USF Postgame #USFvsGT

[ncjacket79]

If players are listening to PA announcements to get fired up.....we have even bigger problems.

They aren’t. The PA announcement is an attempt to get the fans louder which typically helps the defense and hurts an offense trying to call signals. But you know that

 

[Jd89]

I am going to agree with some of the post-ers above, it felt like we didn’t lose (vs a win) and it was a bit of a boring game. However, the coaches are just playing the hand they have been dealt and making the best of it. I saw vast improvement in the defense (except for one or two blown assignments), punting was all-american level and the offense is going to improve. I think it is somewhat neurotic to keeping rotating QBs, that needs to be solved and frankly will help develop leadership.

While it looked like there were not many folks at the game, it was so dang hot, the east stands were empty; however, the lower west stands were packed where we sit in the shade and I think we had a bunch of folks that moved there and squeezed in to avoid boiling. So be fair to our fans, it is impossible to enjoy any game in that oppressive heat.

Lastly, I like our new culture and I think it is great for the students/players/young alumni. I like that they have turned up the music during breaks and have the crowd dancing. However, they could tone down the “money down” announcements every third down. It feels so forced to embed this. It has to be more subtle, maybe they announce 3rd down and the fans yell money down as well. It would feel more like an embracing of the culture vs forcing of the culture.

Net-net, progress made, good to have a win, lots of stuff to practice and execute next week. For fans, we have to be patient...understanding what the team has today, how they can use what they have today in a hybrid-evolving-to-new system, what they are building over the year thru practice and recruiting. Positivity and support will help and will be noticed by a potentially great recruiting class.

 

[UgaBlows]

Really just 2 bad plays on D. The blown coverage and the Barnett run where we couldn't tackle. It's nice overall to see us actually be able to tackle.

I think the offense can be decent if we at least just drop down to 2 QB's. I'm a fan of the 2 QB system but 3 is ridiculous. TO is too talented to not see the field and I think Graham is probably the better passer between him and LJ. Need to design more routes to get the ball in Brown's hands as well.

LJ just seems to nervous to stay in the pocket and look downfield, happy feet but not quick enough to hurt anyone with his feet. Graham reminds me a little of UVA’s Perkins, cool customer- he stands tall and calmly scans the field when the OL gives him time. Plus he’s got some quickness and power as well.

 

[JacketTrain]

Also this game certainly highlighted the importance of penalties, or lack thereof.

Still think there were safely 3 egregious holding calls against USF that were missed, and I'm not usually one to complain.

I almost burst a vein screaming about the holding on the long run by their starting QB. It was like the ghost of Ron Cherry showed up to officiate.

 

[Technut1990]

People freaking out over the way the offense looks amuse me. Here are the last two games of last year, with a senior QB and a team specifically recruited to run the system with multiple years of experience in it.

UGA - 219 yards, 14 offensive points
Minnesota - 283 yards, 10 offensive points.

We returned a team with no experience at QB, no real experience at WR, no TE at all, an OL that was terrible pass blocking and lost it's best player. The struggles we are having on offense aren't because the OC is trash or doesn't know anything. It's because we decided to transition away from the triple option when we had a team only really suited to run that specific offense. All of this was forseeable. Maybe you liked the decision to go away from the TO, maybe not, but once it was made we were pretty much guaranteed to struggle on offense this year. It was a decision made for the long term at the cost of the immediate future (which was pretty much the entire theme of the coaching hire).

Last week people were saying Oliver was terrible and we should see someone else. This week it was LJ sucking and Oliver should be playing. In three weeks maybe it'll be Graham and there is a good chance people will be calling for another QB.

I’m not critical of THE OFFENSE I’m concerned that a spread team isn’t even trying to pass. The last two games of last year were a running team getting their run game shut down, at least they were trying to run as a run team.

I think there is enough talent to throw the ball with THIS offense. Like I’ve said before I think we are playing down to our doubts. No we don’t have the best personnel that could be in a spread but damn. Off the top of my head I believe the stats show 39 passes and 99 runs in two games, that’s not even trying to throw and no QB could develop in that offense. If this season is a rebuilding season then let’s start the rebuild, right now it’s option left and option right.

We all have our thoughts on who should or could be QB, well none of them will learn the offense like this.

Now those who know can correct me but hasn’t CGC been saying he is installing a spread offense with multiple looks/packages ? Because last night in his post game presser he changed it to a player based offense which will operate based on talent. Did I miss something or did I do what my wife says I always do and hear what I wanted to ?

 

[Technut1990]

If players are listening to PA announcements to get fired up.....we have even bigger problems.

I get it guys the money down thing sux but come on please. We know players aren’t listening to the announcements but you also know, and players tell us all the time, they feed on energy, surely y’all understand where most of the energy is created. They call it home field advantage and third man for a reason.

 

[UgaBlows]

I’m not critical of THE OFFENSE I’m concerned that a spread team isn’t even trying to pass. The last two games of last year were a running team getting their run game shut down, at least they were trying to run as a run team.

I think there is enough talent to throw the ball with THIS offense. Like I’ve said before I think we are playing down to our doubts. No we don’t have the best personnel that could be in a spread but damn. Off the top of my head I believe the stats show 39 passes and 99 runs in two games, that’s not even trying to throw and no QB could develop in that offense. If this season is a rebuilding season then let’s start the rebuild, right now it’s option left and option right.

We all have our thoughts on who should or could be QB, well none of them will learn the offense like this.

Now those who know can correct me but hasn’t CGC been saying he is installing a spread offense with multiple looks/packages ? Because last night in his post game presser he changed it to a player based offense which will operate based on talent. Did I miss something or did I do what my wife says I always do and hear what I wanted to ?

Were also trying to win, with our current personnel that is going to involve a lot of running. Also, yesterday a LOT of our QB runs started out as pass plays. You need to try and be patient, or maybe take a shot everytime we go on offense because this season is going to suck quite badly for offensive production, we don’t have the QB or OL needed to have a decent passing game

 

[Longestday]

@knoxjacket ill keep your comments in mind over the next two years... if you are still here. I don’t want it to happen.... and if I am wrong you can rub it in my face no problem.

 

[Technut1990]

Were also trying to win, with our current personnel that is going to involve a lot of running. Also, yesterday a LOT of our QB runs started out as pass plays. You need to try and be patient, or maybe take a shot everytime we go on offense because this season is going to suck quite badly for offensive production, we don’t have the QB or OL needed to have a decent passing game

Ill be passed out by halftime though ! Seriously though, I don’t mind progress even if we are losing I’d just like to see 3-4 deep balls. If we did that TO would have more room on the corners when he runs

 

[Jacket in Dairyland]

Were also trying to win, with our current personnel that is going to involve a lot of running. Also, yesterday a LOT of our QB runs started out as pass plays. You need to try and be patient, or maybe take a shot everytime we go on offense because this season is going to suck quite badly for offensive production, we don’t have the QB or OL needed to have a decent passing game

We need to establish early in the game that we WILL throw the ball deep, even if it's not successful. It makes opposing Ds at least have a thought in their head. Straight dropback, or from the gun, on first down take a long shot. We might even complete it. We are still playing too predictably on O.....run, run , pass if needed, IMHO.

 

[bobongo]

So far this season:

James Graham is 5-8 for 92 yards, 1 TD, 0 interceptions... 9 rushes for 42 yards.

Tobias Oliver is 3-9 for 65 yards, 0 TD's, 2 interceptions... 20 rushes for 56 yards.

We need Oliver on the field, but James Graham should be the starting QB, IMO.

I want to correct these overall season stats. My apologies for getting them wrong:

James Graham is 5-8 passing for 92 yards, 1 TD, 0 interceptions...10 rushes for 17 yards

Tobias Oliver is 5-12 passing for 76 yards, o TD's, 2 interceptions...29 rushes for 104 yards.

I still hold to my opinion on who should start. It should be Graham. Tobias needs to be on the field because he is an excellent runner and a gamer, but we have got to get Graham behind center due to his superior passing skills and because he has a higher ceiling. We've had the experiment and the results are in. Graham with a year under his belt as a starter is going to prove to be very valuable in the long term.

 

[AUFC]

I know it's unconventional but I don't hate the multi-QB look. Josh Pastner does unconventional things with turn-of-possession defensive strategy swaps to disrupt offensive rhythms. I think the jury is out on whether multi-QB look gives us a better chance to win or throws the defense off balance, but if that's what it takes to win with our academic restraints and other recruiting difficulties then so be it.

The big problem, I feel, is that when Tobias Oliver is out there, we lose half our playbook. The defense knows a dive, sweep, or read option is coming because he doesn't throw the ball (and when he does, it's a disaster). I wouldn't mind a 2-QB look between Lucas Johnson and James Graham if that's what it will take to keep the defense guessing and mess up their personnel.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

Did anyone really expect this not to happen? After watching the Spread Offense used by teams the past few years, a few games were awful and boring. It begins and ends with the QB. I’ve watched teams like UF and LSU struggle with great talent except for QB.

 

[knoxjacket]

@knoxjacket ill keep your comments in mind over the next two years... if you are still here. I don’t want it to happen.... and if I am wrong you can rub it in my face no problem.

I’m not making any long term calls on CGC. I’m just a realist about the situation he inherited. Pnude might not be a good OC, Thacker might not be a good DC, Collins might not be a good HC but they all deserve a chance to show what they have.

If you dig up old StingTalk posts you’ll see I was 100% onboard with PJ until probably 2012/2013 when it was clear what we had.

People complaining about wins with this roster when we lost to the same damn team last year have a clear agenda (yourself included). So quit with the disingenuous BS and just admit it.

 

[lv20gt]

I think there is enough talent to throw the ball with THIS offense. Like I’ve said before I think we are playing down to our doubts. No we don’t have the best personnel that could be in a spread but damn. Off the top of my head I believe the stats show 39 passes and 99 runs in two games, that’s not even trying to throw and no QB could develop in that offense. If this season is a rebuilding season then let’s start the rebuild, right now it’s option left and option right.

You say there is enough talent to pass, but what support does that claim have? I know someone will chime in with a "disrespecting our players" comment, but the truth is our OL has been horrible in pass protection for years and simply changing stances doesn't help that. During the halftime against USF one of the commentators, can't remember who, made a remark in passing about how our OLmen were turning their hips too early and something else. It was a technical comment but one that illustrates that there is a lot more to being an effective pass blocker than just starting in a different stance and how far our guys have to go. Coming into this year our "passing" QB had never completed a pass in college. Our most experienced WR is a senior WR with 12 career receptions. Now as we gain experience some of the pieces will probably be good enough but right now I don't see us as having the WRs, QB, or OL to be able to pass right now, and you need all 3. Against Clemson it made no sense to pass for most of the game because of the mismatch. Against USF we passed 21 times, were sacked twice, and probably had a couple more QB runs that started off as pass plays. But even so, we had at least 23 pass plays called to 44 run (not counting the kneel downs). That's 34% and it's probably more like 40% with the consideration of runs that started off as called passes. We did try passing, but not downfield, most likely because we were trying to build confidence for our QBs and minimize the risks of hoping our OL could sustain blocks and WRs create separation when they are unlikely to be able to.

As far as rebuilding goes, we started the rebuild months ago. The rebuild is more about what we are doing in practice than in games we're at the point where sheer number of reps, even in non game situations, is of greater value, and trying to force the issue could develop bad habits that we'd have to break later. For instance if we decided to pass more regardless of outcome then the QB might develop a tendency to bail early because of bad protection that we'd have to break later

Now those who know can correct me but hasn’t CGC been saying he is installing a spread offense with multiple looks/packages ? Because last night in his post game presser he changed it to a player based offense which will operate based on talent. Did I miss something or did I do what my wife says I always do and hear what I wanted to ?

He's said both in the past. Some people took the "player based offense" to mean he was going to build an offense from the ground up specifically for the pieces we have. In reality it means that he's going to focus on the parts of the offense he wants to run that best fit the player's capabilities now. It's coach speak, but it's more just a nice way of saying we're only installing part of the playbook until we get the pieces we need into the program or the experience they need.

 

[JacketTrain]

Do you guys actually think the announcer yelling Money Down really helps the players? lol

If that’s the case, CGC needs to come up with a unique name for third down for the offense...and maybe first and second down while we’re at it.

If you were at the game, you would have seen the players giving the money signal (rubbing their thumb against their index and middle fingers) toward the crowd, even before the announcement.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Did anyone really expect this not to happen? After watching the Spread Offense used by teams the past few years, a few games were awful and boring. It begins and ends with the QB. I’ve watched teams like UF and LSU struggle with great talent except for QB.

It’s true for damn near every school. Recruiting QBs will be CGC’s measure of success. Do well and he’ll be our hero. Only able to attract average QBs and he probably won't move the needle. We will just have switched from good offense and sporadic defense to good defense and sporadic offense. He’s got this year and next year to recruit a top QB, maybe the year after. Season 4 would be an awful long time to wait and God knows there little patience among our fan base.

 

[Technut1990]

You say there is enough talent to pass, but what support does that claim have? I know someone will chime in with a "disrespecting our players" comment, but the truth is our OL has been horrible in pass protection for years and simply changing stances doesn't help that. During the halftime against USF one of the commentators, can't remember who, made a remark in passing about how our OLmen were turning their hips too early and something else. It was a technical comment but one that illustrates that there is a lot more to being an effective pass blocker than just starting in a different stance and how far our guys have to go. Coming into this year our "passing" QB had never completed a pass in college. Our most experienced WR is a senior WR with 12 career receptions. Now as we gain experience some of the pieces will probably be good enough but right now I don't see us as having the WRs, QB, or OL to be able to pass right now, and you need all 3. Against Clemson it made no sense to pass for most of the game because of the mismatch. Against USF we passed 21 times, were sacked twice, and probably had a couple more QB runs that started off as pass plays. But even so, we had at least 23 pass plays called to 44 run (not counting the kneel downs). That's 34% and it's probably more like 40% with the consideration of runs that started off as called passes. We did try passing, but not downfield, most likely because we were trying to build confidence for our QBs and minimize the risks of hoping our OL could sustain blocks and WRs create separation when they are unlikely to be able to.

As far as rebuilding goes, we started the rebuild months ago. The rebuild is more about what we are doing in practice than in games we're at the point where sheer number of reps, even in non game situations, is of greater value, and trying to force the issue could develop bad habits that we'd have to break later. For instance if we decided to pass more regardless of outcome then the QB might develop a tendency to bail early because of bad protection that we'd have to break later



He's said both in the past. Some people took the "player based offense" to mean he was going to build an offense from the ground up specifically for the pieces we have. In reality it means that he's going to focus on the parts of the offense he wants to run that best fit the player's capabilities now. It's coach speak, but it's more just a nice way of saying we're only installing part of the playbook until we get the pieces we need into the program or the experience they need.

I don’t expect us to be accurate and blow teams out b/c we pass. I expect us to try more. Again how does our line learn to block for pass if we are running ? As we get into the ACC part of things you will see. Duke, VT, Miami all of them will put 8-9 in the box . We won’t run on them if we are t trying to throw more.

And I’ll even give you this, if the coach is calling pass plays and our QBs aren’t executing them because they are bailing out to soon, like one did yesterday. Then maybe it is time to start the one who will actually throw it.

 

[UgaBlows]

Ill be passed out by halftime though ! Seriously though, I don’t mind progress even if we are losing I’d just like to see 3-4 deep balls. If we did that TO would have more room on the corners when he runs

I blame the lack of deep passing on our QB’s not the OC at this point, yesterday i saw receivers wide open deep but LJ never even looked downfield, it seems like he either rabbits or throws a 5 yarder

 

[UgaBlows]

I don’t expect us to be accurate and blow teams out b/c we pass. I expect us to try more. Again how does our line learn to block for pass if we are running ? As we get into the ACC part of things you will see. Duke, VT, Miami all of them will put 8-9 in the box . We won’t run on them if we are t trying to throw more.

And I’ll even give you this, if the coach is calling pass plays and our QBs aren’t executing them because they are bailing out to soon, like one did yesterday. Then maybe it is time to start the one who will actually throw it.

It’s gotta be Graham, let the kid have a chance, make his mistakes and learn