Roam in the Dome

Written by Socrates | 27 August 2011

Speculation is rampant on the boards, in the blog-o-sphere about the secret practice in the Dome. We all knew the practice was closed to our media, but no one knew Georgia had scheduled the practice for the dome (not known until Owen's tweet). Yes, this is the day the Bulldogs got the feel of next Saturday nights huge game. Adjusting to kickoffs, lights, atmosphere, and don't you know a lot of talk about Championships and Pride. Great move by the coaching staff.
But all of this does beg the question, what are we practicing to show Boise State in the opener? What are those new wrinkles, and most importantly the promised “cutting edge” philosophy promised us by Coach Richt. In this writing today, I have a few ideas, some or all which you may see:

1. Hurry up Offense. It takes a very well conditioned football team to execute a Hurry up Offense. Last season Auburn ran the offense to perfection. Many missed the fact that Auburn was the best conditioned offense in the SEC. The Auburn players spoke about their long off season conditioning program, much in the same way as we Bulldog fans are hearing now. Could we see such a change in the Dome to a hurry up plan of attack? Yes is the short of it, especially the scripted plays early in the game, and if we have success we just might do it throughout the game.
2. The Wing T. Could be a variation of the old “broken bone” attack, or the variation of what we now call the “spread” offense. We have all the players to execute this well, even if Branden Smith's ankle is tweeked, we have Malcom Mitchell or Justin Scott Wesley who are both quite capable on the wing. Heck we could even see the traditional Wishbone inside the 10 yard line with big John Jenkins in the fullback spot. Look for the variations of the old wing T offense, because it is my thought we could well see some of it for an element of surprise. I would love to see Nick Marshall, but we hear he has not practiced with the offense.......yet.
3. One Back Formation. Risky for pass protection, but if use this formation with #4 below it is not risky at all.   Look for this formation when we may want to play action to Crowell, and dump to a TE.  Look for Ogletree if we are passing from the one back formation. Anyway you look at it, it brings me naturally to number four.
4. The “Magic Three”, the scariest formation in all of football. Defensive coordinators fear a team that has the ability to connect with a 3 TE offense. Georgia can disguise this well with Figgins running as the Fullback and set in motion to the outside. Love this formation with Lynch and Orson Charles in the game. Nasty if we use Aron White with Orson Charles and Figgins, with the intention of throwing the ball. Promise you if we do not see this formation in the dome, it will be disappointing, especially with the personnel available at TE. (If you would like to learn more about the Magic Three, look here).
5. The “Layered” Defense. Believe by now the players have a good grasp of the 34 defense which Grantham wishes to employ. The layered defense is a combination of zone responsibilities with man to man assignments. We even will employ the “Bandit” defense for the front 7, much like Alabama ran with Rolando McClain in the middle. Simply a defense which is difficult to read, because the “Bandit” may have different assignments for the plays called. Next, layer the secondary (3-2), (1-4) in the 4-2-(5) with man or zone responsibilities. Expect a lot of 3 or 4 man zone from Georgia secondary, with any of the other secondary players maned on receivers. Think you will see this most likely used to offset the “Pistol” offense of Boise State, as it creates confusion for mulitple receiver sets.. By the way, do you know who is being taught the Bandit role for the front seven? Tree and Ramik Wilson.
6. Zone Blitzes. This will be our most common place blitz out of the base 4-2-5 defense, or 3-3-3-(2) (zone Layered). Angles are what the 34 defense thrives on, making the defense unique for zone blitzes. In this game it is my opinion they will come from the outside (unlike Carolina, which likely will come from the inside). These zone blitzes will be both for the run and the passing formations presented us by Boise State.
7. Two man Tackle. I know some of you are thinking wait a minute Socrates....... I thought we would see Geathers or Jenkins on the outside? Well let me address that. It is my opinion,when were are in the 34 defense you might see Jenkins on the outside, but only to give Abry Jones on the Strongside, (or if Lott's leg is not ready) Tyson on the Weakside. We will see both Jenkins and Geathers as the two man Defensive Tackles in the 43 defense. At least until Rome is comfortable. Now in short yardage 43 situations and goal line formations expect Geathers and Jenkins both on the inside. That is a lot of beef to move.
8. Hybrid Safety. This gets me the most excited to write about. For a longest time when Lakatos was hired, I would pull out the old South Carolina vs. Connecticut tape to see what his secondary looked like. I watched his Safety playing a hybrid role. The Safety would cheat up for coverage of the Gamecock receivers, throughout the game. I believe Lakatos did attempt this with Rambo early last season, but when Rambo had difficulty, we never saw it again. Sanders Commings is going to be that Hybrid Secondary player. Sanders has the speed and size needed for such a role. Imagine the Secondary like a cake, layered and then frosted. Commings is the frosting. His role will be that of a free roaming Safety (not free safety) used for run defense but most importantly for disguising coverage. He can move up like a corner in multiple receiver sets. Imagine being a quarterback and thinking...... is he playing Safety or Corner?......... Is he zoned or man to man? Hard to read a Safety when you have no idea what he is up to. Hybrids can be equally effective in the middle with LB's zoning, the Weakside Linebacker dropping in coverage and he catching the Strongside TE in man to man. Got it? Watch for this, as I am certain his role will be that of a Hybrid Safety.

So there you have it my takes on what practices will be all about this week. Much more of a tweek than an overhaul, but all 8 are options were really unavailable to us last season.

On offense, we were poorly conditioned and with AJ Green there wasn't a big need for changes. We did not have the depth at TE, as we do now with Rome and especially Lynch's abilities. Moving Figgins to Fullback, gave us so many different options as explore.

On defense, there was nothing but learning last year,with little scheming other than for Houston and Dent. Now our guys are in tuned to what Grantham is teaching. We will see much more 34, especially with Geathers in the middle (Jenkins), we certainly didn't have that last year. We have uber athletic guys like Ogletree and R. Wilson who can play that Bandit Role for the front seven. .Commings playing the Hybrid role for the secondary, we had no one last season with his versatility.

We have the personnel on defense and offense to run, for many more options than last season. No reason for us not to throw the book at Boise State. GATA ALWAYS.