I rewatched the Georgia game from last year in its entirety and wanted to jot down some of the things that stood out to me.
Coaching
Stoops- Really embarrassing in terms of getting this team ready to play. The defense came out flat. Two just god awful personal foul penalties were just plain embarrassing considering this was the primetime ESPN game. One of the worst performances of the Stoops era. I remember being livid after the game and I was assuming after rewatching I would think that maybe my anger was just a heat of the moment type reaction... It was not. My frustration was entirely justified
Brad White- If you are not a fan of Brad White you could basically just show this game's tape as proof why. This might've been one of the worst defensive performances by any team this season. Beck was 21/26 for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half. Georgia scored on every possession including a 20 second 38 yard play drive to get a field goal in before the half. The only other first half drive that didn't end in a touchdown required maybe the greatest tight end in college football history to drop a wide open touchdown pass. Mike Bobo made Brad White look like he's never coached a football game before. Hell Beck started the game 11/11 before Brad White even considered bringing any sort of pressure. The fact we had our corners 10 yards off their receivers but had the safeties damn near in the box is one of the most mind boggling coaching decisions I have ever seen. As bad as White has been against Tennessee this was his worst performance.
Coen: Thought Coen called a really good game. Schemed guys open and got creative in the run game. Most of the drives stalling out had nothing to do with the play calls. When Coen got aggressive he could be so so good at drawing up plays.
Frank Buffano: Should've just left his ass in Georgia
Players
QB: Leary was bad. Missed several open receivers and showed no ability to run or extend plays. The miss of Tayvion Robinson on the first drive is one of the worst missed passes I can remember. QB play needs to be an improvement this year because the difference between Leary and Beck was stark.
RB:: Ray was good man. Consistently found holes and unlike the rest of the season was pretty efficient on the ground in this game. A lot of 4-6 yards runs and did a good job avoiding the negative plays for the most part. Underrated part of his game was his ability to pick up rushers in pass pro.
WR: I was surprised going back and watching and seeing the ability of Key and Brown to beat Georgia's best corners. Lassitter was much better than Everette and Lassitter is gone. Key had a good stat line for the game and it was easy to see why. His route running was surprisingly really crisp in this game. I never felt Brown was used correctly under Coen and that remained true in this game. Too many deep balls which Leary never seemed to be able to complete, That being said Brown was open quite a bit and was able to get a step or two on the receivers on the go routes, Ultimately doesn't matter when the pass lands three yards out of bounds.
OL: The crazy thing about Jager is I would argue that he is a pretty good olineman on 90% of plays. The issue is the other 10% plays he is the worst player to ever play football. Definitely a burn the tape kind of game for Burton. (Really more a burn the 3-4 plays in the first half). Honestly thought the Oline was solid in this game. I was extremely underwhelmed by Georgia's Dline in the first half of this game. They were nothing special at all. Hell their only sack was from JDJ shooting right up the middle. They got home more in the second half but they gave our tackles zero issues. I am not sure they will be able to push around Oline much more this year
DL: Likely Deone's worst game. It was weird seeing him manhandled by Georgia's Oline. He needs to be better against that level of opponent next year. Actually thought Ox was excellent in this game and gave Georgia's tackles issues especially when they tried to bounce runs outside.
LB: I thought Weaver looked the part in a lot of this game. He was hurrying the QB and seemed to be all over the field. I do think he either needs to be a bit stronger or a step quicker to really be elite. If anyone is a non-believer in D-Jack this is probably a good example to use. Seemed to be out of position and his lack of elite athleticism was on display. Trevin Wallace's athleticism will be missed. His inability to ever be in the right position will not.
CB: Hairston may have a chance to be the second best corner in college football next year. He was excellent in this game. He got beat twice but both times required absolutely perfect throws and unreal catches that you just have to tip your hat to. I think Phillips was decent as a Nickel but I will die on the hill that he was horrid as a corner. I get the NFL liked his traits but he was terrible for most of the season last year. Georgia picked on him over and over again and he never once looked like he even belonged on the field. Also Jordan Robinson is the worst player to ever play meaningful snaps for Kentucky and I am not sure that is a hyperbole.
Safeties: Lovett and Childress need to get a whole hell of a lot better next year, This was some of the worst levels of safety play I have ever seen. Runs support, coverage, tackling, basically every part of the game they were putrid. We need someone in this room to take a step up next year.
Coaching
Stoops- Really embarrassing in terms of getting this team ready to play. The defense came out flat. Two just god awful personal foul penalties were just plain embarrassing considering this was the primetime ESPN game. One of the worst performances of the Stoops era. I remember being livid after the game and I was assuming after rewatching I would think that maybe my anger was just a heat of the moment type reaction... It was not. My frustration was entirely justified
Brad White- If you are not a fan of Brad White you could basically just show this game's tape as proof why. This might've been one of the worst defensive performances by any team this season. Beck was 21/26 for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half. Georgia scored on every possession including a 20 second 38 yard play drive to get a field goal in before the half. The only other first half drive that didn't end in a touchdown required maybe the greatest tight end in college football history to drop a wide open touchdown pass. Mike Bobo made Brad White look like he's never coached a football game before. Hell Beck started the game 11/11 before Brad White even considered bringing any sort of pressure. The fact we had our corners 10 yards off their receivers but had the safeties damn near in the box is one of the most mind boggling coaching decisions I have ever seen. As bad as White has been against Tennessee this was his worst performance.
Coen: Thought Coen called a really good game. Schemed guys open and got creative in the run game. Most of the drives stalling out had nothing to do with the play calls. When Coen got aggressive he could be so so good at drawing up plays.
Frank Buffano: Should've just left his ass in Georgia
Players
QB: Leary was bad. Missed several open receivers and showed no ability to run or extend plays. The miss of Tayvion Robinson on the first drive is one of the worst missed passes I can remember. QB play needs to be an improvement this year because the difference between Leary and Beck was stark.
RB:: Ray was good man. Consistently found holes and unlike the rest of the season was pretty efficient on the ground in this game. A lot of 4-6 yards runs and did a good job avoiding the negative plays for the most part. Underrated part of his game was his ability to pick up rushers in pass pro.
WR: I was surprised going back and watching and seeing the ability of Key and Brown to beat Georgia's best corners. Lassitter was much better than Everette and Lassitter is gone. Key had a good stat line for the game and it was easy to see why. His route running was surprisingly really crisp in this game. I never felt Brown was used correctly under Coen and that remained true in this game. Too many deep balls which Leary never seemed to be able to complete, That being said Brown was open quite a bit and was able to get a step or two on the receivers on the go routes, Ultimately doesn't matter when the pass lands three yards out of bounds.
OL: The crazy thing about Jager is I would argue that he is a pretty good olineman on 90% of plays. The issue is the other 10% plays he is the worst player to ever play football. Definitely a burn the tape kind of game for Burton. (Really more a burn the 3-4 plays in the first half). Honestly thought the Oline was solid in this game. I was extremely underwhelmed by Georgia's Dline in the first half of this game. They were nothing special at all. Hell their only sack was from JDJ shooting right up the middle. They got home more in the second half but they gave our tackles zero issues. I am not sure they will be able to push around Oline much more this year
DL: Likely Deone's worst game. It was weird seeing him manhandled by Georgia's Oline. He needs to be better against that level of opponent next year. Actually thought Ox was excellent in this game and gave Georgia's tackles issues especially when they tried to bounce runs outside.
LB: I thought Weaver looked the part in a lot of this game. He was hurrying the QB and seemed to be all over the field. I do think he either needs to be a bit stronger or a step quicker to really be elite. If anyone is a non-believer in D-Jack this is probably a good example to use. Seemed to be out of position and his lack of elite athleticism was on display. Trevin Wallace's athleticism will be missed. His inability to ever be in the right position will not.
CB: Hairston may have a chance to be the second best corner in college football next year. He was excellent in this game. He got beat twice but both times required absolutely perfect throws and unreal catches that you just have to tip your hat to. I think Phillips was decent as a Nickel but I will die on the hill that he was horrid as a corner. I get the NFL liked his traits but he was terrible for most of the season last year. Georgia picked on him over and over again and he never once looked like he even belonged on the field. Also Jordan Robinson is the worst player to ever play meaningful snaps for Kentucky and I am not sure that is a hyperbole.
Safeties: Lovett and Childress need to get a whole hell of a lot better next year, This was some of the worst levels of safety play I have ever seen. Runs support, coverage, tackling, basically every part of the game they were putrid. We need someone in this room to take a step up next year.
