BMatt’s Monday musings
AUBURN | Just looking at the final 34-10 score, you might assume Georgia dominated Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday, but that certainly wasn’t the case.
Auburn played with Georgia, had some chances to make a game of it, especially in the first half, before the Bulldogs took control after the break.
With better execution in the red zone, especially throwing and catching, and no turnover, the Tigers could have gone into halftime tied 14-all. That may have made for a much more competitive and entertaining second half.
But that doesn’t mean Auburn could have won the game. UGA took over in the second half because it’s a better and more talented team. Bryan Harsin didn’t mince words when he talked about the Bulldogs after the game.
“Georgia is a very good team, and I think they’ve proven throughout the season why they’re in the position that they’re in,” said Harsin. “They played well. They’re coached well. That showed up in our preparation as we watched them. That showed up today, and they made plays.
“So, very good football team—the type of team we want to be. We want to be in that position. That’s where we want Auburn football to be, to have a chance to go into every single game and be able to win, be able to do all the things on special teams, offense and defense that we know we’re capable of doing on a consistent basis.”
The well-coached part of Harsin’s plan will come in time. He’s too driven and focused for it not to come to fruition. But there’s another big step Auburn must take if it wants to compete with the top teams in the SEC and nationally, and that’s giving the program a big injection of talent.
In the last three classes, Georgia has signed 10 5-stars and 41 4-stars including 25 rated 5.9 or better. That’s 35 bluechip-caliber players. UGA signed No. 1 classes in 2019 and 2020, and the No. 5 class in 2021.
In contrast, Auburn has signed one 5-star and 29 4-stars including 12 ranked 5.9 or better over the same period. That’s 13 bluechip players from classes that ranked 12th, 10th and 21st.
When there’s that big a disparity in talent and your opponent is well coached and motivated, well, it’s a tall task to even be in the game in the fourth quarter. There’s a reason Georgia has won 14 of the last 17 games in a series that used to be extremely tight.
Georgia has out-scored Auburn 503-285 over those 17 contests.
The talent deficit was especially noticeable on the line of scrimmage, which UGA dominated for most of the game. The Bulldogs held AU to 46 rushing yards and had four sacks. After gaining 36 rushing yards in the first half, UGA ran for 165 in the second.
UGA is not a perfect team but it may be the nation’s best in 2021. And it’s a football program that’s been built on recruiting, just like Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson.
Auburn’s has to recruit better and bring in more quality linemen on both sides of the ball to compete with those schools. Along with the line of scrimmage, issues with wide receiver recruiting and development are certainly showing up this season too.
But it’s not entirely about recruiting rankings anymore. Teams can improve their talent level by making shrewd decisions in the transfer portal. Transfers like Marcus Harris, Eku Leota and Demetris Robertson, to name a few, have made a positive impact this season.
The Tigers need more of it. In the talent acquisition game, AU is behind but the opportunity to start really closing the gap for Harsin and his staff starts in earnest this December and into the offseason.
A day like Saturday was a great opportunity for Harsin to see exactly what needs to be done. I certainly wouldn't doubt his ability to do just that.
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In today’s musical journey, we go back 35 years to a talented brother-sister duo that made music history. On Oct. 11, 1986, Janet Jackson’s When I Think of You rose to No. 1 on the Billboard 100 making her and brother, Michael Jackson, the first and only siblings to produce No. 1 solo hits. Janet Jackson has gone on to see over 100 million records, which ranks her among the top 50 artists of all time. She has won five Grammy Awards, 11 Billboard Music and American Music Awards and eight Guinness World Record entries including being the only artist to have seven singles from one album make into the top five of the Billboard 100.
Janet Damita Jo Jackson, the 10th and youngest child of the Jackson family, was born in Gary, Ind., in 1966. Her oldest brothers formed the Jackson 5 in 1964 and had their first No. 1 hit in 69. Janet performed for the first time as a 7-year old at the MGM Casino in Las Vegas. She had several starring roles in sitcoms including Good Times and had a recurring role in Different Strokes. When she was 16, her father, Joe Jackson, arranged a recording contract with A&M Records and her first album, Janey Jackson, was released in 1982. Her second album, Dream Street, was released in 84 and had her first hit, Don’t Stand Another Chance, which rose to No. 9 on the R&B charts. Her career really took off when she cut ties with her abusive father and began a collaboration with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Control came out in 1986 and included five top five singles: What Have You Done for Me Lately, Nasty, When I Think of You, Control and Let’s Wait Awhile. The videos for the songs were big hits on MTV, which established Janet as as pop star in the same category as Madonna and Michael. Rhythm Nation 1814 came out in 1989 and had three No. 1 hits and seven that landed in the top five including Miss You Much, Rhythm Nation and Escapade. Janet Jackson has gone on to produce 11 studio albums, starred in eight T.V. or films and have one of the most controversial NFL halftime shows when her right breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake in 2004. The incident was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most searched in internet history and helped inspire Jawed Karim to create YouTube.
Jam and Lewis composed When I Think of You about a person who finds comfort when they think of their significant other. It was the first of 16 No. 1 hits produced by the duo, which started out working with Prince. Lewis prepared home-cooked meals for Jackson during the recording sessions that helped her get more comfortable working with their team. The song and the album it came on, Control, were recorded at Flyte Tyme studio in Minneapolis, Minn. Most of the songs were originally written for another artist, Sharon Bryant, but not When I Think of You. The video for the song includes two of Jackson's nephews and was choreographed by Paula Abdul, who also makes an appearance.