Last night the Georgia Bulldogs dismantled the TCU Horned Frogs on their way to back-to-back National Championships. There’s so many impressive things one can note about a program winning consecutive chips – a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since Alabama did it exactly ten years ago.
Across the country, the Michigan Wolverine football program was watching from home. Though they made the College Football Playoffs for the 2nd time in as many years, they fell a bit shorter this year by losing in the semi-final round as opposed to in the Natty. Many believe they beat themselves in their semis matchup against TCU this year that resulted in them coming up short by just one possession.
With UGA being two-time champs and Michigan not having won a national title since 1997, the two teams aren’t exactly in the same boat but you could say they’re sailing on similar seas. How so?
Their experiences once they’ve gotten to the College Football Playoffs have been very different but we can’t ignore the fact that both programs have made it there in consecutive years. Each of them have played in or won their conference title in the last two seasons as well. Both teams have recruited and developed swimmingly to the point where they are not just some flash in the pan but are built to consistently compete for championships. Once you pull back the curtain you see they have even more in common…
So much focus in football, especially in college, is put on high scoring offenses and elite Quarterbacks. Think about it, the biggest individual trophy in the land, the Heisman, is mockingly called a "Quarterback award" as only 4 non-QBs have won it in the last 20 seasons. Offenses now days are about spreading teams out from sideline to sideline (see Tennessee), throwing the ball all over the field (see Ohio State), and high tempo (see USC) – “pace and space” as it’s often referred to.
Then you look at Georgia and Michigan and that’s not exactly what you see week-to-week. These two teams focus on some “ole fashioned” offensive priorities, namely, running the ball and using their Tight Ends. Let’s look at some rankings…
| Georgia | Michigan |
Games Played | 15 | 14 |
Passing Attempts Per Game | 55th | 114th |
Passing Yards Per Game | 15th | 83rd |
Tight End Receiving Yards | 1st (Brock Bowers) | 29th (Luke Schoonmaker) |
Rushing Attempts Per Game | 58th | 14th |
Rushing Yards Per Game | 19th | 5th |
What do I take from these numbers? Neither team was exactly slinging it all over the place and instead, both teams utilized “traditional” tactics.
For Georgia, they were balanced and ran the ball a little less than they normally do. One reason why? Their Tight End usage was way up. Brock Bowers lead all Tight Ends across the country in receiving yards and was Top 40 in the country among all pass catchers in total receiving yards. The Dawgs also had Darnell Washington finish Top 20 in TE receiving yards. It’s not often we see teams have a Tight End featured so much in the passing game, let alone having two as permanent fixtures in the game plan. The use of the Tight End has dwindled over the years as teams want to get as much speed and big play ability on the field in the form of wide receivers and running backs. TEs aren’t usually considered to be good spacers of the field but if you want to run the ball and traditionally attack the middle of the field you better get those big athletes involved.
For Michigan, it’s quite clear what they wanted to lead with - the run game! They disproportionately emphasized the run game and they rode their backs all the way to back-to-back Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff visits. Prior to sustaining a season-ending injury Michigan’s Blake Corum was the only running back firmly in the Heisman race. Luke Schoonmaker was their top Tight End and while he didn’t light the world up in terms of production, he was 2nd in catches and 3rd in receiving yards as far as their team stats went. In fact, 2 of their top 5 pass catchers on the season were Tight Ends.
Have you heard of the Joe Moore Award? It’s an annual title given to the team who has the best offensive line in the country. You won’t be shocked to hear that Georgia was the runner-up and Michigan was the winner. That should come as no surprise because both teams sported highly effective run games and heavy doses of Tight Ends. You cannot run without good O-line play.
Then you look at the quarterbacks. J.J. McCarthy is very ho-hum. There’s no Heisman talk. He isn’t projected to be some high NFL draft pick. He just gets it done in the Michigan system. Georgia’s Stetson Bennett is probably the most underrated and doubted starting QB for any major program in the country. He was a Heisman finalist this year (to the dismay of many) but he’s a former walk-on that is more of a feel good story than a worst to first in terms of his individual ceiling. Though he’s a two-time champion he won’t be the next Baker Mayfield who went from walk-on, to Heisman winner, to #1 overall draft pick. Stetson is expected to get drafted in the upcoming NFL draft but experts are projecting him to go in the later rounds and be a career backup. Not very glowing in a world fascinated with elite QBs.
The ultimate takeaway? In a time where teams want “pace and space” and 1st round draft pick signal-callers - Georgia and Michigan are winning in traditional fashion. They dominate teams with overwhelming offensive line play, running the ball, and getting their Tight Ends involved with blocking and receiving. These two programs featured two tight end sets and emphasized winning at the point of attack. So much has changed and is continuing to change in football but it’s nice to see that some things hold true like winning the “ole fashioned way”.
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