But I digress.
UGA 3 - TN 0
3rd and 7 Georgia at the UGA 48. Shotgun Twins Right. Carlton Thomas at HB, Murray motions him to the right. Designed QB draw. Motioning Thomas out to the right opened the lane as TN was in man coverage, and the LB followed Thomas outside. It looks like this was a Draw-option-to-throw - Thomas and Charles both appeared to run routes while the wideouts went straight for blocks. That's an interesting play design if that is in fact what it was. Gain of 8. First Down Georgia!
1st and 10 at UT 45. Shotgun twins right. Thomas at HB. We slide protection to the right, rollout right pass to Tavarres King on a short out. The pass is incomplete, ruled that King's foot is out of bounds. He was dragging his back foot, but I guess his front foot came down out of bounds before he had the ball. 2nd and 10. Shotgun Twins Right. Play-Action deep for King, overthrown by 4 yards - again definitely open. 3rd and 10. Shotgun Twins Right. Pass over the middle to Marlon Brown, Brown didn't haul it in. 4th and 10. Punt team comes on. Fair Catch at the 10.
UGA 3 - UT 0.
1st and 10 Tennessee at TN 10. 3-4 alignment. We rush four, but the pocket holds pretty well. Bray completes a pass for 15 yards.
1st and 10 at TN 25. 3-4 alignment. They try to run an I-form Power 0 to the right, but we clog it. Gain of 1. 2nd and 9. 3-4. They run a guy in motion, then swing it out to him. Branden Smith fights off a block and gets enough of him to trip him for a 9 yard gain. But, there's a flag on the play - offsides on Georgia. 2nd and 4. 3-4. We rush 4 and blitz Herrera from the Right side of the defense. Gilliard and Jones both read no receivers in the middle, and turn to the outside. The TE, who had faked a block releases into the empty zone and snags the pass from Bray. He gains about 16. This will be a coaching point - be sure to make a solid read on that tight-end before turning your back to the middle of the field. More reps will make this less of an issue.
1st and 10 at TN 48. They're playing Rocky Top again. ugh. 3-4. They try to run the power again, and again we stuff it. 3-4. We run a twist with Jones, who doesn't come close, and Bray hits the TE wide open on the drag. I'm not certain of our coverage. It looks like Robinson got confused on his assignment and was covering the back coming out of the backfield instead of the tight-end. Gain of 15.
1st and 10 at UGA 37. 3-4. They run a toss-right with pulling linemen. Herrera knifes through and gets a shot on the ballcarrier. Gain of 6. 2nd and 4. 3-4. They try a toss left, but Jarvis Jones fights through his block and stops the runner in the backfield. loss of 3. 3rd and 8. 3-4. Timeout Georgia. Looks like Jones and Robinson may have been confused on their coverage responsibilities, but that's pure conjecture on my part. 3rd and 8. 3-4. We rush 4, again running the twist with Jones without success...Robinson hangs in the middle. I can't tell if he's spying the QB or the tight-end, but my guess is Tight End because I doubt we expect Bray to be running for it. If he was spying the tight-end, then good on Grantham for fixing that issue quickly. Bray can't find a man and throws incomplete out of bounds. 4th and 8. They decide to go for it. 3-3-5. We rush 5 and they go max-protect, so we don't have a shot at getting in there. Bray hits Da'Rick Rodgers for about 11 yards and he gets STUCK by Branden Smith. First Down TN - but I'm so glad to see Smith - our "Small" corner - make a hit like that.
1st and 10 at UGA 23. 3-4. We rush 5 on their playaction. Lane releases late, and no one picks him up. Bray hits him and he gains all the way to the UGA 7.
1st and Goal at UGA 7. 3-4. They try to toss it wide, but Williams and Vasser cut it off. Lane attempts to cut it back, but there's a host of Dawgs there. Loss of 4. 2nd and goal. 3-3-5. We run the twist with Jones and Tyson, and Tyson comes very close...even gets a piece of Bray after he lets it go. The pressure forces an overthrow out of bounds. 3rd and Goal. 3-4. We rush 5, Bray lobs one into the endzone, but his TE falls down. The officials try to say it's a missed PI. Oh well. 4th and Goal - fieldgoal unit comes out and knocks it in.
UGA 3 - UT 3.
Kickoff. Boykin takes the ball a yard deep and runs it out to the 17 where he's taken down by the head. Refs miss an obvious facemask.
1st and 10 UGA at UGA 17. I-Form Normal TE right. Crowell back in. We run what looks like an ISO or Stretch Lead to the weakside, but Isaiah hesitates just a bit too long in making his cut. He gets only 1. 2nd and 9. Ace Formation, Twins Right with TE and Wing to the left. Playaction bootleg left, Murray hits a wide open Malcom Mitchel for 12 yards.
1st and 10 UGA at UGA 30. I Form Normal, TE left. Lead to the right. Terrible blocking on this play. I can't decide if they blitzed the corner, or if our Wideout just didn't block him, but he went straight at Crowell. Bean whiffed on the DE, then Zander whiffed on both that same DE and a LB. All three of these defenders were in on the tackle. A bunch of minus in blocking. 2nd and 10. Shotgun Twins Left TE right,Thomas set to the left. We run a sweep right with Jones and Burnette pulling. Both guys make great blocks, pancaking the defense. Thomas cuts it up and picks up 5. 3rd and 5. Shotgun doubles. Thomas set right. Murray tries to hit Marlon Brown on a slant, but the TN linebacker hits him early. Pass Interference.
1st and 10 at UGA 38. Shotgun Twins left, TE right, Thomas Left. We run the same sweep as before, Burnette and Jones both nail their blocks again, and Thomas gains 7. 2nd and 3. I Form with Aron White at Wing to the left, Samuel at HB. Murray sells the fake toss to the left so hard, that all three linebackers take a full step in that direction. Aron White slips out to the right and Murray hits him for a gain of 4.
1st and 10 at UGA 49. I Form Normal. Play-Action deep strike to Malcolm Mitchell. 43 yard gain to the 5. But, Mitchell has to slow down for the ball. This is a touchdown if Murray hits it right. But, he had overthrown King twice, and took some off this throw. Reps. Reps. Reps. The guy HAS to learn the speed of his receivers if he wants to break games open.
1st and Goal at TN 7. ESPN misses the play. Samuel carried for about 2. That's all I know. 2nd and Goal. I Form Twins Left. Play-Action, they rush 5 but the pocket holds. Murray wings one up for Bennett (double covered) but it's out of his reach. Murray put the ball where he had to in order to give only Bennett a shot at it. It looks like Bennett was the second read, and he went there after noticing King was in too much traffic. 3rd and goal. Shotgun twins left, TE right, Samuel left. Timeout Georgia. 3rd and goal. Shotgun Doubles, Samuel left. Murray sends Samuel in motion to make it an empty set. Murray hits King in the hands over the middle - but he drops it. Don't know that it would have been a touchdown. It looked like King's route was much more like a drag than a slant - and had he caught the ball, he would have been at the 4 - with three TN guys nearby. I have to think that route was supposed to take King into the endzone for the catch....at least I hope so. 4th and Goal. Field Goal. Good.
UGA 6 - UT 3. Kickoff. taken at the 5, upended at the 27.
1st and 10 UT at the UT 27. 3-3-5. We rush 4, looks like the same twist with Tyson and Jones again. Bray throws long out of bounds. 2nd and 10. 3-3-5. Draw play. For once, we DON'T run the twist with Jones...and it hurts. Just bad luck on that one. Lane weaves for 8 yards. 3rd and 2. 3-3-5. They go max protect - 7 guys to block our 5. Bray tosses one up to a leaping receiver who catches the ball in open space at our 47 and is immediately planted by Rambo. I'm confused about the coverage on this one. Smith, Boykin, and Rambo have two receivers to cover. Smith starts dropping with the receiver who ultimately makes the catch, but he leaves him to cover the flats. Boykin never gets much depth, and Rambo comes over the top but can't get there in time to break up the play. Must have been a zone - but I don't understand the specifics of it.
1st and 10 UT at UGA 46. 3-3-5 alighment again. Drew and Jones make good upfield rushes, but can't get there. Still, Bray wings it out of bounds. 2nd and 10. 3-3-5. Bray completes a pass to Lane underneath, but Ray Drew is choke-slammed and the refs throw the flag. Personal Foul for hands-to-the-face. 1st and 25. 3-3-5. They run a screen and it sets up very well for them. Lane stiff-arms Rambo after gaining 15, and gets 12 more.
1st and 10 UT at UGA 34. 3-3-5. We rush 4 but get nowhere. They throw to Lane out of the backield for a gain of 8, but there's a flag. Illegal Formation on TN. 1st and 15. 3-3-5. Clock play. 2nd and 15. We blitz both Boykin and Rambo. Bray gets the throw off and hits Da'Rick Rogers at the 27. 3rd and 2. Field Goal unit is on and the kick is good as time expires.
UGA 6 - UT 6.
So, that's the half. Neither team did anything great, and neither did anything disastrous to itself either. A couple of things I noticed -
Tennessee loves shifts and motions. I haven't noticed that any of it has given them any kind of competitive advantage. We haven't been fooled by it, that's for sure.
Also, it looks to me that when our DBs blitz, they're not coming off the edge at full speed, and we're not getting great pressure. We get some pressure, make Bray a little uncomfortable, but we're really not killing them up front. Our blitz packages don't seem to confuse them very much. We haven't had a guy run free yet. That'd be nice to see in the second half.
Our Run D is still just crushing it.
We all know the second half is much more impressive on offense, so come on back to read about the breakdown of the third and fourth quarters tomorrow!
Go Dawgs!
3 comments:
From what I saw with my eyes and the way you described it the play calling on offense was pretty good. How many of the plays that didn't gain were dropped pass, overthrown ball or missed block? If Murray hits any of the three deep balls in stride we score all each of those drives. Hit all three and it is 21 points by half. I have complaints about Bobo but overall I think he makes pretty good play calls more often than not. No OC is going to hit 100% of the time. Did you thing the same thing after watching that half or is it just me?
I've gone back and forth with folks about Bobo's play design and play calling ability. There is one thing you really can't argue with - we're doing more on offense than we have in the history of Georgia Football.
I think by-and-large, the issue many people have with Bobo is their own ignorance. When people feel impotent, thy need someone on whom to take out their disappointments. Martinez was the easy scape-goat for a long time, because they'd gotten so accustomed to Van Gorder's defenses just turning the lights out on folks. Then, with Willie gone, and no one else to blame, the focus turned to Bobo.
For a long time, I myself watched other top teams and wondered why our receivers never seemed to be as open as theirs - I wondered why holes seemed to open so easily for running backs. I wondered if it was play design. And, part of it may have been. But, let's just admit it - there were a few years where the overall talent level of the offense wasn't what it needed to be. It seems that we are getting over that hump again now, and our offense is finding its footing again.
People who call for Bobo's head I think are simply looking for a talking point to latch onto. They say "1st and Bomb"...but that hasn't really played out. They say 3rd and long draw, and that happens occasionally - but that is also a well-known NFL strategy. You don't do it on every 3rd down, but if you get the right look, you run it.
It's like running a screen after a big holding penalty. You need a safe way to give yourself a shot at picking up big yardage so you can be in position to pick up a first down. It's just a widely accepted strategy. Either you pull it off, or you don't - but calling the play doesn't make you an idiot.
What I keep going back to is this: We are having more production offensively at UGA under Bobo than we ever have. Why would you want to fire this guy and bring in an unknown? The argument is to poach an OC from an up-and-coming program like Boise State or TCU or something like that...but both of those schools have made their living off out-playing lesser competition. Many coaches find out that the going ain't so easy in the SEC. Ask Gus Malzahn. Without a beast at QB, he's finding the points a little harder to come by.
Thanks for the answer. I am pretty in step with your thoughts on it. Having coached over half my life (soccer not football) I tend to look at the ideas of a play not always the result. I think most fans hate to hear we have to execute better but often that is the case. Look at Alabama's offense, most of the time it is not going to fool a defense but what they do they do is execute it so well that you can't stop it anyway.
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