UGA's 2020 Offense Will Look Very Different - You Have Been Warned

ATHENS - The biggest thing that you notice when watching Jamie Newman play is his patience.

It is obvious. The change this fall on the scoreboard is going to be obvious, too. UGA has a chance to jump towards the top of offenses in college football this fall because of Newman and Todd Monken. What those two do together may or may not look like what Newman did at Wake. But if it is similar UGA fans are going to be happy. 

Wake Forest’s offense went fast, and then was very plotting. And Jamie Newman was the man in charge of the Deacs’ offense - touching the ball each possession. Just watch Newman work the read option during his old games… he is deliberate in with his decisions. 

Now, you would like to see him be more accurate when throwing. Often it seems he throws the long ball better than the short, so that will take some getting used. UGA fans got used to a side-to-side passing attack more than anything else in 2019. 

It should be pointed out, too, that there is no certainty that Georgia will run the same exact offense that Wake did. But we know that Newman will be asked to execute the read option more often than Jake Fromm did in his three years at Georgia. 

Todd Monken’s time at Oklahoma State, of which I am most familiar with, involved a lot of tossing the ball down the field. Maybe that’s why the Cowboys scored 47.2 points with Monken last decade and 38.1 without him. 

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UGA only had one season last decade over 40 points a game - 2014. Where have you gone Mike Bobo? The Dawgs’ seven-point drop in scoring from 2018 to 2019 was second worst this century. Only the brain of Brian Schottenheimer managed worse - a staggering two touchdowns worse in 2015 than 2014. 

Back to Newman - a lot has been made of his running ability. It is subtle until he’s running through or past you. He takes his time watching, even walking closer and closer to the line of scrimmage with the running back, until someone on the defensive side of the ball either commits, guesses or makes a mistake. 

Then the trouble started for the defense.

Wake’s running backs (who aren’t as gifted as those at UGA) were suddenly four and five yards down the field. UGA backs very well could be gone in those scenarios - D’Andre Swift certainly would have been. 

If you want to see what a best-case scenario looks like when Newman gets under center have a look at this specific drive from Wake last year. At the 6:42 mark of the second quarter (with the game tied at ten) of the Boston College game, Newman shows why he could be a game changer for UGA. 

Here’s what happened:

First play of the drive - Newman jammed up on a quarterback draw for a loss of one. 

2nd and 11 at WF17 - Newman dead on the money with a slant throw for ten yards. 

3rd and 1 at WF27 - Neman rushes for 50 yards. (This is the scary play - more on this one below)

1st and 10 at BC23 - Newman hands off on the read option for a gain of three yards. 

2nd and 7 at BC20 - Newman hands off on the read option for a gain of one yard.

3rd and 6 at BC19 - Newman with a heck of a throw outside the numbers for ten yards. 

1st and GOAL at BC09 - Newman hands off on the read option for a gain of three yards. 

2nd and GOAL at BC06 - Newman jammed up on a quarterback draw - no gain. 

3rd and GOAL at BC06 - Newman TD throw in one-on-one coverage to the outside of the end zone. 

If Newman plays like he did in that drive Georgia not only can with the SEC, but they probably should win the SEC. Ignore the QB draws, Newman made not fewer than four plays that were drive altering - converting three third downs for 66 yards, two first downs and a touchdown. 

It is hard to ask for much more than that from a QB.

After the 50-yard run, Wake was up to the line ready to snap the ball with 31 seconds left on the play clock. That means that after a 50-yard run that Wake got set in nine seconds. Officials didn’t even set the ball until the 34-second mark on the clock. 

Defenders can’t make mistakes against Newman. For most of his career, Fromm made defenders pay for mistakes. It looks like Newman has more ways to make them pay. Read-option plays often take two or three seconds to develop. 

Two seconds is an eternity on a football field. That shows just how used to going in a deliberate matter Newman is. 

Things are going to look very different for the Dawgs in 2020. You have been warned.