Passing Game

[High Country Student]

So I have been snooping around on ODU & Miami message boards this week to see what was said about us and the consensus seems to be that teams believe we have a poor passing game. With a QB who may not be outstanding in that department but has always racked up some decent passing yards I find this hard to believe. My question for you all is do you think our passing offense is poor? Are our receivers below par? Will we open up the passing playback against ODU or Miami? Curious to hear thoughts.

[biggie]

Receivers either lack experience or are coming off a serious injury. So hard to tell about the WRs right now. Hope they are fine and hope we get up early with more running and get the WRs a good workout during ODU game.

[S.Lewis15]

We are a run first team.
Taylor Lamb is a really good QB with only a few weaknesses.
Our WRs are young, talented, but unproven.

The ODU game will tell us more about our passing game than the UT game.

[MDaniels84]

Nothing to worry about . We are breaking in at least 3 new receivers in the rotation and timing is getting better and will continue to get better with reps. We flat out played a possession game against Tenn and rightfully so. This week, I think that Taylor will be given more plays to work with in the passing game and will find some of these new targets . By years end, Taylor will once again complete over 60% of his passes with a lot more TD's than INT's and our offense will not disappoint. In the mean time, we run the ball so dang well that it limits our passing game purposefully.

[ericsaid]

ODU fails to mention the 4 TD passes Lamb threw last year against them and the 32 overall. They also fail to take into account the game plan against a P5 for a G5 team should be to run the ball well and play defense, throw when necessary but not to the detriment of staying on schedule. Bowling Green tried to out throw UT last year and it didn't go so well. If a G5 team can limit possessions by the P5 then they are able to effectively limit the number of opportunities for a play like the only time UT scored a TD in regulation. (FWIW, as well as Duck was playing, he was in perfect position to intercept that pass had he been able to track it better)

[hapapp]

Let's be honest, we don't know what we have in our WR corps. We won't know until we incorporate them into the offense. They may prove to be a strength but it remains the biggest question mark for 2016. You don't lose three starters and not experience some immediate drop off. The key is how these guys develop as the season progresses.

[t4pizza]

I think we can all agree that TL is a good quarterback in the short to medium passing game but that he has real issues with the deep ball. I would assume that any issues we have in our passing game is more about the new wide outs than it is our quarterback. The first game should not be a barometer of any sort. Coach Sat clearly saw weaknesses in the UT defense that we could exploit and game planned accordingly. It nearly worked. If we don't open things up against ODU, my guess is that the wide outs may be further behind the curve than the coaches were hoping at this point.

[moonshine]

Are these fans basing this off the game at Rocky Top? Against UTk, App didn't need to open up the passing game. From my couch, Satt seemed content running the ball and controlling the clock with a lead while keeping the Vol O idle on the sideline. He went 11 of 15 for 187 yards and 4 TD's in Norfolk last year. The fact that ODU fans are dismissing the passing attack shows their lack of knowledge after last year's results.

Lamb is not a prolific passer putting up 250+ yards a game. He had 2 games of 300+ last year. Taylor is Mr. Efficiency completing just under 61% of his passes and putting up 49 TD's with 19 INT's for his career. He's not putting up eye popping numbers but his production is very complimentary to our ground attack.

I think the passing game is a question mark at this time as it relates to the inexperience at WR but I don't think it can be called "poor" until we see more. By all accounts, this WR corp is bigger and more athletic than last season but we have not seen that translate to on the field production to this point in the season. Based on several of the gains made by our RB's against UTk, the WR's seem to be doing their job in regards to blocking.

[bigdaddyg]

Chicks dig the long ball and some fans want to see their QB throw the ball all over the yard, to include bombs. Well, we run the ball...really good. I'm pretty sure I saw TL hit a few decent long balls. He throws for a good % and runs well. He accounted for a bunch of touchdowns and won games. We aren't Alabama so we don't just reload. Can't base anything off of our first game. We will explode on some teams this year.

[AtlAppMan]

UGA put up 289 yrds against UNC last week. UGA is a run first team, they went into the game saying they would run the ball a lot and they did. They controlled the clock and kept Carolina's offense off the field just as they planned. Everybody thought UGA did exactly what they wanted and it paid off with a win. We did the same at UT and would have gotten the W if we make our XP.

I have no problem pounding the ball down the throats of our opponents when appropriate. I am sure we will execute the passing game as well when appropriate.

[EastHallApp]

UGA put up 289 yrds against UNC last week. UGA is a run first team, they went into the game saying they would run the ball a lot and they did. They controlled the clock and kept Carolina's offense off the field just as they planned. Everybody thought UGA did exactly what they wanted and it paid off with a win. We did the same at UT and would have gotten the W if we make our XP.

I have no problem pounding the ball down the throats of our opponents when appropriate. I am sure we will execute the passing game as well when appropriate.

In fairness, UGA scored 33 and won; we scored 13 and lost.

Our passing game will be fine against the likes of ODU (though we may not need to throw a lot in that one). Whether that is the case against Miami, I'm not sure. I think we'll need to have more success passing against them than we did against UT if we are to win.

[ASUMountaineer]

UGA put up 289 yrds against UNC last week. UGA is a run first team, they went into the game saying they would run the ball a lot and they did. They controlled the clock and kept Carolina's offense off the field just as they planned. Everybody thought UGA did exactly what they wanted and it paid off with a win. We did the same at UT and would have gotten the W if we make our XP.

I have no problem pounding the ball down the throats of our opponents when appropriate. I am sure we will execute the passing game as well when appropriate.

In fairness, UGA scored 33 and won; we scored 13 and lost.

Our passing game will be fine against the likes of ODU (though we may not need to throw a lot in that one). Whether that is the case against Miami, I'm not sure. I think we'll need to have more success passing against them than we did against UT if we are to win.

In fairness, UNC's defense isn't half what Tennessee's is. I get both points, but I will say that we won't play a better defense this year than Tennessee's.

[bcoach]

TL is a good game manager. He is not a great passer but a good one. He can throw the short ball with accuracy not so much the long ball. He has a tendency to get happy feet when hurried. BUT here is the bottom line. He does what he needs to do to win games. I would be surprised if the coaches have him throwing a lot against Miami. There is just a very big difference throwing against ACC, SEC and Sunbelt. Outside of Miami we will be just fine and I feel pretty good about Miami.

[AtlAppMan]

UGA put up 289 yrds against UNC last week. UGA is a run first team, they went into the game saying they would run the ball a lot and they did. They controlled the clock and kept Carolina's offense off the field just as they planned. Everybody thought UGA did exactly what they wanted and it paid off with a win. We did the same at UT and would have gotten the W if we make our XP.

I have no problem pounding the ball down the throats of our opponents when appropriate. I am sure we will execute the passing game as well when appropriate.

In fairness, UGA scored 33 and won; we scored 13 and lost.

Our passing game will be fine against the likes of ODU (though we may not need to throw a lot in that one). Whether that is the case against Miami, I'm not sure. I think we'll need to have more success passing against them than we did against UT if we are to win.

In fairness to us, we only needed to score 14 to win against UT in regulation due to our Stout defense. The run first, ball control oriented game plan with our nationally ranked defense was successful IF we close the deal with our special teams field goals. (Please no one take this comment to pile on Rubino as he is still a developing asset and I have no doubt will mature but we have to be able to count on a XP at the end of a scoring drive.) The underlying question you are posing is really whether our defense is for real and will we be able to control the scoring of our more offensive oriented opponents.

[EastHallApp]

UGA put up 289 yrds against UNC last week. UGA is a run first team, they went into the game saying they would run the ball a lot and they did. They controlled the clock and kept Carolina's offense off the field just as they planned. Everybody thought UGA did exactly what they wanted and it paid off with a win. We did the same at UT and would have gotten the W if we make our XP.

I have no problem pounding the ball down the throats of our opponents when appropriate. I am sure we will execute the passing game as well when appropriate.

In fairness, UGA scored 33 and won; we scored 13 and lost.

Our passing game will be fine against the likes of ODU (though we may not need to throw a lot in that one). Whether that is the case against Miami, I'm not sure. I think we'll need to have more success passing against them than we did against UT if we are to win.

In fairness to us, we only needed to score 14 to win against UT in regulation due to our Stout defense. The run first, ball control oriented game plan with our nationally ranked defense was successful IF we close the deal with our special teams field goals. (Please no one take this comment to pile on Rubino as he is still a developing asset and I have no doubt will mature but we have to be able to count on a XP at the end of a scoring drive.) The underlying question you are posing is really whether our defense is for real and will we be able to control the scoring of our more offensive oriented opponents.

I expect our offense and defense both will dominate most of our remaining opponents. I am interested in what we need to go to the next level and beat teams like Miami and Tennessee.

Trying to win 14-13 games consistently just isn't realistic in 2016. We almost did it Thursday night, but that style of play leaves very little room for error, as we saw. That's not a critique of the game plan so much as an observation of where we need to get better.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

I don't think ODU has any room to discuss any weaknesses of our team. Our only weakness last year, was letting the foot off the break at halftime when it was already 35-0.

[AppState89]

I think everyone likes seeing catches when the deep ball is caught, but I will take 5-10 catches all day long. 5 yard pass, 2nd and 5. Another 5 yard pass is a 1st down. Move the ball down the field all day and score. I'm happy.

[bigdaddyg]

Makes me wonder, what the hell do people want?!! We went 11-2 last year (how many teams won 11 games?). We came oh so close to beating UT and have a legit shot at running the table or at least going 11-2 AGAIN!! TL did nothing last week to hurt our chances. He manages the game and has just started his Junior season. He's just halfway through his college career. The first year was a tale of 2 seasons. Without looking I don't even recall his basic stats. He's not asked to put up 300 yards. I don't even consider that a true measurement. I don't know, I would rather see W's.