Film Don't Lie: UGA vs. Miss St. (defense)

Every week, Dayne Young and Brent Rollins break down the video and data from the most recent Georgia football game. This is Film Don't Lie.

*All grades and other data via www.PFF.com*

Dayne: Mike Leach said his team played its best game of the season. That also means he coached his best, especially considering the decimated roster. Georgia's strategy was to load the field with defensive backs and play off the ball. This would avoid giving up chunk plays and force Mississippi State to execute. Look at the amount of grass between the three down lineman and the wave of dropping defenders when the ball is snapped.

Brent: The rush three and drop eight strategy is what had slowed down Leach's offense since the opener against LSU. However, the most perplexing thing about Georgia's iteration of this strategy was the linebacker play and drops. The "mesh" routes, as they are called (two receivers crossing in the middle), were open the first three quarters of the game because of the linebacker depth. Given Leach's offensive strategy, normal pass drops were not called for in this game. As I described in my postgame observations, it was quite clear Bulldog defenders were not comfortable for most of this game, playing too passively. The linebackers could have squatted at the depth they started on this play, or played much closer to the line of scrimmage, and then taken their normal drop.