Georgia Football: The Wizard hidden behind the curtain
By Eric Taylor
The wizard behind Georgia football’s offense is not who some think.
Fans have begun to summon the flying monkeys against Kirby Smart. They are accusing him of having his hands on Georgia football’s offense. However, they are ignoring the man behind the curtain and he is a real wizard. It is time to shine a light on this man pulling the strings behind the scenes and put an end to the witch hunt.
Georgia football fans are used to the offense running 60+ percent of the time. So after running it 74 percent of the time on Saturday fans are in a panic that Georgia is reverting to its old ways. However, it is hard to believe that Georgia spent their bye week practicing an offense they ran all of last year.
Todd Monken was brought in to update Georgia football’s offense. That is exactly what he has done. Here are the run/pass splits from the first five games of Georgia’s season (via SECstatcat):
Arkansas: 36/53, 40% run 60% pass
Auburn: 44/29, 60% run 40% pass
Tennessee: 49/29, 63% run 37% pass
Alabama: 25/45, 36% run 64% pass
Kentucky: 42/15, 74% run 26% pass
Total: 196/171, 53% run 47%
Total without the Kentucky game: 154/156, 50% run 50% pass.
This is a small sample size, but you can see, without the outlier Kentucky game, Monken is splitting run/pass right down the middle. Last season the run/pass split for the season was 475/447 52% run 48%. Monken has brought a more balanced attack to Georgia’s offense. Instead of forcing an agenda, he takes what the defense gives him.
Here is a list of the top ten concepts used this year vs last year:
2020:
- Inside Zone Read
- Flood Variations
- Outside Zone
- Inside Zone
- Inside Power
- Shot Variations
- Inside Power Read
- Screens
- All Verts
- Rub Variations
2019:
- Inside Zone Read
- Inside Zone
- Inside Power
- Screens
- Outside Zone
- Smash Variations
- Curl+Seam/ Hoss/ Comebacks
- Rub Variations
- Outside Zone Read
- Shot Variations
In both seasons there are five runs and five passes in the top ten. The big difference is this season a passing concept is No. 2 on the list. The only passing concept in the top five from 2019 was screens which is really just an extension of the running game. Comparing the two you can tell an undeniable difference. This is definitely Moken’s offense, not Smart’s.
A prime example of the differences in playcalling and use of concepts is the difference of Flood Concept usage. Last year Georgia football used Flood Concepts 25 times, so far this season Georgia has already used Flood Concepts 25 times. This should show you that playcalling is changing. However, if Smart was calling the plays wouldn’t his usage of concepts remain the same?
Another thing to look at is how often Georgia football is now using run-pass option concepts. In 2019 they didn’t really have the quarterback to run true run-pass option plays, but it wasn’t a strong part of the offense anyway. Here is a breakdown of the difference in how run-pass option plays have been used this year under Monken.
2019:
RUN
475 / 922 51.52 %
RPO
138 / 922 14.97 %
PASS
447 / 922 48.48 %
2020:
RUN
196 / 367 53.41 %
RPO
89 / 367 24.25 %
PASS
171 / 367 46.59 %
Here is a more in-depth breakdown of the year to year differences between Georgia’s offense today and in 2019 (via SEC Stat Cat’s YouTube page).
It is hard sometimes to understand how the man behind the curtain works, but hopefully, this shines some light on how Georgia football’s offense really works. Smart works with his staff to run the defense while Monken and his staff run the offense. There is no conspiracy where Smart lords over the offense and forces his will on it. That is not why Monken is in Athens.
Call back the flying monkeys and give the Wizard of Athens some room to work. It is his first season as offensive coordinator for Georgia with no Spring Camp and his starting quarterback, who took 80% of the snaps in the offseason, left two weeks before the season. Give him some time to implement what he wants the offense to look like and to figure out who he wants playing where.
Monken is going to get this thing going, trust and believe, he has had great offenses everywhere he has gone other than places that put him in a box and made the calls on offense for him. Just give him some time to work his magic. You will not be disappointed.