Run the damned ball, Bobo.
From the article:
“Everything starts with the run game,” Bobo told reporters Wednesday. “You’ve got to be able to run the ball and stop the run. That’s been an emphasis of ours since we got back from the Sugar Bowl and started meeting as a staff and meeting with our players.”
The Bulldogs had one of the worst rushing seasons this century in the program – a stark reversal of the production from that facet of the offense during Kirby’s tenure in Athens.
“A run game is not going to just help you offensively,” Bobo said. “It’s going to help your quarterback; It’s going to help your defense; It’s going to help in all areas. And hopefully our identity will be efficient in the run game and everything will run through that.”
Bobo also said that Stockton will be a part of the run game, but that he will have to correctly diagnose his opportunities – everything can’t be full blast if he wants to stay healthy all season long.
“Because (Stockton’s) makeup and his mentality sometimes is: ‘I’m going to go get everything.’ And there’s a time and place for that, and it’s one thing to say it, but it’s a hard thing to practice because he’s not getting hit,” Bobo said. “So we’re constantly talking about those things, looking at the field, and situations where he’s pulled it down, he’s extended it, or maybe he’s running. What are you going to do here? And we’re talking about it, and we’re going to have to live through some of that. Because he’s got the mentality of a guy that’s going to go get it, but he’s not 230, 235 pounds. So he’s got to protect himself when he does decide to pull the ball down and run the ball. And then at the same time, there are going to be some instances where we’ve got quarterback runs designed for him, but there’s got to be a balance. Because any play that’s called, he could turn it into a quarterback run. So as a play caller, you got to be mindful of that, and it’s something we’re working through.”
Many of you have expressed that Stockton needs to be an A gap threat with his legs, a la Haynes King, so you can parse through the quote there to see if that’s the mentality of the OC heading into the 2025 season. I’d also dare say that all the talk around Gunner would suggest he’s QB1, not that that would surprise anyone here.
There’s a difference between corralling a guy who might opt to tuck the ball and run over making sound reads, and an offensive design that calls for him to keep the defense honest with his legs. Beck had the ability, but rarely used it outside of the Tennessee game last year. Oh, also this:
Conservative? Conserving what? A defensive shortfall across the front seven? Or were they conserving healthy bodies? Much of the offensive woes can certainly be attributed to injuries in 2024, but hopefully we head out of fall camp healthy and just let it rip.
Mike being a good soldier here, jumping on that grenade to protect the general…. Meanwhile, cue the Bobo-haters bashing *him* for being “conservative”…..
Sounds to me like they’re trying to be 2017. It might work. Its just been a minute since we’ve seen us really own both los. I’m a tad skeptical of that approach vs. the few teams on the schedule who can match up with us.
I suppose they think they can out-mean bammer and texas better than they can out score them in a game in the 40’s.
In theory, I like the 16 to 22 passes a game approach where no one is looking around for the qb to save the day. I just don’t know that we have the pieces to make a run doing that in 2025. We certainly have the punter for it.
It is a better strategy than chuck and duck.
I don’t think the 16-22 passes per game strategy really works anymore in a game where the clock rules now severely limit the number of possessions. You allow teams to stay in games that way. You better play dominant defense if that’s how you think you’re going to win.
Steve Spurrier’s Florida offenses of the 90s would flourish in today’s game. He would use the passing game that everyone had to respect to give them favorable boxes for Fred Taylor to run through. He would get control of the game and then use the running game in the 2nd half to shorten the game.
Return to Manball. Fine if it works but you went and got stud WRs and a top #2 (apparently) QB. Way too early to critique but why do I get this sense that we are plugging players into a scheme instead of scheming the talent we have? Best fix I’d like to see is a return of the dominant D. Get that and everything else takes care of itself.
Any team that plays complementary football runs the ball and stops the run. If we generate 180-190 yards per game on the ground, we’ll be ok even if we don’t have a 1k back.
This isn’t getting back to manball. It’s about being able to use the entire playbook by dictating play and staying in front of (or getting teams behind) the chains.
I don’t think your last sentence can be stressed enough when it comes to forcing the initiative. If you can consistently pick up positive yardage, it opens up so much of the playbook. If you can get explosive runs, it really opens up the playbook.
1st down success rate, however defined, is a really good measure for what your team is doing whether on offense or defense. Some say it’s 5+, and others say 4+. It’s the ability to keep the playbook open. On defense, it’s about being able to cause havoc because you’ve taken away half the playbook.
My pet theory without having been in the arena nor coaches meetings is that they were playing for a long season and didn’t want to grind anyone down early on. On defense, I wonder if they lightened camp and we saw a slight downtick in fundamentals and efficiency.
As the lines go, so goes the season. If Gunner is running for his life to pass or our running backs are stoned at the LOS, then we’ll be screwed. The mind set of the LOS guys should be “to kill, to kill without mercy” ops that’s the spirit of the bayonet. Any way you get the idea.