Georgia DL Jonathan Ledbetter Admits They Didn't Prepare for Tua
- Thread starter RTR91
- Start date
LOL, they didn't prep at all then, every Bama fan under the sun knew Tua was elusive and had an amazing arm.
not to mention all of the buzz about playing tua beginning with the barn loss. they had to know it was at least a possibility
To me, this sounds like total BS. They had to have known, judging by Jalen's subpar outings against Auburn and Clemson, that Tua might get put in the line up. And his talent was right there on film for Georgia to see. Ledbetter sounds like a sore loser who knows that he got beaten by a freshman. An extremely talented freshman, but a freshman nonetheless.
Well, then shame on them, because there was some tape on him. Just not "game on the line, do or die" kind of tape.
Bama-Vandy in 2017 showed moments of what Tua could do. So did Bama-UT 2017 (good and bad).
Bama-Vandy in 2017 showed moments of what Tua could do. So did Bama-UT 2017 (good and bad).
Frankly, we've looked ill-prepared for backup or rarely used change-up QBs in the past so I'm not going to fault Georgia for that either. We've always focused on getting our starters ready for what their starters and regular contributors do. We've been kinda caught flat-footed by a backup a few times but only once it was of any importance: the November 2011 LSU game. Georgia saw 13 games of Jalen Hurts taking every significant snap on offense. Hurts played the entire way despite his passing being a big factor in the season ending loss to Auburn. He played every snap in the Clemson game despite rumors saying Tua might play if the offense struggled. The offense did struggle a bit but Tua never played.
Another thing at play here is that the turnaround between semis and championship is incredibly tight. With the travel requirements between each game, there is little time available for more than a regular game week. Maybe if they had a month then they would've scouted and even talked to the players some about how the offense will change with Tua but not with the championship turnaround.
Another thing at play here is that the turnaround between semis and championship is incredibly tight. With the travel requirements between each game, there is little time available for more than a regular game week. Maybe if they had a month then they would've scouted and even talked to the players some about how the offense will change with Tua but not with the championship turnaround.
I don't buy this. Kirby Smart is too good of a coach to not prep for the back QB at all, especially when Tua had already shown everyone how good he was.
I do because I've seen him be ill-equipped for differing styles backup QBs several times before while here at Alabama. I've seen our DCs since suffer the same problem. His tenure was the only time it bit us in the ass (2011 LSU).
Can't buy this...
In most of those cases, the QB was injured, so there wasn't reason to prepare.
Others have already mentioned the main point, but there was already speculation Tua would play after Jalen struggled against Auburn and Clemson. Tua also played plenty throughout last season.
With as much support staff as UGA has, that shouldn't have been an issue.
Agree with you. There was speculation surrounding Tua in the semi and big time speculation in the final that Tua may play and on the ESPN/SECN special "Inside" it clearly shows UGA DC Mel Tucker before the start of the 2nd half tell his defense to be ready if they put Tua in. So if they did not watch any tape on Tua then it was a massive mistake by their coaching staff but I don't think that was the case.
Kirby outsmarted himself. He made a calculated gamble that Coach Saban wasn't willing to risk playing the freshman in a game of such magnitude.
Their is a reason Coach Saban is undefeated against his pupils.
Their is a reason Coach Saban is undefeated against his pupils.
You make good points, but Georgia also had almost a month between the SECCG and the game against Oklahoma last year. While preparing for the Sooners was obviously job 1, I would imagine that at least some of their coaches would have had time to do some scouting of Bama and Clemson so that they wouldn't be going from a standing start getting ready for the BCS NCG. Anyone doing any amount of scouting of Bama last year would have known about Tua, and should have recognized that there was a decent chance he could play in the NCG.
I'm not an expert on Bama football, but aren't Jalen and Tua similar type QB's - both are DT QB's? If that's the case, in theory there's not that much of difference in what you're preparing for schematically. Now if you've got one that's a Pro and the other is DT then it's a different story. Additionally, you have a limited amount of practice time, so you're preparing based on odds. Not many people would have believed going into the National Championship game that Nick would hand the ball over to a true freshman in the second half.
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