Georgia's players and coaches said they didn't execute the up-tempo offense they installed in the offseason as well as they could have in the 35-21 loss to Boise State on Saturday at the Georgia Dome.
The first indication came early: Georgia's offense committed two false-start penalties on its first series.
"We tried to go up-tempo and tried to go no-huddle," coach Mark Richt said. "We wanted to spread it out more. We didn't have an awful lot of success."
The No. 5 Broncos' version of the no-huddle offense operated quickly, putting quarterback Kellen Moore into a rhythm that the Bulldogs couldn't break.
The No. 19 Bulldogs' version operated at a much slower pace for the first half of the game, a pace that seemingly threw the entire offense out of rhythm.
First the players lined up, then all stood up and looked to the sideline and wait for the play to get relayed from coordinator Mike Bobo, who was analyzing the defense in the coaches' box.
Bobo sent the play down to the sideline, where it was relayed to players. It was the first time since the middle of the 2009 season that Bobo called plays from the coaches' box, and not from the sideline.
Richt pointed out it's a common strategy that many teams use in college football.
"The goal is to get a good feel for what they are doing," Richt said.
However, the result, at least in the first half when the game was close, showed Boise seemed to be forcing Georgia's hand. Brandon Boykin's 80-yard run accounted for more than half of Georgia's 151 yards in the first two quarters.
The end result was slightly better: 373 yards, but the Bulldogs converted just 15.4 percent of their third downs failed to get inside Boise's 20-yard line, other than on the three long scoring plays.
With a South Carolina defense upcoming, one that will likely be tougher and faster than Boise's, Richt said they are going to stick with what they've worked on.
"We wont' stop," Richt said. "Whether you go no-huddle or not, you've got to execute and make first downs."
Aaron Murray, who completed 61.1 percent of his passes last season, completed 55 percent on Saturday. He was sacked six times, which can be partially attributed by Georgia's need to pass to try to rally.
"There's still some work to do," Murray said. "I need to go back and watch film and make the necessary corrections."
To compare, Moore and the Broncos rarely waited for Georgia's defense, particularly in the second and third quarters when they took control of the game. Moore, a senior, passed for 261 yards and completed 82.3 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception. The offense totaled 390 yards. Moore wasn't sacked and was rarely pressured.
"It was surprising not to get as much pressure as we thought we would," linebacker Christian Robinson said. "They had a game plan too. We made adjustments, but they made more."
At one point in the third quarter, Georgia had to call a timeout because Boise State's offense had lined up and was about to snap the ball before the Bulldogs' defense could get into formation.
After the Bulldogs fell behind by 21 in the third quarter, the offense was forced to speed up. Murray got the offense moving with long scoring passes to Orson Charles (36 yards) and then to Malcolm Mitchell (51 yards). But it was too much to overcome.
"We just weren't executing," Murray said.
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