The post-manball era has arrived.

So, in my pre-game analysis for the opener, I’m all in on the key to the game being Georgia’s success running the ball.  Oregon’s two best defenders are their inside linebackers, who are stout playing run defenders.  How would Monken attack the strength of the Duck D?

That’s how a dumbass blogger thinks.  A $2 million a year offensive coordinator says to himself, why try to go at those guys when I can just go around them?  Georgia’s offense spent the entire day — or at least the first seven offensive series — living on the outside, with devastating results.  Dan Lanning’s defense never came up with an answer to it ($$).

“You saw a ton of stuff on the perimeter,” (Oregon safety Bennett) Williams said. “It was all out, quick screens. I think they had one deep ball, and they weren’t running the ball down our throat. It was all perimeter scheme. We schemed for a lot of different stuff, but when it came down to it, we didn’t play the perimeter screens well enough and they know that so they kept going to it.”

It turns out that if you’ve got the talent, you can make a pretty good living taking what the defense gives you.  Stetson Bennett averaged better than a first down on every pass attempt yesterday.  Todd Monken never felt the need to water that kind of production down in the name of balance or will imposition.

But that’s only half the story here.  Check out this notable quote from Kirby Smart after the game:

It’s scoring points is the name of the game. We want people that want to come play in this offense, and I think when you watch what they did today, if you’re watching from home, you’re saying, man, I’d love to play in that offense. They throw the ball around, they toss it around, 30 for 37 for how many yards? I don’t know, but he threw the ball really well. Passes, he threw a lot of passes for a lot of yards. I think that’s a credit to the offensive staff or the planning they had.

Sure, sure, it’s Kirbs doing his always be ‘crootin’ thing, but there’s more to it than that.  In three years, Mr. Impose Your Will has gone from promoting James Coley to run an ineffective manball offense because he didn’t want to risk losing Coley’s recruiting chops to promoting Monken’s offensive scheme as a recruiting tool.  Change doesn’t get much more dramatic than that.  And Georgia is a more dangerous team for it.