You may have noticed that Georgia’s play calling has been a wee bit on the conservative side in the early going. Take, for example, this fairly useless series in the fourth quarter Saturday, as Georgia sat on its 24-6 lead.
1st and 10 at UGA 4
Sony Michel run for no gain to the Geo 4
2nd and 10 at UGA 4
Sony Michel run for no gain to the Geo 4
Timeout VANDERBILT, clock 06:00
3rd and 10 at UGA 4
Sony Michel run for 5 yds to the Geo 9
4th and 5 at UGA 9
Collin Barber punt for 33 yds, downed at the Geo 42
That led to a Vanderbilt touchdown that cut the lead to ten. What the hell was Schottenheimer thinking then? Evidently, he was thinking “I’d better do what the boss tells me to do”.
Georgia continues to lean conservatively with its play-calling, but Richt said that was partly on him.
“The decision to run the ball three times deep in our territory (in the fourth quarter) and not throw it, that was my decision,” Richt said. “He was honoring what I wanted to get done at that time. I wanted to try to chew up as many timeouts as possible and hopefully knock it out of there.”
One thing Richt is pretty good at is making clear-eyed assessments of where his team is at beginning a season and structuring an overall strategy to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses. (Which is not to say his assessments are infallible, so don’t bother to go there.) That’s why we’ve seen an aggressive approach on offense in the last two seasons, because he and his coaches were aware those defenses were flawed. Last year was particularly masterful, as Georgia also had to adjust to having a less dynamic passing attack post-Murray.
But what if you’re convinced that in 2015, your team’s strengths are the running game (duh) and… the defense? And that your passing game may be even more anemic than it was in 2014? Well, you’re certainly going to try to build on two keys from last season – winning the field position and turnover margin battles – but you’re also going to ratchet back the aggression on offense. You’re going to play to let your defense and special teams help win games for you.
You’re going to coach like you did when Brian VanGorder was your defensive coordinator, in other words.
Remember those epic 17-14 and 20-17 struggles to win games? Remember the frustration of watching a Greene-led Georgia let teams like UAB hang around? Remember losing close games because of missed field goals? Yeah, Georgia won a lot of games then. But I remember quite a bit of angst over the lack of style points in doing so. Kind of like right now, you know?
Maybe I’m wrong. But based on his whiffs Saturday, I’m starting to get a nervous feeling that Marshall Morgan’s going to be a lot more important to Georgia’s success than he ever has before. And I say that knowing a common thread in all of Georgia’s losses last season was missed field goals. Stay tuned.
Get The Picture 
“Which is not to say his assessments are infallible, so don’t bother to go there.” You are such a Richt basher 😉
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When it comes to Richt, I tend to get shit from both sides. Which tells me I must be on to something. 😉
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It is always tough being a Richt apologist. I thought we liked Old Man Football.
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There’s no way I let Lambert throw from our own end zone in that situation. A safety or worse waiting to happen. Now I would love more than a 33 yard punt but then again he was rushing to get it off into a wind.
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Lambert found himself a little in the second half. And there are plenty of safe throws you can call there, especially with Vandy’s defense selling out on the run.
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Right, it’s not like we need to run guys on all fly patterns/deep crossing patterns/etc. Also, if we called a better game early, we’d have a better chance of having actually worn down Vandy to the point where the runs might make sense.
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Yeah, it feels like Richt swung the pendulum to far to conservative. He also could have done more than just run it up the gut.
It appears that Richt doesn’t care about style points, and is coaching for the W. I might scream a bit at the TV, but he is right to focus on the W.
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It’s not about style points, though. It’s about putting your team in the best position to win. By being less conservative, we can score more points. In so doing, this is going to change what the other team has to do on offense and defense (and in turn give us leeway on what we do on offense and defense). It will pad our margin for error, so that one crazy/bad play is unlikely to swing a game.
Style points are for narrative addicts.
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Sure, but Richt’s plan is to run the clock out. He didn’t want to give them a quick TD off of a TO. That was the worst outcome of the drive in his mind. He was fine with punting and playing defense. Yes, the punt sucked and the defense gave up the score, but he was more focused on burning the clock.
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Again, running out the clock is easier in that situation with a better gameplan from the get go. UGA flat out wore down several defenses last year. We haven’t been close to doing that this year, yet.
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What would you have done differently with the game plan for Vandy?
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I should add that I feel like he didn’t put enough emphasis on getting a first down. Those 10 yards would have helped the punter, bled the clock, and opened up the playbook.
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Right. I hate conservative offense. It’s so boring and it gives power to the opposing D…but I admit, I’d be the first to complain if we tried something fancy with a QB that couldn’t handle it. Head coaches are in a lose/lose unless every play is a first down or touchdown and they win by 3 touches…
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Oh god please no on being ultra conservative. That worked in the oughts because much of college football was still thinking that way. Different world now, and it will more than likely cost us. Even if our kicker doesn’t have the yips.
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That’s a good point. Other teams are not only trying to score every possession, but hurrying to do it.
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Yips = A long last step to the ball with his left foot landing short and wide of the ball…produces a pull every time. If your wondering…I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express…
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I rest my case. (The one I’ve been making since Saturday evening).
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The Falcons needed one first down to ice last night’s game on a third and one and ran the most predictable play ever, and that’s with a quarterback who can throw it anywhere. All of Georgia ‘s backs have good hands; get them out in the flat and they can get yards as a safety valve
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I actually don’t have a problem with the call to run it there – but I do have a problem with the personnel, if that’s the decision that is being made. I love me some Michel, make no mistake about it, but if we’re in a hole (field position), and want to grind our way out of it and chew up clock, I don’t see how you have anybody bedsides #27 in there. Again, I love Michel, and he could be a feature back all on his own. But in that situation, if that’s the call, and you want to grind against a D that knows the run is coming, the personnel decision there is a head scratcher.
But again, I don’t have a problem with the decision itself, being that far back, with a QB who still really hasn’t earned a lot of trust.
However if we were out around the 35 or 40 yard line, I would have wanted us to be more aggressive. And I think the point of your post is that Richt probably would have made the same decision regardless – which yeah, those calls bring back a lot of frustration from back in the day. Never any killer instinct, never put anybody away, just get a double digit lead early, then hold on for dear life.
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As a matter of fact, he did just that, in the very next series.
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Chubb had a slight ankle problem. That may help explain why Michel was in there for that series. Sure don’t want to risk turning a minor tweak into a serious injury right then.
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Not to mention that Michel is capable…
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I don’t have an issue with Michel in there at that point, but use his speed to thew outside or throw to him on safe passes. Where I scratched my head was Chubb not being in when we were first and goal and didn’t get it in. I understand giving Sony and Marshall some work but situationally, Chubb has to get the ball when we are trying to hammer it in. I don’t believe the ankle tweak was a factor in that.
Also agree that short passes to MM was in order when Vandy had already shown they could stuff the middle against our OL, we needed to try to go wide or throw it at that point. I would prefer a 3rd down “quick kick” in that situation if we are just going to give it up.
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Michel >>>> Chubb at the catch and run, thus tech Michel gave more options for them to use, esp if they wanted a quick screen (see ULM where Michel burnt a LB for 30+ yards and almost housed it).
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Vandy’s defense made us go 3 and out. Our defense gave up a touchdown.
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This sounds an awful lot like the old days, when Richt and Bobo would give up on a series. That decision was usually evidenced by the 3rd and Bobo draw play (many times with a 5’7″ back). Oh how I hope that doesn’t come back. I hate giving up on a series. Why even practice plays in your territory if you are only planning to punt?
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That draw play that worked like a charm on 3rd and 17 for the Falcons last night? The one that got a first down?
Got to love arm chair OC’s and meme repeaters.
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What are “the Falcons?”
Meme or not. Repeater or not. Giving up on a series always sucks. I do not agree with it. And if you don’t want to read other people’s opinions…I’d say reading a blog is probably the wrong place for you to be guy.
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I think the point is that running a draw on 3rd and 15 isn’t giving up the series. It’s actually a smart call. Getting a 1st down when the defense is sitting on pass in a 3rd and long is tough. The odds of a pick go up. Hypothetical… you’ve got a 15% chance to convert, a 5% chance you throw a pick, 5% chance you get sacked, and a 75% chance you throw an incompletion. Running the draw you’ve got a 7% chance to convert, 80% chance to pick up positive yardage and 13% chance of no gain.
Either call has its risks and rewards in that hypo. I’m sure someone has the actual stats. But neither call is ‘giving up on the series.’
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I get the conservative feel, but gosh, a quick out to MM26 is nearly as safe, or you could at least try a wrinkle in the run game. Still waiting to see Quayvon with a carry in that sort of situation.
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Senator, curious on your thoughts re: Lambert in the 2nd half. When we were watching, someone made the comment that once he stopped trying to “aim” every pass and just threw it, he was actually ok. If he can just go about 15/22 ish with no picks, I think he can win plenty. But I have my doubts he can do that.
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He made some good throws in the second half. But there were some head scratching moments, too.
Honestly, he strikes me as just what I expected – somebody who’s struggling to get used to being in a very different situation than he was in last year. I just don’t know how long the learning curve is.
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He looked awful in that first half, just awful. I know the coaches want him to work through it, but I thought Ramsey’s one series was night and day to Lambert’s. Ramsey moved well in the pocket and put zip on his throws; that one to Mitchell near the goal line was a beauty, the Vandy safety just made a good play on the ball. Am I missing something?
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That would get into my other working theory, which I’ve expressed before: Lambert is starting because the coaches are frustrated with Ramsey’s approach to the game and they’re hoping to motivate him to step up.
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That’s what I was thinking too. If that’s the case, seriously, what the hell else is going to motivate Ramsey at this point? He’s lost the starting job; what’s next, water boarding?
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Ramsey also got his number called on first down twice. Lambert didn’t get to throw on first down until the second half.
I saw the same thing you guys did…Ramsey looked impressive on those throws…but Lambert wasn’t helped at all by the play calling in the first half either. Once they started mixing up the pass a bit more in the second half, he put together three good drives.
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Play calling has little to do with anything when you are hitting people in the foot with a pass.
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Well…he threw 5 passes in the first half. 1 was dropped. 1 was almost picked. 1 was thrown over someone’s head. So did both other throws hit a person’s foot? I assume your saying that happened multiple times by the use of the word ‘people’? Unless you are saying the ball bounced off of one person’s foot and then hit another person’s foot before falling to the ground?
Well, I agree with you, I guess. Play calling on the single play where the ball may have hit a person’s feet didn’t have much to do with the success of that play. I’ll add that as a caveat…a footnote if you will…to my larger point that play calling in down and distance does have some impact on difficultly to execute. Fair?
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I’ll agree the play calling was bland most of the time and did not really do any favors to anyone. Hell who knows, if Chubb had caught his first pass, then maybe Lambert would not have gotten in a funk at all.
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Given that we’re now approaching the meat of our schedule wouldn’t it be a more reasonable theory that Richt and Schotty are playing the qb they feel gives Georgia the best chance to achieve this season’s goals and are no longer about motivating? Which if that’s the case shouldn’t it be a huge cause for concern that a guy who was awful in the ACC is the best option we have at quarterback? You’ve followed Uva more than we have. You really think between greyson and Ramsey we have a guy who can play at a championship level? I’d love to be wrong but i feel like it doesn’t matter how good your ground game and defense are at some point your quarterback is going to have to take the team on his shoulders and make some throws.
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I think it’s an effort/attitude thing. Say what you will about JT3, or Cox, or Mason, but they put in the work. My gut tells me Richt just doesn’t like the cut of Ramsey’s jib and doesn’t think he puts in the time required and therefore is not going to reward him.
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I have read over and over that Ramsey is a gamer. People who actually know about this stuff also mention that you don’t get to be a starter in a game, barring bad luck, you get to be a starter in practice. Ramsey would appear to have a problem with that.
At the risk of being called a Lambert apologist, not only does Lambert have to learn and become comfortable with a new offense, new school, new coaches, different drive to work, etc, etc, etc….there’s the rebuilt interface between quarterback and receivers (many of whom are freshmen) to work on to…and that, folks, simply takes time and reps, nothing is going to speed that up. It just takes time and practice.
Which, to me in my ignorance, makes Ramsey even less likely to have whatever the coaching staff is looking for.
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I think the effort/attitude thing is garbage. Ramsey doesn’t strike me that way and I don’t think it’s fair to assume it.
I think it comes down to execution…it was the same thing last season. Mason got them in the right plays, got the protections right, and didn’t throw picks. It wasn’t a coincidence that after Mason threw two picks in the Tennessee game, Ramsey got in on the 3rd series in the Vandy game the next week. To me it’s a risk/reward thing…they can live with Lambert’s shortcomings if he doesn’t turn it over….if he starts turning it over, then why not go with Ramsey who will probably do the same thing but will have the upside of a power arm.
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Which leaves me to believe that Bauta must really be bad!
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Lambert will be just fine with some more game reps under his belt. It’s CMR that I’m worried about.
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Yeah, we got that.
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Is CMR taking the field next at QB or something? Dang, we do have problems. Which begs the question of his eligibility.
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In Morgan’s defense, it doesn’t help when your head coach ices you. That ended up looking worse for MM, when Richt should have taken a little blame…
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Wasn’t Richt’s fault there, as I finally figured out. Play clock was about to expire.
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Ah, now you tell me! /returns eggs to carton
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Morgan wasn’t watching the play clock. He was doing his ‘step and point’ routine as the clock was going to :00. That’s why Richt called the timeout and why he had that look on his face when he did it.
Not Marshall’s finest hour on Saturday in a lot of respects. I just hope he got it out of his system.
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That whole “icing” thing is nutso anyway. There is just no proof that a kicker is negatively impacted by the extra time, especially in a non-clutch situation like that. I wish the rules allowing back-to-back timeouts would be changed, also include rule against the defense stopping a play with a timeout when the center has his hands on the ball. As a former kicker, and a golfer, the more time I have to get acclimated to the kick/shot and consider the variables, the better for me. Blaming that on the coach is silly.
I am not going to call Morgan an issue at this point, those were long field goals with a decent wind to contend with so 50/50 would be acceptable. One of those kicks, the first one, was just a fluke snap hook miss that was basically a non-effort to me, the second he hit well and had a slight pull. Now if that continues, we would have a major issue but too early to go into a bunker on this one, imo.
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Eh to me most of the last second “ices” I have seen, have been countered by the player missing the kick they were ice on and making the real one they get to redo.
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Which is why I’ve always thought the best strategy to get into a kicker’s head is to vary the use of those timeouts, so that there’s a seed of doubt on the first one as to whether a time out is coming.
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I don’t think there is a stat for that, at least that is published, but my observation is the opposite. Kickers still make the ones under 40 and hit a comparable percentage of the longer ones they usually do,
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What gets me sometimes, Mac, is that they make the kick when timeout is called just before the snap and they carry through to show that TO doesn’t affect them. Then they miss the following one that counts.
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Richt will never change his nature towards the end of a game. He always will focus on playing not to lose, over playing to win by scoring more points. There always will be a time in the 4th quarter (sometimes even the 3rd) if we are up on an opponent that Richt will look at the clock and start calculating how to make it get to :00. This results in games being tighter than they should and other games being lost. This will never change as long as he is the coach
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Plenty of counter-examples, friend.
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I wouldn’t worry too much about a close game on the road against a Vanderbilt team that is familiar with uga. I remember Penn state last year being a little closer than I thought it would be…
You’re going to get everyone’s best shot every week. Say what you want about Richt, but he keeps the bulldogs consistently in contention, and he does things the right way. Other teams accept his “problems”with open arms. Richt has more integrity than any other coach in the league.
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I wouldn’t worry too much about a close game on the road against a Vanderbilt team that is familiar with uga. I remember Penn state last year being a little closer than I thought it would be…
You’re going to get everyone’s best shot every week. Say what you want about Richt, but he keeps the bulldogs consistently in contention, and he does things the right way. Other teams accept his “problems”with open arms. Richt has more integrity than any other coach in the league.
IMO, any true college football fan or alum would rather suffer a loss than an NCAA investigation, sanctions, vacated wins and half the team suspended/ineligible.
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Why in the Sam Hill would you use that handle here?
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Why the Sam hill not?
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You do know which blog you’re on, right? I’m a little offended you didn’t choose my name as your handle. I’ve given them more fits than Corch Irvin Meyers.
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Ha ha that’s great!
Truth is I use this handle everywhere. I’m not trolling, I’m genuinely interested in what the Georgia fans have to say about their team and its performance, as well as its competition. Georgia is capable of getting there every season. I believe they are due, and would like to see it happen instead of the usual suspect, if you know what I mean…
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Our kicking game still makes me nervous. The rugby punts are okay except when you get the one like above that absolutely stopped dead like a wedge shot. Morgan doesn’t look comfortable at all on field goals. I do like that we’re kicking it into the end zone more this year. But if we’re going to play conservative this year, then we will need a great defense and solid kicking game.
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“Our kicking game still makes me nervous. ” No shit, Russ. More than quarterback play for me…inconsistency in the kicking game is gonna, sooner or later, put our Pruett Project defense in a spot they can’t get us out of.
Rodrigo Blankenship, come on down.
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I think this week we find out whether or not we really didn’t want / need to open up the playbook just yet or we’ve been accommodating a quarterback who hasn’t been in the system too long. I sure hope it’s the former.
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Yes, I have no problem with how we handled those two games but it is time to take the training wheels off and see how we do.
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If what we’ve seen is what we’ve got, we’re looking at probably 5 losses minimum this season.
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Oh, puh-leeze. Like there aren’t a whole bunch of other teams on the schedule with issues at least as big as Georgia’s. And less talent, too.
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Exactly. Even with our hot mess at QB, there is precisely one team on our schedule that I feel like we positively lose to today. A few other toss ups, but to say 5 at a minimum implies that you think UGA goes at best 5-5 the rest of the way.
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I’m not so pessimistic as to think we’re looking at five loses just yet. That sort of despair only sets in after an inexplicably disastrous loss like we saw at Florida last year. I’m just saying I sure hope we are ready to open things up a bit this week. And we certainly need to be hitting on all eight by October 3. So the OBC gives us our only real chance to see how we look against something other than a cupcake.
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JC, Ima start calling you Schleprock. “Wowsy wowsy woo woo, woe is me …”
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Oh no JC, more like 7 or 8.
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JC, did you have a wedding or something this weekend? You should have watched some other SEC games.
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Ooops, forgot to change my name back. My bad.
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I think a good example of how to be aggressive and safe would be the 4th quarter drive in the South Carolina game 2 years ago at Sanford. Got the ball back on our own 1 yrd line after the defensive goal line stand. Ran up the middle for no gain. On second down faked the run and dropped a quick outlet to Hicks at fb for 30+ yrd gain. That set up the all encompassing time eating drive to close it out. It was a beautiful and safe call, that utilized our athletic ability at fb. Would like to see something like that when the stakes are higher.
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Absolutely. Plenty of “just as safe, but slightly less conventional” calls that have a much higher probability of working (getting at least first down yardage). As I see if from Richt’s perspective: Difference between 2013 and 2015 Dawgs is his confidence in our defense–which is the Senator’s point. However, we will lose games that we should otherwise win b/c of this overly cautious, conservative approach (just as we did when BVG was at the defensive helm)–they will just be lower scoring affairs.
Guess I can always hope that they’ll come a season where Georgia has a competent defense AND utilizes an offense that doesn’t handcuff itself by burying 80% of the playbook and/or invoking game strategies that became obsolete in the Reagan years.
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So far this season:
39 pass attempts, 3TD and no interceptions.
79 rushes, 6 TD and 1 fumble lost.
I think CMR is right about where he wants to be with regard to aggressiveness on offense.
Almost most surprising to me so far is the lack of throws to the TE’s and FB’s. From Shotty’s time in St. Louis, I thought we would be seeing more of that.
Most surprising to me, have we run toss right/toss left yet? Maybe I missed it, but I don’t think I’ve seen that run yet.
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Very few passes to fullbacks or tailbacks, not many screens, not many toss sweeps. Our longest play against Vandy was an inside run where the line didn’t even open up a hole. Chubb for 68 yards.
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In that situation up 24-6, facing the prospects of putting our D back on the field vs. their O, I don’t think the risk of stopping the clock via incompletion or otherwise (i.e. penalty) was worth it. Up 3 scores. A running clock or forcing Vandy to use a timeout was more valuable. Would love a booming punt but don’t need it…just get it off/out of our D redzone. Like everyone else, I don’t get the sense that Richt felt like the outcome was ever in doubt and Vandy’s offensive results in the game up to that point speak for themselves. Know the game situation AND your opponent. I don’t think we see quite the same sequencing if we’re facing the prospects of giving the ball back to an opponent who is “in” the game and has had at least some moderate success moving the ball.
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I am not sold on how T-totally-awesome our defense is yet. I don’t even put them in the same conversation as Van Gorder’s best units. We can get conservative when they play with some consistancy.
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Missed field goal has been a part of every loss since he got here. Even when we get blown out by booger eaters last year, a missed FG changed momentum. I have zero confidence in him. Wish Billy Bennett had some eligibility.
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You have forgotten the Billy Bennett Jacksonville Experience(TM).
Not to be confused with the Billy Bennett Baton Rouge Experience(TM).
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Here’s what bothers me: 1) What’s the sense of having a game plan or situation plan if the HC is gonna interject with his preferences or gut feelings? And 2) if you’re gonna pull rank over Schotty versus the weakest team in the sec, how does that build trust for the much tougher games to come?
I personally think giving up like this when you can ice a game is a gutless, not ‘conservative’, approach. And his unwillingness to recognize the ultraconservative flaw in his coaching has come back to bite CMR’s butt many times over the years. A faint heart never won a fair maiden. Playing not to lose is why we don’t have championships.
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Well, except for the two Richt’s got when he was playing conservatively on offense. 😉
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Yeah….remember that time against #2 ranked Florida where we had the lead and a 3rd and long and instead of throwing the ball to Malcolm Mitchell on the outside, we ran the ball with Gurley up the gut to try to get 5 yards and came up short and then lost because of that?
Wait? That’s not what happened? You mean we beat the #2 team in the country and went to the SECCG?
I actually think it’s the opposite of gutless. Because, frankly, I can remember having this conversation 100 times (we should have won by more, Richt took his foot off the gas, etc. etc. etc.) but I don’t remember having many conversations of ‘we were up 17 but let them back in the game because we went too conservative’. It takes guts to keep doing what’s working despite the fact that people complain about it.
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Ever heard of the phrase “Exception that proves the rule…”?
Not really sure that pointing to an example where Richt was successful b/c he wasn’t laughably cautious in the 4th quarter of a one score game really furthers your point. Unless your point is that Richt is not ALWAYS laughably cautious. But of course, the Senator’s original post points that out already.
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Over the past 4 years, Richt is 10-9 in games decided by 1 score or less. So my particular issue is with this: “And his unwillingness to recognize the ultraconservative flaw in his coaching has come back to bite CMR’s butt many times over the years.”
Sorry to use a single example to make a point. I know that wasn’t up to your lofty standards Mn Dawg. So let’s look at how many times in the 9 losses by one score or less since 2011 where being ultraconservative bit him in the rear? (e.g. arguably cost the game)
There’s a layup…the squib against Tech. Great. We can all agree on that one.
-But against Carolina, the Richt haters were saying the exact opposite…that you don’t try to throw the ball on 1st and 4 and instead should just give it to Gurley three times.
-Was it ultraconservatism that cost the game against Nebraska or was it a complete breakdown on a 99 yard pass?
-Did ultraconservatism cost the game against Auburn or was it the inability of three defenders to knock down the ball?
-What about at Vandy? Was it ultraconservatism or was it special teams crapping the bed and two phantom targeting calls?
-@ Clemson? Help me understand the ultraconservatism there?
-The SECCG against Bama? With a 3 point lead and 5 mins left in the 4th quarter, they called a pass on 1st down. Was that ‘ultraconservatism’?
-Here’s example #2…the field goal attempt in the 3rd OT against Michigan State where he pounded the ball to set up Walsh. That’s pretty conservative.
-There was nothing conservative about the 2011 game against South Carolina.
UGA won 10 games by 1 score or less over the same time period.
There are two examples in the 19 games decided by 1 score or less of that gives any plausibility to the idea that Richt’s conservative playcalling cost UGA a game.
I agree with the Senator’s point…that there were a lot of wins but also a lot of angst over style points. I think the record does, too.
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However, with your “last four season’s analysis” you seem to be missing one of the Senator’s primary points: that Richt’s cautious tendency really comes out when he has a somewhat competent defense…or at least one he thinks he can trust. This hasn’t been the case for awhile–certainly not in the past 4 years. The idea being that now that we’re seeing a (more) competent defense, we need to again prepare ourselves for a more conservative Richt.
As to the number of games that this approach has cost us over the years, is obviously debatable. You say 2 out of 9 losses. OK (although I’d add the Vandy game in 2013 as having contributed to a loss). When you consider this being the era of not trusting our defense–that’s still too many. Especially when it’s not apparent that this conservative approach significantly contributes to winning those close games you reference. In fact, some of these close wins were only close because Georgia went into an offensive shell for parts of the game–only to let the other team creep closer. The UT and UF games (both one score wins), immediately come to mind.
Some may disagree, but a win doesn’t necessarily prove one’s strategy/philosophy as “right,” just as a loss doesn’t prove one’s strategy wrong. A thinking football fan understands this distinction, and to me it’s part of the fun of analyzing the game.
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I think you’re missing the point. I’m not disagreeing with the Senator. I’m disagreeing with the commenter W Cobb Dawg and now with you.
You may be right that a win doesn’t prove one’s strategy right, but I think 138 of them, 4 SEC Championship Games, 2 SEC Championships, and 7 top 10 finishes is proof enough that the man can coach a little.
And here’s my problem…I think a thinking football fan has evidence for the broad, sweeping theories they posit. What do you mean that U10 creeped closer because UGA went into an offensive shell?
Are you talking about 2013 when we were down JSW, Gurley, Marshall…Morgan missed a kick…and then they had to rely on JJ Green and Brendan Douglas at RB? Are you really saying that Richt’s conservativeness got U10 back in that game? Putting out 3rd teamers out of necessity is an offensive shell?
2012 when they were up 27-10 and then Murray and Marshall fumbled to let U10 back in the game? I mean, I know they scored like 50 points….but offensive shell!!!!
Maybe 2014? A game that UGA was behind in 10-0. Well….when UGA scored to make it 21-10, Richt must have gone into the shell. I mean, U10 scored on the next possession to pull back within 4 points before the half prior to UGA getting the ball back. But shell, right? And then they went to 5 straight passing plays and 6 of 8 to start the 3Q…SHELL!!!!…They did finally break through to take a 11 point lead. That must be when he went into the SHELL, right? I mean, again U10 scored on their next possession to pull back within 3. Then we went up 10…must be SHELL time….wait, U10 scored again prior to a UGA possession. I CAN TOTALLY SEE HOW RICHT’S OFFENSIVE SHELL DUMBNESS MADE THAT A CLOSE GAME.THEY TOTALLY SHOULD HAVE SCORED LIKE 70 POINTS<—sarcasm
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This was a common theme this weekend. The dawgs, Jacksonville st. and the Falcons had a chance to ice the game without dramatics if they got a first down late in the fourth. They all chose to run the ball three times against a defense selling out to stop that. I couldn’t figure out how a play action dump to tight end, slot, or back was so risky when they had all done it with success throughout the game. The dawgs pulled it out against an over matched opponent. It cost Jack st. a win. The Falcons had to rely on a missed fg to hang on. I think it goes back to a point you make often that coaches would rather lose being conservative than take a risk and get grilled for it.
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Absolutely! A common theme every weekend, IMO.
This coaching tendency is especially true in the NFL where conventional wisdom (even if long-outdated) reigns supreme overall. In fact, the number of last minute, these days hurry-up scoring drives is so commonplace in the NFL and in college football (where the clock-stoppage rules make it even easier), it’s incredible to me that this old habit of punting it away and relying on the D is not considered the RISKIER strategy.
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Spencer Hall’s statement on this is appropriate:
http://www.businessinsider.com/lasting-relationships-rely-on-2-traits-2014-11
Second: coaching ball-control football at the college level and relying on the defense to bail out is a great recipe for losing games 14-10 when one of your DBs gets distracted by a butterfly and lets a receiver get wide open behind them. We know because WE SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS WATCHING THIS EXACT CRAP. It’s gonna happen, because you can’t run low-margin football strategy with college talent that yields high margins of error.
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My goodness at the Debbie Downer’s on here. It feels like we almost lost to Jax St or something… For goodness sake, the last time I checked, we are 2-0 and 1-0 in the division.
Look at how our division & conference foes performed this weekend – a lot of bed wetting imo. The only team honestly that raises my blood pressure, besides bama, is the folks in the bluegrass state and I mean come on, it’s still UK….
Now let’s go whip some Spurrier ass or just beat them by 1 and I don’t care how it looks, just win baby, it is all that matters.
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