Georgia’s new football reality is even in a conference rout, Bulldogs fans expect more

So this is what Georgia football has come to. Beat an SEC East Division – and recruiting – rival by nearly four touchdowns in the first meaningful home game of the season, and then have to apologize for the occasional sloppy play that allowed the game to be that close.

Welcome to the Bulldogs’ new reality.

In years past, beating Tennessee by any comfortable margin, let alone 38-12 as the Bulldogs did Saturday, would have been met with joy, followed of course by smack talk across the digital world. Instead, the general sentiment seemed to be, “Well, that was kind of ugly.”

Georgia’s first touchdown seemed symbolic of the afternoon. Isaac Nauta, who plays tight end for Georgia, in case you haven’t noticed (which seems to be the case with Georgia’s coaches), was supposed to protect quarterback Jake Fromm. But Nauta was beaten badly by Tennessee linebacker Darrell Taylor – so badly that Taylor stripped the football from Fromm. No problem.

The ball bounced right to Nauta, who scooped it up, darted to his right and commenced to weave 40 yards to the end zone. Just like they drew it up, you know. And who says Georgia can’t find creative ways to involve its wealth of tight ends.

“It went from a very sick feeling to a very good feeling there pretty quick,” Nauta said. “I couldn’t draw that one up myself, but it’s crazy how it works.”

Even afterward, Georgia coach Kirby Smart didn’t see much humor in the play.

“You gotta block the guy,” Smart said. “I don’t live on luck. There was a lot of luck involved on that play.”

Nauta knows the point will be, shall we say, reinforced this week in practice.

“I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen,” Nauta said. “I’m going to get ripped for that. At least we came out with points.”

That summed up the bigger picture as well. The players are sure to get an earful from the coaches for their shortcomings. But at least the Bulldogs came out with another victory, their fifth now in as many weeks.

Setting aside Alabama – which seems to be as invincible as ever – the Bulldogs are not alone when it comes to contenders who are not as perfect as their records. Afterward, Smart and the players talked about “cleaning up” the deficiencies, the three most obvious being pass protection, defensive break downs and mental mistakes.

After rolling up a 17-0 lead and then scoring on the opening possession of the third quarter, Georgia had the game comfortably in hand, leading 24-0. But four plays changed the tone of the game: a busted coverage on third-and-8, a penalty on D’Andre Walker for tackling Banks after the whistle, a pass interference on Tyson Campbell on fourth-and-5, then busted coverage again, this time resulting in a 37-yard touchdown pass to Josh Palmer.

“There’s like three things in a row on defense that leads to their spark,” Smart said. “Why are we giving them their spark? It wasn’t anything that they did to provide a spark. We did it. Bust in a coverage, bust in a coverage, and then a penalty. Those are the kinds of things we have to clean up.”

“We can’t do that against better teams,” said linebacker Monty Rice. “What if that happens on the road against LSU?”

Pretty insightful perspective for just a sophomore. The inconsistent pass protection was also problematic. Fromm was sacked three times and hurried a few other times, disrupting his timing with his receivers. Fromm’s not much of a threat to run the ball, which allows defenses to key on Georgia’s running backs.

Enter Justin Fields, the freshman quarterback who is still learning on the job but adds a running dimension to the offense. He scored twice and led the Bulldogs on another drive before Fromm resumed command.

“Justin gave us a spark we needed at times,” Smart said. “He’s a very diligent worker. He’s been meeting extra. He’s been coming in to learn things. He gives us an asset to the offense that sometimes provides us a spark that we need. Jake did a good job commanding the offense, understanding where to go with the ball. And if don’t give up pressure on some of those third downs, he probably hits even bigger plays, because there were some plays out there that he missed.”

So, going forward, what’s the plan?

“The plan is, there is no plan,” Smart snapped defensively, seemingly concerned about stirring up a quarterback controversy.

Here’s the deal. No, Georgia can’t play this way in Baton Rouge – or Lexington, for that matter – and hope to return to the College Football Playoff. But college football teams are a work in progress.

Contrary to what many may selectively remember, several of those Alabama teams that won or played for national championships looked ugly at times. Same for Ohio State in 2014.

“It’s a good problem to have when your team acknowledges that they didn’t play their best and won,” Smart said. “The most dangerous thing is to not play your best and win, and not gain or grow from it. So we’re looking for growth – every kid at every position.”

They’ll be all right.

This story was originally published September 30, 2018 at 3:31 PM.