What Happened Yesterday? Trying to Explain the Bulldogs Struggles

After winning their first three contests by an average of 40 points, Georgia beat Kent State by just 17 points, causing people to wonder what happened?

Brooks Austin | Sep 25, 2022

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Georgia Bulldogs

"That's a good football team."

That was the consensus message from Stetson Bennett, Smael Mondon, Javon Bullard, Tate Ratledge, and Kirby Smart when we spoke with them after Saturday's 17-point, four-quarter football game against the Kent State Golden Flashes.

The No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs had throttled teams by an average of 40.0 points per game through their first three contests, and suddenly they found themselves in a fist fight agaisnt a Non-Power 5 opponent.

What happened on Saturday? Well, we can try to explain it.

Well, first off, Kent State is actually a good football team, and they played like one on Saturday. They join Mississippi State as the only two programs not named Alabama that has scored both a touchdown of 50+ yards and sustained another scoring drive of at least 13 plays since 2018. So, how did they manage to have such success against a football team that we thought essentially without flaw through three football games?

Turnovers

A muffed punt, an interception, and a fumble in what was three out of four possessions in the middle of the second quarter don't exactly lend itself to a productive first half. It also led to 10 points for the Golden Flashes.

Stetson Bennett spoke about the interception after the game, saying that it was a good play but there were multiple things that Georgia could have done better on the play.

"I probably should have laid it out a little bit more, I think Marcus probably has to run a little bit more, but the dude was over Marc, saw it, took eyes, and undercut it. It was a good play."

As for McConkey's two uncharacteristic errors, the fumble was a football play. Great players fumble too. It was the muffed punt that was an unusual decision for a player like Ladd who always seems to make the right decision at the right time.

Redzone Stalls

Championship-level offenses score touchdowns in the redzone. Especially in a day and age of college football where points are at a surplus on Saturdays. Georgia stalled out in the redzone three times on Saturday, settling for three Jack Podlesny Field goals.

Without getting too X's and O's heavy; Georgia faced an average of 7.67 yards to gain on 3rd down in the redzone on the three drives they settled for field goals on. A sack and two incompletions under pressure and into tight windows later, and you're bringing out the field goal unit. Early down success rates have got to be higher for Georgia in the redzone if they are going to be a truly elite offense on a weekly basis.

529 yards of total offense with 37 minutes worth of time of possession should yield more than 39 points.

Uncharacteristic WTFs on Defense

If you're going to score on Georgia under Kirby Smart, you gotta survive the drive. That's the modus operandum for success for most football teams, slow methodical drives that take what Georgia will give you along the way to perhaps a touchdown, most likely a field goal.

Twelve play, thirteen play scoring drives are nothing really new for opponents of Georgia's. In fact, if you ever score, that's more than likely how you'll do it. They just don't give up explosive plays. Not normally. Not unless, again, you're Alabama. So, to see Kent State not only have sustained success, with scoring drives of 9, 12, and 13 plays, but they also had the explosive to match.

A 56-yard touchdown on a play in which the ball was thrown behind the line of scrimmage is unheard of against this Georgia football team. They are widely renowned as one of, if not the, best tackling teams in the country. Kirby Smart calls these "WTF moments" or "WTFs."

Hats off to Kent State, but the combination of mistakes on Saturday was beyond uncommon for Georgia.

Turnovers

Redzone Stalls

Uncharacteristic WTFs on Defense

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