A clue to what’s been missing in Dogs’ running game
Nobody at UGA worked harder than Thomas Brown. (Associated Press)
While a lot of fingers have pointed at departed Georgia assistant coach Stacy Searels’ underperforming offensive line as a big reason for the Dogs’ running game being only the 10th best in the SEC this past season, there obviously was more to it than that.
The fact that thanks to injuries and disciplinary problems Georgia rarely had both its top two running backs, Washaun Ealey and Caleb King, playing in the same game was a factor. As was Mike Bobo’s tendency to abandon the ground attack for long stretches and his insistence on trying to run Carlton Thomas up the middle at inopportune moments in close games.
But at times there also seemed to be something lacking in the effort of the backs themselves. Rarely did you see Ealey or King break tackles.
And I think maybe you can get an inkling into why that was the case from comments made Friday by former Georgia tailback Thomas Brown, who’s joined the new strenth and conditioning staff under Joe Tereshinski.
The diminutive Brown, who battled for playing time with Danny Ware, Kregg Lumpkin and Knowshon Moreno, played like he was much bigger than he was thanks to his phenomenal strength and competitiveness. In talking with the media about the decline in the Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning in the three seasons since he departed, he said: “I think you can solve most problems with more competition. I think that’s one of the biggest things that’s different from when I was here as a player and here now.
“When I came in, I was highly recruited, the No. 1-rated running back in the state of Georgia, No. 3 or 4 in the nation. I came in, I was No. 7 on a depth chart of eight running backs. I had to compete, and I think that kind of makes guys raise their level of expectations. I think it’s harder for guys to be motivated when they know they’re kind of guaranteed to play. So I think … bringing in guys to compete with those guys will make everybody a lot better.”
That fits in with what Blair Walsh said after the Liberty Bowl disaster about some of the players on the team having a sense of entitlement. Ealey runs his mouth a lot and King thinks he’s too cool for school, but rarely has either looked like the hardest-working back in the game.
Whether or not Georgia signs Isaiah Crowell, that’s got to change if the Dogs are going to consistently run the ball in the SEC.
Find me on Facebook.
Follow me on Twitter.
— Bill King, Junkyard Blawg
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
480 comments Add your comment
Gregory
January 24th, 2011
9:28 am
Bobo also ENTITLED Caleb King with playing time, which King didn’t earn, Ealey scored 11 td’s, King 2. Yet Bobo KEPT playing King as much as Ealey. It’s lunacy.
That bar incident in Valdosta last spring
January 24th, 2011
9:29 am
Last spring, Zack M was boozing it up in Valdosta and pinched some gal. He was out of line with the local police when they questioned him and from there it went south for ZM. It should have too. Arrogance is useless.
That incident might have been such a blow to UGA football in 2010 and beyond that we will never know. In the last G Day game, he looked like a NFL QB with touch and distance on his passes. A Murray in the same G Day game looked anxious, nervous and full of tight emotions ………….. in the G Day game. He threw pics too. He could not see over the line.
Think back …………….maybe Murray better portrayed his real style in that G Day game, cause we saw the same bundle of nerves in the MSU game, Florida game, the UCF game and a few others.
Those Batman gloves in the Liberty Bowl for me were the final straw. UGA needs a QB that can play big boy ball. Period. Murray will very likely play 95% of the time this upcoming year but the new UGA coach will bench him.
ZM??? Oh, he since has won the NC for his JUCO team and earned AA honors there and was recruited and has committed to LSU; arguably the best upcoming SEC team.
Murray? He is still 5′9″ and forces the ball to his HS chum Orson Charles for pics or he fumbles. He has yet to win vs any body in college football.
UGA mna, class of 71 & 73
Gregory
January 24th, 2011
9:36 am
Tavarres King also got robbed. All he did was averaged 18.7 yards a catch (4 yard better than AJ), long of 66 yards was longer than any of AJ’s, score a td every 9 catches, better than Durham.
I guess since it wasn’t his Senior year, Bobo decided to limit his touches to 3 a game.
Tavarres was the best WR on the field this season.
Class ............ study the word CHARACTER
January 24th, 2011
9:37 am
All of the back and forth here is fun. I enjoy listening to you young men ( kids ) but y’all need to grasp what CHARACTER means. This is missing in WE and CK.
Caleb and Washedout Ealey can run ok, but they are average backs. They let their team down so many times. They lack character and personal pride. Real pride, not arrogant strutting HOOD pride. That is bravado and is false and seen thru by all.
CHARACTER is the difference maker and that lacking in both will bite them come NFL time. PRO Teams do not want punks and morons, which these two are. Period.
WDE
January 24th, 2011
9:38 am
Who is this “Tony” idiot at the beginning of the comments section? Touchdown per carry? That doesn’t say s*** about how good a running back is, but more what the OC’s tendencies are.
What a moron.
Gregory
January 24th, 2011
9:39 am
Ealey, Tavarres King & Mettenberger were all slam dunks as far as production went for earning a starting position.
But others were given snaps, too much ENTITLEMENT goes on right now with Georgia on offense.
Ealey’s 11 td’s to King’s 2, and they’re splitting carries EVENLY? Come on.
Plain Truth
January 24th, 2011
9:43 am
Ealey and King will both be arrested and sent home long before the season starts. Thugs, both of them.
Dagny
January 24th, 2011
9:46 am
The biggest change that CMR needs to make is to stop recruiting the low-class illiterates and thugs who he seems to think will win for him and keep his oversized paychecks coming in. People like Marcus Dowtin, A.J. Green, Washaun Ealey, Caleb King, and others too numerous to mention are not team players, they’re thug wannabes who are much closer to a gang than a team.
It’s sickening to see felons and goons like these representing the state’s flagship university.
Rich
January 24th, 2011
9:46 am
As much as I agree that Ealey has been more effective this season than King I think TB hit it right on the nail with there needing to be more competition. I saw Ealey during the offseason before the 2010 season and he looked overweight. It just seems like a lot of these players aren’t motivated at all to play their hardest.
papadawg
January 24th, 2011
10:18 am
The OLine is not always the problem. They may be opening some holes but our backs are not good enough or quick enough to find them. We need better backs
Gregory
January 24th, 2011
10:25 am
There will be competition, but likely, Bobo will continue to ENTITLE certain players with starting time UNEARNED, like Murray & Caleb. So what’s the point of comeptition is your mind is already made up.
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
10:42 am
The O-Line did a good enough job blocking for Ealey & King, both got over 5 yards a carry. Thomas and Murray just wern’t productive, had wasted carries.
But Bobo calls less running plays than almost anyone in the SEC. Only 35 per game.
Georgia is ranked 9th in running attempts per game.
35 run plays a game.
Ealey got 13 runs (37%) a game at 5.2 yards a carry, 11 td’s
Caleb King got 6 carries (16% a game) at 5.5 ypc, 2 td’s
Thomas got 6 carries (16%) at 4.2 ypc, 2 td’s
Murray got 7 carries (16%) a game, 1.9 ypc, 4 td’s
Bobo rotating guys, cost Georgia 13 rushing td’s. Had Ealey got all 35 carries a game, since he scored a td every 14 carries, Ealey would have scored 32 td’s. As Bobo did it, the above 4 scored 19 rushing td’s.
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
10:48 am
The O-Line looked great for blocking only when Ealey was getting the carries, not for King, Thomas, or Murray.
Rad Penties
January 24th, 2011
10:54 am
There were a lot of things for the dawgs to celebrate this year. Let’s see…
1. A drunken, whoring athletic director with red panties in his lap.
2. Twelve players arrested. And 41% of UGA football players are arrested during their time at UGA.
3. A player suspended for violating NCAA rules.
4. Winning the Fulmer Cup for the most players arrested.
5. Winning the title of #1 party school (i.e., the most drunken student body in the USA).
6. A sleazy assistant coach who razzes opposing players, unethical coaching conduct in violation of NCAA rules.
7. A super sleazy head coach who thinks he’s a saint, but recruits thug wannabes, gangbangers, and illiterate morons.
8. A 6-7 record despite having a team full of 4- and 5-star recruits.
That’s really something to be proud of!
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:14 am
Funny how Bobo doesn’t rotate 4 QB’s like he does the RB’s and WR’s. If it’s all about “competition”, why the double standard for QB Arron Murray or Joe Cox?
Urban Meyer rotated 3 QB’s to beat Georgia.
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:15 am
Why doesn’t Bobo let Ealey pass for 6x a game, I mean, he lets Murray run for 6x a game?
monty
January 24th, 2011
11:16 am
Comparing Ealy to Walker in the same sentence is sacreligious. Ealy couldn’t hold Walker’s jock strap! Just watch the highlight reels of Walker,you’ll see the rare combination of power,speed,and determination. Oh,and you’ll be watching that reel a long time. Ealy’s highlights will consist of 2 and 3 yard touchdown runs.
You will probably never see a better performance by a back than Walker’s performance against Notre Dame in the championship game. They were much bigger than our lineman and highly favored to win.Walker practically willed his team to that victory.Excellent receiver too! Number 1 pick coming out of college. I doubt Ealy even gets drafted. Too slow for a finesse runner, not tough enough,too small for a power guy.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:20 am
Hopkins, Coach Bobo also called less TOTAL plays than pretty much everybody else in the conference. Surprised that you didn’t catch that when you looked it all up.
As a percentage of plays, he ran the ball 56% of the time, which is exactly what Alabama and SC (and most others) did. So would we conclude that thier OC just didn’t understand what Ingram’s or Lattimore’s TD/Touch capabilities were either?
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:20 am
Richt is 40-3 when he gets a 100 yard rusher.
If Bobo wanted to win, he’d be handing the ball t his most productive rb 25x a game.
Buddy
January 24th, 2011
11:22 am
Yes, Ealey averages more yards per carry than Herschel Walker, but I don’t like those facts, so I’ll just ingore them.
Buddy
January 24th, 2011
11:25 am
Wow, just read on here that Ealey scored 130+ td’s to Walker’s 90 td’s and Emmit smith’s 110 in High School. But, this makes me uncomfortable, so I’ll act like it’s not real.
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:28 am
If Bobo ranks 9th in number of run calls a game, you think that’s GOOD?
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:29 am
If I was Ealey, I’d demand Bobo let me pass the ball half of Bobo’s touches, since Bobo gives Murray half of Ealey’s rushes. Only fair.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:30 am
-the majority of Murray’s run were not “called plays”..in fact I would bet that as a designed QB run, he had 4 all year. The rest were Murray decisions.
-I’m sure you are just pretending to not know Ealey wasn’t actually available for several games. And that was not Coach’ Bobos decision.
Joe
January 24th, 2011
11:31 am
Rankign 9th in the SEC in run plays per game in INCREDIBLE!! Dont ya’ll know? Just read Altahama…
Ronnie
January 24th, 2011
11:33 am
Sounds good to me.
Ealey getting 50% of Murray’s pass calls makes about as much snese as Murray getting 50% of Ealey’s rushing calls.
Bobo is a GENIUS.
Trojan
January 24th, 2011
11:33 am
Anyone to think that Ealey compares to Herchel Walker is obviously young and a stat head geek that has never watch football and especially watch Herchel.
Ealey is not even above average for SEC back much less the greatest running back in the history of college football. Ealey can not break tackles, Ealey can not out run ANYbody. Get a grip and talk about something relevant.
Ronnie
January 24th, 2011
11:34 am
Why is Murray running the ball 7x a game, when he doesn’t even run for 2 yards a try?
Mark
January 24th, 2011
11:35 am
Altamha- we get it, you love Bobo. You can have him and Richt for 1 more year and then when UGA goes 6-6 again they’ll be gone. You can continue to support Bobo as he calls plays at Kennesaw St.
Trojan
January 24th, 2011
11:35 am
Buddy: When do you get your learners license? How’s the acne lately?
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:36 am
No. It’s not good to have an offence that is that low in total plays either.. Did you just miss the point that its % (as in how many times you attempt to run given the number of opportunities to even make that decision) that gauges “intent”?
To me, the fact that we were so poor at it, and STILL attempted to run the ball as much as we did, was a surprise.
Ellis
January 24th, 2011
11:36 am
Ealey does average 5 1/2 yards per carry, Herschel got 5.3. But I don’t believe that when I read it, so it must not be true.
dawgfaceboy
January 24th, 2011
11:38 am
Altamaha- what is it exactly you see as the problem in Athens? It obviously isn’t the coaching in your opinion. There must be some logical explanation for the decline in Athens. All you do is defend everything Richt and his staff do. So what’s wrong?
Fonzie's Cousin
January 24th, 2011
11:39 am
Listen, let’s see here, Bobo averages 9th in his conference ins running plays per game, yet Altahama thinks that’s AMAZING? Uh, no, 35 rushes a game ain’t enough. 9th in the conference man, get it, 9th?
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:39 am
Give it a rest Mark. I was critical of our offence back when (i’m betting you) thought everthing wrong was all Willie’s fault. Where you backing me up then? I’ve been on our running game woes for 3 years. Pay attention.
See, thats the problem in here. You can debate anything without some chidish.”I guess you just love Bobo” comment. Yea, that’t how it is. I just love the guy and the 6-6 season. Good call.
Hopkins
January 24th, 2011
11:44 am
Richt’s 40-3 when he gets a 100 yard rusher.
Let’s see here, that’s a 93% winning percentage.
Ok, now, reviewing the Georgia Florida games under Rict, there’s only been 2 wins.
Ok, each win, Georgia got a 100 yard rusher.
Ok, if I’m Coach Bobo, and I want to lose, what one thing can I do to guarantee Georgia loses?
Ok, it’s the Florida game, what 1 thing that has worked 100% of the time for Richt in this match-up do I want to avoid?
Yes, make sure no running back gets 100 yards in one game.
dhowar@us.ibm.com
January 24th, 2011
11:46 am
Ellis your really trying to compare Herschel and Ealey ?? Lets pretend for a minute that Herschel wasn’t the fastest and strongest man on the field every game he played in..that if you were lucky he out ran you rather than ran OVER you…then perhaps that nothing stat your spouting MIGHT mean something….Herschel by the way touched the ball MOST of the time the ball was snapped and every one in the stadium knew he was going to get the ball…and still no one could stop him….to be fair to Ealey you really need to stop comparing him to Herschel….I knew Herschel and Ealey is no Herschel.
Murphy
January 24th, 2011
11:46 am
Trojan,
Thats the most hilliarious crap I have heard on these blogs-Comparing Ealey to Herschel-LMAO-This dude needs help.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:51 am
More to the point dawgface…….what did I just say this morning that you find incorrect?
Instead of impugning my motives, how about dispute what I actually say.
I’ve said many times in here, what I thought was the issue(s) in here. If you really wanted that discussion, you wouldn’t try to pull that “all you do is defend the coach” crap.
No person on this planet doesn’t thihnk that problems causing a football team to loss ballgames is NOT the responsibility of the coaches. (and to my knowledge nobody has ever tried to say that in here, certainly not me)
Hunter
January 24th, 2011
11:52 am
Dude, these cats just playin. They realize Herschel can’t hold candle sticks to Ealey, ealey ran for 138 touchdowns in high school, shoot man, Walker didn’t crack 90. Ya’ll need ot find somebody on Ealey’s zone.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
11:55 am
SO you are saying that when UGA runs the ball well, they are a better team, and increases it’s chance of winning. Pretty much 100% of everybody says that.
Hunter
January 24th, 2011
12:00 pm
Anybody noticed, if Ealey or King fumbles, they’re touches get limited after that, but if Murray throws multiple interceptions in one game (UF/UCF), he has no consequences from Bobo? I find that fascinating.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
12:13 pm
UGA was also 9th place in the league in # of passing plays too. Do YOU get it? 9th.
Hunter
January 24th, 2011
12:15 pm
Anyone noticed Murray stunk it up on G-Day, got outplayed by every other QB, but got the starting position anyways? Fascinating, the way Bobo’s brain works.
AltamahaDawg
January 24th, 2011
12:19 pm
And next to last in total plays.
Pulpwood Smiff
January 24th, 2011
12:21 pm
How many dawgturd players arrested this week?
Oh wait, it’s only Monday.
Burma Shave
January 24th, 2011
12:27 pm
Ealey and King
Each is a thug
That’s why Richt needs
Some liquor to chug.
BURMA SHAVE
Hunter
January 24th, 2011
12:34 pm
Look at 1st downs.
Georgia defense ranked 3rd in SEC in 1st downs. Good there. But 12th in SEC on 3rd downs, not good.
Georgia offense ranked 8th in 1st downs, 7th in 3rd down conversion rate.
So, Georgia’s got to get the offense the ball more by:
1- offense converting more 3rd downs
2- offense getting more 1st downs
3- defense better on 3rd downs
Hunter
January 24th, 2011
12:35 pm
3rd down, on both sides of the ball, is a key.
WIN WITH RICHT
January 24th, 2011
12:37 pm
Herschel was the greatest college football player of alltime. No one past or present is even close.