Smart reveals what is causing Georgia's third-down issues

Georgia has gone from one of the nation's best third-down offenses to one of its worst.

The Bulldogs converted 54.82 percent of their third-down attempts in 2023. That ranked second in the country behind only LSU.

But Georgia is hitting on just 33.3 percent of its third downs through four games in 2024. That ranks in a tie for 106th with Colorado State. The most recent showing included missing on the first nine third-down attempts in a loss to Alabama.

So how does that get fixed? According to head coach Kirby Smart, it begins on the preceding plays.

"When we did have third downs, they were third down minimals because we converted a ton of plays on first and second down last year," Smart said. "So when you start backing it up on third down, it doesn't take a PhD to realize you're not going to be as good. So the inevitable question from the media is why are you down on third down? Because they're longer. Why are they longer? Because you're not doing as well on first and second. And those all lead to execution."

Smart isn't wrong.

The Bulldogs averaged 7.31 yards to go on third downs against Alabama. In their other SEC matchup against Kentucky, that number stood at 5.62 yards.

It's worth noting that the Alabama game, in Smart's own words, is hard to evaluate. The Bulldogs knew from halftime on that they had four downs to convert on each series and called plays accordingly.

Still, a low success rate is not a recipe for success in the SEC. Better execution on early downs will be critical moving forward. That starts with running the ball, something that Georgia actually did fairly well against the Crimson Tide (4.7 yards per carry when excluding sacks).

"Being an offensive lineman at Georgia, you take pride in being able to run the ball," offensive tackle Earnest Greene said. "That's what we like to do, so just continuing to be on the same page and get hip to hip and move people."

Georgia will look to improve this weekend against an Auburn defense that has allowed a third-down conversion rate of just over 35 percent so far this season.