CPJ one of five OCs to have more the 5 ypp three yrs running

[CobbTech]

I hope PJ turns the pass loose in the bowl game .I am as I have publically said not a fan of the option for many reasons but will say when you pass most of the time somebody is open.I agree do it like we did at georgie and lets go after them.

We didn't run the option well against UGA. But I think it's a positive that we didn't run the option well at all and still moved the ball at will and put up a lot of points. We had receivers getting open, OL opening up the middle for Sims, Vad running better. We ran a couple of really good draws out of the pistol, a play that we've struggled with this year.

Obviously, the fact remains that we need to continue to improve on offense. We thought an improved defense would add a win or two but it didn't this year. Both units have to get better. Our offense let us down in a few games (VT, Miami in the 2nd half, Clemson). Vad didn't make up for the deficiencies that we had on offense like we thought he would. But he can be a stud in this offense and we saw that against UGA. He will be good. Losing Godhigh hurts because he bailed us out this year in a few games. He's the best A-back we've had. Hopefully Perkins or Andrew can step up and be a playmaker at AB next year. Next year feels very similar to every other year. A lot of positives, several concerns. Next year feels like an 8-4 year and maybe 9-3 if we can do what we did this season and steal one from the big 4. Remember, no BYU next year. I just don't see how we can go 0-4 against Miami, VT, Clemson and UGA again. All 4 lose their QB's. We'll see. I'm excited to see Custis, Devine and Wilson in the mix on offense next year.

 

[Boomergump]

How do you know it's a called dive and not a read give on the triple?

On a triple option play there will be a player left unblocked (Usually DE but sometimes LB) that the QB needs to read on the MESH. So, you can look to see if the OL is zone blocking the play side or leaving a guy untouched. However, you can also read the QB. On a true option play, the QB's eyes will be on his MESH read after the snap. Usually when a zone dive is called to a certain gap the QB will have his eyes on the BB for the handoff and he won't be reading anybody.

 

[Boomergump]

People like you are why the phrase "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" exists.

Other teams RUTS on patsies, but other teams don't RUTS on patsies to the extent that we do, which means are averages are more inflated against cupcakes than other teams' are.

I am really not sure how to take your comment "people like you". In any case, if you read further down the thread, another "stat" (for intellectually dishonest people, apparently) is presented which removes the cupcake factor from the equation. GT still comes out at the top of the BCS in YPP.

I am curious. If we are to eliminate stats completely, how are we to base any reasonable argument about our football team's performance? You might answer wins and losses. Well, that is a stat too. Without them, I guess we will just stare at each other and say "I'm right" "no, I'm right", without any ability to back up our positions. Maybe we will just have to limit our discussion to topics like whether we "like" the coach or not personally or whether we "like" the uniforms.

 

[AE 87]

While it seems that some think that how much we pass is simply a philosophical decision based on the degree of CPJ's stubbornness or something, I've seen nothing to support that generally speaking. When we had a big lead in some games, CPJ called pass plays to get the game-experience, but typically he seems to call plays based on what the defense is giving us.

Two things were in our favor against Georgie: (1) They were really selling-out to stop the run and (2) they were not a great team against the pass in the first place. For the season, teams were completing 58.7% of their passes against them, and Vad completed less than 50%. Some of them were clutch throws; some were close-enough to wide open receivers who could adjust, and some of the incompletions were because of pass protection, but we shouldn't pretend that Vad's become a passing savant.

Cobb, to your point, neither our offense nor defense improved overall, to my surprise. Our offense took a step back in both passing and rushing but was still pretty good largely because of scheme and play-calling, imo. Our Defense took a big step forward in rush Defense (from 70 to 17 in ypc D) but fell-off in pass defense (from 56 to 81 in passer-rating D), due in part to injuries probably. In yards per play against BCS AQ teams, we went from 22nd to 28th on offense and from 55th to 65th on defense. (These numbers are not opponent adjusted beyond limiting the games to BCS AQ opponents).

 

[gtg936g]

On a triple option play there will be a player left unblocked (Usually DE but sometimes LB) that the QB needs to read on the MESH. So, you can look to see if the OL is zone blocking the play side or leaving a guy untouched. However, you can also read the QB. On a true option play, the QB's eyes will be on his MESH read after the snap. Usually when a zone dive is called to a certain gap the QB will have his eyes on the BB for the handoff and he won't be reading anybody.

One interesting variation to this is if you are facing a really quick DE that can get into the backfield quick enough to disrupt the mesh is a called QB keep. The OL will appear to leave the DE unblocked and attack him with a pulling guard as he rushes into the back field. The pulling guard hammers the DE, the QB pulls the ball and keeps it. Auburn did this to Ole Miss with some success when Ole Miss lined up with a very wide DE, and a bear looking front. I will create another thread later with my notes on the Ole Miss D, and I do not mean to get this discussion off topic, but I thought the comment fit in with question from Dressed.

 

[CobbTech]

I get what you're saying and stats are great but my eyes told me that we were better on defense, even if it was only slightly better. Like you said, we were better against the run, we actually had a pass rush every now and then and we got teams off the field. Taking out FCS opponents and overtime points, we gave up 32 ppg last year and 25 ppg this year.

 

[vamosjackets]

I like our offense's chances to be very good going forward. I'm proud of the defensive effort for the most part this year, but I'm pretty worried about them next year. I'm more worried about the defense than the offense next year. You've got to have a pass rush to be a good defense in CFB, and I don't see where it's going to come from after losing Attaochu. Losing Jemea also means losing a lot of tackles and playmaking. I like getting I.Johnson back and getting a lot of experience back at the S position, but corner doesn't look strong. Roof has a very good scheme against the run but I'm afraid teams will be able to sit back and shred us with the pass next year which will also open up the run for them. UGA KILLED us with the pass in the 2nd half because we couldn't get pressure (even with Attaochu). That opened up the run for Gurley in OT. That's what I'm afraid we're looking at a lot of next year. I'm expecting the defense to take a step back next year before taking 2 steps forward the year after, when we've hopefully developed some young pass rushers and secondary guys and have experience again at LB.

 

[Mack]

We didn't run the option well against UGA. But I think it's a positive that we didn't run the option well at all and still moved the ball at will and put up a lot of points. We had receivers getting open, OL opening up the middle for Sims, Vad running better. We ran a couple of really good draws out of the pistol, a play that we've struggled with this year.

Obviously, the fact remains that we need to continue to improve on offense. We thought an improved defense would add a win or two but it didn't this year. Both units have to get better. Our offense let us down in a few games (VT, Miami in the 2nd half, Clemson). Vad didn't make up for the deficiencies that we had on offense like we thought he would. But he can be a stud in this offense and we saw that against UGA. He will be good. Losing Godhigh hurts because he bailed us out this year in a few games. He's the best A-back we've had. Hopefully Perkins or Andrew can step up and be a playmaker at AB next year. Next year feels very similar to every other year. A lot of positives, several concerns. Next year feels like an 8-4 year and maybe 9-3 if we can do what we did this season and steal one from the big 4. Remember, no BYU next year. I just don't see how we can go 0-4 against Miami, VT, Clemson and UGA again. All 4 lose their QB's. We'll see. I'm excited to see Custis, Devine and Wilson in the mix on offense next year.

I agree with you 1000 percent !My take is unless you have watched a Ga Southern option vs ours we have not seen how good it can be.I think we thought VAD would lead us to the promised land and he did okay for a soph but its clear he is not comfortable with the offense yet.He is a strong armed kid and I thought we would put it in the air since usually all our guys are single coverage.We couldnt throw due to the OL and now Vad has a habit of throwing off back foot rather than step in to the throw.He will get over that.Now next year ...........agree should be able to split with the four we lost two but who knows ? All of them have athletes that can in part compensate for ave qb play but yes,we should be in the hunt.Our defense made strides this year but....its clear we have long way to go and if we dont get another leg up on the talent pool we may lose to a team that we should beat..I will go with you and predict 8-4 UNLESS the other four teams find a qb and more athletes.Have a good one.

 

[Mack]

I like our offense's chances to be very good going forward. I'm proud of the defensive effort for the most part this year, but I'm pretty worried about them next year. I'm more worried about the defense than the offense next year. You've got to have a pass rush to be a good defense in CFB, and I don't see where it's going to come from after losing Attaochu. Losing Jemea also means losing a lot of tackles and playmaking. I like getting I.Johnson back and getting a lot of experience back at the S position, but corner doesn't look strong. Roof has a very good scheme against the run but I'm afraid teams will be able to sit back and shred us with the pass next year which will also open up the run for them. UGA KILLED us with the pass in the 2nd half because we couldn't get pressure (even with Attaochu). That opened up the run for Gurley in OT. That's what I'm afraid we're looking at a lot of next year. I'm expecting the defense to take a step back next year before taking 2 steps forward the year after, when we've hopefully developed some young pass rushers and secondary guys and have experience again at LB.

Yep you are spot on.......worried all year that the big uns would pound and pound and pound and they did at times but we have not had a pass rush that would be called ave in year.JT had great rush but......soon folks started screening us and throwing across the middle.Give me good defense and we do well next year.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I don't think we run up the score any more than any other team does. When we get a large lead, we put our 2nd and 3rd teams in and let them run the playbook. That's the same thing other dominating teams do. Just because our 2nd and 3rd string offensive players are successful doesn't mean we're running up the score more. I'm pretty sure there were an awful lot of walk-ons playing the entire second half the weekend before Thanksgiving.

 

[Mack]

I don't think we run up the score any more than any other team does. When we get a large lead, we put our 2nd and 3rd teams in and let them run the playbook. That's the same thing other dominating teams do. Just because our 2nd and 3rd string offensive players are successful doesn't mean we're running up the score more. I'm pretty sure there were an awful lot of walk-ons playing the entire second half the weekend before Thanksgiving.

guess folks agree or disagree on how big a lead is safe before you sub.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

I've been a fan of this offense and CPJ since his days at Ga. Southern. I've seen it work at a very high level with arguably inferior "talent" everywhere he has been. Yes, it can be shut down. But usually only by very good defenses....that also happen to shut down pro-style, etc. offenses too. I have no concern for the offense or CPJ's playcalling in the offense. Only legitimate criticism I will concede is his ability to recruit top tier talent. I've been following Tech since the 70's though...and cant recall ever dominating the competition in recruiting. Tech generally lives off the "3 star" recruits that work hard, develop, and start year 3 and 4. I'm rambling now though so will move along.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Tech generally lives off the "3 star" recruits that work hard, develop, and start year 3 and 4. I'm rambling now though so will move along.

This is why we will never sign 25 guys except for once in a blue moon and thus, never get very high in the recruiting rankings. We need to keep guys for 5 years because that's where the payoff is for us. We can't afford to run off kids who don't contribute early because the vast majority of our kids need time to develop.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I remember reading at the beginning of the season where PJ said that Vad had a good understanding of the offense, and that now he needed reps, reps, reps. I think that is part of why we've seen Vad play longer in some of the games well in hand than usual. Based on Vad's ability (inability) to make the proper reads, I'd say that using garbage time as practice reps is reasonable and necessary. I think that's why we saw Vad longer against Elon and Syracuse than we did against Alabama A&M.

I'm not defending or justifying, just pointing out what it looked like to me. I absolutely could be wrong. For instance, I haven't gone back and looked at whether we were running a lot of 3O with Vad once we pulled away. Looking back, it just doesn't seem to me like we kept our starters in longer than other schools. That's just my feeling, nothing analyzed.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

CPJ also made the comment that our inability to run the triple was not all Vad's fault.

 

[jacketup]

CPJ one of five OCs to have more the 5 ypp three yrs running. http://coachingsearch.com/article?a...oduced-3-straight-seasons-of-6-yards-per-play

This is a nice reminder that we have consistently been pretty good on offense overall. I feel we should see continued improvement on offense and defense next year. Barring major injuries I expect a lot next year.

There were 32 teams this year with 6.0 ypp or better against FBS teams. GT was not one of them.
There were 27 teams last year with 6.0 ypp or better against FBS teams. GT was not one of them.
GT was number 11 in ypp in 2011 at 6.4.

Source: teamrankings.com

 

[Mack]

I get what you're saying and stats are great but my eyes told me that we were better on defense, even if it was only slightly better. Like you said, we were better against the run, we actually had a pass rush every now and then and we got teams off the field. Taking out FCS opponents and overtime points, we gave up 32 ppg last year and 25 ppg this year.

I agree with you Cobby.......we or at least I ,was scared to death folks were going to just line up and run right at us but we stopped them most of the time.Still no pass rush and this has been a problem since the first year of PJ but at least we looked like a defense rather than just standing around and arm tackling folks.Now as far as STATS their is only one.......win or lose....I am sure we can look back and use facts and stats to prove anything but bottom line is we were seven and five and most of us want more than this.Maybe next year is the year.

 

[KlausMikaelsonTheOriginal]

This is why we will never sign 25 guys except for once in a blue moon and thus, never get very high in the recruiting rankings. We need to keep guys for 5 years because that's where the payoff is for us. We can't afford to run off kids who don't contribute early because the vast majority of our kids need time to develop.

The whole massive RS thingy didn't work for Wake and Grobe walked away this year, and to be honest RS'ing players really hasn't worked that well for us either.

There are plenty of High-3* guys that can graduate from GT and make an impact on the field, very early in their career.

 

[KlausMikaelsonTheOriginal]

CPJ also made the comment that our inability to run the triple was not all Vad's fault.

Vad was a RS -soph last year and he had played in 12 games the previous year, if he hasn't learned to play the game after all that experience, then he simply is not as good as we thought he was.

Manziel, Mariotta, and Winston made huge impacts as Rs-Fr. having played in zero games the year before they started, VL played in 12 games the year before he took over as a starter, VL has no more excuses, and our HC has no more excuses.

The next question that needs to be asked is if our HC can develop QBs to play at a high level vs. BCS teams.

 

[poodleface]

Manziel, Mariotta, and Winston made huge impacts as Rs-Fr. having played in zero games the year before they started.

If you put any of these behind the OL in our tough games I don't expect they would have fared appreciably better. It's hard to make an impact as a QB when you have little time to throw the ball.