Georgia recap, quarter the third

Quarters first and second available here.



Third quarter

1. Auburn sure could use a huge kickoff return to start the half off right. Davis receives at the 10, takes it to the 29. Ho-hum.

2. I. Tate around right end, and this probably goes for 7 or 8 if Pugh doesn't get driven backwards so badly Davis has to make his lead block in the backfield rather than at the point-of-attack (line -). Then again, as Tate bounces outside Trott gets away with an obvious hold on the end, so things could be worse. Tate run out of bounds after a gain of 5.

3. I. Tate carries over the right (weak) side, and Berry somehow completely misses a seal block on the DT right next to him. (line -). Toss in a whiff on Curran by Pugh and the result is Tate buried by three dudes for a loss of 2. Oh, and he's hurt. Good play all around there, guys.

4. 3rd-7, spread. Bosley gets bull-rushed smack into Burns's lap, ruining what could have very likely been a completion on the slant to Billings and a first down. No official sacks to this point, but the pass protection is nonetheless a notch down from Ole Miss. (line -)

5. This time it's the Georgia returner's turn to fair catch with no one around. 42 yards and no return again isn't too shabby--but with the wind at Durst's back and a return possible, it ain't great, either.

6. 1st-10, Georgia 25. Dawgs run play-action off the lead draw and Johnson (-) bites, leaving the TE wide open on a crossing route. Gain of 15, easy.

7. Remember that play from the first quarter (No. 21) where Etheridge lined up as one of three LBs and Georgia threw into the space behind him for an easy first down? Well, this time they only pick up 9, at least.

8. Blanc (+) shrugs aside a guy and hauls down Moreno as he crosses the LOS, but it's enough for the first regardless. What is Coleman--who's unblocked near the point-of-attack but swings waaaaaay outside like he's trying to keep reverse contain or something--doing on this play?

9. Great play here by Ricks (+), standing up in the hole and slowing the play, and Goggans (+), who's on the opposite side of the play but pushes his guy back, disengages, catches Moreno around the ankles; between the two of them it's a tackle after a gain of 1.

10. Double-slant on the left side of Georgia's spread; Stafford hits Massaquoi and Thorpe immediately tackles to hold the gain to 7. Not a whole lot more you could ask out of that coverage scheme.

11. 3rd-2 on Auburn's 41. Not sure if I'm Georgia I take this opportunity to line up in the spread rather than plunge ahead with the arguably the best back n the country, but it doesn't matter--a little flip to Moreno sneaking out of the backfield gets the first, and when Johnson (-) overruns him (easy to do given Moreno's cutting ability, but still) the Dawgs get 6 or 7 more. Gain of 11, 1st-10 Auburn 30.

12. Extra down lineman in Carter on the stong side and the two LBs are shifted that way ... and Moreno still has a hole Charlie Weis could fit through when Clayton (-) is shoved four yards downfield and the LBs get picked up. Etheridge (+) makes a solid tackle on Moreno in the open field or this is 20 rather than 9.

13. False start. 2nd-1 now 2nd-6. LOLZ.

14. Samuel in for Moreno. He heads left and tries to squeeze in-between a blitzing Bynes (+) and a quick-reacting Stevens, who both stand up to their respective blocks very well, and there's nothing doing. Bynes tackles for a loss of 1.

15. 3rd-7 on the 26. Georgia in the ace and there's pretty clearly some confusion--Southernland is the H-back and goes in motion one way, then clumsily starts to go the other when the ball is snapped. Whoops. Not that it mattered, since this is a lead draw that Doolittle (+) blows to smithereens. He tackles for a loss of 2. On the one hand, why has Georgia repeatedly refused to put Stafford to use on third-and-long?

16. On the other, in this case, the reason is because they were planning on going for it on fourth down anyway. Which they do: 4th-9. Huge play. 3-man rush forces Stafford to step up in the pocket, but he's got time ... fires ... incomplete! McFadden (+) is blanketing Green down the right sideline (cover +). Go back to the tackle by Etheridge on first down here--2nd-1 becomes 2nd-6, Georgia goes nowhere on two plays, and all of a sudden Auburn's turned another long drive into nothing.

17. Auburn takes over on their own 30. Spread. Burns drops back, doesn't find anyone, drops back ... and under duress from yet another corner blitz that Fannin (-) has miserably failed to pick up, throws to no one in particular. Grounding, loss of 16. And just like that, this possession is already dead. I'm not going ot be too harsh on Burns here; it was either ground the ball or take a sack, and they amount to the same thing in the end.

18. Spread, 2nd-26. QB sweep left, and Ziemba and Green each try to block the same LB while allowing Curran a free shot at Burns (line -). No gain.

19. Time to call that special 3rd-26 play, right? Spread, screen to Fannin that's buried before it even begins moving forward when no one picks up a charging saefty (line -) -- and for all the screaming about the refs Auburn fans have done, note that Fannin gets an extremely quick forward progress whistle here before fumbling into the end zone. If play had been allowed to continue, that's six points for the Dawgs and Auburn would have no room to complain. Huge break.

20. Durst gets off a 52-yarder, but it's a line-drive along the hash, and in coverage Thorpe needlessly gives up the outside (ST -). Return winds up going for 13.

21. 1st-10 Dawgs at midfield. What on earth? Stafford fakes a draw to Moreno, then uses Moreno as a lead blocker as they both run up into the same hole. Why not just give it to the guy who can run? Moreno makes his block, but Stevens (+) avoids two would-be blockers and tackles after a gain of 4. That's the type of play I haven't seen at all from the linebackers since I started doing these breakdowns, FWIW.

22. This time it's an actual draw over the left side to Moreno; Blanc and Evans don't exactly explode past their blockers at the point-of-attack, but they don't get pushed around, either, and they collectively gum things up enough that they and Bynes can collectively haul Moreno down. Gain of 4.

23. 3rd-2, Dawgs go heavy with an H-back and a fullback. Handoff goes to the FB, but Marks (+) is the low man and trips him up with the help of a good push from Clayton that pretty much ruins the left side of the Georgia line. The ballcarrier is clearly down before the sticks, but they review it anyway, looking suspiciously like it's at Richt's request even though when the play is upheld Georgia's not charged with a timeout.

24. 4th-1 on Auburn's 40; big play. Any chance Dawgs run something other than the smart QB sneak? Nope. Stafford runs into the wad of bodies and gets the first. So it goes.

25. Auburn brings five rushers as Stafford runs play-action; Evans is almost there, but instead Stafford finds Massaquoi sitting in the middle of a diamond of four Auburn defenders for a 25-yard gain. Full credit to Dawgs for making a tough play, but someone's gotta be ready to step in front of this pass. (Cover -)

26. 1st-10 at the Auburn 13. BLEARRGGH--it's a bad snap and so the timing on Georgia's draw is off. The result is that first Goggans has an off-balance shot at Moreno for a 3-yard loss. No dice. Then Bynes (-) can bring him down for no gain; he whiffs. Gain of 3.

27. Good work by Auburn here--after play-action Stafford looks like he wants to hit his fullback in the right flat. But Goggans (+) is bearing down on him and Coleman (+) has snuck out into coverage. Stafford throws it well wide. Downfield coverage (+) looks good.

28. 3rd-7, two-back shotgun for the Dawgs. Auburn shows the big blitz ... Stafford audibles ... and, yep, Rhoads sends seven. There's got to be some miscommunication with the Dawgs here, since it's a three-man route and two of those men run to the same spot in the corner of the end zone. Stafford lobs it in their direction (the throw's too quick for the blitz to matter) but in the confusion and good coverage by Powers and McFadden (cover +) it's never close to being completed. Excellent.

29. This time Walsh gets it up and over. 10-6 Dawgs.

30. Davis catches at the 12 and returns to the 31 ... but hey, Terrell Zachery committed a really obvious block-in-the-back and instead Auburn will start at their 10 (ST -). Aside from Doolittle's block and Durst's adequate-to-decent punting, special teams have been a disaster.

31. Two-TE ace on 1st-10. Tate runs behind a good push from Ziemba and McKenzie on the left side (line +) and then leaps forward rather than accept a cutting tackle attempt by the Dawg corner; this nets him about 3-4 more yards (+) and Auburn a total of 6. If Smith had blocked the corner instead of uselessly following directly behind McKenzie, it might have been a first down.

32. Spread, with stacked twins to either side. It's just window-dressing though, since this is a QB draw. Green's guy makes a swim move right past him (line -); Burns has to stutter-step and with the timing totally ruined, he's brought down from behind after no gain. Come on, Green.

33. 3rd-4 on Auburn's 16. Givign the ball back to Georgia in great field position down four with the fourth quarter imminent is a bad idea; get a first here, Auburn. Spread. Oops--the line (-) utterly fails to pick up a blitzer on the left side of the line, leaving Ziemba standing still (he's literally standing in place in the exact spot where he was when the ball was snapped) as the Dawg defender bears down n Burns. Fortunately for Auburn, Burns (+) makes a quick read and hits Dunn on an out route right at the sticks. Forward progress gets him to ... uh ... an inch or two short. Will Tubby go?

34. Hells yeah he will when he's 5-5 and facing Georgia. A year's salary says this is Burns on the sneak ... and it is. And man, there's not a ton of push, but it's enough by the length of the football or so, I guess. (Am I surprised they didn't measure? A little.) Whew!

End third quarter

Fourth quarter and final verdicts tomorrow.