In this dream, Georgia was out of the SEC contention early. We were lead by a young, talented, starting quarterback who struggled at times, but had sparkled early in the season, particularly on the road. Toward the end of the year we found ourselves in the midst of losing streak.
We decided to protect our young quarterback by staying committed to a running game. We leaned on people. We ran on people. We beat an SEC West opponent on the road. And then turned around and beat our in-state rival.
Like I said, it was weird. But pretty cool. Almost like it was 2001.
Worked in '01
It would work again.
JeromeFromDecatur
Georgia Sports Blog Contributor
20 comments:
I'll eat my shoe if we give Kregg Lumpkin 37 carries Saturday.
I'll eat your shoe if we give Kregg Lumpkin 20 carries Saturday.
I don't really understand it. Maybe Richt was beat up on when he was little by a bully who played running back or maybe its because he is a former qb and always thought rbs stole all his thunder, but he really doesn't like running the ball. No matter how effective the run might be Richt will always go away from it in favor of the pass. Thats my biggest complaint about Coach Richt is he just refuses to run the ball. He even came out and said at one point this year that you can't win games in the SEC by just pounding the ball for four downs. While being one dimensonal is not a good thing you just have to look to the SEC West to see that you can infact be very successful by doing nothing more than pounding the ball down their throats for four downs.
I will admit this though with our current line situation we don't exactly have the size and depth to be wearing anybody down with the run.
Well, we sure can't protect the passer, either. Remember what Tuberville said about CMR after the 2001 Auburn game- "You gotta run the ball to win in the SEC. He'll learn." While we indeed HAVE won- big- since, one could always use a refresher course. I would love to see more I-formation, toss sweeps, and carries for #6. When that stops working, #28.
If we run the ball it protects our young QB with the 1:3 TD to interception ratio. More than that it keeps our suspect defense off the field!!
It worked for Arkansas. Look at the stats from their game against Auburn earlier this year:
Mustain: 7/10, 87 yards, 1 TD, 0 int
Team Rushing: 45 carries for 279 yards
True, we don't have McFadden. And true, the chances of us not throwing an interception are slim. But there is no reason we couldn't run the ball on Auburn. They certainly wouldn't be expecting it!!!
CMR thinks the toss sweep is a risky scheme. And where did this crazy talk come from suggesting we might watch videotape of a team that beat Auburn? I would think the 2005 Florida game disabused you of the notion we'd try to replicate what other teams did successfully. You're never going to be considered an offensive geeeenius if you just exploit weaknesses other people already exposed!
I thought CMR's comments after the UK game were telling about Kregg's carries (or lack thereof) in the second half. Basically, he said we ran in the first half because UK allowed us to based on the scheme they were playing. In the second half, they changed up so he changed up and threw more.
Sounds reasonable on the surface but doesn't that also kind of say that CMR feels like we can only run when the OTHER TEAM allows us - but not on OUR terms. Was CMR thinking that "I wish they'd go back to the scheme in the first half so we could run KL more" instead of dictating the run to help Stafford and the offense in general.
Until we run on our terms or when we want, Kregg Lumpkin, Thomas Brown, Danny Ware, Knowshon Moreno or anyone will not have more than 20 carries as CMR sees it right now.
If I were a big time running back why on earth would I come to UGa?
C. Paul, your comments are right on the money. I am close to one of the offensive assistants on the team, and I was with him the morning of the Ole Miss game. We all knew that Wake Forest had run the ball against the Rebels 55 out of 58 plays the Saturday before, and we all assumed that the Dawgs would run all over them, right? I said something to the effect of, "we should run the ball A LOT tonight, shouldn't we, coach?" His response was, "well it depends on what they do with their safties." Granted, they know a heck of a lot more about football than I do, but I swear sometimes I think we out-smart ourselves. RW
Sounds like you need to keep dreaming. Don't look to bounce back next year, it looks like a downward spiral. GEORGIA FOOTBALL SUCKS!
I approve this message.
Now that we have no receivers left to play, he just might get those 20 carries...
CMR's scheme is designed to run the ball when the numbers are in a favor and pass the ball when they're not. Unfortunately, teams recognize our inability to make plays in the passing game. We've had 20 opportunities to strik deep in man coverage and we either drop the pass or miss the receiver entirely. sometimes you just gotta keep pounding the ball even if the other team has you outnumbered.
Surely Auburn put 8 men in the box against Arkansas, and still the Hogs ran it down their throat. We should be able to run it on our terms, even when everyone in the stadium knows it will be a run. Remember Thomas Brown's 9 straight carries vs. UT in 2005- ending in a TD. Damn the "numbers", probably from the same school of thought as the "chart" for 2-point conversions.
We ran 32 times, had 29 pass attempts.
I think that:
1.We don't have the OL to shove it down people's throats (like Arkansas does)
2.EVERYONE had passed well against Kentucky
3.Like was mentioned above, UK changed their defensive scheme in the second half. And, going back to #1, we don't have the OL to impose a running game whenever we want to. We pretty much have to exploit a weakness.
4.We had almost 400 yards of total offense! And only 21 points! Score should've been higher, but we had turnovers in the red zone, missed field goals, and a kicker so unreliable that CMR himself has said that when he gets to a certain position on the field he has to change his mentality because FG would not be an option, unlike the past 6 years.
Just for craps and giggles I've looked at how much we actually have run the past coulple of years. We were running a lot more in '04 w/ a relatively healthy and productive OL. In 2004 we ran for 37 or more times against Wisc, UK, UF, Ark, Vandy, LSU and USC, all games we won <45+ rushes against LSU, Ark, Vandy and UK>.
In 2005, we ran for 37 or more times in only 4 games, USC, UT, UF, LSU, and won all but the UF game. In addition, we only ran for 45+ in one game, USC.
This year, we've only ran 37 times or more against USC and UAB, and won both. Largest output being 39 plays against USC. Granted the new clock rules means less total plays, but Mark Richt has shown in the past that he is willing to run the ball, and run a lot. Why not this year, when we have an inexperienced QB? Because people are stacking the line of scrimmage and making us throw, and because we don't have the OL to just run the ball at will regardless of the defense played against us.
I'll eat Kregg Lumpkin if he gets 20 carries on Saturday.
Oreo- Thanks for the stats. I'd add that I think those stats take M. Stafford's runs into consideration so they may be a bit high but the numbers are there.
I think my frustration is that it is KREGG LUMPKIN who should be getting 20-25 carries per game - not total rushing attempts.
My best friend from HS went to Oklahoma and do you notice over the past few weeks that (in the wake of the Adrian Peterson injury) OU has run more not less. I believe that Allen Patrick has had 32 and 37 carries respectively.
Now I agree that the OL has problems but we seem to so a pretty good job at times and I think it may help them to have a more narrowed focus.
Go Dawgs!!
Oreo,
Its not that we don't run the ball a decent amount, its that when at times it seems to be the only thing working for us we change it up because the defense "shows something else". Its not as if they suddenly made the run ineffective, its just that Richt says, "the defense is giving us this, so we'll take what they give is" instead of taking what we want.
If we try to run and get nowhere, that I understand, and then the only other option is to pass. But UK never took away the run, or have other teams really, we've just starting passing more when they gave us the opportunity too. Which is great if you're a good passing team, which we're not very good this year.
C. Paul nailed it on the head with his earlier comments.
Big time running backs dont go to Jawja, they come to Auburn...
WAR EAGLE!
You guys are about to get chit on
I hate Auburn! Tuberville, good coach or not, is a giant penis.
We're about to be chit on? Thats pretty screwed up. So is Kenny Irons going to gimp out onto the field, pull his pants down, and violently expel chit in the general direction of Georgia? B/c I'm pretty sure he would get kicked out of the game if he did that, he might even be arrested. I always knew you Auburn folk were messed up, but thats just downright nasty.
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