What’s more frustrating than the loss itself is that UGA for the first time went into the conference championship weekend ranked #1 but lost and dropped to #6, missing the playoffs.
COLUMN: BEHIND THE HEDGES
BY: BRIAN BUTCHER
Every week, our newest contributor and rabid Dawg fan, Brian Butcher, will break down all the UGA games in our newest column: Behind the Hedges. This is your first stop for the most comprehensive, feverish Georgia Bulldogs coverage you can get.
Alabama and Nick Saban had the upper hand over Georgia and Kirby Smart for about a decade before UGA finally broke through the last two seasons to claim the crown.
It’s Clean, Old-fashioned Hate. Yet, this rivalry has gone stale, certainly from the UGA perspective. Total and utter dominance over the last two decades will do that.
Last Saturday went very differently for these two teams. After Tennessee was mauled by Missouri in the 3:30pm CBS game, UGA embarrassed Ole Miss in ESPN’s primetime game. The results have taken a little bit of the luster away from this game which most fans had circled before the season started.
The Dawgs eviscerated the Rebels on Saturday, in a game that was not close after the second quarter. After amassing 180 yards of offense in the first quarter, Ole Miss couldn’t muster that many yards in the next three quarters combined. This was about as dominant of a performance that you’ll see, and the Dawgs did it against a top 10 team. Â
What a game! This was a slugfest back and forth. Â I think this was the most physical, hardest hitting matchup of the season so far.
Did you think this would be a top 15 match up at the beginning of the year? I sure didn’t.
UGA cruised to a comfortable victory over their biggest rivals this past Saturday. Led by Carson Beck and Daijun Edwards, the Dawg offense was cooking early in the Florida heat. One of the best offenses in the country, Georgia cruised to a convincing victory in one of their most important rivalry matchups of the season.Â
Florida has an opportunity to display the most balanced offense UGA has faced this year, with a running game that uses all kinds of misdirections. Offensive line play has not been great for Florida, and they have allowed Mertz to get pressured far too often this year. UGA may be able to take advantage of an opportunity when Mertz will turn his back to the defense in a play action pass, only to find Tykee Smith or Jamon Dumas-Johnson thumping him for a sack he never sees coming.