We've been engaged in a statistical look at the 2018 season, from all the various positions. In this the final part of our series, we'll examine the running game. What better timing for that, with Super Bowl LIII on the horizon, featuring Running Back U.
First let’s look at Georgia rushing fared against the rest of the SEC.
How about the context of Georgia rushing? Here's a breakdown on how the Dawgs fared on the ground in different situations.
One of the strengths the Dawgs have had in the running game for many years is the depth of its running game. Check out the numbers of the top three rushers each season since 2009. Some of these names you may see this Sunday.
The Georgia Bulldogs became the first school ever to have back-to-back seasons with two 1,000-yard rushers, using four different backs. The national media picked that up during the Sugar Bowl, but readers of UGASports.com knew that fact back in November.
These are also the only two seasons in which Georgia accomplished that impressive feat.
James Cook, a fourth running back, also did a lot of damage on the ground. Here's a look at the Bulldogs' top four backs quarter-by-quarter last season.
All offensive positions got in the rushing game for the Dawgs in 2018. In all, 18 Georgia players were credited with at least one rush in 2018, although 19 players had rush yards (Isaac Nauta’s touchdown). Just 12 different Bulldogs had rushes the season before. Besides running backs, it was the quarterbacks as well as the wide receivers and tight ends who toted the rock, as you can see in this graphic.
Georgia had a great combination of players who went the distance and broke off some huge runs. The Dawgs had eight touchdown runs (counting Nauta’s) that went 20 yards or longer in 2018. D’Andre Swift led the way with three of them, including an 83-yard score at Kentucky. Tyler Simmons had two such scores, and when you add Demetris Robertson, James Cook, Elijah Holyfield and Isaac Nauta, you have eight total Dawgs who hit home runs.
The 83-yard touchdown run by Swift was tied for the eighth longest in school history. He is actually tied with two runs by Nick Chubb. Swift also added a 77-yard touchdown run against Auburn making him just the fourth Bulldog to have two touchdown runs for 77 yards or longer in their career. Swift joined Tim Worley, Nick Chubb, and Charlie Smith in this feat, but Swift and Smith were the only ones to do it in the same season. In case you were wondering, Herschel Walker’s longest runs went for 76 yards, and he did it twice during his freshman season.
Demetris Robertson’s 72-yard run on his first touch as a Bulldog was the longest rush by a Georgia wide receiver since Terrence Edwards had a 74-yard touchdown run against Purdue in the 2000 Outback Bowl.
Swift had his first four 100-yard rushing games of his career, and he led the Bulldogs with that many this past season. His 186-yard game against Auburn was the second highest by a Dawg under Kirby Smart (Chubb had 222 vs. UNC) Holyfield reached the century mark twice, and Justin Fields had exactly 100 to round out Georgia’s triple-digit total.
Fields became the first Georgia quarterback to reach the 100-yard mark on the ground in a single game since Quincy Carter had 114 vs. Kentucky in 1998.
As for a season, seven Bulldogs had 100 yards or more on the ground. They had five different Dawgs the season before, and just four in 2016.
Georgia rushed for 426 yards against UMass, which was the second time that the Bulldogs reached 400 under Smart. The Dawgs had 423 against Vanderbilt in 2017. The Georgia record is 502 against South Carolina back in 1974.
In the Kentucky game, Georgia had two running backs go for 100 yards on the ground in the same game. Swift had 156 and Holyfield had 115 against the Wildcats. The Bulldogs had a pair go over 100 twice the season before, as Chubb and Michel did it against Vanderbilt and also against Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.
The 3,343 yards (after negative team yards) on the ground was the third most by a Georgia team. Only the 2017 and 2014 teams had more. Once again more games generally means more yards.
The 30 touchdown rushes by the team is tied for the sixth most in school history. They tied the 1985 team which counted statistically 11 games that season.
Swift led the Dawgs with ten touchdown runs. If he rushes for ten or more next season, he will become the first Georgia player with double-digit touchdown runs in a season since Todd Gurley in 2012 and 2013.
After 6.4 rush yards per attempt last season, Swift's career average slipped a little, and now stands at 6.8. The record for a Georgia player is 6.44 held by Todd Gurley, so if Swift keeps this average, where it is he will own the record.
As I mentioned above, both Swift and Holyfield surpassed 1,000 yards rushing during the season. That isn't new for the Bulldogs this decade. The 2010's have been the most successful of any decade for the Dawgs running the ball. Check out this graphic.
Finally, with Todd Gurley and Sony Michel potentially getting some carries in Super Bowl LIII, I decided to look at former Dawgs and their history running the ball in the big game in the NFL. In a stat I tweeted last week, here are the former Georgia Bulldogs with rushing attempts in Super Bowls led by Super Bowl XXXII MVP Terrell Davis.
By the way, former Alabama and Auburn players have a combined zero touchdown rushes in Super Bowls.
Here are the other four 2018 stat breakdown and reviews...
