan. Forced decisions from Duggan.

Going into this game I said, “outside of Ringo, who do you trust in the UGA secondary,” and guess what Bullard answered the bell. He has been a good part of the secondary but last night he was a great part of that unit. I’m ready to see what’s next out of him.

2nd Down: The Future Is Now

Bullard is a part of the future with Ringo moving on the NFL as a probable first round pick. We also saw the future up front. Loved seeing Robert Beal have big impact and Jalen Carter was closer to himself than he was against Ohio State.

Yet, the beauty of this win was in what we got from Mykel Williams and Bear Alexander.

The future.

This train ain’t stopping. A combined 3 TFLs and 2 sacks out of Williams and Alexander. Two freshman just giving TCU the blues and not just in garbage time, but having real impact on the game. They’re learning from the older guys, they’re evolving, they’re adding to their arsenal of moves, they’re getting better.

(Sidenote, Smael Mondon also played a quietly good game)

Better to the point where, on the biggest stage all that was on their mind was Hulking up to seek and destroy, if you will.

We will talk about the coaches trusting them in a little bit, but this is about them monstering out there in a big moment. They go out and just crush and the future is bright in Athens, not just from recruiting rankings, but the production they are getting out of those guys.

They ain’t A&M.

3rd Down: Stetson Bennett Up In It

The numbers were there: 304 yards passing. 39 more on the ground. 6 total TDs including 2 rushing.

More importantly, the performance was there. Pre-game, I thought Kenny McIntosh would be the MVP but then Stetson Bennett showed up to the bar with a fistful of 100s and said, “it is all on me.”

Dude started the game with a rushing TD from distance, not a QB sneak. He converted third down after third down with accurate passes, again from distance.

3rd and 15: 20+ to Brock Bowers

3rd and 5: TD to Bowers

3rd and 8: Darnell Washington, here you go

3rd and 11: TD to Ladd McConkey

That’s three 3rd and longs converted including one for a TD.

LET’S COOK!!!

He wins the MVP, he balled out. Obviously it was a monumental team effort but in the biggest game, he didn’t shrink.

He took his nuts out and showed them to you.

4th Down: Props To UGA’s Staff Attacking

Speaking of showing them to you, this UGA staff had their guys locked, cocked and ready to rock.

They wanted 50 points. They got 65, but they wanted at least 50.

This wasn’t a game to probe and in the parlance of Split Zone Duo, “play with your food.” This was a game where they understood the assignment, especially after the almost loss to Ohio State and the secondary questions after LSU. This was a game where they came out ready to destroy. This was a statement to let anyone who questioned them know, it isn’t luck, we’re good.

Damn good.

Kirby Smart let Todd Monken cook. And he fried TCU like fish.

They attacked and were aggressive. Aggression is a hell of a drug. Wanting to score 50 is a problem for a team like UGA that can stop you from scoring 10. This isn’t a team that sat on their hands hoping for a 24-7 win.

They wanted fireworks.

They wanted explosions.

They wanted to blow this whole thing up and while we knew the defense would come in and make plays, the offense getting proactive was the difference. TCU had no shot to dictate to UGA the way they did to Michigan. Georgia didn’t even open a window, let alone the door to that possibility.

They let their young guys play. They trusted their experienced guys. It was a perfect blend of youthful talent, older experience (on both sides of the ball) and just flat out harnessing talent to absolutely crush.

In one game this team had 27 plays of 10 or more yards, including 10 plays of 20 or more yards. 27 explosive plays. That is insane. And to get those you have to want them and they certainly were a dog that wasn’t just after a bone, they were out there hunting.

Hunting points and hunting gash plays.

It was gorgeous. All I’ve been wanting from them and they put it together in an epic way.

Congrats Dawgs.

Hell of a season. Undefeated 15-0 and 17 wins in a row over the last two seasons. 29 wins in 2 seasons and 15 after losing a gang of guys to the NFL. As someone who, in four seasons at UNC saw his teammates win 18 total games (I watched from the bench, they went out there and played), this feels crazy.

In a good way. Enjoy the offseason and the back-to-back.

As for me, glad the season is done, this has been the most trying of them all but we hit the finish line. We’ve got a uovo coming up on the premium made with spinach pasta and eggs from my guy Stephen Hartzell.

Also going to start on the 100 words series with friends and colleagues to make sure we’re bringing you good, smart content.

Cheers!