With no Rutgers game Saturday I went to Georgia to see Athens. They crushed Tenn State. Some observations of a top football program vs. RU:
1) Up 28 points their backup QB came in halfway through the 2nd QUARTER. Still 1st half. At RU even in blowouts we never get our backup time except 1 drive.
2) Hot Dot $3.50, water $2, soda/powerade $3.50 … somehow they manage to have NIL without charging $7 for a hot dog and $5 for water.
3) They have their own app called “Glory Glory App” where they post their game highlights. It’s $20 a MONTH. Their fans pay $20 a month just to watch the HIGHLIGHTS..
4) it was 97 degrees (I left just before halftime), people passing out everywhere, more people in the concourse than seats after the 1st quarter. The crowd peaked at 95% full in the 1st q. That said there were some empty seats (say 85,000 out of 93,000) - they athletic department EMAILS season ticket holders if their tickets weren’t scanned at the game! If you don’t show up even in 100 degrees against FCS you get an email from the ticket office!
5) Kirby Smart’s playbook was screen passes to the RB, wide receiver screens, end arounds, QB rollout passes. They didn’t run between the guards once I don’t think. If Rutgers playbook and Georgia’s playbook are in a venn diagram, the circles don’t intersect. There is not a play they ran that we ever run, and none of our 4 plays are in their playbook.
6) They ran actual punt return plays, like had 3 guys run back to block in formation, and returned every punt for 20+ yards. A dream under Schiano that will never be reality.
Seeing a top-5 team in person and being able to actually root for them/watch them (rather than when we play top 5 teams and focused on what RU is doing) made me realize that we are playing an entire different sport and it’s been that way for a while.
1) Up 28 points their backup QB came in halfway through the 2nd QUARTER. Still 1st half. At RU even in blowouts we never get our backup time except 1 drive.
2) Hot Dot $3.50, water $2, soda/powerade $3.50 … somehow they manage to have NIL without charging $7 for a hot dog and $5 for water.
3) They have their own app called “Glory Glory App” where they post their game highlights. It’s $20 a MONTH. Their fans pay $20 a month just to watch the HIGHLIGHTS..
4) it was 97 degrees (I left just before halftime), people passing out everywhere, more people in the concourse than seats after the 1st quarter. The crowd peaked at 95% full in the 1st q. That said there were some empty seats (say 85,000 out of 93,000) - they athletic department EMAILS season ticket holders if their tickets weren’t scanned at the game! If you don’t show up even in 100 degrees against FCS you get an email from the ticket office!
5) Kirby Smart’s playbook was screen passes to the RB, wide receiver screens, end arounds, QB rollout passes. They didn’t run between the guards once I don’t think. If Rutgers playbook and Georgia’s playbook are in a venn diagram, the circles don’t intersect. There is not a play they ran that we ever run, and none of our 4 plays are in their playbook.
6) They ran actual punt return plays, like had 3 guys run back to block in formation, and returned every punt for 20+ yards. A dream under Schiano that will never be reality.
Seeing a top-5 team in person and being able to actually root for them/watch them (rather than when we play top 5 teams and focused on what RU is doing) made me realize that we are playing an entire different sport and it’s been that way for a while.
