Georgia Football: 3 sensational stats from Dawgs explosive 7th victory
![Nolan Smith celebrates after a play during a game between Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Steven Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images) Nolan Smith celebrates after a play during a game between Kentucky Wildcats and Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Athens, Georgia. (Photo by Steven Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/bfa449f32f62e01e7ef4b1340fdb19e896041551aa313f41966d3338983ced15.jpg)
Georgia football average yardage per play impresses
Georgia put up 30 points on 47 plays against Kentucky, but that isn’t the impressive part.
To give some context, before Kentucky took on the Dawgs, opponents averaged 111.33 yards on the ground, 193.7 yards through the air, and 305 total a game. Teams would average about 4.61 yards a play, but by the end of the fourth quarter, Georgia would just laugh at those numbers.
The Dawgs averaged 8.9 yards a play against the Wildcats, meaning they almost averaged a first down each time they snapped the ball.
With 416 yards of total offense, the Dawgs ran a pretty balanced game between its rush and passing attacks. Georgia had 18 plays go for 10-plus yards and had nine go for 20-plus yards.
In the first quarter alone, all four of Stetson Bennett’s completed passes were for 10-plus yards. Georgia had rushes of 12, 17, 35 and 24 yards in the second quarter.
The Dawgs outgained Kentucky 111 yards to 70 in the second quarter alone and ran nine fewer plays. After getting out-rushed in the first quarter, Georgia earned 92 yards on the ground before halftime.
Georgia led Kentucky 14-7 at the half and ran 24 plays, with nine going for at least 10 yards.
Kentucky’s defense did a great job early on in the game at slowing down the rush attack and forcing Bennett to make plays in the air, but when he did, it was crucial for the Dawgs’ success.
In the second half, Bennett went 7-of-8 in the third quarter alone, completing passes for 16, 15, 27, 15, 20 and 22 yards. The Dawgs outgained Kentucky by 100 yards on just two more plays.
Georgia had the ball seven whole plays in the fourth quarter while Kentucky had it 22, but the Dawgs still outgained the Wildcats by two yards.
Bennett connected with Bowers for two 20-plus yard passes, with one scoring the game’s final touchdown. In between those two big passes, James Cook toted the rock 25 yards himself, which helped set up that final score.
The Mailman went 14-of-20 for 250 yards and three touchdown passes. He averaged 12.5 yards an attempt and 17.9 yards a completion.
Bennett completed 70% of his passes, and of those 14, 12 of them were for 10-plus yards, and six of them went for 20-plus yards.
No, he isn’t JT Daniels, but the Mailman is running this offense just fine without some of the weapons that helped him out last year. Bennett’s performance against Kentucky was strong and a statement for all the doubters out there.
To have six completed passes for 20-plus yards is good, but to have all but two of your passes for at least 10 yards, says something about how much work he put into his game and building relationships with these wideouts.
When Georgia got the ball, they made it count and put points on the board, and even though it was their second-lowest points scored of the season, that 8.9 average made a world of difference.
To average that much yardage each snap and finish a game with almost double-digit 20-yard plays should tell you it isn’t just the defense finding success for the Dawgs — their offense does their thing as well.