ATHENS — The Joe Moore Award has proven to be elusive for Georgia’s talented offensive line. Despite sending wave after wave of prospects into the NFL and powering Georgia to multiple national championships, Georgia has yet to bring home the award that honors the top offensive line in college football.
The Bulldogs have routinely been a finalist for the award. But on Tuesday, Georgia did not even make the 2024 Midseason Honor Roll, which recognized 22 of the top offensive lines in college football.
It speaks to what has been a difficult season for what has usually been one of Georgia’s most stable units.
The Bulldogs saw leader Tate Ratledge go down with an injury against Kentucky. He suffered ankle and knee injuries that will keep him out until at least the Florida game.
Georgia was also without center Jared Wilson against Auburn. Wilson is listed as questionable for this week’s game as he deals with a foot injury.
“Jared’s better than he was, but not taking full load reps,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He’s taking some reps, but not, I think more than he was last week, but not full load.”
Injuries haven’t helped, but Georgia’s offensive line issues this season have gone beyond that. There have been communication issues, something that has taken Georgia multiple weeks to get fixed.
The Bulldogs struggled to run the ball in wins against Kentucky and Clemson. The group showed signs of improvement against Alabama, but Georgia was forced to throw the ball 50 times in that game due to falling in an early deficit.
And while Georgia has faced a difficult schedule to date, it has challenging games on the horizon against Texas, Ole Miss and Tennessee.
“I wouldn’t say we’ve hit our full stride,” offensive guard Dylan Fairchild said on Monday. “I mean, hopefully, you know, the goal is to hit — you want to hit your stride, like, midway through the year, you know? You want to really start to pick it up right now and as these games go on. That’s our goal is to just keep chopping, keep rolling, keep getting better so that we can hit our stride right now, you know, in these upcoming games.”
Georgia does still have time to come together on the offensive line. Doing so would go a long way into easing the burden on Carson Beck’s shoulders while helping open holes for the likes of Trevor Etienne and Nate Frazier.
“I think Carson is in a good head space,” Smart said. “He’s continued to get better. It has nothing to do with him. Probably some other positions that we have younger players at, sometimes they play with a lot of anxiety.”
Through five games this season, Georgia has trotted out three different offensive line combinations. Getting some consistency within that group may help the rest of the Georgia offense grow together.
The Bulldogs will get another chance to improve on Saturday, when they take on Mississippi State. The game is set for a 4:15 p.m. ET start.
