Good- If we want to honest about it and take away the childish emotions, the defense was good. They were continually put in shitty situations by the offense and were worn down by the end of the game. Keenan played his ass off.
Bama was only penalized once for just 5 yards. That is at least an area where the team has improved tremendously this season.
Bad- Pretty much everything else. I feel bad for him, but right now Simpson is broken mentally. He's completely lost his confidence to go along with his accuracy and touch. He's at his best when they go fast tempo because he's not thinking as much. A bad combo of bad throws to open (enough) guys that they can't make a play on and rare decent/good throws that are flat out dropped.
It's easy to throw blame on Grubb here too, and I think he deserves some for sure. But he's also in a really tough spot. These good defenses (OU, auburn, and UGA) know Bama isn't a threat running it. And they know Simpson can't make the throws that he made the first half of the season, when Bama was making hay with passes over the middle of the field. Other than running more tempo, more screens, and more off tackle stuff in the run game, I'm not sure what else he can try at this point that'll be effective.
Ugly- Specials teams. I was vocal from the beginning that special teams was a concern from a personnel and coaching standpoint. That blocked punt gave UGA a momentum boost that UA wasn't able to overcome. With margins of victories so thin these days in SEC play, special teams have never been more important. I've said this before, but it's even more clear today... This is an area DeBoer must adjust going forward and invest more in. Lot of good special teams coaches out there, get one and pay them.
Bama was only penalized once for just 5 yards. That is at least an area where the team has improved tremendously this season.
Bad- Pretty much everything else. I feel bad for him, but right now Simpson is broken mentally. He's completely lost his confidence to go along with his accuracy and touch. He's at his best when they go fast tempo because he's not thinking as much. A bad combo of bad throws to open (enough) guys that they can't make a play on and rare decent/good throws that are flat out dropped.
It's easy to throw blame on Grubb here too, and I think he deserves some for sure. But he's also in a really tough spot. These good defenses (OU, auburn, and UGA) know Bama isn't a threat running it. And they know Simpson can't make the throws that he made the first half of the season, when Bama was making hay with passes over the middle of the field. Other than running more tempo, more screens, and more off tackle stuff in the run game, I'm not sure what else he can try at this point that'll be effective.
Ugly- Specials teams. I was vocal from the beginning that special teams was a concern from a personnel and coaching standpoint. That blocked punt gave UGA a momentum boost that UA wasn't able to overcome. With margins of victories so thin these days in SEC play, special teams have never been more important. I've said this before, but it's even more clear today... This is an area DeBoer must adjust going forward and invest more in. Lot of good special teams coaches out there, get one and pay them.
