Daddy, what causes offensive suckitude?

I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but, jeez, this is good:

– Grab-bag offense: Far and away, the number one problem from a strategic view is a disorganized, “grab-bag” offense that lacks a definable identity. This isn’t to say that you can only do one or two things, but the bad teams almost universally do not know who they are. Say what you will about Tony Franklin at Auburn, but that whole thing was a mess last year because, among other reasons, they had an identity crisis. But this problem is not just germane to coaching changes or new offensive coordinators. Often, teams that have been fine try to “update” their offenses with the new-new thing, and more often than not they regress. There’s a completely true old coaching adage that it is less important what system you run than it is the fact that you have a system, preferably one that you know well and can coach. Hence an offense like Urban Meyer’s works for a lot of reasons, but one reason is that the entire team is completely committed to it. The same is true for Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech, or Nebraska’s great I-option teams, or really any other good team you can think of. They might appear “multiple,” but there’s an identity there. Again, it’s hard to underemphasize this because not only does it make planning coherent, it has its biggest gains probably for practice time: when Meyer or Johnson or Osborne or any of the other committed coaches practice their offenses, they focus exactly on what they will actually do in games, and their stuff all fits together. A grab-bag team might be adding or subtracting stuff week by week, and they never get good at anything.

Shrubbery or battle cry? It’s still a good idea.

This makes a lot of sense.

Especially when you consider this.

Making a good first impression

To be fair, they did have a long way to go.

See you October 3rd, guys!

“Let ’em play football.”

I’m not about to blame Saturday’s results on the officiating, but, damn, this is one bad call.

Maybe Reshad was holding back on the shoulder tackling last year because he didn’t want to get flagged for unnecessary roughness.   In any event, play on, man.

If you can keep your head…

So I guess one big thing we’ll find out this week is how mentally tough the Dawgs are.  How do they handle the adversity that’s arisen out of the results from Stillwater?

Michael Moore feels confident they will regroup.

“We can look a thousand times better,” Moore said. “We’ll go into South Carolina with a different focus. The whole offense is rallying behind Joe still.”

David Ching is right to point out that it’s a little early to switch into panic mode – for one thing, the defense played well enough to justify some calmness going into the South Carolina game – but even so, his advice to give the offense some slack going into the game sounds as shaky as some of Cox’ passes looked in the opener.

… let’s give Georgia’s offense the benefit of the doubt for now. Let’s assume Caleb King’s return might return some sizzle to a running game that accounted for all of 95 yards on Saturday. Let’s operate under the notion that a week to get his legs back under him might help Joe Cox put a little more oomph on the wobbly ducks that quacked their way toward his intended receivers. Let’s guess that Georgia’s coaches have established a solid contingency plan now that they know one of their most gifted offensive linemen, Trinton Sturdivant, is yet again lost for the season with a left knee injury.

Paul’s willing to wait before freaking… at least a week, anyway.  (Nice Tanneyhill picture, by the way.  Makes you wonder what Spurrier would have done with him.)

And then there’s Joe Cox.  Joe sounds a wee bit irritated with the fan base.

“Half the people who have stuff to say after games have never played a down of football before in their entire life,” Cox said. “I wouldn’t criticize somebody for something I’ve never played before or never done before, but some people feel it’s their place to say how somebody is doing when they’ve never done it before. That’s just something I’ve never understood.

“Stuff like that doesn’t bother me. You’ve got to look at the source, and if it’s somebody who’s never played football, I could care less what you say.”

Personally, I think the criticism he’s faced this week is pretty mild.  As the article points out, it’s not like it’s gotten direct and personal.  Cox didn’t receive any ugly calls or text messages from irate fans after the game.  (Just ask Terrence Edwards about that.)  And what really matters here is whether he can get his mojo back against a defense that looks qualitatively better than the one he just faced.  So if he can use the negativity to bolster his confidence, fine by me.   I’m sure there’s nothing Georgia fans would like to hear more from him after Saturday than some version of “I told you so”.

Wednesday morning buffet

It’s hump day, so grab a plate.

• “Evans, linebacker Rennie Curran and defensive lineman Geno Atkins each required an IV last Saturday, with Evans admitting he cramped on Dez Bryant’s 46-yard touchdown reception.”
• “You’re there for a reason wherever you are.” To date, the reason hasn’t been to win the SEC East.
• Terrell Pryor’s decision to honor Michael Vick is certainly his business, but listening to some 19-year old kid who’s been fawned over for at least the last five years of his existence pontificate about human nature is something I can do without.  Just shut up and play, son.
• Please tell me Dennis Dodd is kidding about this.  Please.
• Oklahoma State turned down $8.5 million from Jerry Jones to move the Georgia game to Arlington.
• “Spurrier pointed out Tuesday the most either team has scored since he arrived is 18 points.” Don’t look for that number to be cracked Saturday.
• Nick Saban could tell you what he calls Alabama’s Wildcat formation, but then he’d have to kill you.  Which means he really doesn’t have time for that shit.