I think our defense played great considering that they were getting minimum help and motivation from the offense. They laid some serious hits that sidelined a few Georgia players including their starting QB. They just got tired in the second half from being on the field forever.
The refs gave some great spots at times to Georgia and when they clearly didn't have the first down that kept Georgia driving and the defense tired. They also missed a few holding calls, and We made some mental mistakes. I'm not going to blame this on the refs though because they were horrible the whole game when we were on offense and our section found ourselves yelling at them more than cheering for the cards all game long.
Bolin and Bonnafon need more experience plain and simple. I do believe it was bad timing to take Bolin out when he was just getting into a groove and Bonnafon has been injured needing to dust some cobwebs off. I don't think a Bowl game is the right time to do that, unless he was a senior, needed from Bolin getting hurt, Bolin losing his helmet for a play, up or down big, or you just don't care about the bowl, since it's insignificant compared to the playoff bowls. Maybe Coach Petrino just wanted to get Bonnafon some more experience against a World beater team for next year.
Bolin threw too many passes too high, off target, behind receivers, and both him and Bonnafon missed open receivers down field mostly Rogers and Parker. Bolin kept throwing passes to Kai De La Cruz like he could jump 10 feet in the air. I guess he thought that he was throwing to DeVante. All the picks thrown had our defense getting worn out from grinding out minutes on the field trying to stop jet fast running backs and losing hope.
I kept telling myself during the bowl game that if We had Teddy this year then We would have been in the Playoffs undefeated. Us not having an experienced, solid, reliable, QB has been our biggest downfall all season. They need more experience, including Will Gardner.
Georgia has a great team and I tip my hat off to their running backs. Their defense looked good at times too. They played like they had a chip on their shoulder and like they wanted to run the score up since they couldn't make the playoffs.
There was one incident that rubbed me wrong and left a bad taste in my mouth about Georgia out the gate. It was when our team was entering the field. The entire Georgia team blocked our players in the tunnel to keep them from coming out onto the field. After watching the replay on ESPN, I noticed they didn't show it on tv. The ESPN announcers did mention that they thought there was going to be a fight between both teams, but didn't go into details about what had really happened. I just thought that was bush league of Georgia, similar to what UofK did before their game against us. Georgia should have shown more class for being a more prestigious program. They played dirty all game long though. No hard feelings, it brought excitement to the game.
Overall, Momentum just never seem to swing our way in this game. It was too cold and everyone was getting hurt on both sides of the ball for both teams. This is what happens when you have a month off sometimes. You lose momentum and rhythm, and sometimes find it hard to get into a groove.
Coaching wise, Only 2 things I disagreed with are calling the fake punt that early in the game and the Bonnafon substitution timing. Everything else was coached well. Players just didn't execute on offense, except for Parker, Rogers, and Radcliff , and even Parker dropped a pass that he could of caught that turned into a pick. James Quick looked good at times. It just seemed like the entire offense couldn't get clicking together.
It's the Belk Bowl. We suck in the Belk Bowl. Teddy Bridgewater holds a record in the Belk Bowl for most interceptions thrown if that tells you anything and look how he turned out.
A+ Season for us. Mediocre Bowl Performance but still had fun in the freezing cold. Totally worth the trip.
We will bounce back as soon as We can get our QB's experienced, confidence, polished skills, and reliable.
Go Cards!
This post was edited on 1/1 5:34 AM by Cardinals4Ever
