Third-and-Grantham was pretty much the ball game, wasn’t it? Coley’s still got things to clean up on the other downs, it appears.
And that Gator defense against the ground game on first down… woof. Kinda obvious Georgia needed to throw more on first down last Saturday.
Get The Picture 
The game never felt in doubt.
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I felt the same way, but if that 3rd down throw isn’t successful, we’re giving them the ball at the 20 (because for sure Camarda is putting it in the endzone) with no time outs and ~2 minutes left. I’d still like our chances, but the pucker factor would have greatly increased.
Hopefully going forward, we hit one of those we missed last Saturday and put separation between us and the rest of our opponents like the stats and flow said we had.
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Grantham fired the A and B gaps on 1st down straight to the mesh point. Swift and Herrien had no chance inside the tackle box. The 3rd down conversions were simply taking what the defense gave up but Coley doesn’t seem eager to do that on 1st down.
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1st down play selection:
Opening drive: 4 drop backs, 1 run (SR: 0%)
Second drive: 3 runs (SR: 0%)
Third drive: 1 drop back, 3 runs (SR: 25%, PassSR: 0%, RunSR: 33%
Fourth drive: 1 drop back, 2 runs (SR: 66%, PassSR: 0%, RunSR: 100%)
Fifth drive: 3 drop backs, 1 run (SR: 50%, PassSR: 66%, RunSR: 0%)
Sixth drive: 1 drop back, 2 runs (SR: 66%, PassSR: 100%, RunSR: 50%)
Seventh drive: 2 drop backs, 1 run (SR: 66%, PassSR: 50%, RunSR: 100%)
Eighth drive: 1 drop back, 1 run (SR: 0%)
That adds up to very nearly an even Run/Pass split, and nothing much was working early. They did find something in the second half, and their biggest plays did come on first down passes (except for Swift’s 30-yard run at the end of the half). I guess the point is that it wasn’t a matter of throwing the ball more on first down.
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For the record, there is a flaw in the metric to my mind. To arrive at the percentages in their stats, they had to count Fromm’s two scrambles as unsuccessful runs, when in reality, they were unsuccessful passes.
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Moar lying statistics! Fromm’s runs were definitely “successful” from a game standpoint…
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Jumps out a bit here too (and Bill C. pointed it out in his advanced box score) but for whatever confluence of reasons, the offense has been terrible on 2nd down all season long.
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3rd down success rate against Bama or LSU won’t come as easy. We need an average of at least 3 to 4 yards per rush to sustain drives against them.
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I think that was the point though. Tire them out using 1st and second downs, keep the ball in our hands, knowing that you could convert on third. Sure we could have thrown more on 1st and second, but that means we just score more an possibly get into a shootout. Seeing as the game was only in doubt on third down on the last drive, it worked to a T.
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Just looking at the FU game, I see why Kirby is so insistent on sticking with what he wants to do. The vanilla and highly predictable 1st and 2nd down plays didn’t often go for much but it opened up things later on. It opened up some passing which seemed to allow us to get some better runs.
Hell, we didn’t panic in the SC game. We just turned it over way too much and still had a chance. I don’t know if our offense is good enough to beat Bama or LSU, and I’ve obviously been concerned about Coley, but it is his first year here and the offense seems to still be developing and improving.
So…fight in a phone both it is. At least we know this team is gonna fight.
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I’m getting what CKS is doing on the defensive side of game management…limiting the opportunities for the opponent to score/advance the football ….kinda looks the same from UGA’s offensive approach…limit the opportunities for the opponent to get the football back to their offense…and we hear Kirby when he talks about explosive offensive plays, if it happens cool, but he ain’t looking for it…..
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I agree. I also think the offensive approach can help the defense. It seems most defenses that are considered good aren’t spending most of the game on the field.
That was really my only gripe about Bobo. I can’t really complain about moving the ball and scoring but it’s nice when the offense controls play count and top. Usually. Be
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“Kinda obvious Georgia needed to throw more on first down last Saturday.”
Aren’t you looking at it wrong? We passed on first down with only a 5.1% greater success rate than with a rush.
UF is the one that should had a much greater success rate passing on 1st vs. rushing.
Help correct my reading of this if I have it wrong.
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Captain obvious here. How long did it take you guys on Saturday to start begging Coley to run off the edge and outside the tackles like I did? I am betting not very long. I kind of lose patience with the repetitions of rushing the middle of their line, when our backs out perform any result we get there with a bounce outside. There were only a couple of times that formula did not work – most of the time it led to 4-7 yard gains. On first and second down, to my memory. I hope Coley/Smart will get off the manhood thing and modify the offense to win – whether that is a passing attack with a variety of schemes or running more creatively. We are not going to see much success on 3rd and long against Auburn, LSU or Bama. Passing on first down and using play action……..why is that so hard? I could care less about optics. Kudos, by the way to our OL in the passing attack. That was the best pass protection I have seen in several years. Just awesome. Run blocking, especially in the middle, not so dominant.
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DAWGGRADING ALERT
Maybe Florida isn’t that good?
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That’s my fear.
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Maybe its Kirby handcuffing Coley more than he did Chaney.
I
m thankful for no missed field goals and that beautiful two point play. If not for the 7 point lead after their last TD. Im not sure I could have controlled my inner Munson.I hope the incoming kicker is really good as a freshman. Where would we have been the last few seasons if we had Alabama`s kickers. No Rose Bowl win no NC game opportunity. Yes it would have been nice if he did not miss one that game. Going forward the offense needs for find the end zone more.
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Let IT be known the Dawgs excel in Slow Starts
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