More Schotten-stats

Feel free to sneer at the level of opposition, if that’s what blows your skirt up, but the stats say Georgia’s offense ain’t missing a beat so far with its new offensive coordinator.

– Baylor, Georgia and Ole Miss have the most efficient offenses, averaging 1.3 plays per point scored. They’re followed by Texas Tech (1.4), USC (1.4), Memphis (1.5), Georgia Tech (1.6) and Arizona (1.6).

– Baylor has been the most explosive offense, with 13.3 percent of plays going for at least 20 yards. They’re followed by Ole Miss (11.6 percent), USC (11.4 percent), Georgia (11.3 percent), North Carolina (10.2 percent) and Kentucky (10.1 percent).

Efficient and explosive.  I can live with that.

Oh, and one more thing – Georgia’s first in the SEC in plays from scrimmage of ten yards or more.  And that’s despite running fewer plays per game than any other team in the conference.

About that opposition… yeah, it’s been subpar.  But isn’t this kind of statistical domination what we should expect to see from a very good offense against those defenses?

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“It’s Bama week.”

Sure, you can focus on the running game, if you’d like.

Rocket science is not required for determining the most intriguing aspect to Saturday’s college football showdown between No. 8 Georgia and No. 13 Alabama inside Sanford Stadium.

The Bulldogs average 257.8 rushing yards a game and 6.87 yards per carry. The Crimson Tide allow 56.8 rushing yards per game and 2.0 yards per carry.

“It all starts up front, and they’ve got some big, strong guys,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Their defense, as a whole, is a very veteran group. All their down linemen are returning starters, and they do a good job of freeing up the linebackers. They’re just very stout, strong people.”

Adding to the angle of the irresistible force vs. the immovable object is the fact Georgia super sophomore tailback Nick Chubb has 12 consecutive 100-yard rushing games and needs one more to tie the 13 straight Herschel Walker had during the 1980-81 seasons. Chubb rushed for 131 yards on 15 carries in last Saturday’s 48-6 defeat of Southern, including six rushes for 100 yards in the third quarter.

Alabama has allowed just 10 100-yard rushers in its 112 games under coach Nick Saban.

One of those was a freshman Todd Gurley in the SECCG.  But I digress.

For my money, though, this game comes down to one big issue – will Georgia be mentally prepared?  And on that front, your guess is as good as mine.

But it’s still Alabama, which carries a mystique matched by talent, making this one of the biggest games the Bulldogs have played in some time. It’s one that’s been circled since it was announced in the spring of 2014.

Now that it’s here, however, the Bulldogs are trying to keep an even keel.

“I don’t think we’ve gotta create motivation. I think we’ve gotta temper it,” head coach Mark Richt said on his radio show Monday night. “And when I say temper it, I mean make sure we channel it in the right way.”

Pyke’s comments were the furthest a Georgia player came to acknowledging the magnitude of the game. And even his comments above were a lead-in to discussing the challenge his offensive line has with Alabama’s defensive line.

Three years ago, when Georgia prepared to play South Carolina in a match-up of unbeaten, top-10 teams, players openly admitted it was the biggest game they’d been involved in. This time around more players are downplaying it.

“We’re gonna prepare the same way we prepare for all SEC schools,” senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell said. “I know everyone wants to see it as a big game but all games are big because anytime we lose it’s gonna be bad.”

True ‘dat.

Turn the machines back on.

The computer formulas that once made up the backbone of the BCS calculations average out to rank Georgia ninth currently.

“We both need a win; that’s what it is.”

I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

Two great stats for this game:

• The 28-21 loss dropped the Razorbacks to 0-9 under Bielema in games decided by fewer than 10 points…

• And Tennessee and Jones are feeling the pressure that comes after being outscored 49-24 in the fourth quarter and overtime this season — after outscoring opponents 141-50 through the first three quarters.

I’m thinking these guys deserve… oh, I dunno, say about six overtimes on Saturday.  Their heads might explode over it.

It’s not just life with Saban.

Any way you want to shake this, it’s a pretty impressive consistency.

If Alabama loses at Georgia, the Crimson Tide will be 0-2 in SEC play for the first time since 1990, when Tide lost to Florida & UGA.

— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) September 28, 2015

Again, it’s stuff like this that makes me chuckle over the “You know Saban’s gonna play the underdog card to motivate his team” talk.  He’s got bigger issues to focus on than what Vegas thinks.