“Therein lies the problem”, a very brief Ole Miss preview.

A statistical look at Ole Miss’ season to date shows a defense which starts out strong but fades over the course of the game…

•In the first halves, Ole Miss’ opponents have rushed for 224 yards on 59 carries (3.8 yards). In the second halves? On the same amount of carries, 371 yards (6.29). Take that a step further, and isolate just the first quarter – 30 carries for 58 yards (1.93).

… and a struggling offense.

•In the first halves of the first three games, Ole Miss has completed a combined 14 of 30 passes, for 146 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

•On third downs, Ole Miss has run the ball 15 times, for negative-34 yards.

•The average starting position for the opposition after a turnover is the Ole Miss 40.5-yard line.

On paper, this looks like a game in which Georgia simply needs to be patient on offense, avoid mistakes and grind the Rebel Black Bears down.  Let’s hope that’s not easier said than done.

42 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, SEC Football, Stats Geek!

42 responses to ““Therein lies the problem”, a very brief Ole Miss preview.

  1. stoopnagle

    We’ve done it before. We ran a whole 10-11 minutes off to end a game against Ole Miss back in the Donnan years by just feeding it to Musa. That was glorious. Cutcliffe (I think?) didn’t even use his TOs.

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    • Saint Johns Dawg

      I think that was 2002 at home under Richt … Eli threw a big pick-6 to little Timmy Jennings, too. I brought a friend and Ole Miss grad to that game and he was livid at Cutcliffe for sitting on the timeouts.

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      • stoopnagle

        Was it? I could have sworn that was at the end of the Donnan era. But, I’ve got a shot memory, so you’re probably right.

        Of course, I’ve got the internet right here…

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          • Russ

            Well, in your defense, Richt won that with Donnan’s players. 😉

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            • Donnan sure as hell wasn’t winning with Donnan’s players. 😉

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              • Mayor of Dawgtown

                The last 4 years at UGA Donnan was 35-13 which is a winning percentage of .729 which is about the same as Dooley’s and Richt’s career winning percentages.

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                • I get what you’re saying, but my point is that the criticism of Richt “winning with Donnan’s players” has always annoyed me considering he won two more SEC titles with Donnan’s players than Donnan did. And yes, I know that Russ’ comment was a joke, I’m just playing along.

                  It’s similar to the criticism Richt gets that “he won against weaker coaching competition”. While that may be true, nobody ever gives Steve Spurrier shit for getting four guaranteed wins out of Vandy, Kentucky, the cesspool at the time in Columbia, and the dynamic duo of Ray Goff/Jim Donnan every year. It’s one of those dumb criticisms that Alabama fans feel the need to throw at us (who am I growing to hate more and more everyday, btw). I’ve never understood why some Alabama fans feel they need to take cheap shots at Richt and the program. Not like their shit didn’t stink for the better part of the last two decades.

                  /sorry for the tangent, just some things that have been grinding my gears lately

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                • Careful Brad

                  They are still throwing verbal cups at us in their endzone.

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                • stoopnagle

                  On Alabama: perhaps they feel like we’ve not fully been re-paid for killing Brodie Croyle?

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                • Mayor of Dawgtown

                  I have numerous friends and relatives on my wife’s side in Alabama including my brother-in-law, the Mayor of Tideville. Almost all are Bammers. Believe me when I say they do not remember Croyle being beaten to a bloody pulp by UGA. They do not remember the UGA win in Tuscaloosa in ’07. They do not remember any of the 6 straight times Auburn beat them. They have the unique ability to remember only when Bama wins and forget when Bama loses like it never happened. Until I saw it myself I never would have believed anyone could be so delusional. There is also a sense of entitlement that boggles the mind. These people are fine except when football enters into the equation and then it is like they all simultaneously came under the spell of Rev. Jim Jones-literally a total loss of free will that I can only describe as be “Borg”-like. A collective mentality takes over and they all lose the ability to think independently. Absolutely amazing.

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                • Scorpio Jones, III

                  Very astute observation below….read carefully, well done Mr. Mayor

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                • Scorpio Jones, III

                  oops…er above

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    • Dboy

      This drive to run out the clock took the entire 4th quarter… Was 100% run plays and ended taking a knee at their 5 yard line. My favorite bulldog offensive drive in the Richt era. Just dominant on the oline

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    • W Cobb Dawg

      Didn’t CMR do the same, ‘cept the RB was Verron Haynes?

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    • Tim Parr

      Yeah, that was Richt coaching then, I was at that game and it impressed the hell outta me. Probably the fastest 4th quarter in the history of football, the minutes just kept ticking away.

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  2. Skeptic Dawg

    On paper the Dawgs should come away with an easy W tomorrow. The problem is that this program has failed to win this type of game recently. I am certain that it will be a tight ball game that comes down to a critical mistake late. Here’s hoping that Ole Miss makes that mistake, not us. P.S. I would like to see Mason get some action.

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    • Bevo

      I think the Dawgs take care of business in Oxford. I don’t view this as one as a dangerous game because we outgun them on paper big time, too much even for us to give a loss away. But I’ve said that before … Colorado, UCF, etc.

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    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      Save your concern for when the Dawgs play Mississippi State. That’s when you can sweat.

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    • Biggus Rickus

      Actually, this is the type of game they’ve won. Beating the dregs of the conference hasn’t been the problem recently. Beating the middling to elite teams has.

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  3. PatinDC

    Run like her daddy is after you…

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  4. DawgPhan

    Dawgs destroy those bears from out west. Screw those sissies.

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  5. William

    I can understand the doom and gloom (especially given our new and improved O-Line troubles), but I have to believe the Dawgs have enough talent (even unproven) to break down this sad Ole Miss team. If your line gets stoned early, you have the talent to screen them to death, mixed with some nice play action calls of course. If we come out running the no huddle from the jump, I might have to have to be restrained.

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  6. JBJ

    I am referring to this week’s game as the You’re Fired! Bowl.

    We should be able to go in there and blow Ole Miss out of the stadium. To me, we can’t just go in there and eek out a win. We need to dominate for 4 quarters. If we can’t do that, then we have some troubles on our hands for several reasons.

    One, we are back to the old schizophrenic team from the last couple of years. Two, Vandy has a pretty good team. Three, the MSU and UT games all of a sudden look even tougher than I originally thought.

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  7. BulldogBen

    All signs point to an easy win but with the Dawgs, it seems nothin is easy.

    I could see us floundering through this game.

    Side note- I’m sitting at Hartsfield-Jackson right now. Flight delayed 2 1/2 freaking hours. I’m about DONE with Delta these days.

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  8. 69Dawg

    I smell Colorado Buffalo. This one screams trap game. We snooze and we lose. We get sloppy and we lose. I take nothing for granted now, the last 3 years have taken all my confidence in this team away.

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  9. Zdawg

    I’m afraid this game has more on the line than first appears for Richt. His major goal must be proving that this team does not play down to the opponents level like we’ve done for the past few years. There must be considerable signs of improvement–mainly with consistency and execution. If we play this game like Colorado or UCF and even WIN the game, things won’t improve for Richt or for the outlook of this program. No room for error..

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    • Coastal Dawg

      Exactly. We need to stomp them while playing a complete game and showing continued improvement in all areas. This is not just a must win game, but a must win pretty game.

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  10. Dog in Fla

    Georgia wins by 14

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  11. W Cobb Dawg

    CMR has to be impressive in these one-sided matchups to retain his job, particularly if we lose 2 or 3 games later in the season. I’m sure a lot of UGA people look around and see other coaches producing sound teams, and make comparisons to the Dawgs. There are good coaches out there, who get top performance from lesser players. I’m not sure this staff understands how close they are to to the exit door. As many have said, we should be playing like our hair’s on fire. I’m hoping to see the best effort and fewer screw-ups from our Dawgs for the rest of the season.

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  12. AusDawg85

    After the CCU performance, we should be led to believe that we’ll come out and crush the fuzzy bear rebs 35 – 7 with a dominating offensive performance displaying “balance” (yes, I said it) and smothering D.

    But the OL woes and a stupid turnover or two early that lets Ole Miss score means the Richt vampire demons may rise again. THIS is the problem with the program…how can we possibly be concerned about this game? Would Fl, USC, LSU or Bama have such worries?

    I will proudly wear red & black tomorrow and scream loudly from my huddled-up fetal position in the corner until I see we are up 28 – 0.

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  13. James Stephenson

    Does anyone know if this game is gonna be on TV or just the ESPN 3 online thing?

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  14. James Stephenson

    I have uverse. So I hope so, otherwise have to get the laptop up to the TV room and connect it. I did see a game on Peachtree, but it did not mention the teams.

    Thanks.

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  15. OldDawg55

    Check your local listings for the SEC Game of the Week…for out of area or where the cable companies wise up it’s on Game Day…as for ESPN3, no, our agreements with SEC TV prohibit streaming to computer networks. If you’re really down and out in the boonies, try Serius or XM and your imagination. Dawgs 42-14 unless CMR gets all nicey and hold off. Go Dawgs, GATA!!!!

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  16. Georgia 45… Ole Miss 10. Could be worse. Rest well and worry about something else tonight. 🙂

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