The Law of the SEC
I was thinking tonight during the final seconds of the UF-Auburn game about our team and SEC Football. What happened to Chris Leak tonight was an example of The Law of SEC football:
The law is simple and no matter the decade, it doesn't change:
"You hesitate, you die."
Chris Leak hesitated in crucial moments and he got blown up and it cost his team the game. Unfortunately, we as a team, as a coaching staff have hesitated in determine who we are. We've waited. And it's caught up with us.
The Plan
Name Matthew Stafford the starting quarterback. Get him the reps he needs in practice. Limit the playbook. Simplify. Whatever. Let's just get a direction and go with it on offense.
No, naming Stafford starting quarterback will not stop Jarvis Jackson from peeling away from a tackle to get a "better" angle on a qb scrambling 17 yards downfield. No, naming Stafford starting quarterback won't solidify our shaky safety play.
But it might begin to fill in some of these gaps.
I imagine this decision now is probably a foregone conclusion. Our hand has been forced and there will be a necessary change. Look, I love the passion and intelligence Joe T brings. I love his work ethic, his toughness, and what he and his family have given this program.
But the psychology experiment is over.
No more church league or T-ball substitution patterns. No more worrying over hurt feelings. Now, everyone's feelings are hurt. Losing to Vandy will do that.
In the handling of Greene and Shockley, CMR had the midas touch. But this situation and this year is hard to figure out. There was a report I remember reading before the season began CMR asked CVH who he thought he should start at QB.
I remember worrying then, "Why is CMR asking CVH?" "Are we that unclear at the position?" The fear then is the reality now; the question of who we are on offense as yet to be answered. Or worse, it has.
And Little Things Become Big Things
We do not have an identity on offense. And it shows up in ways big and small. The last offensive series was a case in point. So was the one before it.
The Milner drop in the endzone.
The Bryant drop on the post.
Would they have happened if #7 was getting more than 10-15% of the snaps in practice? If #7 had worked with the first team more and they had worked with him, would that connection that only comes through meaningful repetitions in game or game-like conditions have resulted in a catch?
Who knows?
You have to speculate and wonder. And unfortunately, that's what a loss to Vandy leaves you with--time to speculate and wonder.
A Mystery
But going back to after the South Carolina game, there seemed to be a very clear answer to the question of who was our quarterback.
And its hard to understand why #7 was given the chance to make plays downfield in that game, was protected with a strong running attack in that game, but since then we've wavered thinking that Joe T.'s ankle injury and extra time watching film would somehow make him physically more capable of throwing a deep out.
And this is the mystery I keep coming back to. Both in looking at our play calling against Colorado and in Stafford's first series today--
If Stafford is so fragile as a freshman than why do we come out in the gun and have #7 slinging the ball around?
And if Joe T. knows our 18 volume play-book by rote memory, then why do we go uber-conservative, and run the Screen Offense?
Unless, the answer is--there are throws that Joe T. cannot PHYSICALLY make.
A conclusion that may sound familiar. A conclusion that takes us all the way back to G-Day and the Florida game 05.
So Let's Go With What We Got and Become Who We Are
At some point, the only way a quarterback is ever going to learn is by doing. And at some point CMR staff have to let go and let #7 make plays or not make plays. But the experience is the thing. The more Stafford plays, the more he will be able to LEARN, GROW, and MATURE. And the more we’ll actually have a shot to make some plays downfield.
There was a small but telling moment in this game and it brings me back to the original point of this rambling post.
It was on a on a completion in the second half. Stafford threw a ball that was tipped by a defender but still had enough ZIP to get to the WR for a completion. You get the ball tipped without that ZIP against the Floridas and Auburns and its going to be six the other way.
There was no HESITATION on that ball. It hummed. No rainbow. No out route that hung in the air for hours. It was delivered with speed and purpose. Two things we desperately need now. In every area of the game. Every facet. Speed and purpose. And the quarterback, that most unique of all positions in sport, sets that tone.
Common Sense and a Middle Ground
One more thing. The next few days I am sure will be ugly. Hell, the next two weeks should. This is definitely the most adversity CMR and staff have seen yet. But there's no reason the conversation cannot be constructive, critical, and supportive at the same time. The thread started by yogi earlier should be a model for how to do this correctly.
It's often said there are only two or three types of Georgia Fans:
- 1.) The Eternal Optimists
2.) The Realists
3.) The World is Falling
There's a middle ground between the extremes. There's a balance between Pumping Sunshine (losing to Vandy will help us develop fortitude) and Scorched Earthers (fire Martinez, fire Eason, fire Janeck, fire, fire, fire).
My dad used to say there are really only two types of people in this world: those who do make silly generalizations and those who don't.
We can find a middle ground
We can support our team and still voice concerns about the play of the team. We can also complain about the play without calling for Coach X or Y to be fired. There's a world of space for improvement between being a top-rated defense before UT and suddenly firing Willie Martinez.
We, as fans, have a responsibility to get through this first significant bump in the road with the class and toughness exhibited by our head coach.
JeromeFromDecatur
Guest Columnist
