Obviously, I do not have what it takes to be a successful offensive coordinator, because this goes straight over my head.
When you’ve got two players the caliber of Chubb and Sony, shouldn’t offensive coordinator Jim Chaney be finding ways to get them in the backfield together as much as he can?
Many fans may think so but Smart disagrees.
“I do think you have to be careful because as defensive coordinator, I prefer to see those two guys together because one of them doesn’t have the ball,” Smart said. “When one of them doesn’t have the ball, I always say what’s the other one doing – is he a professional blocker? Does he know how to block? Does he know how to go out and block in space, block people and cut people?”
Um, isn’t the question a defensive coordinator has to ask first is “which one of those studs is going to get the ball?”
Take one of my favorite plays from 2014, from the Georgia-Auburn game, as an example. Dial the clip up to the 3:39 mark and you’ll see Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb together, at last.
What happens on that play after Chubb gets the ball in his hand is a blast, of course, but watch how they set Chubb up by making the play look like it’s designed to go Gurley’s way. All three linebackers commit to his direction before Mason shovels the ball to Chubb. It’s just as effective in creating space in which Chubb can motor as a great block by the fullback.
Indeed, that’s the point behind running the RPO plays that Smart goes on to tout. So color me a bit befuddled.
Eh, maybe this is just a matter of degree. Kirby does say he’s not objecting to ever putting both on the field at the same time.
“That’s the not the best thing they do. If they don’t have the ball, that’s really all they’re doing. So, we want some packages for them together, and they do block well, they’re willing to, but that’s not what they do best,” Smart said. “They’re best with the ball in their hands and we’re finding ways to get them the ball. We’ll have some packages for them together, and we’ll see if we can create some things from that.”
But he doesn’t sound like a man who’s heart is in it, either. Like I said, I’m definitely not coaching material, because I could get a little excited watching the two of them come out of the huddle into an offensive set.
Get The Picture 
Sony in the slot, motioning across for the jet sweep with Chubb in the backfield would spread the defense out. A double fake with a Sony running a wheel route would be nice too. All of those wishes require some OL to block.
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Exactly. Sony can fill the hole that McKenzie created
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All of those wishes require Mike Bobo at OC.
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Amazing how that Auburn game was arguably the last time a UGA game was actually fun to watch.
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Kirby needs to let the OC coach the offense and stay out of it…too many cooks in the kitchen last year and it showed…i understand he’s a micromanaging son of a gun but i dont believe his forte at bama was offensive play calling
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Bingo!
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04 Auburn went undefeated when Cadillac and Ronnie Brown both returned for their Sr. season and were often in the backfield together. Al Borges was the OC. Call him up if you’re confused.
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That Auburn play is a good example of misdirection at work, but like David Green’s hidden ball (also basically misdirection) you can’t do it all the time because they figure out and you get clobbered. I’m a big fan of good blocking as a rule, with some occasional trickery to keep them on their toes.
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Not well stated at all but I think the idea is that if both are out there, one of them is going to be asked to do something they aren’t as good at as running with the ball. Would putting the specialist out there and resting the other TB be more advantageous overall?
What’s frustrating to me is that we saw how to really screw up with that on our last play call vs. Vandy. Why have Chubb at FB when he should have been given the ball? An experienced FB probably identifies the LB who stuffed 16 there.
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I guess the math also indicates that if only one of them is in there, he’s the one to key on because he needs the ball to be effective.
I can see why you’d play them separately, but the whole “one of them isn’t getting the ball when they play simultaneously” thing is one of those things that sounds really smart, but isn’t so smart when you actually think about it. Not being predictable when you cant just overpower everyone with talent all up and down your 2 deep roster sounds really smart to me, but what do I know?
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Well, if you watched that entire video you saw about 20 runs by Chubb and all but that one cited was with him by himself in the backfield. I guess they could have keyed on him, but he still averaged over 7 yards a carry. You have to look at the whole picture.
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That’s assuming we have more talented players to insert that allow us to leave Chubb or Sony on the bench.
Any OC would have a lot of splainin to do if he lost a game because of underutilizing his two most talented and experienced players.
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That’s exactly my thought. Seems like this is an Alabama philosophy that doesn’t translate yet to UGA.
Alabama doesn’t play two running backs at the same time because the guy taking the spot of the second running back is a five-star WR, flanker, TE, etc. playmaker.
The guy taking our spot is most likely a three-star WR or walk-on FB, whose playmaking threat is to block for the one RB who everyone knows is going to get the ball.
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Sort of like the Vandy game last year?
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Opposing Defenses weren’t keying on the Fr. Chubb when Guurley was on the field, I get your point of view but I also get Smarts
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Maybe this?
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/10/hey_coach_why_dont_you_run_the.html
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That was a fun read, especially knowing now that GA Southern was the “shit through a tin horn game”. Here is another interesting quote from that article that might explain the offensive philosophy this year:
“But it really is the kind of team we have,” he [Saban] said. “I’ve tried to explain it. It’s physical. We have big guys, and they do better when we run direct runs, right at people. When we try to move sideways, they don’t move sideways as well as they move straight ahead. It’s kind of like the Mack truck theory. “
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With those two, if the line can just hold their ground and Eason can hit the outside shoulders of the receivers everything else is just goofing around.
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Is Kirby from Moultrie? He’s beginning to sound like a coach from Moultrie.
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Bainbridge, Moultrie, comme si comme ca
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So by that logic we shouldn’t use the play action pass because if the running back isn’t blocking he shouldn’t be on the field.
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As someone who has wondered about this for most of last season…this supposed explanation is kind of infuriating. Pretty good example of out-thinking yourself….and apparently failing to recognize this upon months of reflection.
The decoy/defensive uncertainty factor has significant value all it’s own–especially when you’re as predictable as UGA was in 2016.
Second, Kirby uses faulty logic. If they’re not being asked to do what they do best…they shouldn’t be on the field?! Aside from the value as a decoy, the basic question should actually be whether they can do what you’re asking them to do as good as the player that would otherwise be in the lineup instead of them.
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Has Kirby even watched any film from 2014 before Sony hurt his shoulder when he made teams miserable while he was in the slot with Gurley, Chubb or Marshall at running back? Damn, I blame Bobo for giving us some of these ideas of how to get playmakers on the field.
Yes, that Auburn game (or the OBS’s last visit to Sanford) was the last time a game in Sanford was fun to watch.
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So he must have forgotten about the vandy game where they ran Chubb out as a professional blocker, not once but twice, with the game on the line.
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Exactly. And had McKenzie at tailback. Genius.
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Kirby is a rah rah lackey coach not a defensive mastermind
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The more Kirby talks, the more worried about our future I become!
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Let’s take CKS’s logic to the extreme. If you are going to call a running play, you should have your 10 best OL on the field with Chubb taking a direct snap. After all, it doesn’t do any good to make the D wonder what the play is going to be. The only important thing is beating the man in front of you.
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Also, see the second play of this highlight.
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