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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > October > 01
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A flag for insufficient coaching
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia was obviously woefully outmanned on both lines Saturday against Alabama, but that didn’t have to spell defeat for the Bulldogs. With adjustments, there are ways to play around such personnel mismatches, as was shown at least some of the time in the second half. But besides the line play and injuries, Georgia also was plagued by a poor game plan, what appeared to be insufficient preparation and coaching errors.
It’s hard to say whether Mark Richt and his staff got too caught up in Blackout fever the week before the game or just got outcoached. And no one who wasn’t on the sideline can really say why things were or weren’t done during the game by the Georgia coaching staff, but there was plenty to wonder about.
Why was the Georgia offense getting up to the line so much later than usual, eliminating much of Matthew Stafford’s time for reading the defense? Was Bama giving the Dawgs looks Mike Bobo didn’t expect? The result was that Stafford obviously lost faith in his line, often bailing out of the pocket prematurely and causing himself problems reminiscent of his freshman year (like overlooking open receivers while he locked in on a man in double- or triple-coverage, and lobbing a desperation pass into coverage that, naturally, was intercepted). And why, when the vulnerability of Stafford became apparent early on, did it take Georgia so long to switch to a max protect formation?
On defense, Willie Martinez was again slow to make adjustments and even then rarely blitzed and kept Georgia in a loose zone rather than playing man to man. The Dawgs didn’t shut Bama down in the second half so much as the Tide simply relaxed until it needed to tack on a couple of scores … and then it did so easily.
But the biggest problem, particularly in the first half, remained Georgia’s ridiculous penchant for drawing penalties, which played a big part in Alabama’s first two scoring drives and deprived the Dawgs of the fast start they needed against the Tide. Part of the problem was the lack of focus on the part of the players. Part of it is Georgia’s reputation, which means officiating crews have the Dawgs under a microscope and are going to throw every flag in the book with no wiggle room allowed.
But the chief blame for the penalty problem, at least in the Alabama game, belongs to Mark Richt. The head coach said on his Sunday TV show that the team obviously didn’t get the message from him about penalties. Maybe that’s because what he sent them after the Arizona State game was a mixed message. On the one hand he said that the Dawgs needed to cut back on penalties, but then he said that rather than any lack of discipline, the flags were a result of “playing hard” and noted, “You don’t want to take away the aggressiveness of your team.”
After the Bama game, he put it this way: “I’ve got to send a stronger message than I did before.”
Too bad it took him five games to figure that out.
Some of the calls in the Alabama game were really picky, but Georgia needs to recognize that’s how it’s going to be when you come in as the nation’s most penalized team. The officials are going to call everything in the rule book. And against SEC teams, the Dawgs aren’t going to be in a position where they can give their opponents any unearned advantage.
As I wrote Sunday, the Dawgs’ national title hopes are not dead, and that’s backed up by ESPN.com’s mock BCS standings, which have Georgia at No. 7, the highest ranked one-loss team. But players and coaches alike are going to have to pick up their game considerably to keep the Dawgs in contention. And keep their fingers crossed for more Top 10 upsets, too.
BULLDOG BITS: The black jerseys and Blackout were, of course, not responsible for Georgia’s loss. The Blackout did its job, which was to jack up fan fervor; the team just didn’t execute. That said, I think Richt should tell his team he isn’t going to bring the black jerseys out again until the players have earned them. And that means winning the big games, especially when they’re in Athens. … Georgia’s approach to kickoffs continues to be perplexing. Blair Walsh obviously is capable of putting it in the end zone. So just let him! Why give the other team the ball at the 38 or 40 when a touchback puts it at the 20? … The Georgia coaching staff may not have told punter Brian Mimbs to avoid Bama return man Javier Arenas, but I had the same thought Kevin Butler had watching Mimbs shank a couple of key punts Saturday, that he was trying to kick away from Arenas. Even if it wasn’t a conscious plan on anybody’s part, that’s what it looked like. … The Redcoat Band is competing in ESPN’s Battle of the Bands competition, along with Auburn, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Southern Cal and Texas, with each band playing the “Indiana Jones” theme and the winning school getting $25,000. You can see the performances and cast your vote at http://promo.espn.go.com/espn/contests/indianajones/voteBand
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