ATHENS - UGA Football offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said he wants to see more offensive punch from Kirby Smart’s Dawgs this season - and that starts with running the ball.
That will involve cleaning up mistakes and making sure the No. 4 Bulldogs’ run game is “efficient” - both of which hurt the Bulldogs when it mattered most in 2025.
"Everything starts with the run game,” Bobo told reporters Wednesday. “You've got to be able to run the ball and stop the run. That's been an emphasis of ours since we got back from the Sugar Bowl and started meeting as a staff and meeting with our players.”
The Bulldogs had one of the worst rushing seasons this century in the program - a stark reversal of the production from that facet of the offense during Kirby’s tenure in Athens.
“A run game is not going to just help you offensively,” Bobo said. “It’s going to help your quarterback; It’s going to help your defense; It’s going to help in all areas. And hopefully our identity will be efficient in the run game and everything will run through that.”
Gunner Stockton is in line to direct the Bulldogs’ offense, and Bobo said the Rabun County product is continuing to improve on what he did a season ago - the preparation to be ready when his number was called.
“I thought Gunner last year took a step during practice of approaching every practice like it was a game, and prepared like he was the starter,” Bobo said. “And those aren't just words. Gunner would probably prepare as hard as anybody on a football team. And he didn't know if he was gonna play a snap, so he was ready from a preparation standpoint. I know there were certain things he knows he wishes he could have done better. And he's been working on those things all season and through fall camp, so he can be a more efficient player at that position.”
Bobo also said that Stockton will be a part of the run game, but that he will have to correctly diagnose his opportunities - everything can’t be full blast if he wants to stay healthy all season long.
“Because (Stockton’s) makeup and his mentality sometimes is: ‘I’m going to go get everything.’ And there's a time and place for that, and it's one thing to say it, but it's a hard thing to practice because he's not getting hit,” Bobo said. “So we're constantly talking about those things, looking at the field, and situations where he's pulled it down, he's extended it, or maybe he's running. What are you going to do here? And we're talking about it, and we're going to have to live through some of that. Because he's got the mentality of a guy that's going to go get it, but he's not 230, 235 pounds. So he's got to protect himself when he does decide to pull the ball down and run the ball. And then at the same time, there are going to be some instances where we've got quarterback runs designed for him, but there's got to be a balance. Because any play that's called, he could turn it into a quarterback run. So as a play caller, you got to be mindful of that, and it's something we're working through.”
Bobo also said that he is looking forward to coaching this fall.”
“I'm probably as excited as I've ever been,” he said. (I’m) not trying to prove something. I'm excited that college football has changed a little bit. You're coming, you've got a new team. You've got a lot of new guys, and we've got a lot of young guys. We're a young football team and there's a lot of eager guys that are hungry to learn, hungry to be here, and excited to be here. That gets you fired up as a coach. And when kids, they're not excited about being in Georgia, or wherever I'm at, or playing football for the love of the game, then that's probably when I won't do it. As far as my health, I feel great. It's awesome to be here coaching these guys, because every day they come over here they're bright-eyed and trying to learn.”
