After an up-and-down season, Georgia’s growth on offense is starting to show

More than anything, offenses strive for balance.

As Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has noted repeatedly this year, that doesn’t necessarily mean a 50-50 split of runs and passes. Rather, it’s being able to run when you want to run, and vice versa.

That has been elusive for Georgia for most of this 2020 campaign. But against South Carolina on Saturday night, the Bulldogs played arguably their best and most balanced offensive game of the season in a 45-16 win.

Georgia ran for a season-high 332 yards, gashing a banged-up Gamecock front for 7.2 yards per carry. The passing game came back to Earth a bit after last week’s 401-yard, four-touchdown effort from redshirt sophomore quarterback J.T. Daniels, but he still threw for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10-of-16 passing.

Despite the big passing game a week ago, the Bulldog rushing attack had a miserable night against Mississippi State with just eight rushing yards as a team. Against South Carolina, Smart noticed a different attitude up front.

“Our offensive line had more of a bully mentality of, ‘We’re going to run the ball and we’re going to get physical and we’re going to move people,’” Smart said. “They were able to do that. Every cut and every snap was a wear and tear on their defensive line. We tried to take the totality effect of a bunch of snaps and hitting them.”

That mindset showed up early and often. In the first half, Georgia ran for 208 yards, including touchdown runs of 22 yards from redshirt sophomore Zamir White and 29 yards from junior James Cook.

Unlike teams in the early part of the season, South Carolina had to pay plenty of respect to Georgia’s passing game due to the threat of Daniels’ arm. Mississippi State packed the box to take away the run and paid the price.

Daniels didn’t throw it that much against the Gamecocks, nor did he need to. By just showing he has the capability, he helped open up the ground game this week.

“He took the things the defense gave to him,” Smart said. “He made some good throws, he understands protections, he knows what coverage they’re in. He did what we asked him to do.”

The past two games are a perfect example of Smart’s offensive philosophy of taking what the defense is presenting. Against Mississippi State, it was the pass. This week, the running game had chances to succeed.

The difference in this Georgia offense now, as opposed to earlier in the season, is that Daniels is proving he can take the passing chances when they’re presented. Defenses know that and respect it, so they can’t force Georgia into being one-dimensional.

In addition to Daniels, plenty of other Bulldogs are gaining valuable experience. There’s youth on offense, and Smart and the coaches knew they needed to invest in that as the season went on.

For a while, that meant offensive coordinator Todd Monken played with what Smart dubbed a “partial deck.” Now, however, it’s paying off.

“I think that we know we’ve got some really good young players on offense that have a lot of potential, that we’ve got to try to maximize that potential and keep getting them better,” Smart said. “But I like the rhythm of things and certainly think that the players hearing the plays week seven, week eight, week nine are a lot better off than they were week one, two and three.”

After an up-and-down season, the growth is starting to show. Just ask sophomore safety Lewis Cine, who faces it every day in practice.

“I feel like we’ve progressed and gotten so much better the more the season goes,” Cine said. “You can see that through how we’re playing, how they’re making things happen. They played a very well, balanced game for an offense. They don’t just run it. You can see they pass it, too. That brings a lot of confidence (to a defense) to know, ‘All right guys, you’ve got us.’”

This balance and growth are happening too late this season to affect the outcome of the year. Barring a collapse from Florida, the Bulldogs won’t be returning to the SEC Championship Game for a fourth-straight season.

That’s not to say that it’s meaningless, however. With what this group has shown the past two games and the skill players it has returning, including Daniels, the Bulldogs are showing they have all the potential for the offense to return to championship form next season.

This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "After an up-and-down season, Georgia’s growth on offense is starting to show."