Just how good has the defense looked?

The offense may be a black hole, but the defense is doing its level best to compensate for that.

2015 UGA Defensive Stats Through 11 games

Total team points given up- 196 (Ranks 13th in the NCAA)
Defensive points given up- 168 (Would rank UGA 8th in the NCAA)
Total Defense- 4.7 yards per play (9th in the NCAA)
Passing Defense-151.9 yards per game (2nd in the NCAA)
Red Zone Defense- 65% (3rd in the NCAA)
3rd Down Conversion- 30.7% (11th in the NCAA)
First Downs Allowed- 156 (3rd in NCAA)
Rushing Defense- 148.1 yards per game(46th in the NCAA)

All that while breaking in youngsters at every level of the defense, starting a transfer at ILB, not to mention having to carry a heavier load as the season wears on as a result of the offense being retooled in a more conservative fashion.

Pretty decent showing, if you ask me.

“I’m talking about the play-calling, so whoever calls the plays.”

You know, I took as much glee out of Ohio State’s meltdown after the loss to Michigan State as anyone, but now, as I hear the cries in the media calling out Ezekiel Elliott for expressing his frustration, I’m starting to backtrack.  Maybe it’s just me, but is there really that much difference in substance in this comment…

“I’m disappointed in the play-calling. I’m disappointed in the situations that we were put in, and I wish it all played out differently,” Elliott said. “It is very disappointing. In the one drive that we had where we kind of had some momentum after we scored on the strip-sack, the plays we ran, we ran a lot of gap schemes and we were gashing them. You guys saw that on that drive. We had a lot of momentum.

“Honestly, we didn’t see those plays for the rest of the game. Those plays weren’t called anymore. I asked for those plays to be called, and they weren’t. It just hurts. It hurts a lot because of how we lost. I feel like we just weren’t put in the right opportunity to win this game. We weren’t put in the right situations to win this game.”

…

“I think I do deserve more than 11 carries,” he said. “I think I really do. I can’t speak for the play calling, I don’t know what was going on or what they were seeing, but honestly, it didn’t work out. It wasn’t working.”

… from what Nick Chubb had to say after the Alabama game?

“I know I wanted to run the ball more ‘cause our passing game just wasn’t in rhythm,” said Chubb, who ran for 146 yards to tie Herschel Walker’s streak of 13 consecutive 100-yard games. “It would’ve been great to run the ball because things were actually starting to open up. If we could have threw the ball off running the ball we could’ve had a better passing game.”

Chalk it up to Things Dumb Offensive Playcalling Makes Star Players Say and move on, methinks.

Once burned, twice shy.

Jeff Schultz wants Greg McGarity to open up to him, just like he did with Mark Bradley last year.  Unfortunately for Schultz, McGarity doesn’t want to play.

Overreaction narrative: “Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity hasn’t said anything publicly about Mark Richt’s future. That must mean something!”

Reality check: I don’t know. I sent an email to Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity Monday morning, asking two questions: 1) Can you at this point guarantee that Mark will be back as head coach next season? 2) If you choose not to answer: Do you understand that it leaves open speculation that you’re considering making a change, or have already decided to make a change, and does that matter to you?

McGarity responded as he has to all recent inquiries on this subject. He wrote back, “Jeff, as I have said throughout the season, all of our efforts are focused on the next game, which is the Tech game this Saturday.”

[Emphasis added.]

So if the AJ-C keeps speculating about Richt’s future, Greg, that’s on you.  Nicely played, Mr. Schultz.

********************************************************************

UPDATE:  Shorter Mark Bradley:  Just sayin’.

Man, did Richt forget to renew his AJ-C subscription, or something?

Monday morning buffet

Fuel up, folks.

• The Georgia Way  – it’s not just for the athletic department anymore! (h/t Lrgk9)
• How was this kid not ejected from the game?
• Add Iowa State to the coaching carousel list.
• They’re just now getting around to figuring out how to fill all the bowl game slots?
• Les Miles’ fate at LSU sounds like it’s moved from the if to the when stage.
• Stuff like this probably doesn’t help.
• Does playing Georgia Southern’s triple option help the Dawgs prepare to play Georgia Tech’s version?
• Speaking of Tech, the season’s been disappointing enough that even the denizens at StingTalk can’t work up much an argument against Georgia being installed as a 4.5-point favorite.

“Of all the offensive coordinators in the world, he’s certainly one of them.”

If you’re looking to do some tea leaf reading, ponder this Q&A with Coach Richt:

Mark Richt was asked an open-ended question on Sunday: How would he say Georgia’s offense has performed in the first year under coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and how would he say Schottenheimer has performed?

Richt, after a couple seconds, responded this way:

“Well I think that we certainly have had our struggles. But as of late we’ve scored enough points to win our last few games, which is the most important thing. So that’s how I feel about it. It’s a team sport. That’s how we play it, that’s how we coach it.”

It’s the “after a couple of seconds” that really makes that.  Not exactly a rousing endorsement.  In fact, there’s not even a mention of Schottenheimer.

SEC Power Poll, Week 12

It’s Alabama’s world, peeps.  The rest of the SEC is just living in it.

1. Alabama.  This year’s Iron Bowl isn’t going to be pretty.
2. Florida.  Neither is the SECCG.
3. Mississippi State.  The Egg Bowl, on the other hand, looks like it could be a battle.
4. Mississippi.  So you say there’s a chance…
5. Arkansas.  Your quarterback throws seven touchdowns in an SEC game and you still lose?  Geez, Bert.
6. Tennessee.  November, like Ol’ Man River, just keeps rolling on.
7. Georgia.  Operation Mediocre Ten-Win Season is still on track.
8. LSU.  The Tigers played like a team whose coach knows he’s getting canned at season’s end.
9. Texas A&M.  Shut-out! Okay, it was against Vanderbilt, but still…
10. Auburn.  Defensive scoring through the first eleven games of 2014:  258.  Defensive scoring through the first eleven games of 2015:  299.  Boom!
11. Vanderbilt.  I bet you don’t need anyone to tell you the ‘Dores are fifth in the conference in scoring defense and last in scoring offense.
12. Kentucky.  Playing Louisville, needing a win to become bowl eligible. Again.  It’s like the ‘Cats are Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day.
13. Missouri.  Held to less than ten points for the fifth time this season.
14. South Carolina.  I expect to see Gamecock fans wearing bags over their heads this week.

My Mumme Poll ballot, Week 12

And then there were four.

• Alabama
• Clemson
• Notre Dame
• Oklahoma

Quite a few games to keep my eye on next weekend, though.

Fabris Pool results, Week 12

Two scored an 8-2 mark this week.

STANDINGS for WEEK 12

Rank	Selection Name	Standings Adjustment	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker Game 45-35
1	OhioDawg	Adj	8-2	8	44-41**
1	Biggen	Adj	8-2	8	42-45

Congrats to OhioDawg for taking it on the tiebreaker.

On to the seasonal race:

SEASON STANDINGS through Week 12

Rank	You	Selection Name	W-L	Pts
1		erikzatuga	69-51	69
2		Biggen	66-54	66
3		Graftongsr	65-55	65
4		Senator Blutarsky	64-56	64
5		Red Cup	63-57	63
5		Lamont Sanford	63-57	63
5		Chris Marsdawg	63-57	63
5		DawgVegas	63-57	63
5		Dawged28	63-57	63

Six points separate the top nine. But there’s not much time left. Stay tuned.