This post of Michael Felder’s over at Blatant Homerism got me to thinking: what play that’s a Georgia staple qualifies as my favorite? Actually, it didn’t take very long to come up with the answer.
I wish I could find a clip of the first time Richt ran this play, against Auburn the season before. Greene sold the fake beautifully and the entire Tigers defense bought it. The best part was seeing that Tuberville recognized the play fake and ran down the sidelines screaming at his secondary, to no avail. Greene really was a master at selling this. Other Georgia QBs have run the play with success, but none as well.
Give me the play calls on offense or defense which you’ve seen run over the years that you like especially.
Get The Picture 
The play-action throw to the fullback in the flat has been money in goal line situations over the years.
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Not so much when we are on our own goal line (see Auburn 2005 and UT 2006).
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True Dat
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Heh, yeah, not as big a fan on our end of the field.
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I’m going defense. The 2nd(?) pick Zabransky threw in the BSU game in ’05. The coverage call was absolutely beautiful on a 3rd and medium to long. Dannell Ellerbe drops into a deep cover 3 (or 4) right before the snap and right into the play call. I see the whole thing happen from my seat and one of the prettiest picks by a linebacker you’re going to see.
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This one doesn’t qualify as “over the years”, but I’m hoping to really enjoy the delayed blitz calls that we saw on occasion last year under Grantham for the next few years. He didn’t call it a lot, but there were a few times that our guys executed it beautifully. With the guys being in the 2nd year in the system, and hopefully the secondary earning some more trust, I’m looking forward to seeing more of those delayed blitzes.
On offense, I gotta go with the call we see about once a year where we line a headhunter up at WR (last year it was Ogletree), put him in motion just before the snap, then have him take out one of the pursuing defenders on the toss sweep.
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I definitely love this play as well. I was watching last year’s UT game and had to rewind it when O cracked down the the DE. The entire crowd went “Ohhhh!!!”. I remember Tony Wilson was pretty good at running this play, but once or twice he got so amped up he jumped across the line a little early. Guess he couldn’t contain himself…
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Greene pulled off nearly the same play against Auburn the year before — he so totally faked out the Auburn defense that Tommy Tuberville was screaming at his team to get off the running back and take out Greene, but they didn’t get to him in time and it was another beautiful 60-something-yard rainbow to Edwards.
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just becasue it’s fresh in my mind: i like the naked bootleg calls using murray last year. but in the richt era, my favorite would be any broken passing play with dj at qb–simultaneously terrifying and exciting.
it’s a shame we haven’t been able to execute that hidden ball pass play in years. greene’s arm extention really sold the fake, but he also wasn’t afraid to completely turn his back on the play, which requires an ol that knows what the hell it’s doing. i swear, the last time i can remember stafford trying the play, it looked like half the ol was run blocking and half was pass blocking. and stafford got wiped out.
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We called it on 4th and 1 against Carolina. Did not work well.
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What was the name of that play when Bobo hit Ward over the middle. He ran it twice in a row against Tech one year for big yardage. Announcers made a point of commenting on it. Donnan liked that play a lot.
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The big plays in my book are the game changers and the aftertaste of sweet VICTORY.
Toss sweep to Edwards in 97′–After which a friend of mine said ‘We are gonna win this game the one year I am NOT THERE?
P52 Haynes. Suck it Vols.
Michael Johnson’s 70-X takeoff against payforplainsmen
Lindsay Scott roll out throw and…. RUN LINDSAY!! Buck made that play up. He’ll tell you.
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+1
Yeah that was a winner. Hines Ward blocking for Robert and knocking guys down like bowling pins. Wonderful thing to behold.
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Same play-action play, but when we ran it at Clemson. And, of course, P-44 Haynes.
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Altho it didn’t go for 6, we ran it here:
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Here’s Stafford’s version of the play, circa 2006.
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Lol. Not near as pretty as Greene’s. But effective.
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I also remember Stafford getting sacked on that play against S. Car. in ’07 when Bobo went back to it one to many times.
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yup, after we tried it two years earlier with DJ in the exact same field position and down and distance
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The ol’ PA definitely has a lot of highlights… The strike to Mikey wasn’t as pretty, but much more impactful (starts @ 0:44)
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That is undoubtedly my favorite play, Senator. I actually just posted that to DawgPost last night. The confidence in the OL, and the mastery of the fake make that play just beautiful. I actually think it was executed better against Tech, it just didn’t go for a TD. The way he starts walking off while looking over his should against GT is hilarious.
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I’m not the best x’s and o’s guy.. but I have to say that the play the Senator highlights is one I remember. Perhaps it was that Vanderbilt game, but I thought we did it against a cupcake (but I could be mistaking that for Vandy). What was so memorable was David Greene standing tall in the backfield with no one around him, ball by his side, then he just sailed it downfield. It was such a thing of beauty.
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Off the top of my head I remember us running it against Auburn in ’01, Vandy in ’02, Clemson in ’03, Georgia Tech in ’03 or ’04 and a variation of it against Virginia Tech in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, with a fake end around and the pass going to the tight end on a wheel route.
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I think if the video in the Senator’s post held on Green a little longer, I could tell you if that was the play I saw. Then again, my memory might be romanticizing it a bit.. which isn’t to say it wasn’t beautiful.
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I just can’t get enough of running an undersized back into the line on 2nd and 10. Success is simply a matter of time. Just like the infinite monkey theorem. (“which states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare.” wikipedia.org)
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DavetheDawg, I prefer the “infinite redneck theorem,” which posits that an infinite number of rednecks, firing an infinite number of shotgun shells into an infinite number of stop signs at random, for an infinite amount of time, will surely produce a series of impressions on those stop signs recognizable as letters, and, which letters, when taken in serial order, comprise the corpus of the Bard’s works.
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+1
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My favorite play we haven’t seen in a while. It’s a certain punt block call. The guy on the outside assigned to the gunner starts cheating inside, and if he times it well, he turns upfield at nearly full-speed when the ball is snapped. If he gets picked up, the next guy inside has a clear shot. If he doesn’t get picked up, he makes the block. Go to the 4:30 mark of this video to see it in its glory.
We used that specific punt block early in both of our SECCG wins last decade. In 2002, Decory Bryant was untouched coming in from the outside. In 2005, Ramarcus Brown was picked up, leaving McClendon with a straight shot. Both times the play resulted in huge momentum gains. The block in 2002 set us up on the goal line right out of the gate, and Arkansas never recovered. In 2005 LSU seemed to recover a little after our early TDs to Bailey, but the block set us up for a DJS TD scramble which opened up a 14-7 game, and the rout was on.
The play is almost like a pick 6 in its beauty because you can see it developing while the opponent has no clue or no time to react. If someone had the presence to recognize what’s going on, the gunner is wide open for a pass. But it all happens too quickly, and most punters are focused on the punt.
AHD is thinking of the inside or tunnel screen. It got a bad rap because 1) people associate it with Donnan and 2) we seemed to lean on it a few times too many in the late 90s. I think it got a bum rap; it served as a foil onto which people projected their other frustrations with Donnan. But we continue to use it, and it can be a very effective play. In fact, Kris Durham scored on a long TD off of such a pass against GT last year.
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Your #2 statement about the tunnel screen is one of the great understatements of all time.
🙂
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WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD COME DOWN TO BUTTS-MEHRE AND TELL US HOW TO DRAW SOME PLAYS UP!!!!
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Tunnel screens to Champ were a beautiful thing. Mostly because, you know, Champ.
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o so true. first play.
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I, for one, can never get enough of the draw play on 3rd and long.
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C’mon, Dog. Roll me out on 4th down. I know what to do.
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As a well timed productive call, I like the goal line counter we ran against Virginia Tech in the second half of the 2006 bowl game. Not the most dramatic, but a nice job of fooling ’em and getting in the end zone.
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The toss sweep to Moreno, when we were running it well, was a thing of beauty.
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The zone read (provided it is used sparingly) is nice.
I also like the play action post route. Stafford to MoMass 07 and, to his credit, Joe Cox had some really nice throws to AJ in early ’09 (Ark and maybe OSU?). I think D’s starting respecting Joe and dropping a Safety to centerfield.
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This. Ole Freddy broke that poor guy’s ankles…
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Here’s my favorite play we don’t run any more (and I am as conservative as they come)… punt return despite field position. If ever there was one play to epitomize Bluto’s well documented theory that we play not to lose now rather than to win, this is it. Here’s to hoping we turn loose Boykin/Smith.
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lol
“They cannot keep handing it off to Moreno.”
“He does not have great speed.”
Double fail by the sportscasters.
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Living in the past, I’ll still never get tired of seeing replays of the toss sweep to Hershel. But a great call that sticks in my memory is the opening play at Tech in his 3rd year (I think) when we faked a dive into the line and caught HW in a wheel route (really!) down the right sidelines for a TD. Great call by CVD.
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Loved the 4 and 1 naked toss to Thomas Brown in the 1st quarter of the ’04 Florida game near midfield. Brown took it 20 yards. Coaches knew that no LB or DE could catch Brown in the open field before he got a yard. The next play following the run was a 35 yard TD to Pope in which he dove from the 5 yard line to score. Two great back-to-back calls.
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Plays happening in the CMR era–the “we just broke their face” play against UT. Fake handoff to the fullback up the middle and then pass to the fullback.
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Knowshon Moreno destroys the hole made by the line, Auburn’s DBs, Toomer’s Corner, Penn Wagers, and anything else that got in his way. (Extra points for Verne’s terrific call.)
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Knowshon vaporizes #4’s jock.
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We used a tight end throwback several times in the early 80’s, most notably to Clarence Kay in the Sugar Bowl.
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The one I most remember was the one to Sadowski in the ’86 Auburn upset.
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Ah yes, the game between the hoses!
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Best part of the Greene to Edwards play was Terrence selling the safety by slowing down…then bursting downfield. Beautiful.
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I miss the Daves. There, I said it.
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Did you know they played Pee-Wee ball together? 😉
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and Tim’s parents are missionaries in the PI. Clear the deck Verne and Thom, Sally’s coming in hard for a landing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/tim-tebow-on-jesus-football-and-dating-its-attractive-when-girls-have-faith/2011/06/28/AG901QpH_blog.html
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LOL actually I meant the Jefferson Pilot Daves.
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This one and the Stafford to Mikey immediately following
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How DARE MoMass do a Gator chomp after abusing Florida’s lousy ’07 secondary? Think of the children!
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How dare he, indeed. I can’t remember if it was that or holding the ball out in one hand gliding into the endzone. If it was the chomp, Mo should have known that Timmy had exclusive rights.
When thinking of that penalty, is this something upon which our always keen SEC officiating krewes can now nullify a touchdown? If so, this is going to be a very exciting season for conspiracy theorists.
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I think the celebration penalty on the first TD that Moreno got that year is one of my favorite plays! I’m not one that endorses that kind of behavior, but I love the thought process behind it, given the nature of that game for UGA over the years. Kirk Herbstreit had a great opinion of it that I think sums it up. You’ve got to do something to change the mindset of the players going into that game. We’re very lucky something bad didn’t happen, and I believe that it wasn’t what Mark Richt intended, but in retrospect it really is one of the greatest things to ever come out of the rivalry just for the look on Urban Meyer’s face.
I reminds me of Muhammed Ali and his strategy of getting the opponent so amped up and angry that they don’t play with a clear head. While that wasn’t exactly the intention, it worked.
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It rained earlier that day and was cooler, which negated Florida’s obvious “conditioning” advantage.
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Put a final stamp on Auburn’s ’03 disappointment and shut Mark May’s yapper up for a few seconds, at least.
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so insanely fast for a linebacker. loved it.
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Give me: handing the ball to Herschel 37 times for 238 yds in Jax in 1980.
In ’81, he ran for 192, AND caught two TD passes, including a 25 yard middle screen. 4 DB’s had the angle, and they barely laid a hand on him.
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Dang! The nostalgia for past greatness and hope for future plays are turning us all into preseason semidepressants. Manic lies in there somewhere. Think we can persuade the talking heads to foster the idea of tune-up scratch games with a neighbor like FSU to occur in early Aug?
My favorite play with Greene involved LSU that occurred TMBFs ago for complete recollection.
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Your title begs for the next line–“When the dog bites” all set to music from The Sound of Music.
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Ah yes.. the day Davey Pollack made himself known to the world. That was a special time.
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If that play happened now with the current state of officiating in the SEC the ref would have called it an incomplete pass and the TV ref would not change the ruling on the field.
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That was incredible. That catch was right in front of me. I was 3 rows back in that end zone. HEY MOMMA, I CAN SEE MYSELF ON TV!!!
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Why we wasted that Greene to Edwards play against Vandy is beyond me.
Yeah I know, Vandy is an SEC, etc. Whatever.
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This is the single most important play of the CMR era. If Johnson does not catch this pass UGA loses to Auburn, does not win the SEC East and never becomes SEC Champion that season. Just another good year without a championship just like Donnan’s 1997 team.
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Ok, I’m going to date myself a bit here, but as far as a particular call that was my favorite, 34 (ironically) seconds into this video:
Herschel did that *a lot*. I used to stack pillows on my bed as a kid and dive over them “like Herschel”.
As far as a particular moment… This one has gotten a lot of love already:
P44 Haynes… I was in the right-side end zone behind the band with a buddy who is a Vol fan… I won’t be forgetting that one any time soon…
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My first Georgia game the flea flicker against Ala in 65 1st game of season and any toss sweep with #34 carrying the ball
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+1 on the ’65 victory of UGA over Bama in Athens. Bob Taylor TD on the (what Dooley called) the flea flicker at the end of the game. I’ve been a Dawgs fan ever since.
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The vols play that call by Larry over and over the week before our game.
Hell No, They Ain’t Fergittn’ either…
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Really, they need Larry Munson to get em pumped up to play a team. From a game a decade ago. Wow, that is pretty sad.
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