Film Study - How Do you Stop Auburn if You're Georgia

We dive into the film from last year's contest against Auburn and breakdown exactly how Georgia went about stopping the Tigers and what it will take this year.

Gus Malzahn, Chad Morris, and the Auburn offense is one of the most complex systems you will ever evaluate. There's an insane amount of window dressing — formations, personnel changes, trick plays, motions — all to distract you from common play design. 

Today, we dive into the film from Georgia 21 to 14 victory over the Auburn Tigers from a year ago. We will look at what Georgia did to control Auburn's offense in the first half, why they had so much success in the second half of that ball game, and what to expect on Saturday. 

Let's start with Auburn's offensive identity: 

• Play Fast: Everything with Auburn's offense begins and ends with the pace of play. They want to create chaos with the tempo of their offense. 
• Confusion: Whether it's trick formations with tackles wearing eligible numbers or the QB lined up at the RB spot, all the way down to the motions they use, they are trying to make you stop and think. 
• Attrition: At some point late in football games, Auburn hopes to have worn you down. With the pace and confusion, they hope by the fourth quarter you're exhausted both mentally and physically. 

All in all, the gameplan from Auburn is to play fast, make you think, and wear you down. Seems simple, right? Wrong. Gus Malzahn has taken the idea of the spread and turned it into a system that is completely foreign to their opponent. You won't see anything else like this the remainder of the year. 

WATCH: Full Breakdown

So, if you are Georgia, how do you stop it? Well, there are four major keys: 

• Quality Depth: If they are going to play fast and wear you down, you've got to have great depth that's ready to play at any time. 
• Control the Personel: The quality control staff never has a more stressful game than this one. They will be in charge of identifying who Auburn is running onto the field and countering it with the correct personnel package.
•  Pursue the Ball: They try to stretch you out a good bit, so it's vital that there are fresh bodies on the field, and they pursue the football. 
• Communicate: If there is going to be this much attempted confusion from Auburn, Georgia's defense will need to communicate to get things covered. 

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