Georgia Football: Three stats that tell the story of the 2016 season
Georgia football ended the 2016 regular season this past Saturday with a 7-5 record.
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2016 did not go the way Georgia football would have liked for it to. The Bulldogs lost five games, including three to some of their biggest rivals. And they are sitting at home today watching Florida play in the their second straight SEC Championship game.
The combination of a few key statistics paints a clear picture as to why Georgia had a lack of success in 2016.
Nick Chubb and Sony Michel’s rushing yards
Chubb and Michel are the classic one-two punch. Chubb is the powerful, bowling ball that’s unstoppable with momentum. Michel is the quicker back with a knack for finding open space and launching himself through it.
They’re a dream combo, and yet neither of them had the stats you would expect in 2016. Chubb ran for over 1,400 yards in eight starts as a freshman. In 2015 he had over 700 yards before getting injured five games into the season. This 2016 he’s appeared in 11 games and he has just 988 yards. Not bad, but not expected.
Michel ran for over 1,100 yards in 2015, but in 2016 he has 753. He did miss the first two games of the year, but still, you expect more.
Their lack of production comes mostly from a horrible first eight games where the offensive line struggled to get a push against every opponent Georgia played, including Nicholls State. Against Florida the duo couldn’t even get past 50 yards.
After that they both went to offensive coordinator and asked to focus on the run game more. In the final four games both Chubb and Michel had their best month of 2016 to bring their season totals to more respectable numbers.
It’s not a stretch to associate the duos low rushing totals with most of Georgia’s losses in 2016.