5 Bold Risks For Mark Richt To Take In 2011
by MaconDawg on Jun 30, 2011 5:00 AM EDT
in Georgia Bulldogs Football
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PrintThis is the second in a series of posts here at Dawg Sports in which the good folks at Nestea challenged us to talk about the bold decisions our teams either have made or should make during the upcoming season. Kyle considered the distressing decline of boldness in Mark Richt's recent decisionmaking yesterday. In this post I posit 5 specific bold risks which I want to see Mark Richt take during the 2011 season. Feel free to make your own bold suggestions in the comments.
Dear Coach Richt, I beg of you:
Throw out of the Wild Dawg, or throw out the Wild Dawg. This one was the subject of some conversation in the comments to Kyle's post, but it bears repeating. Unless and until you show that the guy taking the snaps can pull up and hit the tight end you'll see nothing but eight men in the box and two yard gains. A lot of people forget that Darren McFadden threw it a few times when Arkansas first deployed their wildcat formation under Gus Malzahn, and it was that threat that kept defenses honest for months afterwards. I'd be willing to bet his completion percentage was below 50%, but the threat that he'd try it was enough. Branden Smith averages 11 yards per carry on offense. Mike Bobo is right to get the ball in his hands, and if anything should get the ball in his hands more often. But for the love of Vince Dooley's short sleeved buttondown please let him try to lob one to Orson Charles, just once. I promise it will pay dividends.
Exorcise the Blackout demons. It's time. I'm not necessarily saying we go to Jacksonville in our knockoff Grambling uniforms. But I am saying that I'd like to see a game like the 2007 Auburn game, in which a Georgia team facing a top 10 opponent plays fast and loose rather than timid and tight. This Georgia team needs to get its swagger back, and if that means coming out in crazy camo Nike uniforms I think I'm ok with that.
Play some freshman offensive linemen. I've had to scratch my head recently at the reaction to Brent Benedict's decision to leave the football team. A lot of Bulldog fans have lamented the fact that "we lost another offensive lineman." The problem is that Benedict has never really recovered from the horrific knee injury that ended his high school career, one which I thought made him the most athletic offensive lineman Mark Richt had ever recruited. I don't really believe Benedict was really going to be a contributor this season.
But I can tell you who could contribute this season: Watts Dantzler, Zach Debell, David Andrews and Hunter Long. I don;t think any of these guys is going to come out of nowhere to start like Kenarious Gates did in 2010. But given our significant depth issues we need 1-2 of them to play now and start soon. It's scary to depend on freshman offensive linemen. But doing so would be an investment in the future of the unit that's been at the heart of Georgia's recent offensive inconsistency. With Cordy Glenn, Justin Anderson and Ben Jones graduating the time to find their replacements is right now. In this blogger's opinion, Dantzler in particular looks ready to contribute on September 3rd, even if it's in a limited role.
Blitz from the safety spot. I remember a time, long, long ago, when Brian Van Gorder roamed the Georgia Bulldog sideline. He coached a lot of great defensive football players, but two of the most fearsome were safeties Thomas Davis and Greg Blue. Davis and Blue were big, aggressive safeties who, truth be told, were not the best coverage guys out there. I've always said that Greg Blue never met a play fake he didn't like. But about twice per game, often late in tight contests, Van Gorder would bring one of those two guys on a well-timed safety blitz, and it did more to disrupt opposing quarterbacks than the best man coverage ever could.
Alec Ogletree reminds me of Blue and Davis. He's a physical force. And I want nothing more than for Kellen Moore and/or Stephen Garcia to meet him head on and early on a well-timed safety blitz right up the damned middle of the field. Because the thing about bringing a guy like Alec Ogletree or Thomas Davis is he only has to get there once for a quarterback to remember it for the rest of the game. Our defensive staff has shied away from the safety blitz in recent years, I think because of the fear that our cornerbacks would just get burned that much worse without safety help over the top. But with Brandon Boykin, Branden Smith and Sanders Commings all returning with significant experience we should be in a better position to take some chances.
Play John Jenkins at fullback. If you have not actually seen "Big" John Jenkins, it is impossible for me to adequately describe precisely how massive a human being he really is. I've seen bigger guys on a football field, but I don't know that I've ever seen a guy that big who moves the way he does. John Jenkins could be the goalline lead blocker from Hell, it's just a question of whether we want to ask him to do it in addition to anchoring the defensive front. I'm also intrigued by the possibility of 265 pound Bruce Figgins being the smaller blocking back in a full house backfield.
Again, your bold suggestions for 2011 are appreciated in the comments. Until later . . .
Go 'Dawgs!!!
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Maybe I'm in the minority...
But I like the black jerseys.
I don’t like the hubbub surrounding wearing said jerseys. We should simply wear them every now and then.
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
I liked them too, but hated the Grambling knockoffs...
the blackout worked though. But imo, the thing that made it work best was making the team earn that right. Use the black jerseys as a carrot in front of the horse. Beat Florida, you can wear the black jerseys. Win the SEC East, you can wear the black jerseys. Make a BCS bowl, and you can wear the black jerseys. Actually accomplish something, and we can reward you with something the kids seem to like. But if you don’t put in the work, you don’t get the privelege of whatever you want. Kind of like making your kid eat his butter beans before he can get his ice cream.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions 9 recs
Agreed
and Jman is also correct IMO. The black jerseys looked great, the Grambling knockoffs were hideous and I’d say that even if we had beaten the Gators.
Dawg fan by birth,
no longer in Beaumont by the grace of God.
by Dawg in Beaumont on Jun 30, 2011 9:11 AM EDT up reply actions
Can we forward to Coach Richt?
Great suggestions, and I really like the black jerseys used as Mr. Sanchez suggests.
Clearly, the uniform changes have worked as rewards rather than as incentives.
The 2007 team earned the right to host a blackout against Auburn by beating Florida and to wear black jerseys against Hawaii by earning a Sugar Bowl bid.
The 2008 team did nothing to earn the blackout against Alabama, nor did the 2009 team do anything to earn the black helmets against Florida. Rather than being rewards for previous achievements, they were incentives . . . as if playing Alabama and Florida were not incentive enough. There is where the uniform gimmickry went off the tracks.
Go 'Dawgs!
And when the staff resorted to those tactics as motivators
it was a huge red flag to me.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
Agree and rec'd.
Instead of using the jerseys as a lame excuse to pump players up (as if playing Florida or Alabama isn’t enough), use them as a reward for already accomplishing something (like when we wore them against Hawaii).
Perfect solution.
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
Fair enough.
I had an incredible time at the 2007 Auburn game. I’d been skeptical about the “call to black” that week, so the fun started during the approach to town when I saw how many carloads of black-clad fans there were on the highways. And the good time took a steep upward trajectory from there for the next several hours, but we all know that story.
In retrospect, I consider myself fortunate I didn’t die from a giddiness overdose that evening.
However, a significant component of the pleasure was the never-happened-before aspect. In so many ways, the event was what we might call a one-off.
by NCT on Jun 30, 2011 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
It's often hard to recapture the original magic with things like that.
See also Pop Festivals, Woodstock and Altamont. And Ernest movies, Goes To Camp and Scared Stupid.
Also alternate uniforms have no place in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future. That trip already contains enough weird psychology.
Or for us kids, Bonarroo
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Although I have a middle-aged man's ordinary nostalgia for his college days, . . .
. . . I seldom find myself wishing for a return to those days. I enjoyed them, and I enjoy reminiscing about them, and, to some degree, I miss them, but rarely do I find myself wishing I could undergo a Dudley-Moore-to-Kirk-Cameron/Judge-Reinhold-to-Fred-Savage/George-Burns-to-whoever-that-guy-was-who-played-Ferris-Bueller-in-the-bad-TV-adaptation (man, there were a lot of those movies in the ’80s!) body-switch (or, for the benefit of the younger crowd, a Matthew-Perry-to-Zac-Efron transformation).
The night of the 2007 Auburn game was an exception. It was a great night to be 39, and a Georgia alumnus, and in Athens; it must’ve been all the more magnificent a night to have been 19, and a Georgia student, and in Athens. Any male student who awoke a virgin the following morning might has well have gone ahead and joined a monastery.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jun 30, 2011 10:40 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
The difference between it and previous efforts was the AD support
fan led attempts at a “blackout” weren’t gonna work. When the AD got behind it and promoted a “blackout” it worked wonders.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I think the black helmets could have worked with a red 'G'...
…similar to the banner the team has run through pre-game in the past. The Grambling knockoffs? Eh, I don’t think so.
by dawgfan will on Jun 30, 2011 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Never again with the black helmets.
But bringing back the red britches on the road? I’d allow it.
"We may have to retire this feature, because the final story in this post will never be topped for sheer Spicy Livin' outside of the silver screen or our own imaginations."
by Silver Britches on Jul 1, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Allow it?
No “allow” about it… I definitely think we should do it.
by vineyarddawg on Jul 1, 2011 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Black Jerseys, Yes.....
but with red letters and numbers not white ones, outlined in white if we must have white to make numbers and letters readable.
With silver britches goes without saying.
by Ohio-On-The-Gulf Dog on Jun 30, 2011 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions
I love easily 100 things about this gif
But here are a few:
(1) Scoreboard!
(2) The way that we look like we’re attacking on D. Every Auburn player is backing up, hoping against hope that it will be over soon.
(3) Whatever that squat, point, point thing that Blue does to celebrate is.
(4) Knowing that if Blue didn’t destroy that WR, #57 had evil intentions, too.
by first and thom on Jun 30, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
My favorite part...
text book tackle. Head up, wrap them up, and explode through the ball carrier. Text book form unlike most leave your feet and lead with the crown of your helmet type big hits.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions
regarding #2
It looks like a whole lot more GATA than the last 3 years for sure.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
by tankertoad on Jun 30, 2011 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Alec Ogletree
is now a linebacker, though I would still a) like Kellen Moore and/or Stephen Garcia to meet him early and often and b) like to see an effective safety blitz from time to time.
Just turns out those will be may be mutually exclusive.
Mea Culpa, gej, you're absolutely right.
I don’t know how I forgot that. But it brings up a sixth bold departure I’d like to see . . .
Stop moving players from position to position like they’re deck chairs. Brandon Miller. Kiante Tripp. Justin Anderson. This staff has shown an amazing aptitude for taking top shelf athletes and burning their eligibility in a futile attempt to find a home for them. Sometimes it’s the players themselves (Tripp for example) who ask to move. Tell them to get out of your office and go do some hang cleans. The position shuffle has only worked for one guy at Georgia: David Pollack. And let’s be honest, if we’d left him at fullback he would have been the best fullback in the SEC, too. Pollack was the exception, not the rule. The rule is, no switching players willy nilly around the field so that suddenly they’re seniors and have become jacks of all trades and masters of none. Deal, coach?
I'd make an exception for 'Tree
He wasn’t really big enough to play in the middle last year, and we got good production out of guys ahead of him at ILB and good production out of him at safety. I fully expect for him to take over the Christian Robinson role in 2012.
Otherwise, full agreement.
by first and thom on Jun 30, 2011 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Response:
Pollack played FB when? He was a DT as a freshman, true freshman if I recall correct. And then slid out to DE where we saw his success. But I don’t recall him as a FB except in HS, when he arrived here, I’m pretty sure he immediately went in to the Josh Mallard style undersized pass rushing DT role before exploding once moved to the edge.
And with Tree, or even to an extent Miller, I’m not opposed to those moves. S to LB isn’t a huge shift, nor OLB to DE. In fact, that type of movement is what made so many of those Jimmy Johnson defenses great (get space eater DTs and surround them with fast hitters). See Marcus Howard as another example of a good move.
But the flip flopping on sides of the ball is frustrating. It takes two years to realize Mikey Henderson’s speed and size mean WR not CB? Let’s use Mike Gilliam for a single game at TB as a freshman, then shift him to CB? You knew how small he was on day 1. We send Bean to DL to do what other than get less familiar with an already difficult to grasp playbook? Tripp from DE to LT to TE to DE? Yeah, that’ll help him become an impact player. At least pick a damn side of the ball. If a guy is too slow to be a LB, short to be a DL, but loves to hit, shifting them to FB works (ala Des Williams). Other than that, pick a side of the ball and stick to it damn it. Moving a defensive player who’s large for his position closer to the snap is an oft used method of improving defensive speed. I’m fine with that (i.e. Ogletree). But some of the other decisions are absolutely maddening. Coleman Watson can’t play TE, so move him to OT. He bucks Calloway, so let’s stick him back to TE where he can just be a wasted spot? The amount of WTF are they thinking moves, and not with 20/20 hindsight but immediate WTF reactions out of this staff have just been ridiculous.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions
And to add on Brandon Miller...
he was a timing and observation issue. Kid clearly doesn’t move well enough in space to play LB in a 4-3 like we used (let alone move well enough to cover slot recievers when Willie refused to put in a nickel against spreads but that’s another sore subject). How long does it take to realize, you know, this kid isn’t that good at LB, perhaps we should try DE with his frame and physical tools.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions
" How long does it take to realize, you know, this kid isn’t that good at LB?"
In Willie’s case, 3 years. You’re right, the worst part with Miller was that everyone not in the defensive meeting room could tell that he was a fish out of water at linebacker, but a prototypical 4-3 rush end.
And perhaps I phrased the Pollack thing inartfully. I was implying that he played fullback in high school and could have played there in college as well and been very good. Or at defensive tackle. Or middle linebacker if we protected him in coverage. Point being, he was that rare football player who was going to be very good most anywhere. To the coaches’ credit they put him in a position that allowed him to be great.
Oh and good call on Marcus Howard. I really scratched my head on that one at first. But that put me a step ahead of Colt Brennan, who had to walk 15 yards, pick up his head, and then reattach it in order to scratch it.
I used to get tickled at folks who kept saying
Marcus Howard is fast, he should play S. Yeah, a guy who lacks the hips and ability in space to play LB should move further away from the snap? Genius!
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
by Mr. Sanchez on Jun 30, 2011 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Black uniforms -
I don’t agree we should wear them anytime soon, although I do agree it should be done as a reward. I said something ilke “at least 5 years” and I am sticking by it. You can’t recreate the blackout game, it was a special night. Trying to force it won’t work. And if we wear anything black and lose, that will be 1 for 4. So, my take, not the season, and not anytime soon, but definately as a reward, not a motivational tool.
Winning, beating UT, Auburn, Florida, and GT all in the same season, winning your conference, winning your bowl. That should be all the motivation and reward a Georgia player needs. Rings are a lot shinier and prettier than jerseys.
But the red pants………………..
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
John Jenkins & the Blizt
What we know is he is an awesome recruit, he is a very likeable guy, he is huge, he is fast.
What we don’t know is can hit hit, can he tackle, and could he block. We don’t know how is brain will work as the frontal wedge of the 3-4. Playing him at FB is interesting – kudos for creativity, but what I really want is every team we face to have to dbl team him, and he still makes them miserable.
As far as the safety blitz, absolutely. My hope is now that they have had some time, Coaches Grantham and Lakatos have worked out some of the backfield issues. Certaintly, they have to have done something because the 3-4 is all about looks and changes.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Him and Kwame in a power I
you are definitely gonna get a good push somewhere.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
I wonder if, from 1899-1909 if we had mass media, what it would have been like.
Now that was a bad decade. We replaced a coach almost every year. I guess we can say “being on the hot seat” is a long standing tradition in both college football, and UGA.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
From 1899-1909
football was probably equivalent to men’s track and field now. Who coached boxing and horse racing?
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
Because you asked...
Darren MacFadden threw the ball 11 times in 2007. He completed 6 of those passes for a 54.5% completion percentage. The six completions netted 123 yards and four were TDs. He didn’t get intercepted at all.
To your point, with which I fully agree, throwing out of the Wild Hog provided Arkansas (a) four TDs out of 11 tries (that’s a welcome result), and (b) kept the opposing defenses honest. And they only had to try it 11 times.
Which is why I mention a guy like Boykin instead of Smith taking the snap
he obviously wasn’t throwing it much as a HS QB, but he’s at least slung it a little and would likely be a better threat throwing than Smith, and as much if not more of a threat running it.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
Nick Marshall???
I guess he’s too much of an unknown quantity at this point to be confident at all..but hey…as long as we’re dancing on clouds right now…
Touchdown Georgia!!!!!
Maybe down the line, yes...
but again, Boykin is a much more proven threat with the ball in his hands than anyone on the team this year.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
Thanks for looking that up Tiller.
I remembered that they had some success throwing the ball, I just didn’t realize that they had that much success throwing out of the Wildcat.
And of course we can make scouting work to our benefit here. The first time we line up in the Wild Dawg, given Bobo’s past tendencies, the defense will be expecting run. I do not recall us ever throwing out of that formation. Ever. Which means if we put a guy back there who can legitimately complete a 12 yard slant route, it will likely be open for him.
I know you read it in the other post -
but even if we ran it more effectively, I see it as a distraction from the play action set up we are supposed to be working. Plus, I admit, I just hate the damn play. A top 20 Div 1 school can do better than high school.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Amen!
At times our offense has looked like a collection of random plays rather than any sort of coherent offensive system. Unfortunately, each of those plays seemed to be out of an unique formation. Murray under center? Play action to the TE over the middle. Ealey in the Wild Dawg? Ealey power O. Carlton Thomas in the game? Carlton Thomas up the middle.
All of this play action talk is making me thinking of starting a fan post -
except we already mostly talked about it. After this post, I think I have decided Coach Bobo doesn’t understand the play action pro style game he is supposedly implementing. Which means the players can’t understand it.
What you wrote is why there are so many 3 and outs in 2010, you know the play by the formation, which is the opposite of having the QB under center and occasionally the gun, 1/2 backs 2/3 WRs look that you run 30 plays out of.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Since I'm about to go out of town on vacation and I need guest posters, . . .
. . . I wholeheartedly support your fanpost idea!
Go 'Dawgs!
Was quite possibly the worst of the 4
First Blood was so much better than the rest it’s not even funny.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
But he was a pretty good high school QB, right?
by first and thom on Jun 30, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions
I guess, never saw him. To be serious about it...
Boykin was probably similar, the difference being he has proven himself a big time home run threat when he gets the ball in his hands.
http://sportsandgrits.blogspot.com/
My .02
There is so much to agree with here, and really nothing I have issue with.
I simply want us to get our best athletes in position to make plays. Starting with Branden Smith. The young man has a gift. It should be our gift, too. I think he should be a dedicated offensive weapon. He’s not physical enough (unless I’m missing something or he has really bulked up under Coach T’s S&C) to play in run support at corner. He’s got to get more touches on offense, as a traditional receiver. Get him in space. Let him stretch the defense.
We’ve got a very fast team. It doesn’t mean a hill of beans if your speed guys are stuck in traffic.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
by DavetheDawg on Jun 30, 2011 7:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
on S&C
I’m eager to see what the guys look like come September. From the few pictures I’ve seen over the last few months (like this), it looks to me like some have legitimately gotten bigger.
"It'll only be reviewed because the guys up in the booth want to watch it a few times too." AJ's one-handed catch at Colorado
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