Dayne Young and Brent Rollins collaborate to discover the nuances of the Georgia Bulldogs and college football.

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

This is part of a football 101 series where we lay out explanations and the merits of different football concepts.

Dayne: Football strategy can mirror chess in many ways. Coaches identify sections of the field to target and find ways to make space available or to set up favorable match-ups. It happens very quickly in the rushing game. Brent and I are here to help lay out the different kinds of running plays.

Brent: Numbers and angles. You've probably read that from me before, but for good reason. No matter the scheme, it's the goal and focus of every running play. This week in our football 101 series, we dive into the running game and the variations you've seen from Georgia's offense.

Dayne: As the name states, inside zone tends to put the running lane between a guard and center. The edges of the play become exposed as blockers focus on freeing the middle of the field. It's a quick way to get a runner north and south, but can often be unproductive if the defense is heavy in the box. Brain Herrien told us he prefers inside zone plays.

Brent: Quick refresher "quiz" from last week's look at personnel groupings: what's the personnel in the clip above (answer at end of the paragraph)?

Attack points. Any zone-based blocking scheme gives the running back a point of attack before making a cut based on the blocks/defenders in front of him. For inside zone, that's typically the guard's outside hip and varies slightly, depending on the defensive alignment or the team's focus. For the offensive line, the two big keys are which direction, right or left, and whether or not they are "covered." In the clip above, you see right guard Ben Cleveland and left guard Solomon Kindley "uncovered," without a defensive lineman in front of them. First, watch the line step left in unison on the snap, and then watch Cleveland and Kindley try and work up to the linebackers. Ideally, you create one of two scenarios for the running back. Either enough movement is generated, or a linebacker gets lost, to create a natural hole on the front side; or, secondarily, the cut back opens up because the backside guard and tackle dominate their blocks, and the unblocked backside defender doesn't pursue well enough.

The Bulldogs were in 22 personnel above (two RBs, two TEs, one WR)—one of only 20 plays in 2019 when that was the case.

Dayne: Inside zone is a popular play in the red zone, where only a few yards are needed. We all know how D'Andre Swift could break tackles in the open field. His versatility to maneuver on inside runs is what makes him unique among many different running backs.

Brent: Create movement and re-establish the line of scrimmage of the defense's side. Check these two boxes, and this allows the running back to do their thing, and not many have done it better than D'Andre Swift. Over his career, his vision and short area quickness allowed many of these runs to gain much more yardage than the blocking provided.

Dayne: One misconception of spread offenses is that running plays are not a focus. If anything, the running plays up the middle can be enhanced with defenders focusing on vertical and edge threats.

Brent: What's amazing about watching teams run out of spread formations as you see above is the actual blocking that occurs. Four players essentially had to block three players, and this inside zone run was a relatively easy touchdown. Given the formation, there were only six defenders in the box, and really only five once the linebacker at the top of the screen walked up outside to blitz. The left tackle and left guard took proper angles to seal off the back side defensive tackle; the center handled his man with good footwork; and the right guard got a slight piece of the lone linebacker in the box. When you can throw the football and the defense feels threatened from sideline to sideline, inside zone can gash a light box.

Dayne: Outside zone focuses on getting the runner off-tackle and blocking to one side of the field. This leaves the other side completely vulnerable and the middle of the formation susceptible, should the defense have a linebacker fast in pursuit.

Brent: From an offensive linemen's perspective, the rules and footwork remain the same. The attack point of the running back obviously changes, and the track flows to the tackle's outside hip. The reason teams so heavily fixate on running some form of zone blocking (e.g., Georgia was 55 percent inside zone and 16 percent outside zone in 2019) is what you see above from Kentucky's play side linebacker (No. 22 Chris Oats). His decision to work outside the traffic gives Swift the cutback lane, with Swift doing the rest to turn it into a big play.

Dayne: Tight end and wide receiver blocking is critical on most outside zone plays as the offensive lineman tend to not be involved in as much motion.

Brent: The defense's decision on Swift's run got flipped on Brian Herrien's touchdown run. Tyler Simmons (87) going inside to block the safety brings the corner in tight and the corner compounds the issue by dipping inside, allowing Herrien to get outside and score.

Dayne: We began to see more split zone action for Georgia as the 2019 season progressed. It was an attempt to open up the running lane from stacked defensive fronts. The tight end is charged with getting to a spot quickly and getting out of the running back's way. Kenny McIntosh showed good vision on this play.

Brent: Split zone is a way to take care of the backside edge defender coming down the line and making the play. While ideally this play is cut back inside with the tight end coming across, the back obviously still has the choice to stay to the front side, as McIntosh does here with great patience and jump-cutting ability.

Dayne: Quick footwork is paramount for running backs in the split zone. There's a bit of this that mirrors a guard in basketball trying to fake out a defender. D'Andre Swift brought a complete skill set to make defenders miss in the open field. Tentative runners struggle with this much space.

Brent: The ability of the tight end/H-back to pull across and block makes this play go. Charlie Woerner was one of the highest-graded run-blocking tight ends in the FBS this past season, with this being one of many textbook examples from him.

Dayne: Notice how this head fake buys a few more yards for Swift.

Brent: Short area quickness. The safety dropping down into the box late should've made this a one to two yard gain at most, but Swift's patience and short area quickness allowed this run to be successful.

Dayne: The toss sweep is a piece of Georgia lore. Images of Hershel Walker running around and through defenders after getting the ball on a toss are always at the forefront of Georgia fans' minds. The traditional version of this with a leading fullback is a relic, and not likely to be seen in 2020 football. The replacement is the quick toss.

Brent: From the Florida game through the rest of the season, the Bulldogs went to this toss to get on the edge quickly—the key being the offensive line action being counter to the play's direction, much like we'll see in another play below. Watch everyone step right on the snap, giving the defense a zone right look. The hope is to hold the linebackers for that split second to create better angles as well as giving the back a head of steam. While James Houston (No. 41) actually does a pretty good job here because he's obviously reading Swift, the backside linebacker, No. 51 Ventrell Miller, gets caught flat-footed on the front side, allowing Trey Hill the opportunity to step right and still get in position to cut off Miller on the backside.

Dayne: Running up the middle at Derrick Brown was a daunting task for every team in college football. Georgia found ways to run around wherever Brown was lined up. This reverse to Kearis Jackson was successful because Andrew Thomas blocked three guys. The combination of a wide receiver, tight end, and left tackle blocking in open field requires quick feet and precise coordination.

Brent: From youth football all the way up to the NFL, misdirection/reverses exist. Having blockers on the edges like Andrew Thomas, Eli Wolf, and Tyler Simmons makes play like this a success. Again, notice the line step right at the snap in order to get defensive flow moving that way.

Dayne: A version of this is the misdirection to the weak side of the field. There are fewer blockers, which also means there are fewer defenders. These keep the defense off balance and punish any team who simply follows where blockers are going.

Brent: I tend to think Matt Luke would look at this play and be excited about Ben Cleveland's ability to pull and lead-block.

Dayne: We all expect Georgia to incorporate more quarterback running elements to the offense in 2020. It's a numbers game. A quarterback who does not pose a threat to run turns the game into 10 vs. 11. Jamie Newman won't lead the conference in rushing or anything outlandish like that, but he should be a threat to gain easy yards.

Brent: Whether with the quarterback as the ball carrier or with a built-in RPO like we saw in the Sugar Bowl, pulling the backside guard and tackle and down blocking on the front side has been a staple of offensive football for a long time. The center being both athletic and strong enough to prevent backside defenders from blowing up the play is key. While I don't see the Bulldogs turning into Oklahoma East in their use of counter plays, the addition of Matt Luke has already shown this will be part of the playbook.

Dayne: Running lanes are narrow because of the amount of motion in play. If everything can be coordinated well, a fast runner can find open field very quickly with the counter/pull.

Brent: The jet sweep action now has a prominent place at every level of football. There are countless examples, including above, of the action causing linebackers to hesitate or take themselves out of a play. Again, if run in this manner, the ability of the tight end/H-back to block becomes vital.

Dayne: This read-option freezes the defensive end and allows D'Andre Swift to slip past without being touched, for 30 yards. Andrew Thomas was a special athlete at left tackle and could have been used in this capacity even more.

Brent: As we explained earlier this season, this was a running game variation James Coley brought to Georgia's offense in 2019. It's called bash because the running back goes away from the line's flow. In this case, the line zone blocks to the right with Swift going left, and the quarterback reading the unblocked defender. It will be interesting to see if Todd Monken keeps this in his playbook, given Jamie Newman's ability as a runner.

Dayne: Having a Heisman Trophy winner with the speed of Lamar Jackson makes much of this play possible. It does show how lethal a fast quarterback can be.

Brent: The Cam Newton play. While Gus Malzahn may not have been the first person to heavily use this design, he certainly made it mainstream with Newton in 2010. The quarterback power read is now a staple of high school, college, and, as you'll see below, youth offenses. The power elements include the play-side linemen blocking down and the back side guard pulling and leading on the linebacker. The quarterback's job is to read the end man on the line of scrimmage. If that player pursues upfield or wide, as the Seminole defender did above, the quarterback keeps and follows the guard. With Jamie Newman on campus, this is something I would love to see on occasion in the Monken offensive arsenal.

Brent: This is the 10U Titans running the power read from a 2 x 2 formation. The defensive end flies up the field, quarterback keeps, guard and H-back get the play side linebacker, and it's nothing but green turf after that.