… everybody talks about execution, but nobody does anything about it.
Coach Mark Richt and his offensive staff went to the game film Monday night to break down every third down this season after the Bulldogs managed to convert just 4 of 14 in a 38-31 loss at Tennessee last Saturday. That left the Bulldogs with a miserable 29 percent conversion rate on the season, just 18 of 62, which ranks 124th of 127 teams nationally.
Quarterback Greyson Lambert said the team had an extra focus with one more practice period than usual Wednesday to work on the issue. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said he talked about it “at length” when he met with the quarterbacks.
“We do need to put a bigger emphasis on third down,” Greyson Lambert said. “I think we’ve been doing that … Most of it comes from executing. That’s kind of the magic word we’ve kind of been saying a lot lately.”
There is no easy fix, however, for three-and-outs and having to punt.
“I think there’s a million different reasons why,” tight end Jeb Blazevich said. “We just have to figure out the one that works and the one that works for us.”
Georgia’s problems have come a season after the Bulldogs were eighth in the nation on third down at 49.7 percent.
Quite a drop there, peeps.
Execution has been so bad at times that Lambert can’t even bring himself to say it.
On third-and-10 or more, Lambert is 12 of 17 for 165 yards, according to cfbstats.com. Lambert on third-and-7 to 9 is 2 of 10 for 12 yards and on third and-4 to 6, he is 0 for 7.
Even he can’t explain that head-scratcher.
“I don’t really know how to answer that one,” Lambert said. “I guess it just kind of comes down to that word that starts with an (execution). I don’t really have an answer.”
The dreaded “E” word.
Get The Picture 
Hey Greyson, I have an answer for you. You have no idea how to execute because you apparently check down instantly from your first read, which may actually have the possibility of gaining 10 yards or more to your third read, which is a RB who is .6 yards over the line of scrimmage and uncovered because, voila, no one cares. And, he catches the ball, is tackled within 2-3 yards and you have created another 3 and out. There’s your answer.
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can’t disagree there, he check down WAY too quick. Was hoping he was over it after the Vandy game but that is a tough habit to break I suppose. There is a Chicago song in there somewhere.
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Man if only there were a group of people who could recruit and develop players to execute.
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Like a life coach but for football?
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HAHAHA
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LMAO.
I would be willing to pay such group of people LITERALLY millions of dollars per year if they could just recruit and develop players to execute.
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There was a game? where the Dawgs got first downs usually in 2 plays?
That also hurt the third down conversion rate?
I still think third down Is a good down to use the TEs as primary receivers.
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Remember the great John McKay quote:
Q: Coach, how do you feel about your team’s execution?
A: Oh I’m all for it!
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This is exactly what I thought of reading this post. John McKay might have as many great one-liners as the OBC.
This one also works for the UT game: “We didn’t tackle well today. But we made up for it by not blocking.”
I also like this one a bunch:
On a game-winning 27-yard field goal by Bill Capece, who kept alive the Bucs’ playoff hopes in 1982: “Capece’s kick? No, I’ve never seen anything that gutty. Oh, once in World War II, I saw a guy pull nine people out of an airplane. Besides that, it was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen.”
http://www.tbo.com/sports/bucs/the-wit-of-john-mckay-34909
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Spurrier was good, but nobody touches McKay for quotability.
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The 0-14 squad steered by S.O.S. at the controls. Again, we’re back to the circle of life….
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The stats in 3rd and manageable are atrocious. If the defense and punter were playing well enough to play field position, maybe some of the 3 and outs would be OK. Since they aren’t you have to use your offense to change field position.
When’s the last time we killed a punt inside the 5?
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I don’t know. But I do know the last time I saw a punt net about 15 yards of field position delta for our opponents.
Our special teams have been too special for too long.
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And if it is true that we are well under our permitted scholarship levels, why can’t we find some money for a high quality punter and placekicker, even two or three at those positions? Punting is atrocious. Why can’t we get a punter like the Vols have every year with a last name of Colquitt? Those guys are interbred for the task, it seems. Sheesh. I would love to see a player with a foot who could punt of 45+ yards and more importantly, a hang time of 5+ seconds…..I guess McGarity likes his budget where it is. It looks like the product has no effect on revenue, so why bother?
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What kills me is that we get 4-5 games into a season and after an epic face-plant (or two), decide THATS the time to focus on execution, tackling, ball security, etc., etc…
WTH are they doing in practice the weeks leading up?
And don’t coaches that have a bit of experience under their belt already learn these lessons?
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hmm…..while it has to be addressed I see Lambert as the type of kid that can get it in his head. With all the emphasis on third downs I hope he isn’t thinking about it too much tomorrow. Kind of a damned if you do damned if you don’t but Lambert strikes me as a bright kid, probably tough for him to block out some of the noise sometimes. Hope he can push it aside and let ‘er rip.
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^This. Makes me worried about him getting a case of the yips on third down. I’m starting to think the best solution is just to give him one of Cojones’ brownies the night before the game.
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I feel exactly the same way.
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Bluto…please start using some sort of marker system for the comments…you know, like the Chinese restaurants…an asterisk for “spicy” maybe an ampersand for “this shit will make you want to slit your rests in humiliation that you are associated with people like this?”
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Like that’s gonna stop you from reading ’em… 😉
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Of course not, but you could at least warn a guy….or “If you make to the end of the comments on this thread you win a chocolate Easter bunny?”
“Doom alert?”
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The Easter bunny is hollow.
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Wish they’d have a meeting to figure out why teams keep scoring 38 a game.
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I think you’ve been a bit overzealous in your defense of the offense, but the real story of Richt’s problems has been mediocre defense. They haven’t finished higher than 4th in the SEC in YPP and higher than 5th in scoring since the bloom started coming off in 2008, which is also incidentally as far back as cfbstats goes.
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You look at the yards per rush and per pass, both are top 20 nationally. Offense is not the issue, that’s for sure. Yes, the defense hasn’t shown up int he last 2 games.
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Both offense and defense are below the performance levels of what most expected but unquestionably, the defense is the bigger issue….and it was the major culprit in our losses last year as well.
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YPR and YPP don’t tell the whole story. Georgia’s offense has been feast or famine, explosive but inconsistent. So its sitting 53rd in the country in success rate and 2nd in IsoPPP. Overall, it’s 32nd nationally in S&P+, 19 spots higher than the defense, but not good. These last two games have been a complete team effort in shitting the bed.
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Just know 2 things for sure:
1- Lambert is not why we are 4-2.
2- 3rd down conv rate is not why we are 4-2, look at Bama and Ohio St.
Look at Pruitt if you want a scapegoat.
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Sigh. He and it are part of the reason the team is 4-2. The Senator has done other posts about the defense’s flaws. You need to accept that the offense has some too. Or delude yourself. Whatever.
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Only flaws on offense are lack of NFL receivers. I must have missed all those posts about the defense being the reason for 4-2, seems like it’s pick on Lambert week.
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Is he a relative of yours? You seem awfully defensive of a mediocre college QB.
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No, I am blown away by the kid so far. You related to Pruitt, must be to defend a mediocre coach?
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Why ignore our failures on offense against quality opponents? In recent years we’ve completely disappeared on offense for large stretches of games against South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Boise St, Oklahoma St, Mizzou, Tennessee, UCF, Colorado, and more.
A few weeks ago we had 10 three and outs against Alabama. 10. TEN.
Against Alabama, offensive stagnation and special teams miscues let the game get out of hand. The defense actually played well until forced to walk the plank by O/ST.
There are other games when the DEF brings the suck to complement our suckery on O/ST or derail our success on O.
Our problems run much deeper than one underperforming unit…
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“Blown away” in what way?
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Would love to answer, but Senator has asked me to refrain from praising our quarterback.
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Athens, I’m not ignoring anything, just know factually Bama’s winning without being great on 3rd down conv, not cause of us being 4-2.
Offense has it’s flaws in lack of experience and production at WR outside of Mitchell and lack of production from the tight ends, the tight ends are not getting enough separation on their routes to get balls thrown their way. Besides Mitchell, it’s slim pickings for targets in the pass game, and teams are keying on Mitchell to limit his effect.
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here’s the winner. What was the Irk saying “if we score, we might win. if they don’t score, we won’t lose.” Our defense needs to stop someone. do you think FU is good because the offense is rolling it up on people? No, their defense is really good. Look what they did to UT. I bet Mizzou scores more than 3 on us this week too. Games and Championships are won at the LOS and on Defense. the Dawgs aren’t performing well enough in those areas
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TN & Ala are the only 2 offenses Pruitt’s faced in the top 50 in scoring, and he got embarrassed both times.
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Coach Russell told us, “I don’t give a crap what our offense does, because we are only going to be on the field for 3 plays and those assholes are going to punt” The man never lied..
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Is this really a personnel problem? More and more, our schemes and general offensive approach look dated to me. No running quarterback. Ever. Predictable play-calling and “pro-style” set. This offense was devised about 25 years ago, and it seems to require a quarterback on the level of Tom Brady to run. Why not adapt and change and utilize athletic quarterbacks? I think we need an overhaul on both sides of the ball, philosophically speaking, to keep up in the SEC.
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I can see how you’d think that Georgia’s offense isn’t keeping up with the rest of the SEC. But that’s not really the case.
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Alabama hasn’t had a Tom Brady-type at any point in Saban’s tenure, and they seem to do just fine with that “antiquated” offense.
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Well, Saban is not at UGA. If he were, the defense would make our offense a moot point many days.
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Georgia’s offenses have finished 3rd, 8th and 6th the last three years in S&P+. And 2013 was a year when half of the offense was lost at the midpoint of the season. They were on pace to finish first second before that.
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How about scoring? Ten points against Bama. (OK, it’s Bama). But 17 offensive points against Tennessee? And Vanderbilt? That is not good offensive football to me. We have had one good offensive game in the SEC this year, IMO, and USC’s defense is awful.
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Against UT, if Morgan doesn’t miss a makeable field goal and Davis holds on that pass, it’s 27 offensive points. How are those related to scheme?
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But those things didn’t happen. The truth is that our scoring is down significantly against decent teams. With our struggling defense and special teams, the offense is one more reason for our mediocrity.
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You’ve dodged my question: how is that related to scheme?
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I guess I don’t follow exactly. How is our lack of scoring this year not related to scheme? We are getting out-coached and out-prepared each week as best I can tell. I don’t just blame a kid for dropping a pass; the coaches aren’t adapting, aren’t doing what it takes for us to get in the end zone. Our talent level and players aren’t our problem, IMO.
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Georgia is fourth in the conference in scoring. How is that “falling behind”, exactly?
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Seriously? What about our ppg stats in SEC games? Scoring lots on the patsies (which likely includes SC this year) has not translated into scoring on good teams. Again, I admit CPJ and the defense have become awful. But our offense has also been bad these last couple of weeks and also struggled against Vandy.
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Scoring on the patsies is something every team in the conference does.
I’ve shown you ppg and ypp numbers that show Georgia’s squarely in the conference pack. You don’t like ’em, okay. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t meaningful in response to your question about scheme.
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True. But Bama, for instance, only scored 30 on Monroe, vs. our whatever, so I maintain that SEC scoring is more meaningful overall. Can our schemes hold up against elite defenses? Are they too complex for most college quarterbacks? I think we should be better than we are at every level right now, and IMO these questions will need to be asked if our offense does not improve.
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I see both points here. You’re right that the aggregate numbers say we’re pretty good on offense. And we are, particularly against lousy teams.
But, in our losses, our offense has been atrocious. We had 10 three and outs against Alabama. Our only success was a meaningless Nick Chubb run.
That’s probably why people feel this way. Against stronger defenses, our offense sometimes goes into a shell for long stretches.
In some of those games, we might even put up some garbage stats/points towards the end, which help the aggregate numbers. When we got Blacked Out by Bama, we eventually put up some decent numbers on offense. But the game had already been decided by then.
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I’m not discussing the offense’s quality. I’m responding to a question that Georgia’s offensive scheme is outdated.
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Now, we are back to the plan being a good one. It’s the players who can’t execute the plan. I’m ready to turn the page because more bitching and moaning isn’t going to change anything, but aren’t we just recycling old excuses now? Didn’t we hear this same thing on the other side of the ball a few years ago? Who are we trying to protect with that excuse, Schotty or Lambert?
How about we just call it like it is? The offensive line is not opening holes against 8 in the box. The QB doesn’t want to throw intermediate passes. It’s either short or deep, which means the defense can play tight on the underneath stuff and hope the pass rush can get to Lambert when the play is designed to go deep and force him to check down, which he is more than happy to do. If there is no threat of completing anything beyond quick slants or screens or deep bombs, the offense can’t force defenses out of stacking the box to get the running game going. That’s why there have been a lot of 2nd and 9.
Coaching is as much about the Jimmys and the Joes as it is the Xs and Os. Right now, what Lambert can execute doesn’t match what the coaches want in their gameplan. Executing better might only happen when one of those things changes.
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Anyone pointed out that Vandy, TN and Bama all have a top 20 nationally ranked 3rd down defense? Perhaps that factors in.
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They couldn’t have done it without us
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“That left the Bulldogs with a miserable 29 percent conversion rate on the season, just 18 of 62, which ranks 124th of 127 teams nationally”
That left Greg with only one option – executing better contract extension offers for the entire coaching staff.
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Issue is not 3rd down conversions.
Alabama converts 34%, Ohio St 36%.
Not the issue.
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Remember the Georgia motto: We are going to be very good next year.
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No one’s pointed this out yet. South Carolina hasn’t given up a 151+ passing rating to anyone except Lambert.
UCF 103
NC 115
Ky 121
Miz 139
LSU 150
Lambert 246 passing rating
xplain that.
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And only Garrett Smith (LA-Monroe) has posted a worse QB rating than Lambert against Alabama.
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Lambert had a fairy tale game against South Carolina. He was on a hot streak that was beautiful to watch.
I don’t see him replicating that day.
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I guess no one but me noticed Pruitt’s stats were compiled against the
No 104 scoring offense La Monroe
No109 Vandy
No 111 SC
and Div 2 Southern University.
Once Pruitt faced a No 23 (TN) and No 39 (Bama) scoring offense, he gavew up 38 points in both games.
But sure, the problem is….Lambert.
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You really think nobody here has been critical of Pruitt in the last week?
Again, it’s clear you love Lambert. Move on.
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Senator, with all due respect, my point is let’s get to the real issue. As Bama proved, it’s not turnover margin or offensive 3rd down conversion rates. It’s defense. And right now, Pruitt’s getting his ass kicked.
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It’s several issues.
You’ve made your point. Repeatedly.
I keep telling people, saying the same thing 20 times doesn’t make your argument any more convincing that it was to start. However, it’s an effective way to get your ass shown the door here. Your choice.
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Ok, I’ll shut about about Lambert if you will.
And I’ll look forward to all those articles from you this week about Pruitt.
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Pruitt looked terrible last week. Awful. But football is a team game. The defense scored a touchdown and also had an interception. The offense scored only 17 points. Put those things together- bad defense and bad offense, and add bad special teams- and you have a loser.
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This. Our failures run deep, bros.
I wish we had a problem as simple as one coordinator. Or one player. Or one underperforming unit.
But no. We have an underperforming program. At many, many levels.
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I don’t think you’re getting how this whole blogging thing works.
But I suspect you will soon.
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You’re going with that? It’s his blog. If I was doing one of these and someone commented that they’d shut up about something if I would, I’d ban them in a heartbeat. But I’m an asshole. You’re lucky the Senator is more generous.
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Alabama scored two non-offensive touchdowns against UGA (pick six, blocked punt). Two other TD drives started on UGA’s side of the field. The facts don’t really back up the idea that Pruitt’s defense gave up 38 points in that game. The defense certainly was not flawless in that game, either, but the offense was a steaming pile of shit in comparison to the defense.
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We can all assign different “value” ratings for things like: offense, defense, coaching, jimmys and joes, effort, motivation, STs, scheme, execution, quarterback, health of key players, play calling, preparation, playing conditions, etc, etc. But understanding it is always,always, a combination of these factors is critical. Too many feel they work in isolation but they all interact in football so any “autopsy” (hope that’s not prophetic) has to examine each factor and assign their own level of contribution to the success or failure of any game.
My heaviest weight to the negative issues we have seen this season are more on the defense with the rush and coverage problems, but OL effectiveness is right up there. Have to survive Mizzou this weekend and spend the next two weeks tweaking.
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Alabama was No 1 in the SEC in scoring defense in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
They won 3 titles during that same run.
That’s a real cause.
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Interesting looking at Alabama’s 3rd down conversion.
2012, 30% against Mich, 22% against Mizzou, 11% against LSU, 33% against us.
And they won the trophy.
Good to now you can overcome that, and find other ways to win, and even Saban struggles with this.
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Wait, is that you, TB? Repetition, cherry-picked stats, general asshatery, they’re all there. Jumping on a new topic to troll is clever.
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