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Georgia football winners and losers following Texas A&M win
Winner: Georgia’s senior class
In their final home game, Georgia’s seniors were able to walk off the field winners. And the Bulldogs got major contributions from a number of those players.
Rodrigo Blankenship made four field goals, becoming Georgia’s all-time leading scorer in the process. Tyler Clark came up with a huge sack on what ended up being Texas A&M’s final drive.
You also can’t forget the usual standard of excellence from the likes of Tae Crowder and J.R. Reid on the day. Crowder was a big reason the Aggies finished with -1 rushing yards on the day. Reed meanwhile once again kept Georgia from getting beat deep. He also helped keep the secondary together after Eric Stokes left the game with an injury.
On the offensive side of the ball, Brian Herrien picked up the first third-down conversion on the Bulldogs’ final drive. And Tyler Simmons made a wonderful back-shoulder catch to kickstart Georgia’s lone touchdown drive.
Georgia’s seniors made winning plays when the team absolutely need it on Saturday.
“This group really hit home to me. It was unfortunate that it was in those weather conditions and I felt like it was bad but our players went into the locker room out of the rain and I’m trying to share a moment with them,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s tough because they’re not dying sitting to take a picture of me but I’m dying to see their family and what they’ve given.”
Loser: Jake Fromm’s completion percentage
Prior to Georgia’s game against Missouri, Jake Fromm had just three games in his career with a completion percentage under 50 percent. He’s now had three-straight games finishing below that clip.
Obviously the weather played a role during the first half against Texas A&M, as there was constant rain for the opening 30 minutes. That likely explains why Fromm just missed hooking up with George Pickens for what would’ve been a walk-in touchdown.
But that doesn’t excuse Fromm missing on those passes. And he owned up to that afterward.
“If I want to be as good as I want to be, I’ve got to hit those shots,” Fromm said. “It was kinda early in the game, still a little wet throwing with the glove on, new for me, and we got to have them, we’ve got to hit them and capitalize on those.”
Related: Jake Fromm speaks after Texas A&M performance
If Georgia is going to beat LSU in Atlanta, Georgia is going to need Fromm to play as he did against Notre Dame and Tennessee. Fortunately, the weather won’t be a problem that day.
Winner: D’Andre Swift
If Saturday was Swift’s final home game, he made it one to remember. Swift rushed for 103 yards and caught 4 passes for 29 yards. Those aren’t the eye-popping numbers that some unreasonable fans expect. But if you put down the stat sheet and actually watch Swift, you’ll see that he’s simply amazing.
He turns losses into 10-yard gains. When Georgia needed someone to salt the game away against Texas A&M, the Bulldogs gave him the ball and he delivered.
“You talk about competitive nature, D’Andre Swift, he wants the ball in his hands and he wants to put the game on his shoulders, he breaks three tackles to get seven yards, makes one of his best career runs,” Smart said of his star running back.
It did not seem insignificant after the win that Smart found Swift and junior offensive tackle Andrew Thomas walking off the field and had them huddle up. Swift said that Smart just wanted to thank both of them for all they’ve given to the program.
The Georgia offense hasn’t been perfect this year. And no one has been more publicly frustrated with that fact than Swift. But imagine where this group would be without its dynamic difference-maker.
Related: D’Andre Swift: ‘For us to get to where we want to go, we have to get better on offense’
Loser: Georgia’s eye test
When you hear pundits discuss why certain teams belong in the College Football Playoff, you will hear them talk about the “eye-test.” About how one team just looks better than other teams.
When people talk about Georgia, it will not bring up the eye test.
Because of the way its offense has played, no one is going to rave about how great the Bulldogs have looked in the month of November. Part of that can be chalked up to the tough slate Georgia has seen. But Ohio State will have played Penn State, Michigan and either Minnesota or Wisconsin in the run-up to the College Football Playoff.
After the win over Texas A&M — which saw Georgia amass only 260 yards of offense —Smart said Georgia has to get better on that side of the ball.
“Offensively we’ve got to improve. No bones about it. We’ve got to improve,” Smart said. “There were things tonight we missed that were there, and that’s the frustrating thing.”
Fortunately, Georgia’s resume is going to outweigh how it has looked when it has played. Because Georgia isn’t going to win any eye-test arguments.
Winner: The Georgia defense
Much like Swift, we’ve run out things to say about this group. Even when they had to play without Stokes in the second half, Texas A&M still struggled to move the ball. Despite having games against Alabama and Clemson, Saturday was Texas A&M’s worst offensive performance of the season.
And it’s not like Georgia is relying on or one or two players to power the whole defense. Georgia gets strong performances from a rotating cast of characters. On Saturday, it was Clark, Jordan Davis and Richard LeCounte who shined.
Against Georgia Tech it will likely be some other guys. And with LSU looming, Georgia is going to have its stiffest test to come.
“I keep hearing how we don’t play any quarterbacks. We don’t play anybody that’s any good,” Smart said. “They’re just trying to do their job and the staff deserves the credit. The players probably deserve the most credit.”
More Georgia football stories from around DawgNation
- WATCH: Georgia fan-favorite Rodrigo Blankenship shares special and surprising moment
- Georgia football favored by more than 4 touchdowns over Georgia Tech
- Georgia football remains in top 5 of AP, Coaches Poll after ugly win over Texas A&M
- D’Andre Swift: ‘For us to get to where we want to go, we have to get better on offense”
- Georgia football report card: Passing grades, but red marks
- Rodrigo Blankenship hits 4 field goals on Senior Day, becomes Georgia’s all-time scoring leader
- Georgia football coach Kirby Smart updates injuries to Eric Stokes, Lawrence Cager
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