Part One of Georgia's 2023 Statistical Review examines the rushing game.

Georgia's run game was on fire against Florida State in the 2023 Orange Bowl. The Bulldogs ran for 372 yards. It was the most yards rushing by Georgia in any bowl game in its history. The prior record was 317 in the 2018 Rose Bowl against Oklahoma. If you look at the top six rushing totals in the 2000s for the Dawgs, the top five have come in the Kirby Smart and Dell McGee era.

Georgia had five touchdown rushes in the game (FSU had four first downs rushing). Kendall Milton and Daijun Edwards had two rushing touchdowns apiece. This marked just the third time in Bulldog bowl history that a Dawg duo had multiple touchdown runs in the same game. Here are those memorable three.

Ladd McConkey had the other rushing touchdown against the Seminoles. It was the wide receiver's fourth and final touchdown on the ground for the Dawgs.

Back to the season, how has this past season compared to others under the current coach? Here is a breakdown in three important rushing statstics that may help you decide.

The 40 touchdown rushes by Georgia was tied for the most by any team in the nation. The other team with 40 was Michigan, which had four touchdown rushes in its fifteenth game of the season.

All three of the seasons in which Georgia has scored 40 or more touchdown rushes (2017, 2022 and 2023) have happened under Smart. The fourth most by a Bulldog team happened in 1971, when Georgia had 39.

Ten different Dawgs had at least one rushing touchdown, and seven players had at least 100 yards rushing in 2023. Carson Beck had 117 yards rushing and added four scores on the ground. How were the carries split up this past season? Here is a breakdown of the other six Georgia players who reached triple digits for the season quarter-by-quarter.

Milton finished the season with 14 touchdown rushes. He finished tied for second in the SEC in that category. Edwards had 13 of his own, which was fifth in the conference. They were the eighth and ninth Bulldogs to have at least ten touchdown rushes in a season under Smart. They are also the fourth duo of Bulldogs to have at least ten touchdown rushes each in the same season, in data going back to 1940.

Milton ended his Bulldog career with a touchdown rush in his last nine games. That was the longest streak by a Bulldog since Nick Chubb had a touchdown rush in ten straight games, from the end of 2014 to the first game of 2015.

Both he and Edwards reached the 20 career touchdown rushes milestone. Only six Dawgs reached 20 in games just under Smart. Entering the 2024 season, the active leader is Beck with four (under Smart only). Here are the top 15, and remember, this does not count touchdown rushes under Mark Richt and Bryan McClendon.

During the SEC Championship, Edwards also became the 19th Bulldog to rush for 2,000 yards in his career. That is very impressive due to not having a collegiate start until this past season. Milton finished his career 161 yards shy of that milestone. Both players are among the most successful backs in terms of rush yards in the Smart era. In the eight seasons under this current coach ten Dawgs reached the 1,000-yard mark in their career and five of them reached 2,000.

In terms of single-game performances, Edwards and Milton steal the show again. However there were a few surprises. Check out the top 13 in most rush yards in a game in 2023 (three of them happened in the same game).

Only twice did a Bulldog have 20 attempts in a game. Edwards had exactly 20 against South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Milton's most was 18 attempts. In fact, Milton had less than ten rush attempts in three of his four career 100-yard rush games.

The longest rushes of the season were by Edwards' 62 yards and Cash Jones' 57 yards and both happened against Vanderbilt

Milton also averaged 6.2 yards per rush in 297 career carries for the Bulldogs. The Georgia media guide does not list a minimum for average gain per rush in a career. So Milton's career average would rank him seventh all-time in between Glynn Harrison and Keith Henderson.

One of the newest Bulldogs, Trevor Etienne, has some pretty impressive numbers coming in from Florida, where he averaged 5.9 yards per carry and had a total of 1,472 yards and 14 touchdowns via the ground in two seasons combined.

Finally, for those keeping track: Do you remember who had the first touchdown rush of the season? Brock Bowers, from three yards out against UT Martin.