...was a little like watching a high school senior beat up a kindergartener.
That said, much like the bowl against K-State last year, I'm a lot prouder than I expected to be in a beatdown. The starting front 7 played well nearly all year (sans A&M) and they did it again vs. a great line and QB. Forget the total rush yards, watch the tape and look at how well they stuffed UGA until they wore out. They got after Stetson Bennett pretty well too....when you pressure a guy like that and he still makes the play, that's a credit to him and those TE's, not a knock on the defensive front. The secondary was nearly worthless, but we knew that going in. That unit needs not only depth, they need legit starters. They're cobbled together almost completely from the transfer portal.....thanks, O. But I thought the front 7 played great for the lack of depth they have.
Check this out: Per PFF, every one of LSU's 4 starting DL played at least 53 of 76 snaps. Wingo played 74/76 and Ojulari played all 76. On average, the starting DL played 87% of the snaps. By comparison, none of UGA's starting DL played more than 45 of 75 snaps, with an average of just 32 snaps for 43% of total plays. That is a massive gap in depth. I think one of the most impressive things about UGA was I swear I counted like 70 different guys out there in meaningful time.
The LSU offense just wasn't itself. The running game--and really the whole offense--is predicated on Daniels' run threat. Without his threat, our traditional rushing attack is not good, even when we're not playing a team like UGA. He threw the ball well, which is what we hoped for, but I didn't realize how hobbled he still was and the offense was clearly hamstrung. But I thought overall our receivers showed they can play with anybody when given a chance. The OL is very young and performed acceptably...I'm bullish on that unit in the long term. We need much better RBs as much as we need secondary guys. The run game just isn't there right now without a mobile QB.
There were two fluky plays that got UGA 14 points for a 21-7 lead, and we never got close again. We weren't going to win that game no matter what, but it did feel like they showed well despite the score and if not for Daniel's injury and the crazy plays, we could've made them sweat harder. But as BK said immediately after the game, "Could've should've, would've....but the best team won today." On the whole I felt like the good pieces we do have right now are at the level we need already....just gotta get depth and some better talent at a couple key spots. They never quit on the game and kept fighting to make a statement about who they are. From BK's post-game presser: "I don't think there's anything that can take away from what this team did on the field. It brings to light the progress we made and the things we need to work on. It clearly defines who we want to be. And we're not there yet. And that's ok." I agree.
