ATHENS — SEC coaches got their first game day taste of radio helmet and I-Pad tablet technology on Saturday and most all agreed the players benefitted.

So much so that Oklahoma coach Brent Venables, a noted championship coordinator at Clemson prior to taking the Sooners’ head job, believes the technology might ultimately bring more parity.

“Without the tablets, you’ve got to figure it out, how did they block it, where did we go, how did we fit it,” said Venables, who prior to becoming the Sooners head coach before the 2022 season won two national titles as Clemson’s defensive coordinator.

“Over the course of time, we feel we’ve been pretty good seeing things from both field level and utilizing people in the box — the tablets take all that out of it,” he said. “It creates a little more parity, everybody gets to see it, and if you have little better trained eye, it can give you a competitive edge without the tablet.”

Championship Adjustments

Georgia benefitted greatly from the use of the I-Pad, which players and coaches are allowed to utilize to watch video replays taken from the coaches’ sideline and end zone angles during the game.

UGA quarterback Carson Beck gained confidence and key insight from studying first-half plays on the I-Pad at halftime.

“Looking at the I-Pad …. we just kind of deciphered which ways we wanted to attack them,” said Beck, who stepped up as Georgia went leading 6-0 at the half to a 34-3 victory.

Beck credited halftime I-Pad film study -- teams have 18 tablets to disperse -- for a critical third-and-10 conversion pass that enabled UGA to regain momentum after a Clemson field goal and stretch the lead to 20-3.

“They played a very similar coverage on a couple of third downs, so Coach (Mike Bobo) went to a play that (London Humphreys) is on an in-breaking route,” said Beck, who hit the open receiver.

“I think that was a huge play for us in the game and really catapulted us as an offense … it definitely changes the momentum.”

Game Changer

It’s fair to wonder how many game-changing plays will be affected by I-Pad technology — or radio in helmet, which allows quarterbacks to communicate with the sideline and/or coaches’ booth — until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock.

“It’s a huge advantage,” said Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, whose saw his quarterback throw for 418 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first half of the Rebels’ 76-0 win over Furman last Saturday.

“(Defense) is gonna have it, too, it’s probably neutralized, (but) it’s a big advantage to be on top of the quarterback and see every play.”

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, who has a first-year starting quarterback in sophomore sensation Nico Lamaleava, indicated the radio helmet and I-Pads factored into the Vols’ 69-3 win over UT-Chattanooga.

“The helmet communication was beneficial situationally, being able to remind him of certain things,” Heupel said. “The tablets are something I think is beneficial for the coaches, but also the players, too, to get a different perspective of what is happening, like on a specific play, different than a coach trying to draw it up on a board or talk them through it.

“We’ll find out more as we go through the season, the helmet communication, how that is on the road when you’re in a loud environment.”

Not So Fast

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian likely had the same question as Heupel, about the effectiveness of the in-game radio helmet in hostile environments.

The Longhorns play at Michigan Stadium — capacity 107,601 — against the defending national champion Wolverines on Saturday.

“I think it’s too small of a sample size right now, it’s a wait and see,” said Sarkisian, whose team beat Colorado State at home by a 52-0 count.

“In-game (situations) are different than practice — too small of a sample size.”

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea, whose team scored a massive 34-27 overtime upset at home against Virginia Tech, shared how the technology wasn’t always perfect on the sideline, and neither were the coaches.

“It was imperfect, not because the technology is imperfect, but we’re human and sometimes we forget to press the button,” Lea said. “I thought at times we had a little bit of static on the line, and maybe the line was a little choppy, I think stadium noise plays a role in that, too, so learning how to handle those challenging environments, that’s something you can’t simulate in scrimmage settings.”

Unfinished business

Texas A&M coach Mike Elko were on the wrong side of a 23-13 score with Notre Dame on Saturday night, leaving him a long list of things for his team to improve on, include usage of the new technology.

“What is the right balance, how do you provide the young people with enough information but not overwhelm them and slow them down?” Elko said. “So I think each game will get better with how that works.”

Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said he has work to do when communicating with his quarterbacks, too.

“I think I have to be careful not to talk abruptly too late in the (play) clock, that kind of startles our quarterbacks a little bit,” said Freeze, a noted offensive guru. “It’s hard for me not to if I see something, (but)

if you’ve already talked to him and he’s started his cadence, and you jump on there it can mess him up — I need to cut that out.”

Turn It Up

Venables pointed out the value that immediate lessons can bring to the game, and how defenses can capitalize by the educational opportunities the technology brings to the game.

“It helps you be really efficient, it takes the guessing out of it, so when the player says “I thought,” you can say, ‘well stop thinking, look at the tablet,” Venables said. “Usually “I thought” leads to something disastrous, so the tablets can help you get to the shortcut quicker.”

Georgia, as Beck noted, made the technology work as well as any team in the nation with its halftime adjustments and in-game coaching — two of Georgia’s touchdowns were scored by newcomers, and another was scored by a freshman.

“I think Mike (Bobo) and his staff did a good job at halftime looking at pictures, seeing what was there,” Smart said, “and capitalizing on explosive plays.”

College football remains a chess match, but with radio helmet and I-Pad technology, it has become one of the three-dimensional variety.