Anthony Dasher from UGAsports.com, the Georgia Rivals team site, took a few minutes to answer five questions going into this weekend's showdown:
1. We know how good Nick Chubb is, but how good is Georgia's offensive line?
It's solid. There are four starters back from last year, although Brandon Kublanow has moved over from left guard and is now the starting center. It's not a huge line size-wise. Right guard Greg Pyke in the 320 range while left tackle John Theus is around 310, but otherwise, Kublanow, right tackle Kolton Houston and left guard Isaiah Wynn "only" go around 290-295.
They're good as far as technique goes, although they've obviously not gone against a defensive front as strong and as deep as Alabama's. To me, this is one of the bigger storylines from this game. Greyson Lambert has done a very good job of getting rid of the ball quickly, hence he's only been sacked two times in four games, while Chubb has obviously made some things happen running behind this line. It's actually funny. You talk to the offensive line and they'll credit Chubb, talk to Chubb he credits the offensive line. Again, you won't find a lot of stars up front. In fact, they call themselves "The Misfit" but sans Wynn have played a ton of football together, they work well as a group and communicate well together.
2. What did Vanderbilt do effectively to disrupt Greyson Lambert?
Honestly, nothing. He was just bad. Vanderbilt wasn't doing anything special with its pass rush and there nothing unusual about the Commodores' coverage. He just stunk, that was basically it. But after going 0-for-5 for the first half, he responded by going 11 of 16 in the second for 116 yards. Overall, since the first half Lambert has completed 45 of 51 passes for 592 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. As you know, Georgia runs a pro-style offense, and Lambert, especially against South Carolina, has done his best work when the offense is allowed to work up-temp, which I suspect is how they will try to go against the Crimson Tide.
3. How good is Georgia's defense? Has it really been tested?
To be fair, the Bulldogs have not been tested like they will on Saturday. ULM's quarterback had some success and completed a high percentage of balls, although most were short dump-off passes and other mid-range passes as Jeremy Pruitt stay pretty vanilla and didn't play a ton of man coverage. Vanderbilt's quarterback Johnny McCrary enjoyed some success, but much of that came after the Commodores were forced to play catchup, while South Carolina just doesn't have enough weapons to scare anybody right now. To Georgia's credit, the Bulldogs did hold Pharoh Cooper to just one catch for six yards.
So it will be interesting. There's not a ton of experience on the defensive line, but that's not the case at outside linebacker where Jordan Jenkins, Leonard Floyd, Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy are about as good as they come. Pruitt, in fact, will line Floyd up basically anywhere on the field. You'll see him line up at middle backer and he might even play some star. As far as the secondary goes, there are some playmakers in Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders, but there's also a lot of youth as the top four backups at each defensive back position is a true freshman. Speaking of true freshmen, former Alabama commit Rico McGraw started the first two games at Star for Georgia, but as I write this he is questionable after having his knee scoped just over two weeks ago.
4. How big is this game to the Georgia program?
It's big. Coaches and players will tell you it's just another SEC game, but from a perception standpoint I believe it means more. Alabama is the standard-bearer for the conference, the program every team in the league tries to emulate. Coach Saban has obviously done a wonderful job. But for Georgia - which has been on the cusp a few times - to be mentioned in the same breath as the Crimson Tide and not thought of as the perpetual bride's-maid, this is a game they need to win. It's shaping up to be the biggest recruiting weekend that I can recall in all the years I've covered UGA. They'll be wanting to a big impression.
5. Was the "Blackout Game" loss to Alabama as devastating to the UGA program as it seems like from the outside? What do you remember about that night?
It was a step back, no question. That first half may have been the most dominating I've ever seen played against UGA. As you remember, Dawgs were No. 1 that day before they were rolled by Alabama and honestly, it's been somewhat of a struggle since. The Bulldogs haven't played in a major bowl since that year, and although Georgia came oh so close in the 2012 SEC title game, the team has had to settle for second fiddle in mid-tier to lower-tier bowl games. As far as blackouts go, that's the last one we've seen at UGA. If the Dawgs are to win Saturday, they'll have to it with their traditional red-top unis.
http://alabama.forums.rivals.com/threads/deas-five-questions-about-georgia.22076/
1. We know how good Nick Chubb is, but how good is Georgia's offensive line?
It's solid. There are four starters back from last year, although Brandon Kublanow has moved over from left guard and is now the starting center. It's not a huge line size-wise. Right guard Greg Pyke in the 320 range while left tackle John Theus is around 310, but otherwise, Kublanow, right tackle Kolton Houston and left guard Isaiah Wynn "only" go around 290-295.
They're good as far as technique goes, although they've obviously not gone against a defensive front as strong and as deep as Alabama's. To me, this is one of the bigger storylines from this game. Greyson Lambert has done a very good job of getting rid of the ball quickly, hence he's only been sacked two times in four games, while Chubb has obviously made some things happen running behind this line. It's actually funny. You talk to the offensive line and they'll credit Chubb, talk to Chubb he credits the offensive line. Again, you won't find a lot of stars up front. In fact, they call themselves "The Misfit" but sans Wynn have played a ton of football together, they work well as a group and communicate well together.
2. What did Vanderbilt do effectively to disrupt Greyson Lambert?
Honestly, nothing. He was just bad. Vanderbilt wasn't doing anything special with its pass rush and there nothing unusual about the Commodores' coverage. He just stunk, that was basically it. But after going 0-for-5 for the first half, he responded by going 11 of 16 in the second for 116 yards. Overall, since the first half Lambert has completed 45 of 51 passes for 592 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. As you know, Georgia runs a pro-style offense, and Lambert, especially against South Carolina, has done his best work when the offense is allowed to work up-temp, which I suspect is how they will try to go against the Crimson Tide.
3. How good is Georgia's defense? Has it really been tested?
To be fair, the Bulldogs have not been tested like they will on Saturday. ULM's quarterback had some success and completed a high percentage of balls, although most were short dump-off passes and other mid-range passes as Jeremy Pruitt stay pretty vanilla and didn't play a ton of man coverage. Vanderbilt's quarterback Johnny McCrary enjoyed some success, but much of that came after the Commodores were forced to play catchup, while South Carolina just doesn't have enough weapons to scare anybody right now. To Georgia's credit, the Bulldogs did hold Pharoh Cooper to just one catch for six yards.
So it will be interesting. There's not a ton of experience on the defensive line, but that's not the case at outside linebacker where Jordan Jenkins, Leonard Floyd, Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy are about as good as they come. Pruitt, in fact, will line Floyd up basically anywhere on the field. You'll see him line up at middle backer and he might even play some star. As far as the secondary goes, there are some playmakers in Quincy Mauger and Dominick Sanders, but there's also a lot of youth as the top four backups at each defensive back position is a true freshman. Speaking of true freshmen, former Alabama commit Rico McGraw started the first two games at Star for Georgia, but as I write this he is questionable after having his knee scoped just over two weeks ago.
4. How big is this game to the Georgia program?
It's big. Coaches and players will tell you it's just another SEC game, but from a perception standpoint I believe it means more. Alabama is the standard-bearer for the conference, the program every team in the league tries to emulate. Coach Saban has obviously done a wonderful job. But for Georgia - which has been on the cusp a few times - to be mentioned in the same breath as the Crimson Tide and not thought of as the perpetual bride's-maid, this is a game they need to win. It's shaping up to be the biggest recruiting weekend that I can recall in all the years I've covered UGA. They'll be wanting to a big impression.
5. Was the "Blackout Game" loss to Alabama as devastating to the UGA program as it seems like from the outside? What do you remember about that night?
It was a step back, no question. That first half may have been the most dominating I've ever seen played against UGA. As you remember, Dawgs were No. 1 that day before they were rolled by Alabama and honestly, it's been somewhat of a struggle since. The Bulldogs haven't played in a major bowl since that year, and although Georgia came oh so close in the 2012 SEC title game, the team has had to settle for second fiddle in mid-tier to lower-tier bowl games. As far as blackouts go, that's the last one we've seen at UGA. If the Dawgs are to win Saturday, they'll have to it with their traditional red-top unis.
http://alabama.forums.rivals.com/threads/deas-five-questions-about-georgia.22076/
