Instant observations of Georgia football after the epic Peach Bowl victory over Cincinnati

Instant observations of Georgia football after the epic Peach Bowl victory over Cincinnati

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Georgia needed a big move to get back in the game. He ended up becoming kicker Jack Podlesny, who made a long 53-yard career to kick Georgia for a 24-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Bulldogs took the ball with 1:28 left and drove to the Cincinnati 36-yard line thanks to a series of receptions by Kenny McIntosh. After two consecutive failures, Podlesney trotted and gave the biggest shot of his career with: 03 seconds remaining. It turned a 21-19 deficit into a 22-21 advantage.

Cincinnati’s last play in the game ended with a safety and a sack from Azeez Ojulari, who had 3.0 of Georgia’s 8 sacks in the game.

The loss was the first of the season for the Bearcats, while Georgia finished 8-2 and almost certainly in the top 10.

An interesting decision by Kirby Smart

Kirby Smart made another controversial decision around a punt in the fourth quarter of the game played at the Mercedes-Benz stadium.

With the Bulldogs facing a quarter to three on their own 43-yard line, Smart took a break. So, instead of going ahead, Smart chose to kick the ball back into Cincinnati’s attack.

The Bearcats, who fought for much of the second half offensively, were able to do enough to force Georgia to use its timeouts. The Bulldogs stopped, but it was still a curious decision by Smart.

Smart’s decision reminded many of Georgia’s 2018 SEC game, when Georgia punctuated Wednesday to 11 with Justin Fields. The game was tied at 28 at that time. Crimson Tide scored and won the game, sending Alabama to the College Football Playoff.

Still, Georgia’s attack did just enough to save the decision, as the Bulldogs managed to win.

JT Daniels less than stellar, but too late

There has been a lot of hype around JT Daniels. You saw the reason for this, as he had two conclusions of 50 yards or more in the game. And he planned a late scoring attempt to give Georgia victory when it mattered most.

But this was by far Daniels’ least impressive game as a Bulldog. He launched an expensive interception in the endzone that kept points off the board for Georgia. He then had a fumble when Georgia was out of the red zone that Cincinnati recovered, one of Daniels’ two fumbles on the day. Those two turns were more than in the previous three games he started for Georgia.

There were also two cases of situational football in which Daniels failed to define the move. The first came in a room and one when Daniels failed to stay with Kearis Jackson. So Daniels failed in an attempt to convert two points on Georgia’s first score in the fourth period.

But in Georgia’s final blow, Daniels completed five of his seven 44-yard pass attempts to put Georgia within reach of the field goal.

Statically, he completed 26 of his 38 passing attempts for 392 yards. He had a touchdown pass for Pickens in the game.

It wasn’t a bad game for Daniels. It just wasn’t the most acute of the transfer defender’s efforts. This was only their fourth start for the Bulldogs, after losing more than a year due to an ACL injury.

Break sandwich

When the Georgia offensive took its last significant shot in the first half, the result was 10-7. When the Bulldogs took the first chance in the second half, they were losing by 21-10.

The Bearcats balanced the game with their game at the end of the first half and to start the second half. Cincinnati drove the entire length of the field and scored just six seconds from the end of the first half. Ridder ran and was able to find his tight end Josh Whyle for a touchdown that seemed to have come straight out of the yard.

The Bearcats took the ball to open the second half and lost little time increasing the advantage. Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford managed to make safety Lewis Cine fail and ran into the final zone. The 79-yard run was the longest in a Georgia defense since the 2003 SEC championship game.

With a two-goal lead, Cincinnati really started to attack the Georgia and Daniels offensive line. The Bulldogs were unable to respond, as their first two drives entered Cincinnati 25 just to score zero points on both drives.

Offensive line fights

The two-position groups that Georgia had the fewest players entering the game were the sideline and offensive line. You could say that based on how these two units played in the Peach Bowl.

The secondary had a difficult time against Ridder, who launched for 206 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs were starting Tyrique Stevenson in the corner due to DJ Daniel and Eric Stokes choosing to declare themselves for the NFL draft. Mark Webb was also unavailable, which is why Latavious Brinni started.

The Bulldogs managed to break a late pass from Stevenson to force Cincinnati’s final blow.

The offensive line may have been even worse. The Bulldogs had to reorganize their offensive line due to the absence of Trey Hill and Ben Cleveland. The Bulldogs went with Xavier Truss on the left tackle, Jamaree Salyer on the left guard, Warren Ericson on the center, Justin Shaffer on the right guard and Warren McClendon on the right tackle.

The Bulldogs ran only 45 yards in the game, with only 28 of them arriving in the first half. With Georgia lagging behind, this allowed Cincinnati to put pressure on Daniels. The Bearcats had 3.0 sacks in the game.

This was not the first time this year that Georgia’s offensive line has struggled, as that performance brings back memories of the game in the state of Mississippi, when Georgia ran for just eight meters. Bulldogs also wore black T-shirts that day.

Georgia recruited very well in both positions. But that didn’t seem to matter against the Bearcats, as Cincinnati clearly won out over Georgia in those two areas.

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