Georgia football: 3 simple stats from the Dawgs 9th victory

3. Georgia football succeeds on first down

One of the best stats of the day has to be how Georgia football earned their 25 first downs against Missouri.

The Dawgs converted 4-of-9 third downs, and while a 44% conversion rate isn’t fantastic, we looked deeper into how the rest of the first downs happened.

Eighteen of the 25 touchdowns came on either first or second down for Georgia. There were also two first downs on fourth down and one from a penalty.

Georgia didn’t need three downs to move the chains. Instead, they were able to get the yardage needed on the first two downs.

Of those 18 chain-moving plays, 10 of them came on first down, and eight came on second.

While third-down conversions are essential, it’s a big positive to see the offense have that much success on the first two downs instead of waiting to convert on the third one.

This number means whatever offensive coordinator Todd Monken called worked, and the offense could make something happen. He got creative, and it helped the offense keep drives going without having to use third-down situations.

If you don’t need to convert on third down, something is going the offense’s way. Georgia’s offensive production should continue to improve as more players return from injury and contribute.