The Georgia Bulldogs are 9-1 and appear poised for another College Football Playoff run. They dominated Texas on Saturday night, rolling to a 35-10 win inside Sanford Stadium.
Georgia sits at No. 4 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. The Dawgs are finally humming behind quarterback Gunner Stockton. That hasn’t been the norm this season, though. UGA has spent much of the year digging out of self-inflicted holes, with the last two weeks being the exception.
Georgia’s defense has been good, but not great. At times, it’s been bad. But it’s done its job for the most part. Offensively, things looked rough at times. But like I said, Georgia’s grooving now and has found its rhythm under offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.
Georgia’s offense ranks No. 33 in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), averaging 428.4 total yards per game. Its passing game ranks No. 62 at 238.1 yards per game, and its rushing attack is No. 30 (190.30 YPG). In points per game, UGA ranks No. 29, averaging 33.6 points per game. These numbers are courtesy of CFBStats.com.
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Those may not be the same high-flying numbers UGA put up under Todd Monken when the Dawgs went back-to-back, but it’s also not the same level of talent. And because of what Bobo’s been able to do with Georgia’s offense, ESPN broadcaster Chris Fowler had nothing but good things to say about the former Georgia quarterback-turned OC.
Fowler referred to Bobo as ‘one of the most underrated guys’ in college football:
“You don’t want to see Georgia across from you when that CFP bracket comes out because they’re hitting their stride and beginning to play better and better on offense,” Fowler started, before raving about Bobo. “And Mike Bobo—shout out to the play-caller for Georgia, the former quarterback who’s had three different stints as an assistant at Georgia—is one of the most underrated guys. Nobody ever thinks about Bobo when they talk about the top play-callers, the top offensive minds in the sport.”
Mike Bobo’s Long History With Georgia:
Bobo played quarterback at UGA from 1993-97. In 1999, he returned to Athens as a graduate assistant. From 2001 to 2006, he was Georgia’s quarterback coach before Mark Richt promoted him to offensive coordinator. He held that position from 2007-14, before accepting the Colorado State head coaching job. Bobo and Richt never won a national championship during their partnership at Georgia, but the two did produce some fantastic, record-breaking offenses. In 2012, Georgia’s offense was nearly unstoppable (until it wasn’t), with Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley, Keith Marshall, Tavarres King, Malcolm Mitchell and Arthur Lynch leading the Dawgs to 37.8 points per game and 467.6 yards per game. But Georgia fans were always torn on Bobo, disagreeing with his play-calling at times, labeling it as predictable and vanilla.
Bobo returned in 2022 as an offensive analyst. In 2023, he replaced Monken as offensive coordinator after Monken left for the Baltimore Ravens.
“He’s kind of a low-key guy, and what he does in constructing plays and a game plan isn’t necessarily the flashiest, craziest stuff, but the way they use personnel groupings, the way they use tight ends in formations—12 and even 13 personnel—and some of the problems and stresses that creates on a defense,” Fowler said of Bobo and the UGA offense. “Texas was completely confused the first couple of Georgia touchdown drives—they were trying to get lined up.
Credit Mike Bobo, man. He got fired up in our boot camp today, and he should be fired up. His kid, Drew, is playing center there; he’s calling a brilliant game consistently for Georgia. And yeah, the Dawgs are nasty—probably won’t even be in the SEC championship game as defending conference champs, but they’re gonna be a scary team.”
