Xs and Os: Good and bad from Georgia's win over Auburn

Georgia visited the The Plains on Saturday and stole one, it’s ninth straight win in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. The Bulldogs trailed 10-0 after being thoroughly dominated for the first 28 minutes and 30 seconds of the game. Then they went on to score 20 unanswered points to beat Auburn 20-10. After picking out some of the plays that stood out most, DawgsHQ breaks it down with video.

More physical…

So what was different between the first and second halves? It starts with physical play and beating blocks. There’s both good and bad on this play. Quintavius Johnson, lined up in a two-point stands on the left side of the line of scrimmage, comes free on a T-E stunt. I don’t think Johnson does anything wrong here, and the left guard does a great job of getting a piece of him late to give Jackson Arnold a chance to get away. Georgia just has to do a better job in situations like these of finishing the play.

The telecast highlighted CJ Allen on this play and its deserved. His spacing with the center is perfect—close enough that the center can’t come off him and help pick up Johnson but far enough away that the center can’t release upfield and lock on to him without risking an illegal-man-downfield penalty.

Gabe Harris is the guy I want to focus on. He’s working on the right guard and he’s giving up at least 40 pounds. He gets punched pretty good on his initial rush but the counter move is filthy. He maintains his power after having his shoulders turned, gets underneath that right arm from the initial punch, and tosses the guard to the ground to beat the block and get into the pursuit. Kirby Smart said after the game that Georgia simply did a better job of beating blocks in the second half and this is what he’s talking about.

Fitting up the run…

The first half saw Auburn hit Georgia with jet sweeps, various inside handoff concepts, and quarterback run, especially when Arnold was able to get down hill. The eye discipline was so much better in the final two quarters. The Bulldogs fit this run extremely well across the board.

Let’s start with the perimeter where Auburn tries to catch the collective eye of the Georgia defense with return jet-sweep motion. Even with the play-side corner, Ellis Robinson, bailing out, the Bulldogs are able to set the ledge and essentially build a fence on the perimeter. Joenel Aguero attacks the outside shoulder of the No. 2 receiver and KJ Bolden takes on the tight end. Raylen Wilson rolls down to the running back, allowing Harris, unblocked, find the football and crash on the quarterback when he reads the keep.

Joshua Horton coming on?

I have been impressed by what I’ve seen from Horton lately, especially the past two games. I am in no way trying to say that he has been dominant, but he has shown the ability to be quite disruptive. This play illustrates that and is another instance of Georgia simply doing a better job of beating blocks.

Auburn has what it wants right here in terms of getting a hat on a hat. Christen Miller does a nice job of striking the center, but the Tigers want this run to hit outside of the guard. If Auburn’s right guard and right tackle, who have the angles they need, get this blocked, Miller has a chance to flow all the way down the line of scrimmage and make a play. Still, he’ll likely be be limited to an arm tackle at best.

The right guard delivers a nice bump on Horton before working up to the second level and covering up the CJ Allen quickly. Horton, however, makes the Tigers pay for not double teaming him. He goes ahead and swims the block quickly, sliding back into the run lane, and forcing a cutback into Miller and Harris.

Missed chip?

There’s a lot that you can’t be certain about when attempt to break down film. Without being in the meetings and knowing what is being coached each week, there’s a ton that we don’t know. On this play, I suspect that Nate Frazier is supposed to offer a chip block to help out his right tackle.

My reasoning starts with Frazier’s first movement at the snap. He immediately looks right. That’s the first thing I saw when watching this play. Georgia could have had some sort of read protection in place, and he determined that he didn’t need to chip. I’m not sure.

Secondly, Georgia is taking a shot. Colbie Young is working a double move at the bottom of the screen and gets held. When dialing up a shot play, there’s typically more than five people in the protection.

Lastly, Juan Gaston undersets. He looks like he’s protecting that inside gap. Typically when an offensive lineman does that, he’s expecting some help on the outside. This could be an instance where he simply gets beaten on the play. He wasn’t moving great at this point in the game after being in and out of the Georgia injury tent.

Execution you can count on…

Based on what I can tell, Georgia does so much right to make this chunk play happen. I’ll start with the protection. The Bulldog offensive line does an excellent job of selling this run fake with a power slide protection to the left. The group, as a whole, does an excellent job of taking the fight to the Auburn front and the linebackers bite on it hard.

Oscar Delp is coming across, selling the split zone while also taking on Auburn’s left EDGE 1-on-1. He handles that assignment really well and, in the process, takes another with him who has to cover him.

Stockton’s half roll displaces the middle-field safety. The time allows Noah Thomas to cross the field on the deep over route and win decisively.