I think UGA's work lies in dealing with the Gator defensive front much more than being smart (swidt?) and sticking to what works. I don't know that changing the script is what went wrong for UGA.
I charted the runs from UGA's 2nd drive, I believe it was, when Holyfield and Swift were popping for something like 12 ypc, against the 3-2-6. Play stops, LSU subs to the 3-3-5 and doesn't go that light again. Thereafter, UGA's runs are all between 0 and 4 yards for the rest of the day, sans the following 3 plays. Swift popped a 14 yarder early in the 3rd to go along with the shorter gains. Even that drive I thought was the Fields/Holyfield combo blistering us down the field was an illusion of memory. Fromm actually passed down the field on a nice UGA drive, then in the redzone Fields substitutes in, the defense crashes hard on him and Holyfield gets another two very nice runs, one for TD. In my mind I was thinking they just gashed us over and over, but it was just two plays.
So that's the changing production of runs, but what about attempts?
After LSU takes a 3-0 lead, UGA puts together a good drive with those big runs which results in no points (the fake), LSU scores a TD on next possession to go 10-0. So on UGA's 3rd possession, they pass on first down. Not that big a deal, right? I mean, you don't want to run the ball every first down, fans would definitely complain about that, so that's nothing egregious. It's incomplete. Now behind the chains at 2nd and 10, having its last 3 running plays stuffed, UGA feels like it needs to pass, and it is a passing down. 2nd and 3rd down are another incompletion and not enough gain, so punt. Feels like abandoning the run, but really it's just an unfortunate string of plays starting with an incompletion that forced UGA to the air.
UGA doesn't have another possession without running the ball until later in the 2nd half when they're down far enough that it makes sense to air it out more. Even after that they still run some, so there's really only two unproductive drives in the game where they pass every down, neither of which is awful considering the situation. It did not feel that way to me in the game, probably because I was traumatized by UGA's second drive with huge runs, but they did keep running, with 15 of their 22 runs by RBs (my count, not official) coming after the fake and the 10-0 hole early in the 2nd quarter.
For the most part, LSU did better at the defensive LOS than I thought, and this is the key challenge for UGA next week. Find a way to move UF off their spots and get at those LBs. Running the ball won't be easy, but it will be key. Committing to the run more isn't the question, being more successful with it will be. Throwing on Florida likely isn't going to be any easier than it was on LSU. The averages are deceiving in the yards per carry vs. LSU....the mode range has to be better on a ypc basis. UGA needs to be able to say it ran in that 5 yard range most often against Florida as opposed to the 2-3 yard range. It would have made a difference at LSU and will likely be key against UF as well.