As you read this, I’m on the road to Amelia Island for yet another Cocktail Party weekend, same as I’ve done (with two obvious exceptions) every year since 1979. Call it a head start on what may be the last years of one of college football’s great traditions.
Anyway, you guys know the drill by now. I’ll check in when I can, but don’t expect the posts to flow like they usually do.
And, as always, behave, you scamps.
Filed under Georgia Football
I’ve got a couple of posts from Bud Davis, a Florida Gator I’ve been following on Twitter, regarding advanced stats and how they might apply to what gets schemed by both teams Saturday, that I’m gonna share. There is a lot of good data in them and he’s not trying to push a Florida narrative. The first post is about the two run games. Here’s his conclusion:
Georgia’s run defense is exceptionally good and devoid of any obvious weaknesses. The Florida offense will have to be creative with their rushing attack. Emory Jones & Anthony Richardson might end up being Florida’s most effective ground weapons. Look for Option and QB runs to create number advantages against the Bulldog defense. Florida hasn’t run much Power or Counter in 2021, Mullen may implement more pulling Guards & Tackle as a novel wrinkle against UGA.
Florida’s run defense is more susceptible than the Bulldogs. If the Gators can limit UGA’s interior run game, this side of the ballgame may actually get competitive. Georgia likes to run to the outside, which has been a relative strength for the Gator defense this season. Look for the Bulldogs to test the Gators on Counter, with a pulling Guard & Tackle, to see if Grantham has tidied that up since LSU. Lastly, watch out for Stetson Bennett, he’s a much more competent runner than Gator fans give him credit for.
Will Monken test Grantham with the counter, or will he run things playing off Grantham’s concern about defending the counter? That’ll be fun to watch.
Next is his post about the passing games. Again, I’ll skip to the conclusion:
Florida’s passing offense must play their best game of the season for Florida to win this one. If the Gator’s aren’t able to regularly complete intermediate or deep passes, it’s tough to see the offense scoring very many points. Georgia has been relatively vulnerable against Slants and Go routes, two routes I’d love to see the offense execute with efficiency. Additionally, opposing offenses have been able to sting the Bulldogs on the deep perimeter, where CBs are often in one-on-one situations with WRs. I’d like to see Florida give Copeland or Shorter opportunities here if the OL can buy them enough time. To me, the data indicate that if Florida gets conservative, and tries to rely on Screens, Flats, or Swing passes to move the ball, this UGA defense will likely eat them up.
On the defensive side of the ball, Florida is going to be tested by a very aggressive passing offense. Florida’s DBs and Safeties need to continue to limit deeper completions and keep the game in front of them. The routes I’m most worried about involve Brock Bowers (or another slot receiver) finding gaps in the middle on a Seam, or sneaking across the defense for a Deep Cross. I think Florida has a solid chance to stymie this UGA passing offense if they can limit these routes and make Bennett beat them by throwing to WRs in one-on-one situations.
He’s right about the slant route. I’m surprised other offenses haven’t tested Georgia’s defense more with that. And the last sentence there gets back to my thoughts about whether the staff feels Daniels is good to go. That being said, I think back to last season’s game. Receivers getting open deep wasn’t a problem; Georgia’s quarterbacks hitting open receivers was. Bennett is a much different animal in that regard now.
Anyway, there’s a lot of stuff in both posts worth a look. Take a few minutes to wade through each.
Bob Redman says he’s seen a lot of Florida football. He thinks the Gators have arrived at another one of those “program changing moments that different head coaches made in order to better the team and eventually the program.” Here’s one he mentions:
Fast forward to 2005 when Mullen was the offensive coordinator for head coach Urban Meyer in their first year as the staff at Florida. Florida clawed and scrapped their way to a late third-quarter 17-14 lead only to see the Tigers score a touchdown early in the fourth that the Gators couldn’t answer and that led to an eventual 21-17 loss
In a tunnel underneath the stands with fans celebrating loudly above, myself and the media gathered around to hear Meyer speak. He had tears rolling down his face as he thought about the fight that his defense gave that day…
He also references Tebow’s speech after losing to Ole Miss in 2008. That involved tears, too.
Fast forward to Saturday. Does Dan have his Kleenex ready?
Mullen and his staff seem to be at one of those program defining moments now as they head to Jacksonville on Saturday to play Georgia. He’s hearing the heat from the fans and is trying to wave it off.
… And those fans want to see tears in his eyes. They want him to sequester his coaches on a weekend when LSU runs over his defense for 300+ yards and then figure out just how to stop that. They want the staff to spend time recruiting so that the program doesn’t have scary numbers at cornerback or other positions on the field to where a matchup with Georgia has them pegged as a two-touchdown underdog.
The problem is that Mullen appears to equate whining with crying.
This week honestly hasn’t gone any better. Mullen was asked about the Georgia offense and he couldn’t help but detract from the question everyone has been asking about the Florida quarterback situation.
“I don’t know. Have they named a starting quarterback?” he asked in the middle of talking about the Georgia offense. “I’m sure that’s got to be … that’s shocking. That’s their No. 1 deal, right? Who their starter is. Much bigger than ours. They’re the No. 1 team. So, I’m shocked how anybody’s even looking at our situation.”
I hope we don’t see more of that after the game if Florida loses Saturday.
That makes one of you, Bob.
By the way, he reports that he’s heard that “the defense has been rather chippy at practice for the last two weeks”. Are we headed towards one of those patented Florida pre-game rumbles? I’d love to watch Grantham make an ass out of himself one last time.
Filed under Gators, Gators...
Crap on Mark Richt’s last five years in Athens if you must, but never forget he was a key contributor to this:
That’s one thing he didn’t lose control over. And for that, he has my eternal gratitude.
Filed under The Evil Genius
It seems Jacksonville’s mayor got out a little too far over his skis about the Cocktail Party deal.
According to Mike Griffith, “The University of Georgia has not agreed to the option which would extend the current contract past 2023 and through 2025”. Whether that’s just a negotiating ploy or something more like Kirby getting his way, I can’t say. In any event, I’ll enjoy the status quo while it lasts.
Filed under Georgia Football
My hope is that by Saturday morning, every starter on the offense has chimed in with the observation that he doesn’t know who’s going to be the starting quarterback.
Filed under Georgia Football
Wanna spend 45 seconds getting pissed off? Listen to Greg Sankey bullshit his way through this:
Dude, just say y’all are too cheap to spend the money and don’t care if the product suffers.
Filed under SEC Football
Hell, I’d buy the beers to listen him rag on the Gators.
Filed under The Evil Genius
Get The Picture 