You probably noticed that, except for one brief stretch in the second quarter…
The senior quarterback completed 9 of his 12 passes, tallying 104 of his game-total 147 pass yards in that quarter. Perhaps the most promising drive of the whole game — for the passing game at least — came on Georgia’s second-to-last possession of the half. Mason connected with Gurley, fullback Taylor Maxey and wide receiver Reggie Davis before completing his only touchdown pass of the game to freshman Nick Chubb.
… Georgia’s passing game against Tennessee was a complete mess. There’s plenty of blame to go around, and the parties involved are more than willing to throw it.
“I don’t know today execution-wise on my part and everybody’s else part offensively if we can really say that this would win us a ballgame again even if we played Tennessee again or even games down the road,” Mason said. “It’s a lot more fun to learn from your mistakes after a win. … It’s just a little frustrating when you rep stuff all week, and you don’t execute it right.”
“We’ve got to place the ball better,” Richt said, “and we’ve got to get off the jam better and give a better target. … The reality is we need to get a little separation out there too. We need to get some guys that give you something a little more exciting to throw to than just a back-shoulder throw. Obviously, you can say ‘out-of-sync.’ I don’t know the words to use, but we’re definitely not clicking and throwing the ball like we like around here.”
“We’re doing what we need to be doing,” Bennett said. “We aren’t trying to force anything, but we’re taking what is given to us. We were taking some shots down the field. We just need to execute them. I had a few chances deep. Chris (Conley) had a few chances. We just need to execute. I feel like a few tweaks here and there and we’ll get it going.”
“I do have confidence in him to do that,” Conley said. “It just comes down to us being consistent. Without consistency you won’t have a quarterback who trusts you. And right now that’s something that we have to work on as receivers.
“It’s not always his fault. A lot of times it’s us.”
They’ve played in their fourth game of the season, with a fifth-year senior at quarterback and senior wide receivers, and they’re still struggling mightily with communication issues.
“Even the touchdown pass I threw to Chubb really wasn’t the right route. I see him running the other route and just had enough protection where I could sit in there and hit him on it,” Mason said. “So yeah, there’s still some miscommunication between guys.”
In weeks past, the stagnant passing game has been justified by mistake-free football. Going into Saturday’s matchup, Mason hadn’t thrown an interception all season. Against Tennessee, he threw two.
While it’s easy to blame Mason for two untimely throws, Conley held himself responsible for his quarterback’s second turnover, which Mason referred to as “just an average one-on-one jump ball for Conley.”
“I was wrong on my route, and I caused that interception,” Conley said. “I was supposed to be able to adjust by the way I ran it off the line. I messed it up at the line, and it gave the corner position. It’s one where I’m supposed to beat my guy at the line, and I’m supposed to establish a cushion at the sideline. What I did at the line didn’t establish that cushion.”
I don’t get why this is happening. And to me, it’s an even bigger concern than Hutson Mason’s arm strength. Just ask the head man.
“We’re definitely not clicking throwing the ball like we like around here,” Richt said. “But like I said before, part of it is when you throw it as hard as we have been, it’s hard to abort running the ball just to sling it around to prove you can. We’re trying to win games around here.”
I don’t know if that’s a general observation, or a more specific criticism of whatever Bobo was up to in the third quarter yesterday, but either way, it’s certainly frustrating. And I don’t know that getting injured receivers back, or even changing quarterbacks (NOTE: I’m not calling for that, just using it as an example) is going to make any difference in the short run, if timing and communication are the big problems. But it’s something Bobo and Ball better get a handle on soon.
************************************************************************
UPDATE: Tyler has some additional thoughts.
Get The Picture 
it seemed to me that Mason bird dogged his first receiver all game, and if that wasn’t there, he couldn’t find the 2nd or 3rd receiver. found myself thinking that if we had to be one-dimensional we might as well bring in Bauta and run the read option.
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Couldn’t agree more. Mason is looking for Bennett on just about every throw. To me it makes no sense to get the ball to Bennett in short slant routes, because he’s too slow to do anything with the ball once he gets it.
Where’s the tunnel screen to Michel that was so successful at the beginning of the season? Where’s Reggie Davis? Davis has speed on the outside and yet they don’t even look for him.
If you watched the post game interview with Mason he looks like it’s the 14th game of the season. He looks mentally beat-up. We play Vandy next week, I think it’s time to see what the back-ups can do.
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The 2 passes he threw on the opening drive of the 3rd quarter looked like fades into the endzone. I’m 53 and fat and I could have jumped those routes and defended those throws, the latter of which was a pick. I thought he had better arm strength than what we have seen thus far this season.
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I posted this on the other post, but it probably should have been here: I re-watched a little of last year’s Tech game last night. Mason looked like a different QB. At one point in the second quarter he threw a deep out to Conley right on the nose, about a 15 yard gain but one of those “not everyone can do this” throws. Rod Gilmore said it was an “NFL throw” and that word in the program had been that Mason’s arm was “stronger than Murray’s.”
I encourage everybody to go look at that game again and tell me this is the same guy. Something’s up. He had the same receivers then as now.
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Totally agree. Something’s up. We should get Ramsey ready, IMO. And Bauta’s as ready as he’s going to be anyway.
~~~
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Hutson Mason throws like a girl.
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We are 113th in the nation (of 128 teams) in passing offense. Tech only averages 10 less yards per game than we do. Michigan, Wake Forest, Georgia State, Florida and Florida Atlantic average more yards per game. Even run heavy Arkansas is ranked above us.
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The great irony of that, of course, is the unbelievable advantage that we have with our RBs that the bottom teams can’t even sniff. Normally a box stuffed as tight as what we saw yesterday is easy pickin’s. It makes it all the worse, frankly, that we can’t pass against defenses gambling heavily on the run.
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After watching SC, Mizzou, & Ole Miss last night, I don’t feel so bad about our passing game. Mock and Bo were awful (for 3 Q) and Thompson wasn’t much better. Sims at Bama my be the best QB in the conference and half of the Bama fan base wants the other kid to play. As far as Mason goes, the passing game looked out of sinc. He gets happy feet to quickly. Finally, he floats the ball too much. I’ll trust that Richt and Bobo who are both QB coaches can make the best decisions on what to do with this aspect of the game. Maybe if we can get back these WRs, it may give Mason more options and make him more comfortable to make the throws he needs to make in the SEC.
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You’re dead on about the happy feet. I know Mason was under pressure when he dropped back in obvious passing situations (as much as our OL loves to run block, they seem a tad bit less enthusiastic about pass pro), but there were several times when he had time and his feet were just a-dancin’ all the way up until he released the ball. I don’t know if his arm strength really is that bad or if it’s more not setting his feet, but the arm strength somehow how seems to be getting worse as we go along.
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This is the same O that Murray kicked ass with last year, minus ONE receiver.
the problem is mason sucks:
-not in sync w receivers
-no deep ball (i’m pretty sure Davis and iMac can run pretty fast)
-Cant do our primary throw (backshoulder)
-Has 4 fumbles in 4 games.
-2 picks vs Tenn. that a game manager should not be making.
-Lacks the zip on short passes to make him good inside the 10 passing.
-Oh yeah, what is our 3rd down % vs SC and Tenn? We were 0/5 in the first half vs SC and 1/10 late in the Tenn game, WTF. That tells me someone is not getting it done. I would be a lot less critical if the issue was him hitting receivers in the hands and them dropping it. No he is missing the damn receivers because “he is a timing” QB, well hell, he has been with most these receivers for 3+ years. Maybe by the bowl game he will be able to hit them in stride, just in time for us to get ready for the new QB.
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The 3rd Down number are indeed terrible. 1-10. Geez.
~~~
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To me, it seems like a lot of people are making excuses for a QB whose arm is severely limited…didn’t matter how much cushion Conley could have gotten, the ball was underthrown…the second was all Mason and his inability to move off the primary receiver,,
the angst is seeing a team featuring a once or twice in a generation player not being able to fully utilize the opportunity because the QB can’t throw the ball 20 yards downfield…and seemingly having no viable alterntives
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+1
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Who’s making excuses? It’s pretty much been “Bench the bum” since the 2nd quarter yesterday.
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I think it has everything to do with Mason’s arm strength. He was unable to put anything into his throws yesterday. All the deep routes were way under thrown so I don’t think it matters who is running the routes. On the deep out he threw, to I think Conley, the ball was in the air forever and the commenters even made a comment about being able to make that throw without good arm strength if you have perfect timing. And this is the problem. With Mason’s arm he has to have perfect timing and perfect route running to make his throws. If anything is off he seems unable to just use his arm to make a play.
I’m not calling for Mason’s head but realize that we are not going to be a great passing team with him back there i just hope Gurley can stay healthy all year long
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The problem appears deeper than lack of arm strength. The oft-derided Joe Cox had minimal arm strength, but he stepped into most of his throws – at least those when he didn’t have a defender in his face – which put the ball on a trajectory that gave coverage less time to adjust to the ball and put the ball on the receiver nose first. Mason’s relaxed, 3/4 throwing motion works only for QBs with greater arm strength . . . or, I suppose, a QB with some kind of shoulder malady that the staff is reluctant to disclose. VERY hard to understand how a 5th-year Bobo/Richt-coached QB with average arm strength would continue to use such poor mechanics.
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I think you’re right. Something’s wrong, I’m guessing sore arm or dead arm. And his mechanics are falling apart. His feet are terrible, and I don’t mean happy feet to get away from rush.
~~~
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I have never been a member of the “Fire Richt / Bench Murray” crowd, but i am close on Mason after that game. If we dont see something out of him against Vandy, we have to think about Ramsey or Bauta. Even game manager McCarron could hit Cooper on a 50 ydr from time to time. Mason is a DGD and a smart player, but i’m starting to think he just doesn’t have the physical talent to play at this level.
PS Go Dawgs!! A win is a win. (especially when SC blows it on the same day)
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To be a “game manager,” you still have to have an adequate passing arm. I’m not sure we have that.
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Or at the very least, not the turn the damn ball over. He’s awful. The coaches know it, but they won’t make a change.
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I don’t think they will, either.
~~~
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When the DB’s don’t have to worry about the WR’s running past them, because the QB can’t lay it out there for the WR’s to run under it anyway, it’s going to affect EVERYTHING. This is the headscratcher stuff with Richt…..he’s usually pretty honest in his assessments when he gives them, but I remember him saying maybe back around spring practice that Mason could make every throw that Murray was able to make, and I remember that striking me as laughable then – and even moreso now.
Even on the short passes that do “work”, by the time the ball gets there, the WR is immediately wrapped up. There’s no chance to try to put a move on the DB and pick up an extra 5-10 yards like we’ve seen our guys do so many times over the years. Maybe getting guys like MM and JSW will help, but if you can’t hit them in stride on deep routes, and can’t get it to them while they have a bit of space on the short stuff, I don’t know how much impact we should expect from them.
And yet, I do still believe Mason gives us the best chance to win. I gotta think there’s a reason the coaches don’t trust Ramsey yet. But man, we better hope Gurley can be superhuman every week.
It wouldn’t shock me if the winner of the East this year comes out of a 5-3 SEC record tiebreaker.
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I see nothing wrong with opening up competition at the QB position. Mason should still start … until he proves otherwise.
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Here’s another blatantly obvious problem. Mason clearly prefers an up-tempo style with no huddle and yet Bobo continues to slow things down and tighten up the play calling and formations, which telegraphs what we’re going to do. As bad as Mason has played, it’s not all on his shoulders. He’s not playing with a full deck of cards. Next week we get Rumph and JSW, so lets see how he does in the first half. If we don’t see any improvement then give Ramsey or Bauta a shot.
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Thanks to those who choose not to take the “Mason sucks” approach when discussing or raising legit concerns about our passing game. Regardless of how you feel about the productivity in that phase of the offense, Hutson Mason not only doesn’t suck, he deserves the respect of all Dawg fans for his actions/conduct past and future. But our passing game does look much different that any of us expected and it isn’t all related to any bad decisions/throws yesterday, or the absence of JSW, MM, or JR so the amount of comments, questions, and concerns is justified today.
There is something going here that seems to be health related to me. It was odd that Mason was given time off from passing drills in August to rest his arm unless he was struggling with arm strength or a tear. His passes this season lack zip and the long throws seem to be consistently underthrown when tempted at all. We have Davis and McKenzie to go deep if we need to showcase a deep threat to keep safeties and corners honest. TN sat on the short throws yesterday all game and were there for run support.
I think HM definitely gives us the best chance to win in a general sense, he has the experience, confidence, and ability to check to the right play but the lack of a solid pass offense is impacting our running game, our red zone offense, and competitor’s game planning. If we fall behind 2-3 scores against Arky, Mizzou, or Auburn, we are much closer to being like GT in our ability to come back than having the normal UGA offense’s reaction. A running game is great but “feeding the beast” cannot be your only answer.
If Mason does a have a “dead arm”, or something musculature in nature, we need to be auditioning options at every available opportunity both in practice reps and live game action this weekend. We are not using our full arsenal, and we a few games coming where I see us as the underdog and needing more arrows in our quiver.
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Thanks for that insight Captain Obvious!
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Oh, you’re back. I would have thought someone would have flushed you by now. I know you prefer the “tear UGA down type approach so no need to respond to me because I ain’t like you……dude.
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After I was placed on injured reserve due to achilles tendon rupture repair, our tailgates have moved to the homes of friends. At my buddies tailgates, where a large contingent of retired coaches gather, the talk about Mason’s passing centered around hand grip and footwork. Changing up the footwork is like adjusting a golfers swing… results may vary. The take on Ramsey was that he had a cannon arm but his touch and accuracy were way off. Lotta chatter about Park.
At my wife’s friend’s home, there are a lot of medical professionals. Some have even played in the arena. The talk there centered around a possible rotator cuff injury. The types of repetitive motions that volleyball, tennis, quarterbacks and shot put track people make lead to that injury. One treatment is Rest. Given the talk about a need for reps to enhance communication and route running between qb and receivers, weren’t we surprised by the limited number of passes (10) Mason had during the Troy live practice game? We knew uT was gonna load the box and force a collision between their stud LB and our stud RB. It would have been nice to simply light em up on the short routes and move back and forth to the running game and play action. What we got were passes with no zip past 10 yards, that were often erratic and overthrown. The ball never really had a pretty spiral and the long pass that was intercepted floated like a balloon with a slow leak. IDK what’s up with Mason. The guy that threw the ball 39 times against Nebraska for 320 yards and threw for nearly a 1000 yards in his brief tenure at qb post Murray,—— hasn’t played yet this season.
just sayin’
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Good post. Very interesting.
~~~
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Thank you for this post.
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This is typical Richt. He is too loyal to some of his guys. Mason just doesn’t have the arm strength to be a legitimate SEC QB. He was a backup for a reason. It’s time to get either Ramsey or Bauta ready if we are serious about winning. Getting the other wr’s back will help, but the excuse will be timing and working together. We are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. That’s on the head coach.
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The 5th year syndrome. If a player sits on the sidelines for that many games and that many seasons, he drops velocity, accuracy, and confidence. I bet if you looked at the history of 5th QBs, the performance would be fair at best.
Why not plan Ramsey more? Otherwise you are going to have another QB in the same position. Mason was never able to get ahead of Murray. And as each game went by and each season went by the skill level dropped. One can say all they want about “he knows all our plays, routes, and etc”. Big freaking deal. Wearing a headset on the sidelines and not knowing where you helmet is game experience!
And then again you have Bobo, who everybody raves about. He is so smart. But he is so inconsistent in game prep and management. Think we all know that is well documented. Look at some of the plays he put Mason for passes. Like the roll out to his left where he has throw against his body.
Mason is slow…feet, reads, velocity on the ball, touch on the ball,
Sorry,, just not impressed with Mason. He iw a big weak link in this team.
Do you think we get behind by 10-14 poinst again on the road against another SEC team he can bring the Dawgs back when Gurley and the running game gets shut down. Think not. He just does not have it. He has 6 games of experience now. And there has been no imporivement in him or the passing game.
What is bad, hell, even Richt has no answer. And for sure Bo-row is clueless. He has struggled all season like Mason.
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It’s a little surprising that we separated Murray and Mason to get this. I miss Aaron! You could count on those back shoulder throws being there… Now, not so much. And where has the deep bomb gone? That’s the play that made the play action special and kept the secondary from sitting on the short game. Aaron could also seem to find his “go to” guy when he needed them, sometimes to his detriment. Lynch made a living off of catching clutch passes.
In Hudson’s defense, he does seem to throw the short pass to the backs out of the backfield better and some of his receivers clearly are missing assignments. Unfortunately, Hudson looks like he takes something off his throws to try and help them make the catch or… his arm is hurt. There may not be a need to force the passing game, but when you run 3 straight times at midfield in the 4th quarter and get nothing because you look afraid to throw, you’re better to have worked out that passing game. Vandy should give you that chance, else Missouri and Arkansas will be long afternoons.
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I was embarrassed for Mason when the announcers questioned whether he could reach the end zone from the 50 at the end of the first half. At the same time, I started questioning it myself.
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Is it possible that Mason hurt his arm in offseason and Richt does not want the fan base to turn on him completely and call for him to be benched? Would explain the floating passes, lack of zip, and inability to go deep.
Hopefully we can get a good lead on Vandy and let some 2nd players get reps, but who knows, I’m sure our D will let them hang around for most the game.
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I agree with Tyler. I said as much in the comments yesterday after the game. Mason is not the same player we saw in previous years come in the game in relief and look good. He is limited and it is something physical. Richt and Bobo know QB’s as good as anybody in the college game. If Ramsay were a Stafford waiting in the wings he would be playing.
The coaches obviously believe a limited Hutson is still our best chance to win and I expect we will continue to see him as long as we are in contention in the conference. We need to throw the old passing playbook out and commit to the run, ball control, wear people out, its what we’ve got this year.
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Uhh, Stafford had to wait until JT3 lost against UT and Vandy to move ahead – and Mason is probably better than JT3. The simple threat of a throw over the top would do wonders for our offense. Hope we have that threat in the arsenal soon with FB or BR.
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Stafford was a true freshman. Ramsay’s a redshirt with a full year in the system. If they thought he gave us a better chance to win he’d be in now.
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Mason gives us the best chance of winning a game when the defense, OL, and running game don’t need help to win the game – because he is unlikely to make a bad mistake to lose the game.
In the event we need the QB to make some plays, Mason does not give us a good chance to win. I think we will need the QB to make some plays against some and maybe all of Missouri, Arky, UF, and Auburn. I’m sure the coaches see this too and will try to get one of the others ready.
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Stafford ran a pro-style offense in HS for 3 years. Ramsey comes from a Wing T. His biggest obstacle has been/is learning the system and becoming comfortable with it. He’s getting there. His accuracy has been an issue, but lately it is improving fast.
Well, we’d hope so.
~~~
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Look, why blame Mason? Last year, when we lost MM, JSW, we fell apart passing the ball. Nothing new. Qb ain’t the issue, both struggled without their top guns, is that a surprise to anyone?
Overall, I’m pleased with the offense they are:
scoring a lot of points
running the football very well
not turning over the ball much
Defense? OMG, don’t get me started.
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I really don’t get the critic of our offense. True, we’re not putting up big passing numbers, and if we weren’t scoring a lot of points, I’d be concerned, but as every SEC Champ has proven, you got to run the ball well to win the conference, we’re finally doing that. Gurley is National Player of the week. It’s a high output points wise, low turnover, high rush, low pass scoring machine, what not to like? They’re carrying the defense. But hey so did Auburn in 2010 & 2013.
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Do you watch the games or just look at the stats? BTW, I’ve been to two games in person and seen two on TV – Mason’s arm looks much weaker in person.
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I agree with Tyler, and said as much in the comments yesterday after the game. Hutson is clearly not the same player physically we have seen in the past. He is limited but apparently Bobo and Richt think he is still our best chance to win even if he was limited. If I trust Bobo and Richt on anything, it is coaching the quarterbacks, Richt’s track record in that area, dating back to the 90’s at FSU should be unquestionable. If Ramsay were a Stafford waiting in the wings, he would be playing, for whatever the reason, and I suspect it’s physical. Hutson will play as long as we are in contention, if we fall out of the conference picture I’d expect to see Ramsay but not before. We need to commit to the run, control the ball and the clock, that will help the defense also, wear people out, that’s what we’ve got, it may not be good enough but its what we’ve got.
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Dang, double comment, sorry.
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Also, when I say “I suspect it’s physical” I mean Hutson, not Ramsay, Ramsay’s probably not ready yet, and while he may have a chance to be a very good quarterback, he does not equal Stafford at this point, Stafford was such a physical phenom you just had to let him go.
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If you think Bobo will change anything when his offense is top 10 in the nation, you’re nuts.
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I don’t know who you are talking to but I said as long as we were in contention I thought Mason would be the guy. I have been one of Bobo’s most consistent defenders on this blog since its inception but we sure as hell aren’t top 10 because of the passing game.
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It hurt for 3rd downs when Sony Michel went down early on. Add to that no MM or JSW, and it’s not a surprise to anyone that’s been following UGA for a few years, the offense sputters a bit when your top receivers and backs are out, any offense struggles in those situations.
But no one has been able to stop this offense from scoring a ton of points.
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Even with Michel out, we still have the best back of the last decade, and his backup who would likely start for every school in the SEC, save for Bama.
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One thing I noticed with Gus at Auburn in 2010/2013, if your offense can score a bunch and run the ball well, you can beat the Alabama’s, and if you can beat Alabama, you can beat anybody. Basically, the Gus plan is just outscore everybody, focus on scoring td’s and running the ball. If works.
I think in 2014, that’s our identity. add in a little aversion to turning the ball over on offense, and you got your an SEC Champion.
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I believe with our track record of coaching QBs you have to give Bobo and CMR the benefit of the doubt. They do know what they are doing, have seen all the guys in practice and actually know more about what is going on than all of us. I do think they believe HM gives us the best chance to win. I suspect we will see more of Ramsey of Fatua next week and thereafter if the passing game still is lacking. Still, with all of the problems, we are averaging 40 a game. Not too shabby.
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Just hoping it was a bad day for HM, but his arm did look pretty weak. He threw into coverage on the first pick and underthrew for the 2nd pick – it was all HM. Having MM or JSW back isn’t the problem. HM doesn’t have the arm to stretch the field, but he’s pretty accurate with those short throws. He’ll have to do a better job of finding the open receiver. CMB has to call plays to mask HM’s limitations.
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Mason has already faced 2 ranked teams,
and Hutson Mason is in the top 5 in nation vs ranked teams in interceptions, accuracy and pass rating,
top 11 in nation yards per pass vs ranked teams
Hutson’s 8.6 ypp vs ranked teams better than Stafford in 08′, Cox in 09′, or Murray in 2010-2013.
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Jesus dude. Just stop.
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BTW – there is a distinct chance that both Clemson and South Carolina suck. Especially Clemson when they do not play #4 at QB.
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Our offense lost to UT 28 – 32 yesterday.
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UGA’s identity seems to be in 2014:
1- Run the ball well
2- Limit turnovers on offense
3- Create turnovers and stop the run on defense
4- Win field position with special teams
If we do those 4 things, we get to the 4 team playoff.
If we do #1 & #3 it will likely also get us there.
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PLAYOFFS? 😉
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+1000.
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