Examining the 1st Offensive Drive: What Worked

Our first offensive possession of the game was our only TD-scoring drive. 10 plays, 80 yards, and 5:18 off the game clock. By FAR the best offensive drive of either team on the field yesterday.

And then? Georgia's offense sputtered to a halt through pretty much the rest of the game.

So let's take a look at ESPN's "Play-by-play" for the game to see exactly what happened.

Let's start with our first drive:

Georgia at 14:25			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 20		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 23.	0	0
2nd and 7 at UGA 23		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 26.
3rd and 4 at UGA 26		Joe Cox pass complete to A.J. Green for 29 yards to the OKSt 45 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at OKST 45		Branden Smith rush for 4 yards to the OKSt 41.
2nd and 6 at OKST 41		Richard Samuel rush for 19 yards to the OKSt 22 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at OKST 22		Richard Samuel rush for 6 yards to the OKSt 16.
2nd and 4 at OKST 16		Logan Gray rush for 2 yards to the OKSt 14.
3rd and 2 at OKST 14		OKLAHOMA ST penalty 5 yard offside defense accepted.
1st and Goal at OKST 9		Branden Smith rush for 5 yards to the OKSt 4.
2nd and Goal at OKST 4		Joe Cox pass incomplete to A.J. Green.
3rd and Goal at OKST 4		Joe Cox pass complete to Michael Moore for 4 yards for a TOUCHDOWN.	6	0

We started immediately running the ball right up their gut with Samuel, who gained 6 on 2 carries. Perfect to set up a long pass to AJ Green (obviously our most reliable receiver). Then, we change things up. Branden Smith takes the direct snap for 4, followed by another pounding run by Samuel for 19. Again, a direct snap to Gray for a small gain. We draw OSU offsides, perhaps the result of our confusing playcalling, giving the ball to so many different guys. Smith runs again, and then we let Cox throw the fade in the endzone (twice, baffilingly, but it worked).

We kick the ball off, OSU starts on their own 8 after a penalty, and our defense stops them pretty easily. We have all the momentum in the world and this game is looking VERY GOOD for UGA. So then comes our second drive.

Georgia at 6:01			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 16		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 19.	7	0
2nd and 7 at UGA 19		OKLAHOMA ST penalty 5 yard offside defense accepted.
2nd and 2 at UGA 24		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 27 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UGA 27		Joe Cox pass complete to A.J. Green for 3 yards to the Geo 30.
2nd and 7 at UGA 30		Joe Cox pass incomplete to A.J. Green, broken up by Perrish Cox.
3rd and 7 at UGA 30		Joe Cox pass incomplete to Michael Moore, broken up by Perrish Cox.
4th and 7 at UGA 30		Drew Butler punt for 68 yards, downed at the OKSt 2.

We start off doing exactly what we did in the first drive. Samuel rushes twice, which is enough for a 1st down thanks to an OSU penalty. Now, however, we decide to pass on a 1st down, which is complete for 3. But this is where things get confusing. Cox passes again to Green, incomplete. At 3rd and 7, another incomplete pass. And we're punting.

3 passes in the row to give us a 3 and out doesn't really make any sense here. It's almost like the coaches said, "Hey, look how good we did with running the ball so much on the first drive. Maybe this time, we should pass the ball mostly and then use the run just a little." It didn't work.

Our defense looks great again, we get the ball back for a 3rd try.

Georgia at 0:51			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 34		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 37.	7	0
2nd and 7 at UGA 37		Joe Cox pass complete to Michael Moore for 2 yards to the Geo 37, GEORGIA penalty 10 yard holding accepted.
		End of 1st Quarter

We get the ball and run Samuel AGAIN for 3 yards. Not too bad, it worked before. Then Cox passes for 2. The quarter comes to an end with us facing a 2nd and 15 due to a holding penalty. So what do we do with 15 yards to go?

Georgia at 14:22			UGA	OKST
2nd and 15 at UGA 29		Joe Cox pass complete to Branden Smith for 3 yards to the Geo 32.	7	0
3rd and 12 at UGA 32		Joe Cox pass incomplete, broken up by Patrick Lavine.

We pass twice for little gain, and are forced to punt.

Guess what? Our defense stops the "best offense in the country" for the 3rd time. We get the ball back.

Georgia at 11:09			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 20		OKLAHOMA ST penalty 4 yard pass interference accepted.	7	0
1st and 10 at UGA 24		Joe Cox pass incomplete to Aron White.
2nd and 10 at UGA 24		Joe Cox pass complete to Carlton Thomas for 1 yard to the Geo 25.
3rd and 9 at UGA 25		Timeout GEORGIA, clock 10:30.
3rd and 9 at UGA 25		Joe Cox pass complete to Carlton Thomas for 17 yards to the Geo 42 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UGA 42		Richard Samuel rush for 6 yards to the Geo 48.
2nd and 4 at UGA 48		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the OKSt 49.
3rd and 1 at OKST 49		Richard Samuel rush for a loss of 1 yard to the 50 yard line.
4th and 2 at OKST 50		Drew Butler punt for 50 yards for a touchback.

We start with an incomplete pass, then a short drop off to Thomas. Facing 3rd and 9, we make a good call and do a screen to Thomas for 17 yards. Near midfield, we return to what worked and run Samuel. But what's the problem? WE RUN SAMUEL THREE TIMES IN A ROW. The 1st run works well for 6. The 2nd works alright for 3. And then, we run again to lose 1, forcing a punt. What happened to mixing up the running game? If we're going to run 3 times in a row, why no more direct snaps to Smith or Gray?

And the story continues.

Just to sum up the next drive:

5th drive: Cox pass for 25 to Charles. Smith runs for 2. Looks like we have our groove back. We try passing to Chapas, incomplete, and Samuel loses a yard, and we punt.

6th drive: They have tied the game at 7-7. We come out with 2:24 to take back the lead before half. Sounds like time for a nice, running the ball, running out the clock scoring drive we've done so well in the past.

Georgia at 2:24			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 23		Joe Cox pass incomplete.	7	7
2nd and 10 at UGA 23		GEORGIA penalty 5 yard false start accepted.
2nd and 15 at UGA 18		Timeout OKLAHOMA ST, clock 02:14.
2nd and 15 at UGA 18		Carlton Thomas rush for 3 yards, fumbled, recovered by OKSt at the Geo 11, GEORGIA penalty 5 yard personal foul accepted.

Why pass on the 1st play? It didn't hurt us much, but then... why run Thomas suddenly? Despite many complaints of Samuel's running style, it was working pretty well on the 1st drive, and even later. But here, with suddenly a tied game, we run our 2nd guy, a small speedster, up the middle. (Personally, I'd say we send him to the outside into space where he can zip around, rather than into the mess of the line). But I guess we couldn't predict that the ball would get knocked out by a helmet here. This leads to OSU's field goal and we're down 3 at the half.

Our special teams fall apart and we let them start with the ball deep in our territory. They capitalize and score.

Our next drive was a good balance of running Samuel and passing from Cox. We made our way down the field, but things failed when Cox took the ball out of bounds for a 5 yard loss rather than throwing it away. So we settled for a field goal.

And our next drive?

Georgia at 2:22			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 4		Richard Samuel rush for 7 yards to the Geo 11.	10	17
2nd and 3 at UGA 11		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 14 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UGA 14		Richard Samuel rush for 3 yards to the Geo 17.
2nd and 7 at UGA 17		Richard Samuel rush for 2 yards to the Geo 19.
3rd and 5 at UGA 19		Joe Cox pass incomplete to Orson Charles.
4th and 5 at UGA 19		Drew Butler punt for 75 yards, downed at the OKSt 6.

I would circle the 4 Samuel rushes if I could. 4 runs by Samuel in a ROW? I mean, yeah, he looks pretty good, getting us a 1st down on 2 carries, but then running him twice more, leaving us at 3rd and 5? What the heck happened to the mixing up of the play calls?

Our next drive started with a promising move for a 1st down.

Georgia at 11:20			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 24		Joe Cox pass complete to A.J. Green for 9 yards to the Geo 33.	10	17
2nd and 1 at UGA 33		Shaun Chapas rush for 3 yards to the Geo 36 for a 1ST down.
1st and 10 at UGA 36		Joe Cox sacked by Shane Jarka for a loss of 4 yards, fumbled, recovered by OKSt Nigel Nicholas at the Geo 32.

And Cox lost it again for us. I know you can't blame too much on the guy, but that's 2 promising drives with good movement that halted due to mental mistakes by the QB.

Now down 14 points in the 4th quarter, we do as expected and freak out, passing the ball repeatedly with no success.

Georgia at 7:59			UGA	OKST
1st and 10 at UGA 20		Joe Cox pass complete to A.J. Green for 11 yards to the Geo 31 for a 1ST down.	10	24
1st and 10 at UGA 31		GEORGIA penalty 5 yard false start accepted.
1st and 15 at UGA 26		Joe Cox pass complete to Tavarres King for 4 yards to the Geo 30.
2nd and 11 at UGA 30		Joe Cox pass incomplete to Aron White.
3rd and 11 at UGA 30		Joe Cox pass incomplete to Michael Moore.
4th and 11 at UGA 30		Drew Butler punt for 50 yards, returned by Perrish Cox for 16 yards to the OKSt 36.

I think we probably could have mixed things up a little better there, but instead, the coaches decided to put it all on the shoulders of our QB with "flu-like symptoms" who had already made some big mistakes earlier. Where was Gray? Where were some running plays? We were low on time, but we still had over 7 minutes.

And the last drive was mainly more of the same.

So what have we learned?

The 1st drive only features 2 passing plays out of 10. We ran the ball with 3 different guys, Samuel, Smith, and Gray, in differing formations. It worked to perfection.

So here are some fun/sad facts from our offense in the game:

- Only ONE drive of the game (other than the 1st scoring drive) had more running plays than passes, and that featured 4 runs in a row by Samuel.

- Only 3 running plays in the game resulted in no-gain or a loss. That's 3 of 28 plays that were less than a yard gain. On the other hand, 15 of Cox's 30 pass attempts were incomplete, and thus no gain.

- Only 1 player (other than Cox) rushed for an average of less than a yard - Carlton Thomas. (This could be a result of the plays they put him in on.)

- Marlon Brown and Rantavious Wooten were never thrown the ball in the game. I'm not even sure if they saw the field.

- Oklahoma State averaged 40.8 points per game in 2008, and scored 24 or less only twice, against Texas and Texas Tech.

- Zac Robinson passed for 135 yards against us, and he only passed less than that once in 2008, in a cupcake game against Missouri State where he only attempted 4 passes.

- Kendall Hunter had 75 yards and averaged 3.3 against us. In 2008, he never ran for less than 84 yards, and that was only in a 61-41 loss to Oklahoma. His lowest average in a game in 2008 was 4.3 yard per carry.

- Dez Bryant was held to 3 receptions, but for 77 yards. In 2008, he never caught less than 4 passes in a game.

- In conclusion, either our defense is very good, or OSU should be very worried about their "high powered" offense. Or the Big 12 does have bad defenses and they'll do well in the conference.