Numbers Watch: National Championship edition
-- The Rose Bowl was very exciting as the Bulldogs were able to defeat the Sooners after trailing by 17. Georgia has made some major comebacks before -- especially in bowl games. How many of these do you remember?
Trailing | Result | |
---|---|---|
1948 Gator |
Trailed Maryland 20-7 after 3 quarters |
Tied 20-20 |
1985 Sun |
Trailed Arizona 13-3 after 3 quarters |
Tied 13-13 |
1987 Liberty |
Trailed Arkansas 17-7 after 3 quarters |
Won 20-17 |
1998 Peach |
Trailed Virginia 21-0 late in 2nd quarter |
Won 35-33 |
2000 Outback |
Trailed Purdue 25-0 midway through 2nd quarter |
Won 28-25 |
2006 Chick-fil-A |
Trailed Virginia Tech 21-3 at halftime |
Won 31-24 |
2018 Rose |
Trailed Oklahoma 31-14 late in 2nd quarter |
Won 54-48 |
-- The Crimson Tide has the all-time series against the Dawgs by a 38-25-4 margin. The first Georgia head coach to defeat Alabama was Glenn “Pop” Warner back in 1895. Here is a list of all the Georgia head coaches in terms of wins against Alabama…
Wins | Wins | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Wally Butts |
7 |
Glenn 'Pop' Warner |
1 |
|
W.A. Cunningham |
5 |
Billy Reynolds |
1 |
|
Mark Richt |
3 |
George 'Kid' Woodruff |
1 |
|
Herman Stegeman |
2 |
Harry Mehre |
1 |
|
|
Ray Goff |
1 |
-- Kid Woodruff was 5-1 all-time against Alabama and his team outscored the opponent 69-18 in those six games including three shutout wins.
-- Mark Richt won his first three games against the Crimson Tide including the last win against Alabama in 2007. That game also sparked Mike Patrick of ESPN to wonder what Britney is doing with her life…
-- Kirby Smart was an assistant for Alabama for nine seasons (eight as defensive coordinator). Smart has never been a head coach against the Crimson Tide, but was 0-1 against Alabama as a player with a 31-0 loss his freshman season in 1995 (that was also the last time Georgia was shut out).
-- Georgia’s offense has been on a roll; so the chances of being shut out on Monday is slim. The Bulldogs scored 54 points in the Rose Bowl, which is their highest point total in their 53 bowl games. Here are the highest five…
Opponent | Result and Final Score | |
---|---|---|
2018 Rose |
Oklahoma |
Won 54-48 |
2013 Capital One |
Nebraska |
Won 45-31 |
2009 Independence |
Texas A&M |
Won 44-20 |
2008 Sugar |
Hawaii |
Won 41-10 |
1942 Orange |
TCU |
Won 40-26 |
-- The 1942 Orange Bowl was Georgia’s first ever bowl game. The Dawgs now have played in 53 bowls which is tied for third for the most by a school.
-- Sony Michel, who was the offensive MVP, had four touchdowns (3 rushing, 1 receiving). The four touchdowns in a bowl game was a Georgia record and the three rushing touchdowns tied a Georgia record with Robert Edwards. Michel's 75-yard touchdown run was also the longest touchdown run by a Georgia player passing Kent Lawrence and Edwards’ 74-yard runs (Nick Chubb holds the record for longest run at 82 yards, but it wasn’t a touchdown. Michel now has eight total touchdowns in bowl games (six rushing, two receiving) and has at least one in each of his four bowl games.
-- Chubb had two touchdowns of his own and now has five in his three career bowl games.
-- Chubb also now has 44 rushing touchdowns in his career. He is tied for fifth for the most in SEC history. Here are the top in conference history.
Team | Career Games | Career TD Rushes | |
---|---|---|---|
Tim Tebow |
Florida |
55 |
55 |
Hershel Walker |
Georgia |
33 |
49 |
Kevin Faulk |
LSU |
41 |
46 |
Carnell Williams |
Auburn |
42 |
45 |
Dalton Hilliard |
LSU |
44 |
44 |
Nick Chubb |
Georgia |
46 |
44 |
-- In terms of career all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and returns), Chubb is still in second in Georgia history behind Herschel (5,749 to 5,106) but Michel has climbed to fourth and is only 90 yards away from a tie for third with Todd Gurley (4,322 to 4,232).
-- In terms of career yards rushing, the pair of Chubb and Michel have 8,198 yards rushing combined. They are the number one duo now passing the Pony Express of Eric Dickerson and Craig James (8,193).
-- In the Rose Bowl game, Michel passed the 1,000 yard mark in his career. It was the second time in his career that he accomplished this (also his sophomore season). He is one of four Bulldogs to have more than one… and one is his teammate.
1,000 Rush Yard Seasons | Seasons | |
---|---|---|
Herschel Walker |
3 |
1980, 1981, 1982 |
Nick Chubb |
3 |
2014, 2016, 2017 |
Knowshon Moreno |
2 |
2007, 2008 |
Sony Michel |
2 |
2015, 2017 |
-- Jake Fromm continues to show that he is not an ordinary freshman. Fromm connected on 20-of-29 passes against Oklahoma including a touchdown strike early in the fourth quarter. Fromm has been on fire since losing to Auburn back on November 11. Check out these numbers since the loss…
Stats | |
---|---|
Games |
4 |
Completion Percentage |
70.4 (57-for-81) |
Passing Yards |
740 |
TD Passes |
7 |
Interceptions |
1 |
For the season, Fromm has thrown 23 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. He is also climbing up the charts for most yards passing by a Georgia freshman. This list counts both redshirt and true freshmen and the way Fromm has been passing he should pass a few more…
Season | Pass Yards | |
---|---|---|
Aaron Murray |
2010 (Redshirt) |
3,049 |
David Greene |
2001 (Redshirt) |
2,789 |
Quincy Carter |
1998 (True) |
2,484 |
Jacob Eason |
2016 (True) |
2,430 |
Jake Fromm |
2017 (True) |
2,383 |
-- Javon Wims, as well as the other Georgia wide receivers, were making big catches throughout the Rose Bowl. His touchdown was his seventh of the season, but his first in the fourth quarter. I was checking out Wims' season stats and they looked a lot like a players stats from a season ago. Check out these numbers from the Bulldogs’ leading receiver the last two seasons…
2016 - Isaiah McKenzie | 2017 - Javon Wims | |
---|---|---|
Receptions |
44 |
44 |
Rec Yards |
633 |
704 |
TD Receptions |
7 |
7 |
-- Rodrigo Blackenship picked a great time to make his first career kick over 50 yards. It was also a Rose Bowl record and a record for longest field goal by Georgia in a bowl. The old record was held by Brandon Coutu in the 2008 Sugar Bowl (52 yards).
-- On defense, the Bulldogs had a season-tying five sacks in the Rose Bowl. That was also tied for the most against Baker Mayfield all season.
-- Speaking of Baker Mayfield, his 8.2 yards per attempt was the lowest he has had all season and his two touchdown passes were the lowest since October 21. He also threw an interception. That was his first interception since November 4 and only his sixth all season.
-- Dominick Sanders registered his team-leading fourth interception of the season and his 16th of his career. The 16 interceptions ties the team record for most in a career. He is now tied with Jake Scott and Bacarri Rambo.
-- Sanders can also tie another record. If he starts on Monday against Alabama (which he should), he will tie the record the record for most starts in a career with kicker Blair Walsh. He is currently tied with Aaron Murray and David Greene with 52 career starts.
-- Roquan Smith continued to shine at the Rose Bowl. He didn’t have the greatest of all games, but finished with a team-leading 11 tackles. He now has 124 on the season which is the fifth most in the last 20 seasons and with another double-digit performance he can get even higher. Here is that list…
Season | Total Tackles | |
---|---|---|
Thomas Davis |
2003 |
138 |
Ramik Wilson |
2013 |
133 |
Rennie Curran |
2009 |
130 |
Akeem Dent |
2010 |
126 |
Roquan Smith |
2017 |
124 |
-- The last thing I noticed is that according to the 2017 Georgia media guide (regular season), the Bulldogs had 95 all-time wins against ranked opponents. If you add the four they have had this season, they should have 99. That would make No. 100 very, very memorable.