We’re all aware at this point of the fact that the ’08 defense is the only one in Georgia’s history to yield 35+ points in five regular season games. The Dawgs rank 65th nationally in points allowed per game, at 25.6. The only SEC teams with worse showings are Arkansas and LSU.
I thought I’d take a look at how each opponent’s point total against Georgia ranked against that team’s slate for the season. Here’s how it all stacked up.
- Georgia Southern (21). The eighth best score the Eagles posted this year. Elon, Furman and Samford held them to less points than did Georgia.
- Central Michigan (17). The only team on the schedule that Georgia held to its lowest score on the season.
- South Carolina (7). Only Florida held the ‘Cocks to a lower score.
- Arizona State (10). Southern Cal was the only team to allow ASU to score less this season.
- Alabama (41). This was the second highest amount of points ‘Bama scored this year. Only Arkansas yielded more.
- Tennessee (14). This was the seventh best showing in terms of points scored for the Vols in ’08.
- Vanderbilt (14). There were three games when Vandy scored more than this and three more games besides Georgia’s when Vandy scored fourteen.
- LSU (38). This was LSU’s third highest point total this year.
- Florida (49). Believe it or not, this was only Florida’s sixth best point total of the season.
- Kentucky (38). Kentucky only topped this amount one time this year, against Western Kentucky.
- Auburn (13). Sadly, this was Auburn’s seventh best number of 2008.
- Georgia Tech (45). The Jackets scored their greatest number of points in their last game of the season.
So basically, the Dawgs were on a pretty good defensive run through the first four games of the year, fell apart against Alabama, put in an average showing against two mediocre/bad offenses and then essentially collapsed down the stretch.
Of course the big question is what happened – did injuries take their toll, did the team lose focus in the wake of the ‘Bama debacle, did offensive coordinators figure out how to outscheme Martinez, did the team have personnel weaknesses that were exploited. Those are all things Richt will have to evaluate in the offseason.
Get The Picture 
Yeah, those numbers play out as expected. A lot of us saw the meltdown coming even when the defense appeared stingy. Look back at that USC game…yes, only one TD, but the defense gave the Cocks ample opportunity to take over the game again and again. I think the entire fourth quarter was played in our red zone.
A game like the GT disaster was a long-time coming. When you’ve got a staff willing to accept sub-par play just because the team is still beating lousy competition, you’re setting yourself up for a startling fall.
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Just to accentuate the point of how craptastic the defense is, in UGA’s three losses this year, they gave up 30+ points in a half in each of those games. They gave up 31 points in the first half of the Alabama game, 35 in the second half of the Florida game, and 33 in the second half of the Georgia Tech game.
The 9-3 record sounds like an acceptable year until you start digging into the numbers.
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Hell, we gave up 24 points in a *quarter* against Tech. Half a quarter, really.
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I can’t believe this isn’t being mentioned, but what do all of our defensive collapses have in common? They were fueled by breakdowns on special teams and offense.
When you can’t kick the ball into the EZ, can’t kick a 45-yard FG, can’t cleanly field a KOR or PR, can’t cover worth crap, throw pick-6’s etc., those defensive stats get skewed in a hurry.
We essentially handed Tech two TD’s yesterday, and it ended up being the difference in the game. One was a horrific offensive play, one an equally brutal special teams play.
Defense has some issues, but they’re not solely to blame.
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I’m willing to take 7 points off the defense’s points allowed stat to account for Stafford’s interception. But that still means the defense gave up 38 points, and 33 of those points in the second half.
The fumbled kickoff return shouldn’t have happened, but sometimes you have to defend a short field. You have to fight through it. It’s not like the UF game where we gave them the ball on the goal line. Tech was still outside the red zone (but not by much). We should have been able to force a field goal.
And when the offense puts up 42 points, they’re doing their job. Despite opening the second half flat, I have no real complaints against the offense.
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Yeah, Staffzilla’s Pick-6 didn’t help, but it didn’t fuel an onslaught of points…and the offense recovered just fine afterward.
With you on the special teams play, though. That’s generally what happens when 1) You’re OK with a struggling third-string running back taking your kicks and 2) You’re OK with a kicker who regularly (regularly!) kicks the ball out of bounds.
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D.N:
23 points in 8:05.
Yes, I was counting.
It’s gonna be a long f’n winter. A long f’n spring. A long f’n summer.
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Hopefully, not another long f’n fall.
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