Brian Cook has a depressing dissection of what went wrong in the Mississippi State game here, if you’re so inclined to look.
Basically, Dan Mullen stayed one step ahead of Todd Grantham and Mike Bobo stayed one step behind Manny Diaz.
Plus, Washaun Ealey fumble.
Ugh. What a forgettable game.
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A lot of mistakes too, no A.J., and they turned out to be a decent team.
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Feel like we were still playing Murray safe in this game. Plus he progressed as a passer, some of the throws he made against UF, AU and Tech he wasn’t making with a lot of consistency, which is understandable, considering he’s a redshirt frosh.
Don’t know what the answer is on D. This analysis looks a lot like the adjustments we made against Tech, but then we wouldn’t have an answer on the NEXT play. Is that coaching or personnel? Dunno
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We lacked both talent and depth on the D-line, and against the NATS lost one of our DEs.
I think we’d lost a backup DT by MSU as well.
We need more and better big uglies to improve the D. And for our younger corners to hit the weights hard. Bump-and-run coverage is no good if you aren’t strong enough to really bump.
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+1
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Sigh.
Coulda …woulda…shoulda?
Maybe…. I hope we are ready when we play in our bowl.
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Ugh. What a forgettable season. For some unknown reason this post made me remember sitting is a shitty hotel room in Boiling Springs, SC watching us lose to Colorado. I may need shock treatments to lose that awful memory.
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You mean CMR and company got out coached? I’m shocked I tell you, shocked. It only happens every damn game.
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Have you ever tried to make a decision after taking a hand full of Valium?
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That ref was pointing towards the ground when Ealey fumbled!
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And don’t think that action isn’t accompanied by a blown whistle. It is automatic. Regardless of the helmet question, that play was blown dead and should have been our ball at the spot.
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I am still trying to figure out why it wasn’t our ball. They’re blowing the whistle, his helmet is off…
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NCAA Rule 4, Section1, Article 3: “A live ball becomes dead and an official shall sound his whistle and declare it dead… [w]hen a ball carrier’s helmut comes completely off.”
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Typo. “helmet.”
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If you want to see why some Georgia fans get so maddeningly frustrated with Bobo, check out the three consecutive plays to end the first quarter and start the second.
1) 3 WR’s, 1 TE, & King motions out to an empty backfield, faking the screen right, going deep to the man coverage on the left. Absolutely brilliant play call, especially against a blitz. Result = 41 yard gain
2) Obvious running formation just based on personnel. Marlon Brown & Logan Gray are the WR’s. Chapas is back in. Marlon Brown motions in to act as a 2nd TE, and they run into the teeth of a nine-man front. Logan Gray has man coverage on the outside. Result = 1 yard loss
3) Nearly identical play, but they replace Gray with Wooten (still man coverage) and Brown with Orson Charles. When the ball is snapped, there are literally 10 defenders within 10 yards of the ball (the safety backpedals out at the snap), yet Georgia plows ahead right into the teeth of another 9-man front. Result = 1 yard loss
4) On 3rd and 12, they run a screen and settle for the field goal.
This is what is so frustrating. There was not even a single twinkle of imagination from the 15 yard line. Two dumbass playcalls that you had to know wouldn’t work just based on numbers, a screen, and a field goal.
Hey, Bobo: You can do better. This isn’t brain surgery. Keep spreadin’ ’em out. You just had success that way. Running into 9-man fronts is stupid. Only someone that hates Stacy Searles would do that because it makes the offensive line look like idiots.
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Not saying you’re wrong, but I’m gonna try to be devil’s advocate here…
1. Bobo didn’t know our run blocking and general running game was going to be as inept as it was. Particularly against Miss. St. (who we didn’t yet kn0w was a good team), it might have made sense to try and establish a running game by just being bigger/more physical than they were. Remember last year we got the running game going towards the second half of the season. Our entire offense is typically predicated on established the run and then working off play action.
2. They still were afraid to take the training wheels off Murray (which seems pretty damn dumb in retrospect). <—- this is not a very good point.
3. No A.J. and our receivers look really shitty, don't they? I still don't get why'd you have LG and Brown in there in the red zone over Eye Candy and T. King, though. That screams YMCA ball.
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Was Eye Candy (Durham) hurt at this point in the game? That might explain why they were throwing Brown and Wootentheballcarrier in there.
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He ran virtually the same play with the same result. If Murray should have checked out of it, then Bobo should have excoriated him for not doing so, not called the same play on 2nd & 11.
But, really, this is just one example from one game. I don’t mean to take 3 calls from 500+ he called during the season to prove he is a bad play caller, but it’s this tendency that riles up a certain segment of the fan base that I happen to be in. I agree with the Good Senator that Bobo is an excellent QB coach, but he leaves a little to be desired as an offensive coordinator. He can do better. He should do better.
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Also playing devil’s advocate. But Bobo does not make the play call at the line. He lets his QB do that. Bobo calls the play, it is up to the QB to check out of it.
Bobo does not know before the Defense sets up that they are putting 10 in the box. My god, you guys want him to have esp or something.
Anyway, next year, he calls the same running play and AM is going to check into a PA to the TE, just wait and see. And everyone will say what a Genius bobo is. And he is, because he teaches his QB to make those calls at the line.
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I keep asking this question: do you guys really think Aaron Murray had that kind of responsibility four games into his career? If he did, he really is a special player.
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There are teams with Heisman QBs (200k, baby) that look to the coaches for the play. Maybe that would have worked with A-Ron early in the year.
That said, I don’t ever, ever, ever, ever, want to see UGA’s players line up and look to the coaches for the play-call. In fact, that should be against the rules. Seriously.
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I don’t know. But when they get to film study, I promise it was brought up. Who knows, maybe that play call on 4th and 1 against UF was a check out by AM who learned his lesson from that previous play.
Fact is though, he has to learn to read the Defense. And Bobo has to trust him. However, I hate when the whole offense stops to look over to the read the damned signs. It is stupid and something needs to happen to stop it tbh. In reality there is no difference between that and having 15 men in the huddle, ala SOS in the 90’s.
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Of course, coaches are to blame for everything. You don’t expect the players to be held accountable by the UGA fans do you? Bobo and CMR should know our experienced OL couldn’t block, just look at those same guys in the GT game….oh, wait…
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Um, when Bobo puts 10 in the box, it’s pretty damn likely that the defense puts 10 in the box. If he thought Miss State would defend with 7, then he is just plain dumb. 5 linemen + 2 TE’s + 1 FB + 1 RB + 1 QB = 10. If MSU just puts a hat on a hat, completely ignoring the QB… that is a 9-man front. If you line up in a power set, which is what 2 TE & 2 RB is, then you have to expect MSU to defend in a similar manner. The QB is not blocking, so now it is 7 blocking 9 and the RB has to make 2 people miss. This is not how you develop a productive running game.
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And yet the pros do it every week. Watch the Falcons. TB routinely had 9 in the box. Falcons having 9 in the middle, 2 TEs, 1 RB, QB and 5 lineman and Ryan has a chance to check out of it.
And even with all of those O in the middle, doesn’t mean for sure the D will have all in the box. And I say again, next year, if the same thing happens, AM checks to a PA, and sells it hard. When you have 4 really good TEs, the last thing a Defense wants to do is bite hard on the PA.
It’s ok, I know everyone hates Bobo. All I know is, except for Joe T and Joe Cox (and really Cox just seemed to like to throw into double and triple coverage, he actually had good stats other than that tendency), the QB has learned how to play the game and be a leader. As good as AM was, he was still a RSF.
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I don’t know about Murray’s realistic responsibilities at that point, but sending in that personnel in that formation, letting MSU stack up their run blitz, and then checking out of it would have been pretty smart. But, obviously, the risk of not getting out of it and running the same play right into the defense is pretty amazingly stupid. It has to be said, though, that other gamble with this kind of playcall is that you can catch their run blitz going to the wrong spot, and if they miss your ball carrier it’s an easy six. We saw that happen in a few other games this year.
In a situation like that, ball in the red zone, AJ’s presence is much less important. I’d like to see how we did in red zone playcalling and efficiency toward the end of the season, because my hunch is we saw a lot less of that kind of dumbassery and a lot more TDs. Seems like I barely saw Blair Walsh the second half of the year.
If my hunch is correct it would seem to suggest that conservative playcalling because of Murray was in fact the issue–perhaps especially in the red zone where you don’t want to risk a turnover.
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So, maybe Bobo should be calling plays in the NFL?
Inside the redzone, it is not even the least bit plausible that MSU would stack the box to stop the run just like South Carolina and Arkansas did? Remember, this wasn’t the first game of the season. Against South Carolina, Georgia had 2.3 yards per carry. Against Arkansas, Georgia had 3.4 yards per carry. They weren’t exactly blowing people off the ball, and if Bobo couldn’t pick up on that in time to salvage game 4, then he is a bigger moron than any of us really believe.
If Bobo gave Murray the ability to check out of the play, and he did not, then Bobo should have given Murray the third degree. That does not explain calling the same play the next down, especially when your RFr QB has shown the propensity to not make a good decision at the line when faced with a daunting 9-man front. It is Bobo’s responsibility to not be stupid in that situation and give his guys a chance. He did not. How is this even in dispute?
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Funny you should say that. Mike Mularkey gets bitched at as much as Bobo does for doing the same kind of play calling. And Mike Mularkey is considered around the league to be an excellent play caller and offensive coordinator.
I mean sometimes reading the Falcon’s board I read the same exact stuff I read about Bobo. The difference being, Atlanta’s offensive line is much better than Georgia’s, given the level of play.
As far as blockers, you can not block everyone, there are always 2 free guys regardless of how good your O-Line is. 1 defender for the QB and 1 for the runner. It is on the runner to make at least one guy miss. Now what you try to do is make that free guy be as far out from the line of scrimmage as possible.
I also think not having a free week during the season where the D-Coordinator can scout the O and vice versa also hurts.
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Stephenson, I see your point about holding the players responsible for figuring out which of multiple potential plays should be run. I’m a little confused about why Bobo wouldn’t have involved himself more in that choice early on this season. If you see 9 in the box, do you let your RSF QB hand off into its teeth on two consecutive plays? Are points left on the field the quickest way to teach decisionmaking? I don’t know the answers to these questions, although I will admit that I was frustrated with the results on the field.
What was particularly frustrating was watching Bobo + AM in comparison to Mullen + Relf. Mullen stretched and beat our defense with scheme, not with talent. We may have been afraid of using AM; Mullen knew his QB wasn’t quick, and that he threw wild balls. Still, we stuck with training wheels for 3.5 quarters while Mullen picked apart our weak points. Are we capable of that kind of aggressive scheming? I hope you’re right about next year.
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Really, considering our D held them to 10 points until 4 minutes were left in the 4th quarter, I don’t see how Mullen’s play calling was that much better than Bobo’s.
And don’t forget, if Ealey does not fumble that football after a nice 7 minute drive. I don’t think we lose that football game, in fact I think we might blow them out.
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Because, just like in their game against Florida, Mullen called plays with a purpose in mind. He formulated a game plan to steal a game against an opponent with superior talent. Bobo had balance as his game plan.
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Well, look at it this way: The chances are dwindling by the minute that we’ll have to face any of those guys when State makes it’s return trip to Athens next fall.
Of course, we’ll only end up running into them again in Jacksonville, but hey, you can’t have everything.
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dude the player..even the hawgettes from the Redskins days can’t block 9 with 5.
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Might as well study this game cause Dan’s going to be the guy beating our butts in Jax for the next 10+ seasons.
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What reason did Ealey have to jump on the ball if the refs are blowing the play dead? That ruling encourages playing after the whistle.
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I may be wr0ng about this, but I’m pretty sure that when a players helmet comes off, the play is dead immediately. That should be 1st and 10 from the 1 yard line.
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That’s only in the NFL; college football does not have a rule like this…yet.
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See above KJ. The Rule about the ball carrier losing his helmet stopping play instantly went into effect for NCAA play last season.
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ugh, this game and Colorado are probably the two worst losses I can remember. These two and Arkansas were such winnable games then we are 9-3 and going somewhere besides Memphis.
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Don’t forget about the Florida game. If our retarded defenders just fall on the ball rather than try to pick it up and boot the thing–twice– UGA wins that game, too.
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Must not have been in Athens in ’96 for the Southern Miss game.
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