Henry To'o To'o offers his assessment of UGA's new offense: 'They’re still trying to pound the ball... that’s Georgia football'
Georgia entered the season with a ton of hype but after two games, is the hype warranted?
It is if you ask Tennessee’s All-SEC linebacker Henry To’o To’o.
The leader of Tennessee’s defense met with the media on Tuesday and offered up his initial thoughts on the Bulldogs after studying film of Georgia this season.
To’o To’o and the Volunteers linebackers have the difficult assignment of dealing with Georgia’s massive offensive line and talented running backs on Saturday.
Here’s what the sophomore had to say on the challenge of facing Georgia’s offense after two games.
“They do a great job of running that offense, especially behind their big o-line. They try to run the ball,” To’o To’o. “They get it out as fast as they can, so we’ve just got to be able to contain them. They both can move; they both have good vision on where to put the ball and ball placement. So, that’s kind of what I’ve seen through my one day of studying, so I just got to be able to dig deeper as I go throughout the week.”
How much has Georgia’s offense changed this season following the transition from Jake Fromm to Stetson Bennett and a change at the offensive coordinator position?
“From what I’ve seen, they’re still Georgia,” To’o To’o replied. “They’re still trying to pound the ball like you were saying — and that’s Georgia football. They’re trying to run that rock down your throat. Nothing spectacular that’s been different. Everything has been what we expected to see on film and what we expected going throughout this week.”
Jeremy Pruitt has said this week that Georgia has no weaknesses on film.
While that could be written off as coachspeak, Tennessee’s sophomore linebacker agrees with his coach’s statement.
“Coach Pruitt hit it right on the spot,” he added. “They’re big boys and we have to do our part. We have to come out mentally sound, physically sound, and give it our all. They’re a great, phenomenal team and they’re not just going to lay down. So, we got to give everything we’ve got throughout this week and sort it out on Saturday.”
Observant young man.
I really enjoy watching him…he’s gonna be the best in the SEC by the time he’s through with the Vols.
Absolutely. He’ll be gone after his Junior year. He’s legit NFL talent.
Mmmm, yes and no. UGA threw more plays than they ran against Arky. Against Auburn it was 45-28 run vs pass, but the imbalance came in the second half with a big lead and Kirby just trying to burn the clock down. Before the outcome was decided Monken was slinging the ball around pretty liberally. Yes, UGA will likely still pound the rock more than many other teams, but this offense CAN pass successfully and is not the least bit afraid to. That’s why Monken is here. Believing otherwise is dangerous.
He’s saying they rely on the run to establish offense. That’s what they did in the latest and more successful showing vs Auburn. I guess I missed the part where he said they’re incapable of passing the football-as you allege.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being able to pound the ball with excellent blocking. That eventually forces the defense to cheat a little toward the power game, and that’s when a play-action pass can kill your defense for six.
When Oklahoma was hanging half a hundred on opponents with their wishbone in the 1970s, and when Woody Hayes ran his Split and Straight-T formation offense back in the 1950s and 1960s, their opponents knew exactly what was coming for 75% of the plays.
OU ran the inside veer, hb power, power sweep, counter dive, and counter option. They threw 5 passes a game and completed 2 for 55 yards and a touchdown.
OSU ran the FB buck, the HB off-tackle, the inside belly series, and a couple of inside counters. They controlled the ball on offense usually ending up with about 70 plays to 55 for the opponent. They ran the ball 63 times for about 325 yards and passes 7 times, completing 3 for 55 yards.
Both teams won big. When OU ran the ball more 90% of the time, they still led the Big 8 in touchdown passes, because those passes were unstoppable with an all-American split end forcing double coverage, and when he did, there weren’t enough players in the box to stop the veer and its companion plays.
Georgia can win the National Championship pounding it down other teams’ throats and keeping its defense on the sideline. Imagine Georgia starting a game at the 25 and marching 75 yards on a 16-play drive that uses 8 1/2 minutes off the clock, leading to a TD. Then, imagine the defense forcing a 3 and out on the first opponent possession, using up 1 1/2 minute. The opponents’ defense is half exhausted by the time they go back on the field. That’s when they get a tad lazy and make a big mistake, allowing the Bulldogs to go up 14-0, and that is checkmate.
That scenario is exactly why Vince Lombardi was Vince Lombardi. The Packers were the easiest team to scout and the hardest team to stop, because their power game was so consistent.
BTW, I can remember Vince Dooley winning a lot of games playing Neanderthal style offense. Georgia wasn’t much of a passing threat in their 1980 championship season. They didn’t throw well in their near 1976 championship season. They had a running back as QB running the veer in their 11-1 1971 season. He later became the starting RB for the Patriots when New England first became good. The 1966 and 1968 teams were run, run, run, play-action pass from a tight slot formation.
You brought back a LOT of memories for me, LH. We must be contemporaries. Even if it’s not the same game nowadays, I’m still POed that I can’t watch a Nebraska-Oklahoma tilt every year. I never missed that game. It defined CFB for me growing up.
Your logic about pounding the ball and exhausting the defense’s will matches what Kirby’s instincts are. I don’t think UGA under his leadership will ever drift too far away from the run, but the game is clearly changing. Getting that three-and-out is harder and harder to come by when a Mayfield, Burrow or Tua is slicing and dicing your D like a butcher. Being able to fight fire with fire is almost mandatory now.
Still, if UGA can achieve a true 50/50 play-calling balance over the course of a season, it’ll be something we haven’t seen in many years. Many teams would consider that mix conservative, but at UGA it borders being radical.
You gentlemen got me curious. The numbers below are Georgia’s rushing plays as a percentage of total plays, by year.
2020 — 53.7
2019 — 55.9
2018 — 61.4
2017 — 68.7
2016 — 58.0 Kirby
————————————
2015 — 56.6 Richt
2014 — 63.3
2013 — 51.4
2012 — 56.8
2011 — 57.3
2010 — 55.9
When you have big leads late in games you tend to run more in the 4th quarter, skewing the numbers. As Florida improves you’ll find out what I’m talking about…trust me
I think you have to go back to the early ‘90s and Eric Zeier and to find a season where Georgia actually passed more plays than it ran. 2013 was a disastrous year when we were regularly using a walk-on RB due to season-ending injuries to Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall. Murray HAD to throw often. Last year was more balanced since nothing seemed to work on first down, and 2nd/3rd and long was far too common.
I should probably amend my comment to saying we haven’t seen a 50/50 offensive play mix season at UGA by design, rather than being forced to throw by circumstances, in a very long time.
Can you please give me the Cliff Notes
Outside of 2013, Georgia during the last 10 years has been closer to 55/45 run/pass, with a peak of 69/31 run pass in 2017, a year that Kirby had a true freshman quarterback.
Did you see where your boy Brenton is running his mouth? Classy dude, that one…
When you send Dan your next booster club donation include a note to tell him to thank Cox for the bulletin board material…
And how exactly did he run his mouth… when he was sent out to be interviewed by reporters and asked questions, which he presumably had an obligation to answer?
Good grief Leghumper, let it go.
Never…I’ve taken a huge personal interest in Mr Cox…speaking of which, Brenton while maybe you want Georgia on notice that it will definitely be personal…I want to know why? You’re the one that didn’t take ownership for your screw up. You’re the one that bailed on your boy Robert and then decided to bail on your team. I’ve gotta feeling with Kirby’s boy it’ll be nothing personal Brenton, it’ll be business as usual…set you up to charge up field in an effort to get those lipstick stats and watch helplessly as you fail to seal the edge again, and again, and…Jalen Hurts sends his regards
Well, certainly seems like you take things a little too personally. Check that; way to personally. Cox, and whatever Mullen did to you or a family member when he left MSU for an infinitely better job at Florida.
Maybe it’s time to relax and go back to obsessing over bye weeks.
Why, have you seen next year’s schedule already? Did we get hosed with 6 bye teams again? (:
Probably going to end up as one of my all time favorite players
Im so proud this young man is a Vol. He represents the school in a very intelligent and professional way. He is definitely an All SEC guy. Talent wise and as a man. Cant wait to see him get a sack on Stetson.
That kid is fun to watch. A true player.