Tag: Georgia Football

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 football HC Kirby Smart on why Lawrence Cager did not play Saturday

georgia football HC Kirby Smart discussed why wide receiver Lawrence Cager did not play vs the Texas A&M Aggies.

Georgia football wide receiver Lawrence Cager dressed out for Saturday’s game vs Texas A&M but did not see the field.

He has been in pain all season after separating his shoulder against Tennessee.

Multiple times, he has re-aggravated that shoulder throughout the season, including early on in last week’s win at Auburn.

With a big game on the horizon vs LSU in the SEC Championship, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs need a healthy Cager, who has been Jake Fromm’s go-to receiver when healthy.

Smart discussed Cager’s injury and why he was held out of the game on Saturday.

“We thought he’d be able to go. He practiced during the week. He was obviously not 100 percent during the week, and we wanted to see him go in warm-ups and cut it loose. We didn’t feel that he could,” Smart said. “It’s one of those deals where you say, ‘Why don’t you just shut him down?’

Well, shutting him down doesn’t necessarily get him healthy either. He doesn’t take the hits and pounding during the week. So he’s helping to take a little mileage off the other guys, and also staying fresh in the offense. Sometimes when you step away you get away. It’s not his legs that are tired; it’s his injury. He just didn’t feel comfortable that he could go, and it was tough conditions. We knew it would be tough conditions. Having a healthy guy out there helps.”

This season, Cager is Georgia’s leading receiver despite missing significant time with his injury.

He currently has 33 catches for 476 yards and four touchdowns.

True freshman George Pickens is closing in on Cager. Pickens has 32 catches for 457 yards and five touchdowns.

Amway Coaches Poll released after Week 13: Where’s Georgia football?

Where is Georgia football in the newest Amway Coaches Poll?

Week 13 has come to an end and we are moving closer to conference championship weekend and the College Football Playoff.

Georgia, which was No. 4 last week, took care of business (for the most part) in a win over Texas A&M and remained at No. 4.

The biggest win of the weekend came from Ohio State, which took down Penn State in Columbus.

LSU looked good against a terrible Arkansas team, but did allow the Razorbacks, who have the 106th ranked offense, to score 20 points.

The biggest loss of the weekend was from Oregon, which now has two losses. The Ducks fell from No. 6 to No. 13.

Here is the new top-ten in the Amway Coach Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Georgia

5. Alabama

6. Utah

7. Oklahoma

8. Florida

9. Minnesota

10. Baylor

Georgia now has wins over four teams that were ranked at the time of the game.

The Dawgs beat Auburn, Florida, Notre Dame and A&M (the Aggies were ranked No. 24 last week).

Georgia football RB D’Andre Swift tells it how he sees it on offense

Georgia running back D’Andre Swift tells it how he sees it on offense

Georgia football running back D’Andre Swift played in what might have been his final home game at Sanford Stadium on Saturday, going out with a W one last time.

Though the Bulldogs were able to beat the nearly ranked Aggies of Texas A&M on senior day, the win wasn’t pretty from an offensive perspective.

Swift mentioned his frustrations with the offense and even got on to Fromm a bit during the game, with love of course.

“For us to get to where we want to go, we have to get better on offense.”

Against the Aggies, Swift carried the offense all game. 19 times and put up 103 rushing yards and 29 receiving yards. However, the offense failed to convert Swift’s yards into points. His frustration was justified, but he and Fromm are fine and understand that it’s just part of the game.

Georgia will have a mini bye-week in Atlanta next week to right the ship against Georgia Tech before facing the daunting LSU offense in The Benz. Time will tell if the Dawgs can turn it around and use better weather conditions to their advantage on the scoreboard.

Georgia football seniors show appreciation after last home game

Georgia football seniors were feeling sentimental after defeating the Aggies.

On Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M in what was the final home game in Athens for all of the club’s seniors.

After the hard-fought win, many of the seniors were understandably filled with emotion and took to Twitter to show their appreciation for Dawg Nation.

Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship, for instance, took the opportunity not only to thank the fans, but also acknowledge his newfound place as UGA’s all time leading scorer.

Wide receiver Lawrence Cager, who only spent one year with the Dawgs after he began his career in Miami, also expressed his gratitude.

Running back Brian Herrien also showed love after the team’s Twitter account posted a tweet honoring him.

All in all, it was a reflective day in Sanford Stadium as the seniors played their last home game. Now, they gear up for a stretch run in a season where all of their goals-yes, even the national championship-remain in front of them.

Paul Finebaum gives his top-six following Week 13

Paul Finebaum released his new top-six after Week 13. Where is Georgia football?

Following a Week 13 that saw Georgia’s offense struggle in a win over Texas A&M, the SEC Network’s Paul Finebaum released his new top-six teams as we creep closer to the College Football Playoff.

This weekend, the CFP’s top five teams all took care of business, but No. 6 Oregon’s CFP dreams came to an end with a loss to Arizona State.

1) LSU beat Arkansas by almost 40 points, but the Tigers defense managed to allow 20 to Arkansas, which has the nation’s 106th ranked offense.

2) Ohio State looked good again in a win over top-ten Penn State, but Justin Fields did fumble three times.

3) Clemson took a bye week ahead of its game vs South Carolina next weekend.

4) Georgia, No. 4, looked like, well, Georgia. The defense played great as it usually does, but the offense continued to show its inability to find the end zone yet again. The thing is, we can’t blame offensive coordinator James Coley for this one. Jake Fromm missed two, maybe three touchdown passes vs the Aggies. Coley called a game that should have yielded 30+ points. They just need to execute better.

5) Alabama looked fine in a big win over Western Carolina.

6) Oregon went down to Arizona State 31-28.

Finebaum, who said that he thinks Georgia can still win it all, left the Bulldogs in his top-four and seems pretty high on the Dawgs and their style of play.

Utah found its way into the top-six thanks to the Oregon loss.

Here is his new top-six.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit ranks Top 6 heading into rivalry week

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit ranks college football’s Top 6 heading into rivalry week

Kirk Hebrstreit, the ESPN college football analyst, released his latest Top 6 after Week 13 of the season. The longtime College Gameday reporter has the Bulldogs at No. 4 in his rankings, behind the trio of undefeated teams in Clemson, Ohio State and LSU.

But who else is in the Top 6? Well, here you go.

If we’re being honest here, the only ranking of much relevance is Alabama over Utah because the rest are becoming predictable at this point. We know the media is still in love with Alabama, despite losing junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but will that be the case after Auburn?

Time will tell.

Twitter reacts to Georgia football’s win over TAMU

Twitter reacts as Georgia football beat Texas A&M.

Georgia football advanced to 10-1 with a win over Texas A&M on Saturday night.

With that win, Georgia closed out SEC play with a record of 7-1 and looks to advance to an overall 11-1 mark with a win over Georgia Tech on Saturday.

The Bulldogs, who will have a chance to take home the SEC Championship for the second time in three years two weeks from now vs LSU, will enjoy their win over the Aggies before getting back to work for Tech.

The game was not pretty at all. The offense played, well, poorly – aside from Rodrigo Blankenship that is.

But the Georgia strategy, as frustrating and questionable as it may be, has worked.

What’s that strategy, you ask?

Play great defense and just good enough offense.

Here are some social media reactions to the Georgia win:

 

Rodrigo Blankenship is now Georgia football’s all-time leading scorer

UGA K Rodrigo Blankenship is now Georgia football’s all-time leading scorer.

Rodrigo Blankenship is probably the most beloved kicker in the history of Georgia football, maybe even in all of college football.

And on Saturday, which happens to be Senior Day for him, he proved that he is deserving of that title, becoming the school’s all-time leading points scorer.

With his third field goal vs Texas A&M, Blankenship passed former Georgia kicker Blair Walsh for first in school history, and also passed him for second in SEC history.

Hot Rod, with 415, trails only Auburn’s Daniel Carlson, who finished his career with 480 in 2017.

Congratulations to Blankenship.

Respect the Specs.

Georgia football vs TAMU: Halftime report

Georgia football is leading the Texas A&M Aggies at the half.

The Texas A&M Aggies and Georgia Bulldogs just played an ugly half of football.

In a game that bears a striking resemblance to the Dawgs’ victory over Kentucky a few weeks ago, the rain and wind in Athens have played a big role in keeping this contest as a grind out, defensive battle. The Dawgs lead 13-3.

The Dawgs one true good drive was spearheaded by Jake Fromm, who hasn’t had a good game overall but delivered a strike to George Pickens for the only touchdown of the game.

Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has also cashed in on two field goal attempts-one from 49 yards-to give Georgia its current point total. The Aggies capitalized on an impressive punt return with three points to reach their own total.

Jake Fromm is 4-13 on the contest with 72 yards. D’Andre Swift leads the rushing attack with 75 yards on 13 carries.

If the Dawgs defense continues their dominance and the offense improves as the weather clears up, this should be a cruise to the finish line for UGA.