Not sure the beef between some of you and Sponge, but this is 100% accurate. If you ask Riley what “offense he runs” he probably would say Air Raid, but there’s hardly anything similar about the offensive approach of Oklahoma and WSU. And as was also mentioned, our best players were our RBs. If Leach and Riley traded RBs this year the approach from both coaches would not have changed. They are who they are.
Oklahoma/Air Raid article...
- Thread starter Loyal Coug
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Not for nothin', but Oklahoma's extremely effective RB game plan (they hung 48 points on Georgia's elite defensive talent with elite coaching) involved 240+ rush yards on 2:1 running plays. Less sacks, Baker Mayfield was good for just 1 net yard of this. Talent is a big part - but the approach to position recruiting, design and playcalling is different too.
Not disputing your comments about balance , but why is Georgia's defense considered elite other than they face SEC offenses all year ?
OU no doubt has a good offense, but there are at least 2-3 offenses in the B12 that are right there with them. From the game I watched, Georgia's RB's would dominate the B12, but I could also see their defense easily giving up more than 25 to 30 points per game. If that was the league they played in , OU's effort today would not look so miraculous.
Georgia does play in the land of anemic offense. I would still say their D is elite as they made some big time plays in space on critical 3rd downs.
I think Ok State would hang 35 on them too.. What makes them elite is making critical stops against a juggernaut offense like they did in OT.
Gone are the days of the college version of the 85 Bears when you have to defend so much space these days
QB play in the SEC is and has been dog shite for years with the exception of a couple every now and then. It amazes me that schools like Alabama and LSU or Florida for that matter can't get a guy who can pass
I should have known this would invite comments about the SEC; I commented because I have a special interest in the UGA program (it's my 2nd alma mater). The point in me bringing that up is to say any opinions I have about UGA are automatically valid and unassailable.
Anyway, there's a nuance there, because "elite defense" - not something I said - could be different from "elite talent" and "elite coaching," which I did say.
Coaching: Kirby Smart is an Alabama legend and has already done incredible things for a 'bridesmaid' Georgia program.
Talent: currently ranked #1 class (247), #3 last year, #6 year before, and #6 before that with tons of talent concentrated on the defensive side of the ball. Also, Roquan Smith is the current Butkus winner
But I also think it's fair to say they have an elite defense. In addition to talent and coaching, even factoring in the 48 points (41 on defense) given up to the #1 P5 scoring offense in a Rose Bowl with overtime, they still gave up an average of ~15 ppg, having now played against 5 ranked teams. That's pretty good
Also, to someone else's comment, SEC may have pretty vanilla offenses but something about dominant DL and OL play can still lead to big points. Vandy gave up over 31 ppg; Kentucky, over 28 ppg. You could look at those numbers and think there must be a bunch of high-flying offenses in the SEC (there aren't, really).
Probably what I should have said is they would not be a 13 point per game defense if they faced a B12 schedule and left the elite term out of it. Most of what Georgia struggled in stopping is not unique to OU and I agree with a post above that I at least would not be shocked in the least if Okie State and even TCU would put scores north of 30 pts on Georgia. That does not take them out of elite status per se, OU and OSU can hang 50 on most teams, but it takes them out of the jaw dropping 13pts/game territory. That is not really anything that earth shattering , OU lit Alabama up like a pinball machine in the Sugar Bowl, 3 or so years ago with an inferior QB.
Georgia's RB's are far better than even advertised and that is what pulls their overall team up to elite status.
Agreed. I think Georgia has an elite defense - for 2017, and not even #1; just a Top 5-10 defense for 1 year - and I think it's probably better in some conferences and worse in others. Just don't want to say the SEC is so vanilla and so padded that giving up 13 ppg means nothing. Perhaps that's 20 ppg in the B12, but probably not much higher. Remember this year's high-flyin' conference includes Iowa State, Tech, WVU, Kansas, K-State, Texas and 2017 Baylor... 1-2 scoreless games in there alone.
Not picking on you guys, but god I wish that word "Elite" would go away. Sports media is so over the top anymore (and has been for years) that I can't watch or listen to anything outside of live games. I have to turn volume off. Every play is the best ever, every player is the greatest we've ever seen, every close game is the greatest game in the history of games etc... The bigger the game, the worse it is. I can't stand manufactured drama. Unfortunately it has kind of reduced me to just a fan of my teams and no longer a fan of the game itself anymore.
Hell even golf telecasts have jumped the shark. WTF!
That's the end of my OT rant. Thanks for listening
Hell even golf telecasts have jumped the shark. WTF!
That's the end of my OT rant. Thanks for listening
