October 21, 2020 · 7:15 AM

A couple of notes on the running game

Georgia did run the ball effectively against Alabama, but it may surprise you to learn it did so more in one particular direction.

It surprised me, probably because I thought Ben Cleveland was Georgia’s best offensive lineman on the night.

16 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!

16 responses to “A couple of notes on the running game”

  1. eethomaswfnc
    October 21, 2020 at 7:47 AM

    Is it just me or does it feel like McGee has so many backs to split carries with that no one really gets things going? Right tackle seems to continue to be a problem.

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    • biggusrickus
      October 21, 2020 at 8:55 AM

      I’ve never believed that guys get better by getting more carries. If a back is clearly better than the others, then by all means, give him the ball more, but when they’re all kind of the same (which I think White, Milton and McIntosh might be), I don’t think it matters. All three were successful on their limited carries. The problem is not that any one guy didn’t have more than 10 carries, per se. The problem was that combined, they only had 18.

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      • eethomaswfnc
        October 21, 2020 at 9:15 AM

        That totally makes sense. The reason for my question is that if the running back is the only player being substituted takes away the ability to hurry up. If the personnel grouping is exactly the same, you’re giving the defense the opportunity to rotate personnel.

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        • biggusrickus
          October 21, 2020 at 10:57 AM

          That’s another matter. Georgia only seems to want to go fast intermittently in this system, and you can adjust substitutions for that, obviously.

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          • eethomaswfnc
            October 21, 2020 at 11:00 AM

            I’ve just seen so many times over the last 10 years in Athens where the running back pulls himself out and slows the pace. The question is whether you want the back to ask for a sub when you have the defense on its heels with good matchups.

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      • Russ
        October 21, 2020 at 9:23 AM

        Your last sentence is key. Given we have 3 backs all gaining yards, each one should have had 10+ carries each. I don’t care how good the defense is, that will wear them down.

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        • biggusrickus
          October 21, 2020 at 11:24 AM

          I don’t really understand why that wasn’t the plan. Ole Miss had just run the ball 53 times the week before, and Georgia’s strength right now is not in the passing game.

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      • dawg100
        October 21, 2020 at 11:00 AM

        Having watched and played the position, I respectfully disagree. You really do benefit from a rhythm. As Herschel would say, that ball ain’t heavy. There is simply no need to rotate as much as they do in today’s game. That includes the DL that they run on and off the field 50 yards at a clip.

        “Hey, fat guy, run 50 yards in a sprint and get lined up to take on that 325lb tackle and make a play.” Makes NO sense to me that this keeps that DL fresh running him on and off, on and off! Now if they are tired, they should come out. Same with the RB position. Otherwise going with the hot hand is a true aphorism.

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  2. bucketheridge
    October 21, 2020 at 7:48 AM

    You also have Salyer at LT and McClendon at RT. We’re missing Isaiah Wilson pretty badly this year.

    I don’t know how he’s graded out, but Shaffer always seems to be doing a good job at guard every time I notice him.

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  3. jabo052
    October 21, 2020 at 8:33 AM

    No one has stopped us from having success running. No one except ourselves and we best get used to it in this offense. Oh, we’ll still run it and have success but it won’t be enough. It’s never enough for Georgia fans. It might not be enough to keep all of those backs out of the portal, either.

    We’ll probably run a lot against Vandy or Miss State but Monken ain’t got time to sit around and run, run, pass and punt until we impose our will late in the 3rd quarter. We ran it a lot on 1st down vs UT but it seems obvious to me that the man wants to make DC’s actually earn their keep. They aren’t going to be able to draw game film from a hat and know exactly what we’re going to run for every down and distance. Monken appears to be trying to help Bennett with the run game but I expect his play calling to be wide freaking open when/if we get the QB spot sorted.

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  4. jabo052
    October 21, 2020 at 8:42 AM

    I’m sure Kirby and Monken looked at the Bama film and wished they’d run more. It was there for the taking and may have cut down on turnovers while also helping our D. I’m sure that wasn’t the complimentary ball Kirby wants. It’ll never be perfect but I imagine Monken is still looking for that balance in the college game.

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  5. theorginaldawgabides
    October 21, 2020 at 11:18 AM

    We were getting good push in the middle. We’d just ran for 12 yards up the gut on first down to their 25. Then three straight passes, the last an interception. That was the turning point. At the least, a field goal there takes the game into the fourth all tied up, instead of down ten. It could have been a lot different final quarter, as I think we were the ones wearing down their defensive front this time around.

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  6. PTC DAWG
    October 21, 2020 at 11:58 AM

    Run. The. Damn. Ball.

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  7. Dawg in Austin
    October 21, 2020 at 6:04 PM

    I think this is pretty well explained by what each of the lineman do well versus not doing well. Salyer, Shaffer and Hill run block well, as does Cleveland, but they struggle in pass protection at times with speed rushers. McLendon is a much better pass blocker than run blocker.

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