AJC > Sports > Blog > Archives > 2008 > November > 26
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Can the Georgia defense play “Assignment Football?”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Like you, we’re going to take Thanksgiving off to enjoy some time with family before we head into what is going to be a wild finish to this college football season. So today I’m going to do my Five Burning Questions as we head into the weekend:
1. Will the Georgia defense have enough discipline to play “assignment football” against Tech? During his time at Navy, Georgia Coach Paul Johnson had to figure out ways for smaller, slower players to get an advantage over bigger, faster players. One of the ways you do that on offense is by forcing the defense to play “assignment football.” Johnson’s offense is run with such precision that every member of the defense has to carry out his assignment on every play. If a defender tries to free lance and create a play outside of his assignment, it creates an opening for a big play. In short, Johnson has figured out a way to use the superior talent of an opposing defense AGAINST them. Georgia has been an undisciplined team at times on defense this season. Next to Florida, this will be their toughest challenge of the season for the Georgia defense.
2. Can Virginia help Georgia Tech get to the ACC championship game? If Virginia Tech loses to Virginia in Blacksburg then Georgia Tech will go to the ACC championship game. It’s not going to happen and here’s why. Hokies’ coach Frank Beamer has made up his mind to be very conservative in Saturday’s game. He has the nation’s No. 8 defense and the 109th offense. Virginia Tech turned the ball over five times in its first six possessions last week and had to fight to beat Duke. This will be a ugly game and Beamer usually finds a way to win ugly games.
3. Why isn’t Charlie Strong being mentioned for some of these head coaching jobs? The Florida defensive coordinator has done some of his very best work this season. In 2006 his defense was the anchor than enabled the Gators to win the national championship. Last season the defense was a liability because the Gators were so young. Now Florida is knocking on the door of another national title because this defense has gotten better each week and is now a strength on this team again. Florida is third in the nation in scoring defense (12. 0 ppg). The first team defense has not given up a touchdown since the LSU game on Oct. 11. Yes, Charlie is an African-American and that brings with it a set of issues that we have to discuss because there are now only four minority head coaches among 119 Division I-A schools. But the fact is that Charlie Strong is a damn good football coach and deserves a shot to be a head coach.
4. Is Les Miles going to be feeling some heat after this season? LSU looked pretty lost last week against Ole Miss. The Tigers should have enough athletes to beat Arkansas on Friday in Little Rock because the Hogs’ defense is so bad (No. 95 in scoring, 31.3 ppg). A win puts LSU at 8-4 and probably headed to the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The issue is going to be raised, fairly or not, that this was the first season that LSU had played without any of Nick Saban’s players. One year after winning the national championship, does Miles begin the 2009 season under some pressure? The LSU fans have gotten a little spoiled after the past four seasons, which includes 41 wins. How do they react? Do they follow LSU to the bowl game?
5. Does Auburn have any shot in Saturday’s game against Alabama? Auburn has beaten Alabama six straight times but in that stretch the Tigers of Tommy Tuberville have not faced an Alabama defense this good with an Auburn offense that is so bad. Tuberville has won a bunch of games like this by running the ball, playing very conservatively, and trying to keep the game close into the fourth quarter. Then he believes the other guy will make a mistake or his team will put together one drive to win the game. The problem in this game is that Alabama is not going to let Auburn run the ball. The Crimson Tide has the nation’s No. 3 rushing defense (75.1 ypg). They will force Auburn to throw and that could get ugly.
