Georgia Football: 3 simple offensive keys to earn victory over Kentucky

Georgia football must control the clock

Controlling the clock is one of the most important and often overlooked stats in football. The game has changed a lot lately, with more teams airing it out because we’ve all grown accustomed to seeing offenses score many points in a hurry.

However, when the offense can sustain long drives, not only are you wearing down the other defense, your defense gets to rest. When your defense is the best in football, that can only help. The longer Jordan Davis and company rest, the stronger they will be later in a game.

Georgia has won the time of possession battle in four of six games this season, averaging 32:38. UAB and South Carolina were the only two teams who held onto the ball longer than the Dawgs, but when you’re scoring on the first play of drives, it’s understandable.

However, in the last three weeks, the Dawgs have dominated in time of possession. Against Vanderbilt, Georgia had the ball 37:16 while Vandy had it just 22:44.

Georgia possessed the ball 10+ minutes in the second and third quarter, then 9:15 in the fourth. By holding onto the ball that long and getting your opponent off the field quickly, it allows you to control the pace of the game.

Against Arkansas, the Dawgs had the ball for nine-plus minutes three of the four quarters. The Hogs could never get anything going offensively because, well, the Dawgs had the ball a total of 36:32 while Arkansas had it just 23:38.

Last week against Auburn, the Tigers kept the ball 9:20 in the first quarter, then it was all Georgia. The Dawgs had it 8:04 in the second, 9:03 in the third and 10:19 in the fourth quarter.

For the third straight week, the Dawgs sustained drives, kept the ball out of the opposing teams’ hands, and it proved to be successful. Auburn did better than Arkansas and Vanderbilt but only had the ball 26:54, while Georgia had it 33:06.

Kentucky is undefeated, but of those six games, two different teams led them in time of possession — Florida and Tennessee at Chattanooga. On average, the Wildcats have the ball 30:44 and their opponents 29:16.

The Wildcats like to run the ball and sustain drives, much like the Dawgs do, so if Georgia can win the time of possession battle, it should look like a 7-0 start and show the world that No.1 ranking is for real.