Georgia Football Snapshots after epic Peach Bowl win over Cincinnati

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Georgia needed a big game to stage a comeback. And he turned to kicker Jack Podlesny as he was shooting 53 career yards to propel Georgia to a 24-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Bulldogs got the ball with 1:28 to go and led to the Cincinnati 36-yard line thanks to a series of catches from Kenny McIntosh. After two consecutive incompletions, Podlesney went trout there and punched the biggest kick of his career with: 03 seconds left. He turned a 21-19 deficit into a 22-21 lead.

Cincinnati’s final game of the game ended with a safety and a sack from Azeez Ojulari, who had 3.0 of Georgia’s 8.0 sacks in the game.

The loss was the first of the season for the Bearcats, as Georgia finished 8-2 and almost certainly in the top 10.

An interesting decision from Kirby Smart

Kirby Smart made another controversial decision regarding a punt in the fourth quarter of the game played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

As the Bulldogs faced a fourth and three on their own 43-yard line, Smart took a time out. Then, instead of doing it, Smart chose to return the ball to the Cincinnati attack.

The Bearcats, who had struggled for much of the second offensive half, were able to do enough to force Georgia to use their timeouts. The Bulldogs were arrested but it was still a curious decision by Smart.

Smart’s decision was a reminder to many of Georgia’s 2018 SEC Championship game, when Georgia threw a false punt in the fourth and 11th with Justin Fields. The game was tied at 28 at that time. The Crimson Tide then scored and won the game, sending Alabama to the college football playoffs.

Still, Georgia’s offense did just enough to bail out the decision as the Bulldogs were able to secure the victory.

JT Daniels less than stellar but big end

There has been a lot of hype around JT Daniels. You saw why that was the case, because he had twice completed over 50 yards in the game. And he engineered a late scoring campaign to give Georgia the win when it mattered most.

But it was by far Daniels’ least impressive game as a Bulldog. He threw a costly interception into the end zone that kept points off the board for Georgia. He then had a fumble when Georgia was just outside the red zone that Cincinnati recovered, one of two fumbles for Daniels that day. Those two turnovers were more than he had in the previous three games he had started for Georgia.

There have also been two instances of situational football where Daniels couldn’t design the play. The first came on a fourth and one when Daniels was unable to connect with Kearis Jackson. Then Daniels missed on a two-point conversion attempt on Georgia’s first score of the fourth quarter.

But in Georgia’s last practice, Daniels completed five of his seven passing attempts for 44 yards to put Georgia in close range.

Statically, he completed 26 of his 38 passing attempts for 392 yards. He had a touchdown pass to Pickens in the game.

It wasn’t a bad game for Daniels. It just wasn’t the liveliest of the transfer quarterback’s efforts. It was only his fourth start for the Bulldogs after missing more than a year with an ACL injury.

Half-time sandwich

When Georgia’s offense took its last meaningful slam of the first half, it led 10-7. When the Bulldogs took their first shot of the second half, they had lost 21-10.

The Bearcats balanced the game with their game at the end of the first half and to start the second half. Cincinnati came the length of the field and scored with just six seconds left in the first half. Ridder fell out and was able to find tight end Josh Whyle for a touchdown that seemed to come straight out of court.

The Bearcats got the ball to open the second half and wasted no time adding to the lead. Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford managed to mess up Lewis Cine’s safety and ran to the end zone. The 79-yard run was the longest on a Georgia defense since the SEC Championship game in 2003.

With a two-point lead, Cincinnati really started attacking Georgia and Daniels’ offensive line. The Bulldogs were unable to respond as his first two discs entered the Cincinnati 25 to score zero points on both discs.

Struggles against the offensive line

The two-position groups that Georgia were shorthanded at the start of the game were the secondary line and the offensive line. You could tell based on how these two units performed in the Peach Bowl.

The secondary had a rough time against Ridder, throwing for 206 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs were starting Tyrique Stevenson on the corner due to DJ Daniel and Eric Stokes choosing to declare themselves for the NFL Draft. Mark Webb was also unavailable which is why Latavious Brinni took the start.

The Bulldogs got a huge late pass breakage from Stevenson to force Cincinnati’s final punt.

Perhaps the offensive line has been even worse. The Bulldogs had to reshuffle their offensive line due to the absences of Trey Hill and Ben Cleveland. The Bulldogs went with Xavier Truss at left tackle, Jamaree Salyer at left guard, Warren Ericson at center, Justin Shaffer at right guard and Warren McClendon at right tackle.

The Bulldogs ran just 45 yards in the game, including just 28 in the first period. With Georgia lagging behind, it allowed Cincinnati to put pressure on Daniels. The Bearcats had 3.0 sacks in the game.

It wasn’t the first this year that Georgia’s offensive line has struggled, as this performance is reminiscent of the Mississippi State game when Georgia ran just eight yards. The Bulldogs also wore black jerseys that day as well.

Georgia has recruited very well for both positions. But that didn’t seem to matter against the Bearcats, as Cincinnati clearly got the upper hand over Georgia in both of those areas.

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