Three days later, and I still get a little giddy saying the 2017 Georgia Bulldogs are SEC Champions.
Hello and welcome to what we hope is the third-to-last Tuesday Morning Quarterback of the season, this time reveling in the sweet revenge that was Saturday's 28-7 runaway from Auburn, avenging a loss from three weeks prior in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
I wasn't at the game, and darn near yelled myself hoarse watching it on television, but in the end it was 100 percent worth it.
And I'm not done talking about it.
1) I know Roquan Smith was a deserving MVP, but...
I also felt plenty of kudos should be doled out to the following:
- The offensive line. The first go-round with the Tigers, Georgia managed just 46 yards rushing on 32 carries (1.4 ypc). In Mercedes-Benz Stadium, that number climbed to 238 yards on 41 carries (5.8 ypc) with a vintage-looking Nick Chubb grinding out 77 yards, and freshman D'Andre Swift turning on the jets for a game-sealing 64-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.
- Mecole Hardman. I've mentioned in this space before that Hardman has turned into a reliable threat as a receiver, and showed it again on Saturday, with a game-high 67 yards on four catches. Two of them, it's worth noting, were catches that kept drives alive on third down. Not bad for a guy who was playing defensive back a year ago.
- The Wolfpack. The self-titled "Wolfpack" of the Bulldogs' linebacking corps accounted for 25 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. Yes, I know that includes Smith, but everyone was playing with their hair on fire.
- The defensive line. After getting, frankly, manhandled by the Tigers' offensive line a few weeks before, surrendering 237 rushing yards in the process, the defensive line played lights out Saturday. Auburn managed a mere 114 yards in its second attempt, and only found the endzone once. Not bad, boys. Not bad at all.
2) Jim Chaney got creative.
Readers of this blog may remember we noted that Sony Michel came into the game having caught only three passes all season. We had heard all off-season that Chaney would be working the tailbacks more into the passing game.
Well, let's throw in a few stats for ya.
Georgia has completed 150 passes so far this season. 105 (70 percent) have gone to the wide receivers, with nearly all of that chunk (89 catches) being distributed among Javon Wims, Terry Godwin and Hardman.
The position group with the next highest amount of catches?
That would be the running backs, which have combined for 26 catches on the season — including six on Saturday. Swift gobbles up most of the stats in this column, with 15 catches (three on Saturday) for 146 yards (17).
The tight ends, long the group that fans felt Chaney under-utilized, have just 19 catches on the season, a trend that continued Saturday, though it should be noted the only catch made by a Georgia tight end was a 2-yard touchdown to Isaac Nauta.
What were they doing on Saturday? Mostly chipping defensive ends and helping in the run game, which obviously paid off.
3) Here's a strange stat for you.
The Bulldogs actually got worse on third down this time around, at least offensively.
On Nov. 11, Georgia finished 3-of-14 (.214) on third down conversion attempts. On Saturday that number was 2-of-11 (.181), with both conversions coming on throws to Hardman, as we noted above.
How do you think we did defensively? Better, right?
Weirdly enough, in a game that saw the Dawgs surrender 40 points, and subsequent game against the same team that saw them surrender only seven points ... the number was identical.
Auburn was 3-of-14 in both games.
The difference that led to such a swing in scoring?
Turnovers.
On Nov. 11, the Tigers won the turnover battle 1-0, and Georgia missed a field goal attempt.
On Dec. 2, the Bulldogs won the turnover battle 2-0, and blocked Auburn's lone field goal attempt.
And those three plays — two fumbles and a blocked kick — may go down as the three most critical plays in a magical season that, were they to bounce the other way, might've left this team asking "what if?"
4) The look ahead.
Got plenty of time to think about this one, as Georgia makes the trek out west to play Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, Jan. 1 at 5 p.m. ET.
The Sooners are the polar opposite of the Bulldogs, with a high powered offense (44.9 ppg) and a suspect defense (25 ppg).
In case you're wondering, Georgia is averaging 34.9 ppg on offense, and 13 ppg on defense.
Opening lines liked Oklahoma by a field goal, but I'm inclined to believe that — given a month to scheme — Kirby Smart will have a plan in place to slow Baker Mayfield & Co.
But we've got nearly a month to think about that.
