Out of the mouths of Gators

From the ESPN recap: “That’s a bunch of fake juice, coaches trying to get their players going because it was a pretty close game,” (Ryan) Stamper said.

This is what the Georgia program has come to: gimmickry instead of fundamental football.

I wasn’t expecting too much today, so I didn’t think I could be embarrassed watching this team play, but I guess I underestimated them.

It’s probably because I’ve never been in the arena.

Nice bye week you got there.

The lack of focus and the regular lapses in discipline never cease to amaze me.

Oh, and how ‘ bout them unis?

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go…

I’m about to head down the road to Amelia Island for the weekend, so obviously blogging will be a little on the sparse side until I get back Sunday.  However, I think I’ve figured out how to do the post by e-mail thing on WordPress, so if the spirit moves me, I’ll try to put up a couple of brief things here in the meantime.

For those of you going, stay safe.  For those of you watching the game on the telly, stay sane.

As the spread spreads, continued.

Missouri’s Gary Pinkel has a feeling that defenses are starting to catch up to spread attacks.

“It’s not based on empirical evidence, but I just sense so many people run versions of the spread offense – even I-formation teams – that people are getting better at defending it because they see it all the time,” Pinkel said Monday.

And Mack Brown provides more support for the it’s-the-Jimmies-and-Joes camp.

Texas coach Mack Brown has made the recruitment of anti-spread defenders an emphasis.

He said all players in the secondary, safeties included, must be able to be shut down receivers in man coverage. Linebackers have to be fast and able to cover running backs or receivers coming out of five-receiver sets. The linemen all must be effective pass rushers so the need for blitzing is reduced.

Hell, forget about the spread.  Shut down safeties, linebackers that can cover receivers and pass rushing defensive tackles – what kind of offense couldn’t you defend with those kinds of players?

Statistically speaking, a fighting chance on special teams

OK, Dawg fans, if you want something to hang onto for Saturday’s game, here you go:  if the game comes down to special teams, the statistics say Georgia more than holds its own.  You may be skeptical of that when directional kickoffs and Logan Gray come to mind, but the stats don’t lie.

PUNTING

Florida has only punted 18 times this season.  You can see the breakdown of what happened with each and every one of those here.  The remarkable numbers are two returns, zero return yardage.

But that’s not the entire story.  As we’re aware, Georgia leads the country in punting average.  Florida ranks 71st, averaging almost 10 yards less per punt than the Dawgs.  However, that advantage is significantly reduced when you factor in return yards, as Georgia yields 9.4 ypg.

That’s still not the whole deal.  Look at punt return yardage and you’ll see that even with Logan Gray and Brandon James in the mix, Georgia’s been the better team.  The Dawgs rank 34th nationally, at 11.86 ypg, while Florida (surprisingly) is 103rd, at barely over five yards per return.

Add it all up and it slightly favors Georgia.  Were I Mark Richt, I’d try to run the numbers even more to my advantage by letting Prince Miller return every punt Saturday… but I’m not Mark Richt.

KICKOFFS

Kickoff yardage is fairly even, as Florida’s average is less than 1.5 yards per kick better than Georgia’s.  Both teams have seen three kicks go out of bounds.  However, the one stat that jumps out at you is that Georgia has nine touchbacks compared to Florida’s two.  With Florida holding the edge in average yardage, that’s a testament to the awesomeness that is directional kicking.

Florida has an edge of about five yards on average in kickoff returns, which is a bit of a surprise considering how dynamic Boykin’s been this season.  It’s not that Georgia’s bad here; it’s just that Florida is very good (8th nationally).

It’s a similar story in opponent return yardage.  Florida’s kickoff team allows about five yards less per kick than does Georgia’s.  The relative difference here is that Georgia is terrible in this statistical category, ranking a lowly 107th nationally.

If I’m Mark Richt and I want to better the odds, I quietly pull Jon Fabris aside before the game and suggest that he keep the directional stuff under wraps for the day… but, then again, I’m not Mark Richt.

PLACE KICKING

This one’s no contest.  Blair Walsh has Georgia ranked 10th nationally in field goal percentage (he’s only missed once), while Florida ranks 48th (13 of 17).  Walsh is also a perfect 20 of 20 on PATs, while Florida is 28 of 30 in that department.

Caleb Sturgis has a 51-yard field goal to his credit, as well as a game winning kick this season.  He’s good; it’s just that Walsh is better.

Given Walsh’s struggles in the first half of last year’s game, it would be an opportunity for redemption if Saturday’s game came down to a battle of the place kickers.

Kiffin watch: nobody ever set Phil Fulmer to music.

LMAO.  Can’t wait to hear that arranged for the Tennessee band.

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UPDATE: Junior’s tweetin’ about “street cred”. (h/t EDSBS)

When Georgia has the ball…

If considering how Georgia will defend Florida’s offense is a little depressing (what’s the over/under on Aaron Hernandez receptions?), the matchup of Florida’s defense against Georgia’s offense is flat-out daunting.

Mergz makes a compelling case that the Gator defense is among the best ever – if not the best.

What about the statistics that really matter to BCS champions?

To reiterate, the most important statistics (in ascending order of importance) are –

Passing Efficiency
Pass Efficiency Defense
Total Defense
Scoring Defense

Where would the current Florida team rank among BCS winners statistically in these categories at the present time?

Only the best team ever.

Here are the average rankings and stats for past champions –

Passing Efficiency 12.3 (150)
Pass Efficiency Defense 6.7 (95.33)
Total Defense 8 (281.6)
Scoring Defense 5.4 (13.9)

And Florida’s current stats in these categories –

Passing Efficiency 12th (156.07)
Pass Efficiency Defense 1st (86.83)
Total Defense 1st (229.6)
Scoring Defense 2nd (10.14)

(That last category is made all the worse by the two pick-sixes Tebow threw last game, which count against this stat. In reality our defense gave up 6 points Saturday.)

The only BCS Champions who are close to these rankings are the 2001 Miami team, who was 1st in Scoring and Pass Efficiency Defense, 6th in Total Defense, and 15th in Passing Efficiency, and the 2003 LSU team, which was 1st in Scoring and Total Defense, 2nd in Pass Efficiency Defense, and 11th in Passing Efficiency. Yet in both cases their highly ranked Total Defense was worse than Florida currently – 270.9 yards per game for Miami and 252 ypg for LSU, to 229.6 for UF right now.

That’s impressive.  And scary.  Here are a few bullet points for your consideration:

• If you look at cfbstats.com’s Georgia game log, you’ll see that in 2009, the Dawgs don’t win when they generate less than five yards per play.  Unfortunately, the Gator defense has played only one game this year when it gave up more than that amount.
• If there’s one constant in this series, it’s this:  Georgia has never lost to Florida when it’s scored more than 26 points.  How they get there this year is the rub, of course.
• Georgia’s situational passing stats are more than a bit strange.  Cox has by far his highest passer rating in third down, medium yardage situations and is horrible in third down short yardage situations.
• As for Georgia’s situational rushing stats, the average yards per carry figure is pretty consistent until it gets into the red zone, when it plummets to an anemic 1.10.  Some of that is no doubt due to short yardage goal line runs, but some of it has to be attributed to a less than stellar power running game (check out the rushing yardage averages on third and fourth downs).

So it’s simple, then, right?  All Bobo has to do is come up with a game plan that allows the offense to move the ball at more than five yards a crack, stays out of third down situations a fair amount of the time and helps to contribute more than 26 points on the scoreboard.  Suggestions, anyone?

Long range kicking

Check out this piece at cfbstats.com on the active leaders in 50+ yard field goals.  Mr. Walsh is in pretty good company.

… Eight of the ten kickers in the table are on the Lou Groza Award watch list — only Mahoney and Jackson missed the list.

Note that all of the kickers tied or ahead of Walsh in long range field goals made are juniors and seniors.

Envy and jealousy: translating the Zooker

I have to admit it’s low hanging fruit, but I still enjoyed this bit from Brian Cook:

Charest is a 6’4″ pro-style QB out of North Carolina who was a middling three star a couple years back. When Juice got pulled (again) against Purdue, Charest came in and did this:

Charest made his debut Saturday, playing in three series while going 4 of 8 for 52 yards. Zook said he was impressed with the way Charest threw downfield.

Read: “Zook said he was impressed that Charest had better accuracy than a random number generator.”

Wednesday morning buffet

The WLOCP draws nigh, but the buffet line is still open.

• Wow, the Wiz goes all in on the SEC refs situation.
• He also throws in the towel on Gene Chizik.  I’m not ready to toss dirt on Chizik’s grave quite yet, but I can’t help but wonder if Jay Jacobs has had his V8 moment (“Wow, I could’ve had a Brian Kelly!”).
• Florida punter Chas Henry has yet to allow a single punt return yard this season.  I don’t think Logan Gray is due for a breakout game returning punts on Saturday, then.
• Jimmy Clausen a phony?  Who’da thunk it?
• Another compelling playoff editorial:  the BCS sucks and Orrin Hatch is right, but let the guys who’ve made all the decisions the writer disagrees with keep making them.  Why even bother writing that?
• To no one’s great surprise, Brandon Spikes is expected to play Saturday.
• And shame on you, Ivan Maisel, for writing a blurb about how hard it is to figure out who the candidates are for the Biletnikoff Award without mentioning A.J. Green.