September 13, 2017 · 6:48 AM

Numbers, numbers, numbers

Three stats from last weekend’s games that might matter:

2 TDs were scored by Mississippi State nose guard Jeffery Simmons in the Bulldogs’ 57-21 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. In the first quarter, Simmons blocked a punt from the Louisiana Tech 24-yard line and recovered the ball in the end zone. In the third quarter, with Louisiana Tech on Mississippi State’s 2-yard line, the 301-pound Simmons picked up a fumble and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown.

Simmons is a beast who’s getting some serious All-SEC attention in the early season.  If the Notre Dame game left you concerned about the middle of Georgia’s offensive line, that’s probably not a good thing.

2 Consecutive South Carolina games have featured a TD kickoff return by South Carolina WR Deebo Samuel. In the Gamecocks’ season-opening game, Samuel returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD in a 35-28 victory over North Carolina State on Sept. 2. On Saturday, Samuel had another 97-yard kickoff return for a TD in South Carolina’s 31-13 victory over Missouri. On the first snap after the kickoff return, the Gamecocks intercepted a pass, and, on the next play, Samuel ran 25 yards for a TD, scoring 15 seconds after his previous TD as South Carolina took a 14-10 lead. Samuel’s three TD kickoff returns are a school career record, and they’ve come in his past five games.

Against South Carolina, if Blankenship isn’t told to boot every kickoff into the end zone, that’s coaching malpractice.

5 Of Georgia’s 10 wins since Kirby Smart became the Bulldogs’ coach last season have featured fourth-quarter comebacks, including Saturday’s 20-19 victory over Notre Dame. Georgia trailed the Fighting Irish 19-17 until Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:34 to play. Last season, the Bulldogs beat North Carolina, Missouri, Kentucky and TCU after trailing in the fourth quarter. Georgia also beat Auburn in a game that was tied in the fourth quarter. Georgia lost games in 2016 to Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech after the Bulldogs led in the fourth quarter.

It’s not a good idea to leave a Georgia game early.

4 Comments

Filed under Georgia Football, SEC Football

4 responses to “Numbers, numbers, numbers”

  1. Russ
    September 13, 2017 at 9:20 AM

    That last statistic is the most obvious on-field example of Kirby’s changes to the program. It doesn’t seem like we had that many come from behind wins before he got here, at least not in a while.

    Miss State worries me. But then, so does Sackerlina and Vandy.

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    • Irwin R. Fletcher
      September 13, 2017 at 9:47 AM

      I’m glued to LSU vs. MSU at 6 on Saturday. They were actually trailing La Tech by 9 until their defense and special teams picked them up.

      Come from behind wins used to be a staple…I think in 2002 we had three big ones (Clemson, Bama, and Auburn). Agree that had seemingly been missing in recent years.

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    • AusDawg85
      September 13, 2017 at 11:13 AM

      We used to score points, early and often. Criticism was our “letting of the gas” with big leads.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Ben
    September 13, 2017 at 9:48 AM

    I’ve been a little bit concerned about that Carolina game. I know they don’t have the talent level that UGA has, but Muschamp may have learned a lot between his first and second gigs, and he may not end up being the joke we’ve made him out to be.

    I know we’re only two weeks in, but if things keep going the way they’re going, the end of the season could be quite interesting.

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