I got into the stadium at Colorado as the 2nd quarter began. They scored, we got the ball. A silver-haired (and not because of school pride hair paint) woman in front of me said, "Watch Bobo...we're gonna throw deep on 1st down, when we miss it, we're gonna run it up the middle twice, and then punt." On 1st down, AJ Green took an end-around 40 yards to the Colorado 40. Then Caleb King busted a 32 yard run down to 8. Murray scrambled on 1st down, then on second down threw a ball up for AJ Green, who made the catch of the year so far.
I leaned into the woman's ear and said, "I don't think you called those plays, dear." She replied curtly, "Neither did Mike Bobo." This is the kind of bullshit that I just can't stand from UGA fans. It's like all they want is to believe the negative. Later in the game, when we were driving again, another fan, this one drunk and boisterous enough to have been nicknamed "Georgia Terry Bradshaw" by my friend The Petis, was going on and on about how Mike Bobo wasn't calling the plays, because we were being too successful. I read all the crap about Bobo on the message boards - it's as if people are PRAYING he will fail. Fans want his head...for no good reason.
Look, a few weeks ago, when we lost to South Carolina, I thought maybe, just maybe, Bobo was to blame. So, I did the digging. I did the legwork. I looked into Bobo's offensive production, and did NOT see a significant dropoff from when Richt was calling plays. In fact, I saw an upswing in a few categories. If you haven't read those blogs, you can find them to the right. Just click on "September" and look at the Mike Bobo as OC and Mark Richt as OC links.
I read something this morning from a fellow blogger who I respect, but also differ with in opinion, Andy Coleman, who suggested this week was the first time Bobo has put together a competent gameplan. This simply isn't true. He poses the question - Why has it taken so long to allow Murray to do what he's doing? I love how often I read that. Does it seriously not occur to the fans that maybe, just MAYBE, Murray is doing these things better now than he was early in the season?
Or do people actually believe that Murray hasn't gotten any better - that he was this good on Day 1, and hasn't progressed? Because, if you're thinking Bobo should have called game 2 like he called game 6, then that's what you're saying. Of course....he kinda DID call game 2 like he called game 6. Against TN there was still a heavy dose of playaction with a running game that wasn't consistent. The difference? Well, the line blocked a little better. Murray had time, and he hit receivers. Murray didn't throw behind his tight-end inside the five. Ealy's redzone fumble didn't hurt us this time. TN is not as good as South Carolina, and we beat the slop out of a team we should beat. But in all honesty, the gameplan wasn't incredibly different.
It was executed better.
Fans want to blame the kids' arrests on the coaches. They want to blame dropped balls and missed blocks on the coaches. They want to blame poor angles and missed tackles on the coaches. All of this because the fans are attached to "Georgia Football" with a love and a passion that sometimes makes them blind to the simplest of facts - sometimes, it's the kids.
On Saturday, we didn't start playing option football. We didn't start going to the Pistol formation, a ton of wildcat, an air-raid offense, etc. Bobo's offense is a Pro-Style offense. He's gonna run the ball up the middle, he's gonna play action, and he's gonna mix in some shotgun stuff as well. That didn't change this week. What changed was the way the kids executed that offense. Now...is anyone gonna give credit for THAT to the coaches?
Go Dawgs.
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4 comments:
Good to see a rational post from someone that has actually put on a set of shoulder pads...thanks
Uhh, Mike Bobo is the OC.. and the QB is gettin better. Bobo deserves the praise for that as he has done a good job with young Murray
I'm definitely willing to give Bobo credit for a good game this week. The first offensive series finally looked like an opening drive in the Stafford days. The difference is still AJ. Whether it's Murray or Bobo or everyone else feeling less pressure with him out there, doesn't matter. They look better when he's there. We did playaction but not as much. The line did block better, which helped a ton.
The defense gets high marks from me on intensity and looking focused. However, I'm still begging Grantham to plug the hole between the corner and safety on the sideline. We get tagged there for at least 2-3 major gains/game. And the pattern/throw and missed coverage looks the same to me every time.
Nice read Ben, i agree Bobo play calling was great and executed well.Sometimes fans put too much on coaches. Murray has come along as the season has progressed and I think he will continue to grow. The more he does the more of the playbook they can run. On one other forum, Mark Richt has been blamed for everything wrong because of everything from stupidity to wearing drab colors on the sideline, which in some opinions equal poor team play.
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