One of the most intriguing wrinkles that Mark Richt has added to the Georgia offense this year is an increasing number of laterals and short tosses to the Bulldogs RB's in lieu of hand-offs.
As Richt explained to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, there were several reasons behind the change:
Richt said the advantage of it is two-fold. One, it actually utilizes the quarterback as a blocker or even just a shield from back-side pursuit. It's also "softens up" the linebackers, who normally read the toss as an outside play and simply get out to the perimeter as fast as they can. Now they need to be more careful to mind their inside gaps.
In Richt's tenure at Georgia, SEC offenses have changed drastically, with the spread going from novelty to norm as Florida and Auburn won national titles behind dual-threat QB's before Nick Saban and Les Miles ushered in a return to more conventional offensive attacks over the last few years.
The Bulldogs have stuck with Richt's more pro-style attack throughout that period, but that doesn't mean he has the luxury of not adjusting to how the game has changed around him.
For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more on the Georgia Bulldogs, head over to Dawg Sports, and be sure to check out SB Nation's dedicated college football hub.