May 22, 2009 · 1:28 PM

Everything old is new again.

Smart Football’s Chris Brown has a neat post up about Urban Meyer channeling the Bear.

6 Comments

Filed under Strategery And Mechanics

6 responses to “Everything old is new again.”

  1. Macallanlover
    May 22, 2009 at 7:40 PM

    I didn’t realize there was a debate about that particular phase of the “spread” being a copy. Many of the old Veer and Wishbone offenses ran versions of the “read” on defensive ends in space. The shovel pass was not used as much, but the primary of differences of today’s offenses from those 25-30 years ago is the multiple direction of backs in the backfield that you see with Wake, Florida, etc.

    Bear Bryant was the only coach I ever saw who could pass effectively off the wishbone. Texas and Oklahoma ran it well, but did not have the 2nd dimension the Bear brought to it.

    The spread is based on neutralizing the defense by taking away the extra defender the defenses have had for years by using formations and motion. Like the Wishbone, it is primarily effective because defenses do not see it enough to get their reads. If UGA played 8-9 teams a year with that offense it would be much easier to shut it down. It is why Paul Johnson and Air Force have been so effective with lesser athletes at the academies, and why Wake has been able to play the ACC big boys recently.

    SOS and I had a discussion about this when he took over at SC. He said the NCAA coaches had circulated a white paper on defensing the spread and primarily it dealt with blitzing (or making the offense think of a blitz every play) to get penetration up front. If you look at the 2007 UGA/UF game, we ate them up on the inside and shut it down. Take away the Pick 6 and another cheap TD, and they did little offensively that was impressive.

    Actually, the defense looks bad on the scoreboard last year, but it was the offense in the 1st half and that disasterous INT in the early 3rd Qtr that allowed UF to end up dominating. Giving Tebow his due, UF is a tough offense to stop with him at the wheel (primarily because he is a decent passer), but we haven’t done badly against him. With the bye week this year, and our front 7, I think this game could surprise a lot of people….especially the UGA fans who cow-tow to all things Florida. WM had a good scheme the past two UF games, and he has better frontline talent this year.

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    • Paul
      May 23, 2009 at 1:09 AM

      I remember watching the game at home last year. As we were going into Half, I remarked to my buddies: We are the luckiest team to be down 14-3 after all of our miscues, not UF playing us out of the building. I thought we had gotten all of our jitterbugs out in the first two quarters and we would have a real shot after the break. Turns out a team can play miserably all 4 quarters and not only 2.

      Anyways, Mac, back to your point – I completely agree that we know how to slow down UF’s offense. See 2007. We didn’t have to play a field position game that year because we put up so many points, but the objective should be to make them chew up as many yards as possible on their own.

      Last year we gave them short fields and just didn’t have the horses on the line last year to make the stops before they found paydirt. Then compound on that the INT early in the 3Q to our 1 yard line [making it 21-3] and we rolled over.

      The only thing I would accuse our defense of last year is rolling over when the adversity kicked it up a notch in the 3Q. I thought we were over that after the resilient 2nd half of the Bama game. Apparently, we weren’t.

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    • Dog in Fla
      May 23, 2009 at 11:16 AM

      Mac, a different take on UGA fans who cow-tow to all things Florida is that when UGA gets beat by Florida, give Florida credit. When UGA is at the Mendoza line v. Florida over the past two decades, give Florida credit. Don’t think giving them credit is cow-towing.

      You’ve had a chance to speak about the spread with Spurrier at South Carolina. One thing about Spurrier that I’ve always admired is that when his team gets beat, he doesn’t make excuses. He takes it all upon himself and his coaches, at least with his statements that get out in the media. That may not be what the players or assistants hear after a loss but at least in post-game conferences, he takes responsibility for the loss, usually saying the other team was better than his that day because he was outcoached.

      Spurrier has been accused and called a lot of things by opponent fans but don’t think he’s ever thought less of when he takes responsibility for what he is responsible for and not accomplishing.

      I can’t recall what Zook or Meyer may have said or not said after a loss to Georgia or when they beat us. It’s like what Parcells or some other noted philosopher said, you are what your record says your are.

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      • Macallanlover
        May 23, 2009 at 7:15 PM

        D in F, you totally misinterpreted my words. I am not at all excusing the loss, nor refusing to credit/acknowledge any UF victories. My comment about those who cow-tow is criticizing those who whine about us not being competitive, or blaming the location. I especially dislike those who allow UF fans to define the series based on a selected point in time which favors their point of view.

        I can easily acknowledge the 90s were a mismatch both in coaching and player talent. But I do not feel the UGA/UF series should be judged from such a narrow perspective. In this decade the games have been very competitive, several within a single play, and we have an equal number of SEC titles since CMR came to UGA. UF has one more title during the Urbie era. So why should our fans whine and act like babies in the face of Florida? Not only has this decade been competitive by any measurement, we hold the all-time series lead, have more SEC titles, and for those who like selective “point in time” comparisons, winning this fall will make the record 3-3 for the past six years. Why are UGA fans so beaten down about this rivalry? I just don’t get it.

        If you are talking about my comments relative to last year’s game, my point was that for all the criticsm of CWM, and all the praise for Urbie’s spread with GPOOE, that game seemed to turn on one single play. That isn’t taking anything away from UF, just saying we could/should have been ahead at a point 1/3 of the way into Q3 and their offense had not been unstoppable. Give UF credit, they turned the heat on and the roof caved in on us after that INT(much like GT did in the 2nd half when we whiffed on two tackles), but I don’t buy us not being able to compete….and I especially don’t think the GPS coordinates of jacksonville played a role. I do question the heart/character of some players when things went against us, but that is another subject.

        That was the intent of my post, which was originally about the UF offense, not the series. I don’t whine, I don’t make excuses, but I don’t need knee pads to worship at the Gator throne either.

        Anyone who thinks this isn’t a competitive series just hasn’t paid attention. Parcells’ comment is true, but it isn’t the whole truth, an in-depth analysis of the game does give you a better idea of how competitive a game was than just looking at the W/L column. UGA/UF is never, ever, a lock for either school; neither was UGA/GT this decade just because we were winning seven straight. Odd to me why the same fans who cow-tow to UF because of the record over the last 20 years will sweat bullets about how tough Vandy/SC/GT are in series where we are clearly dominant in the long and short term series records. Dang, I have to feel totally overwhelmed about Florida AND I cannot use the same logic to relax about Vandy/SC/GT? Something seems out of balance.

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  2. Dog in Fla
    May 24, 2009 at 12:35 PM

    Mac, Got it. Sorry. Those weren’t the first words I’ve misinterpreted. There’s a good chance that I have shellshock or Stockholm Syndrome from living in enemy territory.

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    • Macallanlover
      May 24, 2009 at 8:10 PM

      I may have stated it poorly since I strayed from the original subject. I just hate to see our fans concede to someone we are very capable of beating most years (this one will be tough, but we have the bye week working for us), and really not happy with the discussion about ending the Jacksonville era. We will never get it back once we move that game. No UGA fan should have to go to Gainesville and put up with the type of fans they have become.

      Enjoy your posts very much, and sympathize with what you have to endure.

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