If there’s a common thread the runs through Georgia quarterbacks in the Richt era, it’s how many of them had a tendency to get in trouble when they felt the pressure of having to do too much to carry the offense.
So maybe knowing there’s this really stout running game in place for 2015 will help keep whoever starts grounded.
“We are deep at running back. That takes a ton of pressure off of us. You don’t have to throw the ball. It might be a throwing situation like a third and five but you can give it to Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, Keith (Marshall) or Brendan (Douglas) or one of them and still probably pick up six yards,” he said. “So it’s a big thing. You have a ton of offensive linemen up there that make it easier on us, too. You’ve got some veterans out there. It just gives you more confidence when you’ve got people around you that have been doing it.”
Of course, hearing it from the coaches is a little different from knowing it. And knowing it is a helluva lot different from believing it. But it’s a start.
Get The Picture 
No, Senator. It’s when the opponent’s D knew that we didn’t have a running game that Georgia’s QBs got in trouble. That and having to score 38 points, mostly with the passing game, in order to win because the Georgia D was basically non-existent. Whose responsibility was that, BTW?
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I remember plenty of games in his second and third seasons when Stafford overcompensated. If I recall, he had a pretty good running back to hand the ball to.
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Yes, my impression is that Stafford was and remains overly confident is his capabilities and that’s how he frequently got/gets into trouble. Great talent with poor decision making at times that prove costly.
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Probably shouldn’t eat that tuna sandwich you found on the bus.
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I prefer good BBQ. You can keep your tuna sammich.
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And poor defenses except at the end of 2007.
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He also had to score 38 to win and sometimes that wasn’t even enough (remember Tech 2008?). The real problem was the D. Hard to blame a QB who was the #1 pick in the NFL draft, IMHO.
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It was easier just to blame Bobo, as I recall. Lots of fondness of the offense around here. That’s funny to me.
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Agreed and further the offense replied on “explosive” plays to score. Explosive plays are great but if the team can’t put together a long methodical drive, you’re at a disadvantage when running a pro style attack whether it be due to play calling, line play, or talent at RB.
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*relied grrr
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I’ve got news for Ramsey, the Georgia Bulldogs WILL have to throw the ball to be successful against the better defenses, as in the UF game in 2014, the Gators knew that Mason could not throw the ball well enough to win, so they made up their minds on defense that the UGA running game alone was NOT going to beat them. The same will be true against Bama in 2015, and any other good defense they face, most especially in post season play, if they were to get there. I understand that in the Belk Bowl, there were mostly third and fives to deal with, but against UF, Tech and even in the Arkansas game, there were a heap of third and twelves to deal with. The bottom line is that if MARK RICHT, (This is not on the new O.C.), can not get a successful return to a downfield passing attack that vanished in 2014, then three or four losses will be the norm. Mark Richt can not survive that. I am aware that he thinks he can, but believe me, things are changing quickly with many large Hartman Fund donors.
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You keep playing that song.
We’re supposed to believe that you know both what Mark Richt thinks and what the big money guys think? I can’t imagine there are that many folks who can make that claim legitimately. So who are you?
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Senator, some of of my family’s closest friends are in the top eight all time in donations to UGA’s Hartman Fund, and were honored as such at the banquet just before the 2014 G Day game. Their feelings, and according to them, the feelings of their peers are becoming less patient with the status quo, and those feelings are that Richt is being given what he has asked for, in terms of salaries and facilities, and they are basically getting antsie for not only the return to Atlanta, but to win that game and advance. The one comment I heard was that,” Anything can happen in the post season, as you are playing very good teams that have made it that far as well, but it’s time that UGA at least make it to the dance and see what happens”.
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They sound like 99% of the fan base, in other words.
So what’s your connection with the inner workings of Mark Richt’s mind?
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It is always interesting to hear folks share inside information. You have to wonder, thought, if they continue to share what they hear around the dinner table, how long will they continue to be invited for dinner.
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“Richt is being given what he has asked for, in terms of salaries and facilities”
If this logic holds, shouldn’t it stand to reason the boosters are to blame for him NOT having what he needed before?
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We literally haven’t had a game since Richt has been given the facilities & salaries. Not even a scrimmage. Might I suggest if there are truly top-8 Hartman Fund donors and peers expressing this in the way you have described – they are idiots. Clearly money doesn’t buy different, better, more informed opinions than the Dawgvent.
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So your sister-in law’s 3rd cousin has a friend who is a nephew of a brother of one of the top 8 donors. I can see how insightful that can be.
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Somewhat less insightful, Aus, than doing a little reading between the lines at GTP and the mainstream media (with the exception of the AJC).
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You are certainly right Columbus Dawg about needing offensive diversity to be successful but you go too far when you say FU knew Mason couldn’t throw the ball well enough to win. The guy didn’t have a Murray, Stafford, or Zier like arm but he also didn’t have a group of receivers like they had. We also don’t know how play calling impacted that game, it would have been easy to have Bobo count on the running game being the best option….it had been all year. We didn’t block well in the middle quarters due to the absence of Andrews at center. .
Plus, so many passing yards at UGA have always come from success with short passes that are broken into long plays. We have one of the best screen games in CFB, and we utilize our backs pretty well in the air game, you don’t have to be a long range “bomber” to succeed but we did need to take a few more deep vertical attempts in 2014. Mason was pretty deadly on short passes but we waited until we so far down that FU knew we had to pass. Lot of things went wrong in that game after we dominated Q1.
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Also 30 mph wind had something to do with our inability to get downfield in Jacksonville
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All the more reason they were able to play the secondary to support against the run and short passes. It damned sure cost us a critical FG that may still have been good considering the wind was blowing the ball from inside the goal posts to out. No question the Gators got a lift by staying within one play of our lead.
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Yep, we were right on schedule to thrash them early and then gave them confidence. If we sniff out the fake FG, they never get the momentum.
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CMR should have known NOT to attempt a FG into that crazy wind. It was 4th and less than 2 and a TD on that drive would have had UF really on the ropes and killed any confidence they had left. Just like the squib kick against GT and calling our last timeout as the play clock is down to 4 seconds and GT is having a hard time getting lined up. Just 3 examples of absolute poor coaching by CMR. I hope like hell this will change but its been a continual trend with him in tight situations. I love the guy but we cant keep making these mistakes against the competition we face. GATA JYG!!!!!!
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As it turns out, you are right, I now wish we had attempted anything other than a FG. But that wasn’t a slam dunk, bad call at the time. With FU’s offensive problems a 10 point lead would have felt like a mountain for them to hurdle. Morgan had been practicing in that wind before the game so they had a pretty good idea of how he could handle it so it wasn’t a decision made without info. I am not so sure he missed it at all, but as a golfer I have a great respect for what the wind can do to a ball in the air.
I am not putting GT loss on the sqibb, we allowed too much of a run back and played horribly in defense for that one play, big yardage run, but after reviewing the replay, the Timeout call could have been the biggest culprit.
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We didn’t just play horribly on defense on that one play. We were pretty bad in general especially in the 2nd half. Pruitt never adjusted to the fact they weren’t running a traditional dive at the A gap off the option. It was more like a slant directly at one of the inside linebackers.
When they got the ball after Hicks misplayed another pooch kick, I would have run that thing until the clock ran out. Fish Fry made the ultimate bonehead decision trying to throw late in the game like that and should have paid the price for it. He probably would have gotten fired for losing that game … oh, well.
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Tech waited for the d-line shift and then ran at the gap created after the shift.
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+1. The timeout……..(sigh). If he doesn’t call the timeout all the other mistakes (squib kick-off, bad D on the 1 play from scrimmage, etc.) probably don’t cost the team the win and we wouldn’t be talking about this.
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Right on it Mayor! To this day its still hard to believe that we called a timeout with the play clock down to 4 and the GT kicker still stepping back his paces. Again just hope like hell this kind of thing doesn’t happen again…………..
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So far off. 2002 & 2005 were Richt’s banner years.
What were the patterns that led to his only 2 conf championships?
1. top scoring defenses
2- 1000 yard rushers
3- mobile qb in 2005
Passing wasn’t where the stats jumped off the page in 2002 or 2005.
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I hate to break it to you, but “mobile qb in 2005” isn’t a pattern.
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true, let’s go with championship formula.
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2005 wasn’t a banner year. He just happened to win the SECCG that year.
If you want to look at banner years, look at the other 6 years he’s finished higher than he did in 2005. Magically, you mobile QB stat disappears when you look at those numbers.
Having a mobile QB is NOT a requirement for success.
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2005 was a banner year, literally. It’s about championships. Richt has 2, 2002 & 2005, and mobile Qb in the SEC is definitely a championship formula, look at Cam who helped Auburn win the SEC in 2010 and Marshall who helped Auburn win the SEC in 2013. Mobile Qb’s drive Bama nuts, and we likely have to beat Bama to win it.
Richt has 2 real formulas from 2002 & 2005:
1- top 5 scoring defense like 2002, do it with defense
2- 1000 yard rusher, and a mobile Qb like 2005, do it with offense.
That’s it, nothing else Richt has tried has ever won him a conf championship at UGA.
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Florida knew Mason couldn’t stop
the run….wait, that’s not right.
This whole thread is dumb.
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Dude, check your homework. The years UGA dominated is the passing column = no championships. You simply don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t win the SEC by downfield passing.
What you will find is you must finish among the top 3 in RUSHING in the SEC to have a chance.
Same was true with Herschel. 2002 & 2005 had 1000 yard rushers.
Bama’s domination has been about rushing and defense.
Bama’s pass offense rankings by yards in the SEC 2008-2014
9, 8, 3, 4, 8, 7, 4.
Bama;s rush offense yards ranking in SEC 2008-2014:
3, 3, 5, 1, 2, 4, 6
Bam’s scoring defense in SEC 2008-2014:
2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 3
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Columbus Dawg: Hutson threw for the following against UF:
319 yds (his best passing game of the season) and when Florida was forcing us to throw!
Hutson was 26-41 (63%) with 1 td and 0 pics. Longest pass 32 yds.
Jamesis Winston against UF
12-24 124 yds (50%) 2 yds and 4 pics!
Hutson did not cost us that game and especially not due to his inability to throw!
Your comment?
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yes sirree mason showed up vs UF.
UF rushed for 400+ yards in that game, same with the GT games? Might have had a little to do with those 2 losses–rush defense?
And the defense gave up 38 points in all 3 losses, might have been a small factor.
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Spike, I am worried about Slingin Sammy Vaughn…he don’t seem to git no love.
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Me too, Scorp. Give him some! He is very determined, talented and very smart. And quiet. Those are the kind of guys to keep an eye on, in any walk of life or profession.
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What concerns me about Slingin is the size of his nose. All the other guys have…are…ah, well-endowed in the proboscis area….Faton, man if he turns sideways he blocks out the sun. Can Da Slinger compete with that?
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No. He is lacking in that department. Nobody is perfect! 🙂
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There is a considerable body of evidence that indicates largenish of the nose is an impediment to throwing the deep ball to the right team. Joe Montana being an outlier.
Turn Da Slinger loose!!!! 🙂
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From your lips, to God’s (and Coach Shotty’s ) ears…
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The coaches have always preached Balance. The UGA system under CMR has always allowed the QB to change the play at the line. While this is great in theory it is real hard to do in a live fire situation. If the OC calls for a pass play but the QB checks to a run but guesses wrong the OC catches hell. Additionally, the check off makes it difficult to play inexperienced QB’s. At FSU Mark had for the most part QB’s that were juniors or seniors during their runs. That was then but this is now. No gun slinger Matt Stafford included wants to red shirt and they certainly don’t want to sit as a sophomore so you play the gun slinger and you get a passing attack because the QB is going with what he knows. To sum up the most important quality for our next QB will be his ability to read defenses and not screw up the OC’s game plan. Arm strength is great but brains help win championships.
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We need the QBs ready to roll for Bama. I think we can get by with the ground game until then (yes, even against SoCar). But that Bama DL is going to be legit this year, and the style of play UGA is seemingly set on is exactly what Saban wants. He wants old school, pro-style games. I hope UGA keeps it’s tempo packages on point because that’s what beats Bama today, and the QB will need to featured in that offense.
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What Ramsey said in the quote for this article sounds different from the way he plays. Ramsey appears to me into his individual stats/goals instead of team stuff, and at least for me, that’s not a good thing.
I like Jacob Park’s follow up comment to the Ramsey quote about the strength of the rb’s, saying .
Park, with his tendency to focus on the moment, agrees with Ramsey — to an extent. We’ve got a lot of returners. We’ve got a lot of good players but at the end of the day, You’ve got to play together and put it all together on the field,” he said. “We ain’t there yet. We’ll get there but I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Park “WITH HIS TENDENCY TO FOCUS ON THE MOMENT” love that statement about Park, shows he knows it all sounds good, but WE have to do it TOGETHER.
My emphasis is on the word TOGETHER, used 2x in 1 sentence, and the word “WE”, used 4x. LOVE IT. He gets it. Want to see this guy get a chance to lead this team.
No “i” in team.
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ajc mentioned today the way Park plays and his style like a Colin Kaepernick. High praise. I’m digging this guy.
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