GT & UGA: Week 4 Game Notes

 

Wet weather in Durham and Athens. A good day to watch from home. Dawgs kick off first. Coverage team looks like they don’t want to fall down. Southern holds on first play.

Duke fumbles. If you’re gonna wear black uniforms your might as well not mess with all the white facemasks and stripes and trim. You play six or seven home games and only 12 or 13 in total. How many different unis does a team need? But it’s for the kids.

“A very good Duke defense” says the announcer. We shall see. They hold. The announcers say the punt team comes out, but instead Harrison Butker nails a 52 yard field goal. Less pressure in Durham than South Bend. 3-0 Jackets.

Lambert overthrows Reggie Davis to end his consecutive pass streak. Marshall Morgan splits the uprights from 47. Dawgs up 3-0.

Duke drives. GT defense looks far from formable. Dawgs partially block a Southern punt, and Chubb takes a screen pass to the house. Dawgs 10-0.

On the next play Duke runs it in from the three on third down. Twelve plays 72 yards. Devils 7-3.

In their first 16 games Herschel outrushed Chubb by almost 500 yards. LSU’s Fournette is behind Chubb. For now.

No visor for Justin Thomas today. Duke’s award stickers mar an otherwise decent-looking helmet. Glad Tech doesn’t have them. Terrible third down call – a slow developing play that’s thrown for a loss. Then a snap far over the punter’s head. Then the punter flings a wild pass that could’ve been easily intercepted for a touchdown. Then a long pass completion by Duke. Then several runs. Bad play after bad play for Tech – including the TD pass. Duke leads 13-3.

No score in Syracuse. Two Lambert to Mitchell completions, but against a tougher team Lambert might’ve been sacked. Justin Thomas is sacked. Sony Michel scores at the same time Duke returns a punt to the one yard line. As the first quarter ends it’s Duke 19-3. Dawgs 17-0. LSU 7-0.

Syracuse sacks the QB. Sorry, but the woman announcer can only state the obvious. Golden can only dance back to the 16, but JT dashes for 25. Fumble. The train wreck continues. Completion for 17.

Nice colors, but Southern’s unis are typical Russell Athletics issue.  Unimaginative helmet logo. Stripes stop too early in the back. Nice Heineken / James Bond commercial. Justin for no gain. Southern drives. AT&T needs to come out with a new Heisman house commercial. Thomas should’ve pitched, but Snoddy was too close. If LB Jeremy Cash is so good why does he play for Duke? Good school choice. Devils lost at home to Northwestern last week – no wonder they’re fired up. Why isn’t Tech? Skov fumbles on fourth down.

Unlike Tech, Southern converts on fourth down on the 13th play of the drive, then scores on a 16 yard run. Both GT and UGA defenses playing like there’s a Super Moon Lunar Eclipse. Dawgs knock down the fake extra point pass, and lead 17-6.

Michigan leads BYU 14-0. Jackets matriculate but fumbles. “There’s some hitting going on in this game right now.” Incompletion. Sack. Punt. “Nice use of rear area.” Cutcliff is no fool – he takes a page from the UGA playbook with the short, safe passing game. But GT holds and forces a punt.

Chubb rumbles to the 15. Commercials on three networks. UCF leads SC 14-5. JT completion. GT needs to score before the half. A 4th down conversion. Clock ticks. A Marshall Morgan field goal makes it 20-6 Dawgs at the half.

Close game in upstate New York: 7-3 LSU. Hard to get up for the mediocre Orangemen after last week’s big win over Auburn. First & goal. JT incompletion. Skov stuffed. Holding. JT to Ricky Jeune for the touch. GT trails 19-10 at the half.

Tech and Duke exchange punts. Paul Johnson is irate. Chubb up the middle to make it 27-6.

Skov finally breaks free. Why are all Tech pass plays designed for the QB to throw across his body? An almost interception by Thomas. Lambert goes deep twice. Butker hits from 47. 19-13 in Durham. 34-6 in Athens.

Terrible kick coverage. Duke goes 100 yards. Marshall finally gets a chance. Tech is being outplayed and Johnson outcoached. Does this team lack the magic of last year? 26-13 Duke.

Every time Marcus Allen carries the ball he comes up lame. As usual, the reverse is a complete disaster. Loss of ten. On 3rd & 18 JT passes for 19 – first down. Fullback would’ve been stopped for no gain so JT keeps it. He would’ve been stopped for a 3 yard loss, so he pitches. Tailback stopped for a 5 yard loss. Then JT throws into coverage for an interception. The third quarter ends.

Chubb breaks free for a long TD run. He’s over 100 yards to tie Herschel’s consecutive games record. Announcer declares Chubb will definetly be a Heisman finalist. Uh, there’s a lot of season left: Bama, Mizzou, Florida, and Auburn. 41-6 Dawgs.

In Columbia SC comes back to take the lead. Bryce Ramsey comes in an throws a completion. Then Michel breaks a tackle and goes the distance. “Chubb is one and Michel 1A.” Mr. Announcer does that mean Michel will also be a Heisman finalist? Dawgs lead 48-6.

GT passing game is a mess. No blocking. Running game not much better. Why don’t they block Cash? Zero pass blocking. This is worse than last week. Fournette goes the distance. LSU up 24-10.

A Southern sophomore lowers his head and suffers a severe injury and the UGA medical staff quickly comes to his aid. Skov is hurting. His shoulder pads are tiny. The Jackets move the ball. A quick deep pass works when the dropback doesn’t. False start makes it 2nd & ten. Incomplete. Bad play call? Doesn’t matter: JT scrambles into the end zone to make it 26-20 with 8:02 left.

Ramsey to Keith Marshall for a first down, then Keith rushes for another. Four more Ramsey completions.

In Durham a second GT interception gives Tech the ball on the Duke 35. But after a seven yard Skov dive on first down Tech fails three times to make a first down with 4:54 left. Duke was in the neutral zone on 4th down but the line judge’s view was blocked by the GT wideout. The GT D holds and Duke is called for an obvious targeting penalty. With three minutes remaining JT drops back, which means another incompletion an a second and long. That call may have cost the game. Then the ensuing fumble with two minutes left definitely costs Tech the game.

Fournette is still at it in Syracuse. Tigers only lead 24-17. Bauta in at QB for Georgia. First time I’ve seen Douglass in at running back. They run clock. On 4th & one Duke breaks off a TD run, then converts the 2 point conversion to put the game out of reach. 34-20 Duke.

Four JT dropbacks, Four JT incompletions. Game over in Durham. And Athens.