UL-LAF-7, UGA - 55

This looks like the SEC championship Bulldogs of earlier in the decade.

The good.

I was able breathe a huge sign of relief today. I came into this seasons with more questions than answers about the Bulldogs. When Grantham was hired, I felt like we had made one of the best hires since Coach Richt. Today, I found myself excited and the most optimistic about the Bulldogs that I have been in a while. Grantham's defense swarmed to the ball and hit hard. It was refreshing to see an aggressive defense instead of the the soft, patty-cake defense led by... uh-hum, you-know-who. Last year it seemed that even the small programs we would play would break loose with a big play way too often. This week, the defense seemed to actually know that they were playing in a football game.

Also, our offense showed something that I have not seen since before Matt Stafford. Yes, I said it. He is a good quarterback, and I hope that he has great success in the NFL. However, it seemed that the Bulldog nation had pinned all our hopes on one person. Today, there was teamwork. Everyone was contributing. The offense is not afraid to take a shot down field. It seems like we are not afraid of taking a chance at the big play. Likewise, they moved the ball efficiently. We had more 3rd and short plays - one of the most critical strategies in football. They are looking very business like – not like the “Keystone Cops” of 2009.

The bad.

Penalties kill drives. I simply cannot grasp why this seems to be perennial problem with UGA football. We seem to always shoot ourselves in the foot at critical points in games. Also, there just does not seem to be a sense of urgency on the offense. Yes, we looked better than last year and even though they played good, the offense seems to always be playing with a piano on their backs. Aaron Murray needs to watch how he is running the ball. He is not Tim Tebow. He is going to get hurt.

The ugly.

Not only do we seem to have a problem with penalties on the field, we cannot seem to stop getting penalized by the police off the field. I know we cannot pin this entirely on CMR (these are grown men making grow-up decisions), there has to be some type of incentive for not getting arrested.

For next week…

We cannot get too comfortable and proud of ourselves for this win. South Carolina is a perennial struggle for the Bulldogs. Just when you think you have a handle on USC, the "evil genius" will make you pay for your weaknesses.

o Prediction – This will be a sloppy game because this will be the first conference game for both teams and the first game against a worthy opponent. This will be a lower scoring game with a lot of penalties.

o UGA 25, USC 23