Georgia Needs to Find Offensive Identity During Off Week

Georgia enters a timely bye week after a 41-24 loss to Alabama. The Bulldogs have two weeks to correct the offensive issues that led to the loss.

Georgia's inability to establish an offensive identity has been costly in the last two games. The Bulldogs spent the middle portion of the Tennessee game trying to overpower the Volunteers defense to no avail. Tennessee led at halftime and Georgia settled for field goals after forcing two turnovers early in the second half. 

When Georgia placed its offense on the arm of Stetson Bennett, the offense became unstoppable. Bennett completed seven of his next eight passes, with two catches producing touchdowns.

Against Alabama, Georgia showed the ability to overpower the Crimson Tide with Zamir White, Kendall Milton and James Cook busting out several productive carries. The three running backs combined for 21 carries with 14 of those gaining at least four yards. In addition, Kenny McIntosh had a pair of carries of more than four yards before he left the game.

Instead of letting the running game lead the offense, Georgia put its faith back on the arm of Bennett. To his credit, Bennett prevailed in the first half by throwing a pair of touchdown passes and piloting the offense to a halftime lead. 

However, Alabama adjusted in the second half and Bennett began to struggle. Looking at the play-by-play, there's a sense that Bennett's struggles were unnecessary as Georgia could have kept grinding in the running game. That's not to say Bennett doesn't shoulder any blame, because he does. His two second-half interceptions were inexcusable and he missed numerous open receivers. But Bennett's issues likely wouldn't have been as noteworthy had the Bulldogs continued to rely on the running game.

In the next two weeks, Georgia needs to figure what it wants to be on offense. Are the Bulldogs an air-raid team that stretches out the defense before gashing them on the ground? Are they a run-first team with the ability to burn defenses with play-action and run/pass/options? Or is there a sweet spot between the two that Georgia's offense can find? The Bulldogs have two weeks to figure that out.

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