The 2019 season started with a comfortable win at Vanderbilt and then some forgettable blowout nonconference wins to set up the big Notre Dame game. Georgia was out ahead of Vanderbilt 21-0 so quickly that most of us tuned out and began to anticipate that visit from the Irish. There wasn’t much need to look for warning signs, though managing only second half field goals against a bad Vanderbilt team might’ve been more than opening game jitters. Lack of explosive plays and offensive malpractice wouldn’t slap us in the face for a couple of weeks.

The 2020 team and the conference-only schedule have done us a favor: the existential problems facing this team were laid bare right from the start. A true crisis at quarterback and an unsettled offensive line threaten Georgia’s attempt at a fourth-straight SEC East title.

D’Wan Mathis’s debut didn’t last a half. The redshirt freshman never settled into the job, and a big hit clearly affected him. Kirby Smart is correct that many other things contributed to the slow start on offense, but Mathis did few positive things to get things going. I’m glad he was able to get some experience later in the game with the outcome settled, and he seemed a little steadier in a lower-pressure situation. Mathis’s best throw of the day was wiped out by a penalty. That 28-yard sideline pass to McIntosh in the fourth quarter had perfect touch and hit the receiver in stride for a big play.

But the pressure on the quarterback is only going to increase with the quality of opponent. Replacing Mathis with Stetson Bennett had a calming effect similar to Jake Fromm’s entrance against App. State in 2017. Bennett isn’t Fromm. He’s also not Buck Belue coming off the bench to beat Georgia Tech in 1978, though the mop of hair might have you seeing double. To be honest, it felt more like 2006 when Tereshinski and Cox were keeping the seat warm for Stafford. (Also not claiming that JT Daniels is Stafford in this scenario.) Against Arkansas Bennett’s steadying influence under pressure was enough to get the offense going and dispatch an overmatched opponent.

That steadying influence was the difference. It’s not that the offense was all that more productive in the second half. Behind Bennett the offense stopped shooting itself in the foot. Scoring opportunities and field position that came up empty earlier were converted. The touchdown pass to Pickens might have the most important play of the game. Another botched snap on 1st-and-goal made it appear that Georgia was going to waste another scoring opportunity. Facing 2nd-and-goal from the 19, Bennett stayed calm and found a wide-open Pickens who curled back outside to race for the endzone. It’s likely Georgia would have still won, but Georgia would have still trailed midway through the third quarter if they had to settle for a field goal there. After that score and Bennett’s tough 2-point conversion, Georgia never looked back.

Monken’s Debut

Of course it wasn’t the start Todd Monken wanted for his offense. Zoom installs can only do so much, and Monken had to put together an offense with new starters at nearly every position. The numerous penalties and unforced errors made it difficult to evaluate what the offense was trying to do. Once the offense settled down, we began to see a bit of scheme taking shape. Tailbacks were noticeably involved in the passing game, and that was part of a bigger development: 12 different players caught a pass. Pickens had his big touchdown pass, but Jackson looked encouraging as the team’s leading receiver. Bennett was able to spread it around, and Pickens wasn’t the only one getting open and making important receptions.

After several years of Jake Fromm work the sidelines, one of the bigger changes we saw was Bennett finding success across the middle. The seam route to Washington got the late first half scoring drive going. He again found paydirt throwing to a tight end on Fitzpatrick’s touchdown. A nice 20-yard pass to Landers in a small window converted a 3rd-and-10. That was followed up with another pass across the middle to Jackson.

They are what we thought they were

While the offense struggled to mesh so many new pieces, the defense showed off the depth and experience of one of the nation’s top units. There was a costly blown coverage early, but the defense combined with effective special teams to prevent further damage until the offense got going. We saw speed as any Arkansas attempt to get outside was snuffed out quickly. We saw discipline as every Arkansas trick play and attempt at misdirection was blown up. We saw physicality as the Arkansas interior running game went nowhere. If there was a weakness in the defense, it was against crossing routes when the pass rush failed to materialize. That was an issue early in the game with a couple of third down conversions. Even the best defenses are going to have trouble covering if there’s no pass rush, and the Dawgs occasionally had trouble getting much pressure rushing four.

Georgia’s defense should be good enough to carry them in most games, but we saw last year that it’s not going to get them very far towards their bigger goals. If you leave such a razor-thin margin for the defense, one breakdown might just be enough. South Carolina had a single explosive pass play last year, and that was all the offense they needed. Asking even the nation’s best defense to be perfect each week is a big ask, and if the other team is able to add points with defense or special teams, your safety net has just been pulled out from under you. That’s not a winning strategy for a team with playoff aspirations.

Tempo

Kendal Briles brought an up-tempo style of offense of offense to Arkansas, and Georgia was prepared for it. Even with frequent substitutions and situational packages, the Dawgs were able to provide an object lesson in the downside of tempo. 11 Arkansas possessions failed to move the chains. The result was a possession advantage for Georgia of over ten minutes. Though Georgia’s own offense wasn’t especially up-tempo outside of the final drive of the first half, the Bulldogs ran 89 plays – yes, 89. Contrast that with, say, the Texas A&M or Notre Dame games a year ago in which Georgia ran 59 plays.

Be vewy vewy qwiet

One big thing that worked in Georgia’s favor was the crowd. At under 17,000 fans it was a non-factor. I wrote last week about the challenge of getting a team up to play in front of a limited crowd, but there’s another side to that coin. Home underdogs can feed off a frenzied crowd. Things were bad enough for Georgia and its quarterbacks in the first half, but there was never a sense of things snowballing out of control. The mistakes and missed opportunities were more like failed practice reps. It’s much easier to remain composed without a hostile SEC crowd building in volume with each series of futility. A German soccer coach said of playing in front of empty stadiums that “without spectators, it comes down more to the quality of players.” That was certainly the case as Georgia’s talent and depth took over.

• I flagged Jake Camarda as a player to watch this year because of past inconsistency. He was magnificent on Saturday. Georgia’s offensive struggles were even more frustrating given the outstanding field position created by defense and special teams.
• Tyson Campbell played well in his return as a healthy defensive back, and DJ Daniel was also solid at cornerback. The performance of Campbell and Stokes on the outside put the star position more in the spotlight. I thought Mark Webb had the better day at star; Stevenson was picked on for some completions.
• As ragged as the offense was in the first half, it was impressively precise on the quick drive before halftime. Bennett orchestrated it well and started by finding Darnell Washington down the seam. Robertson made a couple of nice catches along the sideline and quickly got out of bounds.
• The offensive line settled in for the second half, but center issues still have to be worked out. Warren McClendon was an upgrade at right tackle and might have won that job.
• Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint’s tackle on an Arkansas’s kickoff return is a great way for a freshman to earn more playing time. His tackle pinned Arkansas deep and put pressure on the Razorback offense. Contrast that poor field position with McIntosh’s nice return after the Arkansas field goal that gave Georgia a short field to begin the drive that gave them the lead.
• Even with plenty of talent on the roster, freshmen were used early and often at key moments. It’s clear that Burton and Rosemy-Jacksaint figure into the plans for the passing game. Washington is already a physical presence at TE. You have to smile at being able to rotate someone like Jalen Carter in on the defensive line.
• Freshmen didn’t figure as heavily into the running game. Milton and Edwards both saw playing time, but most carries went to White, Cook, and McIntosh. Cook had a fantastic block on the long pass to Landers, but he wasn’t able to break many runs or receptions despite getting the ball in space. He also had a costly fumble. White looks much smoother this year and showed the ability to make people miss if a hole opens up. Unless there’s a big step forward by another back, it’s pretty clear that the fortunes of the Georgia running game this season lie with Zeus. Overall it was a disappointing day running the ball against a defense that struggled to defend the run last season.

I credit the team for not falling to pieces or getting too off-script when things weren’t working. Eliminating unforced mistakes will go a long ways towards a more productive offense, and we saw some of what’s possible in the second half.