Upon further review, some initial personnel observations

I’m slowly picking my way through a rewind of Saturday’s game, but I can already say that Mark Richt is seeing some of the same personnel issues that I saw.

… On the defensive line, he said, “we’ve probably got to get our bigger men in there, ‘Bean’ [Justin Anderson] and [Kwame] Geathers. We’ve got to find a way to get them in the game more, got to find the right combination in some of our looks. That’ll help us.”

Neither Anderson nor Geathers played against South Carolina, according to Georgia’s participation chart. Richt said the Dogs also need to get Abry Jones more playing time on the D-line…

… On the offensive line, Richt said the tackles (Clint Boling and Josh Davis) and the center (Ben Jones) “played pretty good” Saturday. “Our guards struggled more than anybody on offense,” Richt said. “We’ve got to either get better or make some changes there.”

Cordy Glenn and Chris Davis are the starting guards.

I know we’ve heard plenty from Coach Grantham about how a one gap scheme relies more on penetration from the linemen than occupying their offensive line counterparts.  The two problems with that I’m seeing on the replay are (1) South Carolina’s linemen did allow some penetration, but did a good job with their zone blocking of simply moving Tyson out of the middle and (2) Georgia’s inside linebackers weren’t big enough to take on the surge up the middle on a consistent basis.

That being said, one of the adjustments Grantham made in the third quarter was to gamble by aggressively pushing the safeties up into run support.  It worked, too.  (And it’s one reason that we probably shouldn’t fret so much about Rambo leading the team in tackles Saturday.)  That he was able to get away with that and still mix the coverage up in the secondary to the noticeable confusion of Garcia tells me that he and Lakatos know something about what they’re doing.

Richt is also right about Glenn, who looks as if he hasn’t quite recovered from his bout with mono.  Sturdivant didn’t play much on Saturday, but I suspect that if he’s at least serviceable, his time on the field is about to increase significantly.  The o-line has to get much more physical up the middle than it’s shown in the first two games.

************************************************************************

UPDATE: Spurrier tempers his earlier obnoxiousness about Grantham.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a running back break as many tackles as Marcus Lattimore did,” Spurrier said Sunday. “I think the Georgia coaches really had a good scheme of things. Their guys just didn’t tackle him…”

“I’d almost believe the Georgia coaches would say, ‘I can’t remember a game when we’ve missed so many tackles,’ ” Spurrier said. “They really did not tackle well, which is unusual for Georgia teams. The coaches had them in position, but obviously the coaches can’t tackle for them.

“I’ll bet they get that straightened out as they go through the season because they’ve got a good team and they’ll be back having a big year.”

Although, now that I’m looking at the quote, the “unusual for Georgia teams” comment – I’m not sure if he’s being gracious there or being a smartass.  His track record, of course, suggests the latter.

80 Comments

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80 responses to “Upon further review, some initial personnel observations

  1. TennesseeDawg

    ‘Bean’ [Justin Anderson] and [Kwame] Geathers. We’ve got to find a way to get them in the game more, got to find the right combination in some of our looks. That’ll help us.”

    Neither Anderson nor Geathers played against South Carolina, according to Georgia’s participation chart.
    —————
    WTF? We were pushed around and these guys didn’t even play?

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    • Macallanlover

      +1 That makes no sense at all. Is this more of Rodney’s “doghouse” issues with these two? I think we made good adjustments for the 2nd half but not subbing on a hot day when we are getting gutted makes no sense. Not too sure we can cheat safeties up against Mallet and their receiving corp.

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      • W Cobb Dawg

        Unless Arky produces somebody like Lattimore, our safeties shouldn’t have to cheat. As the Senator said previously, Lattimore had a Moreno-esque game. The D could have wrapped up better and we didin’t bring our A game, but I thought CTG made good adjustments.

        As the O is wont to do ocassionally, they didn’t show up to play and apparently making adjustments during the game is a foreign concept.

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  2. Richt-Flair

    Don’t get it either. Wasn’t Tripp in there a few plays at nose, or did my eyes deceive me?

    Abry, Geathers and Anderson — these guys have to play. I don’t understand our penchant for not playing guys who “haven’t learned the system” You think Lattimore knows how to pass protect? Play em

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    • Anderson, by his own admission, isn’t completely comfortable at the position yet. Don’t forget he’s pretty much a newbie there.

      The scuttlebutt on Geathers is that he’s got the highest upside, but is having trouble with his technique.

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      • Richt-Flair

        Yea — I understand they’re a little green. But their size has to make up for some of that, and Saturday literally boiled down to USC’s center whipping our guy or throwing him off the running lane. I would have loved to have seen him try that against Geathers or Anderson.

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      • 69Dawg

        The biggest problem with Geathers is his height. He can’t get low enough to get the penetration necessary. Is he big yes and strong by line play usually comes down to leverage. If he plays Nose he will have to attack in a crab walk to get under the center.

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  3. devildawg

    Thanks for the analysis on run defense. I haven’t had a chance to watch a replay yet, but I do recall several of Rambo’s tackles coming at or maybe even behind the line of scrimmage. Let’s hope the absence of Bean and Geathers was moronic oversight, and not truly a reflection of their capabilities.

    A little noted personnel observation: two solid catches from Marlon Brown, if I’m remembering well. That’s a bit of bright news amidst the glum.

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  4. D^3

    I guess I’m in the minority that isn’t freaking out and talking about who we need to fire – I think we can move some personnel around, open up the playbook and bounce back on Saturday.

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  5. Normaltown Mike

    You know what opposing fans said after a game against Cadillac?
    -“man, our guys couldn’t wrap up”

    You know what opposing fans said after a game against Travis Henry?
    -“man, our guys couldn’t wrap up”

    You know what opposing fans said after a game against Jamal Lewis?
    -“man, our guys couldn’t wrap up”

    You know what opposing fans said after a game against Fred Taylor?
    -“man, our guys couldn’t wrap up”

    The Lattimore kid is good. His legs might fall if he carries it that much for the next 3 years, but Spurrier will sure as hell try.

    How many games b/w 2 evenly matched teams goes to the team with the single best player on the field?

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  6. Cynical in Athens

    UGA is now 10-11 vs. SEC East since 2006.

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    • D.N. Nation

      I recall this whole THEY CANT BEAT THA SEC EAST thing being brought up with similar glee mid-season 2007. Jes sayin.

      But yeah, this is a nice little copy-and-paste point. Do something with it. Do you think the coaches are happy with this outcome? Do you think they’re working to change it? If not, who should be replaced, and with whom?

      (Note: If your post begins with the following letters: J-O-N-G-R, then stop, cease being a fan, and turn in your football-knowing credentials immediately.)

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      • Cynical in Athens

        There is certainly no glee in that stat. Just the stark reality that those that know us best are winning more than they are losing.

        Hopefully, the defense, which all of those teams knew so well because of a lack of change in anything schematically, will be an X-factor the rest of the season.

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        • D.N. Nation

          So, you have no answer to my question? Just whining is all?

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          • JaxDawg

            That is unfair DN Nation. Fans have the right to support the team and also question the outcomes. That guy has every right to question the obvious malaise which has crept into our program since 2006. Yes, we all know CMR addressed the issues by replacing most of the defensive staff, but all the discussions and banter is anecdotal. The facts are that given our talent levels, prodigious support, facilities, etc, we have underachieved. The only piece of evidence worth noting is the wins and losses. You cannot debate that.

            Tell me, what would YOU do? My guess is probably sit around criticizing anyone who questions the direction and results of the program they love, while accepting SEC East mediocrity and failing to hold well-paid coaches accountable when lesser programs achieve more with less.

            Let’s see what the season bears before deciding who is right, and wrong.

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            • Mayor of Dawgtown

              Excuse me JaxDawg but I totally disagree about the fans having a RIGHT to anything. If fans don’t like what is going on with a team they can find another team to support that does things the way they like. If fan support for the team dwindles and ticket sales and revenues go down then that forces the school to make changes. Indiscriminate griping serves no purpose other than to build up resentment. A true fan SUPPORTS his team when the going gets tough.

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              • JaxDawg

                Supports the team to an extent. Blind loyalty is absurd, particularly in the face of a downtrend.

                Who owns the team? The University. Who does the University serve? The students and graduates. Who contributes to the majority of the revenues? Graduates and fans. Who has the right to complain? The abovementioned. And you can argue the point but this is THE University of Georgia and the residents of this state will bitch and complain whether you feel like it’s warranted or not.

                Based on yours and DN’s logic, Florida would still have Ron Zook.

                First comes the blatant criticism and complaining, then come lower ticket sales, then lower revs. LA

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          • Cynical in Athens

            What is your question?

            Of course the coaches are not happy with the losses. I think they are working to change it, probably working quite hard, but my fear, as it has been for the last 5 years, is are they working on the RIGHT THINGS? Working hard and working smart are two totally different things.

            I am not sure that anyone should be replaced, yet.
            It has become clear, though, that the defensive coaches were not the only problem.

            There is no way possible that Scu should EVER have more talent on the field than UGA. We have a better program, a better school, a better city, better looking girls, better academics, more talent to pull from, etc, etc. When I see Scu have more talent on the field than we do, it dawns on me that there are a lot worse problems with the program than I previously had believed.

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            • Mayor of Dawgtown

              Actually, there are some pretty damn good-looking girls at the University of South Carolina. The rest I agree with.

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    • Cynical in Atttica

      Alabama now 10-10 vs. SEC West since 2006.

      Fire Saban!

      Like

      • JaxDawg

        not an accurate comparison and you know it. stop trying to be “fair”.

        It’s indisputable that Bama and Georgia are on different levels right NOW. And now is all that matters. It’s about what have you done for me lately!

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        • Macallanlover

          But it does show how numbers and statistical correlations can be used by anyone who has an agenda, i.e., budget reductions, global warming second hand smoke. Change the start and end points and you can make strong cases both ways on most football discussions.

          Of course Bama and UGA are different now, check back in 2-3 years and the gaps will look totally different.

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          • JaxDawg

            I will bet you a bottle of Macallan on that.

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            • JaxDawg

              seriously. And I hope to buy you a bottle but I don’t think I will have to.

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              • Macallanlover

                I didn’t say it would reverse, or that the gap would even close, just that comparisons change depending on what time parameters you select. Most people simply slide the scale to support their agenda, and usually to disguise a different time period that doesn’t support their position.

                Fact is, it wasn’t long ago the Bama faithful were down in the dumps looking up at UGA, Auburn, TN, and LSU. Now they are feeling invincibile, but time does have a way of altering perceptions.

                Right now I don’t see a crack in their armor, but then, 2 years ago who saw USC struggling with Hawaii or Virginny? (And for the record, I would rather share a bottle of Macallan with Dawg fans than win one from one. Atlanta would make a nice place for a toasting event .)

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    • Brandon

      But they are 10-2 versus the West over that same stretch, as I said the other day, you can’t just throw that out. That makes us 20-13 in the conference over those four seasons, not too bad when someone from our conference won the national championship every single year during that time and when you consider that only three teams in our conference (Bama, UF, and LSU had a winning conference record last year).

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    • Brandon

      Also we would have been 5-5-1 in those 11 games we lost had we held our opponent to 17 points.

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  7. Scorpio Jones, III

    Ok, you guys are right, I did, in fact see a really good young tailback Saturday.

    Trent Richardson.

    Not taking anything away from Lattimore, but he was, afterall, running against a work-in-progress defense.

    Richardson was not.

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  8. Scorpio Jones, III

    I was going to watch the replay, but decided to slam my hand in a car door instead.

    Bama is definitely a work in progress….at being dynastic.

    I know we are not Bama, I know we likely will never be Bama, but ………….

    Man.

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    • Macallanlover

      The tide comes in, the tide goes out. Going into the 2007 season Bama fans aspired to be us.

      But you are right, they are very impressive even with Ingram on the sidelines. McElroy has become very solid running that offense, and they are finding more ways to get the ball to Julio. They may stub their toe somewhere along the way, but they will be tough to take down when they are focused.

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      • Will (the other one)

        They aren’t really getting tested early though. San Jose St. is a joke.
        They did a good job against a good rb in Royster, but that has to be coupled with Penn St. starting a true freshman at QB.
        They surely will roll against Duke this week, but then things will get a lot more interesting for them.

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  9. I was pretty surprised to not see Abry Jones or Kwame Geathers get any playing time this past Saturday. I had thought the news out of camp was that both these guys had come on strong.

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  10. “Fundamentals” in 2010 = “Leadership” in 2009.

    That may prove to be a harsh assessment as the season wears on, but it was the first thing that crossed my mind Saturday afternoon as the clock wound down.

    I want to accept Spencer Hall’s assessment that a few guys are still tentative in Grantham’s scheme, and maybe that covers a little of it. But I find that hard to reconcile with the graphic ESPN ran, showing that 89% of Lattimore’s yards came on one play, up the middle. How cerebral do you need to be to react to that? Lattimore’s running an inside draw, up the middle — what else do you need to know? Bring the house and hit the bastard.

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    • Normaltown Mike

      SC was running the I but the O-Line was in a spread formation. That severely spreads out our line and LB’s and requires safeties to behave like an LB. In the first half our (smallish) safeties were deep and often getting bowled over by an RB with momentum. 2nd half we cheated safeties up running the risk of Garcia throwing over top.

      If our D-line had stayed bunched then Garcia would have been grabbing buckets of yards on zone reads or rolling out and throwing to his huge WR’s (like he did last yr).

      A yr ago our D gave up 29 to SC (Cox had pick 6 and safety). Garcia was 31/53 310 yards. Since then Garcia has gotten better (less hotdog makes him better) and added a good possibly great RB. On our side, we lost our best player on Defense and 3 excellent linemen.

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      • devildawg

        These are some good points. If you look at the replays, you’ll see the “spread” O-line. You’ll also see Tyson taking a lot of double teams, especially early in the game. He was NOT being man-handled solo by the SC center. Because of the spread line, one guard double-teamed Tyson, and the other guard (sometimes L, sometimes R) would release to take on an ILB. They frequently ran 7-man fronts, with a TE and the FB on either side of the O-line, and could easily outmatch the front 4 most of the time. Even so, an ILB usually had the opportunity to try to make a play without having to get off a block. Unfortunately, that ILB was often Christian Robinson. I’ve heard lots of good things about him, and seen him make some good plays, but on most of Lattimore’s big runs, #45 had the unblocked shot on him, and made abysmal attempts at tackling. I know he’s beating out Dowtin in practice, but I’m pretty sure Dowtin would have delivered the hits Robinson missed.

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  11. Biggus Rickus

    I thought the defense made some nice halftime adjustments. They’re working out personnel issues, and the middle may not be as strong as we’d like this year. They still played well enough that the offense had the ball second and goal at the SC 4 in a 14-6 game, and they forced two straight three-and-outs in the fourth quarter with the game still within reach.

    I don’t really mind that the gameplan on offense going in was to put as little on Murray as possible. I think they should have opened it up more before halftime, but that was hardly an unforgivable mistake. Execution was more the problem than playcalling in my view. There were a handful of stupid false starts, two of them when we lined up in the wildcat and may have actually caught them off guard if we could have run the plays. My only real beef with Bobo was abandoning the sweep, considering it was the only running play with which the offense had had any real success.

    In the end, I thought this team could win 10 games coming into the season, and I saw nothing against South Carolina that makes me think otherwise. Tweak a few minor issues and this is a good football team.

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    • Puffdawg

      You said it. I liked our offensive mindset coming in, but it became pretty apparent that Murray could (and needed to) handle more than what we were doing. Bobo coached that one too conservatively and it cost us.

      As for the defense, as frustrating as it seemed at times, we only gave up 17 points. Think about that: that was one of the worst tackling performances I’ve seen in a while, not to mention our offense wasn’t helping keep them off the field, and we only gave up 17. That is cause for optimism.

      And I’ll go ahead and say that is probably the best SC team I’ve personally seen, ever (I wasn’t around for the George Rodgers era). That said, I think they’ll probably lose at least 2 SEC games. At least. It is very early for this, but if we get through this week with a win I think we’ll be in Atl come Decmeber. We are not there yet, but our team is VERY close to being VERY good.

      Like

  12. Scott W.

    I don’t like losing to USCe, but it might be beneficial to have glaring problems taken care of now before October.

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  13. Frustrated

    We still have a long season ahead so I’m not ready to jump ship yet. 3 things that frustrated the crap out of me Saturday…
    1. ESPN2’s coverage. Could they have cared less about this game? They barely showed a replay all day and the commentary was brutal as usual.
    2. Our safeties really needs to step up. Of the brutal ESPN2 broadcast one thing they did point out was Rambo’s play was awful at times. And for all the hype that Jakar has made about being the “hitman”, he sure got the worse end of several opportunities.
    3. This is the 2nd year in a row that we have named a starting QB and had to make the game plan conservative to “protect him”. Along those lines with Murray…not letting him run is taking away a huge chunk of his game. I hate to say it, but if he gets hurt doing what he does, so be it.

    I do think all of our issues are correctable and I did like that the play calling opened up in the 2nd half. Our biggest problem Saturday (as a result of missed tackles) was the time of possession. Carolina seemed to have the ball all day long.

    Go dawgs!

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    • Richt-Flair

      I think going into this game everyone would have agreed the best thing to do with Murray was to use a conservative playbook — which is what we did in the first half. Second half we took some chances downfield when he showed he could do it. I think if we’re going to skewer Bobo for his playcalling then we’ve got to give him credit for having a redshirt frosh prepared for a game against what looks like a top 15 team at this point and one of the better SEC defenses.

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      • Frustrated

        Again, I think Bobo did a good job on the play calling. He was conservative in the first half and opened it up in the 2nd half. My concern is why is it that 2 years in a row, we have had a QB that we don’t trust at the beginning of the season? Why didn’t they open up the playbook for him against La-Laf to see what he could handle? That falls on the coaches. Trust me, I am in the vast minority of Bobo AND Richt supporters, but the QB prep does concern me.

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      • This is actually the one I agreed with.

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    • 69Dawg

      Rambo made the most tackles of anybody on the team. He just got too tired to keep going. The safeties are suppose to make big hits on WR’s, they have to just tackle big TE’s FB’s and that big A$$ RB they saw Saturday. The RB came through our front 7 at full speed and a 200lb maybe safety is suppose to hit him hard. We tried at first to tackle him high, any one old enough to have seen HW or Bo in the day will tell you they will just take you for a ride. Then they went lower but were hitting his thighs again no way a big RB with a full head of steam goes down to a little DB and you can’t wrap up those thighs. Finally they did the only thing they could they went for his feet and hoped he would trip up. If our safeties had not played a hell of a game we would have witnessed some of those old school 60 yard TD runs and he would have had 230+ easy.

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      • Frustrated

        Yes, and neither safety hit a receiver all day! And if Rambo is too tired to play, then take his butt out of the game! Poor excuses.

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        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          As mentioned in a post at the above thread, I just finished watching the game in slo-mo. Rambo made some mistakes but overall he actually played a good game making many tackles on runs that would have gone for a lot more yardage .

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  14. 69Dawg

    I know all UGA fans have selective memories but how do you not recall the fact that CTG said we did not have a typical Nose on our roster. We are using a big DE, a too tall DT/DE and a converted Offensive lineman. If we still had Geno, Jeff or Kade we would be fat city but we don’t. Geno is playing all the time at nose for the Bengals.

    The imperfect D Line met the perfect storm of a good line and an excellent RB.

    The other problem was that our LB’s were missing in the first half. One replay showed that the LB that was suppose fill the A gap was still behind the line when Demarco the FB blasted him, the RB cut off the block and was at the 3rd level and our midget DB’s were toast. If the LB had attacked the hole like he was coached it would have jammed up the hole and the RB would have had to adjust. This happened over and over and over. The second half CTG just figured if the safeties are going to make all the tackles lets just get them closer the LOS so maybe the RB won’t hurt them.

    We couldn’t do what SCU’s D line could and that was create a pile so the back can’t get through. Our O line got put into nice little piles the whole game.

    Like

    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      Congrats 69. I this is the best analysis of what happened that I have seen. Right on the money. The only thing I would add is that the LBs were MIA because of the SC guards.

      Like

  15. Derek

    I think that we should recognize a few things:

    1) Had Ealey held onto the ball inside the 5 and we won ugly everybody’s attitude would be a little different even with the yards that Lattimore got and the tackles he broke.

    2) Game planning requires making your best judgments about what it takes to win the game after an assessment of strengths and weaknesses of your own team as well as the other team.

    What we knew before the game was that Lattimore was a good back. We also knew that Garcia was playing a lot better and that Jeffery could really beat you if you let him. We also knew that the strength of the USC D were the DB’s. Knowing what you know about us and what you know about them, you have to have a plan to win the game.

    3) It seemed to me before the game started that the defensive gameplan should be to put the ball in Lattimore’s hands. Why? Because you aren’t scoring 30 points running an inside read draw. This way you keep the score in check and give your offense a reasonable number to hit to come out with the win. As we know now, 18 would have won. Now do you expect the number of missed tackles we saw? No, but the plan was still effective with respect to the most important stat: the scoreboard. So we played cover two shell with 7 in the box until we got desperate in the second half. This modification would have been unnecessary had we had a lead because that would have forced USC to go away from Lattimore to try and catch up.

    4) The glaring problem I see is that we didn’t seem ready to score 24 or more points. You have to be able to know what will and won’t work in advance. I saw Cordy getting blown up vs. ULaLa. Why did Bobo think Saturday would be different? That said, had the players done their jobs correctly: Had Ealey not fumbled; had White caught the ball toward the end of the first half; had Butler had a better day the coaching plan likely would have gotten the job done and we might have won another ugly game vs. USC.

    A couple of other points:

    1) SOS’s comments after the game are for one purpose. He wants some other DC to put 8 or 9 in the box to stop Lattimore. Why? Because he knows that then he can do want he likes to do, which is throw downfield. A very “Art of War” thing for SOS to do.

    2) USC is not that good for the reason that we saw Saturday. Yes they can put up rushing yards with Lattimore, but they ain’t lighting up the scoreboard doing it. Tighten the tackling up and USC is going to face teams: Bama, UF and Arky that will say: “Let Lattimore get his touches. We’re putting up 30 plus and it won’t matter that he had 35 touches for 175.” We should have been able to do the same, but unfortunatly AJ needed some cash.

    3) If you liked the defensive gameplan last week, you are gonna love it this week. Why? Because we are going to do the same thing. We aren’t worried about Arky’s running game. Its all about Mallett and his receivers. Luckily, they don’t have a Lattimore. BTW: If we lose 9-6 and you idiots are complaining about tackling, I’m shooting someone.

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  16. *^$# the ncaa

    I could live with “cmb being tarred and feathered and css riding the rail”. My question is if we haven’t the personnel, why not adjust your scheme? CTG=FAKE JUICE ON STEROIDS .

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    • For crissakes, did you not read my post? He made the freakin’ adjustments at half time.

      There were plenty of disappointments from Saturday, but Grantham’s game day coaching wasn’t among them.

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      • Derek

        I still think that it is important to note that those adjustments were necessary not because of the tackling, but because we were not scoring any points. The whole idea was to put it in Lattimore’s hands; limit their scoring and either through impatience or necessity SOS would chuck it downfield against two deep coverage. Of course, he did get impatient once but Rambo didn’t make the play on the ball. The one long pass should have been a pick. Had we gone into halftime up 17-10 or 21-10, we would not have seen those adjustments, because the plan would have been working as designed.

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        • devildawg

          Great points, Derek. Did anyone else think that long pass should have been offensive pass interference? Or are we thinking of different throws? Maybe we’re talking different throws, because I think Smith was playing the one I’m thinking about.

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          • It was, but that’s a call that Jeffery gets.

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            • Macallanlover

              I don’t know why he would. We all saw SC’s receivers pushing off against So. Miss, I am sure we spoke with officials about it before the game. It isn’t like he is Jerry Rice, or even AJ Green.

              I will admit offensive PI isn’t called as much as the other way around, but with the size difference and the advanced notice, it was reasonable to expect a call against them during the game, especially against Jeffery. (He is a load by the way, Lattimore wasn’t the only one with yards after contact.)

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          • Derek

            There was offensive pass interference on that play, but they picked up the flag. For all I know, they were thinking of calling it on Branden, who was in perfect position btw.

            In any event I was talking about the deep one they actually completed. That drive ended with a fumble. I thought that the ball hung up long enough that Rambo should have been there to help Branden out on the deep post route, but he was late, very late.

            Spent my lunch break watching a replay of the first half. Different perspective from being there, but the conclusion is the same. The D is not the problem. The scheme is not the problem. Our offense is/was horrific. From where does Bobo get the balls to run it up the gut on 3rd and 2????? I saw Ealey get 22 on two sweep rights on the first drive. Didn’t see the play ran again in the first half.

            Also that spot we challenged was ridiculous. From the south end zone upper deck, I thought he was short, but he was like a yard and a half short and they still gave it to them.

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  17. Mr. Tu

    My problem on offense is that we run the same plays, out of the same formations and in the same down and distance situations that we have for the past several years. Even Kiffin commented last year that UGA was the easiest team to prepare for b/c we hadn’t done anything different on offense “in 10 years.”

    Bobo is wedded to his gameplan, and is incapable of adjusting on the fly. Can anyone explain the insistence on running Ealey into the teeth of the defense out of a bunch formation-time and time again. It had no chance for success, but Bobo called it b/c it was part of his game plan. In the end, he was happy because he achieved the balance he desired

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    • D.N. Nation

      “and is incapable of adjusting on the fly.”

      I love sweeping pronouncements.

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    • Derek

      I don’t disagree with that assessment. My problem is with the solution. I think the fact that we run a pro-style offense attracts the right kind of talent, but we do seem to suffer from predictability when the talent isn’t exceptional. When we have all the players we need, we’re pretty good, but when there are personnel gaps we really suffer. I suppose that would also be true with any scheme.

      Also, I am morally opposed to the spread which seems to be the new thing. It may be effective, but its not football. It’s basketball on grass. I really hate watching it and it seems to be everywhere. If I had to watch UGA run 35 inside read draws, I think I’d puke.

      I have thought a great deal about what “non-spread” solutions there may be out there and I don’t have very many good answers. I do think that if the offense loses (and there is no question but that the offense lost the USC game) any more games with everyone back and healthy that CMR may jettison Bobo like he did Willie. If we can improve on the offensive side of the ball in the same way that we’ve improved on the defense in one off-season, it would be hard not to consider that as an option.

      Are there any non-spread offensive gurus out there?

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      • Will (the other one)

        Pretty much every really successful offense runs at least some elements of it (unless you have a Heisman-winning RB).
        I’d called for hiring Houston’s OC to replace Bobo last year, but we stuck to our guns and he got snatched up by OkieSt. (who saw firsthand what the guy’s offense could do.)

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  18. S.C. game plan.run the ball till they stop us, we didn’t.
    Ga. game plan,run the ball till they stop us, they did.
    Our OL & DL got beat. Still think S.C. is the beast of the east.
    If we do not do better against Mallett, I will file my first complaint ever against someone on the Dawg coaching staff. Better does not necessarily mean a win. S.C. & Ark. are both extremely good teams.

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  19. WOW-SC really ?

    Excuse the typos , these small keyboards kill big fingers. I agree with you most of the time senator.The major move by ctg was to try and pinch with lb/de, that worked for 1 series (sc fixed it).Don’t confuse an avg. offense with good defense. imho btw. maybe cwm kept rambo on the bench for a reason(the kid looks lost).

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    • 69Dawg

      Wow another Rambo shot. The kid obviously lost the game single handed. He had the most tackles on the team!!!!!
      Did he make every play no did he make more plays than the other guys who nobody is giving shat hell yes. Did he not pile on enough for you? Last time I checked this was a team game why single out a kid who has given up his body in a game (Auburn) so we know he will. Do you just not like him or is he the only D player whose name you know.

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      • Frustrated

        69Dawg he is the only player to run his mouth all summer about how is going to be the man. And dude, as far as the Auburn game goes, HE DID HIS JOB!!! If he doesn’t get carted off on that play then it wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic. Let me ask you, do you only like him because he has a “cool” last name?Obviously you are the only one who has an opinion that matters so I will shut up… but before I do, also remember he was the one that took a play off against La-Laf that cost us a TD as well.

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        • Puffdawg

          Nothing dramatic other than being a game saving pass breakup. Nope, nothing to see here. Move along now.

          And if by taking a play off you mean creeping up towards the line to get a piece of the action, then yea he took a play off. But being over aggressive and taking a play off are two different things.

          I’m not saying don’t hold our players accountable, but I think you are marginalizing a damn good dog for the sake of winning a pointless arguemnt. Remember our players get the internet too.

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  20. shane#1

    It’s amazing how losing sets fans and even team mates against one another. Know how to end friction in the locker room? Start winning! As soon as you start winning all those guys that were at each other’s throats become best pals. It works with fans too. I see the need for some adjustments on the respective lines and the Dawgs need to let Murray take some more chances, but this team isn’t that far from being very good. All the pieces are there, they just need moving around a little. Geathers may be too straight up, but in a one gap scheme when he is supposed to penetrate how big a liability is that? The kid has worked hard and increased his strenght while getting down to 315 to increase quickness and stamina, so let him play. If he doesn’t work out you can always sit him down. Bean is more of a work in progress but he won’t learn a hell of a lot more on the bench. When you are getting shoved around up front, get bigger up front. Seems simple to me. Cordy is probably still feeling the effects of mono. My oldest Daughter had mono in highschool and it took her two months to become her old baleful, petulant, teenaged self. Which gave her Mom and me a nice break. I can imagine it would take at least as long to get back in football shape, especially after Cordy lost fifteen pounds due to the illness. It may be time for Tanner and A J to step up and show what they got. Speaking of the O line, who pissed Jones off so much? I saw him on the sidelines with his helmet off and he appeared to be raising hell. That is good to see from the center when the line isn’t playing up to par. On the plus side, this line seems to pass block very well.

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  21. Will Trane

    Good deal GTP. You are finally seeing the game.

    Never ever listen to one damn person on ESPN when they deliver a game! Hit the mute button and watch. Like I said the O line was not the whole problem.

    The issues were the offensive sets in the red zone, off field issues limiting starting personnel and the snaps they would have, and a defense on a big time learning curve.

    I’ll cut the D some slack, but not the O right now. The planning for this game was bad. I think the O line is and can be good. It has some depth. Use it or loose it. We need more power play off the line, even if we put an extra TE as an H back. We need more in motion. Is that where the QB expands his handoff world (just a joke).

    What bothers most of us is we are not seeing a turn round trend in our program like we are seeing at Arkansas, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Carolina. Even with an inexperienced QB we should have more scoring. Every roster play has pretty much seen the field of play.

    One thing for sure. Fans are looking at the schemes and personnel more now. That is what it takes.

    Tune out those ESPN alleged gurus, and football will be a little more enjoyable.

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  22. LB

    Just wanted to say that I have read all tge websites including the “beat-writers”, dawgblog sites, and all the so-called professional sites and this posting and comments have been refreshing. Great comments! Please remember that win or lose we still wear the red and black. GO DAWGS

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