P.M. Roundup: SEC East prediction, defending triple option
SouthernPigskin.com picks the Dawgs to finish second to Florida in the SEC East this season, heaping praise on Georgia’s offensive front (”perhaps the top offensive line in college football”) and saying that “a defense filled with veterans has the potential to be very good” though it “badly needs a pass rusher to emerge.” Their conclusion: “Expectations are down a notch after Georgia was preseason number one entering last fall. All things considered, that may be a good thing. With a little less pressure on the team, the Bulldogs could surprise this fall.”
Georgia Sports Blog links to a Navy football blog that examines Georgia’s failed defense of Tech’s triple option last year and concludes that Willie Martinez was using some antiquated defensive concepts designed to stop the old wishbone. However, the Georgia Sports blogger points out that film clips included with the piece show a bigger problem with the Dogs defense: terrible safety play and poor tackling. While I think the Navy blogger may have a point about some of the schemes Georgia used against Tech, I’ve felt all along that the Jackets weren’t doing anything that playing smart assignment football and good tackling fundamentals couldn’t handle. As LSU proved.
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165 comments Add your comment
big dawg
June 29th, 2009
10:29 pm
i agree with dawes.12-1……wait and c
Denver Dog
June 29th, 2009
10:29 pm
Oh yeah, we will win the east too!
NORRIS
June 29th, 2009
10:30 pm
what has tech done to improve their defense? Their D line was horrible. If they are going to win they will just have to put up some points cause their defence sucks.
Old Dawg
June 29th, 2009
10:51 pm
I attended a lot of Georgia Southern games when Paul Johnson was the OC and HC. Not only is he innovative, he is also one of the best motivators in all of college football and his play selection is scary. That being said, on the right day a defense, if completely disciplined, can shut down the spread option.
Regardless of how the remainder of the season unfolds, the Tech game should be one to remember. By that time UGA should have all of the unknowns figured out on offense. The key to stopping the spread option, like any triple option offense, is stopping the fullback dive. UGA did a good job of that in the first half of the 2008 game, but poor tackling and missed assignments in the second half doomed of the effort.
The strength of the Georgia defense in 2009 will be at defensive tackle. If the starters stay healthy and understudies develop, that strength will force Tech to alter its game plan.
One thing I am concerned about is the bye Tech gets the week before the game. Georgia will have four games prior to the contest and Tech will be fresh. As we all know the grind of the 12-game season really wears on the players.
Let’s hope that CMR and WM review enough tapes of the Jackets during this summer and prior to the 2009 game to help shut down the spread option.
Joe Mac
June 29th, 2009
11:01 pm
Top to bottom Georgia might actually be better than last year, but that brutal schedule will never let anybody know it.
pit bull
June 29th, 2009
11:04 pm
If you can’t stop them scoring doesn’t matter!
founddog
June 29th, 2009
11:05 pm
LSU had the right gameplan. Blow through the OL and only let Tech get ~400 yards of total offense. Also, complete fake kicks, recover onside kicks, recover fumbles, etc. Not assignment football or option stopping defense without having a completely kick-ass defense.
Moo
June 29th, 2009
11:10 pm
Georgia Tech always acts like and smells like NUMBER 2.
founddog
June 29th, 2009
11:11 pm
dude, noshow will crank that soulja boy for the escalade drivin folks like thurman. he be rappin fo da team yo. why is richt recrootin in florda, he scared of urban meyer? tryin to take the next tebow? give it up. even if richt got the next tebow, he will go 4 years w/out improving like the rest of the leg humpers.
George P. Burdell
June 29th, 2009
11:11 pm
To actually reference a knowledgeable Navy blogger and take nothing more than “we need to play assignment football and make tackles” is laughable. I only hope the UGA coaches are so inept, but I’m sure they are not. The part about the UGA defender covering a Tech blocker, disguised as a receiver, all within the standard rules of football, tells me that PJ will come up with plenty of ways to confuse defenses, especially the dogs. Keep on trying to call it a high school offense or whatever you want, but you know deep down in places you don’t talk about you are at least worried you might not have an answer. And Bill, if you are going to quote other bloggers, at least try to come off as somewhat as knowledgeable about football as they are.
Jimmy in Gainesville
June 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
Willie had no clue in the GT game and was just overmatched in the FLA game. Antiquated … that’s a good word for Willie’s defense. Has anyone interviewed CMR to see what changes would be made this year. We’ll now about Willie and his D after the OS game. I’m betting it won’t be as good as last year and that’s being optomistic. I hate to keep saying it … I’m a realist … Willie should be gone.
founddog
June 29th, 2009
11:17 pm
seriously George? these ajc bloggers just copy articles and can’t originate their own football analysis. then, they take a look at a final score and make conclusory statements that make no sense. do ya’ll actually watch sports or just report on others’ real reporting. I wonder why the AJC keeps calling my house for a subscription????
Moo
June 29th, 2009
11:18 pm
Yellow Jackets aren’t bees. They’re dookey eating maggots. That’s why their breath stinks….like NUMBER 2!
founddog
June 29th, 2009
11:20 pm
moo? the call of a ugag cheerleader?
LSUTiger
June 29th, 2009
11:20 pm
38-3 ! BAWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA. LSU JUST SCORED AGAIN!
Soft Willie
June 29th, 2009
11:49 pm
Tech’s offense was so unpredictable last year that my D just couldn’t adjust on the fly. We had been gameplanning for their run and shoot offense and they came out with that crazy option offense that crappy high schools use. Even when we put up 50+ points on LSU they kept the game close since I’m a total douche and I’m lucky to have a job.
Mark
June 30th, 2009
12:33 am
From a respectful GT fan, BankerDawg had the post of the blog by far. Right on the money. Looking forward to the season.
Chuck Uga
June 30th, 2009
12:36 am
jj, are you just plain stupid naturally or do you work at it? Mark Richt is 82-22. Paul Johnson’s record? “Nuff said.
UGA won’t lose to Tennessee in 2009. Few teams will. Eric Berry will help them win at least 6 or 7 games, but they won’t win more than 7. New DC and OC. Also lost a lot of linemen. Their OL will not be as good, and their DL was horrible last year and will be this year. They won’t beat UGA, UF or Bama. UGA may lose three at most, LSU, Florida and one more. Then again, they may beat UF and lose a different game. I can easily see a 10-2 season with the resolve and overpowering talent. They WILL beat Tech in Atlanta.
BS Patrol
June 30th, 2009
12:55 am
NORRIS & dawes are establishing idiocy of significant renown.
After a full year of watching Tech films, it is obvious how to win. Execute & adjust. Execute the offense & adjust to Tech’s offense! Damn this is easy! Piece of cake! Are there any HC jobs open out there? I’m tired of working for a living!
GoTech610
June 30th, 2009
12:55 am
Hey Chuck you do really want to compare Paul Johnson’s coaching record to Mark Richt’s?
Paul Johnson’s record is116-43 one of only 6 of the greatest college coaches in history to achieve that record. Paul “Bear” Bryant is in that club. Second Paul Johnson has two national championships in 1-AA, he was coach of the year last year national and ACC, along with 5 more coach of the year awards.
Mark Richt has none of those awards or recognitions. He is just known as a good christian coach who get’s his @$$ handed to him by Florida every year, and a coach who doesn’t have the stones to fire the very coach that is killing him.
If Mark Richt couldn’t win the NC last year with Stafford, Massaquoi, and Moreno then you can forget it.
……Oh wait I have to run, Paul Johnson is hyping up the GT team while Richt is giving his team another prayer meeting on the sideline…I don’t want to miss another inspirational prayer meeting.
EUDRAP WAHOO
June 30th, 2009
12:56 am
THE DAWGS AND THEIR REDNECK FANS ARE THE MOST BACKWARD, DUMB, STUPID RED, RED, DUMBOS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL..WHAT AN EMBARASSMENT..THE REASON GT BEAT YOU THE DUMB PLAYERS COULD NOT FIGURE THE SIMPLE RUN ,AFTER,RUN, AFTER RUN OFFENSE ANY PEE-WEE PLAYER AND COACH COULD HAVE FIGURED OUT..PITIFUL DAWGS
BS Patrol
June 30th, 2009
1:16 am
big dawg,
I wish I could see the color of some of you big talker’s money. 12-1 & NC vs Texas? I’ll take 5 dimes worth, big mouth.
heeldawg
June 30th, 2009
5:07 am
BS Patrol, you need to patrol yourself. Tech is not a consensus pick to win the ACC; most of the preseason mags pick Virginia Tech. And Tech “would be the pick to win the SEC?” Over Florida? Put down the weed, moron. The Gators would beat the Jackets by 30.
Tech deserved to win last year’s game. They wanted it more, they executed, and Georgia’s defense played uninspired, arm-tackle football in the second half after they figured they had the game won. Two turnovers and that sort of sloppy, “let’s let Stafford and Knowshon handle it” attitude was all it took. That will NOT be the team’s attitude this season. Most Tech fans on here are giving last year’s win an undeserved amount of cosmic significance. It was, quite simply, a “W.” It did not represent some cataclysmic shift in the fabric of the universe. It did not add any points to CPJ’s IQ, nor did it subtract any points from CMR’s.
This is a different season. You Jacket fans might do well to temper your inane commentary somewhat before the Dawgs come to Atlanta this fall. Payback can be a beee-otch.
digger
June 30th, 2009
6:14 am
rodney gardner will take a head coaching job somewhere next year, ole wille will take a demotion kirby smart will come over from bama and be our RC and DC
Tundeballer
June 30th, 2009
7:33 am
The dawgs are not winning 10 games not in that division and that QB. last year you saw what a lot of team saw when gt runs their game plan to perfection Jonathan dwyer is probably the hardest back to bring down. And you guys don’t know how to tackle property and that is why Roddy Jones also ran over your!
buckblue
June 30th, 2009
7:38 am
Not as good as LSU, Florida, Alabama or GA Tech….
CPJ is a SLOB
June 30th, 2009
7:52 am
GoTech610….
DIV 1AA….that says it all moron. Your sorry fat slob of a coach will likely punch out one of his own players on the field this year when things go south, and they will. Now, all you annoying gnats – please vacate our blog …the Star Trek chat room has just opened up.
SuperB
June 30th, 2009
8:03 am
Bill is absolutely correct. Georgia’s safety play and tackling against GT were awful. Take a look at GT’s winning TD run– the safety just missed the runner. Picking Georgia high this year is problematic, but the Dawgs look like a top 10 or 15 team– even with the tough schedule.
observer
June 30th, 2009
8:03 am
Bill, you are correct that good assignment football and good tackling is all that is needed to stop Johnson’s offense. However, by saying that you ignore the fact that it is extremely difficult to simply “play assignment football and tackle well” for an entire 4 quarters. The problem is, if you miss one assignment or miss one tackle, they take it to the house. Point is that playing assignment football and tackling well are easier said than done over the course of a full 60 minutes.
Ga Sooner
June 30th, 2009
8:12 am
Not a mutt or mite fan.. However my hats off to the mutts for scheduling a mans schedule this season. smart or just plain stupid more teams should follow suite!!!
UGA89
June 30th, 2009
8:16 am
Georgia couldn’t tackle –oh how the excuses keep coming. Georgia won’t tackle this year either. Georgia will not beat GT for the next several years so just know your role and get used to it.
You are UGA –a team that looks good on paper and in the pre-season polls, but you never live up to your billing. Your head coach is overhyped and in many big games has simply been outcoached. Your opponents hope you lock your DC in to a long-term contract. Your players run afoul with the law, bringing embarrasment to UGA graduates such as myself. You’re in-state rival that you claim superiority over has won the last national championship in this state –they have four to your two. Your fanbase is full of uneducated good ‘ol boys who didn’t get out of the eighth grade. You’re UGA –and you simply don’t measure up.
Minnesota Dawg
June 30th, 2009
8:29 am
The bottom line is that we have a great coach in Mark Richt. How many years did it take Dooley to win the National Championship? We expect instant success in College Football today! I know we all realize how hard it is to win a Championship with the added division in the SEC, the SEC championship, players leaving for the NFL, etc. Despite all that, Mark Richt is a winner and we should thank God he’s a dawg! My prediction: Georgia wins the SEC east and the SEC championship! Go Dawgs!!!
JP
June 30th, 2009
8:37 am
since everyone one this board wants to list scores from last yr howsthis on….49-10….lol “noshow” moreno, stafford, and too “green” for the big league combined for an amazing 0 tds…lol…and 4 turnovers
TechTicklePilePansy
June 30th, 2009
8:38 am
Hey Tech gimps! Guess what? We still own you and always will. Tech was a fluke last season and Paul Johnson’s arrogant a$$ will start to see what all of his predecessors saw against the Dawgs. Tech fans are such losers and your pathetic football program will be exposed again this season. Go play D&D at the student center with all of the foreign peoples.
BLAZER
June 30th, 2009
8:41 am
safely 2nd in the sec east maybe
UGA89 is a HOMO
June 30th, 2009
8:51 am
UGA89…
you are a DISGRACE to anyone ever associated with our state university. You also don’t know sh!t. “UGA never lives up to advance billing”?. I don’t think any one predicted UGA would finish #2 in ‘07 or would win the SEC in ‘05. If UGA is such a big embarrassment to you why are you trolling on this blog? It seems like it would be too tramautic for you. You probably got caught with a National Geographic in the dorm shower and got “outed” at UGA. Is that it?
TIGER TIME
June 30th, 2009
9:08 am
CHAD i mean Chaz tell us all how to survive GT crime wave by dressing like a shemale.38-3 bitches HAHAHAHAHAHA
Saint Simons
June 30th, 2009
9:09 am
45-42!!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
mobetta
June 30th, 2009
9:09 am
I like the morons who like CMR to Johnson because he won DII NC… give me a break, it’s a easier division for a REASON! He won coach of the year in the ACC, WOW, we should have elected him president. He couldn’t even win 10 in that powder puff conference and you’re trying to say he is BETTER than Richt? And you’re putting im in a class with Bryant? morons, all of you.
BigGAdawg
June 30th, 2009
9:17 am
haleydawg, You said, “the dawgs would dominate the weak acc.” VERY true. Frankly, Vandy or SC or Mississippi State would dominate the acc.
51-7 hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Sorry about that, I just wanted to see what it felt like to live in the past. Very unfulfilling–I guess you have to be a nerd living in the crime ridden hood that is their campus to find enjoyment in such silly exclamations.
Woof!
Dawg85
June 30th, 2009
9:18 am
We’ll see. I’m optimistic that last year was sour enough to motivate change and hard work. Martinez is on the hot seat and if the defense plays as poorly as last year I think Damon Evans may force a change. Having said that Georgia still has a lot of talent despite losing Moreno and Stafford. The offensive and defensive lines should be real good. Tech will be remedied by good tackling. Florida hinged on turnovers, missed field goals and a badly timed, failed onsides kick. 49-10 is obviously bad but if Georgia makes those mistakes against any good team the results would be pretty much the same.
A lot of what happened last year is fixable. I think CMR will get it done this year.
Comin' Down The Track
June 30th, 2009
9:35 am
Thy beatdown cometh, bugs.
TIGER TIME
June 30th, 2009
9:40 am
AJC reports GT gets a 15 million dollar donation from HAMAS for stadium improvements .Now if they only sell seats in the ghetto dump all 45 thousand.Maybe GSU can lease some space and help with CPJ salery and bonus ect.Tech fans you know what it is 38-3 ibelieve.
SmartDawg
June 30th, 2009
10:18 am
Why are you Tech fans putting Dawgs down so much. You get your but stomped every years except last years miracle by the Dawgs. Yet you say they suck, if the Dawgs suck the Tech really sucks. How about hoping that GA goes undefeated and you play them a good close game but will lose of course but at least it is honorable. GA could be 6-6 and still beat Tech wouldnt it be nice if both teams were undefeated and had a show down in GA. I pull for Tech to beat the crap out of the ACC teams because the better they play the bigger the real game is at the end of the season. Go Dawgs, Go Jackets
As far as the coaching everyone needs to lay off the players sucked last year on defence. Why blame the coach if the kid did not wrap the runner up. Coach should have put his foot in the players but and sent him to the showers. Willie is not that bad
Villa Rica DAWG
June 30th, 2009
10:29 am
So much for that whole “Helluva Engineer” thing, huh… Must be pretty embarrassing to have a parking deck collapse on your campus after all that bragging about how smart you guys think you are…
richtfan
June 30th, 2009
10:46 am
don’t forget that lsu also had more than a month to prepare and scheme. that is huge. plus they were healthy.
Damn Good Dawg
June 30th, 2009
11:19 am
November 24, 2009
Skeeter
June 30th, 2009
11:19 am
Willie is in over his head. Look for this to be his last year. The defense is poorly prepared and nonmotivated. What I’d give for another Erk Russell!!!
Dorsey Hill
June 30th, 2009
11:41 am
The failure of the defense against Tech was much more than execution. The scheme was inherently flawed. If Tech gets a QB that runs that offense well and we keep doing what we are doing, it will get ugly in a hurry. As we know we got hurt by the dive and the pitch. If the QB learns when to keep it, it will only get worse.
What we have to do is one of two things; either which will be effective. You either have to hit the QB while he is still in the tackle box and force either an early pitch or the dive or you have to string the pitch out and flood the flat with personnel so that the neither the keep nor the pitch look attractive. As it is our scheme made the QB’s reads very easy and we allowed the QB to be well outside the tackle box when he made the pitch. Further when the pitch was made there was a safety flying over the top and a corner at most in position to make any kind of a play. A good QB will fake the pitch, tuck it and be gone.
You have to either attack the QB within moments of the snap or you have to be patient and deprive the offense of its running lanes by stringing the plays out toward the sideline. In other words you either hit the QB in the mouth immediately or you force him out of bounds by giving him nowhere else to go.
Coach BoBo
June 30th, 2009
11:44 am
UGA will finish 3rd in SEC East and 2nd in state.