The return of Dawg stat watch

Once upon a time, I faithfully tracked Georgia’s performance in several statistical categories:

1. Hold opponents under 17 points per game.
2. Finish at least +8 in turnover margin.
3. Average better than 380 yards per game on offense.
4. Finish in the top five in total defensive yardage.
5. Finish in the top three in first downs.
6. Finish no worse than third in passing yardage.
7. Finish no worse than third in sacks.

Why, because those levels of performance had one thing in common.  Correlation:  when Georgia had seasons in which it met every one of those goals, it wound up playing in the SECCG.

Needless to say, I haven’t bothered following those in a while.  But as Georgia finds itself tied at the top of the SEC East this morning, I thought I’d take a crack at it again.  Here’s how the Dawgs stack up today:

1. Hold opponents under 17 points per game.  Georgia’s defense is yielding 19.17 ppg.
2. Finish at least +8 in turnover margin.  Georgia’s turnover margin is +2.
3. Average better than 380 yards per game on offense.  Georgia’s offense is averaging 405.83 ypg.
4. Finish in the top five in total defensive yardage.  Georgia’s defense ranks third in total yardage.
5. Finish in the top three in first downs.  Georgia is tied for third in first downs.
6. Finish no worse than third in passing yardage.  Georgia is third in passing yardage.
7. Finish no worse than third in sacks.  Georgia is third in sacks.

Not bad, not bad at all.  The Dawgs meet five of the seven production goals there and it’s not unreasonable to expect improvement in the other two (Vandy may take care of defensive scoring next week).

I’ll keep an eye on this as long as it’s rational.