Let's get the bad out of the way. Carson Beck had another awful start. He continues to struggle connecting with targets and overall doesn't look polished like he did towards the end of last season. The interceptions were baffling, to be honest.
The defense struggled in the first half and clearly missed Jackson and Aguero. The Gators should not have gotten that last field goal to end the half. Our secondary followed their motion and left a weakened weak side over-matched.
That's it. That's the bad. The defense returned to form when Jackson and Aguero were given their helmets back and released from SEC officiating purgatory. Florida didn't amass 200 total yards of offense until that last touchdown drive midway through the 4th quarter.
Bobo called a great game, balancing it between managing through Beck's rough start and losing Etienne. Frazier stepped up into the role well, and Cash did his usual Cash things. So the loss of Etienne was troubling, but not devastating by any means.
And Hello! Peanut!
We are all Peanut fans#GoDawgs | @DwightP_2024 pic.twitter.com/ee2ZPAVmNm
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) November 4, 2024
Saturday was probably the best game our tight end room has had this season: blocking, route running, and catching. That's encouraging!
Woodring and Thorson had great days, but until that bad snap/hold Florida was having an even better day at special teams.
I watched the tv version last night and was surprised to hear Herbstreit say the Georgia fans were not into it. In the stands I felt the opposite was true. Going back to Kirby's words to the fans after the Auburn game, I feel like Dawg fans have only gotten louder and dug in deeper behind the team.
And having a couple great defensive outings has helped. You take a play like Daniel Harris made, that brings a lot of noise from Georgia fans. Sacks, solid tackling, meeting the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage, CJ Allen leaping in anticipation of a bad pass...just HAVOC in general dissolves any perceived separation between those in red on the field and those in red in the stands.
Let's end with Beck. I'm sure you are hearing it too. No one knows more than Carson that he needs to be better. The fact that he's had three interceptions in each of the last two games and we've still managed to win both by two touchdowns is both amazing and nerve wracking.
But if you think he's not our best option by a wide margin, you're just not paying attention. Many coaches would've pulled the quarterback after that third interception in the early moments of the second half. And let's be honest, Beck could've had four by that time!
But Kirby did not pull him. That tells me Beck was still our best option to win the game. That being said, in the television replay I could see Kirby getting less "hand holding" with 15 and more firm in the "it's time to step up" message as we entered the final frame.
And let's be fair, Carson did step up. He was 11 for 11 in the deciding final 15 minutes of the game.
I may spend another post on our quarterback later in the week, but for now let's acknowledge the fact that we've won four straight in Jacksonville. Something that we haven't been able to do since the '80s!
Go Dawgs!
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