Stats Crunch (2020 Defense and Special Teams Review)

How did the 2020 Georgia Bulldogs fare on defense? Here is a deeper look at the Dawgs' defense as well as special teams in this special edition of Stats Crunch.

First, here are the points allowed by the Bulldogs this season compared to Kirby Smart's other years leading Georgia. The Bulldogs faced four of the top five players in the Heisman voting and did not face Vanderbilt. The Commodores averaged just 14.8 points per game this season and ranked 125th out of 127 FBS teams. Playing them would have most likely helped the Dawgs stats. Check out this list.

In 2019, Georgia led the nation in fewest touchdown rushes allowed (two). This season they allowed eight, but they did lead the nation in another impressive defensive stat. The Bulldogs’ opponents only gained 2.4 yards per attempt this season. Colorado State was second in the nation at 2.5. Texas A&M had the next lowest in the SEC allowing 3.3 which was 12th in the nation.

Georgia also led the FBS in fewest yards allowed on the ground per game. Georgia allowed just 72.3 yards rushing per game this season. It was the fewest in the nation by almost 20 yards. The next lowest was the Aggies once again at 92.3 yards rushing per game. The Dawgs rush defense also led the nation in 2019.

Georgia’s media guide only goes back to 1950 in this category, but in those 70+ seasons, that is the lowest the Bulldogs have ever accomplished. Here are the lowest five.

Some of the SEC’s best players struggled against the Dawg defense. The Gamecocks’ Kevin Harris led the SEC in rushing yards per game with 113.8, had just 53 against the Bulldogs. Missouri’s Larry Rountree III averaged 97.2 ypg, but had 16 against Georgia. The Vols’ Eric Gray averaged 85.8 ypg and had just 25 versus the Dawgs.

Georgia’s pass defense struggled (most teams do against Mac Jones and Kyle Trask) as the Bulldogs ranked 88th in the FBS allowing 248.7 yards passing per game.

Thanks to a monster-game notching eight sacks in the Peach Bowl against Cincinnati, Georgia ended up the season with 32 sacks according to the NCAA record book. According to Georgia’s website, they had 33. The 32 sacks this season ranks tied for 11th in the nation with 3.2 sacks per game average, while 33 would raise them up to eighth. The 32 would also see UGA tied for the ninth-highest total in Georgia history since 1979, while the 33 would give them a tie for eighth.

The eight sacks tied a Georgia bowl record with the 2008 Sugar Bowl performance against Hawai’i. Check out this breakdown of those two performances.

The three sacks by Azeez Ojulari tied a Georgia bowl record, matching performances by Marcus Howard, David Pollack, and Trenton Thompson.

Ojulari’s 8.5 sacks during the season is the most by a Bulldog since Jarvis Jones had 14.5 in 2012. Ojulari was also the first Dawg to lead the defense in sacks two seasons in a row since Leonard Floyd accomplished that feat three seasons in a row from 2013 to 2015.

Forty-three different Georgia players had at least one tackle on defense, special teams or after a turnover in 2020. Nakobe Dean led the way with 71 tackles. Dean had ten or more tackles in a game on three different occasions. Lewis Cine and Richard LeCounte also had a game with ten or more tackles this season.

Twenty-one different Georgia players had at least half a tackle for a loss. Olujari led the way with 12.5 followed by Adam Anderson (6.5) and Jermaine Johnson (5.0).

Five different Georgia players forced a fumble with Ojulari leading the way with four. Four different Bulldogs had a fumble recovery all with one apiece.

In terms of interceptions, Georgia finished the season with nine. Eric Stokes led the way with four and Richard LeCounte had three. Tyson Campbell and Mark Webb also had a pick for the Bulldogs. All nine of those interceptions are from players who will not be on the 2021 team. However, Lewis Cine and Latavious Brini had one each during the 2019 season.

In terms of pick-sixes, Stokes had two on the season. Only five players in the nation had two or more interceptions returned for touchdowns in 2020. In the Kirby Smart era, only Maurice Smith had a pick-six in a game when he did it in the win against Auburn in 2016. Deandre Baker would have had one but he let go of the football at the one-yard line after his interception in the 2018 South Carolina game. Luckily for Georgia, Juwan Taylor picked up the fumble and got the touchdown.

Speaking of scoring, Georgia’s first points of the season were from a safety in the season-opener against Arkansas. Also, Georgia’s final points of the season were from a safety in the season-finale against Cincinnati.

Switching to special teams -

Jack Podlesny did a pretty good job, replacing fan-favorite and Georgia’s all-time points leader Rodrigo Blankenship. Podlesny made 13-of-16 field goals this season including going 3-for-3 on attempts of 50 yards or longer. His longest was from 53 yards and it was a memorable one as he connected on it with three seconds left to give the Bulldogs the lead in the Peach Bowl against the Bearcats. The 53-yard field goal tied a Peach Bowl record and it was the second-longest field goal by a Dawg in a bowl game. Here are the longest five.

The game-winning field goal with three seconds left was the third bowl game for the Bulldogs that they won in that short time or less. John Kasay (the younger one) nailed a 39-yard field goal to win the 1987 Liberty Bowl against Arkansas on the game’s final play for the 20-17 win and Hap Hines connected from 21-yards out in overtime to give Georgia a 28-25 win over Purdue in the 2000 Outback Bowl (a game in which UGA trailed 25-0). In the 1984 Citrus Bowl against Florida State, Kevin Butler just missed a 70-yard (officially) field goal that would have given Georgia the win, but they tied instead.

As for point after attempts, the Bulldogs ended the season without having missed one, and their consecutive make streak is currently an NCAA record at330 in a row.

Jake Camarda had a very good season as well for the Bulldogs. The punter finished fourth in the nation with a 46.6 yards per punt average. He had at least one punt go over 50 yards in every game this season. That is the third-highest average ever by a Georgia punter.

Camarda’s current career average is at 45.5 yards per punt. He currently has a slight edge over the Bulldogs’ career record holder Drew Butler at 45.4.

Georgia ranked fifth in the nation averaging 29.7 yards per kickoff return this season. That total also breaks the school record when UGA averaged 26.6 yards per kick back in 1947. Kenny McIntosh, Zamir White and Kearis Jackson all excelled in this area.

In the South Carolina game, Jackson had 62 kickoff return yards and 55 punt return yards. He is one of four different players in the nation to have at least 50 kickoff return yards and 50 punt return yards in the same game in 2020. Reggie Davis, Isaiah McKenzie and Brandon Boykin are the only Georgia players to do this feat in the last 20 seasons.