Things I Think I Saw: AU vs Kentucky

[Sizzle 3,917]

1 hour ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I feel like the lack of backs and TEs in the passing game is more to do with a skeletal gameplan than Chad just not having them. I think between the new OLmen and everything else, they just didn't want to do too much 

 

but checkdowns definitely wouldve been nice 

Chad was definitely calling basic plays. It was pretty obvious. Even jboy said it on his podcast today 

53 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

@McLoofus I hear you.

That RB situation is going to be interesting to watch. Hope Shivers' injury won't slow him down against Georgia. He and Tank are the only backs I'm interested in seeing at this point. Also, so much hype about MAR, yet we don't see him?

If healthy Shivers can definitely be the guy. Still don’t understand why people are obsessed with his size. He averaged 5 yards a carry 

[Barnacle 9,064]

12 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

Chad was definitely calling basic plays. It was pretty obvious. Even jboy said it on his podcast today 

If healthy Shivers can definitely be the guy. Still don’t understand why people are obsessed with his size. He averaged 5 yards a carry 

He looked the best, IMO, of the three backs. Where Tank might be in a few games is going to be very interesting. 

[RunInRed 16,438]

1 hour ago, Flash14302 said:

Thank you, Coach!

Welcome!

[CCTAU 3,335]

1 hour ago, Sizzle said:

Chad was definitely calling basic plays. It was pretty obvious. Even jboy said it on his podcast today 

If healthy Shivers can definitely be the guy. Still don’t understand why people are obsessed with his size. He averaged 5 yards a carry 

I was looking forward to seeing a few more attempts by Shivers. He is running with a passion this season. He is at a disadvantage with an OL that can't seem to get a consistent seam. But you have to give the kid some touches to get that one or two runs a series that breaks a defense. If we had holes off tackle like UK produced, Shivers would most likely be still running. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 hours ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I feel like the lack of backs and TEs in the passing game is more to do with a skeletal gameplan than Chad just not having them. I think between the new OLmen and everything else, they just didn't want to do too much 

but checkdowns definitely wouldve been nice 

I agree. I think the staff also knew we could control this game without having to get too creative. Even with their formidable heavies, Kentucky was a significantly less deep and talented team. The narrative leading up to the game was strange to me.

And @Barnacle, I can only suspect this is why we didn't see MAR. W didn't really throw to the backs and evidently that's where he really sets himself apart. 

We didn't throw to the TEs, we didn't run sweeps or really attack the perimeter much at all... Simply put, I don't think we scratched the surface of what this offense is against Kentucky. We really had no need to.

[Cardin Drake 1,842]

I'm not so sure.  That game against Kentucky was closer than the score indicated.  We were almost in trouble at the end of the first half.  I didn't feel at all that we had the luxury of holding back.  The defense stepped up in the 2nd half, and the offense did what it need to. We'll see.  I don't understand the lack of passes to the tight ends and running backs, but I'm not convinced it will change. New Orleans completed 13 passes to Alvin Kamara at RB last night. I'd love to see Shivers getting the ball in space 5 yards down the field 13 times.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

1 hour ago, Cardin Drake said:

I'm not so sure.  That game against Kentucky was closer than the score indicated.  We were almost in trouble at the end of the first half.  I didn't feel at all that we had the luxury of holding back. 

I agree to an extent. I think that the game plan vs KY was simple for a ton of reasons. We have a new offense, brand new OL, and we play UGA next week. Do enough to win. The problem is that we did not play well in the first half and if not for a weird/blown call at the goalline, we would have been down at halftime. Luckily KY went stupid and threw the ball the next play and the rest is history. Let's see what happens in this game against uga. If we do not see passes to the TE or RBs in this game, I will be shocked. 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by gr82b4au

[McLoofus 35,182]

49 minutes ago, Cardin Drake said:

We were almost in trouble at the end of the first half.

It could be viewed that way, especially with them getting the ball to start the 2nd half. But it still would've only been a one score game, and if we had needed to chase points in the 2nd half, I'm sure Chad would've gotten more creative. But we opened the 2nd half by forcing consecutive 3-and-outs and scoring a touchdown. I think Chad did try a couple things after UK scored to make it 15-13. We moved the ball a little, took a big sack, got behind the sticks and had to punt. 14 plays later, though, it was 29-13 and we were in close out mode.

I am beyond positive that we are going to see much, much more from this offense as the season goes on. I'm not saying it's going to work, but we're going to run plays and use guys differently than we did in week 1 against a team that, no matter the talent and experience of their heavies, just isn't on par with us or the other big dogs in the league. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

18 hours ago, JMR said:

One of the things I was hoping for from Chad Morris was checkdowns to the running backs. Didn't see that this week.

This MUST be in the game plan this week against uga. They will eat our inexperienced OL alive and we will need check downs, screens, and somehow muster a good running game. Uga has the best D we will play this year besides uat. I know that they are a 7 point favorite but we can beat that team. We just have to believe we can do it. 

JMR - did you watch the safeties? I thought that smoke did not play particularly well. Your take? 

[Sizzle 3,917]

9 hours ago, CCTAU said:

I was looking forward to seeing a few more attempts by Shivers. He is running with a passion this season. He is at a disadvantage with an OL that can't seem to get a consistent seam. But you have to give the kid some touches to get that one or two runs a series that breaks a defense. If we had holes off tackle like UK produced, Shivers would most likely be still running. 

The way the OL is blocking, you need a guy like Shivers. With his speed he can make something out of nothing which we’re going to need with the OL blocking like it is

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I agree. I think the staff also knew we could control this game without having to get too creative. Even with their formidable heavies, Kentucky was a significantly less deep and talented team. The narrative leading up to the game was strange to me.

And @Barnacle, I can only suspect this is why we didn't see MAR. W didn't really throw to the backs and evidently that's where he really sets himself apart. 

We didn't throw to the TEs, we didn't run sweeps or really attack the perimeter much at all... Simply put, I don't think we scratched the surface of what this offense is against Kentucky. We really had no need to.

We knew we could beat UK running vanilla plays. We just needed to match their physicality. And once we did that it was over 

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, Sizzle said:

The way the OL is blocking, you need a guy like Shivers. With his speed he can make something out of nothing which we’re going to need with the OL blocking like it is

We knew we could beat UK running vanilla plays. We just needed to match their physicality. And once we did that it was over 

We didn't even try to attack the perimeter against UK. With possibly the 2 fastest skill players in the league. I look for a lot more of that Saturday. I look for a lot more of everything except maybe inside runs, unless we are able to get them tired and we can carry a lead into the 4th quarter. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

12 hours ago, Barnacle said:

@McLoofus I hear you.

That RB situation is going to be interesting to watch. Hope Shivers' injury won't slow him down against Georgia. He and Tank are the only backs I'm interested in seeing at this point. Also, so much hype about MAR, yet we don't see him?

Yep this is an interesting situation. MAR supposedly looked very good in fall practice, as did shivers and tank. 

I hate to say it but DJ is just not fast enough, elusive enough, or big enough. He falls so quickly. The play against LSU last year where he had a clear line to the endzone and did not score resonates every time I see him run now. 

We need one of these guys to step up (and the OL to block). 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

6 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

We didn't even try to attack the perimeter against UK. With possibly the 2 fastest skill players in the league. I look for a lot more of that Saturday. I look for a lot more of everything except maybe inside runs, unless we are able to get them tired and we can carry a lead into the 4th quarter. 

Love the guy but running shivers inside is not going to work consistently, especially on 3rd or 4th and 1. On these plays we need to line up Nix under center and QB sneak, or maybe use tank or a FB. Shivers is best when he runs like did in the uat game - down the line... or catching screens. He would be incredible in open space with his speed. 

Edited September 28, 2020 by gr82b4au

[1auburn1 1,120]

We only had 57 plays on offense, a stat that must get better.   That certainly limited the number of potential players seeing the field, like MAR.

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, 1auburn1 said:

We only had 57 plays on offense, a stat that must get better.   That certainly limited the number of potential players seeing the field, like MAR.

This is an outstanding point. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

5 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Yep this is an interesting situation. MAR supposedly looked very good in fall practice, as did shivers and tank. 

I hate to say it but DJ is just not fast enough, elusive enough, or big enough. He falls so quickly. The play against LSU last year where he had a clear line to the endzone and did not score resonates every time I see him run now. 

We need one of these guys to step up (and the OL to block). 

I just don't see the burst, quickness, or balance from DJ that you see in Worm. 

Tank looks raw, but clearly talented. I'd have Shivers as RB1 and Tank as RB2. 

[1auburn1 1,120]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

This is an outstanding point. 

Thanks.   Can I go home now?  😁

[Barnacle 9,064]

4 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Love the guy but running shivers inside is not going to work consistently, especially on 3rd or 4th and 1. On these plays need to line up Nix under center and QB sneak, or maybe use tank or a FB. Shivers is best when he runs like did in the uat game - down the line... or catching screens. He would be incredible in open space with his speed. 

I just don't feel like we've seen enough of him running inside to form a hard opinion. You might argue that's by design but the fact that Gus and Chad are willing to hand him the ball on third and short should say something, IMO. 

I'm very curious to see what the rotation looks like against Georgia, and whether Tank starts eating into DJ's share of carries. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

Love the guy but running shivers inside is not going to work consistently, especially on 3rd or 4th and 1. On these plays we need to line up Nix under center and QB sneak, or maybe use tank or a FB. Shivers is best when he runs like did in the uat game - down the line... or catching screens. He would be incredible in open space with his speed. 

We can absolutely run him inside, just like we did Tre Mason and just like a lot of teams do with smaller backs now. (Catch that Patriots game yesterday?) But we have to loosen up the defense with perimeter plays just like we did in 2013 and 2014. We don't have a running back on the roster meant to run through holes that aren't there. Very few teams do anymore with how big and athletic defensive players are now. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I just don't feel like we've seen enough of him running inside to form a hard opinion. You might argue that's by design but the fact that Gus and Chad are willing to hand him the ball on third and short should say something, IMO. 

I'm very curious to see what the rotation looks like against Georgia, and whether Tank starts eating into DJ's share of carries. 

I think Tank and MAR both will. I think we'll see more sweeps with Stove and Flash, too. 

Random aside, I LOVE that we hit on a couple runs from Bo. That's going to pay dividends going forward. 

[afblue 128]

Thanks for taking the time and effort to do this, Coach.

[around4ever 4,139]

Thanks Coach!!  Well done, as usual. 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

13 hours ago, Sizzle said:

Chad was definitely calling basic plays. It was pretty obvious. Even jboy said it on his podcast today 

If healthy Shivers can definitely be the guy. Still don’t understand why people are obsessed with his size. He averaged 5 yards a carry 

So much this. I have seen people say he should be in the omac role, they’re two completely different players. Omac looked like if the wind blew him too hard it might break him in half lol. As @3rdgenerationsaid, one of the biggest reasons he’s RB1 is because of his tenacity and leadership. Not to mention everything else. People seem to overlook the way he runs. Was going to post a gif of that run from Saturday but keep getting an error message

[AuMarine 1,372]

@JMR glad you are back giving your take on the games. Love reading it every week.

I love Worm. I believe he is our best back right now. I guess he was limited with an ankle problem, and I hope it gets better for UGA. I really want to see Morris find creative ways to get Worm the ball. He is explosive and fast and can be a game changer with his speed. As far as how he is built, he looks rock solid to me and I saw a couple of defenders bounce right off him.. he is low to the ground and hard to tackle. I wouldn't hesitate running him up the middle, off tackle, and anywhere else. The key has to be the OL getting better each week and opening up holes for the RBs. UGA's front 7 will be a big challenge for our offense. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

1 hour ago, 1auburn1 said:

We only had 57 plays on offense, a stat that must get better.   That certainly limited the number of potential players seeing the field, like MAR.

Holy cow I did not notice that... basically KY just controlled the clock the entire game. To put it in perspective I think that uga had 89 plays saturday against ark. They had 32 more plays in the game. WOW. Also just looked and we only had 19 plays in the first half and 1 was kneel down. 18 plays of true offense! KY had 41 plays in the first half! They dominated. It is amazing (and fortuitous) that we had the lead at halftime.