Georgia's "NHUNH" Offense.

If you've watched Georgia's offense under new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer you've probably noticed that the offense probably huddles less than 30% of the time.

I have no problem with this. Anyone who has ever played organized football and really thinks about it understands that a colossal amount of practice time and energy is wasted actually teaching players how to huddle. In this day and time with the alternative means of communication (call boards, hand signals, down/distance/formation checks) there's really no good reason to go stand around like a herd of cattle between plays.

Bottom line, Georgia is a "no huddle" team, as I would estimate are a majority of major college football teams. What's interesting though is what Schottenheimer and his offense do with that extra few seconds between plays. Here's a hint: they don't use it to run more plays. Let's look at a a few numbers on the Bulldog offense so far in 2015.

GEORGIA OFFENSIVE PERFORMANCE 2015

So, Georgia is averaging a scorching 59.5 offensive snaps per game. Lightning fast Baylor is averaging 80.3. TCU 85.5. The 'Dawgs trail the speed freaks of the SEC, like Ole Miss (averaging 71.25 plays per game), Texas A&M (70.5), and Tennessee (77.75)*. And they're nowhere close to the most prolific offense in the SEC . . . Alabama's (79 plays per game).** So, while Georgia is a no huddle offense, Schottenheimer's group is decidedly not a "hurry up" offense in the style of Art Briles or Gus Malzahn. Georgia is a "No Hurry Up, No Huddle" offense.

What Georgia has done, and what I don't think has been discussed widely, is get to the line of scrimmage to give Greyson Lambert time to look at the defensive alignment and personnel. Lambert has been using that time to find the right play, get a feel for his receiver progressions, and get the offensive alignment right. The fact that he's been able to do this, and do it very effectively, speaks to why Lambert is the starting quarterback.

It will be interesting tomorrow to see how Kirby Smart attempts to counteract this. Smart likes to move players around on defense, but the bigger, stouter Alabama defense is going to have to confuse Lambert if it wants to stifle him. On the other side of the coin, I wonder if this is the game in which Richt and Schottenheimer try to make good on their promise to "go faster" than in prior seasons. Players have hinted occasionally in interviews that Georgia has worked on going hurry up in practice, but we've rarely seen it for more than a series in game action so far (commentators have confused not huddling with going fast on a couple of occasions that I've heard).

As the Stone Temple Pilots once remarked, so much depends on the weather. It's really hard to go fast in the rain because of officials shuttling balls in and out, wiping balls down, communicating verbally and visually through the noise and haze, and just generally slogging around. I suspect that if the weather holds off this will be the game in which the Bulldog offense breaches the 70 play barrier. If Georgia runs 75 offensive snaps in a regulation game, I expect Alabama to have some trouble keeping up. By turns, I sense that Bulldog fans are seriously underestimating the explosiveness of the Crimson Tide offense. Vegas has set the over on this game at 55, and there's a pretty good chance of that. If it goes way over, however, I like the Bulldogs in a shootout. Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!

*Interestingly Rhett Lashlee's Auburn offense averages 66.5 plays per game. But it looks like part of that is that the Auburn defense did an abysmal job of getting the offense the ball during the LSU game, in which the Bayou Bengals enjoyed a seven minute advantage in time of possession and Abuurn ran only 56 plays.

**Alabama may not be the "fastest" offense in the conference, as their time of possession is also greater than most of the other 70+ play per game attacks. But it's clear that this is not the ponderous, bludgeoning red elephant of past seasons. Lane Kiffin has dragged Alabama into the 21st century (the school, not the state obviously).