Tom Dienhart put together a pretty cool article in which he asks a bunch of coaches what they thought was the on-field statistic that gave them the best indication of success. Here’s what Todd Grantham had to say on that:
“I think points allowed is the No. 1 stat. That is an indication you are a solid defense. After points allowed, you look at total yards because you can say you are good on pass defense but everyone may be running the ball on you. Or the other way around. So I think you have to look at scoring defense first–that is most critical–and then you look at total yards. If you are low in yards, you probably are good in some other areas–third down, red zone, getting turnovers, getting off the field when you have to, those kinds of things. If you give up a lot of plays and don’t stop them, then they will extend drives and they will have more yards over the course of a season.”
In other words, it ain’t rocket science.
Of course, maybe he wanted to avoid a sore subject for Georgia people. Of the twenty-nine coaches quoted by Dienhart, twenty cited turnover margin as a key for success. Obviously none of those twenty watched much Georgia football last season.
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UPDATE: Michael Elkon is disappointed.
Get The Picture 
” Of the twenty-nine coaches quoted by Dienhart, twenty cited turnover margin as a key for success. Obviously none of those twenty watched much Georgia football last season. ”
Or read your blog last off season.
: )
(please don’t ban me)
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Here is a useful stat, which is usually indicative of success: W vs L
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To paraphrase the late great Erk Russell, gooseeggs in the “Points Allowed” column puts gooseeggs in the “L” column.
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I was hoping you would see that article. Would be interested to see how Georgia did in the categories that were also cited numerous times. I think the total yards surrender can be a very misleading stat though. If you are bad in the turnover ratio like we were the year before, teams don’t have to go very far to score.
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Re: Elkon”s article…it just may be that the “little stats” have not proven to be all that meaningful to college coaches who experience more personnel development and turnover issues than do the pro’s. Grantham surely had access to the best in Dallas and would use it at UGA if meaningful.
Few points allowed and yards allowed usually means your offense is controlling the tempo, clock and score.
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UGA has find a way to lose with an abysmal TO margin and a good one… In consecutive years no less. All other things being equal, TO margin is probably very important. However, it clearly isn’t a magic bullet. I think UGA needs to toss this one aside and focus on a disciplined, well coached, well executed football. The turnovers, and more importantly, wins will follow
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