DiderotsGhost
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2011
- Messages
- 4,497
- Likes
- 22,683
With the dismal offensive performance versus Alabama, there's been a lot of talk about Mike DeBord and the offensive staff. Note that I gave DeBord an "F" for his performance in that game, as well. Nevertheless, if we're going to talk about DeBord, I think we have to look at the entire picture. So here's an attempt to honestly evaluate DeBord this year.
First, let's start with game-by-game analysis.
App State: D. Our offense looked dreadful in the App State game. We played entirely too conservative, refused to open up the playbook, and it nearly cost us. There are perhaps some mitigating factors here. In terms of talent, we were worlds ahead of App State and perhaps DeBord wanted to stay conservative, "avoid the big mistake", and try to allow our superior talent to win. That said, it was clear from the get-go that App State's run defense was very strong and its pass defense was very weak and we completely failed to exploit this discrepancy, instead playing into their strengths the entire game.
Virginia Tech: B-. Offense improved in the VT game, but was still far from spectacular. Ultimately, it was great defense that turned that game around, but our offense effectively capitalized on VT's mistakes. Regardless, it's difficult to deny that we were completely in charge of that game by the 4th Quarter and VT was struggling to stop us. We showed much improvement in that game.
Ohio: C+. We regressed a bit in the Ohio game, but it wasn't an outright disaster by any means. Our numbers on offense look much better than the scoreboard might indicate: 201 yards rushing on 42 attempts. 203 yards passing, with Dobbs 19-27. Hurd and Kamara both had good performances, but the offensive game plan once again felt uninspired.
Florida: A. Give DeBord credit. For two years straight, he has absolutely destroyed Florida's much hyped defense. We ended up scoring 38 points on Florida, but the total could have easily been 50+ points if not for mistakes in the 1st Half (dropped passes, Dobbs interception, penalties). DeBord was an absolutely inspired with his gameplan.
Georgia: B. Georgia played its best game of the season, but our offense won the game for us. Not as perfect as the Florida game, but Dobbs had another great passing performance and we racked up some running yards. I felt like our D struggled more than the offense in this game.
Texas A&M: A. Once again, not perfect, but the offense looked inspired in a come-from-behind effort that nearly resulted in a "W". Difficult to complain about offense, though, in a game where Josh Dobbs passed for over 400 yards and we racked up 282 yards rushing without our leading rusher, Jalen Hurd. This was truly one of the DeBord's best games at UT.
Alabama: F. As brilliant as DeBord was versus Florida and A&M, he was terrible against Alabama. It's true that O-line injuries made life more difficult on our offense, but it just felt like DeBord had an ultra-conservative gameplan that relied exclusively on short passes and runs-up-the-middle. Alabama responded by playing all 11 defenders up close. DeBord failed to adjust to this and never really found a way to get runs to the outside or get Dobbs on some deep passes. You can't beat a team as good as Bama by playing vanilla.
Overall Synopsis
Overall, I have mixed views on DeBord.
DeBord has been good, but not great. He's been brilliant at times and lackluster at others. Certainly this isn't like the consistent offensive struggles we had in the mid 00's nor is it anything like the major struggles we had with Sal Sunseri on defense.
When DeBord comes up with a great gameplan, it seems like we can compete with anyone. When DeBord fails on this, however, it seems like he's unable to adjust to the opposing defense. That was particularly evident versus App State and Alabama, where it never felt like DeBord realized that the original gameplan wasn't working.
I'm not in the "Fire DeBord" camp as he's been good overall, but I admit I wouldn't be averse to replacing him if we could lure an innovative top-tier OC.
In any case, let's hope we can see improvement after the bye week.
GO BIG ORANGE!
First, let's start with game-by-game analysis.
App State: D. Our offense looked dreadful in the App State game. We played entirely too conservative, refused to open up the playbook, and it nearly cost us. There are perhaps some mitigating factors here. In terms of talent, we were worlds ahead of App State and perhaps DeBord wanted to stay conservative, "avoid the big mistake", and try to allow our superior talent to win. That said, it was clear from the get-go that App State's run defense was very strong and its pass defense was very weak and we completely failed to exploit this discrepancy, instead playing into their strengths the entire game.
Virginia Tech: B-. Offense improved in the VT game, but was still far from spectacular. Ultimately, it was great defense that turned that game around, but our offense effectively capitalized on VT's mistakes. Regardless, it's difficult to deny that we were completely in charge of that game by the 4th Quarter and VT was struggling to stop us. We showed much improvement in that game.
Ohio: C+. We regressed a bit in the Ohio game, but it wasn't an outright disaster by any means. Our numbers on offense look much better than the scoreboard might indicate: 201 yards rushing on 42 attempts. 203 yards passing, with Dobbs 19-27. Hurd and Kamara both had good performances, but the offensive game plan once again felt uninspired.
Florida: A. Give DeBord credit. For two years straight, he has absolutely destroyed Florida's much hyped defense. We ended up scoring 38 points on Florida, but the total could have easily been 50+ points if not for mistakes in the 1st Half (dropped passes, Dobbs interception, penalties). DeBord was an absolutely inspired with his gameplan.
Georgia: B. Georgia played its best game of the season, but our offense won the game for us. Not as perfect as the Florida game, but Dobbs had another great passing performance and we racked up some running yards. I felt like our D struggled more than the offense in this game.
Texas A&M: A. Once again, not perfect, but the offense looked inspired in a come-from-behind effort that nearly resulted in a "W". Difficult to complain about offense, though, in a game where Josh Dobbs passed for over 400 yards and we racked up 282 yards rushing without our leading rusher, Jalen Hurd. This was truly one of the DeBord's best games at UT.
Alabama: F. As brilliant as DeBord was versus Florida and A&M, he was terrible against Alabama. It's true that O-line injuries made life more difficult on our offense, but it just felt like DeBord had an ultra-conservative gameplan that relied exclusively on short passes and runs-up-the-middle. Alabama responded by playing all 11 defenders up close. DeBord failed to adjust to this and never really found a way to get runs to the outside or get Dobbs on some deep passes. You can't beat a team as good as Bama by playing vanilla.
Overall Synopsis
Overall, I have mixed views on DeBord.
DeBord has been good, but not great. He's been brilliant at times and lackluster at others. Certainly this isn't like the consistent offensive struggles we had in the mid 00's nor is it anything like the major struggles we had with Sal Sunseri on defense.
When DeBord comes up with a great gameplan, it seems like we can compete with anyone. When DeBord fails on this, however, it seems like he's unable to adjust to the opposing defense. That was particularly evident versus App State and Alabama, where it never felt like DeBord realized that the original gameplan wasn't working.
I'm not in the "Fire DeBord" camp as he's been good overall, but I admit I wouldn't be averse to replacing him if we could lure an innovative top-tier OC.
In any case, let's hope we can see improvement after the bye week.
GO BIG ORANGE!
