Tag: dandre swift

The Georgia Bulldogs are your 2020 Sugar Bowl champs – Quick thoughts

Georgia football is the Sugar Bowl champions after beating Baylor in New Orleans.

Georgia is undefeated in the new decade.

The Dawgs moved to 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in 2020 after defeating No. 7 Baylor 26-14 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Things were just clicking on Wednesday night against a Bears defense that is one of the best in the country.

But with 10+ key players sitting out the game, Georgia still came to play. After an embarrassing defeat last year, Kirby Smart made sure that the players who actually wanted to be there were ready for it.

Despite the fact that this was essentially an exhibition game, the win leaves Georgia fans with a nice feeling about things to come.

Recruiting is not over, and I’m sure Georgia targets were impressed by how the Dawgs played.

Speaking of recruiting, the Dawgs have a few big ones coming up this week. 5-stars Zach Evans (RB) and Darnell Washington (TE) will be making their announcements live during the the Under Armour All-American Game on Thursday. Coverage will begin at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Looking to next year, we saw a few players who are sure to make a big impact in 2020.

Zamir White took 18 carries for 92 yards. Kenny McIntosh, a freshman, took six carries and looked good as well. It will be interesting to see how they are used next year when Kendall Milton and possibly Evans come to town.

And then there was George Pickens, who was named MVP of the game. Pickens, a true freshman, hauled in 12 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.

When interviewed, Pickens said “my offensive line is amazing. My quarterback is amazing.”

He then continued to praise his team.

“Put the camera on all these guys. I love them to death.”

Let’s talk about junior safety Richard LeCounte for a second. He receives a decent amount of unwarranted criticism on Twitter, but #2 is an absolute baller. His jersey number matched the amount of interceptions he had on Wednesday night. His NFL decision is unknown at this point, but we will have an answer on that shortly I’d assume.

As for Jake Fromm, the junior threw 30 passes, completing 20 of them for 250 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. When asked about what his future holds after the game, Fromm did not hint at whether or not he’s staying at Georgia. Instead, he praised God and his teammates. We will have to wait on that one.

D’Andre Swift is viewed as the No. 1 running back in this draft class by ESPN’s Todd McShay. We do not know what he’s going to do, but everyone expects Swift to turn pro. But what he did do was make the trip to New Orleans with his teammates. He was nursing a shoulder injury, but played through as much as he could.

After the game, Kirby praised the junior tailback for his dedication and for what he does off the field.

Kirby was clearly emotional about this win. Following the game, passion was pouring out of the former Bulldog as he hoisted the Sugar Bowl trophy with confetti flying.

Kirby called a great, aggressive game. He was aggressive on defense, pulled out some trickery on a flea flicker and a fake field goal. 

James Coley was also on his game. He was willing to adapt, call outside run plays and get his best available players into a spot where they were able to succeed.

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With the 2019 season officially over for Georgia, we look ahead to a 2020 that will see the Dawgs open with Virginia in Atlanta.

In week three, UGA travels to Tuscaloosa in what will surely be the game of the season at that point.

And Auburn, which complained about its schedule enough that the SEC finally did something, will be coming to Athens in early October rather than November.

Georgia vs Florida will be played on Halloween night in Jacksonville.

The South Carolina and Tennessee games will both be played in November, which will be an odd change of pace. Those games are typically in the first half of the year.

I predict 11-1, with the only loss coming to Alabama.

Dawgs vs Bama in the SEC Championship.

We’ll see….

Georgia football names captains for Sugar Bowl versus Baylor

The Georgia Bulldogs have named their captains ahead of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Baylor Bears. UGA is 11-2 on the season.

The Georgia Bulldogs have named their captains ahead of the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Baylor Bears. Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Monty Rice, Charlie Woerner, and D’Andre Swift will be captains for the game:

Does this indicate that D’Andre Swift, who is dealing with a shoulder injury, will play? Swift injured his shoulder against Georgia Tech and definitely was not near 100 percent against the LSU Tigers. Earlier today, David Pollack indicated UGA would be without Swift. Is he wrong? If Swift is captain, it is more likely that he’ll be playing.

That being said, not all captains are healthy enough to play in their bowl games. Take note of Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa in today’s game against Michigan:

Kirby Smart and UGA will seek leadership from their captains, who will look to have a better performance in the Sugar Bowl this time. Last season, Georgia fell 28-21 against the Texas Longhorns.

The Bulldogs will be without numerous players against Baylor due to injury or players who are preparing for the 2020 NFL Draft. Georgia will be especially depleted along their offensive front.

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Georgia’s Isaiah Wilson, D’Andre Swift declare for NFL Draft

Georgia’s Isaiah Wilson and D’Andre Swift have declared for the 2020 NFL Draft. Wilson and Swift join left tackle Andrew Thomas.

Georgia’s Isaiah Wilson and D’Andre Swift have both declared for the 2020 NFL Draft. Wilson and Swift join stud left tackle Andrew Thomas in declaring for the NFL Draft today.

Thanks to Radi Nabulsi for posting Wilson’s message to Georgia football fans on Instagram:

Wilson does not mention playing in UGA’s bowl game against the Baylor Bears. It’s unlikely he plays in the contest. As for Georgia running back D’Andre Swift, he’ll be heading the NFL as well per The Athletic’s Seth Emerson:

Swift is a Junior and is one of the most explosive running backs in Georgia Bulldogs history. Wilson is a red-shirt sophomore, so his decision is a little bit more surprising, but he should find success in the NFL as well. Best of luck to these Bulldog greats!

Nothing to see here: Jake Fromm, D’Andre Swift fine after brief in-game argument

Georgia football QB Jake Fromm, RB D’Andre Swift HC Kirby Smart comment on brief argument in the game vs the Aggies.

I loved what I saw on Saturday late in the game between Georgia and Texas A&M.

There were 2:47 left in Georgia’s win over the Aggies when D’Andre Swift took a draw play from Jake Fromm and was dropped for a loss of two yards. After the play, Swift jumped up and got in his quarterback’s face, expressing his frustration with Fromm for not snapping the ball earlier.

Kirby Smart explained the situation in his postgame press conference and what led to their quick confrontation.

“I wouldn’t call it a dustup,” Smart said. “He was just frustrated. It was a situation where we don’t run that play into a pressure from that side. They did a good job disguising it.

We told Jake to milk the clock and when you milk the clock you can’t change the play. You milk the clock, you’ve got to run the play. It wasn’t a great play, but that’s called passion, it’s not a dustup.”

Sure, seeing your two star players argue is a bit awkward, but at the same time, if you know anything about the passion that goes into playing a team sport, it’s what you love to see.

Passion, that’s what was pouring out of Swift late in the ball game. That very well could have been both of their final games between the hedges and even though the Dawgs struggled to execute and find the end zone, those two left it all on the field.

Anyone who has ever played sports understands this. No, they are not going to go into awkward-mode, not talk to each other, not like each other’s Instagram posts or generate weird eye-contact when passing each other in the football facility.

They are fine. It was an emotional game. It’s an emotional sport.

“I think that was the play, the shot clock was on like one,” Swift said. “We hiked the ball. It wasn’t really a good play. I was telling him that we’ve got to snap the ball earlier but it wasn’t on him. I was just frustrated.”

“If you played football, you know teammates argue sometimes; we’ve got nothing but respect and love for each other. It’s football, it’s a game. Nothing is between us.”

Fromm did not push back. He let Swift express his frustration and carried on, eventually guiding the team to a win.

Fromm’s reaction to Swift’s complaints was exactly what you want to see from your quarterback. That’s the kind of stuff that NFL scouts will love when looking at his college tape. The guy is a leader and understands how to handle the emotions of 10 different players on the field at any given time.

“I think it’s just two competitors that want to compete and do the right thing for the offense,” Fromm said.

“The clock is ticking, they showed a blitz there at the last second and I didn’t have enough time to change it. That’s part of the four-minute scenario, trying to milk out the clock and two guys want to be really competitive and win a football game.”

Smart described it best following the game.

“It’s love,” Smart said. “When you have family, your family doesn’t always get along, right? But they love each other. These two young men love each other as much as anybody.”

Georgia vs TAMU: Jake Fromm hits George Pickens for game’s first touchdown

Georgia football QB Jake Fromm hits UGA WR George Pickens for a TD vs Texas A&M.

After an ugly first 20 minutes of football in the Georgia vs Texas A&M game, Jake Fromm and the Bulldogs’ offense were finally able to put together a drive that resulted in a touchdown.

Fromm had struggled all first half until eventually he hit Tyler Simmons on the sideline for a 27 yard gain on a back shoulder pass. The next play, Fromm hit Kearis Jackson on the same play but to the other sideline for a gain of 22.

Next thing we knew, Fromm had the Bulldogs offense in the red zone, where he was able to hit freshman George Pickens for a 16 yard touchdown.

 

 

What we learned from Georgia football’s win at Auburn

Defense again stole the show for Georgia on Saturday as the Dawgs picked up their SEC East-clinching win in a trip to Auburn.

Defense again stole the show for Georgia on Saturday as the Dawgs picked up their SEC East-clinching win in a trip to Auburn. The offense sputtered, but came through when needed. What did we learn?

Georgia’s defense is historically great, but has its flaws.

Oh no, Georgia gave up its first rushing touchdown of the season. It took ten games for any team to accomplish that against the Bulldogs.

What really hurt Georgia over the course of the game? Slant routes. Auburn simply abused Bulldog cornerbacks with quick 10 yard gains early on in drives, and while Georgia’s defense eventually stepped it up and forced several midfield punts and fourth down attempts, the Tigers’ offense out-gained and out-possessed Georgia’s offense on the day largely due to their quick chunk plays.

LSU still needs one more win to clinch the SEC West, but regardless of whether Georgia will meet Heisman hopeful Joe Burrow or an Alabama squad who recently lost its star quarterback, the Dawgs’ secondary will have to tighten things up in Atlanta when facing either one of two Western Division powerhouses that are ranked within the top ten nationally in total offense.

Switching to a soft zone defense late in the game when your defense has dominated all day may not be a good idea.

Georgia had all the momentum going into the fourth quarter. With a 21-0 lead, Georgia’s defense switched from their smothering man defense to a soft zone, presumably so as to not give up any home run plays.

However, Auburn then scored two touchdowns within the span of three minutes and found themselves driving to level the score in the game’s waning minutes.

All’s well that ends well, but switching to zone and nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory likely shaved some time off Georgia fans’ lifespans.

In a defensive battle, Jake Camarda can be the difference.

The Bulldogs’ punter has had a good season, not a great one. Yesterday on The Plains, however, Jake Camarda looked NFL-caliber. A certain special teams specialist even called him the game’s most valuable player.

He averaged just north of 50 yards per punt against the Tigers, including a booming 67 yarder that pinned Auburn at its own two yard line. In a matchup which your offense requires you to punt 11 times (including NINE three-and-outs), consistency is key in allowing your defense to control the pace of the game.

Georgia’s offense revolves around the offensive line.

Okay, maybe we knew this much earlier on. That being said, they looked stout against an Auburn front seven who came into the game averaging two and a half sacks per contest. Georgia allowed just one sack, which became only the sixth sack they’ve allowed all season.

Jake Fromm didn’t look as crisp as he’s looked in the past, but his pass protection provided by the Great Wall of Georgia allowed him all day to throw. Perfect blocking and a perfect throw gave Georgia a first quarter lead it would never relinquish.

Fromm would later toss two additional beautiful touch passes to Brian Herrien and Eli Wolf. D’Andre Swift recorded yet another 100 yard rushing performance. The offensive line continues to stand tall, literally and figuratively.

D’Andre Swift is not a human, he’s a tornado.

We’ve seen Swift with some mean tackle-avoiding spin moves before, but his latest is absurd. How quickly he managed to turn that full 360 degrees blows my mind, and with a hand in his face and a tackler closing in, he casually trotted for a first down.

Overall, what did we learn? Them Dawgs is hell.

Watch: D’Andre Swift hits dirty spin move, runs for first down

Georgia football RB D’Andre Swift hit an insanely dirty spin move and picked up the first down vs Auburn.

Georgia football running back D’Andre Swift is best known for his killer cuts that have broken the ankles of numerous helpless lineman and linebackers.

But today vs Auburn and the Tigers’ incredible defensive line, Swift broke out a new move.

Check out this spin move that Swift put on the Auburn defensive lineman. He then turned on the jets and picked up a first down.

 

Georgia football announces captains for Auburn game

Georgia football announced its captains for the UGA vs Auburn game on Saturday.

Georgia football takes on Auburn this Saturday in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, a game that the Bulldogs must win to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

On Friday ahead of the big game, Georgia announced its captains for the matchup.

Wearing the patch on Saturday will be running back D’Andre Swift, quarterback Jake Fromm and safety J.R. Reed.

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This season, these three have been three of the biggest keys to the success of the 8-1 Bulldogs.

Fromm has guided No. 4 ranked Georgia all season, throwing for 1,858 yards, completing  67% of his passes, tossing 13 touchdowns and giving up just three interceptions.

Swift is closing in on the 1,000 yard marker through nine games and is currently at 921, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

And on the other side of the ball it’s been Reed who has come up with numerous big plays to help turn Georgia’s defense into arguably the best in college football.

They will all have their hands full playing on the road in a hostile environment this Saturday, though.