I have to give credit to ESPN’s Cole Cubelic for pointing out that Georgia changed its run blocking scheme in the second half and gained traction in doing so. He even got Smart to agree with him in the post-game interview.
The stats speak for themselves.
Georgia ran it 24 times in the 2nd half for 6.4 YPC and a 62.5% success rate with a .526 EPA
UGA’s much maligned run game saved it in the 2nd half. No coincidence it came on mostly Gap Scheme.
(shoutout to @Dawg_Stats for the info. If you’re a UGA fan he’s a must follow)
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) October 2, 2022
UGA in the 4th Quarter: 15 carries for 108 yards
– 8 carries for 65 yards on UGA’s back-to-back TD drives to start the 4th
– 7 carries for 43 YDS on final drive to kill the clock. Edwards had 6 carries for 42 yards on that drive
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) October 2, 2022
Filed under Georgia Football, Stats Geek!, Strategery And Mechanics
“We remember the Sugar Bowl, I think it my junior year of high school, we let Alabama beat us twice,” Brinson said of a team that also lost to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship game. “We’re not letting Alabama beat us twice. In the Sugar Bowl in 2018, they… thought they should have been in the playoffs and lost to Texas.” -- AB-H, 12/27/23
Get The Picture
Yesterday was an example of what defenses are going to start doing to us the rest of the year. It used to be bring 8 in the box to stop the run and make the quarterback beat you…now it’s going to be blitz like hell and see if the line can handle it and make them run to beat us. Bennett was on the ground too much for comfort last night…if people can’t appreciate the fact he was able to ge the passing stats he got with the pressure he faced, they are seriously under appreciating his poise and talent. A lesser experienced quarterback would’ve been ineffective through the rattling but kid stood in there and did what he had to do.
I also need Washington to keep throwing his legs all over the place and taking out defenders like he did last night. Geez he had a game.
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Yes, the OL improved in the second half, but they should have never looked that piss poor against a vastly inferior Mizzou team. Their DL straight up bullied the OL for most of the game, which I haven’t seen from a Smart team in a long time.
I am very concerned about the OL and its coaching, and the Stacey Searles hire most of us scratched our head over unfortunately is looking like a bad one. Remember – the OL was supposed to be one of our key strengths this year. Instead its a gross liability.
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I am very concerned about the OL and its coaching, and the Stacey Searles hire most of us scratched our head over unfortunately is looking like a bad one. Remember – the OL was supposed to be one of our key strengths this year. Instead its a gross liability. I think you are hitting on the limitations and capabilities of CSS. He is a perfect fit for someone like Mark Stoops. He can take a bunch of 3/4 OL and coach them up to be competitive. When that is your skill set as a coach, you don’t know how to coach them into being dominant. What you end up seeing is his players playing down to the competition — which is what I saw last night.
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Always need at least 2 OL with mean streaks out of the 5 that play. Don’t see 1 yet on that team. Plus Searles is as soft a baby shit his whole life. Kirby will need to spend more time with that group during the week
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Did the OL improve the 2nd half or did we just wear them out by the 4th quarter?
How many times can the draw play with Milton get stuffed before we try something else? We bounced it outside with Edwards at the end for some nice gains.
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Looked like both to me.
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It can be both. We generated 300 yards of total offense in the 2nd half. Cash those FGs in for TDs. I believe we scored on our last 6 possessions and ran out the clock on the 7th.
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I don’t disagree — and I also think those FGs were a result of our inability to be effective in running the ball in the RZ.
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I’m on my first cup of coffee overlooking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the great state of Georgia!! My wife asked me last night if Monken was on vacation….what more can you say
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Cotton, spring ‘85 I was up there somewhere near the TVD. We’d come to a planning halt at zero dark thirty. Just before sunup SSG Tony Lewis, who I’d known since my UGA days training at Camp Merrill, says, “Leave your ruck and come with me RangerRuss “. We got near the crest of the mountain and sat down. Heated a cup of C-rat coffee and watched the whole world light up. So quiet. The tops of the lower mountains appeared as islands in an ocean of clouds. Simply gorgeous. Tony said that was the best part of being a Ranger Instructor. Mornings in the mountains.
I felt it in my chest before I heard it. thump thump thump…
Then bursting through the clouds was a Huey, M-60 blanks blazing, lighting up the patrol base below us. It was terrifying in the abrupt noise as well as cool as fuck to observe from on high.
“Dawn is when the French and Injuns attack, Russ.”
Enjoy yourself, 86Bone.
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You are The Man RR!!
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Despite taking most of the night off, the OL was brilliant on our final 2 drives. They won the game IMO by suddenly getting push, creating running lanes, and pass protecting when we needed it most. I hope this game will end up being the springboard they needed.
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Agree Senator,
the two best analysts in college football are Stinch and Cubelic.
Offensive linemen are the smartest players on the team and can “get it down where the goats can get it.”
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Thanks for what you do Graham. You too Bluto.
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When all else fails, going back to power man ball, flexing the muscles with depth & physicality with run calls vs inferior rosters who are tired in the 4th Quarter is always in the game plan, always.
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I wondered last night if we were somehow telegraphing our plays until we started with the sugar huddle. Mizzou seemed to be totally thrown off balance on the last two drives once we did that.
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Mizzou’s defense had no answer for the sugar huddle followed by a quick snap.
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Exactly. That’s why I wondered if they had identified something in their film study that was telegraphing where we were going until then. There was no element of surprise before the sugar huddles.
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The irony of that game was obvious. The OL getting owned for 3+ quarters and yet then, BAM!!, two game saving TD drives and a clinching clock eater.
It seems more and more that this O will only go as far as the OL can take it, which shouldn’t be that surprising, since that’s pretty much how football works. It starts in the trenches where the stage is set for playmakers to make plays.
Few RBs can get to the second level if they have to run thru a D lineman, and Stet can’t go through his progressions and deliver a catchable ball to our talented receivers if he’s getting sacked, under pressure, or running for his life. He needs to have the confidence of a clean pocket for the majority of time to do his thing, which is true for most if not all QBs. He outperformed the Heisman winner in Indy mostly for that very reason.
So, I remain very concerned about that OL. If the coaches can better prepare them to do their job, I still have a lot of confidence in our RBs and QB. If not, we might need to lower our expectations for the remainder of this year.
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