Does anyone still think the air raid will get us a NC?

[hfhmilkman]

The whole 3-3-5 deal is to keep everything to the first and second level. But you have to adjust a bunch to defend again 1st down. Teams like UGA know to play for 1st down. (We have done the same a lot this year due to run game).

To run that defense, you must bring a guy down more (disguised 4-2-5 or even 4-3-4 ) Just have to hope we develop/recruit the hybrids needed. Part of that is Kaz's job.

UGA also has the elite athletes and talent to win with just their front. This is why the SEC schools sign so many top 250 Dline recruits. Bring in six guys. Two or three do not pan out. Another gets hurt. You still have enough if you are doing that year after year. A team like Georgia becomes formation immune unless they are up against another elite team like Ohio State.

I concur with your comment on hybrids. Everyone is looking for that guy who runs like a safety who hits like linebacker. Its like chess where a piece has an extra movement capability. The hybrid can mean that you can seamlessly support a 4-3-4 to a 4-2-5 just by walking a few steps over.

 

[Chongo94]

Interesting thread….seems a bit like me asking if Capitalism is working in North Korea…

 

[GAPony]

Good grief. The entire philosophy behind the Air Raid is to give teams with less physical size and talent a chance to compete with those who have more. Leach and Mumme said that from the start. It's about having an offense designed to leverage the strengths of your particular personnel.

If we had the personnel of Georgia, Bama and Ohio State, then we wouldn't need to run it -- or really, we would need to run "less" of it, because elements of the Air Raid are in nearly every playbook in the country today.

Additionally, it was pretty obvious to me this year that this wasn't a pure Leach/Mumme Air Raid. Because we had greater skill, size and athleticism than any of their teams ever had, Sonny and Garrett moved this offense more towards what would be considered a "pro-style" offense in today's world.

If you can't see that the NFL (as well as Bama/Georgia/Ohio State) have adopted many facets of the Air Raid, then I don't know what to say.

Agreed 100%. I do think the "pro-style" offense is the best overall, but it requires elite-level personnel in order to run it well. Case in point is that Miami under Mark Richt tried the pro-style offense, and it never really worked out. And Coach Dykes definitely utilized the run well at SMU; you could almost call it the Air Raid, run option offense. If you don't have the top-level elite personnel, I still think the air-raid is the next best option, with bonus points if you can realistically threaten with a good run game.

 

[Power of Purple]

Georigia was the outlier. We were gassed and beat up after Michigan. It's like the 49ers effect this year. Yes, we managed to beat Michigan, but probably needed another week to physically recover, if not more.

Why? Georgia just played just as physical and taxing emotional game and we did and played fine on Monday

 

[tmcats]

I suspect, like K-State, that every decade or so the stars will align and TCU will be right there for the national title hunt. The 12-team CFP makes the field easier to achieve. But neither program is configured in a way today that makes them obvious championship contenders. And I believe they are the two best B12 programs today. Which offensive system they choose probably has less to do with it than Jimmys and Joes along the lines.

 

[HornyWartyToad]

Why? Georgia just played just as physical and taxing emotional game and we did and played fine on Monday

Because they did it with a much deeper and more talented squad, which never got entirely burned up either physically or emotionally during the season because of their ability to rotate guys to give them rest. I don't recall their entire season but I'm pretty sure they didn't have one like ours where every week was a down-to-the-wire threat to their survival and they had to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of all their starters.

 

[dawg]

After Monday night, I am convinced that in the playoffs scheme doesn't matter, players do...and any scheme offensively and defensively can get you to the playoffs.

This. Georgia could run the 1940s single-wing, roll through the SEC and win the MNC because < half their team is 4-5 stars.