Game Review: Georgia

Knee-Jerk Reaction
11-0, SEC West Champs. What else needs to be said? The Iron Bowl still looms large with national championship hopes on the line but this team's goal was to get to Atlanta and bring home an SEC Championship. They had to fight through the most difficult division in college football to get there but were able to lock it up before even traveling to play the pre-season favorite.

As for the game... this team has done it to us all year, why would we have thought this game would be any different? Cam did his thing and the defense did theirs. I was unfortunately tied up at a wedding (blasted fall weddings!!!) and the service began just as we went down 21-7 (I was streaming it live on slingbox on my iPhone in the church - Sorry God, I hope you understand). Seeing that we tied it by halftime was a relief and obviously the second half was what we've come to expect from this team. I did record the game and was able to watch it last night. The first quarter was almost worse than I remember. This team had everything going against it from penalties that were our fault (Isom head butting a UGA player uncharacteristically) to penalties that were bad calls (Mosley's holding call on McCalebb's 40 yard statue of liberty run), combined with dropped passes that became interceptions returned inside our ten (Emory Blake) in addition to dropped passes that would have been easy touchdowns (Mario Fannin). Considering those were two of Cam's three incompletions on the night give a little insight into the greatness he had on display Saturday. Multiple passes that Newton through were absolute laser beams put right on target, sometimes 30 yards down field, sometimes between three defenders. This was perhaps the first game that I believe Newton's passing ability showed legitimate NFL potential sooner than later which is an unfortunate thought for our chances of retaining his services through 2011. Another junior who is unlikely to stick around for his senior year is Nick Fairley. He was an absolute beast yet again and I don't give a rats ass about anyone calling him dirty. Was Lawrence Taylor dirty? Was Mean Joe Greene dirty? Was Warren Sapp dirty? Play hard. Play with aggression. Go after the quarterback with bad intentions. This is football and the best players know how to harness their ferocity and take it out on their opponent during every play. Yeah, maybe he shouldn't have planted his helmet in Murray's back a couple seconds after he released the ball but that is honestly the first late hit I've seen him commit all year and is not indicative of the type of player he is. I am glad he is on our team and everyone else wishes he was on theirs. Seeing Dyer embraced by Bo Jackson after he broke his freshman rushing record was one of the more special moments of a season filled with special moments. As Jackson lifted his arm in the air it was hard not to think of that as a figurative passing of the torch from Auburn's greatest running back of all time to the most highly rated running back ever signed by Auburn. To hear Zac Ethridge recount circling the stadium four times to celebrate with the fans one last time nearly brought tears to my eyes. This group of seniors have been through the gauntlet and they deserve this season as much as they all deserved to get the feeling of beating UGA for the first time in their careers.

Positives
Cam Newton - I mentioned his passing efficiency earlier but as usual he was an all-star running the ball as well. He was there to grind out the tough yards whenever they were needed and broke his share of big runs on his way to over 150 yards rushing and two TD's on the ground.

Onterio McCalebb - Easily the unsung hero of this offense this year. Cam gets the headlines, Dyer gets the hype, even the offensive line have been given as much credit as any offensive line can expect to get. But, McCalebb, who is averaging 8.8 yards per carry and has scored nine touchdowns on the year has not been mentioned at all. His speed to the outside stretches defenses wide and much of the space Cam is given in the middle is due to defenders chasing McCalebb to the outside on the fakes. His speed is elite and the other attributes of his running game are catching up. His 71 yard, three touchdown performance on Saturday was one of his best outings of the year despite having a 40 yard run negated by a penalty. He got it done blocking on the outside on some of Cam's long runs and he also showed the ability to cut it inside on a few occasions which hasn't been his forte this season.

Gus Malzahn - All the credit needs to go to Malzahn for keeping this offense moving all year. Obviously having Cam helps but too many times you hear about how a coordinator isn't using his team's talents to the best of their abilities. That maybe so and so should be getting the ball more or that so and so shouldn't be getting the ball so much. He has kept it balanced, kept Dyer fresh all year, kept McCalebb healthy all year, and kept defenses off balanced despite what the media tells you about this being a one man team. The offense clearly has evolved as the year progressed and Malzahn deserves all the credit for that.