5 Reasons Why Georgia Lost to LSU

Last night's game between formidable foes LSU and Georgia started as a defensive stalemate and evolved into a shootout at the very end. While LSU prevailed 20 -13 there were only a few reasons why they won, namely the legs of senior tailback charles Scott. The referees certainly made terrible calls but I can't say they directly caused the end result. Here are the main 5 reasons why the Bulldawgs didn't come up with the victory.

(1) Not enough Ealey
When Washuan Ealey came into the game in the second half, UGA was nursing a goose egg and badly searching for momentum. After Ealey touched the ball, the Dawgs were driving toward the endzone, converting an improbable 4th and inches for the touchdown. UGA's other running backs, Caleb King and Richard Samuel, combined for 18 yards on 17 carries. Ealey, in two drives in the second half, rushed for double that amount, 33 yards on only 8 carries. Fans will never know what would have happened if he'd have gotten the ball earier and much more often.

(2) Not enough A.J. Green
Outside of Alabama's Julio Jones, the 6-4 sophomore has no equal in the SEC. He is not only tall, but he can jump too. But he only caught 5 passes for 99 yards against LSU. He was targeted at least 3 more times, but no more, because Joe Cox just didn't throw to him enough. It's a shame too, because, LSU could hardly handle a big game from Green. From an offensive perspective, he single-handedly won the game with his awesome jump-catch in the corner pocket of the endzone with 1:09 left. But he, like Ealey, didn't see the ball enough. You can credit LSU's defense, but the more likely culprit was offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Bobo failed to turn Green loose -- no end-arounds, no quick slants -- and that leads us to No. 3.


(3) UGA's penalties hurt
Georgia, habitually one of the most penalized teams in the nation, lived up to their reputation Saturday night. While they didn't get a whole lot of penalties, the ones they got -- and the times they got them -- were huge. The excessive celebration penalty on Green? Crazy. So crazy that I refuse to believe it was on Green; it had to be on another UGA player. Green did next to nothing for the 1.3 seconds he had to himself before being mobbed by teammates. Not only did the penalty give LSU 15 more yards on the kickoff (which Trindon Holliday took back 41 yards), but a 5-yard penalty was added when UGA lined up wrong on the kick. Did it hurt? Absolutely.



(4) Georgia played it conservative
Georgia has shown little imagination this year on offense, due either to Bobo's reliance on the defense and special teams to make plays (which they can and have) or his lack of faith in quarterback Cox. Georgia suffers, more than most teams, from an inability to be decisive on offense. One minute they try to play power-ground-game, the next they try to play pitch-and-catch with Cox and Green. Can they have it both ways? Sure, if the statistics showed that they could score both ways. But surely this squad is at its most dynamic when Cox and Green are playing wild and loose (did you see the UGA-Arkansas game?). Sure, defense dictates what you can do most of the time, but does it have to? Playing not to lose has caught up with you, Bobo. Let the Dawgs out.


(5) Well, see 4 reasons above
Honestly, there aren't 5 reasons why Georgia lost. I believe if they would have corrected any of the 4 reasons above, things would have been different.

Do you agree?