Stats Crunch: Georgia Tech Game
It’s Tech Week, and Georgia finds itself 11-0 for the first time since 1982. The last Bulldog team to go undefeated through 12 games was the 1980 national championship team.
The Dawgs put up 56 points for their 11th win. It was the third time this season, and the ninth time overall, that a Kirby Smart-led team put up at least 50 points in a contest.
That victory was also win No. 850 all-time for Georgia. Georgia became the 11th school to reach that mark in the FBS.
After last week’s win, Georgia also improved to 368-107-9 all-time at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs finished undefeated at home for the 25th time since opening the stadium in 1929. Here are seasons in which Georgia was perfect at Sanford Stadium:
at Sanford Stadium | at Sanford Stadium | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
1929 |
3-0 |
1980 |
7-0 |
|
1930 |
3-0 |
1981 |
6-0 |
|
1933 |
3-0 |
1982 |
6-0 |
|
1937 |
4-0 |
1988 |
6-0 |
|
1942 |
3-0 |
1991 |
6-0 |
|
1943 |
5-0 |
2002 |
6-0 |
|
1946 |
5-0 |
|
2003 |
6-0 |
1959 |
5-0 |
2012 |
7-0 |
|
1960 |
4-0 |
2017 |
6-0 |
|
1966 |
4-0 |
2018 |
7-0 |
|
1967 |
4-0 |
2020 |
3-0 |
|
1976 |
6-0 |
2021 |
6-0 |
|
1978 |
6-0 |
The Dawgs have won three straight in the series and have beaten Tech more than any other opponent (68 wins). The last time the Bulldogs lost at Bobby Dodd Stadium was the controversial clash in 1999.
Kirby Smart has found success as a player and as a head coach in this rivalry:
as Player | as Head Coach | Combined | |
---|---|---|---|
vs. Kentucky |
3-1 |
6-0 |
9-1 |
vs. Vanderbilt |
4-0 |
4-1 |
8-1 |
vs. South Carolina |
3-1 |
5-1 |
8-2 |
vs. Auburn |
2-2 |
6-1 |
8-3 |
vs. Georgia Tech |
3-1 |
3-1 |
6-2 |
vs. Florida |
1-3 |
4-2 |
5-5 |
vs. Tennessee |
0-4 |
5-1 |
5-5 |
Georgia is seventh in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 40.3 points per game this season. The team record in a schedule with 12 or more games is 41.3 points per game, set in 2014. Georgia Tech ranks 106th in the FBS in scoring defense allowing 32.5 points per game. Last week, the Yellow Jackets allowed 55 in a loss to Notre Dame. The Bulldogs' defense seldom gives up any points and leads the FBS in point differential. They are on a team record-setting pace. Here are the team's best through 11 games since 1980.
Points For | Points Against | Point Differential | |
---|---|---|---|
2021 |
443 |
83 |
+360 |
1981 |
352 |
98 |
+254 |
2018 |
436 |
185 |
+251 |
2014 |
476 |
225 |
+251 |
2017 |
388 |
158 |
+230 |
2019 |
343 |
118 |
+225 |
The last time Georgia allowed fewer than 83 points through 11 games was in 1950, when it allowed 65 in that same period. The 83 is the sixth-best in the FBS since 1980 among all teams through their first 11 games. Check out this impressive list.
Team | Points Allowed | |
---|---|---|
1986 |
Oklahoma |
73 |
1985 |
Michigan |
75 |
1982 |
Western Michigan |
78 |
1988 |
Auburn |
79 |
1987 |
Oklahoma |
82 |
2021 |
Georgia |
83 |
1980 |
Florida State |
85 |
2008 |
USC |
86 |
Georgia allowed just 126 scrimmage yards against Charleston Southern last week. With allowing that small total, the Bulldogs regained the top spot in the nation in scrimmage yards per game allowed. They still have commanding leads in the other two categories.
Points Per Game Allowed | Scrimmage TD Allowed | Scrimmage Yards Per Game Alowed |
---|---|---|
Georgia (7.5) |
Georgia (7) |
Georgia (236.8) |
Texas A&M (14.9) |
Oklahoma State (15) |
Wisconsin (237.7) |
Oklahoma State (14.9) |
Texas A&M (16) |
Oklahoma State (261.3) |
Penn State (15.5) |
Penn State (16) |
Minnesota (289.5) |
Wisconsin (15.8) |
Wisconsin (16) |
Air Force (294.8) |
The Dawgs defense currently has sacked its opponents 39 times. Seventeen different players have had at least one sack. Thirty-nine is currently the fifth-highest in team history. The team record is 52 held by the 1981 team.
The team also has 12 interceptions by nine different players. The most that Georgia has had under Kirby Smart was 15 during his first season of 2016. In 2017, the Bulldogs also had 12.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean was named a finalist to the Butkus Award as well as the Bednarik Award. Nose guard Jordan Davis was named a finalist of the Outland Trophy.
Roquan Smith is the Bulldogs' lone Butkus winner from back in 2017, David Pollack in 2004 was UGA's lone Bednarik winner, and Bill Stanfill won the school's only Outland Trophy in 1968.
-----
On offense, Stetson Bennett, JT Daniels, and Carson Beck all threw for a touchdown last week. The Dawgs are one of six teams in the FBS that have had a game this season in which three different players threw a touchdown pass. Brock Vandagriff threw his first career pass for an incompletion. He had no touchdown passes, but for the record, the last team with four different players throwing for a touchdown in a game was Northern Illinois back in 2013.
For this next stat, I'm only looking at the two main passers. Both Bennett and Daniels have impressed Dawg fans in various ways. Here's how both signal callers have fared this season by down.
Stetson Bennett | JT Daniels | |
---|---|---|
First Down |
39/67 (58.2 comp pct) 6 TD passes, 4 INT |
26/37 (70.3 comp pct) 2 TD passes, 2 INT |
Second Down |
40/53 (75.5 comp pct) 5 TD passes, 0 INT |
21/31 (67.7 comp pct) 2 TD passes, 0 INT |
Third Down |
24/40 (60.0 comp pct) 4 TD passes, 1 INT |
20/25 (80.0 comp pct) 3 TD passes, 1 INT |
Fourth Down |
2/3 (66.7 comp pct) 2 TD passes, 0 INT |
1/1 (100.0 comp pct) 0 TD passes, 0 INT |
With his touchdown in the first quarter last week, Zamir White became the sixth different Bulldog to have back-to-back seasons with double-digit rushing touchdowns.
Seasons | |
---|---|
Charley Trippi |
1945 - 1946 |
Herschel Walker |
1980 - 1981 - 1982 |
Lars Tate |
1986 - 1987 |
Knowshon Moreno |
2007 - 2008 |
Todd Gurley |
2012 - 2013 |
Zamir White |
2020 - 2021 |
James Cook added his seventh rushing touchdown of the season. He had seven rushing touchdowns in his first three seasons entering 2021.
Georgia is one of nine FBS teams with two running backs who have at least seven rushing touchdowns this season.
Georgia is third in the FBS (behind Army and UCF) with nine different players scoring at least one rushing touchdown this season. Five of the nine players are running backs. They also have running scores from a quarterback, a wide receiver, a tight end, and a defensive tackle (playing offense). The Bulldogs don’t have a category for the heaviest player to score a touchdown, but we can't imagine it's anyone other than Jordan Davis.
As for the normal running backs, the stats by quarter have got even more interesting than last week's performances.
1st Quarter | 2nd Quarter | 3rd Quarter | 4th Quarter | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Zamir White |
37 / 205 / 3 |
30 / 124 / 3 |
35 / 170 / 1 |
20 / 158 / 3 |
James Cook |
24 / 191 / 2 |
30 / 177 / 3 |
16 / 90 / 1 |
12 / 86 / 1 |
Kendall Milton |
10 / 34 / 1 |
10 / 58 / 0 |
14 / 62 / 0 |
15 / 89 / 0 |
Kenny McIntosh |
10 / 30 / 0 |
11 / 22 / 0 |
16 / 73 / 1 |
11 / 96 / 1 |
Daijun Edwards |
0 / 0 / 0 |
1 / 6 / 0 |
8 / 33 / 0 |
30 / 95 / 1 |
Stats Crunch was the first to bring you the Brock Bowers record watch; he had two more receiving touchdowns last week. His eight touchdown receptions broke a school record formerly held by Leonard Pope in 2004. Bowers has a chance to make even more Bulldog history. Bowers is 23 yards away from breaking the school record for most receiving yards by a tight end. That record is currently held by Orson Charles' 574 in 2011.
Bowers is also closing in on the single-season record for Georgia from any position.
Season | TD Receptions | |
---|---|---|
Terrence Edwards |
2002 |
11 |
Brice Hunter |
1993 |
9 |
Hason Graham |
1994 |
9 |
Terrence Edwards |
1999 |
9 |
A.J. Green |
2010 |
9 |
Tavarres King |
2012 |
9 |
Riley Ridley |
2018 |
9 |
Lamar Davis |
1941 |
8 |
A.J. Green |
2008 |
8 |
Mohamed Massaquoi |
2008 |
8 |
Tavarres King |
2011 |
8 |
Chris Conley |
2014 |
8 |
George Pickens |
2019 |
8 |
Brock Bowers |
2021 |
8 |
Bowers is currently third in the FBS in touchdown receptions and is 12th in yards receiving and 25th in receptions.
Georgia had 12 different players with at least one reception including Dominick Blaylock. These were Blaylock’s first receptions since the 2019 SEC Championship. The Bulldogs have had at least 12 different players catch a pass five different times in the 2000s, with the last happening last season against Arkansas.