Well, Georgia Southern may not run the same version of the triple option Georgia Tech runs – more shotgun and spread, for example – but the Eagles do continue the use of one proud Paul Johnson tradition.
“Their offense is very unique, watching film,” defensive tackle James DeLoach said. “They have a lot of athletes and they spread the ball out. They get the ball on the perimeter, chop block… [Emphasis added.]
Better watch those knees, boys.
Get The Picture 
Whoever is left standing after Southern should do well against Tech.
LikeLike
It is really kind of disgusting to see this practice so widely known and talked about in an era where we are hit every day with articles and discussion about concern for player safety. There is no credible excuse for the NCAA rules committee to ignore this simple fix.
LikeLike
I agree, they have upped the rules to protect the quarterbacks, they have instilled targeting rules, instilled a zone around a kick receiver but refuse to protect players knees of players. Insanity IMO.
LikeLike
It would be interesting to see if there is any data on the number of knee injuries (major and minor) sustained from teams opposing Tech, Navy, Ga Southern, and the others who chop block. And also the number sustained by those same chop-block schools’ defensive players in practice. The rules should be changed whether the data would show a pattern or not, but such a pattern would make the argument far more compelling..
I’d bet Saban would have that data if he played Tech or one of the others every year.
LikeLike
It goes beyond that to me, although injury data would put an exclamation mark on the issue. Players have to abandon their technique just to protect themselves so the number of injuries do not reflect the danger. They have a choice, let the runner go by them because their hands are protecting the knee joint, or risk knee damage. The player should not have to do this on plays against teams trained to take advantage of a problem the NCAA knows damned well is happening, and being taught by coaches like Fish Fry.
LikeLike
Techs D line ins really thin this year, maybe that the reason
LikeLike
Can our D linemen just start dropping knees on their heads as soon as they dive at their legs?
LikeLike
Put some cleat-marks on the back of some necks
LikeLike
no you drop the knee on the back, if you hit a helmet it hurts. But yes
LikeLike
Push them down and step on them while making the play.
LikeLike
Begging the officials doesn’t help and the other calls they make now on pass interference and blocking downfield should require after-game review boards. At least you could stop the insanity in penalties assessed at game -changing moments.
If you have had a chance to watch the last game again, you clearly could see Mitchell interfered with on three occasions, two of which were TDs and there was not a single call. Later they called one on Mitchell that was equal both ways. A great deal more game outcome calls are out there this year and accounts for a great part of the “luck” or “snakebit” part of losses this and last year. You don’t have to look closely to see the refs’ misses since they are glaring.
The refs have a lot more to do with game outcome now than they have ever before and don’t even get me started on the insanity of the personal foul call (last game a tackle wasn’t engaged and executed until the runner was out of bounds, but no flag).
LikeLike
Let me get this straight; ut’s lousy turf has become a safety issue, but chop blocking hasn’t.
LikeLike