I posted earlier this morning two games to watch as perspective between the difference in this year’s run game. One thing I was keying on is yards before contact, or when does the first defender make any level of contact with the ball carrier. I included total yards gained on the play, but also a column “YBC” that shows how many of the achieved yards were achieved before contact.
Here’s the 2022 Georgia versus Auburn game:
For this study, I removed Stetson’s 64 yards TD as well as sacks from the data set, even though the Bennett TD was clearly a designed QB keep. Ditto with Carson’s kneels at the end of the game to run out the clock.
Here, by comparison, is the 2024 Clemson tilt:
Same as with the 2022 data set, I removed Carson’s scampers from the YPC data set, and, in contrast to Bennett’s 64 yard TD, Beck’s runs were busted plays and QB slides, so no contact occurred in the process. For both data sets, the percentage of yards before contact for the game is highlighted at the bottom.
Notes:
- There was a pretty big decline in YPC from 2022 to 2024, and that decline would’ve been more significant were it not for some untouched runs by Bell and Smith.
- One thing to note in watching the game, Monken almost always used a 12 personnel set, and Washington was almost always in tight while Bowers was used in multiple positions the keep defenses guessing. No doubt the attention to the unicorn loosens up the defense…but by contrast, even though our TE group was supposed to be a strength this year, Bobo preferred a lot of 11 personnel sets, and Delp and Luckie were often found in the slot or wide out rather than in tight.
- If there’s ever been one thing I’ve been critical about with Bobo, it’s running from the goddammed shotgun. Outside of Frazier’s one big gain where his happy feet and cutting skills garnered a huge gain, we’re getting nothing out of it. I understand that this is part of RPO, but even in his previous tenure, if you never have the QB option to keep the ball, it’s fooling absolutely no one and leading to a predictable loss or short gain.
- Aside from the data above, one thing I noticed was that (a) there was significant seasoned talent on the 2022 team all around and (b) swing passes don’t seem to gain a lot in either the Monken or Bobo offenses in the two games. What may be the difference, though, is that Monken likely used the swing to set something up or keep the defense loose, with Bobo I don’t have a real good feel for why or when it’s used.
- Most notable in the two games is that the receivers were absolute studs when it came to blocking for the run. As you can see from the data above, there’s were way more yards before contact in 2022, and lots of that can be attributed to receivers doing their jobs and also having Delp, Bowers, and Washington on the field at the same time.
- There’s a pretty concerning talent shortage in the running back room right now. While I understand injuries and so forth, Milton, Edwards, McIntosh, and Robinson (pre-injury) were a sight to behold. Of the group, Robinson showed the most promise, but the others were solid downhill runners and could get the job done. Frazier definitely has an upside, but Robinson, even in his brief time this year, showed a hesitancy to hit the holes and go downfield compared to his 2022 self. More shifting and dancing and not enough power…and after that, we had Jones and Bowens (and eventually Etienne).
- That brings me to this – is the current appetite in Athens to move away from Manball Kirby so much we are looking for (throwback term here) scatbacks and shifty guys versus north-south running? If this is the case, color me concerned. Positive yards, downhill running, and solid run blocking isn’t something that should be lost in any offense in Athens (in my opinion).
- Did we also try to go and get receivers that are more talented at the routes/catch/speed than being solid run blockers? Young was fairly slack in this regard, and I can’t say Lovett or Thomas really wowed me in this regard…ditto Yurosek and Humphries.
In short, I’m no film expert and don’t attest to be, but I like data and I like it to start a conversation, not end one. Like many of you, I trust Kirby, but this is concerning. While offensive line play wasn’t great, maybe the offensive line wasn’t helped by predictability (see: shotgun run plays) or by poor perimeter play from receivers. Same with scheme…when you have a stable of great TEs, use them as much as you can if the weakness on that side of the ball is receivers.
Injuries and all, and I get that being a contributor to all this, there’s some head-scratching observations that can be made by examining the games and looking at the data. While a small sample set, it’s noted that the two games are played against teams with similar Defensive Yard Per Play outcomes and were both the best rushing production on the seasons (especially 2024) against P4 teams.
So what do you see, notice, or feel validated about when you see this?
At the end of Bobo’s last stint at UGA, we ran with a ton of success out of the pistol with 11 personnel. Chaney, Foley, Monken and now Bobo don’t even use the pistol. I’ve always thought with the quality of backs we always seem to have, giving them a head start was beneficial. You can still RPO and run traditional play action from it. For our film buffs, am I missing something?
I have noticed an absence of UGA film study on youtube from the guys that are not tied to a program.
Hoo boy. That seems to bear out what even football dummies like me see: Monken’s schemes are superior to Bobo’s.
I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what happened to the TEs–particularly Luckie and Delp–this season. Also: seems to me that Frazier should have been a major weapon in the passing game. Wheel routes, screens, whatever. But he disappeared for whole quarters, halves, even games. Man, this was a weird season.
I noticed that in the 2022 game the running backs were as much a passing weapon as they were a running weapon, and it wasn’t all swing passes.
Cook and Kenny Mc were threats out of the backfield. I wonder if some of the reason we didn’t see it as much was the revolving doors we had in the offensive line due to injury and inconsistency. If your front 5 can hold up against anything but an all-out blitz, you can do more with running backs in the downfield passing game.
When you have to keep the back in for pass protection, that’s 1 fewer guy the defense has to account for.
1000% agreed. Someone pointed out recently that when in shotgun, the side the RB is on pretty much predicts which direction a run will go. I’m a pretty subpar couch coach already, but it does perplex me why the pistol isn’t employed more given what seem to be the pros/cons of the formations (compounded by a QB that isn’t a threat to pull it).
Mike Bobo’s last offense at Georgia in 2014 led the conference in rushing in 259 yards per game and averaged over a quarter of a yard per rush more than the gold standard of Georgia rushing offenses in 2017 (virtually the same number of yards per game). That 2014 offense also passed for more yards per game than the 2017 offense with arguably a worse QB (Mason vs. Fromm).
I could argue that Mike Bobo combined with a Smart/Tucker defense instead of Jim Chaney produces a national title in Kirby’s 2nd year.
Again, as a subpar couch coach (and not being the one making final decisions), I’m generally agnostic on Bobo. But to be more simplistic – if Dominick Sanders had just played his responsibility of over the top coverage, we’d have a Jim Chaney natty 🙂
That’s true, but I do wonder if we score more points that fateful night with someone else in that press box in 2018 where the game doesn’t go to OT.
Fair point. Either way, still too soon and Tyler Simmons was onsides!
The entire running scheme sucks. So predictable, blocking assignments at times make no sense. RPO with a QB that can’t pull it and run is absurd. Talent and development at OT is pathetic.
I noticed throughout the season that if we didn’t get more than 3 yards on 1st down, Bobo tended to run up the middle on the next play. If my limited football prowess could recognize that, well……
You see that a lot on Sundays as well. OCs want to at least get to 3rd and medium rather than 3rd and 8 or more.
Monken’s playbook and personnel were better and he was opportunistic. He’d spot the D weakness and exploit it. Bobo has a good playbook but seems to call what he wants to see, not what is there to be taken. When he finds something that’s working the O clicks, but when things aren’t going according to plan he doesn’t seem to find solutions as quickly. Now again…Monken and his QBs knew Brock or Ladd were going to beat the D. Bobo had NOBODY reliable. Should have been Smith, Lovett, Young, Delp or Luckie but none of them stepped up for Bobo to find a way to use them to exploit the D. So is the problem the X’s & Os or Jimmie & Joes? Some of both.
Some of both … well said, FPD.
I mentioned the same below. If you were a DC in 2022 going up against Georgia, you were SOL, because there was nothing you could do but pray. Our receiving corps was dangerous in catching as well as run blocking. Washington could be a sixth OnLineman or another nimble receiver. Bowers was the Matrix. McConkey was just magically open everywhere. And if you have that covered, Bennett can run, and our running backs were solid north south guys that often had a guard running up their backside pushing them for five or six more yards downfield. That was rare air.
that often had a guard running up their backside pushing them for five or six more yards downfield. I don’t think this point can be underlined enough. Defenses are taught to get off blocks to be able to make plays. There is also a component in today’s game for OL to get off defenders. I saw next to ZERO of our OL getting off defenders to create more lanes and to occupy defenders. When you have 5 OL within 2 yards of each other, you are playing to the defense’s strength. The biggest difference in the two games was the OL play.
I’ve brought this up so many times that I’m sure people are sick of it, but it bears repeating. (I wish I could find the article again) Late in the season, UGA ranked 15/16 teams in rushing yards BEFORE contact. It doesn’t matter who you have in the backfield if they are getting hit almost as soon as they take the handoff. How many times did an unblocked defender come in blindly from the backside and blow things up in the backfield. Not sure what the answer is, but until we find one, the prospects of returning to the tip top don’t seem very likely. We will be good due to Kirby and the talent level, but will we be GREAT again?
If I were a D Coordinator and saw the issues with dropped passes, I’d sell out and bring the house every play. Saban (that d*ck) said early in the season that the key to stopping Georgia’s offense was to get Beck rattled. Watching the Clemson game of 2024, you can see that the offense hadn’t developed the yips yet, and they were very confident. Arian caught everything. Players were poised and confident. That disappeared after the Kentucky game…but why? Composure? Did they all listen to Saban and just start bringing the house? That 2022 Auburn film study was interesting…I wouldn’t know where to begin to attack that defense…key on Bowers? McConkey? Bennett? And almost every play in the 12 personnel Washington was in tight, so you essentially had six offensive lineman on every running play outside of Bennett’s long TD…and if that wasn’t enough, Rosemy-Jacksaint and Kearis Jackson were absolutely killing their man on blocking assignments. And just when you think you’ve got all those guys covered, they leak the RB into the short field and pick up yards on a pass to the running back. It was a great time to be a running back in Athens…
It was also a great time to be a fan.