Georgia Football: 3 sensational stats from Dawgs explosive 7th victory
Georgia football’s quick scores matter more than sustained drives
Usually, Georgia wins the time of possession battle, and last week we discussed how important winning that can be in terms of success. The Kentucky game was just the third time all year the Dawgs didn’t have the ball longer than their opponent.
Kentucky had the ball 37:47, while Georgia had it 21:51.
Sometimes, an offense scores quickly and doesn’t need to hold onto the ball as long to win the game. This game against Kentucky was one of those times for the Dawgs.
The only quarter that Georgia had the ball longer than Kentucky was in the third quarter when they had it for 8:11.
Georgia outgained the Wildcats by 100 yards that quarter too. Despite the Dawgs defense being on the field for as long as they were, Kentucky couldn’t do all that much.
Yes, they did a better job than most teams on third downs, as they converted 9-of-19, but Kentucky couldn’t get into the endzone to keep it competitive.
Kentucky had the ball 9:01 in the first quarter, 10:34 in the second, 6:49 in the third and 11:23 in the fourth quarter.
Despite having it over 10 minutes, the Wildcats collected just 70 total yards in the second quarter. Even when they had it for 11-plus minutes in the final quarter, Kentucky only gained 80 yards.
All that time holding onto the ball and Georgia’s defense only let them score 13 points, so at that point, is winning the time of possession battle a good thing? Sure, by keeping a defense on the field that long usually ends in points, which it did in both quarters, they held onto it so long.
However, to have the ball 37 minutes and only score 13 points isn’t a success. Yes, Kentucky found ways to keep drives going, but Georgia still forced them to punt it seven times. The Dawgs longest drive was 3:55, and it resulted in a field goal.
Georgia’s other drives they scored on were in 2:35, 2:11, 2:47 and 3:37. The Dawgs scored quickly, and thankfully the defense was conditioned enough to handle those long Kentucky drives.
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The Dawgs showed against the Wildcats that they could adjust and find ways to win if their opponent continued to challenge them. These three stats show that even though it wasn’t Georgia’s most demoralizing performance, it was still a dominating victory.