How Todd Monken offenses statistically compare to Mike Bobo’s past offenses

Mike Bobo knows what kind of pressure cooker he’s walking into as Georgia’s offensive coordinator. He served in the role before, guiding the Georgia offense from 2007 through 2014.

But in replacing Todd Monken, the gold standard for offensive coordinators at Georgia, Bobo faces heightened levels of scrutiny. He’ll constantly be compared to what Monken was able to do at Georgia, in addition to the usual second-guessing that comes from fans and media about personnel decisions and play calling.

Bobo has found success at Georgia before and will be tasked with doing so in an immediate fashion for the Bulldogs in 2023. The program is going for its third national championship.

Below is a look at Bobo’s previous offenses at Georgia, South Carolina and Auburn, stacked up against that of Monken’s time at Georgia. The South Carolina and Auburn data points aren’t exactly fair to Bobo as he was working with far less talent, but his previous offense at UGA was in 2014.

Scoring offense

The main job of Georgia’s offensive coordinator is to score points. Everyone from Kirby Smart to Monken to departing quarterback Stetson Bennett emphasizes this fact.

“Let’s not kid ourselves about what we do,” Monken said. “I’m paid to score points and run the offense and that relationship only goes so far.”

Monken’s 2022 offense averaged an astounding 41.1 points per game, including 52.3 in the team’s three postseason games. The full-season mark was the highest of the Smart era and the second-best in program history.

No. 1 belongs to Bobo’s 2014 Georgia offense.

Bobo scoring offenses:

2011 UGA: 32.0, 30th nationally
2012 UGA: 37.8, 18th nationally
2013 UGA: 36.7, 21st nationally
2014 UGA: 41.3, 8th nationally
2020 South Carolina: 23.5, 98th nationally
2021 Auburn: 28.3, 68h nationally

Monken scoring offenses:

2020 UGA: 32.3, 38th nationally
2021 UGA: 38.6, 9th nationally
2022 UGA: 41.1, 4th nationally

Bobo’s scoring offenses were comparable to that of Monken, though Monken’s did stack up better nationally. The 2023 offense is a safe bit more talented than what Bobo has had to work with in the past, as Georgia returns perhaps the best offensive line in college football along with playmakers such as Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey and Kendall Milton.

Explosive plays

If scoring points is the most important quality in a Georgia offense, creating explosive plays is a clear No. 2. It’s easier to score when you’re putting your playmakers in space and having them rip off big plays.

To no surprise, Monken’s offenses at Georgia did this very well. The Bulldogs led the country in plays of 10-plus yards and 20-plus yards in 2022.

“We throw the ball more and we’re scoring more points this year and it has so far been more explosive,” Bennett said prior to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. “There has been asked of me this year which has been fun for me.”

As for Bobo, he largely sees things in the same manner. Contrary to popular belief, he is not trying to get the ball downfield one four-yard carry at a time.

Bobo explosive plays:

2011 UGA: 210 plays of 10-plus yards, 25th, 62 plays of 20-plus yards, 41st
2012 UGA: 238 plays of 10-plus yards, 11th, 90 plays of 20-plus yards, 3rd
2013 UGA: 245 plays of 10-plus yards, 12th, 81 plays of 20-plus yards, 14th
2014 UGA: 210 plays of 10-plus yards, 25th, 68 plays of 20-plus yards, 32nd
2020 South Carolina: 129 plays of 10-plus yards, 57th, 44 plays of 20-plus yards, 49th
2021 Auburn: 190 plays of 10-plus yards, 52nd, 64 plays of 20-plus yards, 53rd

Monken explosive plays:

2020 UGA: 145 plays of 10-plus yards, 44th, 53 plays of 20-plus yards, 30th
2021 UGA: 233 plays of 10-plus yards, 10th, 80 plays of 20-plus yards, 7th
2022 UGA: 272 plays of 10-plus yards, 1st, 98 plays of 20-plus yards, 1st

Yards per play

You get a better sense of how good an offense is when using yards per play rather than total offense. Some schools run a ton of plays, which overinflates their offensive output. Whereas schools like Georgia will move at a slower pace in part to help its defense.

Bobo yards per play:

2011 UGA: 5.63 yards per play, 56th
2012 UGA: 7.09 yards per play, 1st
2013 UGA: 6.66 yards per play, 13th
2014 UGA: 6.79 yards per play, 7th
2020 South Carolina: 5.35 yards per play, 90th
2021 Auburn: 5.81 yards per play, 69th

Monken yards per play:

2020 UGA: 6.21 yards per play, 34th
2021 UGA: 6.98 yards per play, 4th
2022 UGA: 7.17 yards per play, 4th

Anything over 6.5 yards per play is really good and if you’re able to push closer to the 7.0 mark, you’ve got one of the best offenses in the country. That will be the mark Bobo should be aiming for in 2023.

Run/Pass splits

This number changes every year, as a good offensive coordinator meshes talent with play calling. If you have a backfield with Todd Gurley and Nick Chubb, you’re probably running the ball more.

Conversely, if you have Bowers and McConkey cutting up opposing defenses, you’re more likely to put the ball in the hands of your Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback.

Bobo percentage of run plays vs. pass plays

2011 UGA: 55.39/44.61
2012 UGA: 55.65/44.44
2013 UGA: 49.05/50.95
2014 UGA: 62.16/37.64
2020 South Carolina: 53.40/46.60
2021 Auburn: 46.81/53.19

Monken percentage run plays vs. pass plays

2020 UGA: 53.63/46.37
2021 UGA: 56.87/43.14
2022 UGA: 53.46/46.54

For the most part, Monken was much more consistent in terms of run plays called compared to pass plays called. Some of that can be chalked up to the fact that Georgia went 37-3 in the three seasons Monken served as the team’s offensive coordinator.

If Georgia is able to achieve similar team success with Bobo calling plays, perhaps the fan base will begin to recognize and appreciate his offensive acumen.

Scoring offense

Explosive plays

Yards per play

Run/Pass splits

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