Georgia is one of the few schools in the country that has a right to call themselves Running Back U. Under the leadership of Todd Monken and Dell McGee, this nickname still fits. The 2022 Bulldog rushing attack not only set team records but did it in a total team effort. The Dawgs did things that no other team in the nation this season or other Georgia teams have done in the past.
This season, the Bulldogs officially ran the ball 557 of its 1,049 total plays or 53 percent. There were 13 different individuals who carried the ball for Georgia for 3,080 yards (counting the -29 team yards). Here is a breakdown on how Georgia's rushing stats have looked since Smart has taken over, including FBS and SEC rankings.
Here's a look at each season for the Dawgs and their top four rushers in terms of yards since 2010. A lot of interesting names on this list, nad a lot of balance this year.
Speaking of those four running backs from 2022, here is the last edition of the season on how those four were used by quarter this season.
Georgia's rushing offense featured tight ends, quarterbacks, and wide receivers carrying the football.
All ten of those rushing touchdowns by the quarterback were courtesy of Stetson Bennett. Bennett's ten rushing touchdowns were the most in a season by a Georgia quarterback since Ray Goff had ten in 1976. Fran Tarkenton, who is one of the greatest rushing quarterbacks (passing, too) in the history of the NFL had ten rushing touchdowns in his three seasons combined at Georgia (1958 to 1960).
Those ten touchdowns were just part of the 44 UGA had as a team. The 44 touchdown rushes were the most the Bulldogs have ever had in one season. Here are the top four seasons in terms of the most rushing touchdowns that Georgia has had as well as the top four players in that category.
Here is a list of the most touchdown rushes in a season by a Bulldog since Smart took over in 2016.
Here are a couple other interesting facts on Georgia's rushing as it pertains to touchdown rushes:
- The Bulldogs had eight different players with a touchdown rush. That was tied for tenth in the nation for most different players and second in the SEC behind South Carolina.
- The Bulldogs had three different players with at least eight touchdown rushes. It was the first time an SEC team has done that since Alabama in 2017.
- The Bulldogs had four different players with at least seven touchdown rushes. It was the first time an SEC team has done that since LSU in 2011.
- The Bulldogs had two players with at least ten rushing touchdowns. It was just the third time in Georgia history that they had a pair do that (2007 and 2017).
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Another crazy stat by this team concept of running the ball. Not a single Georgia player had 20 rushing attempts in a single game this past season. The Bulldog only had a player rush for 100 yards three times, and zero were in Athens. Here are the rushing highs that Georgia has had in a game this season.
In terms of the longest rushing attempts by Georgia. The Bulldogs had a bizarre season in which the top three longest attempts were by players that were not running backs. How many of these runs can you remember?
The Bulldogs had seven different players rush for 100 yards this season. They led the SEC in that category and were tied for second in the nation behind Army's 11.
The seven were tied for the second most by a Bulldog team in one season in the 2000s.
Three Georgia running backs went over the 1,000-yard mark in their careers this season. Kenny McIntosh ended his career with 1,582 during his four seasons with the Dawgs. Daijun Edwards now has 1,202 and Kendall Milton has 1,049 with both playing three seasons for the Bulldogs. Branson Robinson could get it next season, as he needs 670 more.
Cover photo courtesy of Kathryn Skeean
